HINENGGEN MAN ÅMKO'

Thursday, September 26, 2024


Mungnga umo'mak yanggen masahahalom ha' hao trabia.

Don't shower if you're still sweaty.


When we were kids playing in the streets, hitting empty tin cans down the street with sticks, or playing catch and racing each other, when we'd come home some of us would want to take a shower right away because we were so sweaty from our games.

But some saina, often the nånan biha or grandmother, would forbid us to. " Cha'-mo umo'omak sa' masahahalom ha' hao trabia! " (" Don't you dare shower because you're still sweaty! ")

We'd have to dry off before they'd let us shower. So, we'd take off our sweaty shirts and just keep our shorts on and it didn't take too long to dry off. They'd never allow us to dry off standing in front of a fan, either.

The fear was we'd get sick if we took a shower while we were still sweating.


Is there a scientific basis?


Although science does not say showering when still being sweaty will kill you or make you sick, medical people and health experts generally advise people to cool down before showering after they've sweated from playing sports or exercising. Water, either hot or cold, will have an effect on the body, one's heart rate and body temperature, so it's best to subject the body to cold or hot water when the body is in its natural rest state.

Others say if you take a hot shower while still sweaty, your body still needs to sweat in order to cool down the internal organs, so you'll end up sweating after the shower anyway. Wait, then, till your body stops sweating and then take a shower.


Still ...




I think or man åmko' had other concerns when it came to showering while still sweaty.

They really believed you could get sick if you did.

My Filipino friends tell me they had the very same belief. Tropical people think alike. Parents believed that showering right away would shock the child's body. Remember that Filipinos generally shower with cold water, just as almost every Chamorro did before the war and even after. The body needs to cool down, both Filipinos and Chamorros believe(d), before the body can properly deal with the water from showering.

FAMILIA : TAIJITO

Tuesday, September 10, 2024


The Taijito family history is pretty straightforward. The majority of Taijitos are from Asan, and I suspect that even the few Taijitos found in Hagåtña in Spanish times were originally from Asan.

Since the family is too large in number, I will just identify the males who were able to establish lines that kept the family name going.

Sometimes a female Taijito who had children out of wedlock produced children who carried forward the name Taijito, and these I will also include.


LUÍS MAAÑAO TAIJITO

Luís, from Asan, was married to Fermina Aflleje Taitano. They had two sons, Francisco and José.

Francisco married Rosalía Pérez Cruz, the daughter of Felipe and Margarita. They had a son Vicente who had moved to the US before World War II. He registered for the draft in New York City in 1940. He does not seem to have produced children and his whereabouts disappear.

José married Vicenta Santos Salas, the daughter of José and María and had several children but only one was a male who carried forward the Taijito name. He was Francisco, and he married Asunción Santos Muña, the daughter of Gregorio and Josefa. Eventually they moved to Hågat and raised their children there.

So from Luís Maañao Taijito of Asan came the Muña Taijitos based in Hågat, and their line still continues to this day.


RITA TORRES TAIJITO

Another Asan Taijito was Rita, whose parentage is unknown at this time.

Before Rita married Felipe Santos Aflleje, she had a daughter named María Taijito. María in turn had a number of children out of wedlock. At least three daughters (Vicenta, Consolación and Manuela) married and had numerous children, but carrying their fathers' surname. No sons of María seem to have fathered children to carry forward the Taijito name.

And so the Taijito name gradually vanished as a last name from its birthplace of Asan, though many Asan families obviously have Taijito blood in them.


APOLINARIA MEGOFÑA TAIJITO

Apolinaria is a Hagåtña woman in the 1897 Census, but having two very Asan names - Taijito and Megofña - I wouldn't be surprised if she originally came from Asan and then moved to the capital city.

Although married to José Aguon, Apolinaria had two children out of wedlock.

A daughter Ana Taijito married Severino Ricardo Apuron, so the entire Apuron clan are descendants of Ana, the daughter of Apolinaria.

A son Mamerto married Ana Mendiola Benavente, familian Lile'. And so now we have the Benavente Taijitos . Mamerto moved up to Machånao in the Dededo municipality before the war. They had one son Jesús.


FRANCISCO SALAS TAIJITO



I came across the interesting life of Francisco Salas Taijito, the son of José Taitano Taijito and Vicenta Salas Santos. Francisco comes from the Luís Maañao Taijito clan of Asan, though he moved to Hågat. He also went by the nickname Frank.

Frank was well-known back in the day for being chef for Guam's postwar Governors. He served them all in the 1950 and 60s, many of them American Governors appointed by the US President.

Frank wasn't just a good cook of Chamorro food. He could cook pretty much anything he could find a recipe for. Once found, the recipe stayed in his head. When he made chow mein for Governor Elvidge, who had very sophisticated tastes, Frank made his own noodles. When Governor Daniels blew in from Texas with wife and children in hand, Frank made hominy grits for breakfast. Frank made soups, salads, main courses, desserts and pastries. Each Governor had their own eating habits, and Frank easily adjusted to each one; from those partial to gourmet food to those who were satisfied with just toast and coffee in the morning.

He not only cooked for the Governor and family but also for their dinner guests, the frequency and amount of them depending on the Governor.

Frank got his start cooking for a living when PanAm hired him in 1937 to cook meals for the China Clipper seaplanes that landed in Apra Harbor before the war. He spent just two days in the Navy, the shortest stint he believed on record, and was released by the Navy to start working for PanAm. Besides cooking ground meals, Frank flew on the planes to cook in-flight meals. His plane was at Midway when the war broke out, so he wasn't on Guam for the war. Frank passed away in 1993 at the age of 85.



FRANCISCO TAIJITO WITH SAW IN HAND ON RIGHT
putting up booths for the Hågat parish fiesta in 1967
Father Donan Hickey on left



THE MEANING OF TAIJITO



We can't be too sure what Taijito means because the second part of the name, HUTO , can mean two different things. It can mean either lice or the seed of the dukduk (a kind of breadfruit) tree.

So Taijito can mean either "without lice" or "without dukduk seeds." Although the thought of lice isn't pleasant, remember that the name means WITHOUT lice, and that's a good thing.

For all we know, there could have been another meaning of huto which we don't know today.

There is another Chamorro word huto ', which means "to spread," like spreading a cloth on a table. But huto ' has a glota, which is not present in Taijito.

Our ancestors came up with unusual (for us) names. Just think of Taimanglo (without wind) or Taitano (without land).

I DEFFE' NA SAKKE

Tuesday, September 3, 2024




Ocho åños ha' edåt-ña si Miget ya ma gacha' gi halom i kuåtton Tun Venancio, ha kekesakke masea håfa i siña.
(Miget was just eight years old and he was caught inside Tun Venancio's bedroom, trying to steal whatever he could.)

"Hei!" umessalao si Tun Venancio, ya malågo si Miget ya ha eskapåye.
("Hay!" Tun Venancio cred out, and Miget ran away and escaped.)

Lao åntes de malågo, ha baba i pachot-ña si Miget sa' ma espånta ya annok na doffe'.
(But before he ran, he opened his mouth being caught off guard and it showed he was toothless.)

Humånao si Tun Venancio guato gi polisia ya annai ma faisen si Tun Venancio kao siña ha identifika håye i patgon ilek-ña, "Hokkok ha' hu tungo' na doffe'."
(Tun Venancio went to the police and when they asked him if he could identify the kid, he said, "All I know is that he was toothless." )

Pues ilek-ña i polisia, "Pues ta rekohe todo i famagu'on ya ta li'e' håye doffe'."
(So the policeman said, "Then let's gather all the kids and see who is toothless.")

Eståba si Miget gi papa' i bentånan i polisia ya ha ekkungok håfa ilek-ña i polisia.
(Miget was under the policeman's window and listened to what he said.)

Malågo si Miget guato gi amigu-ña as Juan ni acha lokka' yan guiya.
(He ran to his friend Juan who was as tall as him.)

"Juan! Juan! Pot fabot, ta na' åttilong i un nifen-mo ya un kado' doffe' hao."
("Juan! Juan! Please let's blacken your one tooth and pretend to be toothless.")

Pues ma chåchak i trongkon papåya ya ma chule' i chigo'-ña pues ma nå'ye åpo. Ma palai este gi un nifen-ña si Juan ya ma na' åttilong pues annai man ma ågang todo i famagu'on ya ma baba i pachot-ñiha para u ma li'e', ma sodda' na dos na påtgon doffe', era si Miget yan si Juan.
( So they cut the papaya tree and collected its sap and added ashes to it. They smeared this on one of Juan's teeth and made it black so when they called all the kids and opened their mouths to see, they found two toothless kids, which were Miget and Juan .)

Ilek-ña i polisia gi as Tun Venancio, "Dos na doffe' guaha ya ilek-mo na uno ha' na påtgon humåtme i gimå'-mo. Pot i ti siña un identifika håye fuera de doffe' gue', debe de hu sotta este dos."
( The policeman told Tun Venancio, "There are two toothless kids and you said only one entered your house. Since you can't identify the kid except that he was toothless, I have to let these two go .")

Ya taiguennao humuyong na ti ma kastiga si Miget.
(And that's how Miget ended up not being punished.)




HINENGGEN MAN ÅMKO' : YANGGEN MAN ATTOK I MANNOK

Wednesday, August 28, 2024


Yanggen man attok i mannok siha annai u'uchan, siempre u dinira i ichan para un råto ha'.
Lao yanggen ti man attok, siempre u uchan tolot dia.

If it's raining and the chickens hide, the rain will last just a short time.
If they don't hide, it will rain the whole day.


It's almost as if the chickens are telling us, "If it's going to keep raining and raining all day, there's no use hiding. Just stay in the rain."

But it could be that the rain softens up the ground, allowing the chickens to get at worms and bugs hiding in the soil more easily. Sometimes, with the soil loosened by the rain, the worms just come out of hiding. A rainy day, therefore, can mean good hunting for the chickens.

The feathers of the chicken do help a lot to keep the chicken warm in the rain, but, unlike a duck, the feathers are not water-proof. The chickens will want to get out of the rain at some point. But the good hunting might keep them in the rain for part of the day.

LAST WILL IN CHAMORRO

Tuesday, August 20, 2024


In 1927, a prominent and wealthy man decided to write his last will and testament as he was not in good health and wanted to be prepared for death. He wrote his will in Chamorro, which lets us see the kind of Chamorro being spoken in Guam in the 1920s, 28 years into Guam's slow but sure Americanization.

The man was born around 1872, and his father was a very prominent man on Guam in the mid 1800s, as his father before him had been a Spanish government official who fathered children with a Chamorro lady.

I have changed the spelling to my own spelling more familiar to people today, and I am leaving out last names because the family's current descendants may not appreciate this will becoming public knowledge. An English translation follows each paragraph and explanatory notes come at the end.

Guåho si José ____ ____, 55 åños edåt-ho yan taotao este iya Hagåtña, låhen _____ yan _____. I numeron sedulås-ho 3313. Malångo yo’ lao mamaolek ha’ todabia i hinaso-ko. Hu fa’tinas i uttimo na disposision-ho ni todo i guinaha-ho, taiguine mo’na :
I am José ____ ____, I am 55 years old and a resident here in Hagåtña, the son of _____ and _____. My cédula is number 3313. I am sickly but my mind is still well. I make my final disposal of all my assets as follows :

UNO : Guåho sottero yo’ ya tåya’ tinatte-ko pat patgon-ho ni mañaina-ho sino solamente mañe’lo yan sobrino siha.
ONE : I am single and I have no descendants or children nor parents except only siblings and nieces and nephews .

DOS : Desde ke hu tutuhon macho’cho’ asta på’go hu sodda’ este siha mo’na na propiedåt :
TWO : Ever since I began working till now I find the following properties :

(a) Un guma’ teha yan i solåt-ña ni gaige gi Calle Esperanza, barrion San Ramón, numero 1299, na hu adkiere påtte pot erensia ginen i mañaina-ho yan påtte pot finahån-ho gi mañe’lu-ho. One house with tiled roof and its plot which is on Esperanza Street, in the barrio (district) of San Ramón, number 1299, which I acquired partly through inheritance from my parents and partly from my purchase from my siblings.

(b) Un fangualu’an giya Pa’åsan hurisdiksion Hagåtña na hu adkiere lokkue’ pot erensia ginen i mañaina-ho. A farm in Pa’åsan, jurisdiction of Hagåtña, which I acquired also through inheritance from my parents .

(c) Un paståhe giya Makåhna hurisdiksion Hagåtña yan trenta na guaka ni man ma påpåsto guihe. Este na tåno’ finahån-ho gi as Juan ____, as Joaquin ____ yan otros mås. A pasture in Makåhna, jurisdiction of Hagåtña, with thirty heads of cattle which are pastured there. This land is my purchase from Juan ____, Joaquin ____ and others.

(d) Guaha lokkue’ ga’-ho singko na båkan karabao yan dos na toriyon karabao na man ma sosotta gi paståhen Luís ____ giya Bubulao. Guaha lokkue’ un båkan guaka na ha popoksai si Joaquin ____ ; un bakiyan guaka na ha popoksai si José ____ yan tres båkan karabao, i uno ha popoksai si Juan ____, i otro ha popoksai i pastot-ho as Juan ____ ya i otro ha popoksai si Vicente ____ yan un lecheran guaka na gai patgon. I have also five female carabao and two young male carabao which are loose on the pasture on Luís ____ in Bubulao. There is also a cow being raised by Joaquin ____; a heifer being raised by José ____ and three female carabao, one being raised by Juan, the other by my herdsman Juan ____ and the other by Vicente ____ and a dairy cow with its calf (or is pregnant?).

(e) Guaha lokkue’ dos karetå-ho, i uno troso i otro råyo . I also have two carts, one with solid wheels and the other with spoked wheels.

(f) Guaha lokkue’ iyo-ko na piano. I also have a piano .

TRES : Hu deklåra na tåya’ ni uno hu didibe ya ni uno dumidibe yo’.
THIRD : I declare that I am in debt to no one at all and no one is in debt to me .

KUÅTTRO : I disposision-ho ni este siha i propiedåt-ho ni esta hu sångan taiguine mo’na :
FOURTH : The disposal of my properties already described is as follows :

(1) I gima' teha yanggen måtai yo’ para si Marikitan che’lu-ho. The tiled-roof house should I die is for my sister Marikita.

(2) I tano’ giya Pa’åsan, i paståhe giya Makåhna yan i guakas siha guihe yan i singko båka yan dos toriyon karabao ni man gaige gi paståhen Bubulao para i sobrinu-ho as Enrique ____ kon la obligasion de i kubre todo i gåsto pot guåho durånte todo i malangu-ho yan i gåston i entieru-ho yanggen måtai yo’. Pot si akåso homlo’ yo’ nu este na malangu-ho ya esta yo’ siña macho’cho’ komo åntes, obligao yo’ na hu na’na’lo gue’ ni todo i gaston-ña pot guåho. The land in Pa’åsan, the pasture in Makåhna and the cattle there and the five female and two young male carabao which are in the Bubulao pasture are for my nephew Enrique ____ with the obligation to cover all the expenses during my illness and the expenses of my funeral should I die. If I should recover from this illness and I can work as I did before, I am obliged to pay him back all his expenses for me .

(3) I tres båkan karabao, i tres båkan guaka yan un tatneron guaka ni man ma popoksai segun i esta hu sångan guine gi sanhilo’ yan i dos kareta yan i piano para i mañe’lu-ho famalao’an as Marikita, Caridad yan Consuelo . The three female carabao, the three cows and one carabao calf which are being raised in the way I have already stated above and the two carts and piano are for my sisters Marikita, Caridad and Consuelo .

(4) Hu nombra i primu-ho yan amigu-ho as José ____ para atbaseå-ho para ke, yanggen måtai yo’, guiya u dispone todo i propiedåt-ho konfotme i malago’-ho guine na testamento. I name my cousin and friend José ____ as my executor so that, should I die, he will dispose all my properties in accordance with my wishes here in this testament.

Hu deklåra na este ha’ i uniko na testamento fina’tinås-ho asta på’go na ha’åne. I declare that this is the only testament that I have written till the present.

Ya este na testamento hu suplika i sobrinu-ho as José ____ para u tugi’e yo’ sa’ chatsaga yo’ hu tuge’ pot i malangu-ho ya todo este siha na disposision-ho humuyong ginen i pachot-ho yan i minalago’-ho, sin hu ma su’ok pat hu ma chachalåne, ya bai hu fitma este na testamento gi me’nan i testigo siha ni i hu na’ fan ma agånge para u ha hungok i disposision-ho guine na testamento, guine giya Hagåtña på’go gi dia ocho de enero gi mit nobesientos beinte i siette na såkkan.
And this testament I requested my nephew José ____ to write for me because I am unable due to my illness to write it and all of these instructions of mine have come from me verbally and from my will, without me being pressured or influenced, and I will sign this testament before the witnesses whom I have called to hear of the instructions in this testament, here in Hagåtña on today’s date of January 8, 1927.


NOTES

(1) The testator uses some Spanish loan words which are hardly used today. Atbasea (Spanish albacea ) means executor, as of a will. The sedulas (Spanish cédula ) was a personal identification paper. He also uses phrases straight out of Spanish such as " kon la obligasión de " (with the obligation to).

(2) He uses the original word todabía instead of trabia (in Saipan, tarabia ), meaning "still, not yet." Monsignor Calvo (born 1915) always said todabía as well.

(3) The man has a piano, a rarity among Chamorros at the time. It indicates he is a man of above-average financial means (as also evidenced by his properties and cattle) and cultural affinity with the West.

(4) This man's last will differs from older last wills in one very noticeable way - the absence of any religious language. The man was Catholic, and I am not suggesting he wasn't a practicing one, but he does not include any religious language at all, not even about his funeral, whereas older last wills were very religious in tone. They almost always began right away with a profession of the person's Catholic faith; this was often the very first line of the last will. The person went on to express how they intended to die a loyal Catholic, obedient to the Catholic faith till death, and included clear instructions that he or she be given a Catholic funeral and sometimes even made provision to pay for the exact kind of funeral services they wanted, or how many Masses they wanted to be offered for them.

(5) Place names. The man's real estate assets were all centered in what we now call the Agaña Heights area. He mentions two places : Pa'åsan and Makåhna. I have never heard of a place called Makåhna, only the mountain by that name. A mountain is hardly a place for a pasture, but maybe he means the slopes of Mount Makåhna near Agaña Heights or maybe the backside of the mountain, which isn't a steep climb.




PA'ÅSAN AND MAKÅHNA


In addition, he mentions a place called Bubulao, where he didn't own land but where one of the landowners there allowed him to pasture some of his animals, maybe for a fee or a share in the meat if and when the animal was butchered. Bubulao was prime pasture land and some prominent Hagåtña people owned land in Bubulao and raised cattle there, sometimes hundreds of heads of cattle.

Bubulao is somewhat remote. One has to drive from Malojloj inland to the foot of the mountains.



BUBULAO

ÅNTES DE UMO'O' I GÅYO

Tuesday, August 13, 2024


This is a schedule of Catholic Masses on Sundays in all the Catholic churches and public chapels on Guam in the year 1955, excluding the military chapels.

You can see how early in the morning Sunday Mass was in the old days, many of them before the crack of dawn.

In fact, a common saying among people, especially mothers, back then was, "Åntes de umo'o' i gåyo, esta debe de un gaige gi gima'yu'us."

"Before the rooster crows, you should already be at church."

I'll explain the reasons for these early Mass times further down this article.

But notice : the earliest Sunday Mass was at 5AM (Agaña Heights and Sinajaña) and the latest Sunday Mass was at 10AM (Agaña Heights, Sinajaña and Yoña).

But in many villages, Sunday Mass no longer available after 8 or 830AM. If you were from Asan, Dededo, Maina, Malojloj, Mangilao, Ordot, Santa Rita, Toto or Humåtak and weren't in church by 8AM, you missed Mass or had to go to another village to find one.




WHY SO EARLY?


The FIRST reason is on the Church side.

In the good old days, no one, not even the priest, could receive Holy Communion unless they had not eaten anything or drunk anything at all, not even water, from 12 midnight till the time of Holy Communion. Obviously, the later the Mass was in the day, the hungrier the person - and the priest! So they scheduled Masses as early as possible in the morning, or even before dawn.

Notice that no Masses began after 10AM. By then it was too late in the day for priests and people to keep fasting.

The SECOND reason is on the people's side.

Before the war, the vast majority of people farmed for a living. That meant that they woke up very early, and prided themselves in that. This way they could hear Mass at 4AM or 5AM and get to their farms (often on foot) before the sun made the day too hot. After the war, farming almost completely disappeared, and people began waking up a bit later, though old habits didn't die right away.

The people didn't go to their farms on Sunday, of course. All manual labor was forbidden by the Church on the Lord's Day. But the people still woke up at 4 or 5AM, even on Sundays. It was just a routine the people didn't break.

LOST SURNAMES : CHIBOG

Tuesday, August 6, 2024


There used to be a family in Asan called CHIBOG .

The family goes all the way back to the 1700s. The name was also spelled Chiboc, Chibuc or Chibug. Spelling was not consistent in those days.

In 1791, in Spanish documents, there is a man named ANTONINO CHIBOG who was Teniente of the village of Asan. The Teniente was something like the assistant, or second-in-command, of the higher official who was in charge of something bigger than one village, so he had a Teniente to care for one section of his responsibility.

The document states that Antonino was the successor of an earlier Teniente named VOLFANGO CHIBOG. Volfango is the Spanish form of the German name Wolfgang (like Mozart), so this suggests to me that Volfango Chibog was born prior to 1769 which is when the Jesuit missionaries were expelled from the Marianas. Some, if not many, of the Jesuit missionaries in the mid 1700s were actually Germans, so the name Volfango was spread by them.

We know that Chibog women dominated the family in the late 1800s.

A María Chibog had married Gelacio Muña from Aniguak.

Mariano Materne also from Aniguak was a Chibog on his mother's side.

Marcela Tenorio was also a Chibog on her other's side.


BY 1897

By the 1897 Guam Census, there were only three people named Chibog on Guam.

All three were siblings, the children of Lorenzo Chibog and his wife Gabina Fegurgur. Sometimes her name is spelled Gavina.

They had two daughters and one son : Ana, María and Antonio.

Ana married Bernardo Cruz Pascual and had two daughters. The family moved to Saipan. The two daughters themselves married so the Chibog name was lost as the children took on their fathers' last names.

Neither María nor Antonio ever married and had children; so, the Chibog name was eventually lost when the two of them died, which was before the 1920 Census.




Lydia, the woman above, from San Roque in Saipan, was a Chibog. Her mother was Rosa Chibog Pascual, the daughter of Ana Fegurgur Chibog and Bernardo Cruz Pascual. They moved from Asan to Saipan in the early 1900s.

COMMENDED BY SPAIN

Tuesday, July 30, 2024


CIVIL ORDER OF CHARITY OF SPAIN
Orden Civil de Beneficiencia


From 1872 to 1876, Spanish society was rocked by a civil war. The Carlistas were a political faction in Spain that supported a different line of kings than the one then in power. The Carlist uprisings were eventually squashed by the ruling Spanish government.

Those captured in the war faced deportation to several places around the world under Spanish jurisdiction, including the Marianas. When the Spanish deportados , or deportees, landed in the Marianas, there was no prison big enough to house them all. Feeding them, too, was an issue.



OLD HAGÅTÑA


In order to handle this situation, many deportados were allowed to live with Guam families, both Spanish and Chamorro. Some families accommodated these deportados in such a way that the Spanish Government wanted to commend them in some way when the war was done.

In 1878, the Overseas Ministry of the Spanish Government was given permission to award half a dozen Chamorros and some Spaniards with membership in the Órden Civil de Beneficiencia , or the Civil Order of Charity. This distinction recognized acts of extraordinary service by individuals to the community in times of calamity, natural or otherwise.

The Chamorros so awarded were :

FATHER JOSÉ TORRES PALOMO . He was the first Chamorro priest, ordained in Cebu in 1859. Since he was not a member of a religious Order, who have the vow of poverty, Palomo was free to own his own houses and properties, so he was able to house deportados in his own private residence. Father Palomo lived to see the Americans take over Guam and he did nothing to stand in the way; in fact, he was considered by the Americans a great help in showing cooperation with the new regime. He died in 1919.



FATHER JOSÉ TORRES PALOMO


ANDRÉS CRUZ CASTRO . He was an officer in the Chamorro militia, known as the Compañía de Dotación . Castro was married to Ramona Alejandro.

FRANCISCO DÍAZ TORRES . Descendant of the famous official Luís de Torres. He was married to Joaquina Crisóstomo Martínez.

FÉLIX DÍAZ TORRES . Brother of Francisco and also a descendant of the celebrated Luís de Torres. He was married to Martínez then Rosa Salar Pérez.

ANTONIO PANGELINAN MARTÍNEZ . His daughter Josefa married a Spaniard named Julián Sáiz. Antonio was married to Eduviges Díaz Wilson, the daughter of the Irishman James Wilson and the Chamorro Rufina Díaz.

JOSÉ RIVERA PÉREZ . He was a Sergeant in the local military force.

VICENTE OLIVARES CALVO . Although technically not a Chamorro, he was a Spanish-Filipino mestizo whose whole family had firm Marianas roots, dividing their lives equally between Manila and Guam. Some in his family married Chamorros, so I consider Vicente to be "local," if not Chamorro by blood. Among the various things he did, he was for a time the captain of the port at Apra, in charge of the arrival and departure of various ships. His children mainly lived in the Philippines so he has no descendants on Guam, but he is an uncle to the other Calvos who did remain on Guam.

FIRST AMERICAN SHIP ON GUAM?

Wednesday, July 24, 2024


It is claimed that the American whaling ship the Resource was the first American ship to visit Guam. That was in the year 1799, when the United States flag had sixteen stars, as seen above, for the sixteen states that made up the country at the time.

If this claim is accurate, then perhaps the sixteen-starred flag is the first American flag seen by Chamorros, assuming any were down in Apra Harbor at the time the Resource sailed in.

The Resource was not the first American ship to visit the Marianas. That distinction goes to the Betsey which reached Tinian on July 14, 1798. But the only people living on Tinian at the time were a shipwrecked crew, who were rescued and taken away. This was followed the very same year in November by another commercial American ship, the Ann and Hope. . But that ship did not meet any Chamorros nor Spaniards on Tinian either. The island was deserted, except for one shipwreck survivor who was from India or thereabouts.

The Resource did not make much of a splash while it was here on Guam. All that is said is that the ship took on supplies and allowed the crew some shore time for relaxation. Much more valuable for history's sake was the visit of the next American ship, the Lydia , in 1802. A member of that crew wrote many pages of what he observed on Guam when he was here and we still have that account.

I have found, so far, only one American ship called the Resource during the same period it supposedly came to Guam. It was not described as a whaling ship but it was a commercial ship, transporting goods. It is also on record for having made foreign journeys on business. So, conceivably, this is the same Resource that visited Guam. It was owned by a J. Sanford Barker in Charleston, South Carolina. But, for all we know, this could have been another ship by the same name, though that is rare.



FAMILIA : CHARSAGUA

Wednesday, July 17, 2024


CHARSAGUA is an indigenous Chamorro name.

It appears in the censuses during Spanish times.

The name could mean several things, all of them more or less similar. CHAT is a prefix which means "badly, imperfectly, defectively." And SÅGUA means "port or canal." So perhaps chatsagua was used to described a way in and out of land and sea that wasn't recommended due to some geographical defect.

Although there were nine people named Charsagua in the 1897 Guam Census, it was a family destined to slowly fade away on Guam, and today it is in the US mainland that the Charsagua name continues.

JOSÉ CHARSAGUA was an old man, around 70 years old in 1897, so born around 1827, and a widower.

He was living in Hagåtña with two sons, his children from his deceased wife Apolonia García. You would think that having two sons would give his line a chance to survive. But here's what happened.


JOSÉ GARCÍA CHARSAGUA

José, the older of the two sons, married María Lizama Santos, the daughter of Ignacio and Josefa.

Court documents show that José had a nickname - Chetla.

Jose'n Chetla was involved in a road dispute in the early 1900s. He claimed that a certain trail, heavily used by the farmers traveling through the area, was on his private property. So he cut down some trees and blocked the road. The neighbors took Chetla to court, and Chetla was forced to reopen the road.

Jose'n Chetla and his wife María had half a dozen or so children, but half of them died young. Only two children lived long enough to have children, and they were both women who married. One of them was Rosa, pictured below. The other was her sister Magdalena. Having no sons, José wasn't able to pass on the Charsagua name to descendants.




MANUEL GARCÍA CHARSAGUA

But there was a second son of José and Apolonia and his name was Manuel.

His wife was Mariana Aguon. They had children, but only one lived long enough to have children. Her name was María.

María Aguon Charsagua never married but she had children. One was a boy, named José, who carried the name Charsagua from his mother. José joined the US Army and served in Korea and Vietnam. He married Dominga Rodríguez from Panama and had children; two daughters and two sons. José and his family remained in the US mainland and it is there that José sons and grandsons carry on the Charsagua name.

It is in the continental US, across several states, and no longer on Guam, where you will find people with the last name Charsagua.



JOSÉ AGUON CHARSAGUA'S GRAVE IN TEXAS
Son of María Aguon Charsagua, grandson of Manuel García Charsagua



JOSÉ CHARSAGUA'S GRANDSONS
the future of the Charsagua family name

KÅNTA : PÅTGON NENE

Tuesday, July 9, 2024


In 1980, a Saipan band called Tropicsette released their album Palasyon Rico . One of the biggest hits from that album was a song that even made Guam go crazy, even my own classmates aged 18 years old who could hardly speak, or even understand, Chamorro.

That song was Påtgon Neni .

Everyone on Guam was singing it, even if they pronounced the words badly and didn't understand what they were singing. The song was important on Guam in the way it introduced many Guam people to the "Micronesian" sound in music. Chamorro music on Guam didn't have that sound, but the music scene in Saipan did, since the Carolinians of Saipan had their influence on that island. Since my classmates and I barely understood the words, we loved the song Påtgon Neni because of the sound.

That sound came from Pohnpei.

In a 2008 newspaper article written by one-time Tropicsette member Herbert Del Rosario, to honor Frank Bokonggo Pangelinan, another Tropicsette member who had just died, Del Rosario says the following,

"I must admit the song Patgon Neni was our most popular song, which brought the whole island (Saipan) to Oleai Room (a bar) every weekend to listen to this song which originated from the island of Pohnpei."

With the help of Pohnpeian friends, I was able to find the original Pohnpeian song on which Patgon Neni is based. The song is titled Pwurodo Kameiehla . I believe it was composed by Daniel Isaac.

According to a Pohnpeian friend, the first line more or less says "Come and take my life, because I have none, anyway, without you..."

Somehow, someone in Tropicsette got to know this song. Candy Taman often borrowed songs from Chuuk and other islands and added Chamorro lyrics to them, but I'm not sure who penned the Chamorro version of this Pohnpeian song.

The Chamorro version is also about a broken relationship, seen from the man's perspective. He tells the woman that if she remarries, then bring their child to him, since it would be bad for the child to be raised by another man who is not his father.





CHAMORRO LYRICS


Pues adios ya bai hu hånao.
(So goodbye and I will go.)

Ya an siakåso na umassagua hao
(And if you should marry)

Pot fabot konne' mågi i patgon nene.
(Please bring the child here.)

Na'ma'ase' i patgon yanggen otro tåta para u atiende gue'.
(Pity the child if another father will care for him/her.)

Hånao mågi ya un nangga yo'
(Come here and wait for me)

ya un sångan ha' ya bai hu hånao.
(and just say so and I will go.)


The Tropicsette recording then goes on to sing a verse in Carolinian and finally a verse from the Pohnpeian original.

Here is a recording of the original Pohnpeian song :




"ATAN I BOLA" : CHAMORRO CODE

Tuesday, July 2, 2024


A former seminarian from the 1960s, who, for reasons you will understand at the end of this story, did not proceed to the priesthood, told me a story which reveals how older Chamorros spoke in code.

The parents of one seminarian owned some beach property and so they would invite the seminarians from Father Dueñas to picnic and barbeque there once in a while.

These parents had a daughter who was lively and friendly. She loved to play the guitar, and this seminarian loved to sing.

Well, dad was not dumb, so when he had the seminarians play softball at his beach, he would walk up to this seminarian and whisper in his ear, " Atan i bola, no? Atan i bola ." " Look at the ball, ok? Watch the ball ."

In other words, though unspoken words, " Båsta ma atan i hagå-ho ." " Stop looking at my daughter ."

So, rather than embarrass the seminarian and his daughter, he spoke in code. Which the seminarian understood.

He eventually graduated from Father Dueñas but did not pursue the priesthood and is now a happily married man. But not with the girl on the beach.

WATER BOY FOR JAPANESE BUNKER

Tuesday, June 25, 2024


THE BOKKONGO' AT ASAN POINT
shortly after the American return in 1944


By 1943, the Japanese were quite sure that the Americans were on their way to Guam. The US wouldn't arrive tomorrow, but the American advance westward and up the Pacific was unmistakable.




As one can see from this map, the Americans were already in Melanesia by late 1942/early 1943 and were in Micronesia (Tarawa, Kiribati) by November of 1943. The Japanese could see where the Americans were heading, and the Marianas was going to be a star prize in a string of American victories, bringing them closer to the Japanese mainland.

So, the Japanese began fortifying Guam and put many Chamorro men, even in their teens, to work. Women, also, were forced to work clearing land for airfields and digging defensive holes.

In Asan, the Japanese anticipated an ideal break in the reef where the Americans might land. People from Asan were forced to work building Japanese defenses in the Asan area.

Danny Santos, then a 9-year-old boy, remembers.

His grandfather and uncle were forced by the Japanese to join other Asan people in building a bokkongo ', or cave, in the Akalaye Fanihi area next to Asan Point.



DANNY SANTOS WITH THE BOKKONGO' BEHIND HIM
in the distance


Young as he was, Danny also had a role in it. Twice a day, he and his older relatives had to bring drinking water to his grandfather, uncle and the other Asan men digging the bokkongo ' or cave.

"We got the water from the bo'bo ', or natural springs, in the Asan area. There are many bo'bo ' in Asan.

We'd fill up the tanks then cover it with a mesh of coconut fiber and cloth to keep the water clean. My job was to make sure the water didn't spill. We took the water to the men on a karetan karabao (karabao cart).

When we got to the bokkongo ', we were instructed by the Japanese not to look at the bokkongo ' or the surrounding areas too much. And there definitely was to be no conversation between us and the men working on the bokkongo '. It took a while, maybe half an hour, for all the men working on the job to get their share of the water to drink. Then we left."



KARETAN KARABAO

KÅNTA : MÅTTO UN GÅ'GA'

Tuesday, June 18, 2024



Here's a song that, I believe, is not that old. At least I've never heard it before, and in my 62 years I have been around.

The song is sung on this recording by Kun Ka'ainoa and Nolas Kaliga.






LYRICS

Måtto un gå'ga' ni gumugupu tumohge gi hilo' apagå-ho;
(An animal came which flew, and stood on top of my shoulder;)
mañuñule' un kåtta gi piku-ña ginen as nåna i bendision.
(it was bringing a letter in its beak, a blessing from mother.)

Ai sumen chågo' tano'-ho, sumen chågo' yo' na gaige;
(Oh my place is far away, I am in a distant place;)
ya ni nåna yo' ni tåta sikiera un che'lo ni mamaisa.
(and I am neither a mother nor a father not even a sibling who is alone.)


Here is the video from MicroSongs



HINENGGEN MAN ÅMKO' : CLINGY BABY

Tuesday, June 11, 2024


YANGGEN MAPOTGE' TA'LO I NANA, MÅS CHETTON I PATGON-ÑA GIYA GUIYA.

If a mother gets pregnant again, her child becomes more attached to her.


I was walking to a woman who was holding her baby daughter who was maybe a year-and-a-half old. The daughter is old enough to walk and frequently does so; she even runs a few steps now and then.

But the baby girl would not get down from her mother while I was talking to her.

Our chat was getting longer and the baby was getting heavier, so the mom tried to put the girl down more than once. But, each time she tried, the girl would grab onto her mother even more and make a fuss.

And it wasn't that the girl was afraid of me either. For a while the girl has been talking to me and has even come up to me while I'm sitting down and slaps my knees with her hands in a playful way.

Some of our mañaina (elders) believed that even a baby can sense when the mother is carrying a new child inside her womb.

There is no way a toddler aged 15 months can understand what pregnancy is, or that an unborn baby is inside the mother's womb. But the elders say the baby can feel it somehow. And thus the baby becomes clingy towards the mom.

Is it fear that the baby is being threatened by a sibling? It's hard to tell, isn't it, since babies cannot talk and explain their feelings.

And yes. The mother I was talking to, with the clingy baby, is actually expecting another child on the way.

PEACE CORPS ACCULTURATION

Tuesday, June 4, 2024


The Peace Corps is an independent agency of the US Government which enlists volunteers who go out to developing countries to assist in their progress in many areas of life.

Since all of Micronesia, except Guam, was considered "foreign" in the sense that none of those islands were formally part of the United States at the time, Peace Corps volunteers could be found all over Micronesia. In the late 1960s and early 70s, that volunteerism often blended with the cultural revolution going on in the US. Many young people in those days wanted to break out of "old fashioned" cultural norms.

A number of Peace Corps volunteers, then, sought to adopt the various Micronesian cultures in which they worked. They wanted to live like the people they were working with, and even dress, or undress, like them.

Renowned Saipan singer Candy Taman told me the story of one such Peace Corps volunteer.

It was the early 1970s, when one could still watch passengers descend from the airplanes when they landed. Security was very lax in those days. There were no jetways. The airplane door opened and passengers went down the stairs onto the tarmac. Friends and family members coming to pick up arriving passengers got up very close to the plane, separated from the runway by a chain-link fence or sometimes just a concrete or wooden barrier.

Candy related to me,

"Påle', katna måtai yo' annai hu li'e' un palao'an Peace Corps annai humuyong gi batkonaire ya tåya' ni håfafa chininå-ña! Annok todo i sisu-ña. Ya blondie na Amerikåna! Sus te guåtde!"

"Father, I almost died when I saw a Peace Corps woman exit the plane and she had no blouse on at all! All her breasts were exposed. And she was a blonde American! Oh my gosh!"





It was one thing to see a Yapese, Ulithian or Outer Islander woman topless, but a blonde, blue-eyed American lady from Wisconsin or where-have-you? It was too much.

I don't think this thing happened much, but it did happen.

Usually the Peace Corps taught in schools or helped in community projects, among other things.



A Peace Corps volunteer assisting in a water supply project in Chuuk

ONE-PARTY VILLAGES?

Wednesday, May 22, 2024


It used to be that Guam, in the 1950s and 60s, was almost a one-party island.

The Popular Party, and then the Democratic Party, held onto 100% of the Guam Legislature between 1956 and 1970, with just a two-year break (1964 to 1966) when the Territorial Party won the majority.

By 1970, Guam had become a two-party island, with the newly-established Republican Party winning some seats in the Legislature and even eventually the majority of the Legislature for a time. The Republicans also did well in the Gubernatorial elections, starting with the first one in 1970 which they won.


VILLAGE COMMISSIONERS / MAYORS




THREE CANDIDATES FOR COMMISSIONER IN 1968
NO PARTY AFFILIATION STATED


Up until 1970, village Commissioners (what we now call Mayors) were not elected under a party banner.

In 1970, a law was passed giving some villages (Dededo, Hågat) an Assistant Commissioner. So an election was held that year for that position, and this time it was by party affiliation. No Commissioner was being elected in 1970, since the last election for that office was in 1968 for a four-year term.

It was not until the 1972 election that candidates for Commissioner were now placed on the ballot under a party, Democrat or Republican.

Even when the Commissioner's office was non-partisan, nearly all the Commissioners were known for their allegiance to one of the two parties. It's just that they didn't run under a political party till 1972.


SINCE 1972 : NEVER ELECTED A DEMOCRAT



ALL MANGILAO MAYORS SINCE 1972 HAVE BEEN REPUBLICANS


But since the office of Commissioner (later Mayor) became partisan in 1972, three villages have never elected a Democrat as Commissioner or Mayor.

They are :

MANGILAO

Nick Francisco, Nito Blas and Allan Ungacta have all been Republicans.

TAMUNING

Greg Calvo, Sr., Al Dungca, Luís Herrero, Concepción Dueñas, Francisco Blas and Louise Rivera have all been Republicans.

HAGÅTÑA

For the record, in 1972, Hagåtña elected an Independent. Tomás Flores Mendiola ran as an Independent seeking the seat of the Republican incumbent at the time, Lucas San Nicolás.

Still, electing an Independent is not the same as electing a Democrat, and everyone knew that Mendiola was a Republican, and he identified as such in the 1976 election. But since he was after a sitting Republican's position in 1972, he ran as an Independent.

Those who came after Mendiola - Félix Ungacta and John Cruz - have both been Republicans.


NEVER ELECTED A REPUBLICAN



ALL DEMOCRATS


On the other end of the political spectrum is my village - SINAJAÑA - which has never elected a Republican Commissioner or Mayor since the office became partisan in 1972. Sometimes the Republicans just didn't enter a candidate at all for the mayoral race in Sinajaña.

Every other village on Guam has elected Commissioners or Mayors from either party, even if it was only one time for one of the two parties.


2024 ELECTION

Among all four villages which have never elected a Mayor from the opposing party, things will stay exactly the same for the next four years. This year, the voters will elect their Mayor for the next four years, but in three of these four villages, the current incumbent is running unopposed, securing their victory before a single ballot has been cast.

They are :

MANGILAO

ALLAN UNGACTA

REPUBLICAN

SINAJAÑA

ROBERT HOFMANN

DEMOCRAT

TAMUNING

LOUISE RIVERA

REPUBLICAN



Because these three incumbents have been automatically re-elected, their respective parties retain the Mayor's position.

But even in the fourth village, where there are more than one candidate for Mayor, both candidates are from the same party.

They are from Hagåtña and they are both Republicans.

HAGÅTÑA

JOVYNA SAN AGUSTIN

REPUBLICAN

HAGÅTÑA

MICHAEL GUMATAOTAO

REPUBLICAN



Thus, no matter who wins the Mayor's position for Hagåtña in 2024, it will be a Republican, maintaining that party's exclusive claim on that office for now.


THE FUTURE

Only God knows if, one day in the future, a Democratic Mayor will be elected in Hagåtña, Mangilao or Tamuning, and a Republican Mayor in Sinajaña.

Most people would agree that, in the near future, the hardest would be Sinajaña, where the Democratic Party has been historically so strong that even the occasional Republican is dissuaded from running. "Don't even bother," some are told, if they are Republican. But fifty years from now? Who knows?

Mangilao might have the better chance for a Democrat to be elected. Its population is very mixed politically, and it all depends if the Democrats can present a strong candidate one day.

Hagåtña and Tamuning tend to be Republican, but the future depends on the attractiveness of the individual candidate and on weakening party loyalty. A Democrat may well win in those villages, but the future remains to be seen.

THE TERRITORIAL JINGLE

Tuesday, May 14, 2024



Before there were Democrats and Republicans on Guam, there were the Popular and the Territorial Parties.

If the Popular (later Democrats) were Goliath, then the Territorials were David. Except that, in this case, David hit Goliath in the forehead only one time, and Goliath got back up.

In all the 1950s and 60s, the Territorials won only one legislative election and that was in 1964. Two years later the Territorials lost the election and by that I mean they lost every single legislative seat. In 1956, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1966 and 1968 the Popular/Democrats won ALL 21 SEATS in the Legislature.

But that didn't mean the Territorials didn't try.

In the very spirited campaigns of those olden days, when people of both parties campaigned with great passion and commitment, music played a role in boosting morale. Jingles were very common in those days, sung in rallies and meetings and even played on loud speakers mounted on pickup trucks going around the village.

In the 50s and 60s, the Chamorro language was still going strong on Guam and many of the voters spoke best in Chamorro, and were best spoken to in Chamorro. In almost all the villages, everything was conducted in Chamorro except for a few villages where there were non-Chamorro voters and some of the speeches were given in English.

Here is a Territorial Party jingle in Chamorro from the 1960s which Ruby Aquiningoc Santos remembers to this day. Just goes to show how frequently this jingle was sung for her to remember it some 60 years later.





BOTA I TERRITORIAL, CHE'LU;
(Vote for the Territorials, brother/sister;)

BOTA TERRITORIAL YA TA GÅNNA I DEMOCRATIC, CHE'LU.
(Vote Territorial and we'll beat the Democrats, brother/sister.)



TERRITORIAL PARTY CONVENTION OF 1964
The only election the Territorials ever won

UNUSUAL MEDICINE

Wednesday, May 8, 2024


Even as late as the early 1800s, that is, 120 years after Spanish colonization, our ancestors turned to some very unusual (for us) remedies for illnesses, using the things available to them at the time.

Unusual things such as diseased body parts and animal poo.

French visitors to Guam in 1819 wrote down their observations, describing some of these unusual cures. Some of these remedies used things that only came after Spanish colonization, such as some animals. But the principles probably went far back to pre-contact times.

Access to western medications was very limited, so one has to keep in mind that necessity is the mother of invention. When one is sick, one takes what one can get.


TÅKE' BABUI



One Chamorro lady fried pig feces in oil and applied the paste to the part of her body that ached. She boasted how the pain went away. The French doctor remarked that it was simply the heat of the fried manure that did the trick.

The Frenchman only had to remember that the ancient Romans and Egyptians also used fecal matter, both human and animal, in various cures. The Romans, for example, considered that animal manure was good fertilizer. It made the land grow and produce. So perhaps it could also heal the human body. Cows and other ruminants ate herbs that were known for their healing properties, so the digested herbs in cow manure could possibly heal as well, so they thought.

Another Chamorro took canker sores that had come off and boiled them in water till half the liquid evaporated. In one gulp, she drank the brew and cured her stitches, which are cramps or aches around the abdomen or sides.


SPIDER'S WEB



To cure indigestion, rice flour is grilled with spider's web ( tararåñas or tiraråñas ), and then the powder is added to water and the patient is given this to drink.

Perhaps less distasteful, to us, were other ingredients used in remedies such as grease, charcoal and the soot of burnt shells.

In addition to these, our ancestors had recourse to the many and varied plants that had curative benefits. Although some of these plants are very bitter to the taste, we wouldn't find them as strange to consume as tåke' babui or tararåñas .

A BRITISH ADVENTURER IN THE MARIANAS

Tuesday, April 30, 2024



WILLIAM MANN
He knew Guam well


The Marianas were not his only "playground," but he lived, worked and romped around the Marianas for a good portion of his sea-faring life.

William Mann was born in 1816 in Kirby-le-Soken, Essex, England. He was one of eleven children and did not get along with his father. He left his parental home to make a life for himself at age fourteen. He took to the sea, and traveled to the Americas.

In 1834, at age 18, he joined a whaling ship, the Falcon , and that was his first arrival to the Marianas, where for two years the ship went in search of whales in our part of the Pacific.


FROM GUAM TO POHNPEI



While sailing around the northwestern Pacific, the Falcon got short on wood and water and happened to meet up with another ship whose captain recommended the Falcon follow them to Pohnpei, then called Ascension Island, where the paramount chief of the island was friendly to this captain.

In two days at Pohnpei, the Falcon got all they needed but, in departing the island, the ship was forced into a rock by the wind, tearing a hole in her. The crew managed to get hundreds of sperm whale oil onshore and the chief agreed to take care of them till they were able to leave again. But the Pohnpeians got so interested in the iron hoops that wrapped around the oil barrels that the barrels broke open, spilling and wasting the oil, when the islanders took off the hoops to use for their own desires.

The captain of the Falcon argued with the chief and made the fatal mistake of slapping him. Not long after, the Pohnpeians attacked the crew of the Falcon , killing many. Mann was among those who survived the attack. An English ship came to Pohnpei later seeking to avenge the massacre of the crew, but Mann had no idea the ship was coming and was in another island when it arrived and left, leaving Mann in the islands. For two more years Mann lived in Pohnpei just like a native, with minimal clothing, but always fearing the islanders.

He had good reason to fear them, because he was attacked one day by two of them. He survived, but lost some fingers when he raised his hand to protect his head from a cut, and his mouth was also severely damaged. Two of his fellow crew members bandaged him best they could and protected themselves with their guns. Finally, an American whaling ship came around and took them to Guam.


RECUPERATING AT GUAM


PAUL WILLIAM GEORGE
Guam's Doctor in the mid 1800s


Paul William George was an Anglo-Irishman who left the seaman's life to settle on Guam for good. He had some medical knowledge and was something of the island doctor on Guam in the mid 1800s. This was the founder of the George family here on Guam.  George treated William Mann's injuries "very skillfully," said a news report. But in the photo of Mann above, you can see that the injury to his mouth was never fully corrected.

Mann continued to live in the Marianas for between thirty and forty years! But he used Guam as a base from which he traveled all over the Pacific, buying and selling. He eventually got tattooed all over his body.


BURIED TREASURE ON PAGAN?


PAGAN


Stories had been going around for many years that treasure had been buried on one of the northern islands in the Marianas. No one knew for sure which island, but Pagan was always a favorite. For two years Mann and some allies dug around Pagan, to no avail.


HE AND HIS CHAMORRO CREW COMMANDEERED

Mann eventually became captain of his own small schooner, which had been stolen from the British, and he got into the business of carrying cargo up and down the Marianas and other islands in the area.

One day, while anchored at an island, nine Spanish prisoners who had escaped from Guam boarded his schooner and took over. Mann had a small crew of three or four Chamorro so they were outnumbered. The escaped prisoners forced him to sail to Yap and there he met the American Crayton Philo Holcomb, "married" to the Chamorro Bartola Garrido. A German ship came by and directed Mann to Hong Kong where, unfortunately, the British discovered that Mann's schooner had been stolen.


DOWN AND OUT IN HONG KONG



OLD HONG KONG

Deprived of the schooner, Mann barely eked a living for eleven years in Hong Kong. An English chaplain to seamen in Hong Kong took an interest in Mann's plight and managed to send Mann back to his native town in England, which he had abandoned more than fifty years earlier. There back in England he died penniless, surviving on the charity of kind people.

One has to admire the man. He frequently lived on the edge of destruction, but lived into his 80s. He lived in some of the most remote places on earth for the longest time, and died right back where he started at the place he was born.

A bachelor living among us in the Marianas all those years....who's to say he never fathered Chamorro children without marrying, whose descendants are still with us today?

KÅNTAN GUMA'YU'US : I FLECHAN YU'US

Tuesday, April 23, 2024


FLECHA MEANS "ARROW"

This is one of the better-known Chamorro hymns to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Alex Unpingco plays it in this video with parishioners joining in singing it.





LYRICS

I flechan Yu’us ha tokcha’ hit
(The arrow of God has pierced us)

I korason-ña ha guaiya hit.
(His heart has loved us.)

1. Håfa Jesus-ho i malago’-mo
(What, my Jesus, do you want)

Gi dinilok-mo nu i taotao?
(from your piercing of the people?) (1)

Yanggen i sensen pat i anti-ña
(If it be the flesh or its soul)

Yu’us Lahi-ña chuli’e’ hao.
(God the Son, take it for yourself.)

2. Guåho magåhet lånsan Longinos
(I am truly the lance of Longinus) (2)

Kalåktos, inos flumecha hao.
(Sharp, easily fitting, which pierced you.) (3) (4)

Tåya’ dumulok i korason-mo
(No one pierced your heart)

Na i patgon-mo ni guåho ha’.
(Except your child which I am.)

3. Sahguan guinaiya, figan na hotno
(Vessel of love, fiery furnace)

I korason-mo, mames Jesus.
(Is your heart, sweet Jesus.)

Tåya’ taiguennao na ginefli’e’
(There is no love like that)

Ha na’ ma li’e’ na si Yu’us.
(made visible except for God's.)

NOTES

(1) I interpret this to mean that our Lord pierces our hearts with His arrow of love in order to open our hearts to accept and be changed by His love. Love is repaid with love, as the Spanish saying goes. So we offer Jesus our bodies ( sensen , which means flesh) and the soul ( ånte ) which gives life to the body.

(2) Longinus (in Spanish Longinos) was, according to tradition, the Roman soldier who pieced Jesus' side with a lance (spear), opening the Lord's heart from which flowed blood and water, representing the Eucharist and Baptism. Longinus left the Roman army and became a Christian and later died for the faith and is considered a saint.




SAINT LONGINUS WITH SPEAR
Mary and Saint John at Calvary


(3) Flumecha means "to be arrowed." Although "arrowed" does exist in English, it isn't common.

(4) Inos means something that is able to slide into something else. Thus it can also mean slender. But a fat snake can still fit into a narrow crack, so even it is inos . When a hand can fit snuggly into a glove, or when a key can easily be inserted into a lock, those are all inos .


SPANISH ORIGINAL

Many of our Chamorro hymns are based on Spanish hymns. I Flechan Yu'us is taken from the Spanish hymn "Con Flecha Ardiente, " meaning "With a Fiery Arrow."

The Spanish version says :

Con flecha ardiente, dueño y Señor
(With a fiery arrow, master and Lord)
abre en mi pecho llaga de amor.
(open in my chest a wound of love.)




A lot of the Spanish original says the same thing, or contains the same images, as the Chamorro version. I won't give all of the Spanish lyrics, but here's some more which shows that the Chamorro version is based off the Spanish :

Tu amante pecho, no fue el soldado
fue mi pecado quien lo rasgó.

Your loving breast, it wasn't the soldier,
it was my sin which ripped it open.

The "soldier" mentioned is Longinus, as is named in the Chamorro version.

THE CINEMA THEATER

Tuesday, April 16, 2024


It was the most modern movie theater on Guam in its day.

The Cinema Theater opened on April 12, 1967 showing The Sound of Music, a huge hit musical that year. One of the last Hollywood blockbusters shown at the Cinema was the movie Titanic in 1997. That movie still ranks the third highest money-making film in cinematic history.




Besides having the latest equipment to show movies and a cinemascope screen 51 feet wide and 23 feet high, the entire theater was carpeted, air conditioned and filled with semi reclining, cushioned seats.

In the lobby, all the usual snacks could be bought at the concession stand.

There was enough space in the paved parking lot for 200 cars.

It cost over $500,000 to build. Today, that's around 4.7 million dollars.

Putting their money into the project as part-owners were Peter Sgro and Pedro Ada, Jr, among others.



ORIGINAL OWNERS
Peter Sgro (far left) and Pedro Ada, Jr (2nd from right)
and others involved in the new theater


NOT JUST FOR MOVIES



When Guam had far less venues that were fully air conditioned, the Cinema Theater made a great location for events in general. In 1971, the 125-plus graduates of the University of Guam received their diplomas at the Cinema Theater. The reception was right across the street at Hong Kong Gardens.

The theater was also used at times for fundraising events.

In time, the theater changed ownership over the years and closed for good sometime in the early 2000s.

Newer and larger movie theaters had come around and the movie-watching crowd went their way. Even halving the theater into two separate sections, A and B, showing different movies, was not enough to drum up business.


HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

The building still stands, now a Vietnamese restaurant after being used in a number of ways after the movie house shut down. And it has this one remaining historical significance. World-renowned violinist Isaac Stern played in concert at the Cinema on November 15, 1967 at the invitation of the Insular Arts Council.



ISAAC STERN PLAYING AT THE CINEMA



NOW A VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Wednesday, April 10, 2024


MAOLEK-ÑA HINATMEN SAKKE KE NI HINATMEN GUÅFE PAT TÅSI

(It is better to be invaded by a thief than by fire or the ocean.)


A thief usually steals just some things; no thief can carry away everything. But fire and water can destroy everything.

Siña pine'luye hao ni lina'lå'-mo ni sakke. Lao i guafe ha lalachai todo, yan i tasi todo ha chuchule' huyong.

A thief can let you keep your life. But fire consumes everything and the ocean carries out everything.

Remember in life - bad as it might be, it can always be worse.


FAMILIA : INDALECIO

Wednesday, April 3, 2024


The Indalecio clan in the Marianas probably goes back to a single individual with this last name who came to Guam sometime in the early 1800s from who knows where.

There are no Indalecios in the 1727 nor 1758 Guam Censuses, so the first Indalecio came later. The name is Spanish, so he could have come from Spain, Latin America or the Philippines.

But the Portuguese also have the name Indalecio, and a few Portuguese seamen did come to Guam, so we have to allow for that possibility.


SMALL FAMILY





In the 1897 Census of Guam, there are only EIGHT individuals with the last name Indalecio, and the exact relationship of about half of them, one to the other, is not entirely clear.

One Pedro Indalecio is mentioned in a document from 1856, and his signature (seen above) is even included. He could be the ancestor of these eight Indalecios in the 1897 Census (one of whom is named Pedro, probably after this older Pedro) but I have no evidence showing how he might be their ancestor.

The fact that this older Pedro Indalecio could, first of all, sign his name and with a firm hand and even with the flourish at the end shows that he was educated more than the average person on Guam at the time.

Of the eight Indalecios in the 1897 Census, there are only three men, none of them with children of their own who would carry the Indalecio name. One is older and married but without children, and the other two men are younger and still bachelors.

It is mainly the women who will have children, albeit out of wedlock, who will produce many Indalecio children, these illegitimate children keeping their single mothers' last name. We can list them as follows :

CLARA CRUZ INDALECIO

Clara was born around 1863. Apparently she never married but was the mother of

Pedro Indalecio , born around 1872. Pedro married Rufina Díaz Camacho, the daughter of Juan Camacho and María Díaz. Pedro and Rufina had more than half a dozen children, one of whom was Emeteria, who married Donald Kidd, and was the grandmother of Father Richard Kidd.

Another child, Juan, permanently moved to California in 1929; one of the early immigrants to the US mainland. He died in Alameda in 1986. He was married for a time, but late in life and never had children.

Pedro and Rufina's son José married María Mesa Camacho, the daughter of Francisco Camacho and María Mesa, and they had children, keeping the Indalecio name moving to the next generation.

Pedro had a sister María Indalecio , daughter of Clara. María had some children out of wedlock but it seems this line died out.

There was one more sister, Ana Indalecio . Ana had many more children than Pedro or María, all out of wedlock.

Ana's son Juan Indalecio married Ignacia Rojas Mafnas, the daughter of Antonio Mafnas and Lucía Rojas, and this line continued the Indalecio name.

Another son of Ana, Vicente Indalecio, married Rosario Rojas, the daughter of Ana Santos Rojas, and they had children, too, who in turn had their own children.

Interestingly, one of Ana's grandchildren went by the family nickname "Clara," who was his great-grandmother.


MARÍA DE LA ROSA INDALECIO

All we know for now is that there was another Indalecio woman named María de la Rosa Indalecio who was the mother of a daughter out of wedlock named ROSA INDALECIO.

Rosa in turn had many children out of wedlock, all of them daughters except for one son. There are many Indalecio grandchildren from Rosa's offspring.



SAIPAN LINE



THE GOVERNOR OF THE NORTHERN MARIANAS
Arnold Indalecio Palacios
a descendant of Mariano Reyes Indalecio of Guam


In 1897 there was a Mariano Indalecio living with the other Indalecios (Maria, who married de León, Clara and her children). He seems to have moved to Saipan at the turn of the century.

According to Saipan records, his full name was Mariano Reyes Indalecio, the son of Antonio Indalecio and Ana Reyes. We do not know yet what relationship Antonio had with the other Indalecios on Guam. He does not appear in any records at the time so he was presumably dead by 1897.

In Saipan, Mariano married María Muña Palacios, the daughter of José Palacios and Ana Muña. They had children who continued the Indalecio name in Saipan. The current Governor of the CNMI is a descendant.

OTHER INDALECIOS

Many others have Indalecio blood in them, but thanks to their mothers, so they carry their father's last names.

Some of these families who married Indalecio wives a long time ago were de León, Pérez, Salas and, more recently, Quichocho.

But if you're last name is Indalecio, you're either from CLARA's line or MARÍA's line, or MARIANO's line if you're an Indalecio from Saipan.


FAMILIAN RÅNA



Even in Spanish times, Pedro Indalecio went by the nickname RÅNA, which is Spanish for frog ( sapo is Spanish for toad). Other Indalecios also went by that same nickname.

The interesting thing is that there were no frogs or toads on Guam at that time. They came later. So how did Chamorros know the Spanish word for a critter that did not exist on Guam at the time? Of course it's possible they heard of it anyway, when stories are told or just from simple conversations.

Still, it's interesting (and a mystery) why someone should get that nickname.

So, some Indalecios go by Råna and sometimes by Clara. And the Quichochos who are also Indalecios often go by Råna.

KÅNTAN KUARESMA : ASI'E' ASAINA

Thursday, March 28, 2024


This Chamorro penitential hymn (a song of sorrow for one's sins) is sung in Saipan, Tinian and Luta (Rota) but is unknown on Guam. It's been sung in Saipan since before World War II. Many people, especially the older folks, can sing at least the first verse and chorus from memory.

The words are inspired by an old hymn in Latin called Miserere et Parce , which means "Have mercy and spare." This suggests that whoever wrote the Chamorro knew the Latin hymn and what it meant, so probably one of the missionary priests or perhaps a very educated Chamorro.

The recording was live at a Mass at Kristo Rai Church, Garapan, Saipan.




LYRICS

Asi'e' Asaina, asi'e' i sengsong-mo (1)
ya un na' fan libre nu i sen guaguan hagå'-mo.
( Pardon , Lord, pardon your people
and free them through your most precious blood .)

1. O yo'ase' Yu'os-ho gai ase' nu guåho;
i dångkulon kompasion-mo u funas todo i isao-ho . (2)
( O my merciful God, have mercy on me;
your great compassion will erase all my sins. )

2. Un fa'gåse todo i chine'tan-ho,
pot todo i isao-ho; un nå'e yo' ginasgås-ho.
( You wash away all my defects,
on account of my sins; you give me purity .)

3. Sen mañotsot yo' ni linachi-ho;
ya i isao-ho gagaige ha' gi me'nå-mo.
( I truly repent of my errors,
and my sins are always before you .)

4. Umisao yo' Asaina ya hågo hu isague;
gi me'nan i inatan-mo i linachi-ho nai hu cho'gue.
( I have sinned Lord and offended you;
before your sight I have committed by sins .)

5. Nina' magof hao nu i sinsero korason-ho;
gi hinalom-ho un fanå'gue yo' tai ine'son.
( You are pleased with my sincere heart;
within me you have taught me tirelessly .)


NOTES

(1) Songsong means a community, a village,  but by extension it means the people who make up that community or village.

(2) Kompasion is a Spanish loan word and is used and understood by older Chamorros, but not as much as yine'ase ', meaning the same thing.

FORGOTTEN SHIBATA

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

TETSUO SHIBATA MEMORIAL


No; the above Japanese marker is not in Japan. It was in Pigo' Catholic Cemetery in Guam.

It belonged to a Japanese resident of Guam who is so forgotten that his name does not appear in a list of Japanese settlers on Guam compiled by third-generation Japanese descendants on Guam.

But there's an understandable reason for this.

The man, José (Tetsuo) Shibata, left no descendants on Guam after he died very, very early under American rule. He does not appear in the 1920 Guam Census or thereafter, and court documents mention him only up to 1912.


ONE OF THE FIRST JAPANESE



HIKI STORE IN HAGÅTÑA IN EARLY 1900s

Shibata is already on Guam by 1900. That's only two years after the United States took possession of Guam and only one year after the Americans sent an actual Governor for the island. He was on Guam ahead of many other Japanese who came a little later.

In 1900, he is employed as an agent of the HIKI TRADING COMPANY , a Japanese business that set up a store on Guam. Japanese and other goods were to be sold; and the Japanese were also interested in buying Guam-produced copra (dried coconut meat).

Court documents show that Shibata was a native of Shimabara, a small city close to Nagasaki. His father was Daichiro and his mother was Taki.

On Guam he married a Chamorro woman from a prestigious clan. The Herreros were the descendants of a former Spanish Governor of the Marianas, José Ganga Herrero. Vicenta Cruz Herrero was the governor's granddaughter. She had first married a man with the last name Rosendo, but he had died by the time Vicenta met Shibata.

Shibata was baptized a Roman Catholic in the Hagåtña Church in order to marry Vicenta. He took for his Christian name José María.

He was born around 1873, so he was in his late 20s when he came to Guam. Vicenta, however, was older, being born in the 1860s. She being in her 40s, perhaps she wasn't able to conceive and thus no children were born to them.


BUSY BUSINESSMAN

One thing is for sure and that was Shibata was a busy businessman. His constant movement in business brought him to court many times, and thus we have documented evidence of his activities.

Evidently he parted ways with the Hiki Company and went into business for himself.

In his short time on earth, dying sometime in the 1910s, Shibata ran a STORE, a SALOON or bar, and even an eatery which he called the SUNRISE CAFE.

He was frequently in court trying to recover his money from people who owed him.

Alas, he lived too short and left no children, leaving us only the memory of him in court documents and in one photograph of Pigo' Cemetery which just happens to include his grave marker.





LENTEN HYMN : MAILA' GEF MAÑOTSOT

Tuesday, March 12, 2024


In Santa Rita they sing a Lenten hymn that is in the Lepblon Kånta (Chamorro hymn book for all of Guam from before the war) but which I have never heard sung anywhere else.

It is called MAILA' GEF MAÑOTSOT and it is based on the Spanish Lenten hymn VEN A PENITENCIA (Come to Penance).





LYRICS

Maila' gef mañotsot gi guma'yu'us / maila' as Tatå-mo guine as Jesus.
(Come, truly repentant, to church / come to your Father here who is Jesus.)

Gutos i kadena / ni i geddede-mo / ya un ta'lo mågi gi inisague-mo;
(Break the chains / of your bondage / and come here again to the one you have offended;)
mampos i isao-mo / gi me'nan Yu'us.
(your sins overflow / before God.)

Hokkok i minaolek / i ginefli'e'-ña / hokkok i mineggai / i mina'ase'-ña;
(To the limit is the goodness / of His love / and the abundance / of His mercy;)
maila' as Tatå-mo / guiya si Jesus.
(come to your Father / He who is Jesus.)

Asaina hu tungo' / i tinailaye-ko / na hu isague hao / ni i minaolek-ho;
(Lord I know / my evil / that I have sinned against you / who are my good;)
gai ase' nu guåho / Asaina Yu'us.
( have mercy on me / Lord God .)


COMPARE WITH THE SPANISH ORIGINAL

The Spanish starts this way with the refrain :

Ven a penitencia, ya no peques más; ven a penitencia y te salvarás.
Come to penance, and sin no more; come to penance, and you will save yourself.

So whoever translated the Spanish into the Chamorro version strayed a bit from the Spanish original in order to rhyme in Chamorro (Guma'yu'us / Jesus) and to keep within the number of notes.

But the next verse stays a bit closer to the Spanish original :

Rompe la cadena, que te tiene atado; ¡ay! que es grande pena ver a Dios airado;
llora tu pecado y te librarás .
Break the chain which has you tied; oh what a great sorrow to see God angry;
weep over your sins and you will free yourself.


SOME GRAMMAR NOTES

1) Usually, the definite article "i" (the) would change guma'yu'us to gima'yu'us , but the song doesn't follow that rule for some reason, even though it does in godde (tie) which becomes " i geddede-mo ."

2) People think hokkok means "finished, exhausted, used up." But it really means "the ultimate point or limit." When all the food is finished, depleted, used up, it has reached its final or ultimate limit. God is tai hinekkok , without limit. But our mañaina used to say things like, "Hokkok i minagof-ho!" or "Hokkok i piniti-ho!" not to express that they no longer had joy or sorrow but that their joy or sorrow has reached its ultimate point or limit; that they had so much joy (or sorrow) that they couldn't be any fuller of it.


THE STORY OF SISTER ANTONIETA

Tuesday, March 5, 2024


SISTER ANTONIETA ADA


Her last name was Ada, but she didn't have a drop of Chamorro blood in her.

But it didn't matter.

The end of war in Saipan in 1944 would give this orphaned Japanese girl a new name and a new identity.

This Japanese girl, 10 years old, would become Chamorro, a Catholic and a Mercedarian Sister.

Later in life, she would recover much of her Japanese roots.

Kimiko Nishikawa was born in Saipan on April 24, 1934, the daughter of a Japanese couple that had moved to Saipan under Japanese rule, like thousands of other Japanese had done. Kimiko was one of six children born to her parents. Her father Tsunetaro was a reserve officer in the Imperial Japanese Army, but before the war broke out he was in the tapioca business on Saipan.

In 1944, when Kimiko was only 10 years old, her parents and all her siblings except her oldest brother, Taiichi, died in the battle between the Japanese and American forces.

An American Marine officer, Lieutenant James Albert Granier, came across Kimiko, bereft of her parents, in what the Americans called Death Valley, the scene of horrific fighting on Saipan's eastern side, in what is properly called Papago.

When Kimiko's mother was hit by American machine gun fire, Kimiko panicked and ran off, believing her mother to be dead  Eventually she got separated from her mother, wounded but not yet dead, but then met up with her brother and other Japanese. They surrendered to the Americans and were taken to Camp Susupe, where they were reunited with their wounded mother, but not for long. Her mother eventually died from her wounds at the camp.



MARINE LT. JAMES GRANIER


Granier was Catholic and became friendly with Saipan's priest, the Spanish Father José Tardío. Granier collected money from fellow American soldiers and put them in a sock to give to the priest to help rebuild Garapan's bombed-out church.

Father Tighe was another Catholic priest who knew Kimiko, the future Antonieta. He was a military chaplain who took to heart the dire situation of the Catholics of Saipan, including the Mercedarian Sisters. He was instrumental in bringing the Mercedarians to work in the United States.



ANTONIETA WITH FATHER TIGHE
not long after surviving the Battle of Saipan


But Granier also had one concern. What would become of Kimiko? Father Tardío told him she would be cared for by a Chamorro family. Father Tardío baptized Kimiko, and Granier was present, as proud as can be. Her Christian name was Antonieta, named after Granier's mother Antonietta. A few days later, James Granier was killed in the Battle of Tinian.


THE ADAS



ANTONIETA IN THE MIDDLE
with her adoptive family
on the right Juan Martínez Ada and wife Ana seated
an aunt on the left


Juan Martínez Ada was one of Saipan's most prominent men. Born on Guam, he was raised on Saipan as a child when his parents moved there. Brought up under the Spanish and German flags, conversant in both languages besides Chamorro, Japanese and English, he emerged after the war as a Chamorro leader the Americans could rely on. Ada became a post-war mayor of Saipan.

He had also been friends with Tsunetaro, Antonieta's (Kimiko's) father.  Ada had lost two children in their youth and took a liking to Kimiko, then just 2 or 3 years old. The Nishikawas allowed Kimiko to spend much time with the Adas. It got to the point that Kimiko wasn't sure who her parents were; the Japanese or the Chamorro ones. She even began to wonder who was this Japanese man, her father, who would periodically visit her and give her sweets.

But when Kimiko became of school age, she had to reconnect with her Japanese parents because Kimiko had to go to the school set up for Japanese children, and not go to the school for Chamorro children. So, Kimiko would live with her Japanese parents when school was in session, and during vacation time Kimiko would be with the Adas. "In school I was Japanese," she said. "After school I was Chamorro."

It wasn't all pleasant for her at Japanese school, as her fellow Japanese classmates considered her less than Japanese, calling her toming , a Japanese word literally meaning "island person." It was meant as a put-down, and the term was applied to all islanders, whether Chamorro, Carolinian, Chuukese, Palauan and the rest.

After the Americans took over Saipan, Ada came to Camp Susupe and found Kimiko's dying mother. She told Ada that Kimiko was still in the jungle and for Ada to take her, as she was his "daughter." When Kimiko's mother died in the camp, Ada came and took Kimiko to be raised as his own daughter. Kimiko's brother was forbidden by Japanese law to be adopted by Ada. Only Japanese girls could be so adopted by non-Japanese, but Japanese boys could not, according to Japanese law. Her brother was sent to Japan with all the other Japanese war refugees.

Kimiko, now named Antonieta, settled in with Juan and his wife Ana Crisóstomo Cepeda, and took their last name. She now spoke only Chamorro (and later began to learn English), and her grasp of Japanese weakened to the point of forgetting most of it.



AMERICAN GI WITH JAPANESE CHILD
Camp Susupe, Saipan




SHE BECOMES A MERCEDARIAN SISTER

In 1963, Antonieta entered the Mercedarian Missionaries of Berriz, a Spanish community of missionary sisters who came to Saipan in 1928.  She had been attracted to the life of the Sisters since her teens and wanted to join, but her mother Ana opposed it. "Wait until I die," Ana kept telling Antonieta. The Adas had no children living except for Antonieta, and in Chamorro culture it was the daughters, more than the sons, who took care of the elderly parents, especially the mother, in their daily needs. But time was ticking, and one can become too old to be accepted into the convent, so at age 29 Antonieta joined the Mercedarians.

Prior to joining the Sisters, Antonieta had experience in the working world, being a secretary for some official. She had pursued some studies and had traveled. She kept in touch with her Ada relatives on Guam, siblings of her father who had decided to return and do business on Guam. A close relative was a priest on Guam, Monsignor José Ada León Guerrero, son of her father Juan's sister.

After being accepted by the Sisters, she was sent to the Mercedarian house in Kansas City, Missouri and continued her education. She then returned to teach in Saipan "to give back" to her island community, as she said. She also worked in Palau and the Philippines.

She often had asked God before, "Of all the Nishikawa children (to survive), why me?" Perhaps she found her answer in her religious calling to serve the Church and the people.

Before she entered the convent, Antonieta took advantage of an American merchant ship going from Saipan to Japan. She, and a number of Saipanese, sailed in the ship to Japan, where Antonieta met her brother for the first time since the war. He could not speak English, and she had forgotten her Japanese.


RECLAIMING HER JAPANESE ROOTS

In 1977, Sister Antonieta began an eleven-year residence in Japan, where she re-learned Japanese and worked as a missionary sister. For the first two years in Japan, she studied Japanese. Then she did missionary work. She and her older brother would visit each other at least once a year.

But her Saipan roots were much deeper and she returned to her homeland in 1988, and began teaching Japanese at Mount Carmel School in Chalan Kanoa and at Marianas High School in Susupe.


HEALING FROM TRAUMA

Words fail to express the trauma Sister Antonieta experienced through life. The complications of living in two worlds as a child; a Japanese world and a Chamorro one. Her body subjected to the explosion of bombs and the whizzing of bullets, all the while hiding in caves and under trees in the jungle, with little to no food or water, with the smell and sight of death all around her; the loss of her parents and all her siblings save one, her own life at risk.

It's no surprise that at first she hated the Americans, but not for long. The hatred went away but she had no desire to interact with them. In time, especially when she found a job in an island government office with American supervisors, she learned to be comfortable around Americans.

She credited her healing from all these emotional wounds to the total and unconditional love of Juan and Ana Ada. They gave her all they could, especially their faith in God. Sister said, "We do not know the things God has planned for us, but they all work out for our good."

Sister Antonieta passed away on Saipan in 2016. U såga gi minahgong . Rest in peace.






THANKS to Sister MaryAnn Hartmann of the Mercedarian Sisters in Saipan for many of the photos in this article.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA

LA HISTORIA DE SOR ANTONIETA ADA, MMB

Su apellido era Ada, pero no tenía ni una gota de sangre chamorra.

Pero no importó.

El fin de la guerra en Saipán en 1944 le daría a esta niña japonesa huérfana un nuevo nombre y una nueva identidad.

Esta niña japonesa, de 10 años, se convertiría en chamorra, católica y Hermana Mercedaria.

Más adelante en la vida recuperaría gran parte de sus raíces japonesas.

Kimiko Nishikawa nació en Saipán el 24 de abril de 1934, hija de una pareja japonesa que se había mudado a Saipán bajo el dominio japonés, como lo habían hecho miles de otros japoneses. Kimiko fue una de los seis hijos de sus padres. Su padre Tsunetaro era un oficial de reserva en el ejército imperial japonés, pero antes de que estallara la guerra estaba en el negocio de la tapioca en Saipán.

En 1944, cuando Kimiko tenía sólo 10 años, sus padres y todos sus hermanos, excepto su hermano mayor, Taiichi, murieron en la batalla entre las fuerzas japonesas y estadounidenses.

Un oficial de los Marines estadounidenses, el teniente James Albert Granier, se encontró con Kimiko, privada de sus padres, en lo que los estadounidenses llamaban el Valle de la Muerte, escenario de horribles combates en el lado oriental de Saipán, en lo que propiamente se llama Pápago.

Cuando la madre de Kimiko fue alcanzada por fuego de ametralladora estadounidense, Kimiko entró en pánico y salió corriendo, creyendo que su madre estaba muerta. Finalmente se separó de su madre, herida pero aún no muerta, pero luego se encontró con su hermano y otros japoneses. Se rindieron a los estadounidenses y fueron llevados al Campamento Susupe, donde se reunieron con su madre herida, pero no por mucho tiempo. Su madre finalmente murió a causa de sus heridas en el campo.

Granier era católico y se hizo amigo del sacerdote de Saipán, el cura español José Tardío. Granier recaudó dinero de sus compañeros soldados estadounidenses y los puso en un calcetín para dárselo al sacerdote para ayudar a reconstruir la iglesia bombardeada de Gárapan.

El Padre Tighe fue otro sacerdote católico que conoció a Kimiko, la futura Antonieta. Era un capellán militar que tomó en serio la terrible situación de los católicos de Saipán, incluidas las Hermanas Mercedarias. Tuvo un papel decisivo para que las Mercedarias trabajaran en los Estados Unidos.

Pero Granier también tenía una preocupación. ¿Qué sería de Kimiko? El Padre Tardío le dijo que la cuidaría una familia chamorra. El Padre Tardío bautizó a Kimiko y Granier estuvo presente, muy orgulloso. Su nombre de pila era Antonieta, en honor a la madre de Granier, Antonietta. Unos días más tarde, James Granier murió en la batalla de Tinián.

Juan Martínez Ada fue uno de los hombres más destacados de Saipán. Nacido en Guam, se crió en Saipán cuando era niño cuando sus padres se mudaron allí. Criado bajo las banderas española y alemana, versado en ambos idiomas además del chamorro, el japonés y el inglés, emergió después de la guerra como un líder chamorro en el que los estadounidenses podían confiar. Ada se convirtió en alcalde de Saipán en la posguerra.

También había sido amigo de Tsunetaro, el padre de Antonieta (Kimiko). Ada había perdido a dos hijos en su juventud y le tomó cariño a Kimiko, que entonces tenía solo 2 o 3 años. Los Nishikawa le permitieron a Kimiko pasar mucho tiempo con los Ada. Llegó al punto en que Kimiko no estaba segura de quiénes eran sus padres; los japoneses o los chamorros. Incluso empezó a preguntarse quién era ese japonés, su padre, que periódicamente la visitaba y le regalaba dulces.

Pero cuando Kimiko llegó a la edad escolar, tuvo que volver a conectarse con sus padres japoneses porque Kimiko tenía que ir a la escuela creada para niños japoneses y no a la escuela para niños chamorros. Entonces, Kimiko viviría con sus padres japoneses cuando la escuela estuviera en sesión, y durante las vacaciones Kimiko estaría con los Ada. "En la escuela yo era japonesa", dijo. "Después de la escuela yo era chamorra".

No todo fue agradable para ella en la escuela japonesa, ya que sus compañeros japoneses la consideraban menos que japonesa y la llamaban “toming,” una palabra japonesa que literalmente significa "persona de la isla". Tenía la intención de despreciar y el término se aplicó a todos los isleños, ya fueran chamorros, carolinos, chuukeses, palauanos y el resto.

Después de que los estadounidenses se apoderaron de Saipán, Ada llegó al Campamento Susupe y encontró a la madre moribunda de Kimiko. Ella le dijo a Ada que Kimiko todavía estaba en la selva y que Ada la llevaría, ya que era su "hija". Cuando la madre de Kimiko murió en el campo, Ada vino y se llevó a Kimiko para que la criara como su propia hija. La ley japonesa prohibía que Ada adoptara al hermano de Kimiko. Sólo las niñas japonesas podían ser adoptadas por no japoneses, pero los niños japoneses no, según la ley japonesa. Su hermano fue enviado a Japón con todos los demás refugiados de guerra japoneses.

Kimiko, ahora llamada Antonieta, se instaló con Juan y su esposa Ana Crisóstomo Cepeda, y tomó su apellido. Ahora sólo hablaba chamorro (y más tarde comenzó a aprender inglés), y su comprensión del japonés se debilitó hasta el punto de olvidar la mayor parte.

En 1963, Antonieta ingresó a las Misioneras Mercedarias de Bérriz, una comunidad española de hermanas misioneras que llegó a Saipán en 1928. Se había sentido atraída por la vida de las Hermanas desde su adolescencia y quería unirse, pero su madre Ana se opuso. "Espera hasta que me muera", le decía Ana a Antonieta. Los Ada no tenían hijos vivos excepto Antonieta, y en la cultura chamorra eran las hijas, más que los hijos, quienes cuidaban de los padres ancianos, especialmente de la madre, en sus necesidades diarias. Pero el tiempo corría y uno puede llegar a ser demasiado viejo para ser aceptado en el convento, por lo que a los 29 años Antonieta se unió a las Mercedarias.

Antes de incorporarse a las Hermanas, Antonieta tuvo experiencia en el mundo laboral, siendo secretaria de algún funcionario. Había realizado algunos estudios y había viajado. Se mantuvo en contacto con sus parientes Ada en Guam, hermanos de su padre que habían decidido regresar y hacer negocios en Guam. Un pariente cercano era un sacerdote en Guam, Monseñor José Ada León Guerrero, hijo de la hermana de su padre Juan.

Después de ser aceptada por las Hermanas, fue enviada a la casa Mercedaria en Kansas City, Missouri y continuó su educación. Luego regresó a Saipán para enseñar "para retribuir" a su comunidad isleña, como ella dijo. También trabajó en Palau y Filipinas.

A menudo le había preguntado a Dios: "De todos los niños Nishikawa (que sobrevivieron), ¿por qué yo?". Quizás encontró su respuesta en su vocación religiosa de servir a la Iglesia y al pueblo.

Antes de ingresar al convento, Antonieta aprovechó un barco mercante estadounidense que iba de Saipán a Japón. Ella y varios saipaneses navegaron en el barco hacia Japón, donde Antonieta conoció a su hermano por primera vez desde la guerra. Él no hablaba inglés y ella se había olvidado del japonés.

En 1977, la Hermana Antonieta comenzó una residencia de once años en Japón, donde volvió a aprender japonés y trabajó como hermana misionera. Durante los dos primeros años en Japón, estudió japonés. Luego hizo obra misionera. Ella y su hermano mayor se visitaban al menos una vez al año.

Pero sus raíces en Saipán eran mucho más profundas y regresó a su tierra natal en 1988, y comenzó a enseñar japonés en la escuela Mount Carmel en Chalan Kanoa y en la escuela secundaria Marianas en Susupe.

Las palabras no logran expresar el trauma que la Hermana Antonieta experimentó a lo largo de la vida. Las complicaciones de vivir en dos mundos cuando era niño; un mundo japonés y uno chamorro. Su cuerpo sometido a la explosión de bombas y al zumbido de las balas, mientras se escondía en cuevas y debajo de los árboles en la selva, con poca o ninguna comida ni agua, con el olor y la vista de la muerte a su alrededor; la pérdida de sus padres y de todos sus hermanos salvo uno, su propia vida en riesgo.

No sorprende que al principio odiara a los estadounidenses, pero no por mucho tiempo. El odio desapareció pero ella no tenía ningún deseo de interactuar con ellos. Con el tiempo, especialmente cuando encontró un trabajo en una oficina gubernamental de la isla con supervisores estadounidenses, aprendió a sentirse cómoda con los estadounidenses.

Ella atribuyó la curación de todas estas heridas emocionales al amor total e incondicional de Juan y Ana Ada. Le dieron todo lo que pudieron, especialmente su fe en Dios. La Hermana dijo: "No sabemos las cosas que Dios ha planeado para nosotros, pero todas resultan para nuestro bien".

Sor Antonieta falleció en Saipán en 2016. Que descanse en paz.


JAPANESE VERSION
(translated by Sister Yasuko, MMB)

「シスター・アントニエタ・アダの物語」

執筆者 エリック・フォーブス神父による 2024 3 8

[ シスター・アントニエタ・アダ ]

彼女の名前はアダですが、チャモロ人の血を受け継いではいません。

日米の激戦地となったサイパンで、彼女は孤児になりました。 1994 年、彼女の10才のときでした。彼女は戦後、新しい名前と新しいアイデンティティのもとで、チャモロ人として育ち、メルセス会修道院のシスターになるのですが、やがてときを経て、彼女は日本人としてのルーツを取り戻していくことになります。

彼女の本名は西川きみ子。日本の信託統治領であった時代のサイパンで 1934 4 24 日に日本人夫婦の娘として生まれました。日本の信託統治領に移住してきた多くの日本人と同様に、きみ子の両親もサイパンに移住してきた家族でした。きみ子は 6 番目の子どもでした。お父さんの“つね太郎”さんは、帝国日本軍の予備役将校でありましたが、サイパンでの戦争が始まる前には、タピオカのビジネスに従事していました。

しかし、1994年の日本軍と米軍の戦火は、彼女の両親と兄弟の生命を奪ってしまいます。

残されたのは、きみ子と長男の太一さんだけになったのです。

米軍の海兵隊士官であったジェームズ・アルバート・グラニエル中尉は、サイパン東部の“死の谷”地域(パパンゴと呼ばれる地域)で、一人逃げ惑っていたきみ子を発見します。“死の谷”とは、多くの日本人と日本兵が追い込まれて、無数の死者を出した地域で、米軍が“死の谷”と名付けた名前でした。そこで、きみ子の母も、米軍の砲弾に打たれて傷を負い倒れてしまったのですが、きみ子は、母は死んでしまったと思ってパニックになり、戦火の中を一人で逃げていたのです。

でも、きみ子の母は重傷を負いつつも、死んではいなかったのです。

[ 海兵隊士官 ジェームズ・アルバート・グラニエルさん ]

日本軍は敗れ、きみ子たちは、ススペにある米軍キャンプに連れていかれました。そこできみ子は、重傷を負っていた母と再会しますが、母はまもなく息を引き取ります。

きみ子の兄弟(太一さん以外)と父がどこで、どのように死んだかはわかっていません。おそらく戦火の中で死んで行ったと思われます。


[ 米軍兵士と日本人の子ども ススペのキャンプにて ]

きみ子を発見して、キャンプに連れて行ったグラニエル中尉は、カトリック信者でした。スペイン人のホセ・タルディオ神父と親しくなり、仲間の米軍兵士から金を集めては、破壊されたガラパン教会の再建のために寄付を行なった人でもありました。

グラニエル中尉は、孤児となったきみ子のその後について心配し、タルディオ神父に相談をします。タルディオ神父は、きみ子はチャモロ人の家族によって世話をされることになるだろうと答えます。タルディオ神父は、きみ子に洗礼を授け、グラニエル中尉も同席し、きみ子にアントニエタという礼名を授けました。その洗礼名は、グラニエル中尉の母の名前をとったものでした。

その時期、サイパンはすでに米軍の手に落ちていましたが、対岸のティニアン島では、まだ戦火がつづいており、グラニエル中尉はティニアン島に派兵され、数日後に戦死してしまいます。

[ アダさん家族 ]

きみ子を引き取ったホアン・マルティネス・アダさんは、かねてからサイパンで著明な人物でした。彼はグアムで生まれた後に、両親と共にサイパンに移住し、サイパンがスペインとドイツの統治下にあった時代に育ち、チャモロ語、英語、スペイン語とドイツ語に精通していました。そして日本の信託統治時代には、日本語をも習得していました。

アダさんは、日本の信託統治時代に、きみ子の父、西川つねたろうさんの友人でもあった人でした。アダさんは、若いときに自分の 2 人の子どもをなくしていたので、きみ子が2才から3才のときに、きみ子を自分の家に連れてきは、大変可愛がっていました。

きみ子の父も、きみ子がアダさんといっしょに過すのを許していました。

こうしたことから、後にきみ子は、自分の両親が誰であったか、日本人であったのか、チャモロ人であるのかを思い出せないほど、アダさんに近かった幼い日々を過していたのでした。

日本人の男性が、ときどき訪ねてきては、お菓子を彼女にくれたという思い出があるだけで、その日本人が誰であるのかという記憶は残ってはいませんでした。

学校に行く年齢になってきみ子は、チャモロ人の子どもたちが行く学校ではなく、日本人の子どもが通う学校に行かされるようになったことから、自分が日本人の両親の子どもであったことを知ることになります。学期中は日本人の両親と共に暮らし、休暇にはアダさん家族とともに過しました。「学校では日本人」と言われて過し、「学校以外ではチャモロ人」として過していたのです。

日本人学校のクラスメートたちからは、日本人以下として扱われ、「島民」と呼ばれて蔑まれていました。日本人たちは、チャモロ人のことを「島民」と言って見下していたからです。日本人はチャモロ人、キャロリニアン、トラック人、パラオ人たちを、「島民」として蔑んで呼んでいました。

こうしたことから日本人学校は、きみ子にとって居心地の良い場所ではありませんでした。

米軍によるサイパン占領後、アダさんは、ススペにある被災者キャンプで、死ぬ間際のきみ子の母に出会います。きみ子の母はアダさんに、「きみ子はまだジャングルの中にいるから探し出して、アダさんの娘にしてください」と頼んだのです。

きみ子を引き取ることを約束したアダさんでしたが、日本統治下の法律では、日本人の女性を養子にすることは許されていましたが、日本人の男性を養子にすることは禁じられていたため、アダさんはきみ子の兄を引き取ることはできませんでした。

きみ子の兄は、他の多くの日本人の男の子と同じように、戦災孤児として日本に送られていったのでした。

きみ子は、アントニエタとして、アダさんとその妻アナ・クリゾストモ・セペダさんの養女となり、アダさんの名前を頂いて、アントニエタ・アダとなりました。

戦後、アダさんは信頼されるチャモロ人の指導者として頭角を現わし、米国統治下のサイパンでの行政長官となっていきました。

アントニエタは、最初はチャモロ語しかしゃべれませんでしたが、後に英語を学び、次第に、彼女のなかで日本人としてのアイデンティティは、希薄なものになっていきました。

[ タイ神父とアントニエタ サイパンでの戦争直後 ]

米国人のタイ神父は、きみ子を知っていたもう一人の神父で、米軍のチャプレンでした。メルセス会を米国での宣教への道筋を開いた人でもありました。メルセス会は、1928年にサイパンに来たスペイン人の宣教女によって設立された修道会でした。

彼は、きみ子をカトリック教会とベリス・メルセス宣教修道女会のシスターたちに出会わせることになります。

[ アントニエタはメルセス会修道院のシスターになる ]

1963 年にアントニエタはメルセス会修道院に入会します。

10代の頃から、アントニエタは、シスターたちの生き方に惹きつけられ、修道院に入りたいと願うようになりました。でも養母のアナさんは、それに反対し、「私が死ぬまで待って」と言っていたのです。

年老いた両親の面倒を見ること、特に母親の日々の面倒を見ることは、息子ではなく、娘であるという風習があったからです。

でも、時が流れ、アントニエタが29才になったとき、ついにアナさんは許可を与えます。シスターになる前に、アントニエタは社会経験として、どこかの役所で秘書として働く経験もしました。その間、勉強もし、旅行もしました。グアムに行ったときには、グアムに戻ってビジネスの仕事をしていたアダさんの兄弟や、高位聖職者となっていたホセ・アダ・レオンゲレロ神父(アダさんの妹の息子)とも出会いました。

メルセス会のシスターとして受け入れられたアントニエタは、やがてミズリー州にあるカンサス・シティのメルセス会修道院に派遣され、そこで勉学をすることになりました。

サイパンに戻ってからは、サイパンのコムニティーへの恩返しとして学校で教え、さらにパラオやフィリピンでも働きました。

アントニエタは、しばしば神の前で問いかけたのです。「生き残った西川家の子どもの中で、主よ、なぜ私を選ばれ、この道に導かれたのですか」。

修道院に入る前に、日本に行く船でサイパンの人々とともに、日本を訪問する機会もあったアントニエタでしたので、日本を訪れたときに、戦後始めて日本人の兄に出会いました。兄は英語を話せず、アントニエタは日本語を忘れていました。

日本人としてのルーツを取り戻して・・・

1977年になって、アントニエタは日本のメルセス会修道院に、日本語の学び直しと、宣教活動のために派遣されます。最初の 2 年間に日本語の勉強をし、その後に宣教活動を始めました。この期間にアントニエタは、年に一度は兄を訪問し、兄も彼女を訪問する機会をもったのでした。

しかし、彼女の人生において、サイパンというルーツは、やはり最も深いものでありました。1988年に、彼女は故郷のサイパンに戻ったのです。そしてサイパンのチャランカノアのモン・カルメル高校と、ススペのマリアナ高校で日本語を教え始めます。

トラウマからの癒し

シスターアントニエタの抱いていたトラウマを言葉で表現するのは、とても困難です。子ども時代に、日本人として、チャモロ人として経験した複雑な二つの世界。戦火の下での爆弾の破裂や、銃弾の音、水も食べ物もなく、ジャングルの洞穴や樹の下に隠れて過したこと。延々と横たわる死体をこの目で見、その死臭を嗅いだこと。

両親の死と兄弟との生き別れ、自らの生命を失う危険の中での逃避行の記憶などなど。

米軍との戦いの体験から当初、彼女が米国人に対して嫌悪を抱いていたのは当然でもありました。それはすこしずつ変化して行くものの、米国人と交流することへの抵抗は残っていました。しかし入会前に、政府のオフィスで米国人の監督者たちと共に働いた経験から、その気持ちは変わっていったのでした。

彼女が、過去の辛い経験の感情的な傷から癒されていったのは、彼女を養女としたアダさん夫妻の、彼女への、全面的、無条件の愛のおかげでありました。 2 人は彼女に、できる限りのこと、特に神への信仰を与えてくださったのです。

「神による私たちへの計らいを知ることはできません。でも、その全てが良い結果をもたらしてくださったのです」と彼女は語っています。

シスター・アントニエタ・アダは、 2016 年に 9 15 日に、サイパンで平和のうちに生涯を終え、帰天していかれました。

[ マトゥラナ・ヒルにあるシスター・アントニエタ・アダの墓石 ]

注:

◆筆者は、グアムやサイパンの当時の歴史を記す著述家でもあるエリック・フォーブス神父、グアム在住のカプチン会の神父です。

◆写真はサイパンのシスター・メリアン・ハートマンを通して提供されました。

◆なお、サイパンの歴史状況という背後をわかりやすくするために、文章に手を加えさせていただいた部分があります。また、筆者のエリック・フォーブス神父や、メリアン・ハートマンとメールを交わして、文章や写真の意味を確認しながら訳しました。

訳者 清水靖子

GINEN CHÅLAN I PATGON

Wednesday, February 28, 2024


Some of our mañaina (elders) in the past believed that an infant or child could get sick if an adult was so attracted to the child and had the urge to touch or hold the child ( magoddai ) but didn't carry through with it.

When an adult, or even someone in their teens, liked a baby so much that he or she wanted to touch the baby, he or she should do so, and be allowed to do so, otherwise the baby might get sick.

Parents and others would suspect this was the case when a child suddenly became sick for no apparent reason or couldn't sleep, and cried instead of sleep.

One older lady explained it to me, " Ma espia eyi i uttimo na taotao ali'e'-ña para u ma na' seguro na ha pacha pat ha de'on, sa' magoddai lao ti ma nå'e chånsa, ti ha de'on, ti ha pacha. Ma fa'nana'an lokkue' ginen chålan i patgon, ya nesesita na u ma espia håye uttimo mumagoddai nu i nene, nu i patgon ya u ma nå'e chånsa para u pacha, u kariño ."

" They look for the last person the child met to make sure he or she touched or pinched the child, because he or she had the urge to, but wasn't given the chance to pinch or touch the child. It's also called "the child came from the street," and it's necessary to look for the last person who got the urge to touch the child to give him or her the chance to touch or be affectionate with the child ."

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Tuesday, February 13, 2024


MUNGNGA MA FANU'E YANGGEN UNO HA'

Don't show it if there's only one of it.


Why?

Because you're supposed to share.

So don't even SHOW it exists if there's not enough to share with whoever's in front of you, whether it be just one other person or ten or more.

HIDE it till everyone goes away and you can enjoy your one donut, one empanåda , one whatever.

If you're really starving and can't stand to wait till everyone's gone, take it to the rest room, close the door and munch away.

THE DANGERS OF THE PÅPA' SÅTGE

Tuesday, February 6, 2024


The PÅPA' SÅTGE is the open area under a raised house.

The phrase literally means "UNDER THE FLOOR." Many houses in the Marianas were raised on HALIGI (posts or stilts).

The idea was to let the air circulate around the house and keep it cool. Raising the house kept out flood waters and unwanted animals. The space underneath could be used for storage.

But the påpa' såtge did pose some problems.

For one, somebody could hide themselves in the påpa' såtge . This became a worse problem when the person could find a crack in the floor above, allowing him to peek and invade the family's privacy.

This is what happened one day in 1926 when Alfonso crept under the house of Lorenzo Aguero Sablan. More concerning was that Lorenzo had a teenage daughter living in the house, whose floor had cracks that could be peeked through.

As there were witnesses, and since Alfonso had been found guilty of similar offenses before, he thought it best to plead guilty when he was arrested and suffer the penalty.

FAMILY NICKNAMES : CAMEL

Wednesday, January 31, 2024



The Chamorro penchant for giving people nicknames, and it sticking to his or her children and descendants, continues to this day. In olden days, nicknames came from the Chamorro or Spanish languages, but now even English can be used to give new nicknames.

Take for example the familian Camel.

Having been a priest in Malesso' in the 1990s, I remember a family there better-known-as familian Camel, and particularly the name "Ben Camel."

Some people thought they were named after the cigarette brand Camel . One person said that a family member was known for not drinking a lot, as he was never thirsty, like a camel. Close, but not quite.

I went to a son of the deceased Ben Camel to find out the story.

Vicente Reyes Cruz from Malesso', who was very close to the Church, took members of his family on a hike one day.

Naturally some started to get thirsty and they asked Vicente if they could drink from the canteen.

Vicente told them, " Nangga nåya ," " Wait a while ," probably to preserve as much drinking water as possible on the hike so they wouldn't run out.

So the thirsty ones retorted, " Dalai hao, kalan hao i camel ," " My goodness, you're like a camel ," because camels are well-known for being able to journey through arid deserts for days on end without the need to drink water, since they are able to store water in their bodies.

So, Vicente got identified with the nickname Camel and it was passed down to the next generation in his family.






This shows us a few things about Chamorro mentality.

First, we will notice something about you. Whether it be something about your body, appearance, mannerism, behavior or speech. Or something you did or that happened to you. You fell down. You hid under a table.

Second, that one little piece of your life we will make your entire identity. That's your nickname and claim to fame for the rest of your life. And it will probably be inherited by your children.

Rest in peace, Ben Camel. U såga gi minahgong .





FAMILIA : SIGUENZA

Monday, January 22, 2024


LORENZO ("LARRY") TAITINGFONG SIGUENZA
with wife the former Rita Sablan Borja and children Rita and Otto
(courtesy of RoseMarie Siguenza)


The Siguenza family in the Marianas does not go a very long time ago. Of course, for you and me the year 1786 is a long time ago, but when other families appear earlier than that, in the 1727 and 1758 Censuses, while the Siguenzas do not, then the Siguenzas do arrive a bit later than many other families.

There was a soldier named Ignacio Siguenza on a list of soldiers serving the Spanish Government on Guam in 1786. He's one of the earliest Siguenzas documented in the Marianas. I cannot be sure if he has anything to do with the Siguenzas who came later, but there's more of a chance that he does than he does not. Who he was, where he was born and so on are questions I cannot answer for the moment. Was he Spanish, or Mexican, or Filipino, or a mixture or something else, we do not know for now.

Forty-three years later, there is another soldier named José Siguenza, who was the company drummer. For all we know, José could be Ignacio's son. Nine years later, there's a Miguel Siguenza listed as a soldier. José's brother? We cannot say anything more than that, since the documents just state first and last names and do not give us any more clues.

And we know from later records that there were a number of women named Siguenza who married, so the Siguenza name eventually got lost in the next generation.

But there were two men named Siguenza who became the patriarchs of all the Siguenzas who came later, many of them are people we know today.


LUÍS SIGUENZA

Born around 1829, Luís Siguenza married Agustina León Guerrero Pangelinan.

According to the 1897 Census, there seems to have been two sons both named José.

An older JOSÉ was married to María Quichocho Taisipic.

A second JOSÉ was married twice; the first time to Ana Tenorio Taitingfong, the daughter of José and Joaquina, and then to Maria Sablan Camacho, the daughter of Roque and Ana. One of José and Ana's sons, Felipe, was better-known as Felipe'n Bombo.

There was also a daughter named ENCARNACIÓN whom I mention because she married Pedro Royos Quichocho and many Quichochos are descended from her. One branch of these Quichochos moved to Luta (Rota).


VICENTE SIGUENZA


There was also a Vicente Siguenza from the early 1800s, whose relation to Luís Siguenza is unknown for the moment.

Vicente married Manuela Borja de los Santos.

They had the following sons :

JOAQUÍN , who first married Joaquina Pérez Cruz, the daughter of Pedro Reyes Cruz and María Cruz Pérez, then Emeteria de León Taitingfong, the daughter of Lorenzo Taitingfong and Juana de León.

From Joaquín's line come descendants like LORENZO TAITINGFONG SIGUENZA, who married Rita Sablan Borja; JOAQUÍN TAITINGFONG SIGUENZA, who married Ana Quitugua Borja and ANA TAITINGFONG SIGUENZA who, with Sharrock Brower Hannah, had a number of children.

Vicente and Manuela had at least two daughters. One was FILOMENA who married Vicente Tainatongo Castro.

The other daughter of Vicente and Manuela concerns us more because she had a number of children out of wedlock who carried the surname Siguenza, since their fathers were not known, or at least not official.

Her name was DOLORES .

Allegedly with Joaquín Cruz Pérez, she had these two sons :

JESUS, who married Carmen Santos Mendiola, the daughter of Ignacio Reyes Mendiola and his wife María Fausto Santos.

And VICENTE, who married Dolores Manibusan Cruz, the daughter of Juan Ignacio Cruz and María de la Rosa Manibusan.

From another, unknown, father, Dolores had a son named JOSÉ, who married Consolación Cruz, the daughter of Juliana Cruz who was at some point married to Antonio Fejeran Mendiola.

So there are a number of people with the surname Siguenza who are all descended from Dolores Santos Siguenza who had at least three sons with "unknown" fathers.



WELL-KNOWN SIGUENZAS

Although not as numerous as many other families on Guam, the Siguenzas have produced a number of people very well-known on the island down through the years. Some of them were :


LARRY SIGUENZA


Lorenzo Taitingfong Siguenza, better known as Larry, was one of the earliest Siguenzas who became active in the island community. He was the son of Joaquín Santos Siguenza and his wife Emeteria de León Taitingfong, and so he comes from Vicente's line of Siguenzas.

His mainstay was the US Department of Agriculture before the war, working for them as an agricultural extension agent, whose job it was to promote island agriculture, especially among the youth through Boys' and Girls' Agricultural Clubs.




But that was just the beginning. Larry was involved in many civic activities before and after the war. Besides working for the Government of Guam, in various capacities such as the Department of Agriculture as Deputy Director and as the Parks chief for the Department of Land Management, Larry was involved in the Liberation Day Queen contest, the Lions Club, the Young Men's League of Guam, the Guam Civic Improvement League and the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic men's organization. He was a Boy Scout master since before the war. Larry was also involved in sports, particularly being a boxing referee and judge. He passed away in 1983.


PETE SIGUENZA



Peter Charles Siguenza, born in 1920, was the son of José Siguenza and Consolación Cruz, and thus the grandchild of Dolores Santos Siguenza, the daughter of Vicente Siguenza and Manuela Borja Santos.

Pete was fortunate enough to go to Coronado High School in Coronado, California near San Diego before the war. He was still in California when World War II broke out in 1941. He enlisted in the US Marine Corps. But his potential was noticed by his superiors and he was sent to officer's school and became the first Chamorro officer in the Marine Corps. He saw action in several famous battles in the Pacific arena.



PETE SIGUENZA (R) AND BEN BLAZ (L)
Two pioneer Chamorro Marines


He graduated from Saint Mary's College in Moraga, California and later obtained a Master's degree from the University of Southern California. He married the former Barbara Bordallo, daughter of BJ Bordallo and his wife Josefina Pangelinan Bordallo. Back on Guam, Pete Siguenza worked in various positions in the Government of Guam and for J&G Enterprises. He was also active in many civic groups and activities. He passed away in 2007.


JUDGE PETE SIGUENZA, JR



The son of Peter Charles Siguenza and his wife Barbara Bordallo, and thus a descendant of Vicente Siguenza from the 1800s, Peter Siguenza, Jr rose through the legal profession to become a trial judge in the Superior Court of Guam and then Chief Justice of the Guam Supreme Court. He graduated from Father Dueñas Memorial School and did his college and law school studies in California. He passed away in 2020.



EDDIE SIGUENZA



If you attended almost any social event on Guam in the 1970s pretty much until before he died in 2009, you saw Eddie Siguenza, the brother of Peter Charles Siguenza. More importantly, he saw you because he was a photographer by profession, one of the island's leading photographers. Chances are he took your picture. He was everywhere, camera in hand. He was often hired by government officials and corporate bosses to photograph the island's biggest affairs.



SISTER CARMEN FRANCES SIGUENZA, SSND




And the last Siguenza I will mention is one who had an air of holiness about her. She was a Notre Dame Sister, Sister Carmen Frances Siguenza, the daughter of Jesús Siguenza, the son of Dolores Santos Siguenza, and his wife Carmen Mendiola. Sister was a school teacher, so she touched the lives of hundreds of children, from elementary grades up to junior high school. She even worked in Yap as a missionary.






She always had an aura about her that was warm and accepting. In her older years, she began to suffer bad health involving a lot of pain, and had to wear a neck brace. She was never down about it, and she never complained. She stayed the same. She was constantly praying for people. People brought her many intentions, and she listed them down to remember them when she prayed. She passed away in 2015.


SIGUENZA, SPAIN




Although we don't know where the first Siguenza on Guam came from, we do know that the name is Spanish and is the name of a city in northern Spain in the Province of Guadalajara.





SPANISH SPELLING



JOSÉ PANGELINAN SIGUENZA'S SIGNATURE
in 1902


If you notice the way the name SIGUENZA is spelled in the photo of the Spanish city, there are two dots above the U.

The two dots are needed in Spanish to make the sound GWE in SIGWENZA. Without the two dots, the GUE would sound like GUERRERO - GERERO. No GWE.

Notice that the Chamorro man José Pangelinan Siguenza spells his last name the Spanish way, with the two dots above the U.

BEST CUSTOMERS

Tuesday, January 9, 2024


A family I was visiting told me a story that reminded me of something similar, dealing with the Niño (Infant Jesus) going around the village at Christmas time.

When they were teenagers, these siblings, who are now in the 70s and up, would be sent by the mother or grandmother with pans of empanåda (chicken pies) to sell to earn the family extra income.




They were told not to dare come home unless they had sold every single empanåda , but some days it was simply hard to. Knowing they would be scolded or spanked if they didn't sell everything, they wondered what to do.

They found the magic formula. They would look for a house where the family and maybe some friends were gathered in the carport or porch playing poker for money. A house playing poker was a sure way to sell every last empanåda .

This reminded me of what some people said who took the Niño house-to-house for veneration at Christmas time.

They said the houses that donated the most to the Niño were the houses where gambling was going on when the Niño arrived.

Many times those gamblers were not the most pious Catholics. Some hadn't even been to church in years. Perhaps in order to assuage their guilt, they'd drop a hundred-dollar bill into the donation box when the Niño came for them to kiss.

Oh the ways of human nature.






TALES OF CLUB BAMBOO

Thursday, January 4, 2024


Club Bamboo (also called the Bamboo Inn) was a restaurant bar on Marine (Corps) Drive in Hagåtña after the war up to the 1950s. It was owned by former statesider Adrian LaDeau, who went by the nickname Trader Ade. LaDeau came to Guam as a Seabee in 1944, fell in love with Adela San Nicolas, left the military, married her and stayed.

LaDeau's wife's sister was married to local businessman Ambrosio Torres Shimizu of Ambros Enterprises. So Shimizu was also invested in the business.

The Club was a popular place to eat, drink and dance, with live music. Besides being a meeting place for various civic groups, Club Bamboo was the scene of some colorful episodes in its short history.

Chamorro waitress JOSEFA M. was fined $100 in 1950 for serving a Marine an alcoholic beverage. The drink itself only cost 50 cents. The Club was designated a "civilian" club, so I am assuming military personnel were not allowed in.

Three Marines in 1950 got too tipsy at Club Bamboo and started causing a ruckus. Chamorro police man Ben Charfauros went to arrest the Marines, who gave him such a hard time that Charfauros lost his badge in the scuffle. "We got the Marines," he said, "but I lost my badge."

Merchant Marines, too, could get in trouble. In 1950, several Merchant Marines were arrested on various charges at Club Bamboo.

Even employees at Club Bamboo could get the business in trouble. One worker sold cases of beer to various merchants, not knowing that Club Bamboo had no license to sell wholesale. The government punished the club by closing its bar for one week, but the restaurant side of the business couldn't make money without the bar so even the restaurant closed for one week.

In 1953, somebody perhaps got lucky at Club Bamboo. A statesider returned home after a night at the Club and noticed he didn't have his wallet on him anymore. The wallet contained $1200, which in today's value is worth $13,800. Why was the man carrying the equivalent of half a year's salary around?

By 1955, there was hardly any news concerning Club Bamboo and by 1956 there was no sign of it in the news at all. LaDeau remained on Guam and went on to other things, including establishing a place called Pirate's Cove, which is still in existence but for the longest time now owned by Jeff Pleadwell.




SAGRÅDA FAMILIA : TONÅDAN INALÅHAN

Sunday, December 31, 2023



This is a Chamorro hymn to the Holy Family ( Sagråda Familia ), who are Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

This particular tune for it is sung in Inalåhan, and probably also Malojloj, but the words are the same as the version sung by the rest of the island.

In the past, when all transportation was either by animal-driven cart, boat or feet, villages were more isolated and local customs more easily developed, different from the next village. Often it was a new priest, musically-inclined, who might introduce a new melody for an old hymn. But others, musicians or organists or singers who learned it from elsewhere, could also have taught a new melody to their local choir.

As far as the origin of this Inalåhan melody for this hymn sung to another melody in Hagåtña and elsewhere, I am not sure. Perhaps I can find out in the future.






LYRICS


Jesús, José an María; Jesús, José an María;
estague' i korason-ho yan i anti-ho.
( Jesus, Joseph and Mary; Jesus, Joseph and Mary;
here are my heart and my soul .)

Jesús, José an María; Jesús, José an María;
fa' maolek yo' an hokkok i ha'ani-ho.
( Jesus, Joseph and Mary; Jesus, Joseph and Mary;
assist me when my life is done .)

Jesús, José an María; Jesús, José an María;
na' måtai yo' pao såntos gi kannai-miyo; gi kannai-miyo.
( Jesus, Joseph and Mary; Jesus, Joseph and Mary;
make me die in the fragrance of holiness within your hands. )


A RELIGIOUS EXPLANATION

The last two verses speak about a good death, a holy death, because the Holy Family includes Saint Joseph, who died before Jesus began His public ministry and was still unknown to people. So, Saint Joseph died surrounded by Jesus and the Blessed Mother - a nice way to pass from this earthly life!

That is why Saint Joseph is the Patron of a Holy and Happy Death, and why the hymn speaks of this. On our death bed, we want the Holy Family surrounding us.



*** Thanks to Lawrence Borja for the audio clip

THE SINGET SEWING MACHINE

Friday, December 1, 2023



Many of you know that Chamorro does not like ending words with the letters R or L. Final R or L become a T when said in Chamorro.


SPANISH

CHAMORRO

ENGLISH

COLOR

KOLOT

color

ÁNGEL

ÅNGHET

angel

This advertisement in the Guam Daily News in 1959 shows how our elders pronounced SINGER as in SINGER SEWING MACHINE.

They said SINGHET or SINGET .




Notice that "sewing machine" is MÅKINAN MAN LAKSE." Man låkse' means "to sew" and måkina is machine.

"Limited quantity" is rendered " ti meggai tetehnan " or "not many left."

"Monthly payments" is " Siña un apåse pot mes ," or "You can pay by month."

Our elders had no trouble paraphrasing the English in Chamorro, rather than invent new words that are stranger than the paraphrase.


SINCE SPANISH TIMES



Apparently, there were Singer sewing machines on Guam even in the late Spanish period.

A book published in Manila in 1895 claimed that there was a Singer Sewing Company outlet in the Marianas, probably meaning Guam.

The above citation reads, in English,

The Singer Company has more than 2000 houses established in the principle population centers of the world and the Philippines agency, besides the outlets in Manila, Iloilo, Cebu and Tacloban, has agents in the principle population centers in the Archipelago and also in both the Carolines and Marianas.

FIRST GUAM THANKSGIVING

Friday, November 24, 2023


The first American Governor of Guam, a Navy captain named Richard P. Leary, thought that Guam had too many holidays. That was because Guam had observed numerous religious holidays as public holidays under Spain. Not being a fan of the Spanish missionaries, Leary spelled out in an Executive Order in 1899 that religious holidays from now on were private affairs, and the only public holidays, besides Sundays, would be those "authorized by US Statute Law" and US presidential decree.

In 1870, US Congress made Independence Day, July 4, a Federal holiday. We can assume that this was observed even on Guam as soon as Leary set up the first American administration in August of 1899. Even if there were no parades or fireworks, it's very likely the Navy closed government offices on Independence Day.

Thanksgiving didn't become a Federal holiday till 1941, though it had been celebrated long before, sometimes on different Thursdays in November from state to state.

But the first public holiday that Leary proclaimed on his own authority was Thanksgiving Day.

On November 3, 1899 Leary declared that the last Thursday of November that year, November 30, would be set aside as a day of "thanksgiving and prayer." He recommended (not mandated) that people refrain from "unnecessary work" that day, so I'm not sure if the government closed their offices or not.

Leary could not mandate any religious services, but he urged people to observe their own rites in their own churches, Catholic or Protestant.



LEARY AND PALOMO
State and Church


But Leary knew his promotion of Thanksgiving wouldn't fly if he didn't have the cooperation of the Catholic Church, which commanded the hearts of 95% of the Chamorro people. And he succeeded. According to Leary, Palomo wholeheartedly agreed to hold a Thanksgiving prayer service in the Hagåtña church. It was a traditional thanksgiving prayer, chanted by the priest in Latin ( Te Deum ) which the Catholic Churched prayed all the time, all year long, but this time applied to the American holiday.

Leary said that the Navy band would play at this Te Deum service, and praised Palomo for his outstanding qualities. Leary reported a huge number of people attended the church service. Standing room only.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was no turkey served on that first Thanksgiving Day on Guam in 1899, but Leary made every effort to have the American holiday observed.

DESERTED WIVES

Tuesday, November 14, 2023



Numerous Chamorro women were marrying American military men just as soon as the island came under the United States flag.

Not all of those marriages were successful.

A good number of those unions ended with the American sailor or Marine deserting his wife and children, as they were reassigned to another location or simply left island.

Here are some examples.


RITA

Rita married a Marine private in 1903 and had a son by him. In 1905, her husband was assigned to another post, and did not take Rita and his son with him.

Rita wrote to her husband and got three replies. His letters acknowledged his deserting her, and contained every excuse in the book, with plenty of promises to come back and resume his family commitments. He never did.

Rita filed for divorce in 1926 - twenty-years after last seeing her husband!







ANOTHER RITA

Yet another Rita had married a military man in 1905. They had four children. Quite possibly already a civilian, the man left Guam in 1910, supposedly to visit his mother. He was never seen again.

A few letters were exchanged, however. In one of them, the husband said he had met his wife's brother and the two of them were going to fish salmon in Alaska and both would return to Guam afterwards. The brother did return, but the husband did not.

Instead of filing for divorce, Rita petitioned the court to rule her husband deceased! This was granted. Almost sixteen years had passed since she last saw her husband.

This second Rita's move was more advantageous than the first Rita's decision to file for divorce.

Since both women had married according to Catholic rites, only death could end the bond. The first Rita, even if divorced, could not marry a second time in the Church until her husband had died. The second Rita obtained that freedom to marry again by having the Guam court declare her husband dead.

These two Ritas are but two examples of Chamorro women abandoned by the American husbands who left island and never returned. There were more.



GOVERNOR GILMER FORBIDS MARRIAGES


GILMER


In 1920, the American Naval Governor, Captain William Gilmer, issued a new law prohibiting marriages between American service men and Chamorro women.

His reason for this prohibition was his judgment that such marital unions were not good for either American husband nor Chamorro wife. He didn't, at least in print, get more specific than that.

Americans already married to Chamorro wives, and the Catholic bishop, Spanish Bishop Oláiz, opposed Gilmer's law, which was eventually overturned by the higher-ups in Washington.

But Spanish Påle' Román agreed with Gilmer. Too many American military and former military husbands had deserted their Chamorro wives, leaving them without financial support to raise the children, and unable to marry again in the Church.



PÅLE' ROMÁN
was all for protecting Chamorro wives from deserting husbands

HAUNTED HUMÅTAK 2

Tuesday, November 7, 2023



BEHIND THE CHURCH


Besides the marshy area behind the Humåtak Mayor's Office by the river, associated with a murder scene from the 1980s, many people in Humåtak consider the area behind the church to be spooky.

The current San Dionisio Church was built in 1939 but, many decades before that, it had been the site of the Spanish governor's palåsyo (palace), along with other government buildings for soldiers, the sick, military defenses and storage rooms, since the bay was the major port of call for Guam at the time. The rock foundations for these government buildings are still there, hiding in the vegetation.





If the area behind the church is haunted, it is believed to be so because of the location's association with sick soldiers, ship's passengers and others who may have died in the port's hospital. Others believe the taotaomo'na (ancestral spirits) trail leads down from the hills behind the church to the bay through that area.



FOUNDATION OF THE PALÅSYO COMPLEX STILL THERE


AN UGLY MAN

One Humåtak girl, in her teens, was playing behind the church one day with a few other teenage girls when she saw a man also behind the church. She was immediately frightened; it was hard for her to describe the man, but he was scary and she had never seen him before. She and the others ran away.

But not long after she saw the ugly man walking toward her, and off she went screaming.




Yet a third time she was in the bathroom and when she looked into the mirror, the ugly man was behind her. Out she went screaming. On and off, she would see the man. The man stopped appearing only after she had gotten married.


A REMEDY




So the family of the teenage girl burnt some påtma bendita (blessed palm) to ashes, then had a boy in the family (some say it has to be the oldest boy) urinate into the ashes just enough to make the ashes into a paste, and that they applied to the forehead of the girl. The scary, ugly man would disappear for a while. But not permanently until she got married.

SEEING A SPIRIT

Tuesday, October 31, 2023



If you ever go into the jungle and see a spirit, here's a guide what to say, provided to us by Pedro, who was taught by his grandmother :




Sesso de humånao si Pedro gi halom tåno' manaliligao åmot pat håyo pat masea håfa, ya ti ma'å'ñao si Pedro achok ha' guiya ha' na maisa humånao.
( Pedro often went into the jungle looking for medicine or wood or whatever may be, and Pedro wasn't afraid even when he went by himself. )

Finaisen gue' as Kiko', i amigu-ña, "Kao tåya' na ma'å'ñao hao na siña hao manli'e' espiritu gi halom tåno'?"
( His friend Kiko' asked him, "Aren't you ever afraid that you might see a spirit in the jungle? ")

Manoppe si Pedro, "Tåya', sa' ha fanå'gue yo' si nanå-ho biha håfa para bai ålok an siakåso na guaha håfa hu li'e'."
( Pedro answered, "Never, because my grandmother taught me what to say if I ever see something. ")

Mamaisen si Kiko', "Håfa?"
(" What?" Kiko' asked .)

Manoppe si Pedro, "Siempre bai ålok, 'Yanggen anite hao, pues hånao tåtte para sasalåguan!'
( Pedro replied, "I'll say, 'If you're a demon, then go back to hell! ')

' Yanggen ånimas hao, bai tayuyute hao lao hånao tåtte para Putgatorio!'
(' If you're a Poor Soul, I will pray for you, but go back to Purgatory! ')

'Yanggen taotao hao, pues hånao tåtte para i gimå'-mo!'"
( 'If you're human, then go back to your house!')

Pues mamaisen si Kiko', "Lao håfa para un ålok yanggen ginen i langet na espiritu?"
( Then Kiko' asked, "But what will you say if it's a spirit from heaven? ")

Ha hasso nåya si Pedro sa' tåya' håfa ilek-ña si nanå-ña biha pot ennao. Pues manoppe si Pedro, "Yanggen ginen i langet na espiritu, siempre bai ålok, 'Ayuda yo' sumodda' håfa hu aliligao!"
( Pedro thought a while because his grandmother said nothing about that. Then Pedro answered, "If it's a heavenly spirit, I'll say, 'Help me find what I'm looking for! '")

SHOES, SLIPPERS AND NOTHING

Tuesday, October 24, 2023


SHOESTRING SET
Socially elite Chamorro ladies with Americans in the 1910s


An American lady, the sister of the island's Governor at the time, Olga Dorn, wrote an article describing life as she saw it when she visited the island in 1909.

She described three classes of Chamorro women, all based on footwear!

The three classes, in her words, were the Shoestring Set, the Slipper Society and the Barefoot Brigade.

SHOESTRING SET . These were women of the socially elite class. Many of them had Spanish or other European blood. Their fathers occupied positions in the American government or in commerce. These ladies were very eager to adopt American fashions. They always wore shoes and stockings. These were the women often invited to American social events.




SCHOOLGIRLS
Some with shoes, some without


SLIPPER SOCIETY . These were a much larger group of Chamorro women who clung to the fashion of their mothers and grandmothers. Many of them also had Spanish or some European blood in them, but their preference was for the fashions of old. They mainly wore the mestiza dress and heelless, flat slippers with no stockings. These women were almost never invited to American social events. Among the Chamorros themselves, many of these women were considered elite and prestigious, but they occupied a different world than the Americans.

BAREFOOT BRIGADE . These women were of the poorer class who generally went around without any footwear at all.

Today, everybody wears something on their feet. Usually.

NO MORE PLANE RIDES

Tuesday, October 17, 2023



Monsignor Zoilo LG Camacho was known for a few things.

Building round churches, for one. Like San Vicente in Barrigada and Santa Barbara in Dededo.

Farming. A good portion of almost every day was spent growing fruits and vegetables. Even I received a nice watermelon from him one time.

But what not a whole lot of people knew about him was his loathing of air travel. Monsignor avoided flying on a plane if he could. If it meant not attending some event off-island, so be it. He would not board the plane.




On July 14, 1960, Father (he was not Monsignor, yet) Zoilo was flying from Okinawa to Manila on a Northwest Orient plane. His intention was to proceed from Manila to India to visit his sister, a missionary nun, whom he had not seen in 22 years.

At 320AM in the dead of night, the pilot reported that one of his engines had "run away." This means the engine was getting extra fuel from an unintended source (often a fuel or oil leak), making the engine run faster. The lack of lubrication for a faster-running engine means the engine could catch fire, and if it doesn't catch fire it will most likely break anyway.

The pilot said he could do nothing about the runaway engine, so only time would tell. An hour after reporting the runaway engine, the engine caught on fire. Dawn had not come yet and it was still dark, but the pilot decided the best thing to do was land in the sea. He was near Polillo Island, around 85 miles from Manila.




The plane landed in the sea just as safely as it could. Everyone got wet, lost their footwear and luggage, but there were no serious injuries or loss of life except for one passenger. American amphibious planes based in the Philippines rescued the crew and passengers. The survivors had calmly gotten into four or five life rafts after deplaning. There was only one other passenger from Guam, a businessman named Alfred Minot.



BRIDGET MACARAEG
(photo from the Macaraeg family)


Father Zoilo was taken to the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Manila for 24-hour observation, even though he had sustained no injuries. There he met a Guam resident, Mrs Bridget Macaraeg, wife of physician Dr Godofredo Macaraeg, who was in the Philippines for a visit. She reported that, besides losing his shoes, Father Zoilo had lost his eye glasses (as well as everything else he had on board).

Father Zoilo told Mrs Macaraeg that the pilot made all the necessary announcements and the passengers put on their life vests. Some people on the descending plane asked Fr Zoilo to hear their confessions, and he did. I wonder where?

The plane hit the water with just a strong jolt. Then it was a matter of life or death to exit the plane, now filling with smoke from the burning engine slowly going out from the ocean water. One female passenger, in a panic, clung to the plane but Father Zoilo managed to get her into a life raft.

The one passenger who died, an elderly woman, reportedly died of a heart attack. Her body was recovered.

The plane sank in less than ten minutes. The rescue operations took four hours to complete. Fortunately, the sun was up by then.

Despite the crash landing, Father Zoilo did proceed, by plane, to Hong Kong then India to meet his sister. Then back to Guam, all by plane.

But, after that, Monsignor Zoilo avoided flying on a plane as much as possible.

WHY NINE NIGHTS?

Thursday, October 12, 2023


Most Chamorro Catholics will start praying a rosary as a family, with friends and others joining, the day someone in the family passes away. It lasts for nine days or nights.

Why nine?

The devotion is Catholic and so the answer is to be found in the Catholic religion, and not in the Chamorro culture itself.


NINE DAYS OF PRAYER


WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT CAME
on the 10th day


When Jesus returned to Heaven, body and soul, on Ascension Thursday, He told the Apostles to return to the Upper Room and pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would come and remain with the Church, with the Apostles and with every believer until Jesus comes back again at the end of the world. The Holy Spirit would be the friend, the advocate, the consoler, the enlightener, the guide of the Church till the end of the world.

So the Holy Spirit would be a great grace, and Jesus told the Apostles to pray for the coming of that great grace, that great favor, the Holy Spirit.

So from Thursday, when they started praying, till the following day Friday, is one day. Count nine days of prayer and that takes you to Saturday. And the great grace, the great favor, came the following day, Pentecost Sunday. The Holy Spirit came down upon all the Apostles, the Blessed Mother and others on the 10th day. So, the favor asked for 9 days came on the 10th.

A period of NINE DAYS is called a NOVENA. It comes from the Latin word for NINE, which is NOVEM. The month of NOVEMBER used to be the NINTH month on the Roman calendar.

We pray novenas to some saints. In these novenas, we ask that saint to pray to God for us to grant us a favor, a grace, which we hope to receive at the end of the novena, just as the Apostles prayed for nine days and after that received the great grace of the Holy Spirit.




CANDY TAMAN'S ROSARY SCHEDULE
The 1st night not there because it started before this could be put in the newspaper


When we pray for the dead, we are asking God to have mercy on them, shorten their time in Purgatory and to take them to heaven as soon as possible. That is the request, the great favor or grace wanted.

And, like the Apostles and Mary, we pray for NINE DAYS (or nights) asking for this great favor and grace. It is a NOVENA (series of nine) of ROSARIES for the deceased. Jesus told us that God hears our prayers, so we believe and so we do!

SALAKLULA'

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

SALAKLULA' (or INARAJAN POOL)
YT : Cris Paul Adventures


It's one of Guam's more famous seaside scenes. Locals love it just as much as tourists.

Everyone knows it as Inarajan Pool, but the area's Chamorro name is SALAKLULA'. There's a glota at the end, so be sure to voice it.





I'm sure people have been swimming in it for centuries, but it didn't get the island-wide attention it now has until the 1960s. Keep in mind that Guam didn't have a "beach" mentality in the old days as we do now. Certainly people went to the beach and swam, but not with as much importance as we do now. The sea was mainly a source of food, there wasn't a culture of "recreation" back then and "sports" meant cockfighting in the old days.

People say that Inarajan Pool is NATURAL, but that is not totally true. Man has left his fingerprints on it for a while now.



1966


The first mention of Inarajan Pool in Guam's newspaper after the war was in 1966 when the Inarajan Social Improvement Club took it upon themselves to turn Salaklula' into a public swimming pool.

By 1966, the naturally-formed pool was BLASTED to open up more spaces and deepen the pool. Next, Ken Jones and the J&G people sent a crane down to DREDGE the blasted pool and remove the debris left over from the blasting. They would also cement the edges around the pool to smooth them out.

And, after that, the pool has had a life of its own; some highs and some lows. Besides the thousands who have had loads of fun swimming there, over the years it has taken a beating from typhoons, became a dumping ground for people's trash, polluted and almost ignored because of it (with government warnings to avoid it). As recent as 2015 a man had a heart attack while in the pool and drowned as he went under the water.




But, problems get solved; the government funds improvements and the pool remains a popular place. People swim, jump into the pool and BBQ in the picnic pavilions. The government has built ample parking, toilets and showers.


THE MEANING OF SALAKLULA'

A few elderly people in Inalåhan tell me that SALAK was a children's mispronunciation of SÅDDOK which means "river." When kids told their parents they were going to swim in the pool, they'd say SALAK instead of SÅDDOK (even though a pool is not a river).

This differs from Påle' Román who says in his 1932 Chamorro dictionary that SALAK is connected with a word that means to line up two-by-two. What that has to do with the pool is beyond me. Maybe nothing.

They also say that LULA' means "to harvest suni (taro)." So their interpretation is that SALAKLULA' means "river for harvesting suni ." Påle' Román does say that lula ' means "to harvest suni ." I'm not just 100% sure about the salak part.


WHAT ABOUT "SALUKLULA?



Just to confuse us even more, SALAKLULA' has also been called SALUKLULA by others, and it makes a tempting alternative because there is a word SALUK (or SALOK).

SALUK means a "gorge, pass, gully, ravine, channel or canal."

One can see how the pool can be considered almost any one of those in a broad sense; basically a drop in the terrain surrounded by walls of earth.

As enticing as this alternative might be for others, I have a few reasons for hesitating.

1. As far as I know, no name for the Inarajan Pool area shows up on any map at all that I have seen (starting in the 1800s) until the 1968 Geological Survey map, where the name is SALAGLULA, as in earlier in this blog post.

2. SALUGLULA starts to appear in the Guam Daily News in the late 1960s. But so does SALAGLULA. So BOTH names run concurrently all through the media from the 1960s until the 2010s. Since the 2010s, the media uses SALAKLULA' a bit more. So it's hard to argue which name is correct when both names appear more or less in equal numbers in print.



The Year 2000


3. OLDER VILLAGERS, unrelated and not with me at the same time, told me quite clearly that the name is SALAKLULA'.


MISTAKEN SIGN



Parks & Rec is trying to promote the Chamorro name for Inarajan Pool, but they need to correct the sign.

SAULAGLULA means "to whip Lula." Saolak (to whip).

The name is SALAKLULA', not Saulaglula.

WHEN PÅLE' FELL ASLEEP IN CONFESSION

Tuesday, September 26, 2023


Humålom gi konfesionårio si Rita ya ha sangåne si Påle' na mañåkke gue' la'uya.
(Rita went into the confessional and told the priest that she had stolen a pot.)

Ayo ha' na momento, malingo maigo'-ña si Påle' ya ha tutuhon maigo'. Pot i tåya' håfa ilelek-ña si Påle', må'pos ha' si Rita ya humålom otro na palao'an gi konfesionårio.
(At that very moment, Father fell asleep. Because the priest wasn't saying anything, Rita left and another woman came into the confessional.)

Gigon dumimo i nuebo na palao'an, gotpe ha' makmåta si Påle' ya ilek-ña, "Ya håfa ta'lo pot i la'uya ni un såkke."
(As soon as the new woman knelt down, Father suddenly awoke and said, "And tell me more about the pot you stole.")

Manoppe i palao'an, "Tåya' na mañåkke yo' la'uya Påle'! Fana'an mamaigo' hao gi durånten i konfesion!"
(The woman replied, "I have never stolen a pot, Father! I think you're sleeping during confession!")

Ilek-ña si Påle', "Pues empas hit! Sa' guaha na mamaigo' hao gi durånten setmon-ho!"
(The priest said, "Then we're even! Because sometimes you sleep during my sermon!")




KÅNTA : KUMPLEAÑOS-HO

Tuesday, September 19, 2023


Sung by Alfred Saures





LYRICS


På’go i ha’ånen kumpleaños-ho
(Today is my birthday)
Siempre bai hu magof
(I surely will be happy)
Lao sen ti månnge’ nene
(But baby it's surely not pleasant)
Sa’ taigue hao gi fi’on-ho.
(because you're not by my side.)

I regålo malago’-ho
(The gift that I want)
Nai i chiku-mo yan hågo.
(which is you and your kiss.)
En lugåt hu ågang hao ya ilek-ho
(Instead I called you and said)
Biba Kumpleåños para guåho.
(Happy Birthday to myself.)

Humånao yo’ na maisa para i gima’
(I went home by myself)
Ya hu songgiye un danges ya hu desea.
(and I lit a candle and made a wish.)
Hu baba un dikkike’ na pakete
(I opened a small package)
Ni hu fahånen maisa yo’
(which I bought for myself)
Ya ilek-ho Biba Kumpleåños para guåho.
(and said Happy Birthday to myself.)




ALFRED SAURES

I CHALÅN-TA : PICK-A-NAIL ROAD

Wednesday, September 13, 2023


You won't find a street sign calling it PICK-A-NAIL ROAD.

You won't find a street sign calling it anything. No street sign survived the last typhoon.

And although officially it is GUERRERO ROAD (some say DRIVE), a lot of people still call it by its old name : PICK-A-NAIL ROAD (some say STREET).

How did this street get such an unusual name?


A MESSY, INDUSTRIAL PLACE



As you can see from the satellite map of Pick-A-Nail Road, it lies in the middle of heavily built-up, commercial Tamuning.

That particular area of Tamuning has always been the site of warehouses, industrial and mechanical supply stores, dredging companies, automobile services, roofing companies....you get the idea.

So the road back in the day was a bit messy, with nails, screws, bolts....you name it.....strewn about.

Joe Murphy, a columnist for the Guam Daily News (and later the Pacific Daily News ), wrote in 1968 that someone decided to name the street himself and put up a sign saying PICK UP A NAIL STREET .




In other words, the street was so cluttered you could go and pick up a nail there anytime. Or maybe, help clean up the street by picking up a nail!

Sometime in the 1990s the street was officially named GUERRERO ROAD (or DRIVE). But a lot of people still call it by its old name.

Modern maps even put both names down, the old and the new.



OLD AND NEW NAMES TOGETHER


For those who may not be familiar at all with Pick-A-Nail Road, just remember that it lies in between AK and Denny's on Marine Corps Drive.




So, is Pick-A-Nail Road still so messy? Nope. I guess the Guerrero name has some magic to it, because, as the recent pic shows, the street isn't more messy than your typical Guam street in a commercial area. The street is so clean now, you can't even pick up a nail there anymore.



NOT A NAIL IN SIGHT

THE MEETING PLACE

Wednesday, September 6, 2023



INN ON THE BAY
Hågat


I was having breakfast one morning with two Santa Rita ladies at a neighborhood restaurant in Hågat, at the intersection of Route 1 and the road that leads up to Santa Rita.

One of the ladies said to me in Chamorro, "Påle', have you ever noticed that there are fewer families in Santa Rita with Filipino fathers compared to Hågat?"

I knew that just up the road from where we were was the old Camp Roxas, built right after the war when hundreds of Filipino workers, a great many from Iloilo, were recruited to work for the many military projects that built up Guam into an important Naval base. Many of these workers stayed on working for the military, and quite a number married Chamorro wives.

I also knew that Hågat had a good number of families with Filipino dads. Some of their children were my classmates in high school, or whom I knew in other ways. One of my Hågat classmates whose dad was Filipino became well-known as the bet collector (the Cristo ) at the local gayera (cockfight, sabong in Filipino).

The lady went on to explain, "But in Santa Rita, you can count on just a few fingers the Filipinos who married Santa Rita girls. Langas, Calip, Claveria, Grecia.....and Viernes but he came by way of Hawaii."





She looked over her left shoulder which faced the window, and said, "You know where Inn on the Bay is? In the old days there was a store there with a pool table. The store was called Para Luchan and was owned by the Bordallos. The Camp Roxas men would go there and hang out in that area, and the Hågat girls would also go there and socialize with the Camp Roxas workers. But the Santa Rita girls couldn't go there. Our parents were so strict. That's why less Santa Rita girls married Filipino men. It was harder for them to meet. That's why there are fewer Santa Rita women married to Camp Roxas men."




ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Tuesday, August 29, 2023


WHEN ATKINS KROLL WAS IN ANIGUÅK


Atkins Kroll, most known as a car dealership, used to be in Aniguåk up until October 1969 when the company moved to its present building in Tamuning which it built that year.

The company found its Aniguåk location, which it took up after the war, to be too confined and the building too outdated for the growing business it was enjoying in the late 1960s. Rather than improve the Aniguåk location, the company decided to start from scratch at a new location in Tamuning.

While AK has been Guam's Toyota dealer for many decades now, it was selling General Motors cars in the 1950s and 60s on Guam.





INDIAN MISSIONARIES ON GUAM

Tuesday, August 22, 2023



MALABAR CHRISTIANS FROM 1500s


The first recorded Indian in the Marianas was a Christian named Lorenzo, who was shipwrecked off the southern coast of Saipan in 1638 aboard the Spanish galleon Concepción . He stayed in the Marianas after surviving the shipwreck. When Sanvitores and his missionaries came in 1668, Lorenzo was there to render assistance, being an interpreter for the missionaries (having lived thirty years already with the Chamorros).

Sanvitores sent Lorenzo to help with the Christianization of Anatahan, where he was killed by Chamorro opponents to the mission in 1669, the FIRST of the Christian martyrs of the Marianas.

A very early missionary account of Sanvitores (written by Jesuit Francisco García in 1683, just eleven years after Sanvitores' death) clearly states that Lorenzo was a Malabar; it wasn't his "last name," which many people all over the world still did not use, yet. Other early books (e.g. Morales) are also clear that Lorenzo was from the Malabar Coast, which is in India.

The Malabars were from the southwest coast of India (now Kerala) who had become Christians through the preaching of Saint Thomas the Apostle, who is said to have reached India in the year 52AD. They are thus also called "Saint Thomas Christians." From those ancient times till now, the Malabar or Saint Thomas Christians have remained Christians. The blood of one of them wetted the soil of Anatahan in 1669.






ENTER ANOTHER MALABAR

Three hundred and thirty-three years later, yet another Malabar Christian came to the Marianas; specifically Guam.

His name was Father Thomas Vengayil, from the Syro-Malabar Diocese of Palai (a city in Kerala, India).




Father Vengayil heard about Guam through a classmate in London, where he was studying economics, who had lived on Guam, by the name of John Gillam. Father wrote to Bishop Flores offering his services, and Flores accepted, bringing Father to Guam in 1971. He served in various places such as Niño Perdido parish in Asan, Santa Teresita parish in Mangilao and Santa Barbara parish in Dededo where he was pastor in both places for a time.



FATHER VENGAYIL BAPTIZING IN DEDEDO


Due to his interest in economics and social issues, Father Vengayil also headed the Campaign for Human Development on Guam, a social advocacy agency of the Catholic Church.

He left Guam to serve in other dioceses sometime in the 1980s.


MOST RECENT INDIANS


Since Fr Vengayil left Guam, there have been a few Indian Capuchin priests who have helped on Guam for very brief periods, usually one to three months.

But in 2021, two Indian Capuchins came to Guam to assist for a longer time.




Fathers Claud Mascarenhas and Silvano Fernandes come from Karnataka in India, a different state from that of Kerala, where Father Vengayil and Lorenzo Malabar came from.

Nonetheless, Fathers Claud and Silvano are the latest Catholic Indian priests to come to Guam, specifically to minister at Saint Fidelis Friary.


CHAMORRO MISSIONARY TO INDIA



SISTER EANSWIDA CAMACHO on LEFT in INDIA


But the story gets better.

Not only have Indian Catholics ministered on Guam; in the 1950s and 60s, a Chamorro Sister ministered in India!

Maria LG Camacho ( familian Zoilo) wanted to be a Catholic Sister when she was a young woman. But there were no Sisters on Guam before the war. So she went to Manila to join the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. She was given the religious name of Sister Eanswida.

She was sent to college and then to Stella Maris College in Chennai, India (Madras in the old days). There she founded the Social Welfare Center and did so much to develop the Social Welfare program of the school that, to this day, there is an Endowment Fund named in her honor.

Feeling her work as a missionary was over, and wanting to return to Guam to be with her aging parents, Sister Eanswida changed Orders and became a Mercy Sister upon returning to Guam. She also got a new religious name, Sister Thecla.

She died on Guam in January of 2017 at the age of 99 years. Had she lived till September, she would have reached her 100th birthday.

FAMILIA : DIEGO

Monday, August 14, 2023


There is only one Diego clan on Guam and its håle ' (roots) are in Inalåhan.

But they are almost certainly descended from a Filipino soldier of the Pampanga Company whose name was AGUSTÍN DIEGO . He is the only adult person with the surname Diego on Guam in the 1758 Census. He does not appear in the earlier 1727 Census. Pampanga is a province in the Philippines with its own language, different from Tagalog.

DIEGO is the Spanish form of the Latin name DIDACUS. The name can also come from a variation of the name James, which in Latin is Jacobus, which turns into Santiago (Sant + Iago).

Spanish personal, or first, names sometimes became family names or surnames. Think of Pablo (Paul), Blas (Blaise) or the famous Ferdinand Marcos (Mark).

Agustín married Juana Cabangis. Two Cabangis soldiers, also of the Pampanga Company, are in the 1727 Census so Juana could be the daughter of one of them. One of those soldiers married a Chamorro woman, so Juana could already be the beginning of the Chamorro link in the family. Agustín and family lived in the capital city, Hagåtña, but some Spanish, Mexican and Filipino soldiers were sent to the villages to serve as officials. This is probably how one of the Diegos went to Inalåhan.

By 1758, Agustín Diego had two sons but more could have come later. At any rate the Diegos start appearing in Inalåhan by the 1800s.

As far back as 1847, there was an Eduardo Diego who was the warden or alguacil of Inalåhan.

By 1878, or 31 years later, a new figure by the name of José Meyao Diego appears in the records in various civic capacities in Inalåhan, sometimes as warden and other times as Justice of the Peace.

It is this José Meyao Diego, married to Francisca Chargualaf, who is the founder of the clan that continues to this day.


JOSÉ MEYAO DIEGO
and FRANCISCA CHARGUALAF


José's middle name, which was his mother's maiden name, has been spelled in various ways : Miyao and Mellao are just some examples. It doesn't seem to be a Spanish name. It is probably an indigenous Chamorro name, as there are records of Inalåhan people with the name during Spanish times. If it is Chamorro, it could come from the prefix MI, which means "abundant," with the root word YAO or IYAO unknown. It could also be that MEYAO has nothing at all to do with MI (abundant). It remains a mystery.

José was born around 1837. Without an actual baptismal certificate, it's hard to be exact about his date of birth. People were always guessing their ages in those days, and would have different answers every so often.

José and Francisca had numerous children. They had four sons, but only one of the four produced enough male heirs to keep the Diego name going. One son never married. Another son had no children, though married, and another married son had one daughter.

ROMUALDO CHARGUALAF DIEGO married Dolores León Guerrero San Nicolás, the daughter of Gerónimo San Nicolás and Antonia León Guerrero. It is Romualdo who produced enough male heirs to keep the Diego name going. His sons were Joaquín, Enemesio, Juan, Vicente, Jesús and José.

JOAQUIN CHARGUALAF DIEGO married Victorina Meno Mantanoña. Apparently they had no children.

JUAN JOSÉ CHARGUALAF DIEGO married Ignacia León Guerrero, the daughter of Vicenta León Guerrero and an unknown father. They had a daughter Catalina, who later married.

VICENTE CHARGUALAF DIEGO never married.

Then there were José and Francisca's daughters, who were :

MARÍA CHARGUALAF DIEGO who married Francisco Castro.

CLARA CHARGUALAF DIEGO married Joaquín Crisóstomo, the son of Ana Crisóstomo and an unknown father.

VICENTA CHARGUALAF DIEGO married Lucas Taitague Naputi, the son of Mariano Naputi and Antonia Taitague.




JOAQUÍN SAN NICOLÁS DIEGO
" GÅDAO "
Former Commissioner (Mayor) of Inalåhan
Grandson of JOSÉ MEYAO DIEGO



ROMUALDO CHARGUALAF DIEGO
Former Commissioner of Inalåhan before the war
Son of JOSÉ MEYAO DIEGO



ROMUALDO DIEGO
signature in 1904


160 YEARS AND 6 GENERATIONS OF DIEGOS



ROMUALDO CHARGUALAF DIEGO , born 1863, father of

VICENTE SAN NICOLÁS DIEGO , born 1908, father of

FRANK PAULINO DIEGO , born 1938, father of

FRANK TAITAGUE DIEGO , born 1969, father of

GAVIN DIEGO , born 1987, father of

FRANCIS PAUL DIEGO , born 2023

PÅLE' S ONE GOOD EAR

Tuesday, August 8, 2023


Humålom si Ana gi konfesionårio.
(Ana went into the confessional.)

Mampos takpapa' i bos-ña si Ana ya chatta hohongga i håfa ha konfesatñañaihon.
(She was speaking too low and one could barely hear what she was confessing.)

Ilek-ña si Påle' annai monhåyan si Ana kumonfesat, "Iha, hånao pot fabot para i otro bånda ya bai hungok hao gi maolek na talanga-ho."
(When Ana finished confessing, the priest said, "My daughter, please go to the other side and let me hear you with my good ear.")




DR TORRES OF SAIPAN

Wednesday, August 2, 2023

DR JOSÉ DÍAZ TORRES


It's interesting how, even in the days when formal, higher schooling was not possible in our islands, ambitious young people found a way to work themselves into a skilled profession.

Take the case of José Díaz Torres, who was born on Saipan on June 1, 1895 during Spanish times.

He was the son of Félix Atoigue Torres and Vicenta de León Guerrero Díaz. He married Asunción Martínez Ada, one of the familian Bodik clan which spans both Saipan and Guam. She is sometimes called Ascensión.





HIS WIFE ASUNCIÓN ADA TORRES


During German times, he came to the notice of the German officials as being a bright young man, and he went with one of the German governors for a short time to Yap and Ponape. He also visited Nauru and New Guinea during the German period. In 1914, just before the Japanese took over the Northern Marianas from the Germans, he became a medical assistant.

Then the Japanese gave him formal medical classes for just a year. What he lacked in longer years of book study he made up for by assisting Japanese doctors in their practice, even during surgeries. The people of Saipan considered José a doctor and called him so.

When the Americans attacked Saipan in 1944, Dr. Torres offered his services to the Americans as soon as he was able to, to tend to the wounded and anyone else needing attention, even when mortar fire was whizzing by him. The US military later gave Dr Torres a commendation for his contribution. Many nights Dr Torres got no sleep as many people awakened him with medical emergencies. He never turned anyone away.

In 1962, the Trust Territory Government built a new hospital in Saipan, costing (in 1962 values) $700,000. They named it in honor of Dr. Torres.




DR TORRES HOSPITAL
In construction 1962


He retired in 1972 at the age of 77, but in the first weeks of his retirement, he still woke up and got dressed in his white medical uniform. His wife had to ask government officials to remind her husband that he was retired. She wanted him to avoid overdoing it in his older years.

But Dr Torres lived a healthy lifestyle. He didn't smoke, barely drank any alcohol and was partial to local, home grown foods like taro and yams. He learned to speak German with the Germans, Japanese with the Japanese and English with the Americans.

Dr Torres died in 1976 in his "own" hospital, meaning the hospital named after him. He lived till he was 80, just two and half months shy of his 81st birthday.

In November of 1986, the Northern Marianas Commonwealth Government completed the construction of a new hospital for Saipan, calling it the Commonwealth Health Center. It did not carry over Dr Torres' name for the new hospital. So I hope this blog post helps to keep the memory of Dr Torres alive.

Many of the buildings that make up the present Northern Marianas College at its main campus in As Terlaje, Saipan were once the buildings of Dr Torres Hospital. Some believe that there are haunted areas of the College buildings because they used to house the dead who passed away at the old hospital.



Youtube : ChatRoger Cadua

NORTHERN MARIANAS COLLEGE
the former Dr Torres Hospital

KÅNTAN SANTA RITA

Friday, May 19, 2023


IMAGE OF SANTA RITA
in Santa Rita Church, Guam


Saint Rita of Cascia (the town in Italy where she lived in the 1400s) is the patron saint of the village of Santa Rita in Guam.

Her feast day is May 22 and the public celebration of that feast is usually held on the weekend closest to that date.

The Chamorro hymn to Santa Rita speaks about her life, so unless you know some details about her life you may not understand the hymn.

1. THE BEES

When Santa Rita was born, bees gathered around her mouth, even entering and leaving, laying honey on her lips without harming the little baby. A man who observed this, who had a wounded arm, tried to gather the bees and his wound was healed instantly. The bees were taken as a good omen that the baby would grow into someone important. Later, long after Santa Rita died, white bees would gather in the walls of her monastery up until her feast day.





2. HER HUSBAND AND SONS

Saint Rita had always wanted to be a nun, but her parents pressured her to marry a man she didn't love. He was a womanizer and an abuser. She consented and suffered much on his account. Her husband was murdered and later her only two children, sons, died. But, in all three cases, Santa Rita helped the three repent of their sins before their deaths. Now independent, she finally entered the Augustinian monastery and became a nun.

3. HER WOUND




Wanting to share in the sufferings of Jesus, Santa Rita asked to feel in her body the pains the Lord endured. Jesus allowed her to receive a wound on her forehead and the marks of the Crown of Thorns. This wound began to stink horribly and all the other nuns had to avoid being near her. But on the day she died the wound was replaced by a mark in the shape of a rose and colored like ruby. It now gave off a beautiful fragrance.

Santa Rita is the patroness of impossible cases and of abused women.





Fina’tinas Santa Rita meggai siha na milågro;
tayuyute ham Santa Rita todos i mangilisyåno.
( Saint Rita made many miracles;
pray for us, Saint Rita, for all Christians. )

Linangitan minamisan i mas å mai na na ’å n - mo / nina tungo nu i anghet na sinantos na na ’å n - mo / sa u ma o le k yan tag å hlo i hinanao-mo gi tano’…
( Your beautiful name is a heavenly sweetness, the holiness of your name was made known by an angel, because your journey on earth would be good and exalted.. .)

Annai på’go ma takpånge i pachot-mo nai man annok / i abehas l å hyan siha / si Yu us ma na ’ f an m åt to / ya ma tungo magin ayo i minames i bid å- mo...
( When you were baptized a swarm of bees appeared on your mouth, sent there by God and because of that we know the sweetness of your life ...)

I man silok na ma ñai na acho k ha ti malago / ma na a s sagua hao guihe yan i ti ya - mo na taotao / lao un sungon i finakai si Yu us långet nu hågo…
( Your overbearing parents, even though you didn't want to, made you marry a man you didn't love, but you endured what the God of heaven marked out for you ...)

Annai måtai i asagua na pinino’ nu i taotao / ya man måtai i dos lok k ue na lahi - mo na man g å tbo / un hasuye gi anti - mo na un gunos hao gi t å no ’. ..
( When your husband died, killed by someone, and your two handsome sons also died, you thought in your soul to separate yourself from the world ...)

Ume t m å na agustina ya un setbe i Sa i na - mo / korason å nte mumagof mesngon kalåmya såntos / un gofli’e’ i guinaiyan i anti-mo un na h å spo k. ..
( You became an Augustinian nun and served your Lord, your heart and soul rejoiced, perseveringly you became holy, you loved the love of your soul and became satisfied ...)

Si Yu us ha na dinilo k i ha i - mo nu i la kt os / ya sum å ga mandochon i dilok-ña giya hågo / O gai tituka’ na sånta ma asi’e’ i taotao-mo...
( God pierced your forehead with a thorn and its gash remained fixed in you. O saint with a thorn forgive your people ...)


"YES, WE ATE KARABAO"

Tuesday, May 16, 2023


Some older people hesitate to admit that karabao was eaten before the war.

Perhaps some think it is embarrassing to admit that, seeing the karabao as a beast of burden, or buried in mud when not working.

A man born in 1928 told me that, yes, some people did eat karabao now and then before the war.

For some, karabao meat was tough to chew on. But, if a karabao just happened to die (from disease being an exception), why waste the meat and let it rot?

Secondly, depending on the family, there may have been a huge surplus of karabao in the herd. More than needed for farming. So, some were butchered.

In fact, even in the 1950s, stray karabao (and cattle) were sometimes rounded up by the government and slaughtered, with the meat being sold at public auction.



KARABAO MEAT FOR SALE
1959


In the 1920s, a man in Inalåhan was told by his father-in-law to slaughter a young heifer for the feast of San José. The young man convinced his father-in-law to exchange the heifer for some karabao meat already butchered, and the karabao meat was used to feed the father-in-law's fiesta guests.

Another man told me years ago that, during the Japanese Occupation, he would sell karabao meat to the Japanese and sample some himself.

If a family had a sizeable herd of karabao , they might even slaughter a young calf because its meat was more tender.

Even into the 1970s, some karabao owners slaughtered karabao in order to sell the meat. One rancher in Inalåhan had to laugh when he saw kelaguen karabao at a fiesta, because chances were the karabao had been stolen from his large herd. But he let it go.

Then there's the hide of the karabao that can be used once it is butchered. Karabao hide is impermeable to water.

Karabao milk was prized as being more flavorful and creamy than cow's milk. Of course that meant the female karabao was kept alive for that reason.

In all my years I've never come across karabao served at any party on Guam, unless it was karabao but nobody said anything. But, especially before the war, it was not uncommon for people to eat kåtnen karabao .

HOLIDAY INN IN CHALAN PAGO

Wednesday, May 10, 2023



Going to elementary school at Saint Francis School in Yoña from 1968 to 1974 meant that I passed through Chalan Pago five days a week riding the bus to school from my home in Sinajaña.

One of my memories of traveling Route 4 in those days was seeing the remnants of the HOLIDAY INN on the right side of the highway as one headed to Yoña.

I remember the building being somewhat elevated from the road, the building looking abandoned but the HOLIDAY INN sign still intact.




Don't think Holiday Inn as in the hotel.

This Holiday Inn had nothing to do with that hotel chain. It was independently owned and ran as a restaurant and dancing venue. Various civic club affairs and even political social events were held at Chalan Pago's Holiday Inn.





One of its owners was Bill Garrison, whose wife was Chamorro. Some treated lumber that had been ordered for a project in Saipan that fell through sat idle at Commercial Port and Garrison picked it up to build the Holiday Inn.




The dancing was meant to improve business. The Holiday Inn went one step further and was the first establishment on Guam to introduce go-go dancers. Garrison said in an interview that they weren't strippers, but they were "exotic" dancers.

Guam's first indecent exposure fine was levied against one dancer at the Holiday Inn in 1967. The priest of Chalan Pago preached against the dancing and the police weren't too happy either. They tried bringing in Japanese girl bands to attract more customers, but there just wasn't enough money being made to keep the business going. By 1969 it was no longer in operation.




Because the wooden walls had been treated, they lasted a bit but Typhoon Pamela in 1976 damaged the roof and the wood started to rot. In December of 1990, Typhoon Russ gave the final blow. People pass by now on Route 4 every day and see no sign of the Holiday Inn, although the cement foundation is still there.





THE SPOT WHERE IT USED TO BE





HAUNTED HUMÅTAK

Monday, May 1, 2023


MARSHES BY HUMÅTAK RIVER


Around midnight on Tuesday, November 18, 1980, going into Wednesday, Marine Corporal Steven R. Thompson was beaten and left for dead by three, young Humåtak men after a night of drinking and bickering.

All four men, and some others, had been drinking outside one of the men's homes. When Thompson entered the home without asking, a resident of the home felt disrespected. Some people say that Thompson was making advances on a lady in the house. Heated verbal exchanges ensued between Thompson and some of the men. Someone suggested they beat up Thompson to teach him a lesson.

They invited him to walk the sandy shore of Humåtak Bay, but the men felt it was too open and visible so they lead Thompson to the overgrown bushes and bamboo grove by the river near the Mayor's Office. There they beat him so bad that the back of his head was lacerated. Then they left him in the thick vegetation for the night.





The next morning, Wednesday, they checked on him. Thompson was alive and moaning, but the three men left him alone one more time, too afraid to tell anyone.

A whole day passed and now it was Thursday. Two Humåtak men were taking advantage of the bright moon light that night and went to the area to hunt for crabs. They found a human body, instead. There was no ID on the man, but when word circulated around the island that a dead Caucasian was found, someone from the Marines told civilian authorities that a Marine had been missing for two days. Eventually authorities concluded that the dead body was Thompson's.





"THE BAMBOO"



WHERE THOMPSON'S BODY WAS FOUND


It didn't take a murder for Humåtak people to feel uneasy about the river banks in Humåtak. To this day, people in Humåtak call it "the Bamboo," even though the Mayor's staff cut down the bamboo long ago. The sound of wind blowing through the bamboo, and the creaking of the long stalks of bamboo, gave the area an eerie feel.

A woman in her 60s told me, "Growing up, my parents always told me not to play in that area. They never said exactly why. Just that it's a bad area. So hardly any kids played there. It always was a lonely place."

She also said that there used to be a wood and tin-roof house nearby, which is now long gone, which everyone considered scary. There was a family living there, with two children, but they rarely went outside the house. Even the two children stayed indoors. This cast a creepy shadow over the house, which was already in the area of the spooky bamboo marshland. Kids, especially, felt weird passing by the house.

About the only story I heard from Humåtak people about "the Bamboo" is that voices will be heard, but there is no one there. Most people are not sure what language was being spoken; the voices were heard but the words were not clear.

THE HIKI TRADING COMPANY

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

THE HIKI TRADING COMPANY
Hagåtña in the early 1900s


By the 1890s, Japan started to take an increased economic interest in the Pacific, both in wanting to get things from the islands and nations of the Pacific Rim, and also to sell to them. Copra, the dried meat of coconuts, was one Pacific commodity in demand. The oil obtained from it could be used in many commercial products, and the meat used as a food product for both man and beast.

The islands of Micronesia could supply that copra, but the Japanese could also supply the islands. Japan was closer to the islands than the US or other Western countries to sell Western products. Merchandise did make it to the Marianas from both east and west; goods could be bought in Manila and shipped to the Marianas, but ship transportation was not steady nor frequent. American and other goods did come from Hawaii and the US, but usually on whaling ships and the occasional commercial ship, but again these were not consistent nor frequent. But the Japanese could ship merchandise to the Marianas on a regular basis if the market proved successful.





The Japanese started to "open shop," as it were, in Micronesia in the 1890s. In 1899, Spain was no longer on the scene, having sold Guam to the US and the rest of Micronesia to the Germans. The Germans were initially not very pleased with the many Japanese merchants coming in and out of Micronesia, but the Americans on Guam were more accommodating. By 1899, Japanese merchant ships were already providing passenger transportation to and from Guam. By the early 1900s, the Japanese merchant presence on Guam was so strong that people claimed that the Japanese had a monopoly on trade on the island. While other races did operate stores, the Japanese were undeniably the strongest commercial force on island at the time.

One of the Japanese companies doing business on Guam in the early 1900s was the Hiki Trading Company.



Haniu was appointed Manager of the Guam branch in 1902


The full name of the company was the Nanyo Boeki Hiki Kabushiki Kaisha, which meant the Hiki South Seas Corporation, though it was called by slightly different names in English. Established in Japan in the 1890s, by the end of that decade the company had four boats that sailed around Micronesia selling various things then sailed back to Japan carrying products from the tropics.

The Hiki Company's schooners would also transport passengers up and down the Marianas. In the period 1900 to 1914 many Chamorros from Guam migrated to Saipan. The Hiki schooner was one way to get there. José Shimizu also transported passengers up and down the Marianas. Most of that migration ended in late 1914 when the Japanese took over the Northern Marianas from Germany.

Around 1900, the Guam branch of Hiki was managed by José T. Shibata, from Nagasaki. He had married a Chamorro, Vicenta Cruz Herrero. By 1902, the company had appointed a man from Tokyo, Hikoshiro Haniu, as manager of the Guam store. Haniu later married a Chamorro, Maria Deza Blaz, and was baptized a Catholic to do so, taking the Christian name José. His descendants, many of whom are better-known as the familian Desa, remain.






JOSÉ HIKOSHIRO HANIU


TAN ROSA AND THE ANATOMY BOOK

Tuesday, April 11, 2023


" ISAO !" " Sin !"

Those were the first words out of Tan Rosa, Mary's grandmother, when Mary got home.

Mary just started her nursing program at the College of Guam in the 1960s when she brought home her human anatomy book. Her professor had just passed them out to the nursing students earlier that day, and Mary had her reading assignment, to memorize the names of the different parts of the body, starting with the major bones.

In those days, many grandmothers were like a second mom, living in the household with everybody else. Since Mary's mom had a job as a cashier in a store not far away, grandma was the one who stayed home the whole day and night, supervising the cooking, cleaning and washing. When Mary got home some days, it was grandma she first met, not mom or dad.

Even Mary's mother had some misgivings about Mary going to the College of Guam. Mothers were very protective of their unwed daughters back then. Single females and males mixing together, even at school, spelled danger to them! Tan Rosa never even went to school and learned to read letters at an older age thanks to a brother teaching her. Mary's mom only went as far as the eighth grade. Before the war, a classroom education was thought unnecessary for girls after they learned to read and write.

Even the promise of financial stability as a nurse did not ease mother's mind at first. It was only when Mary's best friend, who married right out of high school but who was also studying nursing, agreed to drive Mary back and forth to the College (now the University) that Mary's mother relented. A married woman, she thought, could be trusted to make sure Mary walked the straight line.

But grandma was a different matter. With her generation, there was no talk of human reproduction or even parts of the body. When grandma saw the figures of naked humans of both sexes, albeit skeletal, grandma had a fit. She wanted to throw the books out of the house.

Mary's father had to intervene and explain what the charts and pictures were, pointing to bones in the book then showing on his own arm or shoulder what bones matched the chart.

When it came to the reproductive organs, Mary's father focused only on the uterus and explained that doctors and nurses needed to know all about the tuyan (womb) for the sake of the unborn child who might die if there is a problem. He explained that all the pattera (midwife) could do was limited to massaging, moving the baby in the right position and other such things, but that doctors could do more to save the life of a baby, with the nurse's help.

Thinking of saving babies' lives, Tan Rosa gave in.

Ironically, Mary, now a nurse of some years, assisted grandma Rosa on her death bed with her nursing skills.

TAN MARIA'N MAK

Tuesday, April 4, 2023


TAN MARIA'N MAK
María Lizama Tolentino Ignacio


She was perhaps the most influential person in Santa Rita in the 1950s and 60s. In the opinion of some, more powerful than even the village Commissioner (what is called the Mayor now).

Her name was María Tolentino Ignacio, but everyone called her Tan Maria'n Mak, after her father Máximo Tolentino, married to her mother Tomasa Lizama. She was the village nurse and midwife ( pattera ).

What gave her all that power and influence was her constant, direct contact with all the families in Santa Rita, right into their living rooms and bedrooms. She didn't wait in her village dispensary for the people to come to her. They did come to her, but she also went into the homes of the people. She knew everyone in the village; their particular health concerns; their habits and lifestyle; their vices and flaws.

She was a health enforcer. She got into people's faces and told them what they needed to do, whether they liked hearing it or not. But people respected her for it. They listened to her and sought her advice on many things.

She told parents, " Ennaogue' na man malålångo i famagu'on-miyo sa' man sin dodogga. " (" That's why your children are sick, because they go around without footwear. ")

" Na' fan o'mak åntes de u fan maigo'. " (" Shower them before they sleep. ")

Parents would warn their children when they saw Tan María walking or driving in their direction, telling the kids to run into the house and put on shoes or slippers.

Tan María would administer the inoculations to infants and children, and give them their anti-worm medicine. As a pattera (midwife), she assisted in many births right in the home. Whenever there was a problem birth, she baptized the newborn right then and there, and later told the village priest about it for the records.

She drove a jeep to visit the homes, and even conduct sanitary inspections. She also had an "ambulance" of sorts; not the hi-tech ones we have today but something to transport people to the hospital when needed. Her ambulance wasn't used just for emergencies; she'd drive villagers to their medical and dental appointments up north in the ambulance or at times her jeep. One day the brakes gave out on her ambulance and it was going downhill in that hillside village of Santa Rita. Her options were limited, so she jumped out of the ambulance and allowed gravity to take the ambulance into a home where no one was at the time and there it stopped. The crashed ambulance was taken away and never seen again nor replaced.

Her daughter Emilesia, now in her 80s, told me, " Guihe na tiempo, yanggen håfa ilek-ña si nanå-ho gi sengsong, ma gof osge. " " At that time, whatever my mother said in the village, they really obeyed her ."


HOW SHE STARTED


TAN MARIA (with X) AND OTHER VILLAGE NURSES
1950s



Tan María was always interested in sickness and healing since she was young. She had the disposition for nursing, too. Her daughter Emilesia said, " Ti måssa' si nanå-ho ha pacha i chetnot para u espia håfa ." " My mother did not hesitate to touch sores to find out something ." She was willing to get blood on her, handle bedpans, bandage wounds, put up with unsightly wounds and foul odors. While others shrieked in horror at these things, Tan María said, " Mientras mås hao askurosa, mås hao chetnot ." "T he more repelled you are, the more diseased you become. " Even back then, they knew a thing or two about exposure to viruses and building immunity.

She learned from older pattera and the Navy also gave her midwife training and by-and-by she learned basic nursing skills and obtained her license to work as one.


MORE THAN MEDICAL; MORE THAN "WORK"


TAN MARÍA WITH DAUGHTER EMILESIA


Taking care of people was more than taking care of their physical health for Tan María. She was almost like a priest or nun in the way people took all kinds of problems to her. A husband once was mistreating his wife and they called on Tan María to intervene. She went to talk to the man and he did not resist. He listened and his behavior improved.

When she assisted at the second or third birth of an unwed mother who was still connected to the father of the children, she would tell the man and woman, " Esta dos pat tres famagu'on-miyo. Håfa na ti malago' hamyo umassagua? " " You already have two or three children. Why don't you two want to get married? " and she herself would bring the matter to the village priest to get them married.

One time she was called to talk to a young lady who was pregnant for the first time. The young lady was not only not married; no one could even identify a boyfriend. The young lady refused to name who impregnated her. Tan María tried to coax it out of her, but she still refused. So Tan María finally said, " Hu tungo' håye muna' mapotge' hao. I cha'kan guma' ." " I know who made you pregnant. The house rat ." The startled young lady said, " Åhe' ti i cha'kan guma' na si. ...." " No, not the house rat but rather.... " and she let the name of the man slip out. Tan María knew reverse psychology before she ever heard the name for it.

She considered herself a full-time servant of the village, 24 hours a day, and she gave up her own home to help others when needed. She had a man who became a widower move to her house and stay on the kahida (front porch). When a pregnant woman from a far away village came to her because they feared a breech baby ( humuyong dågan ), after she moved the baby to a normal position inside the womb, she would say, " Mungnga humånao sa' yanggen barångka i chalan siña i nene tuma'lo ha' tåtte ." " Don't leave because if the road is bumpy the baby might go back again ." So, the pregnant lady, even with the husband at times, would move into Tan María's house for the night.


INFLUENCE ON FUTURE NURSE

At least one young Santa Rita girl, Rosalia Tolentino (married name Perez) was inspired by Tan Maria'n Mak to become a nurse herself. She frequently talked with Tan María about being a nurse and pattera ; about how hard the work was, especially since the villagers were very å guaguat (stubborn) about health issues. But, Tan María said, the work was very satisfying. She made a positive contribution to people's lives; what a great example for all of us!

Tan María passed away in 1974 from breast cancer at the age of 67.  She had been married to Luís Taitague Ignacio who passed away after her in 1982. May they rest in peace.

Photos courtesy of Emilesia Anderson and Terry Concepcion

THE GHOSTLY ALTAR BOY

Friday, March 31, 2023



Si Påle' Faustino i pale' Malesso' gi tiempon Españot ya guaha tanores-ña ni ha repåra na kada primet Bietnes gi mes, tåftaf na makmåta si Påle' Faustino lao ti ha tungo' malak måno si Påle' asta ke måtto tåtte si Påle' para i Misan chatanmak gi a las singko.
( Father Faustino was the priest of Malesso' in Spanish times and he had an altar boy who noticed that, every first Friday of the month, Father Faustino got up early but he didn't know where he went till Father came back to say the dawn Mass at five o'clock. )

Pues i tanores ha faisen si Påle', "Håfa na kada primet Bietnes gi mes humåhånao hao tåftaf para otro na lugåt åntes de un sångan i Misan a las singko?"
( So the altar boy asked Father, "Why do you go very early every first Firday of the month to another place before you say Mass at five o'clock?" )

Manoppe si Påle', "Kada primet Bietnes gi mes, mumimisa yo' gi sementeyo åntes de hu sångan i Misan a las singko."
( Father replied, "Every first Friday of the month, I say Mass at the cemetery before I say the five o'clock Mass." )

Manman i tanores sa' guiya ha' na tanores pues håye na tanores guma'chuchunge si Påle' gi kåmpo sånto?
( The altar boy was surprised because he was the only altar boy, so which altar boy was accompanying Father to the graveyard? )

Pues humånao i tanores para i sementeyo gi primet Bietnes gi sigiente na mes ya umattok gi tatten i trongko yan tinanom.
( So the altar boy went to the cemetery the following first Friday of the month and hid behind the trees and shrubs. )

Katna ha' måtai i tanores sa' ha li'e' na, gigon ha tutuhon i Misa si Påle', gotpe ha' umannok un dikkike' tanores ni minagågågon tanores ya ha tanorise si Påle'. Gigon måkpo' i Misa, gotpe ha' malingo i tanores.
( The altar boy nearly died because he saw, as soon as Father began Mass, suddenly a small altar boy appeared dressed as an altar boy and served Mass for Father. As soon as Mass ended, the altar boy suddenly disappeared. )

I tanores ha faisen si Påle', "Håye ennao na tanores ni tumanorise hao gi sementeyo?"
( The altar boy asked Father, "Who was that altar boy who served your Mass at the cemetery? ")

Manoppe si Påle', "I hagas tanores-ho ni eståba åntes ke hago."
( Father answered, "My former altar boy who was here before you .")

"Ya håfa uttimon-ña?"
(" And what happened to him? ")

"Måtai måtmos ya ma håfot gi sementeyo."
(" He died drowning and was buried in the cemetery. ")


VIDEO



DAMENGGON LÅSARO

Monday, March 27, 2023





You may have noticed this past Sunday, if you went to Mass, that your church covered the statues in the sanctuary (altar area). Not all Catholic churches do this, but all of them did prior to the 1960s and the custom seems to be returning to most churches in our islands.

Veiling the statues shocks us, and it is meant to.

We are two weeks away from the bitter suffering and crucifixion of the Lord when the statues are covered. The Church is wanting us to feel the loss of the Lord. He was arrested and taken away. Imprisoned, He was absent from His Mother and His disciples for that time. We, too, should feel something of their sense of loss when He was taken away.

Two Sundays before Easter was called by our mañaina (elders) DAMENGGON LÅSARO . LAZARUS SUNDAY.

Which Lazarus?

Lazarus, the friend of Jesus, who died and who was brought back to life by Jesus even after Lazarus had been buried several days in the tomb.




Well that was the last straw for the enemies of Jesus. Outdone by Jesus, His enemies resolved to put Him to death, and the ball started rolling leading to His arrest and crucifixion.

But why is this Sunday named after Lazarus?

In the Missal (Mass prayer book) used in Spain at one time, and still is used in a few parts of Spain, took its Gospel for the Sunday before Palm Sunday from the story of Lazarus' resurrection. So, in Spain, the Sunday before Palm Sunday was called DOMINGO DE LÁZARO, and because the Catholic missionaries in the Marianas were mainly Spaniards until the late 1930s, our mañaina called it the same thing, but using the Chamorro version of the name.

Here's how the schedule looked in the old days :


DAMENGGON LÅSARO

(LAZARUS SUNDAY)

(cover statues)

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

DAMENGGON RÅMOS

(PALM SUNDAY)

Start of Holy Week

(Semåna Sånta)


Holy Monday

Holy Tuesday

Holy Wednesday

Holy Thursday

Good Friday

Holy Saturday

Statue veils come off at Vigil Mass

EASTER

SUNDAY

VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

DAMENGGON LÅSARO

Es posible que notara el domingo pasado, si asistió a misa, que su parroquia cubrió las imágenes del altar. No todos los templos católicos hacen esto, pero todos lo hacían antes de la década de 1960 y la costumbre parece estar regresando a la mayoría de las iglesias en las Islas Marianas.

Estamos a dos semanas del amargo sufrimiento y crucifixión del Señor, tiempo en el que las imágenes están cubiertas. La Iglesia quiere que sintamos la pérdida del Señor. Fue arrestado y llevado. Encarcelado, estuvo ausente de Su Madre y Sus discípulos por ese tiempo. Nosotros también deberíamos sentir algo de su sentido de pérdida cuando se lo llevaron.

Dos domingos antes de Semana Santa fue llamado en chamorro por nuestros “ mañaina ” (ancianos) DAMENGGON LÅSARO.

¿Cuál Lázaro?

Lázaro, el amigo de Jesús, que murió y que Jesús lo devolvió a la vida incluso después de haber sido enterrado varios días en su tumba.

Bueno, ésa fue la gota que colmó el vaso para los enemigos de Jesús. Superados por Jesús, sus enemigos resolvieron darle muerte, y la bola comenzó a rodar lo cual conducía a su arresto y crucifixión.

Pero, ¿por qué este domingo lleva el nombre de Lázaro?

En el Misal (libro de oraciones de la Misa) usado en España durante un tiempo, y todavía se usa en algunas partes del país, se tomó del Evangelio, para el domingo anterior al Domingo de Ramos, la historia de la resurrección de Lázaro. Así, en España, el domingo anterior al Domingo de Ramos se llamaba DOMINGO DE LÁZARO, y como los misioneros católicos en las Islas Marianas eran mayoritariamente españoles hasta finales de los años 30, nuestros “ mañaina ” (ancianos) lo llamaban así, pero usando la versión chamorra del nombre: DAMENGGON LÅSARO.

A RUSSIAN NAMED CHARGUALAF

Wednesday, March 22, 2023


Julia Miller was an outgoing, cheerful person.

And she had a sense of humor.

She was born Julia San Nicolás Chargualaf, and she often told people she was Russian.

She said it with a straight face and the rest of us just looked at each other in bewilderment.

Then she would pronounce her name CHARGUALAF to match with STROGANOFF.

Then we'd burst out laughing.

She was the daughter of Pedro and Maria San Nicolás Chargualaf and was born in the Bilibik barrio of Hagåtña then lived in Talofofo after the war, until she got married.

She married Joe Miller (RIP) and she herself recently passed away. U såga gi minahgong . Rest in peace.

ANOTHER KIND OF SURUHÅNA

Thursday, March 16, 2023


In the Marianas, there are the suruhånas and suruhånos everyone speaks about.

And there are also the ones fewer people talk about.

The well-known ones are the herbal doctors who get interviewed, gain recognition and are put on special lists, such as Master Suruhåno/a.

They were, shall we say, the full-fledged suruhånas who dedicated most of their day treating clients with all sorts of ailments.

But the less-known ones never got nominated to win special titles. They were more or less known mainly in their villages, and weren't "full time" healers. They often stuck to just making common herbal remedies for ordinary illnesses such as the flu. While not regarded as full-blown suruhånas , they were the go-to people in the village when you needed åmot Chamorro (local, herbal medicine).

Here are just two examples, from people I knew in life and who gave me herbal medicine.



LUCIA CHARFAUROS ACFALLE BURKHARD



Lucia was a more-or-less homebound lady living in Malesso' when I was the priest there now and then in the 1990s.

Though homebound, due to her difficulty walking, she knew what was going on in the village, as most people in small villages do. A devout Catholic, I saw her once a month on First Fridays to give her Holy Communion. She always gave me some Mass intentions to be said at the parish.

But when she would hear that I had the flu or a cold, invariably someone would come to the konbento (priest's house) with a plastic gallon jug of åmot Chamorro and tell me, "This is from Tan Lucia."  If she heard I had the flu five times, five times a bottle of herbal medicine would be dropped off to me from her. God bless her.


ROMANA AGUON CRISÓSTOMO RAMOS



Tan Romana was from my home village of Sinajaña. She was known as a healer of children's illnesses.

I can't say for sure which specific children's illnesses she treated, because I was just 4 or 5 years old when I got the Tan Romana treatment. So I don't know what my illness was! I wasn't told; who tells a four-year-old what their illness is?

All I know is that Tan Romana came to my grandmother's house one day (or night) with her herbal concoction. I was put on someone's lap and held down, and someone used their hand to force my mouth open.

Tan Romana dipped a fresh piece of gauze into her brown, liquid medicine then squeezed the gauze till the herbal medicine poured down my throat. It was very bitter! I wanted to cough it all out, but everyone was telling me to swallow, and with hands holding me down on someone's lap and another hand firmly holding my mouth open, I complied.

I don't even remember being sick, or getting better. But I never received a Tan Romana treatment again. I didn't hold it against her, and I never developed a fear of Tan Romana. She was always a nice lady to me as I continued to see her till her death in 2001. God bless her, too.

In all the island's villages, there were women, and a few men, who weren't considered full-fledged suruhåna/o , but they did make åmot Chamorro and helped people with ordinary bouts of sickness. I'm sure many readers could add more names to this list of åmot makers.




TAN LUCIA

HE FOUGHT THE KAISER

Tuesday, March 7, 2023


VICENTE MUÑA FLORES


Imagine a young Chamorro man serving in the US Army during World War One in Europe.

But that's exactly what Vicente Muña Flores did, and it serves as a reminder that it was not totally impossible for Chamorros in the old days to leave our small islands and get a taste of the big world out there.

In fact, Flores did not join the US Army on Guam but rather in Sacramento, California; which shows that he was already in the big world away from Guam before he joined the Army.

He was in Sacramento working on a steamboat as a deck hand. His draft registration says he had previously been a mess attendant in the US Navy so maybe that's how he ended up in California. He had been born on Guam in 1891 so he was already 26 years old when he registered for the draft.


FOUGHT IN FRANCE



Flores fought in France in 1918. He was there at the Champagne-Marne campaign which was the Germans' last offensive. When the German push was repelled, the tide of the war went in the favor of the Allies. World War I was over in a few months.

Flores was honorably discharged but didn't return to Guam till 1922. Then he married Ana Blas Untalan and raised a family. He was described by both the 1930 and 1940 censuses as being a farmer. The young man who left the island to see the big world, going so far as to fight in Europe in World War One, came back to be like almost every other man on Guam; a tiller of the soil settled on his land.

But he, like few others, could sit with all those fellow Chamorros who had never left Guam and regale them with stories about France, California, the war and the high seas.



VICENTE AND WIFE ANA

BOY HUNTED BY JAPANESE

Tuesday, February 21, 2023


AS A STUDENT AT ST. MARY'S COLLEGE
1957


If you've ever heard of a man from Saipan named JOE ELEVEN, you're in your 50s and 60s if not older.

In the past, there were two JOE TENORIOS on Saipan. The older of the two was José Camacho Tenorio, who was Saipan's richest businessman. Everyone knew him as JOE TEN.

The younger Joe Tenorio, who chose a legal career, was known as JOE ELEVEN.

Joe Eleven showed his intellectual curiosity early in life, picking up English here and there from the few people in Saipan who knew some English.

That intellectual curiosity was enough to get him in trouble with the Japanese, who were so paranoid of American victory that even a tiny knowledge of English was enough to label you a possible American spy. Even if you were just eleven years old, as Joe Eleven was in 1944.

But the Japanese came looking for the young boy, going to his family farm. He tells the story :

"When the Japanese came looking for us, we fled and went into hiding. We offered up prayers to the Sacred Heart for protection against the Japanese and for protection against the bombs that were bursting all around us. And we were protected and weren't harmed."




Just based on his natural smarts and making the most of what limited education was possible in Saipan after the war, Joe Eleven got a job teaching at Saipan's elementary school.

In this capacity, he got to know Mrs. Paul Murphy, the American principal at the Navy dependents' school in Saipan. She recognized Joe Eleven's potential and reached out to a Minnesota priest named Monsignor Bernard Mangan. He, in turn, brought the matter to the attention of the De La Salle Brothers who ran Saint Mary's College in Winona, Minnesota. They agreed to take in Joe Eleven on scholarship.

After finishing college and studying law, Joe Eleven returned to Saipan. He got married and raised a family, passing away in 1989. U såga gi minahgong . Rest in peace.

If it weren't for the Sacred Heart of Jesus, he may never have accomplished all that, all because he spoke a little English and that made the Japanese nervous about an eleven-year-old boy.





JOE ELEVEN


ROSARY AUCTIONED TO COVER DEBT

Thursday, February 9, 2023



In 1926, a woman named María owed attorney Tomás Anderson Calvo (grandfather of former Governor Paul M. Calvo), $15.72.

In today's value, that would be around $260.

No reason is ever stated in the court documents why she owed Calvo that much.

Having failed to get payment from María, Calvo sought justice from the court. María answered the summons and promised payment by a certain date. When that date came and went, and there was still no payment, the judge ordered the Commissioner of Hagåtña to search María's house for anything worthy of being auctioned, in order to obtain money to pay the debt.

The Commissioner reported that he found only one thing worthy of being auctioned. A gold rosary with red beads and a gold crucifix.

Well, that would have to do and the rosary was put up for auction. Only one person stepped forward to make a bid. He was Pancracio Rábago Palting, another lawyer, who bid $4 for the rosary, which today would mean $66. So, Palting won the rosary and the debt was now reduced by $4. I have no idea what happened to the rest of the debt.


LOST ITS BLESSING

The Catholic Church does not allow blessed items to be sold. Assuming María's rosary was blessed, her rosary lost its blessing the minute it was bought, even in auction.

Palting, if he wanted a blessed rosary, had to have it blessed again after he had bought it in auction.

This little story shows how much many Chamorros prized their rosaries. It was sometimes put in the will who in the family would inherit it.

HE DEFIED PRICE

Tuesday, January 31, 2023


Francisco Baza León Guerrero was a fighter.

He fought for American citizenship and for democracy for Guam's people, where the people would one day vote for a representative form of government and not be ruled by Naval Governors who were the entire government rolled into one man.

A little-known story shows how León Guerrero wasn't a doormat even in his younger days.

León Guerrero, who was a chicken farmer in his youth, helping to support his widowed mother, got a job working at the US Agricultural Experiment Station in Piti. As such, León Guerrero was an employee of the US Department of Agriculture, and not of the US Navy.

In 1926, while León Guerrero was working at the Piti Station as a specialist in poultry raising, the Naval Governor, Captain Henry B. Price, walked into the Station looking for long-time Station employee Peter Nelson. All but one of the employees stood up to greet the Governor. After Price had asked his questions and gotten answers, Price turned around as if to leave, so León Guerrero and his coworker Joaquín Guerrero sat back down again.

Then, Price turned back again and commanded León Guerrero to stand once more. This León Guerrero refused to do, taking Price's command as intending to humiliate León Guerrero, who said Price already had ill feelings for him, for reasons he did not state.


CHARGED!



León Guerrero was charged in court with "Wanton Disrespect to the Governor."

Price's version of the event was that he met León Guerrero at the Station and asked for Nelson. León Guerrero told the Governor where Nelson was, but made no attempt to inform Nelson that the Governor was at the Station looking for him. Instead, León Guerrero sat down, tilting the swivel chair as far back as it could go, raising his arms and clasping his hands behind his head, looking at the Governor in what Price interpreted as a disrespectful stance.

Price told León Guerrero, "You are disrespectful." León Guerrero retorted that he was not. Price then ordered León Guerrero to stand up. He remained seated and Price was done waiting for him to stand, so Price left.

Guam's court found León Guerrero guilty as charged.


ON APPEAL




In an appeal made to a trio of appellate judges made up of a Navy officer, a Marine officer and a Chamorro judge (José Roberto), León Guerrero argued that he could not be guilty of breaking what was not a law. There was no law obliging him to rise when ordered by the Governor to do so.

Furthermore, León Guerrero could not be accused of insubordination to his superior because León Guerrero did not work for Price. He worked for the US Department of Agriculture, and not for the US Navy whose highest officer on Guam was Price.

Unsurprisingly, this court denied León Guerrero's appeal.

Still, León Guerrero did not lose his job at the Agricultural Station.


NEVER SENT TO JAPAN

Friday, January 27, 2023


On January 10, 1942, the Japanese shipped off to Prisoner of War camps in Japan all the Americans they found on Guam after they invaded the island on December 10, 1941. Around 500 people, military and civilian.

Except for TWO people.

These two Americans stayed on Guam for the entire Japanese Occupation. They were never sent, like the other Americans, to prisoner of war camps in Japan.

Who were they? And why were they exempted?

They were LOUIS FURTADO and MARY MAGDALENE CRUZ , and they had two things in common. First, they were born in Hawaii. Second, they were both of Portuguese ancestry.

Why should those two things matter?

First, Furtado claimed that the Japanese told him that he would not be imprisoned because the Japanese considered Hawaii "conquered territory." Sure, the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, but they never conquered Hawaii. Who knows why they would have said so.

Second, both Furtado and Cruz, whose maiden name was Vinhaça (sometimes spelled Vinhasa), were of Portuguese ancestry. Portugal was neutral in World War II, neither an enemy nor an ally of Japan. Still, Furtado and Cruz were both born in Hawaii and had American citizenship, even though their families had come over from Portugal. So it remains a mystery why the Japanese would have let these two go free, while all other Americans were shipped off to Japan.


FURTADO


FURTADO AND PÅLE' OSCAR CALVO
Meeting again in Hawaii in 1946


Furtado, a married man with children, was sent to Guam in 1941 to work for the US Navy. When the Japanese bombed Guam on December 8, 1941, Furtado was asked by Governor McMillin to supervise the destruction of fuel on Cabras Island so as not to fall into enemy hands. He then fled into the jungle trying to avoid the Japanese. But he finally turned himself in when the island was firmly in Japanese hands. When they found out he was from Hawaii, the Japanese demanded he tell them what he knew about Pearl Harbor and American defenses in Hawaii. When he refused to, they beat him up.

He was told by the Japanese that they'd let him stay on Guam, but they kept an eye on him and punished him now and then for singing God Bless America , teaching Chamorro children to sing it and for other minor infractions. He also kept a radio, illegal under the Japanese, but got away with it till the very end. Generally, he was left unmolested, and he tried to be invisible as much as he could, farming on borrowed land. He is also credited for composing the Uncle Sam song, along with Pedro "Seboyas" Rosario.

He was ordered by the Japanese to work on the defense projects of the Japanese. He hated the idea. First, he did not want to aid the Japanese war effort. Second, he had heard that the Japanese had killed entire work crews after the job was done. So he had someone pour boiling water on him so he could claim injury and be unfit to work. He was supposed to scald only his hand, but the water scalded much of his upper body, leaving scars. He was hospitalized for ten days.

When he was caught with the radio, he fled into the jungle. That was hard on him, due to the lack of food. Luckily this was right before the American return and he finally met up with some Marines and he was brought inside American lines.





Word was sent to his wife and children, father and siblings that he had made it through the Japanese Occupation with his life intact. In due time he returned to Hawaii, and lived to the ripe old age of 96, dying in 2002 in Hawaii. Too bad I didn't know about him back then. Imagine the stories I could've heard from him.


MARY MAGDALENE CRUZ



The next Hawaii-born person left alone by the Japanese on Guam lead a quieter life than Furtado's, being the wife of Antonio Ignacio Cruz, familian Fånggo, a school teacher in Piti in 1940.

Mary Magdalene Vinhaça (sometimes spelled Vinhasa) was born in Kona, Hawaii. Her parents were of Portuguese background.

Antonio Cruz was a teacher and somehow was in Hawaii in the late 1920s. He and Mary met and got married. Their oldest child was born in Hawaii, but they soon moved to Guam, where the rest of the children were born.

Antonio died in 1970 and Mary lived the remainder of her life in Hawaii. All of her children also moved away from Guam. Mary died in 1980 in Hawaii.

May they rest in peace.

RENAMING UPI

Tuesday, January 17, 2023




There is disagreement going on right now about renaming Upi Elementary School.

Some want to rename it after the late master ifit carver Robert S. Taitano, who, besides his significance as a cultural arts practitioner, didn't live far from the school.

But others, especially those connected to the school, want to keep the current name of the school.

Having no connection whatsoever to the school, it is not my purpose to weigh in on the matter. But I do want to clarify some statements made by some people that need it. As I didn't hear these people make these statements, and am relying on media quotes, one has to ask if they were quoted accurately.

Nonetheless, someone is reported to have said that Upi is "simply a street name that stands for Northwest Field." This is not accurate. Long before there was a small Upi Street in Yigo (not even where Upi Elementary School is), there was a district of northeastern Guam called Upi. And Upi is not in the northwest of Guam but in the northeast, nowhere near Northwest Field.





This map based on a 1902 Guam map shows the traditional location of the area called Upi. It is exactly where Andersen Air Force Base sits today.

Thus, the second alleged statement by another individual, that "Upi was actually named after a cluster of homes in the Tarague area" is also in need of clarification. Upi is an area just south of Tarague, but it is its own area, distinct from Tarague.


AN OLD CONTROVERSY



FROM 1989


Many people associated with Upi Elementary School today want to keep the name as is, but how interesting to find out that, in 1989, the people associated with the school back then actually opposed the name Upi Elementary School.

Prior to 1989, it was Andersen Elementary School. Then the Guam Board of Education voted to change the name to Upi Elementary School. Over 600 people connected to the school opposed it, signing their names to a petition. They preferred the school be called Mount Santa Rosa Elementary School.




WHEN IT WAS STILL ANDERSEN ELEMENTARY
Late 1960s


Those opposing the name Mount Santa Rosa said that the school was not on Mount Santa Rosa, which is south of the school, though not very far.

Those opposing the name Upi Elementary School did so for a number of reasons. Some said no one knew where Upi was nor even how to pronounce it; some pronouncing it YOO-pee. Others said there was no connection between the school and some place they had never heard of.

As for the fear that Upi would be called YOOPEE by others, let it be a lesson. While it is good to anticipate possible problems, they all don't actually become problems. Almost everyone today pronounces Upi the right way, as far as I know.

The question is : is Upi Elementary School in Upi?


WHERE IS UPI?



As seen in the 1902 map, Upi is way at the northeast corner of Guam. Looking at the areas near it, one sees that Late Point is adjacent to Upi. It is definitely north of Anao Point. Upi, properly speaking, is exactly where the air fields of Andersen Air Force Base are.

Upi Elementary School is located well south of that. The school is adjacent to Anao Point.

So Upi Elementary School sits in between Upi and another area called Lupog, just north of Mount Santa Rosa.




So a better case might be made that Upi Elementary School resides in Lupog, as the map indicates that the school is much closer to Lupog than it is to the air fields of Andersen Air Force Base, which is definitely Upi.


BUT.....

Who says a building or institution has to sit in the geographical location it is named for?

After all, there are many bakeries called Paris Bakery, and grocery stores called Manila Food Store, that are neither in Paris nor in Manila.

Buildings and institutions can be named after places, people and events that mean something to those who use the building or are part of the institution.

And, in the end perhaps, it is they, the users and participants, who ought to decide, since it is they who will have to live each day under that name.

I BRUHA

Tuesday, January 10, 2023





One rarely hears of witches in Chamorro folklore. It's all about taotaomo'na on Guam; birak in the Northern Marianas.

But, in the old days, Chamorros also feared witches, the BRUHA .

Bruha is borrowed from the Spanish word bruja , which means "witch."


FROM 1907

In 1907, an American lady living on Guam wrote about the bruha as she learned about it from Chamorro friends.

Unlike the taotaomo'na , the bruha was never seen.

But she was still able to do much harm.

She was not seen, but could be heard.

One night, a man was eating dinner all by himself when he heard "click, click, click." He knew that sound was from the bruha .

He told the bruha , "Come eat with me. I'm not afraid of you."

All of a sudden, the candle on the table where he was eating blew out. Dishes leapt from the table and smashed against the wall or the floor. The man himself was attacked by an unseen force and his face was covered in blood and his torn hair was all over the room.

The man was only able to chase away the invisible bruha by repeating, "Jesús, María, José." "Jesus, Mary and Joseph."

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Tuesday, January 3, 2023


I I'E' HUMUYONG TARAKITO

The I'e' fish became a Tarakito fish


This is a saying applied when a story starts when one person tells it to another person, but by the time the story reaches the 20th person, the story has grown way bigger than it really is.

The i'e' is a small fish. It's actually the name for a kind of fish when it is still in its baby stage.

When the i'e' matures and grows, it is then called tarakito .

So let's say Juan tells Manuel that he was bit by a dog.

Manuel tells Francisco and Francisco tells Lorenzo that Juan was bit by two dogs.

Lorenzo tells Ramón that Juan and his wife were bit by a pack of dogs.

Ramón tells Pedro that Juan and his wife were bit by a pack of dogs when Juan and his wife were picking mangoes from Antonio's tree without permission.

You get the idea.

The tiny fish became a big fish.

It could also be applied, I believe, to embellish a story. After all, who would be impressed if you caught a small fish? But if you single-handedly caught a marlon as big as yourself, people saw "Wow."

I i'e' humuyong tarakito.

THE MOON OR MANILA?

Wednesday, December 28, 2022





Ma faisen si Juan gi eskuela, "Kao hihot-ña i pilan kontra Guam pat hihot-ña Manila?"
(Juan was asked in school, "Is the moon closer to Guam or is Manila closer?")

Ilek-ña si Juan, "I pilan."
(Juan said, "The moon.")

Ilek-ña i ma'estra, "Bai faisen hao ta'lo."
(The teacher said, "I will ask you again.")

Pues ilek-ña si Juan, "Ya pareho ha' bai oppe hao."
(Then Juan said, "And I'll tell you the same thing.")

Mamaisen i ma'estra, "Kao hihot-ña i pilan pat Manila?"
(The teacher asked, "Is the moon closer or Manila?")

Manoppe si Juan, "Esta hu sangåne hao na hihot-ña i pilan."
(Juan replied, "I already told you that the moon is closer.")

Mamaisen i ma'estra, "Håfa taimano?"
(The teacher asked, "How is that?")

Manoppe si Juan, "Gaige yo' Guam ya hu lili'e' ha' i pilan lao ti hu lili'e' Manila."
(Juan replied, "I'm on Guam and I can see the moon but I can't see Manila.")

ESCAPE TO SAIPAN?

Wednesday, December 21, 2022


JK SHIMIZU'S SCHOONER
Mariana Maru


We all know that Guam and the Northern Marianas form two separate governments. Still, both are under the American flag and observe all applicable US Federal laws.

But think about the advantages some people could have had when the two island governments were under separate flags; Guam under the US and the Northern Marianas under Japan.

When that was the case, between 1914 and 1941, the Japanese in Saipan did not have to honor American requests from Guam, and vice-versa, when it came to judicial proceedings.

In 1926, a complaint was filed in Guam's court against a man named Ignacio for illegally possessing a house which rightfully belonged to another.

When he received the summons to appear in court, Ignacio seems to have had other plans : sail to Saipan on JK Shimizu's schooner, the Mariana Maru . There, in Saipan under the Japanese, Ignacio may be able to avoid going to the American court on Guam and face punitive measures.

The plaintiff in the case reported this plan of Ignacio's possible escape to the Court. The Court, in turn, asked the Governor to prevent the schooner from taking Ignacio to Saipan.



REQUEST TO PREVENT DEPARTURE


Instead, the Governor solved the whole situation by allowing Ignacio to sail to Saipan, but in the nature of being DEPORTED .

That was a brilliant stroke of legal manoeuvre. Instead of fleeing, Ignacio was being deported. If he was deported, he could not expect to ever come back. Whatever house he was illegally possessing on Guam was now vacant, and the legal owner could move back in.



ORDER TO DEPORT

JAPANESE SMELLS THE MADOYA

Wednesday, December 14, 2022


JOSEFINA LEÓN GUERRERO MARTÍNEZ


Josefina LG Martínez, a young mother in her 20s, was peacefully frying bananas in her home in Sinajaña one day in 1955. It was 1:30 in the afternoon and she was all alone in the house.

Out of the blue, the frightful appearance of an almost-naked, bearded man startled her when he pushed open the kitchen door.

His beard went down to his chest and his hair down to his shoulders. He held a gun and a saber hung from a rope around his waist. It had to have been a Japanese straggler.

The Japanese motioned with his fingers for her to keep silent, and nudged his gun against her ribs.

Thankfully, the menacing man only grabbed some bananas, both the ripe and also the fried bananas ( madoya ), saying " beru , beru ." which must have been " taberu ," Japanese for "to eat." Then he dashed back into the jungle near the house. On his way out he dropped two madoya !




MADOYA


Josefina contacted the police, however, and the Police Chief tasked Juan Unpingco Aguon and José Salas Bukikosa, two police officers who had previously been members of the Guam Combat Patrol that hunted Japanese runaway soldiers after the war, to track down this latest straggler.

But he was never to be seen again. His bones probably lie somewhere in the dense vegetation of the island.




FAMILY NICKNAMES : LINCOLN

Tuesday, December 6, 2022


Jesús Villagómez Santos (1905-1968) had a very pronounced limp, and it wasn't temporary.

It was such a noticeable limp that people would talk about his LIMPING openly.

But people started to play around with the English word "limping" and changed it to LINCOLN.

So, Jesús became known as JESÚS LINCOLN.

"Lincoln," of course, when said, sounds like LINGKON.

To show he took no offense and was a good sport about it, when Jesús and his wife Rosario had their first baby boy, they named him ABRAHAM. In all seriousness, this child could truly be called, in Chamorro fashion, Abraham Lincoln.



JESÚS VILLAGÓMEZ SANTOS
better known as Jesús Lincoln


Jesús was from that branch of Santoses who already had a family nickname, BÅLI TRES . So we see how new nicknames can be applied to individuals and then their children and grandchildren could go by a new nickname.


TWO THINGS

Jesús Lincoln's nickname shows two things about Chamorro culture.

1. We single-out a prominent physical trait or condition of people and it becomes their nickname.

We're not the only culture that does that. Think of all the men nicknamed SLIM or LEFTY in the US.

But God help you if you stand out in any way in the Marianas. Chances are it will become your nickname.

2. We play around with English.

We know the English word and how to say it. But we like to play around with it. "Might as well" becomes MINUS WHALE. "Toilet paper" becomes PAPER TOILET.  LIMPING became LINCOLN for Tun Jesús. And the list goes on.


DON'T MESS WITH ROSA

Tuesday, November 29, 2022




ROSA GUMATAOTAO TENORIO
1888 ~ 1969


Alfonso was a píkaro (naughty) man in his early 20s. He had been caught more than once sneaking into people's homes.

But one night in 1925 he tried once too much.

He made the mistake of sneaking into the house of JUAN NAUTA TENORIO and his wife, the former ROSA GUMATAOTAO.

Rosa was the mother of three young daughters by 1925 : Amanda, aged 18; Rita, aged 16 and Encarnación, aged 15. There were also two young sons, José and Juan, both not even teenagers yet.

But Rosa was no woman to mess with.

It was ten o'clock that night and everyone was in bed, but not necessarily sleeping. Rosa and daughter Encarnación were lying in the såla or living room, evidently on the guåfak or woven floor mat. The two other daughters, Amanda and Rita, were lying on an actual bed in the apusento or inner room/bedroom. The door was shut, but not locked, as was often the case on Guam in those days.

In walked Alfonso, without so much as knocking or calling out, and he quickly blew out the one lamp resting on the table in the såla .

Immediately, Encarnación called out to whoever this man was, asking why he put out the light. Realizing he was discovered, Alfonso made a run for the door, but Rosa was no slow poke. She caught up to Alfonso just as he got to the door and she grabbed his shirt, holding him back and preventing him from escaping through the door.

Rosa asked, "Why are you here? Are you asking for the hand of any of my daughters?" Denying that he was, he tried to pull free. But Rosa testified in court, " But being of superior strength, I got a piece of iron rod and hit him by the head with it, and then got a piece of rope and tied him to a post in my house, in order to be identified by the authorities. I sent my daughter Amanda to wake up Jesús Matanane Cruz, better known as Ibang, to look for a policeman, which Matanane went away and and came back with a patrolman.. ." While all this was going on, one of the daughters had lit the lamp again.

Grabbed his shirt; hit him with an iron rod and tied him to a post with rope. Not bad for a Chamorro matron, with no help from a man. Don't underestimate the capabilities of a protective Chamorro mother.

In fairness to Alfonso, he later straightened out, got married and raised a family. Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.


A PERSONAL NOTE

I was only seven years old when Rosa passed away, but I knew her daughters Amanda and Rita, who lived close to Saint Jude Church in Sinajaña and went to Mass every day, all dressed for church in mourner's black until their own deaths, which was the old custom.

Had I known this story back in the 1970s and 80s when I knew the two sisters, I would have asked them, " Sangåne yo' pot si Alfonso! " " Tell me about Alfonso! " I would have loved to know what they remembered of this story.

Thanks to my fellow Sinajañan and friend Patricia Tuncap Andrews, great granddaughter of Rosa, for Tan Rosa's photo and to Carmela Cruz, another great granddaughter, for the photo of Encarnación.



THE THREE SISTERS

GUAM'S FIRST NURSERY

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

INFANT OF PRAGUE CATHOLIC NURSERY & KINDERGARTEN
Tå'i, Mangilao

Nurseries, pre-schools, kindergartens and day care centers abound on Guam today, a reflection of modern times when both parents work, or perhaps there is only a mom and she works, so someone needs to care for the little ones during working hours.

In the old days, most families were huge and multi-generational. There were more than enough grandmothers, single aunts, nieces and older sisters to care for the young.

But in 1952, the Mercy Sisters opened Guam's first nursery, where parents could drop off their pre-school children and the Sisters would care for them and begin to educate them.



CHRISTMAS PLAY AT INFANT OF PRAGUE


The Mercy Sisters had moved into their new convent in Tå'i, on church land next to Father Dueñas Memorial School and Seminary, in 1951. In 1952, Sister Redempta Thomas, a stateside Sister and Mercy superior for Guam, decided to open a nursery on land just down the hill from the Mercy convent. A nursery would provide the Sisters with extra income to meet their financial obligations for a rapidly increasing community. Not all the Sisters were inclined to teach in schools; some worked better with pre-school children. Guam was also changing. More parents by then were living in nuclear family houses, without the extended family around to help watch the children, so a nursery was helpful to the parents who could use that help. An early start in their child's education wasn't a bad idea, either.

A permanent concrete building was completed in 1959 which still remains, but it has been added to and improved more than once over the years.


LIFE AT TÅ'I NURSERY IN THE EARLY YEARS




Religion, of course, played a big role in the daily program at the nursery. Basic prayers were taught, as were religious songs, and many of them were in Chamorro. A number of parents were attracted to sending their children to Infant of Prague for this reason; to learn prayers and hymns and also in Chamorro. Religion was reinforced with devotional acts, like May Crownings, and through religious plays.

The children never went hungry. If a child wasn't given a lunch pail from home, the Sisters had an endless supply of Ichiban (ramen) noodles. Some of the Sisters who baked also treated the children with their cakes and other pastries.

So well-cared for were the children that even when parents forgot to pick up their child at the end of the day, they didn't panic when they remembered or got a call from the nursery. Their child was in good hands with the Sisters. One auntie was asked to take the child to the nursery and so she dropped him off, not realizing that the day was a public holiday and there was no school. The convent was just up the hill and a Sister called the parents to come fetch the child.

Many more nurseries and day care centers have popped up all over Guam now, but Infant of Prague is the first. Many of Guam's leaders in every type of career and profession got their first taste of school at Infant of Prague. The nursery is still going strong; full of children, with the Sisters and lay teachers continuing the mission of caring for the children, spiritually and in every other way.


WHO IS THE INFANT OF PRAGUE?



The Infant of Prague is a statue of the child Jesus which is venerated in the city of Prague in the Czech Republic. It has many claims of miraculous episodes in its history. The devotion was very popular in America in the 1950s when the nursery on Guam was established.

ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Thursday, November 3, 2022



The road up to San Ramón Hill, forty-one years apart.

In 1981, the road was decorated for the arrival of Pope John Paul II on February 22, 1981 - the first and only Pope, so far, to visit Guam. He actually spent the night, too, right at the Bishop's House which can be seen in the 1981 photo, at the top of the hill, dead center.

Take away those papal visit decorations, though, and the area was very simple. No curbs along the road up the hill, no new Judicial Center, no office building in the back, no bus stop. Even the vegetation looks sparser. The Latte Stone Park was just that; just latte stones and no picnic cabanas as we have now at the renamed Angel Santos Memorial Park. The wooden telephone poles are now concrete.

The area to the left in the photo, under the hill where the Archbishop's house is, is the barrio of San Ramón.

The area to the right in the photo, what is now Angel Santos Memorial, or Latte Stone, Park, is the beginning of the barrio of Togae (also spelled Togai or Toggai).

KÅNTAN GUMA'YU'US : O GAI LISÅYO

Wednesday, October 26, 2022


This short hymn about the Holy Rosary is almost not a hymn on account of its brevity - just three strophes long with no refrain.

Secondly, the hymn is more than just about the Rosary. Like many of the old hymns, it is catechetical - it teaches Catholic doctrine. And this hymn teaches about the Communion of Saints.

But, first, the hymn :




LYRICS

O gai Lisåyo, Bithen Maria,
(O Virgin Mary, Lady of the Rosary)
mames na Nånan i taotao siha.
(sweet mother of the people.)
Oppan gi tano' : Åbe Maria!
(It resounds on earth : Ave Maria!)
Åbe bula hao gråsia.
(Ave full of grace.)

O gai Lisåyo, Bithen Maria,
(O Virgin Mary, Lady of the Rosary)
mames na Nånan i anghet siha.
(sweet mother of the angels.)
Oppan gi langet: Åbe Maria!
(It resounds in heaven : Ave Maria!)
Åbe bula hao gråsia.
(Ave full of grace.)

O gai Lisåyo, Bithen Maria,
(O Virgin Mary, Lady of the Rosary)
mames na Nånan i ånte siha.
(sweet mother of the Souls in Purgatory.)
Oppan gi guafe : Åbe Maria!
(It resounds in the fire of Purgatory : Ave Maria!)
Åbe bula hao gråsia.
(Ave full of grace.)


EARTH - HEAVEN - FIRE

As you can see, the hymn speaks about PEOPLE on EARTH; ANGELS in HEAVEN and SOULS in the FIRE (of Purgatory).

These are the three communities that make up the Church. These three communities are on EARTH, in HEAVEN and in PURGATORY.

We also call them the CHURCH MILITANT, the CHURCH SUFFERING and the CHURCH TRIUMPHANT.




First of all, there is you and me. We're still here on earth, struggling hard, with the help of God's grace found in prayer and Sacraments, to abide by the Lord's teachings even though the world goes by its own rules, and we face hardships of every kind. It is a real battle, spiritually. So the Church fighting the spiritual battle is called the Church Militant.




After we have died and left the battle field of the earth, most of us will go through Purgatory where we will purified of all that is in us that isn't worthy of heaven - our imperfections, the harm we did while on earth that we haven't repaired, the penances never done and so on. This delay of heaven is of immense suffering to the soul in Purgatory, who longs for heaven but cannot enter it for a while. The Church enduring the pains of Purgatory therefore is called the Church Suffering.




And on that blessed day that our souls, now made spotless for heaven, enter the full vision of God, we will rejoice in God's presence, with the saints and angels. The Church that enjoys the perfect joy of heaven is called the Church Triumphant.

All three communities that make up the Church are spiritually united with each other. Death does not separate us on earth from the Souls in Purgatory, who need our prayers, and the Saints in Heaven, who pray for us. This is what we call the Communion of Saints.

Our Lady is Queen and Mother of all three parts that make up the Church. She is with the Church Triumphant in heaven, praying for us the Church Militant on earth and also for the Church Suffering in Purgatory.


GERMAN ORIGINAL

Lawrence Borja has found a German hymn on which the Chamorro one is based.

Not only is the melody the same, the subject of the hymn is the same, i.e. Our Lady of the Rosary. The German title is Rosenkranzkönigin, which means "Queen of the Rosary." The composer was the German priest Michael Haller. Påle' Román used Haller's hymns quite a bit when writing Chamorro versions of hymns.




WHEN YOUR COMPADRE TAKES YOU TO COURT

Thursday, October 20, 2022


When the biological father chooses a godfather for his child to be baptized, the two fathers become compadres , also called kompaire . Com ( together , with ) and padre ( father ).  Co-fathers. One biological, the other spiritual.

This arrangement creates a bond that lasts for life. Compadres come to each other's aid whenever needed.

In the village of Inalåhan in 1924, Isidoro Chargualaf Taimanglo received a bakiya (a heifer or young female cow) as payment for services rendered to a Japanese settler in the village named Antonio Kamo.

Taimanglo kept the bakiya at a place outside the village but eventually brought it into town to tame the animal and, while it was in the village, Manuel Dueñas Flores claimed the bakiya as his own.

Taimanglo took the matter to court. Flores, meanwhile, stated that Kamo had given away two bakiya , one to Taimanglo and the second one to Flores. The bakiya Flores took was his, not Taimanglo's. Taimanglo denied Flores' version of the story.

But when the day came for the case to be heard in court, Pancracio Palting, Taimanglo's lawyer, told the judge that Taimanglo wanted to withdraw his complaint, as he and Flores were compadres . He proposed that both Taimanglo and Flores divide the bakiya between them when slaughtered, and share the court costs fifty-fifty.

Flores accepted the proposal and the case was dismissed. All because the two opponents were compadres .


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


KOMPAIRE

Cuando un padre biológico elige a un padrino para bautizar a su hijo, ambos se convierten en compadres, también llamados “kompaire” en chamorro. Kom (junto, con) y paire (padre). Co-padres. Uno biológico, el otro espiritual.

Este arreglo crea un vínculo que dura toda la vida. Los compadres acuden en ayuda mutua cuando es necesario.

En el pueblo de Inaraján en 1924, Isidoro Chargualaf Taimanglo recibió una “bakiya” (una novilla o vaca joven) como pago por los servicios prestados en el pueblo a un japonés llamado Antonio Kamo.

Isidoro Taimanglo mantuvo la “bakiya” fuera del pueblo, pero después decidió llevarla y domesticarla y, mientras estaba en el pueblo, Manuel Dueñas Flores reclamó la “bakiya” como suya.

Isidoro Taimanglo llevó el asunto a los tribunales. Manuel Flores, por su parte, afirmó que Antonio Kamo había regalado dos “bakiya”, una a Isidoro Taimanglo y la otra a Manuel Flores. La “bakiya” que tomó Manuel Flores era suya, no de Isidoro Taimanglo. Pero Isidoro Taimanglo negó la versión de Manuel Flores.

Cuando llegó el día de la audiencia del caso, Pancracio Palting, abogado de Isidoro Taimanglo, le dijo al juez que Isidoro Taimanglo quería retirar su denuncia, ya que él y Manuel Flores eran compadres. Propuso que tanto Isidoro Taimanglo como Manuel Flores dividieran la “bakiya” entre ellos cuando la sacrificaran, y que compartieran los costos de los tribunales al cincuenta por ciento.

Manuel Flores aceptó la propuesta y el caso fue sobreseído. Todo porque los dos opositores eran compadres.

SAMOAN VILLAGE IN SAIPAN

Wednesday, October 5, 2022


SITE OF SAMOAN VILLAGE IN SAIPAN
1909 to 1915


In 1909, both Saipan and Samoa belonged to Germany.

Among the various differences between the two places owned by a common colonial power, the Chamorros and Carolinians of Saipan accepted German rule without a whimper, but not all the Samoan chiefs did.

A Samoan resistance movement against the Germans called Mau a Pule concerned the Germans so much that they exiled 10 chiefs involved in the movement to Saipan in 1909. The German ship SMS Jaguar took them, and their wives and children, some 72 in all, to Saipan in April of that year. A German colonial journal said that deportation was a severe punishment for the Samoans, since they were so attached to their native land.



SAMOAN CHIEFS HEADED FOR SAIPAN


The Samoans at first lived in a government building near the landing pier in Garapan but this was just temporary. The Germans always had in mind to keep the Samoans in their own separate community. Considered "rabble rousers," the Germans may have wanted to keep them apart to prevent them influencing the Chamorros and Carolinians, though those fears would have amounted to nothing, given the docility of the Chamorros and Carolinians. Still, the Samoans sent to Saipan were not regular settlers; they were political prisoners, having had no prior contact with Chamorros or Carolinians, so a separate place for them was decided.

It was hard, at first, to convince the Samoans to live in their own settlement, according to the German colonial journal, but the German officials took the Samoan leaders to scout areas and it was decided to build in this area just south of Tanapag. Tanapag was a small community of a few hundred people, and the Samoan camp would be two and a half miles away from Garapan, the capital, with its much larger population.




The area was situated just south of a stream called Saddok as Agaton. The German journals say that the water was clean and drinkable, but eventually water was fed through bamboo pipes from a spring called Bo'bo' Agaton.

The ocean was right at their doorstep and the area had breadfruit and coconut trees.  Each family was given the same amount of land to grow their own foods, and the taro patch was common to all. The Samoans also traded food with the Tanapag villagers.

The houses were built with prison labor, since the Samoan deportees were political, not criminal, prisoners. Each chief had his own dwelling. A Protestant pastor came with them, and he also his own quarters as well as a prayer house where he conducted daily services. There were a few Catholics in the group, but they could go to the Catholic church in Garapan.





CHIEF LAUAKI NAMULAU'ULU MAMOE
One of the leading chiefs who lived in Saipan


In October 1914, Japan took over the Northern Marianas from the Germans on account of World War I. It took a while to get things moving, but the Samoans finally got their chance to leave Saipan and return to Samoa in June of 1915.

One of the chiefs, I'iga Pisa, didn't wait for that but, instead, sneaked away in a canoe to Guam where he spent a few years, then returned to Samoa.

Four Samoan chiefs had died in Saipan before the group could return to Samoa. That left five chiefs who boarded the ship to go back to Samoa, minus I'iga Pisa in Guam. But one of them, Lauaki, died during the voyage before the group arrived in Samoa, so only four chiefs made it back on that trip. Pisa returned his own way later.

The bones of the four chiefs who died on Saipan, and others among the Samoans who also died in Saipan, were brought back to Samoa.




MOTHER'S MILK

Tuesday, September 27, 2022


I met a man attending a funeral and, to make conversation, I asked him if he knew the deceased man. This is how the conversation went.

~ Kao un tungo' i difunto?
(Did you know the deceased?)

~ Hu tungo' håye gue' sa' man besino ham gi annai man dikkike' ham. Lao achok ha' ti gos amigu-ho gue', menestet na bai hu fåtto gi entieriu-ña pot otro na rason.
(I knew who he was because we were neighbors when we were small. But although he was not a close friend, it was important that I come to his funeral for another reason.)

~ Ya håfa ennao?
(And what is that?)

~ Gi annai sais åños yo', man hugåndo ham ni famagu'on gi tatten guma' ya ha danche i matå-ho un pedåson kriståt annai ma panak un boteya ya måffak. På'go mafañågo i difunto pues humånao si nanå-ho para as nanå-ña i difunto para u fan ayao leche ginen i sisu-ña si nanå-ña ya ma åmte i matå-ho ni lechen i nana. Pues hu didibe i difunto meggagai sa' an ti mafañågo gue' ti u gai leche si nanå-ña guihe na tiempo.
(When I was six years old, we kids were playing behind the house and a piece of glass hit my eye when they hit a bottle and it broke apart. The deceased was just born so my mother went to his mother to borrow milk from his mother's breast to treat my eye with the mother's breast milk. So I owe the deceased a lot because if he had not been born his mother wouldn't have had breast milk at that time.)

Some blog readers always ask to hear how the Chamorro sounds :





BREAST MILK AS MEDICINE



Science tells us what Chamorro mothers knew all along.

Breast milk has a lot of health benefits, even for the mother! But not only is breast milk good for the baby to drink and put inside the body, the anti-bacterial properties of mother's milk can be used to treat external problems such as skin rashes and pink eye.

Different cultures use breast milk for all sorts of conditions. Chamorros in the past used it to treat eye ailments.

PREGNANT IN PRISON

Tuesday, September 20, 2022



In the 1920s, María was arrested and taken to court. The crime? Adultery.

She was found guilty and sentenced to serve time in Hagåtña's civil jail.

There was one other factor involved. María was pregnant. Probably by the man with whom she had an adulterous affair.

How could María take care of an infant while serving time? She had no relatives living in Hagåtña either.

When her time came, María gave birth in the Naval Hospital. The doctor entrusted the newborn, a baby boy, to a man named José and his wife Dolores.

Although the court records don't say it, we know from census records that José and Dolores were childless at the time. Childless couples often adopted children from single mothers who were in difficult situations. But how did the doctor know José or Dolores?

Court documents do say there were no relatives available. Census records show that María's parents were deceased by the 1920 Census. Her siblings, if she had any, may have also passed by then.

At any rate, María agreed that José and Dolores take care of her son and, not only that, that they be legally appointed custodians of the boy.


A SURPRISING TWIST

The old Chamorro belief was that a barren couple, by adopting children, would be rewarded by God with biological children of their own making.

José and Dolores did have one son, born five years after they adopted the imprisoned woman's boy. And this one biological son of theirs gave José and Dolores SIXTEEN grandchildren.

DOLOROSA MEDLEY

Wednesday, September 14, 2022



The Sorrowful Mother is a big part of traditional Chamorro devotion. Chamorro women, especially mothers, strongly identify with the Virgin Mary's sorrows.

In Chamorro, she is known as i Dolorosa , the "Sorrowful One." Many Chamorro women were also called Dolores in past times. Both these names, Dolorosa and Dolores, come from the Spanish word for pain, which is dolor .

The Dolorosa has her own section in the traditional Chamorro hymn book ( Lepblon Kånta ) on Guam. Her feast day is September 15 and the parishioners of Santa Rita have been praying her novena and singing many of her hymns.







Here's the English translation just of the verses they sang in the video.

SEN MAHÅLANG SI MARIA ( Mary was Very Sorrowful )

Sen mahålang si Maria, annai taigue i Saina-ta.
(Mary was very sorrowful when our Lord was absent.)
Mañe’lu-ho pinitiye i maså’pet i Nanå-ta.
(Brethren, feel sorrow for the sufferings of our Mother.)

Kololo’-ña nina’ låmen annai måtai gi fi’on-ña.
(She was wounded worse when He died by her side.)
Ma atåne gi kilu’us i yini’us na patgon-ña.
(Her divine child was nailed to the cross.)
Sen pinite si Maria sa’ ma puno’ i Saina-ta.
(Mary was greatly pained because our Lord was killed.)

SAOSAO NÅNA ( Wipe Mother )

Saosao Nåna i lago’-mo,
(Wipe your tears, Mother,)
guåho muna’tånges hao.
(I made you weep.)
Lao mañotsot yo’ magåhet
(But I am truly sorry)
sa’ hu na’ pinite hao.
(because I hurt you.)

O Bithen mipinite hasuye i tinago’
(O Virgin full of sorrow remember the command)
Nina’i-ña nu hågo na un adahe yo’.
(Given to you to care for me.)
Mañotsot i anti-ho, hu setbe hao Nanå-ho
(My soul repents, I will serve you, my Mother)
Hu ago’ i bidå-ho ya un gofli’e yo’.
(I change my ways and you will love me.)

NÅNAN PINITE ( Mother of Sorrows )

Nånan pinite, nånan ma guaiya
(Mother of sorrows, beloved mother)
Po’lo ya guåho hu sångan a’gang
(Let me declare loudly)
I masa’pet-mo piniten nåna
(Your sufferings, a mother's sorrows)
Nu i Lahi-mo ni i ma klåba.
(for your Son who is crucified.)

Ya i Katbårio nai ma sen anña’
(And Calvary was where He was truly struck)
Ma na’ taidahok i tataotao-ña
(His body was stripped of clothing)
Ya ma atåne addeng kanai-ña
(and His feet and hands nailed)
Gi trongkon håyo kalan gue’ gå’ga’.
(to the tree as if He were an animal.)

MA KANA' GI KILU'US ( He was Hung on the Cross )

Umågang i Saina-ta ilek-ña “Må’ho yo’.”
(Our Lord cried out saying, "I am thirsty.")
I taihanom na Nåna yinengyong takhalom.
(The waterless Mother was shaken deep within.)
Mamichao gi matå-ña dos lågo’ dångkulo.
(Two large tears burst from here eyes)
Ya ayo ha atu’e i må’ho na påtgon.
(And that is what she offered her thirsty child.)

Ma kana' gi kilu'us. Maså'pet fehman gue'.
(He was hung on the cross. He suffered intensely.)


QUEEN ELIZABETH ON GUAM

Friday, September 9, 2022


THE QUEEN WITH GOVERNOR RICKY BORDALLO
and First Lady Madeleine Bordallo with Prince Philip


As the world mourns the passing of a Queen almost all of us have known all our lives, let us recall the time that Queen Elizabeth made a short visit to Guam on May 4, 1975.

She has been all over the world, but not to every single country or place. She never visited some countries, close to Guam, who are huge compared to our small corner of the world. But she came to us, even if it was for just an hour.

Word first reached Guam in March of 1975 that the Queen would make a stop on Guam as part of her Asian tour, with Hong Kong (still under British rule) and Japan on the schedule.

She was originally supposed to stay two days on Guam, but the presence of thousands of Vietnamese refugees changed her mind. She didn't want the island to divert attention from the needs of all those refugees.

An advance team from London came out to Guam not only to look over security, but also to explain the rules of dealing with the British monarch.



BRITISH SUBJECTS WELCOME HER AT THE AIRPORT


The Queen's plane landed at Guam International Airport at 1:13PM on Sunday, May 4, 1975. The royal couple (husband Prince Philip accompanied the Queen) then went in separate limousines to Government House. The Governor, Ricky Bordallo, and the Queen in one car, and Prince Philip and First Lady Madeleine Bordallo in another car.

They went from the airport to Hagåtña by way of Maite, avoiding Marine Corps Drive.

At Government House, the Queen enjoyed the view of the island. Some refreshments were served, gifts were exchanged and the conversation kept light and social. This was not a formal, state visit. But, royal protocol was observed in dress and food. Military and a few other officials were present, but otherwise the affair was kept to minimal attendance. There were thirty members of her entourage from London to begin with!




Then it was time for the Queen to return to her plane and continue her journey. Her Guam visit lasted about an hour.

Madeleine Bordallo remembers a bet that the Queen never made with Prince Philip which she would have won. Flying over Guam, they saw gray canvases all over one area. Prince Philip said they were the canvas tops of military vehicles. The Queen told Madeleine this and Madeleine replied, "Oh no, ma'am, those are canvass tents for the refugees." And the Queen said, "I would have won that bet."

Guam residents who were British subjects, of course, were very happy to welcome their Queen. They took out a full-page ad in the newspaper to greet her. I hope someone showed the Queen a copy of the PDN!




I was never a British subject, but my grandfather was, when the British ruled Ireland (there are six Irish counties they still occupy).

My grandfather, it is said, ran off to America to escape British rule. Still, my dad took me to the hillside across Government House with a hundred or so other people to see the British Queen's limo drive by.

FEW OBESE

Tuesday, September 6, 2022



GRANDMA WALKING BAREFOOT FOR MILES TO THE RANCH
before the war


In the 1990s, an older woman shared with me this description of prewar life on Guam.





Ai, åntes de gera, håssan yommok.
(Oh, before the war, there were few overweight people.)

Håfa na ti meggagai na taotao man yommok åntes de gera?
(Where weren't there many overweight people before the war?)

Ke sa' megai-ña na in kanno' håfa in tanom gi gualo' pat in kenne' gi tasi. Nahong ha' para in fan lå'la' lao diddide' golosina na klåse. Ayo ha' i in nesesita. Titiyas, atule, guihan, chåda'. I mannok, hame in pepeksai. I hineksa' yan kåtne mås para an Damenggo pat gupot.
(Well because we mainly ate what we grew on the farm and caught in the sea. It was enough for us to live, but very few delicacies. Just what we needed. Flat bread, corn porridge, fish, eggs. The chicken we raised ourselves. Rice and meat were more for Sundays or parties.)

Yanggen para in fanmamåhan gi tienda, ni bes en kuåndo ha' na in che'gue, para arina yan laterías; satmon, leche, latan kåtne. Lao megai-ña na in kanno' håfa in tatanom gi gualo'.
(When we were to buy from a store, which we did only once in a while, it was for flour and canned goods; salmon, milk, canned meat. But we mainly are what we planted on the farm.)

Pues, fuera de ennao, man macho'cho' ham duro guihe na tiempo. Desde ke man makmåta ham asta ke man maigo' ham. Ya ti ma nanangga asta ke sumottera pat sumottero hao para un tutuhon macho'cho'. Yanggen esta hao siña mamokkat, siempre u guaha para tareå-mo. Makkat i lina'la' åntes de gera.
(Then, more than that, we worked hard in those days. From the time we woke up till we slept. And they didn't wait for you to be a teenager for you to start working. If you could walk, you would have your task. Life before the war was hard.)

Mañåga ham Hagåtña lao gaige i gualo'-måme giya Lu'ayao pues debe de in fanmamokkat desde Hagåtña para ayo na lugåt katna ha' kada dia. Guaha karetan guaka lao ti todo siña man hulat man ma udai guihe. Para håfa ham ni "diet" sa' esta nahong i diårio na cho'cho' para bai in fan dalalai.
(We lived in Hagåtña but our farm was in Lu'ayao, so we had to walk from Hagåtña to that place almost every day. There was a bull cart but not everyone could fit to ride on it. We didn't need to 'diet' because daily work was enough to keep us thin.)

Åntes de gera, i yemmok kumekeilek-ña na riko hao. Kololo'-ña i asaguan i riko na taotao. Pot i ti ha nesesita macho'cho' i riko na palao'an. Sumåsåga ha' gi halom guma' ya guaha muchachå-ña para todo i che'cho' halom guma'.  Tåya' na mamokkat para i gualo' yan guaha karetan asaguå-ña yanggen para u paseo. Yan, pot i riko, meggai finahån-ña na nengkanno' ginen i tienda ni na' yommok.
(Before the war, to be fat meant you are rich. Especially the wives of rich men. Because the rich woman didn't need to work. She stayed indoors and had a servant to do the housework. She never walked to the farm and she had her husband's cart to go around in. And, because she was rich, she had a lot of store-bought food which was fattening.)

LAUNDRY WOMAN'S PAY

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

LABANDERA


In 1923, a woman named JOSEFA and her two adult daughters IGNACIA and SOLEDAD washed laundry for a living.

A washerwoman, or laundry woman, in Chamorro is a LABANDERA .

A court case gives us an idea how much they made every month doing this work.

Their three clients, and how much they paid each month, were :

JULIANA SALAR PÉREZ , the wife of Juan Díaz Torres - $7.00

CONCEPCIÓN TORRES CALVO , the wife of Jacques Schnabel - $6.00

PEDRO LIZAMA CEPEDA (Kókora) - $5.00

That made a total income of $18.00 per month. In today's value, that would be $312. That doesn't sound like a lot of money, and that was the income of three people, not just one, but people in those days also didn't need cash as much as they did after the war. Many things came free of charge from mother nature if you were able to farm and fish. If they made that income all twelve months of the year, it would make an annual income of $3744 in today's value.

Keep in mind that's income from just three clients. Imagine if they took on more.

This information also shows how much money the clients had. All three came from the "respectable" class of people, and the two ladies came from the upper tier of Chamorro society. Juliana's husband had occupied government positions and Concepción's father was a Manila college graduate and Island Attorney for Guam.

Pedro'n Kókora's monthly bill of $5 would be $86 in today's value. No small expense.

A good number of Chamorro women made a living as labandera , especially for American military officers, besides the affluent civilians.

The court case makes it clear that all the earnings of the three women went to the purchase of iron roofing for a new house being built by the husband/father. The iron roofing was bought from the store of JK Shimizu.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

EL SALARIO DE UNA LAVANDERA

En 1923, una mujer llamada JOSEFA y sus dos hijas adultas IGNACIA y SOLEDAD lavaban ropa para ganarse la vida.

Lavandera, en chamorro se dice “LABANDERA”.

Un caso judicial nos da una idea de cuánto ganaban cada mes haciendo este trabajo.

Sus tres clientes, y cuánto pagaban éstos cada mes, eran:

JULIANA SALAR PÉREZ, la esposa de Juan Díaz Torres - 7.00 dólares

CONCEPCIÓN TORRES CALVO, la esposa de Jacques Schnabel - 6.00 dólares

PEDRO LIZAMA CEPEDA (Kókora) - 5.00 dólares

Eso sumaba un ingreso total de 18.00 dólares por mes. En el valor de hoy, sería 312 dólares. No parece mucho dinero, y ése era el ingreso de tres personas, no solo de una, pero la gente en aquellos tiempos tampoco necesitaba tanto dinero en efectivo como después de la segunda guerra mundial. Muchas cosas venían gratis de la madre naturaleza, si podía uno cultivar y pescar. Si tuvieran ese ingreso los doce meses del año, generaría un ingreso anual de 3744 dólares en valor actual.

Tengan en cuenta que son ingresos de solo tres clientes. Imagínense si aceptaran más.

Esta información también muestra cuánto dinero tenían los clientes. Los tres procedían de la clase "respetable" de personas, y las dos damas procedían del nivel superior de la sociedad chamorra. El esposo de Juliana había ocupado puestos gubernamentales y el padre de Concepción se había graduado en la Universidad de Santo Tomás en Manila y era el fiscal de la isla de Guam.

La factura mensual de Pedro'n Kókora de 5 dólares sería 86 dólares en el valor de hoy. No es un gasto pequeño.

Un buen número de mujeres chamorras se ganaban la vida como “labandera”, especialmente para los oficiales militares estadounidenses, además de los civiles adinerados.

El caso judicial aclara que todas las ganancias de las tres mujeres se destinaron a la compra de techos de hierro para una nueva casa que estaba construyendo su esposo y padre. El techo de hierro se compró en la tienda de JK Shimizu.


YOUR AMERICAN IS SHOWING : MÅNHA TITIYAS

Tuesday, August 23, 2022


QUICK LESSON

In English, we say APPLE Pie. What KIND of pie? Apple.

CHOCOLATE Cake. What KIND of cake? Chocolate.

But, in Chamorro, the order is reversed. Buñuelos AGA'. What KIND of buñuelos? Aga'.

It is Pån TUBA. What KIND of pån? Tuba.

Therefore, in Chamorro, it is Titiyas MÅNHA. What KIND of titiyas? Månha.

To the Chamorro ear, saying MÅNHA TITIYAS is as unpleasant as is saying PIE APPLE or CAKE CHOCOLATE to the English ear.


FULLER LESSON


The mighty march of Americanization continues in the minds of our younger Chamorros of Guam. Swimming in an ocean of the English language, surrounded by English water from the moment one wakes up to the moment one falls asleep, and being the only language so many of our people under the age of 60 speak, it is no surprise that even when Chamorro people use a Chamorro phrase, they use it in an American way. They don't even realize it.

One glaring example of this is how widespread the phrase MÅNHA TITIYAS is.

That's an American way of using Chamorro words to describe Young Coconut Flatbread.

Chamorro flatbread is called TITIYAS , a Chamorro version of the Spanish word TORTILLA .

Now there are many kinds of titiyas . Titiyas can be made with corn ( mai'es ), wheat flour ( arina ), breadfruit ( lemmai ) and pretty much any carb that can be made into a flour or incorporated into flour.

But in Chamorro we put the KIND of thing it is AFTER the thing itself.

Notice in this picture we don't say MÅNGLO' BUÑUELOS (Wind Donuts). We say BUÑUELOS MÅNGLO' (Donuts Wind). What KIND of donuts is said AFTER we identify it as donuts.

We don't say MÅNNOK KÅDDO (Chicken Stew). We say KÅDDON M­ÅNNOK (Stew Chicken). What KIND of stew is mentioned AFTER we call it stew.




Notice the pattern in PÅN TUBA (Bread Coconut Toddy), NOT tuba pån (coconut toddy bread). KELAGUEN UHANG (Marinated Salad Shrimp), not uhang kelaguen (shrimp marinated salad).

In English, what KIND of thing it is comes before the name of the thing. APPLE Pie. BEEF Jerky. CHOCOLATE Cake.

But it's the other way around in Chamorro. KELAGUEN BENÅDO. PÅN TOSTA . Therefore TITIYAS MÅNHA .

Even when we use the English word "soup," it's SOUP CANDELARIA, NOT Candelaria Soup.



SO.......



Go ahead and say SPAM KELAGUEN or FLOUR TITIYAS, combining English and Chamorro.

But if you're going to use the full Chamorro name of the food, put it in the right order in the Chamorro language.

VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

TITIYAS MANHA

En inglés, decimos APPLE Pie (pastel de manzana). ¿Qué TIPO de pastel? De manzana.

CHOCOLATE Cake (tarta de chocolate). ¿Qué TIPO de tarta? De chocolate.

Pero, en chamorro, el orden se invierte. Buñuelos AGA' (buñuelos de plátano). ¿Qué TIPO de buñuelos? De aga’ (de plátano).

Se dice Pån TUBA. ¿Qué TIPO de pan? De tuba (de ponche de coco) .

Por lo tanto, en chamorro, se dice Titiyas MÅNHA. ¿Qué TIPO de titiyas? De manha (de coco verde).

Para el oído chamorro, decir MÅNHA TITIYAS es tan desagradable como para el oído inglés decir PIE APPLE o CAKE CHOCOLATE.

La poderosa marcha de la angloamericanización en Guam continúa en la mente de nuestros chamorros más jóvenes. Nadar en un océano de idioma inglés, rodeado de agua inglesa desde el momento en que uno se despierta hasta el momento en que se queda dormido, y siendo el único idioma que habla mucha de nuestra gente menor de 60 años, no sorprende que incluso cuando los chamorros usan una frase chamorra, la usan a la manera angloamericana. Ni siquiera se dan cuenta.

Un ejemplo evidente de esto es cuán erróneamente extendida está la frase MÅNHA TITIYAS.

Ésa es una forma angloestadounidense de usar palabras chamorras para describir este pan plano elaborado con coco verde.

El pan plano chamorro se llama TITIYAS, una versión chamorra de la palabra española TORTILLAS.

Ahora bien, hay muchos tipos de titiyas. Las titiyas se pueden hacer con maíz (mai'es), harina de trigo (arina), fruta del pan (lemmai) y casi cualquier carbohidrato que se pueda convertir en harina o incorporar a la harina.

Pero en chamorro decimos el TIPO de cosa que es DESPUÉS de la cosa misma.

Fíjese que no decimos MÅNGLO' BUÑUELOS. Decimos BUÑUELOS MÅNGLO' (Buñuelos de Viento). El TIPO de buñuelos se dice DESPUÉS de que identifiquemos tal cosa como buñuelos.

No decimos MÅNNOK KÅDDO. Decimos KÅDDON MÅNNOK (caldo de pollo). El TIPO de caldo se menciona DESPUÉS de que lo llamemos caldo.

Observe que se dice PÅN TUBA (Pan de Tuba o de ponche de coco), NO tuba pån. Se dice KELAGUEN UHANG (Ensalada de Camarones Marinados), no uhang kelaguen.

En inglés, el TIPO de cosa se dice antes del nombre de tal cosa. APPLE Pie (pastel de manzana). BEEF Jerky (carne seca). CHOCOLATE Cake (tarta de chocolate).

Pero en chamorro se dice a la manera inversa. KELAGUEN BENÅDO (ensalada de venado). PAN TOSTA (pan tostado). Por lo tanto se dice TITIYAS MÅNHA (tortillas de coco verde).

Si usted va a usar el nombre completo de la comida en chamorro, póngalo en el orden correcto en el idioma chamorro.

SAIPAN CAROLINIANS IN CHINA?

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

CAROLINIAN CANOES


Sometime in 1909, Chinese fishermen discovered a canoe, with three unknown sailors from a different land, off Zhoushan Island in China, very close to Shanghai. What the Chinese did know was that these three foreign sailors were hungry, thirsty and weak. Had they not been discovered, they would probably had perished.

The Chinese fishermen took the three castaways to the civil authorities, but no one could speak to them as they had no common language.

The three lost sailors were described as being dark with frizzy hair. They wore huge earrings made of coral and shell, and necklaces made of the same material. The oldest of the three, who had a beard, also had tattoos. The only possession they had were two boxes of simple fishing material such as twines and hooks. Wearing only enough to cover their private parts, some of the people who found them gave them shirts and trousers.

Finally, after two days, someone considered that the three men might be from New Guinea, controlled at the time by the Germans. So, off they went to the German Consulate. The Germans still couldn't communicate with the three to verify where they were from, but someone was inspired to take out a map of the Pacific and show the map to the lost men. The castaways most likely wouldn't have had use for a map, probably never having used maps before nor being able to read. But when one of the Germans said out the name "Saipan" the three fishermen got all excited. They made unmistakable signs that they were from the island just mentioned.

If the three lost men were from Saipan and being described as they were, especially wearing large earrings and necklaces, then undoubtedly they were Carolinians from Saipan and not Chamorros. We add to these points the fact that Carolinians were still seafaring people at the time, while Chamorros no longer sailed the high seas in the same way. A Chamorro lost in China might be able to say "Saipan" or some words in Spanish or even English, even before a map was put in front of him.

I do not know if the three castaways ever made it back to Saipan, although that was the German government's intention.

But this story reminds us that Chamorro and Carolinian sailors could have unintentionally made it to Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan and many other places and we just don't know about it. Zhoushan Island is a long, long way from Saipan, as you can see on the map.




FAMILIA : MEGOFÑA/MAGOFÑA

Tuesday, August 9, 2022


MEGOFÑA and MAGOFÑA are one and the same name.

People in the old days were not that concerned about "proper" spelling or being consistent with spelling either. That's a modern-day anxiety.

Chamorro names and words were written by Spaniards, not by Chamorros until much later.

Not being their native language, and hearing sounds unlike the sounds they were used to, the Spaniards spelled Chamorro names and words in a variety of ways, and almost never consistent.


E FOR A

So, for example, the name we all now spell TERLAJE was also spelled TEDLAJE, TARLAJE, TARLAGE, TADLAJE in the old Spanish documents.

None of these differences bothered anybody in those days. The Chamorros knew how the name sounded. TAT plus LÅHE. TAT is short for TÅYA'. So Terlaje is really Tatlåhe, meaning "no man" or "no son."

The Spaniards often put an E where the Chamorros said an A. TER or TED instead of TAT. We see this also in TEDPAHOGO and TEDTAOTAO.

And we also see it in MEGOFÑA and MAGOFÑA. The name was spelled both ways. Even the same man named Megofña sometimes spelled it Magofña.

Some people think MAGOFÑA is just the Saipan way to spell it, but records show that even on Guam in the old days it was also spelled MAGOFÑA.

Just to give you a headache, sometimes the name was spelled MIGOFÑA. Only in modern times has it been standardized to MEGOFÑA for Guam and MAGOFÑA for Saipan.




As you can see, the name was even spelled MAGOFÑA on Guam at times. This is a document involving a Magofña who was living in Hagåtña (Agaña) in the early 1900s.


"HAPPY"

The meaning is pretty clear. The name comes from the word magof which means "happy."

Magof-ña can mean "his or her being happy" or "he or she is happier."

They are a happy sort of people!


ASAN

The Guam Megofña name is mostly associated with Asan, although there were fewer Megofñas in Tepungan, which later moved down the road in American times and became Piti. But in the 1897 Guam Census, for example, more than half the families named Megofña on Guam lived in Asan. A few lived in Tepungan and one, a widow, lived in Sumay as she had married a Sumay man.

MARIANO MEGOFÑA of Asan married a Rita Pérez.

Their son VICENTE PÉREZ MEGOFÑA married twice. His first wife was Rita Bae Guerrero and his second wife was Carmen Chargualaf, the daughter of Josefa Chargualaf.

Mariano and Rita also had two daughters; Ramona married Gerónimo Maañao and Ana married Juan Manibusan Salas (the great grandparents of Judi Won Pat).

FRANCISCO MEGOFÑA also of Asan married María Terlaje.

Their son JOAQUÍN TERLAJE MEGOFÑA married Rosalía Pérez de la Cruz, the daughter of Felipe and Margarita.

In TEPUNGAN (part of Piti),

JUAN MEGOFÑA married Josefa Atao.

Their son JOSÉ ATAO MEGOFÑA married María Flores, the daughter of María Flores.

Their daughter María had a daughter Rita out of wedlock in 1913.

There is also a good number of Megofñas on Guam who are the descendants of a man whose hometown I am unsure of, as he is absent in the 1897 Guam Census. Perhaps he was not living on Guam in 1897, or maybe he was accidentally overlooked. Either way, I cannot find his native place. His name was

ANASTASIO MEGOFÑA , son of María Megofña. He married Ana del Rosario Acosta, the daughter of Justo and Antonia. Some in this family lived in Hagåtña and some in Sinajaña before the war.

This is not a complete list, as there were women Megofñas who may have had children outside of marriage who would have continued the Megofña name.


SAIPAN

The Saipan Magofñas are all descendants of a man from Asan named

JOSÉ MAGOFÑA who was married to Gabina Fegurgur, Gabina was previously married to Lorenzo Chibog who had died.

José and Gabina had these sons :

VENANCIO FEGURGUR MAGOFÑA who married María de la Cruz Babauta.

VICENTE FEGURGUR MAGOFÑA who married Vicenta Santos Blas.

PEDRO FEGURGUR MAGOFÑA who married Rosa de la Cruz Quitugua.

LUÍS FEGURGUR MAGOFÑA who married Concepción (or Circuncisión) Lizama

All the Magofñas in the Northern Marianas are descendants of José and Gabina of Guam.

Some of the Magofñas of Saipan during Japanese times lived for a while in Luta and even Palau, and some of their children were born in those islands.



VICENTE FEGURGUR MAGOFÑA and wife VICENTA SANTOS BLAS
were both born on Guam but moved to Saipan when they were children with their parents

WAR STORIES : WATER HOSE

Tuesday, August 2, 2022


SEEING A WATER HOSE WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN


Experiences of a young Chamorro girl during the Japanese Occupation.





Ma aresta si tatå-ho ni Chapanis sa' ma sospecha na guaha ha nåna'na' ginen i Chapanis ni man ma pribi.
( My father was arrested by the Japanese because they suspected he was hiding something from them which was prohibited. )

Gi magåhet, mannå'na' bateria si tatå-ho ni siña ma na' setbe para i redio, lao tåya' na ma gacha'.
( In reality, my father was hiding a battery which could be used for a radio, but he was never caught. )

Lao nahong ha' i ma sospecha ha' na guaha ha nåna'na' pues ma aresta .
( But it was enough to be merely suspected of hiding something so he was arrested .)

Ma konne' si tatå-ho para i ofisinan i Chapanis ya hu dalalaki siha lao ti ma tungo'.
( They took my father to the Japanese office and I followed them but they didn't know. )

Annai man hålom si tatå-ho yan i Chapanis gi ofisina, kahulo' yo' gi trongko para bai hu li'e'.
( When my father and the Japanese entered the office, I climbed a tree to look .)

Siña hu li'e' håfa ma susesede sa' lokka' i trongko ya siña hu li'e' gi bentåna.
( I could see what was going on because the tree was tall and I could see through the window. )

Ti hu tungo' håfa ma fafaisen si tatå-ho sa' ti siña hu hungok lao hu li'e' na ma patmåmåda si tatå-ho kada biråda.
( I didn't know what they were asking my father because I couldn't hear but I saw that they were slapping my father time after time .)

Despues, ma konne' si tatå-ho para i san hiyong ya, achok ha' ma kollat i lugåt, lokka' i trongko annai eståba yo' ya siña hu li'e'.
( Later they took my dad outside, and even though the place was fenced, the tree was tall where I was and I could see .)

Ma kana' i dos kanai-ña si tatå-ho gi un trongko ya esta i dos patås-ña ti ha papacha i edda'.
( They tied my dad's two hands to a tree and his feet were off the ground .)

Ma afuetsas un tilipas hånom gi halom pachot-ña ya ma na' bula i tiyån-ña ni hanom.
( They forced a water hose into his mouth and filled his stomach with water .)

Annai esta ma chuchuda' i hanom gi pachot-ña, ma na' påra i hanom ya ma tutuhon ma dommo' i tiyån-ña si tatå-ho asta ke muta' gue' todo hånom.
( When the water was already spilling from his mouth, they shut off the water and began to punch my dad's stomach until he was vomiting water .)

Ma'å'ñao yo' na siña måtai si tatå-ho lao en fin ma na' tunok gue'. Ti siña esta si tatå-ho tumohge ya umåsson ha' gi hilo' odda'.
( I was afraid my dad would die but finally they took him down. My dad couldn't stand and he just lay on the ground .)

Despues ma ågang si tiu-ho yan i primu-ho siha para u ma konne' si tatå-ho tåtte gi gima'.
( Later they called my uncle and my cousins to take my father back home. )

Despues nai hu tungo' na ma faisen si tatå-ho mångge si Tweed, ya ti ma hongge na ti ha tungo'.
( Later on I found out they were asking my dad where Tweed was, and they didn't believe that he didn't know .)

Lao annai esta annok na magåhet na ti ha tungo' sa' ma kastiga fehmaman lao tåya' ha sångan, ma hongge en fin na ti ha tungo'.
( But when it became clear that he really didn't know because they punished him so fiercely but he didn't say a nything, they finally believed he didn't know .)

Lao desde ayo asta på'go ti siña hu sungon lumi'e' na guaha taotao gumigimen hånom ginen i tilipas, ya kontodo i famagu'on-ho yan i nietu-ho siha hu na' famåra siha mangimen hånom ginen i tilipas yanggen hu li'e'.
( But from that time till now I can't stand to see someone drink water from a hose, and even my children and grandchildren I stop them when I see them drinking water from a hose. )


NOTES

Tweed - was an American Navy radioman who fled from the Japanese and was taken cared of by many Chamorros. He was a thorn in the side of the Japanese the whole time and was rescued by an American ship when the US came back to retake Guam.

Tilipas literally means "intestines" and when rubber hoses came to Guam during American times, Guam Chamorros called hoses tilipas . In the Northern Marianas, the Chamorros there used the Japanese word hos for "hose."

Påtas - originally meant feet of animals (or of furniture) and addeng meant human feet. Guam Chamorros began using påtas even for human feet, but in the Northern Marianas the original meaning of both påtas and addeng remain.

ONE DAY IN TANAPAG

Tuesday, July 26, 2022


TALISAI NUTS





I was early for a Mass in Tanapag in Saipan so I decided to park by the beach as the sun began its descent.

Out of my rear view mirror, I saw a huge utility truck pull up behind me. I lowered my window and, since I didn't want to assume the driver spoke Chamorro, I asked in English, "Do you need me to move my car? Are you doing work here?" He said, "No, no, you're good." I could tell from the accent he was not from another country but was someone local. He went over to a couple of ladies sitting nearby and sat down.

The scenery looked inviting so I got out of my car almost immediately after the man sat down with the ladies and I heard him tell them, in Chamorro, " Mamaisen este kao para bai facho'cho' guine ," " This guy asked if I'm going to do some work here ."

I walked out further from my car, which was partially hiding me from them, and now they could see I was a priest, and I smiled at them and said, " Adahe sa' siña ha' yo' fumino' Chamorro! " " Be careful because I can speak Chamorro !" And they laughed and we started a conversation.

The ladies had gotten to the beach first and were eyeing the tall talisai tree. The nuts looked ripe for the picking. By the grace of God, the man was just knocking off from work and drove his utility truck, the one with the buckets to lift workers up to the top of utility poles, to the beach. The ladies saw an opportunity. Let's climb on the truck and reach the nuts with our pole.

One of the ladies got up and used a pole to knock down the nuts. The others collected the fallen nuts, and cut them open.

" Estague' kandin-måme åntes !" " This was our candy before !" they kept saying.

People would either eat the seeds of the nuts "as is" or cook them in sugar in a pan. The taste of the talisai is like almonds, and one of the English names for it is "sea almonds" because the trees often grow on the shore.




Talisai (scientific name, terminalia catappa ) has many health benefits, both the nut and the leaves. It is one of the plants used in the old days for medicinal reasons. The wood of the tree is also used and the tree itself is desirable for the abundant shade it provides.




There are places called Talisay, both on Guam and in the Philippines. The talisai more than likely was brought to the Marianas from the Philippines, since our name for it is the same as the Filipino.


A LESSON

Coming upon these friendly people in Tanapag purely by happenstance taught me a nice lesson of island life. To enjoy the talisai staring right in front of you, free of charge, a gift from God, so unappreciated by modern generations; to speak our language, laugh and be cheerful, and to be made a part of the gang instantly, hearing them say, "Let the priest try," several times. This is the kind of spirit we once had everywhere in our islands, unseen now in many parts, but which can still be found in the quiet, breezy shore of Tanapag if you manage to slow down and just park at the beach waiting to see what might happen.




WASHING IN THE TOILET

Tuesday, July 19, 2022



The man who told me this is long gone, so I can't go back to him and verify the story. But when he told me this anecdote twenty or more years ago, he seemed very serious.

He said he was a teenager when the Japanese occupied Guam. He was old enough to earn a few sen (Japanese coins) as a kind of errand boy or runner.

One day, he said, he was told by a Japanese civilian official to run to so-and-so's house and deliver a written message to a Japanese living at that house, which belonged to a Chamorro family but had been taken over by the Japanese. The Chamorro family preferred to live at their ranch to feed themselves and avoid the Japanese, anyway.

The boy gave the message and waited for the Japanese man to write down his response for the boy to take back.

While the boy stood there waiting, his eyes moved to the open door of the restroom. There he saw a Japanese soldier kneel in front of the toilet and wash his face! That soldier got up, and was replaced by yet another Japanese soldier kneeling down and washing his face in the toilet.

Later the boy found out that Japanese toilets were very different from American ones. Either the Japanese soldier didn't know what this ceramic seat filled with water was used for, or he didn't care.

Wartime creates some very interesting stories.





O SÅNTOS NA ESPIRITU

Monday, July 11, 2022


Perhaps it was 1992 or 1993 when I was stationed in Saipan. I walked into the sanctuary at Kristo Rai Church in Garapan to start the 6AM Mass and was startled when the singers began the entrance hymn because I hadn't even reached the altar yet when I thought they were singing to me!

The line they sang went, " Pot kuentos Påle' ina ham ...." " Through Father's words enlighten us ...."

What were they referring to?

So I asked them to tell me the whole verse. It ended up being a prayer to the Holy Spirit to teach the people through the priest's words. More about that later, but here is the audio and lyrics, with English translation.




O Såntos na Espiritu, i kandet Tåta, må'gas Yu'us.
(O Holy Spirit, light of the Father, great God.)

Pot kuentos Påle' ina ham, doktrinan Yu'us fanå'gue ham.
(Through the words of the priest enlighten us, teach us the doctrine of God.)


ORIGIN

This little verse was introduced to Saipan by the German Capuchin missionaries who were in the Northern Marianas from 1906 to 1919. It appears in a little hymnal they published in 1915. It's possible that the melody is borrowed from a German hymn.

It's such a short verse that it was probably composed to be sung outside of Mass (which was said in Latin). It would have been an appropriate verse to sing right before catechism or before the priest preached a sermon. In the old days, sermons were not preached just during Mass. Sermons were preached as a stand-alone event, or as part of a devotion, such as a novena or the Stations of the Cross.

In fact, an old custom, not done all the time, was to put a dove above the pulpit where the priest preached. The idea was, as long as the priest was teaching the doctrine of the Church, he was teaching what the Holy Spirit ensured was God's truth. You can see in the picture at the top of this post a dove above the pulpit.

FUNERAL RECEIPT 1925

Tuesday, July 5, 2022


This receipt for church funeral services was issued to prove that a member of the deceased's family shouldered that cost. It was needed in a court case in 1925 to settle a family dispute over the estate of the deceased.

For much of the Spanish period, the missionaries published a schedule of fees for many church services, and not just for spiritual services. This schedule of fees was called ARANCEL in Spanish.

Sacraments cannot be bought; it is against Church law to do so and any priest who tries to sell sacraments, blessings or blessed objects will be punished by the Church itself.

But churches and priests also had to pay bills, and a fee for a baptismal certificate, for example, meant the parish had to buy paper (rarely were blank certificates printed before-hand, another expense). A priest had to buy food and supplies and, on occasion, give monetary support to someone doing work or a service for the church. These fees met those expenses.

In those days, most people grew or caught their own food, made their own household tools or items, or traded goods for goods, that they had less reason than today to use what cash they had. That unused cash often went to their local church for Masses. American Navy officials sometimes "complained" about it.

The poor were never deprived of church services on account of their inability to pay fees. To do so was against Church rules. Fees were sometimes paid with a dozen eggs or a sack of corn meal. Many cashless people paid others in general this way.

The priest who wrote the receipt was Father Bernabé de Cáseda, a Capuchin friar from Spain. He was stationed in Inalåhan for a long time and built the church there that exists to this day. He was in Inalåhan so long that several baby boys in Inalåhan were named Bernabé after him. Bernabé is the Spanish way of saying Barnabas. Saint Barnabas was a companion of Saint Paul the Apostle.




PÅLE' BERNABÉ


In those days, no Spanish priest could be assigned to a village until he first learned enough Chamorro to be able to communicate with his people, and he had to pass a test given by Påle' Román, the Spanish priest considered the expert in the Chamorro language. In the 1920s and 30s, huge numbers of Chamorros on Guam could not speak English and spoke only Chamorro.

Let's look at the Chamorro used in the receipt :


Guåho Fr. Bernabé de Cáseda hu resibe ginen as Ignacio LG San Nicolas pot i entierron Dolores Castro Concepcion ini na limosna :
( I Friar Bernabé de Cáseda received from Ignacio LG San Nicolas for the funeral of Dolores Castro Concepcion this donation :)

Entierro Solemne yan Misa Cantada.....$14.00
( Solemn Funeral and Sung Mass.....$14.00 )

Gi Noviembre na pulan pot responso....$0.75
( In the month of November for responso....$0.75 )

Hu na' magåhet ini
( I certify this )

Fr. Bernabé de Cáseda

Inalåhan 22.II.1925


OK let's break it down :

1. The Fr in the receipt does not stand for "Father" but for the Spanish title "Fray" which means "Friar." Father Bernabé was a Capuchin Franciscan friar and, even though he was also a priest, his identity as a friar wasn't forgotten. Friars who were priests often titled themselves "Fray Padre," or "Friar Father."

2. You can tell the typewriter he used was probably manufactured in Spain since it had keys to type Spanish accent marks, like the dash over the E in Bernabé and over the A in Cáseda.

3. Father Bernabé uses the old word for "this" which is ini . More people used the Spanish word este .

4. Church services could be simple or solemn; recited or sung. If Mass was sung, this meant a choir had to sing at Mass and choir members had to take time out of their day to do that. So more fees were paid the more services were requested.

5. A responso is a prayer said for the dead. November is the month the Poor Souls in Purgatory are remembered in a special way, and one could request a priest to say a responso in November at the grave(s) of one's loved one(s).

6. The literal meaning of "I certify this" in the receipt is "I make this true."

7. The dating format is European, not American. First comes the day of the month (the 22nd), then the month in Roman numerals (II, or 2, which means February), then the year.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

PADRE BERNABÉ Y UN RECIBO DE 1925

El recibo que vemos abajo, por los servicios funerarios eclesiásticos, se emitió para probar que un miembro de la familia del difunto se hizo cargo de ese costo. Fue necesario en un caso judicial en 1925 para resolver una disputa familiar sobre la herencia del difunto.

Durante gran parte de la época española, los misioneros publicaron un cronograma de tarifas para muchos servicios de la iglesia, y no solo para servicios espirituales. Este cuadro de tarifas se denominó ARANCEL.

Los sacramentos no se pueden comprar; va contra la ley de la Iglesia hacerlo y cualquier sacerdote que intente vender sacramentos, bendiciones u objetos sagrados será castigado por la propia Iglesia.

Pero las iglesias y los sacerdotes también tenían que pagar facturas, y una tarifa por un certificado de bautismo, por ejemplo, se debía a que la parroquia tenía que comprar papel. Un sacerdote tenía que comprar alimentos y suministros y, en ocasiones, dar apoyo monetario a alguien que realizaba un trabajo o un servicio para la iglesia. Estos honorarios cubrían esos gastos.

En aquel tiempo, la mayoría de las personas cultivaban o pescaban sus propios alimentos, fabricaban sus propias herramientas o artículos domésticos, o intercambiaban bienes por otros bienes, por lo que tenían menos razones que hoy para usar el dinero en efectivo que tenían. Ese efectivo no utilizado a menudo iba a su iglesia local para misas. Los oficiales de la Armada estadounidense a veces se "quejaban" al respecto.

Los pobres nunca eran privados de los servicios de la iglesia debido a su incapacidad para pagar las cuotas. Hacer eso estaba en contra de las reglas de la Iglesia. A veces, las tarifas se pagaban con una docena de huevos o un saco de harina de maíz. Muchas personas sin efectivo pagaban a otros en general de esta manera.

El sacerdote que hizo el recibo fue el Padre Bernabé de Cáseda, un fraile capuchino de España. Estuvo destinado en Inaraján durante mucho tiempo y construyó allí la iglesia de San José que existe hasta el día de hoy. Estuvo en Inaraján tanto tiempo que varios bebés varones de Inaraján recibieron el nombre de Bernabé en su honor. San Bernabé fue compañero de San Pablo Apóstol.

En aquellos días, ningún sacerdote español podía ser asignado a un pueblo hasta que primero aprendiera suficiente chamorro para poder comunicarse con su gente, y tenía que pasar una prueba dada por Påle' Román, el sacerdote español considerado el experto en el idioma chamorro. En las décadas de 1920 y 1930, una gran cantidad de chamorros en Guam no hablaban inglés y solo hablaban chamorro.

Veamos el chamorro utilizado en el recibo:

<<Guaho Fr. Bernabé de Cáseda hu resibe ginen as Ignacio LG San Nicolas pot i entierron Dolores Castro Concepcion ini na limosna :

(Yo Fray Bernabé de Cáseda recibí de parte de Ignacio LG San Nicolás por el entierro de Dolores Castro Concepción esta limosna:)

Entierro Solemne yan Misa Cantada.....$14.00

(Entierro Solemne y Misa Cantada.....$14.00)

Gi Noviembre na pulan pot responso....$0.75

(En el mes de noviembre por responso....$0.75)

Hu na' magåhet ini

(Yo certifico esto)

Fray Bernabé de Cáseda

Inalahan 22.II.1925>>

Bueno, vamos a desglosarlo:

1. El “Fr” en el recibo no significa "Padre" sino el título español "Fray" que significa "Fraile". El Padre Bernabé era un fraile franciscano capuchino y, aunque también era sacerdote, su identidad como fraile no fue olvidada. Los frailes que eran sacerdotes a menudo se titulaban "Fray Padre" o "Fraile Padre".

2. Se puede decir que la máquina de escribir que usó probablemente fue fabricada en España ya que tenía claves para escribir acentos españoles, como la tilde sobre la E en Bernabé y sobre la A en Cáseda.

3. El Padre Bernabé usa la antigua palabra para "esto" que es “ini”. Otra gente usaba la palabra de origen español “este”.

4. Los servicios de la iglesia pueden ser simples o solemnes; recitado o cantado. Si se cantaba Misa, esto significaba que un coro tenía que cantar en Misa y los miembros del coro tenían que tomarse un tiempo de su día para hacerlo. Así que se pagaban más honorarios cuantos más servicios se solicitaban.

5. Un responso es una oración que se dice por los difuntos. Noviembre es el mes en que se recuerda de manera especial a las Pobres Almas del Purgatorio, y uno podría pedirle a un sacerdote que dijera un responso en noviembre en la(s) tumba(s) de un(os) ser (es) querido(s).

6. El significado literal de "Certifico esto" en el recibo es "Hago esto verdadero".

7. El formato de fechas es europeo, no americano. Primero viene el día del mes (el 22), luego el mes en números romanos (II o 2, que significa febrero), luego el año.



CHAMORRO GRAVE IN ANGAUR

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

CECILIA CAMACHO CABRERA
1922 to 1923


Angaur is one of the Palau islands, situated at the very southern part of the island chain.

When the Germans got control of the Caroline Islands in 1899, they got control over Palau. Around 1909, the Germans started to mine Angaur for phosphate, which makes excellent fertilizer in the production of plants. It can also be turned into phosphoric acid which is used for many things, from cosmetics to animal feed. Money could be made selling phosphorus, and the Germans wanted to make money.

But they needed workers. Angaur had a small population, so workers from all over those parts of the  Pacific where the Germans were in control were recruited to work in Angaur. Workers came from the other Caroline islands under the Germans, from China (the Germans controlled the port city of Tsingtao) and the Northern Marianas, also under the Germans.




ANGAUR PHOSPHATE MINES


When the Japanese took over all the German territory in Micronesia in 1914, they continued the mining of phosphorus in Angaur and the recruitment of workers from other areas.

So, Chamorros from Saipan, and a few from Luta, moved to Angaur.

One of them was Ramón Taisague Cabrera and his wife Consolación Campos Camacho. Ramón was born in Guam but moved to Saipan when he was a child when his parents, Antonio Garrido Cabrera and Agapita San Nicolás Taisague, moved to Saipan in the 1880s. One of their children, María, was born in Angaur in 1917 so the Cabreras were in Angaur at least by 1917.

If Cecilia, the deceased infant buried in Angaur, is indeed the child of Ramón and Consolación, as I suspect she was, then she, too, was born in Angaur but died in her first year of life. The Cabreras may have had other children born in Angaur who died there in infancy.


THE CHAMORRO LÁPIDA IS IN SPANISH

Some of the writing on the gravestone or lápida is no longer legible, but most of it can still be read and it's in Spanish. The Spanish had left Micronesia for twenty years already, but the Spanish language was still being used by older Chamorros who had been raised under Spain and by the Spanish missionaries. In 1923, when Cecilia died, all the Catholic missionaries in Micronesia (except for Kiribati and Nauru), including Guam, were Spanish.




After World War II, almost all the Chamorros on Palau went back to the Marianas, except for some Palauans who had Chamorro blood, the children of Chamorro men who had married Palauan women.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

LÁPIDA CHAMORRA EN ANGAUR

Angaur es una de las Islas Palaos, situada en la parte más meridional de la cadena insular.

Cuando en 1899, los alemanes obtuvieron de los españoles el control de las Islas Carolinas, se hicieron también con el control de Palaos. Alrededor de 1909, los alemanes comenzaron a extraer fosfato de Angaur, que es un excelente fertilizante para la producción de plantas. También se puede convertir en ácido fosfórico que se usa para muchas cosas, desde cosméticos hasta alimento para animales. Se podía ganar dinero vendiendo fósforo, y los alemanes querían ganar dinero.

Pero necesitaban trabajadores. Angaur tenía una población pequeña, por lo que se reclutaron trabajadores de otras partes del Pacífico donde los alemanes tenían el control. Los trabajadores llegaron de las otras Islas Carolinas bajo el poder de los alemanes, de China (los alemanes controlaban la ciudad portuaria de Tsingtao) y de las Islas Marianas del Norte, también bajo soberanía germana.

Cuando en 1914, los japoneses se apoderaron de todo el territorio alemán en Micronesia, continuaron con la extracción de fósforo en Angaur y la contratación de trabajadores de otras áreas del Pacífico.

Entonces, los chamorros de Saipán y algunos de Rota se mudaron a Angaur.

Uno de ellos fue Ramón Taisague Cabrera y su esposa Consolación Campos Camacho. Ramón nació en Guam pero se había mudado a Saipán cuando era un niño, cuando sus padres, Antonio Garrido Cabrera y Agapita San Nicolás Taisague, se mudaran a Saipán en la década de 1880. Uno de sus hijos, María, nació en Angaur en 1917 por lo que los Cabrera residían en Angaur al menos desde esa fecha.

Si Cecilia, la bebé fallecida y enterrada en Angaur, es efectivamente hija de Ramón y Consolación, como sospecho que lo era, entonces ella también nació en Angaur pero murió en su primer año de vida. Los Cabrera podrían haber tenido otros hijos nacidos en Angaur que murieron allí durante su infancia.

LÁPIDA CHAMORRA EN ESPAÑOL

Parte de la escritura de la lápida ya no es legible, pero la mayor parte todavía se puede leer y está en español. Los españoles ya habían dejado Micronesia desde hacía unos veinte años, pero el idioma español todavía lo usaban los chamorros mayores que se habían criado bajo la soberanía y los misioneros españoles. En 1923, cuando falleció Cecilia, todos los misioneros católicos en Micronesia (excepto Kiribati y Nauru), incluido Guam, eran españoles.

Después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, casi todos los chamorros de Palaos regresaron a las Marianas, excepto algunos palauanos que tenían sangre chamorra, hijos de hombres chamorros que se habían casado con mujeres palauanas.


LOST LIMBS RESTORED

Tuesday, June 21, 2022




Three, young Chamorro women lost either a leg or a hand, thanks to World War II.

Two were sisters, entering their teens. Isabel Mendiola Iglesias was just ten years old when the war started, and her younger sister Magdalena Mendiola Iglesias was just nine.

Rosario Benavente Pablo was a bit older. She was nineteen when the war started.

During the battle to retake Guam from the Japanese by the Americans, Isabel lost a leg and Magdalena lost a hand. Rosario lost a leg. Sisters Isabel and Magdalena were injured when American shrapnel exploded on August 2.

From Rosario's children we know the story. Rosario and her family were hiding up north on Guam when the Americans returned and severe fighting began between the Americans and the Japanese, who constantly moved north. Rosario's family started to move southward and spent the night in an abandoned structure in Liguan near Dededo. An American bomb hit the house; more than one family member was injured but Rosario's leg was severely damaged. They made it to the American lines and Rosario was taken to the American field hospital and her leg was amputated.



MARE ISLAND


MARE ISLAND NAVAL HOSPITAL


Right by Vallejo, California, not far from San Francisco, the US Navy operated a hospital with a special division; an Orthopedic Department opened to care for thousands of American soldiers who lost hands, arms, feet or legs in warfare.

Somehow Isabel, Magdalena and Rosario were able to receive the same kind of care at Mare Island, courtesy of the US Navy.  The American Legion also donated to the cause. The three ladies were part of a group of nine young men and women from Guam who were sent to Mare Island by the US Navy to have lost limbs restored artificially. They arrived in San Francisco in December of 1946 aboard the Navy hospital ship the USS Haven . A Chamorro interpreter went along with the group.

First, the three ladies had to be looked over to see what artificial limbs could be designed for them. Once made, the artificial limbs had to be fitted to the ladies' natural limbs. Then the ladies had to be trained how to use their artificial limbs, such as how to walk with an artificial leg to appear as natural as possible. Magdalena was taught how to use makeup on her artificial hand to match her natural skin tone.

The good news is that all three ladies lived long and happy lives. Isabel married Juan Crisóstomo Mafnas; Magdalena married Clemente León Guerrero Dueñas and Rosario married Terencio Lim Villaverde.

Others mentioned in the group were José Taitingfong, age 16, lost his right hand and wrist, and also needed treatment for his left eye blinded by incendiaries in June of 1944.



MARIANO ANDERSON ALSO TREATED
Lost a leg when the Japanese bombed Sumay in 1941


Two older members of the group were not injured by American fire power but by the Japanese earlier than 1944. Mariano Aguon Anderson, age 37, lost his left leg when the Japanese bombed Guam on December 8, 1941. A Japanese surgeon later amputated the injured leg. Francisco Cruz Dungca, also 37, was forced by the Japanese to work in an agricultural project. Some angry Japanese soldier clubbed his left leg and it was so badly injured that it, too, was amputated by a Japanese surgeon.




Before they were fitted with artificial limbs, you can see in this photo taken upon their arrival that the girl on the left, more than likely Isabel Iglesias, is missing a leg.




BISHOP OLANO WRITES IN CHAMORRO

Tuesday, June 14, 2022

BISHOP OLANO AND SISTER MARY MARK


Bishop Miguel Ångel Olano was the Bishop of Guam from 1934 until 1945. He first arrived on Guam from his native Spain in 1919 and in time was assigned to the parish of Sumay, staying there all the way till he was made bishop.

The 1920s and 30s were a time when all Chamorros on Guam spoke Chamorro (imagine that!). For many of them, it was the only language they knew. Many couldn't speak English even if they wanted to, except for a few words like "yes" and "no."

Outsiders had to find translators, then, or better yet learn Chamorro themselves. This is what the Spanish Capuchin missionaries, as Olano was, did. A priest definitely had to learn Chamorro in those days, in order to hear confessions in Chamorro, preach in Chamorro and interact with his Chamorro flock.

Some missionaries did better in Chamorro than others. One, Påle' Román, was considered an authority in the language, many older people now deceased telling me he spoke better Chamorro than many Chamorros. Olano was also one of the better ones in Chamorro. He spoke it well, without the need to look up words in a dictionary.

One little piece of evidence showing his fluency in Chamorro is this letter he wrote in Chamorro in the year 1967. That was 22 years after he left Guam. For 22 years he had no one to speak Chamorro with, having moved to Manila in 1945 and then to Spain. On occasion, the Spanish missionaries who had lived on Guam, and were now living elsewhere, would speak Chamorro to each other now and then when they would meet up. But for the most part they had no occasion to use Chamorro, and yet they retained their knowledge of the language twenty or more years after they left Guam.





The event that occasioned this letter in Chamorro was the appointment of Sister Mary Mark Martínez as Superior of the Mercy Sisters on Guam in 1967. Olano had been very close to Sister's parents, Pedro and María Martínez, and knew Sister when she was a young girl before the war. Sister's appointment as Superior definitely swelled Olano's heart with pride and joy, first of all because of his connection with the Martínez family but secondly because the Spanish missionaries before the war tried so hard to get Catholic Sisters to come to Guam but couldn't. They found Sisters willing to come to Guam, but the US Navy stopped them from coming. Olano couldn't help but be happy and proud that, not only had Sisters finally come to Guam after the war; not only because Chamorros had become Sisters; but now because a Sister from a family he was close to had become Superior.

Writing on August 17, 1967 from San Sebastián, Spain, Olano says :

Sister Mary Mark Martínez, Superior :

Hu taitai gi Umatuna si Yu'us na hågo ma ayek para må'gas i etmånas guennao giya Guam. Este na "news" ha na' magof yo' dångkulo, sa' primet biåhe na una relihiosa taotao Guam ma ayek para este na dångkulo na puesto. Sister Mary Mark, "congratulations" nu hågo yan lokkue' todo i etmåna ni mañåsaga gi konbento. I bendision Yu'us nu hågo, ya siña mesngon, gai pasiensia, etc. Hu tungo' na i etmåna guennao man sen mesngon lokkue'. Ti hu tungo' na guaha åguaguat entre siha.

Adiós, ya todos hamyo en tayuyute i hagas Obispo.

+M.A. Olano

In English :

I read in the Umatuna si Yu'us that you were chosen to be the superior of the Sisters there in Guam. This news made me so happy, because it is the first time that a religious woman from Guam was chosen for this important office. Sister Mary Mark, congratulations to you and also to all the Sisters living in the convent. The blessing of God to you, that you may be enduring, patient, etc. I know that the Sisters there are also very forbearing. I do not know if there are any unruly ones among them.

Farewell, and all of you pray for the former Bishop.


SOME OBSERVATIONS

1. The Umatuna si Yu'us is the weekly newspaper of the Catholic Church on Guam, published by the Archdiocese (Diocese, at the time). Someone was mailing him a copy in Spain. Who and how often, I do not know.

2. Olano is mistaken in saying that Sister Mary Mark was the first Chamorro Superior of the Mercy Sisters on Guam, but he had been away for many years already and news was not as easily obtained in those days before the internet. It was actually Sister Callista Camacho who was the first Chamorro Superior of the Mercy Sisters on Guam, being appointed in 1960 and serving till 1963. Sister Mary Mark was the second Chamorro Superior, appointed in 1967.

3. It's interesting that Olano uses two English words when he could have used the Spanish/Chamorro equivalents; notisia for "news" and enorabuena for "congratulations."



VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

EL OBISPO OLANO ESCRIBE EN CHAMORRO

Monseñor Miguel Ángel Olano fue obispo de Guam desde 1934 hasta 1945. Llegó por primera vez a la isla desde su España natal en 1919 y con el tiempo fue asignado a la parroquia de Sumay, permaneciendo allí hasta que fue nombrado obispo.

Las décadas de 1920 y 1930 fueron una época en la que todos los chamorros de Guam hablaban chamorro (¡imagínense eso!). Para muchos de ellos, era el único idioma que conocían. Muchos no podrían hablar inglés aunque quisieran, a excepción de algunas palabras como "sí" y "no".

Los forasteros tenían entonces que encontrar traductores, o mejor aún, aprender chamorro ellos mismos. Así lo hicieron los misioneros capuchinos españoles, como lo fue Olano. Un sacerdote definitivamente tenía que aprender chamorro durante aquellos tiempos, para poder escuchar confesiones en chamorro, predicar en chamorro e interactuar con su rebaño chamorro.

A algunos misioneros les fue mejor en chamorro que a otros. Uno, Påle' Román, era considerado una autoridad en el idioma, muchas personas mayores ya fallecidas me decían que hablaba mejor chamorro que muchos chamorros. Olano también fue uno de los mejores en idioma chamorro. Lo hablaba bien, sin necesidad de buscar palabras en un diccionario.

Una pequeña evidencia que muestra su fluidez en chamorro es esta carta que escribió en el año 1967. Eso fue 22 años después de que saliera de Guam. Durante 22 años no tuvo con quien hablar chamorro, habiéndose mudado a Manila en 1945 y luego a España. En ocasiones, los misioneros españoles que habían vivido en Guam y después vivían en otros lugares, a veces se hablaban en chamorro, cuando se reunían. Pero en su mayor parte no tuvieron ocasión de usar el chamorro y, sin embargo, conservaron su conocimiento de la lengua veinte o más años después de salir de Guam.

El evento que ocasionó esta carta en idioma chamorro fue el nombramiento de la Hermana Mary Mark Martínez como Superiora de las Hermanas de la Misericordia en Guam en 1967. Olano había estado muy cerca de los padres de la Hermana, Pedro y María Martínez, y la conoció cuando era una niña, antes de la guerra. El nombramiento de la Hermana como Superiora definitivamente infló el corazón de Olano con orgullo y alegría, en primer lugar por su conexión con la familia Martínez, pero en segundo lugar porque los misioneros españoles antes de la guerra se esforzaron mucho para que monjas católicas vinieran a Guam. Encontraron Hermanas dispuestas a venir a la isla, pero la Marina de los EE. UU. se lo impidió. Olano no pudo evitar sentirse feliz y orgulloso de que las Hermanas no solo habían llegado finalmente a Guam, después de la guerra; sino porque numerosas chamorras se habían convertido en religiosas; e incluso ahora una Hermana de una familia cercana a él se había convertido en Superiora.

Escribiendo el 17 de agosto de 1967 desde San Sebastián, España, Olano dice:

“Leí en el Umatuna si Yu'us que fuiste elegida para ser la Superiora de las Hermanas ahí en Guam. Esta noticia me alegró mucho, porque es la primera vez que una religiosa de Guam es elegida para este importante cargo. Hermana Mary Mark, felicidades para usted y también para todas las Hermanas que viven en el convento. La bendición de Dios para ustedes, para que sean perseverantes, pacientes, etc. Sé que las Hermanas ahí también son muy tolerantes. No sé si hay algunos rebeldes entre ellas.

Adiós y recen todos por el antiguo obispo”.

ALGUNAS OBSERVACIONES

1. El Umatuna si Yu'us es el periódico semanal de la Iglesia Católica en Guam, publicado por la Arquidiócesis (Diócesis, en ese momento). Alguien le enviaba una copia a España. Quién y con qué frecuencia, no lo sé.

2. Olano se equivoca al decir que la Hermana Mary Mark fue la primera chamorra Superiora de las Hermanas de la Misericordia en Guam, pero Olano ya llevaba muchos años fuera y las noticias no eran tan fáciles de obtener en esos días antes de internet. En realidad, fue la Hermana Callista Camacho la primera Superiora chamorra de las Hermanas de la Misericordia en Guam, siendo nombrada en 1960 y sirviendo hasta 1963. La Hermana Mary Mark fue la segunda Superiora chamorra, nombrada en 1967.

3. Es interesante que Olano en su carta en chamorro, use dos palabras en inglés cuando podría haber usado los equivalentes en español/chamorro; notisia para "noticia" y enorabuena para "felicidades".

NOT ONE WORD IN CHAMORRO

Tuesday, June 7, 2022



It was the first day of school in 1935 and the American teacher came into the classroom and said,

"Now, students! As soon as class begins, I don't want to hear a single word in Chamorro coming out of your mouths! Not one single word! All English, you understand? All English!"

The children nodded their heads.

The American teacher then looked at a boy and said, "And you. What is your name?"

The boy replied, "SECOND ERASED LANDLESS!"

The American teacher was amazed! She said, "SECOND ERASED LANDLESS! What kind of a name is that?"

The boy replied, "My name is really SEGUNDO MAFNAS TAITANO but you said not a single word in Chamorro!"


§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§


To explain a joke is to kill a joke, but for those who need to know :

SEGUNDO means "second"

MAFNAS means "erased"

TAITANO means "landless"

The humor is found in the fact that all three words are real names used by Chamorros.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

NI UNA PALABRA EN CHAMORRO

Era el primer día de clase en 1935 y la maestra americana entró en el aula y dijo:

"¡Ahora, estudiantes! ¡Tan pronto como comience la clase, no quiero oír ni una sola palabra en chamorro que salga de sus bocas! ¡Ni una sola palabra! Todo en inglés, ¿entienden? ¡Todo en inglés!"

Los niños asintieron con la cabeza.

La maestra americana miró entonces a un niño chamorro y le preguntó: "Y tú, ¿cómo te llamas?"

El niño respondió: "SECOND ERASED LANDLESS!"

¡La maestra estaba asombrada! Ella exclamó: "SECOND ERASED LANDLESS! ¿Qué clase de nombre es ése?"

El niño chamorro respondió: "Mi nombre en realidad es SEGUNDO MAFNAS TAITANO pero usted nos dijo que no quería oír ni una sola palabra en chamorro".


@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Tener que explicar un chiste es matar el chiste, pero para aquellos que no lo saben:

SEGUNDO significa "segundo". En inglés, “second”.

MAFNAS significa "borrado". En inglés, “erased”.

TAITANO significa "sin tierra". En inglés, “landless”.

El humor se encuentra en el hecho de que las tres palabras son nombres y apellidos reales usados ​​por los chamorros que el niño, advertido por su maestra, también tradujo al inglés.


WAR IS NOT ALWAYS BLACK AND WHITE

Monday, May 30, 2022


BALTAZAR "BJ" BORDALLO AND FAMILY
In the Hågat civilian refugee camp in 1944


A simplistic view of life paints everything black and white. There are the good guys and the bad guys, and a bag guy is all bad and a good guy is all good.

The reality of life is a mixture of more colors than black and white.

Take the Japanese Occupation, for instance.

Many people who went through that Occupation have told me a story of mixed colors. Some Japanese were good people, hating the war and hoping for a quick end. Some Saipan interpreters actually saved some Guam Chamorro lives. Some Guam Chamorros got other Guam Chamorros in trouble with the Japanese. Colors mixed every which way.

Madeleine Bordallo shared with me an anecdote she learned from her late husband, former Governor Ricardo Bordallo, and from her Bordallo family.

When Josephine, wife of Baltazar Bordallo and mother to over a dozen Bordallo children, including Ricky, gave birth to a baby boy in 1942, right during the Japanese Occupation, mother and father showed their American patriotism right in the face of Japanese power by naming the baby Franklin Delano, the given names of the US President at the time, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Sadly, the baby died in infancy.




BORDALLO BABY NAMED AFTER PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT



AND YET....



YOUNG JAPANESE SOLDIER


And yet Josephine befriended a Japanese soldier during the Occupation.

The soldier, who had one or two siblings, was amazed when he saw the BJ Bordallo family, with parents trying to manage over a dozen children, as old as twenty and as young as a newborn.

Sparking up a conversation with Josephine, the soldier took out his family photo and showed her his relatively small family of four or five total members.

Josephine was moved by the soldier's humanity and invited him to Bordallo family meals when it was possible for him to be there. In time, of course, with the Americans returning, the Japanese soldier went his way and was never heard from again.

BJ Bordallo told the story how he, being one of the island's leading businessmen and politicians, was sometimes "invited" to join the high-ranking Japanese officers at dinner parties. Such invitations were commands that couldn't be turned down.

Bordallo would be "asked" to rise and give a toast to the attending Japanese. "I used to do a lot of acting," he said, meaning that he would praise the Japanese with much ardor, but not mean a word of it. But, he said, the Japanese were easily fooled.

More stories could be told about BJ Bordallo's experience of the Japanese Occupation to show how real life is not so black and white, but the Bordallo's friendship with a Japanese soldier serves to make the same point. Other Chamorro families, including my own, had similar friendships with some Japanese soldiers who had no love for war.


FIRST PINOY ELECTED

Tuesday, May 24, 2022


PROSPERO "POPOY" ZAMORA
Dededo Commissioner 1976

Popoy Zamora was a novelty on Guam in the 1970s. For those of us already around back then and active in politics, as I was even though I was still a teenager, Popoy stood out. He was a Filipino occupying a very "Chamorro" position - village Commissioner; what we call Mayor nowadays.

I say "Chamorro" position not because the law said Commissioners had to be Chamorro, but because the reality at the time was that village Commissioners were all Chamorros, leading villages that were Chamorro in the majority. But here we had a Filipino Commissioner! The first! He stood out.


CAREFUL CAREFUL!



But we have to be careful to be accurate in our claims about Popoy's public record.

One website claimed he was Guam's first Filipino elected to public office . This is not accurate. "Public office" means any government elected or appointed position, such as Senator, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Mayor/Commissioner and Judge. There were Filipino Senators elected long before Popoy was elected Assistant Commissioner of Dededo. Most people alive today just don't know about them.



A Guam newspaper also got it wrong, claiming that Popoy was the first Filipino on Guam elected Commissioner; but he was never elected Commissioner. He was elected Assistant Commissioner, and then served as Commissioner to complete the vacancy left by the Commissioner who stepped down from office.

One of our island TV news outlets stated that Popoy was elected Dededo Commissioner in 1973. He was elected Assistant Commissioner, not Commissioner.

So I am writing this blog article to correct the media inaccuracies concerning the record of a man who we remember fondly and who stood out in the public arena many years ago.


FILIPINO

And I want to be clear what I mean by "Filipino."

For the purpose of identifying the first Filipino Commissioner on Guam, I mean a person exclusively of Filipino heritage, and born in the Philippines.

Chamorros with one Filipino parent

Someone like Adrian Cristóbal, elected Senator in 1952, long before Popoy's public service, had a Filipino father. Some might consider him to be Filipino. But he himself considered himself to be Chamorro because he had a Chamorro mother, and Chamorros also considered him to be Chamorro for that reason. For the Chamorro, as soon as you have one Chamorro ancestor, you're considered Chamorro.


Filipino by blood, but born on Guam

Then we have people who are Filipino by blood and who do not have any Chamorro ancestors, but they were born on Guam before the war, and grew up speaking Chamorro. Chamorros considered them "one of our own," perhaps we can say "adopted" Chamorros because Guam was all they knew and they took on Chamorro ways and language.

We can think of Simon Ángeles Sánchez, born on Guam and whose parents were both Filipino. A long-time educator, he served as Commissioner of Tamuning from 1946 to 1948.

León Dungca Flores was elected to the First Guam Legislature in 1950, long before Popoy served as Assistant Commissioner. Flores also didn't have a drop of Chamorro blood, as both his parents were of Filipino blood only, but he was born here, grew up speaking Chamorro and married a Chamorro, so he was considered one of our own.

Paul Dungca Palting was elected five times to the Guam Legislature, the first time in 1952, again long before Popoy served as Assistant Commissioner, and he, too, was Filipino by blood but born on Guam.

Sánchez, Flores and Palting did not have any Chamorro ancestors, but Chamorros considered them "one of our own," locals, adopted Chamorros....whichever description fits best.

So who was the first Filipino, whose parents were Filipino, and who was born in the Philippines, to be elected to public office on Guam after the war?



THAT TITLE BELONGS TO....


ALBERTO TOMINEZ LAMORENA
First Filipino Elected to a Guam Political Office

Alberto Tominez Lamorena was a Filipino, born in the Philippines, who married a Chamorro, Fe Untalan Cristóbal (whose father was Filipino and whose mother was Chamorro) in the Philippines. Fe was sent to school in Manila before World War II. After the war, she and her husband moved to Guam where he practiced law. He was elected to the Eighth Guam Legislature in 1964, eight years before Popoy was elected Assistant Commissioner of Dededo in 1972.




OSCAR LIBOON DELFIN
Senator in the 9th, 10th and 11th Legislatures

Lamorena was followed in the very next Legislature, the Ninth, by another Filipino born in the Philippines, Oscar Liboon Delfin, who was re-elected two more times to serve also in the Tenth and Eleventh Legislatures. His elected service pre-dates Popoy's.


POPOY WAS ELECTED ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER


1973 Campaign Ad


In 1973, there was a special election for Assistant Commissioner of Dededo. Popoy was the lone Republican candidate for that office and he won the election, beating his Democratic opponents. That special election was held on December 15, 1973.

In 1976, the Commissioner of Dededo, Vicente SA Benavente, decided to retire even before his term was due to expire later that year. Popoy, as Assistant, automatically became Commissioner of Dededo. But he was not elected Commissioner; he filled the vacancy created by Benavente's retirement.

This press release from the Mayors Council of Guam on the passing of Popoy explains it correctly. Popoy was elected Assistant Commissioner and became Commissioner by filling a vacancy. Only the election year was inaccurate in this press release.




Interestingly, the local newspaper that incorrectly stated that Popoy was elected Mayor/Commissioner included this memo in its news article. If only the newspaper had learned from the memo it included in the story!

Popoy decided to run for Senator at the end of 1976, but lost. Having run for a different office in 1976, his term as Commissioner of Dededo expired that year (actually, early January of 1977).

Popoy did win a seat as a delegate in Guam's Constitutional Convention in 1977.


SO WHO WAS FIRST?



First Filipino ELECTED Commissioner or Mayor? NOBODY

Popoy was elected Assistant Commissioner and then became Commissioner by filling the vacancy created by the sitting Commissioner's retirement.

We now have a second Filipino elected Vice Mayor, Loreto Leones of Yigo.

But, so far, no Filipino has ever been ELECTED Mayor of any village. It truly is a "Chamorro" position FOR NOW.

As the record shows, Filipinos have been elected to even higher office (Senator) and some of these Filipinos were elected Senator in the 1960s when Filipino voters were a much smaller voting bloc.

So, from a numerical standpoint, there is no reason why a Filipino couldn't be elected Mayor of, let's say, villages with a sizeable Filipino population, such as Dededo, Yigo and Tamuning, if not due to his or her personal merits, then at least due in part to big help from a large Filipino voting base.

But there haven't been enough strong Filipino candidates so far, or they have been matched by equally strong (or stronger) Chamorro candidates.

The future will show us if that situation changes.

BEAUTIFUL PENMANSHIP

Wednesday, May 18, 2022






"Ai i på'go na tiempo!" ilek-ña si nanå-ho. "Ti ma tungo' i famagu'on man månge'! Puro ha' "computer" yan "cell phone" nai man måmånge'!"
("Oh the times nowadays!" my mother said. "Children don't know how to write! It's all computers and cell phones when they write!")

"Hunggan, nåna. Chaddek yumayas kanai-ñiha yanggen man mango'te pluma," hu sangåne gue'.
("Yes, mom. Their hands get tired quickly when they hold pens," I told her.)

"Ti un tungo' i estorian tatå-ho bihu," ilek-ña si nanå-ho.
("You don't know my grandfather's story," my mom said.)

"Sångan," hu faisen gue'.
("Tell it," I asked her.)

"Guaha che'lu-ña låhe si bihu-ho ni må'pos para Amerika annai hohoben ha'. Lao kada dos pat tres meses ha kattåttåye si bihu-ho ya ha sångan todo håfa nuebo ma susede gi lina'lå'-ña."
("My grandpa had a brother who went off to America when he was still young. But every two or three months he would write to my grandpa and say everything new in his life.")

"Si tiu-ho maolek na estudiånte giya Hagåtña åntes de ha dingu Guam. Ya guiya mås bonito tinige'-ña gi eskuela. Todo i tiempo guiya gumånna i premio para månge'."
("My uncle was a good student in Hagåtña before he left Guam. And he had the best penmanship in school. He always won the prize for writing."

"Un dia humame yan si bihu-ho annai måtto i kåttan che'lu-ña. Ha baba ya ha taitai, ya kada nuebo ha taitai, chumålek halom si bihu-ho."
"One day I was with my grandpa when his brother's letter came. He opened and read it, and every time he read something new, my grandpa smiled.")

"Annai monhåyan ha taitai, hu faisen si bihu-ho, 'Håfa sinangån-ña si tiu-ho gi kåtta?'"
(When he was done reading it, I asked my grandpa, 'What did my uncle say in the letter?'")

Manoppe si bihu-ho, "Ilek-ña na måtai i asaguå-ña, kemason i gimå'-ña yan ma aresta i lahi-ña."
(My grandpa replied, 'He said his wife died, his house burned down and his son got arrested.'")

"Sus Maria!" ilek-ho. "Lao håfa na chumålek hahalom hao yanggen puro ha' båba na notisia?"
("Sus Maria!" I said. "But why did you smile when it's all bad news?")

Manoppe si bihu-ho, "Lao pot i sen bonito i tinige'-ña, na'magof ma taitai!"
(My grandpa replied, "But because his penmanship is so nice, it's a joy to read!")

CHARLES BRONSON ON GUAM

Tuesday, May 10, 2022


He looked mean, and he was mean (jn some movies).

Charles Bronson, whose movie roles centered on crime dramas, thrillers, Westerns and war movies, enlisted in the Army Air Forces in 1943. Prior to that, he dug coal in the Pennsylvania mines as his father and brothers did.

In early 1945, he was stationed on Guam, flying 25 missions on a B-29 bomber as a nose gunner (though some say a tail gunner). His job was to sit at the nose of the plane and fire at enemy aircraft. Being cooped up in a tiny gun turret was like being in a coal mine again, and he said he always felt claustrophobic in tight spaces.




B-29 BOMBER


Bronson's bombardment group bombed Maug, the northernmost island in the Marianas, which, as tiny as it is, had a Japanese weather station.

The group began bombing Japan itself in April of 1945. It took 14 to 16 hours to fly from Guam to Japan and back.




The bombers were based at Guam's new North Field, opened in early 1945. It later became Andersen Air Force Base. The area's Chamorro name is UPI.



B-29 LANDS AT NORTH FIELD GUAM


From Guam, the B-29s would bomb city after city in Japan, targeting places of military value to the Japanese - airfields, plane factories, weapons factories and arsenals, industrial areas. When Japan surrendered to the US, the B-29s stopped dropping bombs and dropped food and supplies, instead, to allied prisoners of war in their camps.

Bronson was awarded a Purple Heart for wounds suffered in one of the B-29 missions, apparently taking a bullet in the shoulder (or arms, as some sources say).

Unlike actor Lee Marvin who served in Saipan and loved to tell his story of getting wounded there, Bronson did not share his wartime stories and was known for disliking interviews. This explains why we can't say more about Bronson's story on Guam, but he did live on Andersen Air Force Base when it was first known as North Field.



NORTH FIELD
The Future Andersen Air Force Base

PERCY'S FIRST NIGHT ON GUAM

Tuesday, May 3, 2022




Percy Howell, a lad of just 15, had sailed into Apra Harbor that Thursday morning on March 4, 1841 aboard the British whaling barque, the Lady Beckwith .

Percy's captain, the Welshman Evan Jenkins, was mercilessly harsh, and Percy was willing to do anything to escape his cruel authority. As the Lady Beckwith had anchored at 2 in the morning, Percy took advantage of the night's darkness to hide himself in a boat sent from shore to collect articles of exchange with the ship. Percy threw himself into the small group of crew members transferring crates and boxes, and slipped a silver dollar into the boatman's palm.

When he got to Punta Piti, it was now nearly 3 o'clock, and there was no carriage man, as no passengers were anticipated. So he walked the road to Hagåtña, following the index finger of the boatman pointing in that direction.

When it almost five o'clock, he was in the middle of the city, having passed rows and rows of houses where little lamps flickered through the window cracks. The farther he walked, the more he noticed people, mostly women but a fair amount of men, coming out of their homes and walking silently in the same direction. He followed them, trying to remain inconspicuous. His measured steps were halted only by the unexpected pealing of bells. The ringing seemed to be in the direction this flow of people was heading.

The more Percy walked, the larger the number of people processing in the same direction became, one or two people at a time emerging from their homes to enter the stream of people. Most houses had thatched roofs; almost all were built on stilts except for the few stone houses. The men, even down to the smallest boys, universally wore white long-sleeved shirts and white trousers. Most wore sandals and all had hats on. The women wore two-piece outfits, with a long skirt and a short top. It was hard to discern more details as all the women wore shawls or kerchiefs snuggly held or pinned under their chins. He looked in vain to make eye contact with the people, but they all looked solemnly at the ground they were walking, not even whispering among themselves. Just a few small boys looked at Percy, who smiled at them, with the boys staring blankly back at him with no expression. "What a peculiar people!" Percy thought to himself. Only the crow of a rooster now and then broke the pre-dawn silence.

The narrow streets opened wide into a grassy square, bordered by official-looking, white-plastered Spanish buildings with red tiled roofs. But at the far end was an imposing, stone church; plain on the outside.  It would have been hard not to go into that church, as the current of people around him more or less pushed him in that direction. The men uncovered their heads, and so did Percy.

A bit nervous, Percy walked into the church, not knowing what to expect. He had heard on the voyage that Guam was a Spanish island, ruled by "Castillians" and the Catholic Church. Percy had never been inside a Catholic church before. There was none in his part of Protestant England, as far as he knew.




As Percy entered, he saw how dimly lit the entire church was. A few stands stood here and there with burning candles, but he could barely make out the figures of the people kneeling on the floor. At the far end of the church there were more lit candles around an altar with a wooden backdrop decorated with images and paintings. But those were just a few bright spots in a dark sea of partially-unseen worshippers.

There was no where to sit so Percy, eyeing the people, knelt on the hard floor. He saw some women near him kneel on their slippers, but Percy had no slippers, just hard shoes not ideal to kneel on.

A bell was rung, but the people did not rise. A priest and a boy in gowns came out. Percy strained his ear to hear what might be said, but he heard nothing. As his ears became attuned to the silence, he could make out some mumbling, which seemed to come from the boy and the priest.

Percy was confused. There was no singing, no organ, no movement by the congregation. Just a faint murmur, but the people knelt stoically, some fingering their beads. Percy's eyes grew heavy, and were it not for fear of losing his balance, he would have fallen forward as he lost consciousness. As he struggled to stay awake, he crept closer to the wall, and rested his drowsy head on it and everything disappeared.




Suddenly, he was jolted out of his slumber by the ringing of bells. Percy managed to squelch a screech from the shock. He looked around; no one moved. Why was a bell rung? Then it rung again. He looked. The priest was lifting something, he could not tell what. No more bells. Percy leaned on the wall again, and fell asleep

He was only awakened again by the heavy hand of a Spanish soldier shaking his right shoulder. "¡ Ponte de pie ! (Stand up!)" the Spaniard said strongly, but not loudly, as they were in church. Percy didn't speak a word of Spanish, but he intuited the meaning.

Percy stood up and then a gentleman came forward and muttered something in Spanish to the guard, then addressed himself to Percy. "English?" "Yes!" Percy said, relieved.

"I am Mr Lynch, at your service. I think you had better come with me." Lynch and Percy went across the Plaza, it was now daybreak, to the two-story building that looked official. Inside, Lynch spoke Spanish to everyone he met, and finally told Percy, "Stay here, and wait for me till I return."

Percy stood on the ground floor, studying quietly the architecture and decorations of the building. In no time, Lynch came back and said, "Listen, my young man. Your ship has been looking for you all morning. That Spanish soldier knew you had disembarked without permission. But I have just spoken to the Governor. You could get punished for this, but we will tell your captain that religious enthusiasm got the better of you, and you left your ship merely to worship Almighty God."

Percy looked puzzled, but understood the import of what had just transpired. Mr Lynch had saved his neck.

"But, sir," Percy said, "my captain is a scoundrel of a man."

"How many more years are you in his service?" Lynch asked.

"Two more years," replied Percy.

Lynch said, "I will buy you out from those two years. But, in return, you must be in my service for those two years." "Gladly!" Percy answered right away, sensing in Lynch an honorable man.

And so it passed. Lynch gave Jenkins money to pay for Percy's unfulfilled two years of service, and Lynch sailed off, with Percy in tow, for Manila, where Lynch did some trading. The two were never heard from again on Guam.

But, years later, when Percy returned to England, among the many stories he told of his adventures on a whaling ship, he amused his listeners with the tale how the first house he slept in on Guam was the House of God.

How fortunate Percy was to have followed the Chamorro crowd unsuspectingly to church, where he met Mr Lynch who saved him.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

LA PRIMERA NOCHE DE PERCY HOWELL EN GUAM

Percy Howell, un muchacho de solo 15 años, había llegado al puerto de Apra aquel jueves por la mañana, el 4 de marzo de 1841, a bordo del barco ballenero británico, Lady Beckwith .

El capitán de Percy, el galés Evan Jenkins, era despiadadamente duro y Percy estaba dispuesto a hacer cualquier cosa para escapar de su cruel autoridad. Como el Lady Beckwith había fondeado a las 2 de la mañana, Percy aprovechó la oscuridad de la noche para esconderse en un bote enviado desde la costa para recoger artículos de intercambio con el barco. Percy se arrojó al pequeño grupo de miembros de la tripulación que trasladaban cajones y cajas, y deslizó un dólar de plata en la palma del barquero.

Cuando llegó a Punta Piti, ya eran casi las 3 y no había transporte, pues no se esperaban pasajeros. Así que se dirigió por el camino hacia Agaña, siguiendo el dedo índice del barquero que le había señalado en esa dirección.

Cuando eran casi las cinco, ya se encontraba en el centro de la ciudad, habiendo pasado hileras e hileras de casas donde pequeñas lámparas parpadeaban a través de las rendijas de las ventanas. Cuanto más caminaba, más notaba a la gente, en su mayoría mujeres pero una buena cantidad de hombres, saliendo de sus casas y caminando en silencio en el mismo sentido. Los siguió, tratando de pasar desapercibido. Sus pasos medidos sólo fueron detenidos por el repique inesperado de las campanas. El sonido parecía estar en la dirección a la que se dirigía este flujo de personas.

Cuanto más caminaba Percy, mayor era la muchedumbre que avanzaba en la misma dirección, una o dos personas a la vez salían de sus casas para unirse a toda aquella gente.

La mayoría de las casas tenían techos de paja; casi todas habían sido construidas sobre pilotes a excepción de las pocas casas de piedra. Los hombres, incluso los niños más pequeños, vestían generalmente camisas blancas de manga larga y pantalones blancos. La mayoría usaba sandalias y todos tenían sombreros. Las mujeres vestían conjuntos de dos piezas, con falda larga y camisa corta. Era difícil discernir más detalles ya que todas las mujeres usaban chales o pañuelos ceñidos o sujetos debajo de la barbilla. Observó para hacer contacto visual con la gente, pero fue en vano pues todos miraban solemnemente al suelo por el que caminaban, sin siquiera susurrar entre ellos. Solo unos cuantos niños pequeños miraron a Percy, quien les sonrió, los niños lo miraban fijamente sin expresión. "¡Qué gente tan peculiar!" Percy pensó para sí mismo. Sólo el canto de un gallo de vez en cuando rompía el silencio de la madrugada.

Las estrechas calles se abrían de par en par en una plaza cubierta de hierba, bordeada por edificios españoles de aspecto oficial, enlucidos de blanco y techos de teja roja. Pero al fondo había una imponente iglesia de piedra; llano por fuera. Habría sido difícil no entrar en esa iglesia, ya que la corriente de gente a su alrededor lo empujaba más o menos en esa dirección. Los hombres se descubrieron la cabeza, al igual que Percy.

Un poco nervioso, Percy entró en la iglesia, sin saber qué hacer. Había oído en el viaje que Guam era una isla española, gobernada por "castellanos" y la Iglesia Católica. Percy nunca antes había estado dentro de una iglesia católica. No había ninguna en su parte de la Inglaterra protestante, al menos que él supiera.

Cuando Percy entró, vio lo tenuemente iluminada que estaba toda la iglesia. Había aquí y allá velas encendidas, pero apenas podía distinguir las figuras de las personas arrodilladas en el suelo. En el otro extremo de la iglesia había más velas alrededor de un altar con un fondo de madera decorado con imágenes y pinturas. Pero ésos eran solo algunos puntos brillantes en un mar oscuro de adoradores parcialmente invisibles.

No había dónde sentarse, así que Percy, mirando a la gente, se arrodilló en el suelo duro. Vio a algunas mujeres cerca de él arrodillarse en sus pantuflas, pero Percy no tenía pantuflas, solo zapatos duros que no eran muy adecuados para arrodillarse.

Sonó una campana, pero la gente no se levantó. Salieron un sacerdote y un niño vestidos con túnicas. Percy aguzó el oído para escuchar lo que podría decirse, pero no oyó nada. Cuando sus oídos se sintonizaron con el silencio, pudo distinguir algunos murmullos, que parecían provenir del niño y el sacerdote.

Percy estaba confundido. No hubo canto, ni órgano, ni movimiento por parte de la congregación. Solo un leve murmullo, pero la gente se arrodilló estoicamente. Los ojos de Percy se volvieron pesados, y si no fuera por miedo a perder el equilibrio, se habría inclinado hacia adelante. Mientras luchaba por mantenerse despierto, se acercó a la pared, apoyó su cabeza soñolienta en ella y todo desapareció.

De repente, fue sacado de su sueño por el sonido de las campanas. Percy logró silenciar un chillido por la sorpresa. Miró a su alrededor; nadie se movió. ¿Por qué sonó una campana? Luego volvió a sonar. Él miró. El sacerdote estaba levantando algo, no sabría decir qué. No se oyeron más campanas. Percy volvió a apoyarse en la pared y se durmió.

Sólo lo volvió a despertar la mano pesada de un guardia español que sacudía su hombro derecho. "¡Ponte de pie! ¡Levántate!", dijo el español con fuerza, pero no en voz alta, ya que estaban en la iglesia. Percy no hablaba una palabra de español, pero intuyó el significado.

Percy se puso de pie y luego un caballero se adelantó y murmuró algo en español al guardia, luego se dirigió a Percy. "¿Inglés?" "¡Sí!" Percy respondió, aliviado.

"Soy el señor Lynch, a su servicio. Creo que será mejor que me acompañe." Lynch y Percy cruzaron la Plaza, ya era de día, hacia el edificio de dos pisos que parecía oficial. En el interior, Lynch habló en español con todos los que conoció y finalmente le dijo a Percy: "Quédate aquí y espérame hasta que regrese".

Percy se quedó en la planta baja, estudiando en silencio la arquitectura y la decoración del edificio. Al poco tiempo, Lynch regresó y dijo: "Escucha, muchacho. Los de tu barco te han estado buscando toda la mañana. Ese guardia español sabía que habías desembarcado sin permiso. Pero acabo de hablar con el gobernador. Podrías ser castigado por esto, pero le diremos al capitán que el entusiasmo religioso se apoderó de ti, y abandonaste su barco simplemente para adorar a Dios Todopoderoso".

Percy parecía desconcertado, pero entendió la importancia de lo que acababa de ocurrir. Lynch le había salvado el cuello.

"Pero, señor", dijo Percy, "mi capitán es un sinvergüenza".

"¿Cuántos años más estarás a su servicio?" preguntó Lynch.

"Dos años más", respondió Percy.

Lynch dijo: "Te compraré esos dos años. Pero, a cambio, debes estar a mi servicio durante esos dos años". "¡Con alegría!" Percy respondió de inmediato, sintiendo que Lynch era un hombre honorable.

Y así pasó. Lynch le dio dinero a Jenkins para pagar los dos años de servicio incumplidos de Percy, y Lynch zarpó, con Percy hacia Manila, donde Lynch hizo algunos negocios. Nunca más se supo de ellos en Guam.

Pero, años más tarde, cuando Percy regresó a Inglaterra, entre las muchas historias que contó sobre sus aventuras en un barco ballenero, entretenía a sus oyentes con el relato de que la primera casa en la que durmió en Guam fue la Casa de Dios.

Qué afortunado fue Percy por haber seguido a la multitud de chamorros a la iglesia, donde conoció al Sr. Lynch, quien lo libró de un severo castigo.

KÅNTAN GUMA'YU'US : I TINAITAI I SÅNTOS LISÅYO

Wednesday, April 27, 2022


Here is a much less well-known Chamorro hymn promoting the devotion of the Holy Rosary. October is the Month of the Rosary, but the prewar missionaries promoted the Rosary as a daily devotion, and not just for the dead. All parishes had techa (prayer leaders) who lead the praying of the Rosary by the people inside the church.

At Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Santa Rita, this hymn is still sung by all the people before Mass.




LYRICS

I tinaitai i Såntos Lisåyo nina’ paopao i Guma’yu’us
(The prayer of the Holy Rosary brings fragrance to the Church)
Sa’ i Såntos Lisåyon Maria fanflorisan i Nanan Jesus.
(because the Holy Rosary of Mary is the flower garden of the Mother of Jesus.)

I asut mi puti’on na långet guiya kalan Lisåyon Maria
(The blue, many-starred heaven is like the Rosary of Mary)
Yan tinayuyut i anghet siha ni umålof na hu saonao yo’.
(and the prayer of the angel who beckons me to join in.)
I singkuenta na Åbe Maria lamlam ke i puti’on i langet
(The fifty Hail Marys are brighter than the stars of the sky)
Sa’ sumaonao i Rai i man ånghet yagin magof lumisåyo yo’.
(because the King of Angels joins in when I am happy to pray the Rosary.)

An ha huto’ si Yu’us gi langet i iså-ña taiguihe i kåpa
(When God unfolded his rainbow in the heavens like a cape)
Ha fanu’e i taotao san papa’ na Rai-ñiha yan na’siña gue’.
(He revealed to the people below that He was their King and was Almighty.)
An ha huto’ gi Sånta Iglesia i masåmai na isan Lisåyo
(When He unfolded in the Holy Church the beautiful rainbow of the Rosary)
Ha na’ tungo’ hit magin ayo na Saina-ta yan sen Tåta gue’.
(Through it He made us know that He is our Lord and true Father.)

(This next verse is sung on Mondays and Thurdays)

Singko siha i Rosan Minagof i Atkånghet yan i sinangån-ña
(Five are the Joyful Roses of the Archangel and his words)
Si San Juan yan i såntos Nanå-ña si Yu’us taotao giya Belen.
(Saint John and the holy Mother of God-made-man in Bethlehem.)
I ma inan i Bithen na Nåna ya i sen didok na piniti-ña
(The purification of the Virgin Mother and her deep sorrow)
Sa’ malingo si Yu’us lahi-ña as Jesus giya Jerusalen.
(because God her son was lost in Jerusalem.)

(This next verse is sung on Tuesdays and Fridays)

Singko siha i Rosan Pinite i tres oras gi uetton manaitai
(Five are the Sorrowful Roses of the three hours prayed in the garden)
I ma saolak na katna ha’ måtai i koronan ma ingen Yu’us.
(Scourged till near death, the hateful crowning of God.)
I tinaggam i Bithen Maria as Jesus i lahi-ña gi chalan
(The meeting of the Virgin Mary and her son Jesus on the road)
Yan i tai ase’ yan na’mahalang na finatai-ña gi kilu’us.
(And his cruel and sorrowful death on the cross.)

(This next verse is sung on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays)

Singko siha i Rosan Mina’lak lå’la’ ta’lo si Yu’us Lahi-ña
(Five are the Glorious Roses when God the Son rose again)
Humanao hulo’ minina’siña ya ha fatta na sen Yu’us gue’.
(He ascended full of power and revealed that He was truly God.)
I Espiritu Sånto tumunok måtai pao Yu’us i Nanå-ta
(The Holy Spirit descended and our Mother died a holy death)
Ya pine’lo gi langet Rainå-ta as Yu’us sa’ Nånan Yu’us gue’.
(and was places by God in heaven as our Queen because she is God’s Mother.)

(This is always the final verse)

Gai Lisåyo na Bithen Maria inangokko yan Rainan i tano’
(Our Lady of the Rosary, hope and Queen of the world)
Gi me’nå-mo i mangilisyåno man lisåyo yan in tina hao.
(Christians pray the Rosary before you and praise you.)
Nånan-måme, lina’la’, minames såggue’ ham hulo’ ni Lisayu-mo
(Our Mother, our life and sweetness, pull us up through your Rosary)
Gi echongñan i tronu-mo, in na’ hulo’ yan in guaiya hao.
(to the side of your throne, we exalt you and love you.)


NOTES

1. As with many translations, I don't give an exact version from one language to the next, because the translation will be awkward. But I retain the essential meaning of the original in the translation.

2. There are fifteen mysteries of the traditional Rosary, broken into three groups of five. The Joyful Mysteries are said on Mondays and Thursdays; the Sorrowful Mysteries on Tuesdays and Fridays; the Glorious Mysteries on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

3. NOTICE THE RHYMING scheme of the hymn. Not only does the song rhyme the ends of the 2nd and 4th line of each verse, the song also rhymes the end of one line with the middle of the next line. Take a look at this verse :




NOBENAN SANTA CRUZ

Monday, April 25, 2022


In Spanish times, there were MANY shrines to the Holy Cross (Santa Cruz) built all over Guam. A handful of them still exist, often in hidden corners most people don't see. Many are made of wood.

But one of the more prominent ones, and one that has lasted for over 200 years, is the Santa Cruz shrine at Atantåno'. Because the wooden cross is planted in a solid base of limestone and concrete, this shrine has survived typhoons and escaped American bombing at the end of the war.

The Atantåno' area is swampy, which is ideal for rice cultivation. As a saying goes, rice is "born" in water, and "dies" in water (when you boil it to eat).

But the other side of the coin is that, being swampy, thick vegetation grows abundantly in this area, making it very hard to clear the land for rice paddies and level the ground for a road.

That is why the oldest part of this shrine, built around 1785, says that Governor Felipe Ceráin, "made to be built this DIFFICULT road" and planted coconut groves. Later, around 1834, the monument says that Governor Francisco Villalobos had rice paddies planted here. Lastly, the base commemorates the rebuilding of the Piti-Agat road in 1909 under the US Navy.

One of the reasons why so many Holy Cross shrines were built was to give security to many people who felt afraid in the rural areas where the taotaomo'na (ancestral spirits) lived.

Even before the Spaniards developed the area, Atantåno' was the location of a pre-contact Chamorro community, and there are archaeological artifacts all over the area going back to their times.

Over the years, a nobena (nine days/nights of prayer) to the Santa Cruz has been prayed at this shrine in Atantåno'. Today Mayor Jesse Alig has taken the lead in reciting the nobena in Chamorro himself. His Municipal Council, the Guam Preservation Trust and the Piti community are all assisting in celebrating the feast which comes every year on May 3rd.

Here is a short video of the first night of the nobena this year (2022) :




The public is invited to the celebration on May 3rd at 6PM. There will be Mass, followed by dinner, entertainment and pictorial exhibit.





VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


En tiempos de los españoles, había muchos santuarios dedicados a la Santa Cruz construidos por todo Guam. Todavía existen un puñado de ellos, a menudo en rincones ocultos que la mayoría de la gente no ve. Muchos están hechos de madera.

Pero uno de los más destacados, y que ha durado más de 200 años, es el santuario de la Santa Cruz de Atantåno'. Debido a que la cruz de madera está plantada en una base sólida de piedra caliza y hormigón, este santuario sobrevivió a los tifones y escapó de los bombardeos estadounidenses al final de la guerra.

El área de Atantåno' es pantanosa, lo cual es ideal para el cultivo de arroz. Como dice un refrán, el arroz "nace" en el agua y "muere" en el agua (cuando lo hierves para comer).

Pero la otra cara de la moneda es que en esta zona, al ser pantanosa, crece una espesa vegetación en abundancia, lo que dificulta mucho la limpieza del terreno para los arrozales y la nivelación del suelo para la carretera.

Por eso, la parte más antigua de este santuario, construido alrededor de 1785, dice que el gobernador Felipe Ceráin, "hizo construir este camino difícil" y plantó cocoteros. Posteriormente, hacia 1834, el monumento dice que el gobernador Francisco Villalobos mandó sembrar aquí arrozales. Por último, la base conmemora la reconstrucción de la carretera Piti-Agat en 1909 bajo la Marina de los EE. UU.

Una de las razones por las que se construyeron tantos santuarios dedicados a la Santa Cruz fue para dar seguridad a muchas personas que sentían miedo en las zonas rurales donde vivían los taotaomo'na (espíritus ancestrales).

Incluso antes de que los españoles desarrollaran el área, Atantåno' era la ubicación de una comunidad chamorra pre-hispánica, y hay artefactos arqueológicos en toda el área que se remontan a sus tiempos.

A lo largo de los años, se ha rezado una nobena (nueve días/noches de oración) a la Santa Cruz en este santuario de Atantåno'. Hoy el alcalde Jesse Alig ha tomado la iniciativa al recitar la nobena en idioma chamorro. Su Consejo Municipal, el Guam Preservation Trust y la comunidad de Piti están ayudando a organizar la fiesta que se celebra todos los años el 3 de mayo.

Aquí hay un vídeo corto de la primera noche de la nobena este año (2022):

El público está invitado a la celebración el 3 de mayo a las 6PM. Habrá misa, seguida de cena, entretenimiento y exhibición pictórica.

"MA LORIA"

Saturday, April 16, 2022


SURFING ON GOOD FRIDAY 1PM




If this were 1922 instead of 2022, the picture above would never have happened in the Marianas. Teenagers surfing on Good Friday.

And even if teenagers were playing in the ocean on Good Friday in 1922, they would have been punished by their parents and/or grandparents. But not immediately. They would be punished this morning; today, on Holy Saturday.

The whole reason why people wouldn't surf, swim, play, barbeque, play the guitar, sing, chop wood - basically make noise of any sort - on Good Friday was because Good Friday is the day Jesus suffered and died for us sinners. Treating Good Friday like any ordinary day when one can make noise and have fun was unthinkable back in the day when people's faith was much stronger and better informed.

This rule of keeping silence and refraining from fun extended to ALL of Holy Week ( Semåna Sånta ). The rule about not partying extended to ALL of Lent ( Kuåresma ).

So even if you did surf on Good Friday, you wouldn't be punished on Good Friday. Why? Because to punish kids on Good Friday would result in MAKING NOISE. Making noise on Good Friday or Holy Week would break the rule, even if the noise came from punishing those who broke the rule.

So parents waited till today to punish. All rules that were broken during Lent were punished today, and in the morning. Why today?

Tonight when the sun goes down our Catholic churches will celebrate Easter. Jesus rose from the dead early Sunday morning before the sun rose. Traditionally, Mass was celebrated at midnight going into Sunday. The Church then allowed Mass to be celebrated before midnight, but definitely not before the sun went down.

But in the old days Mass always had to be in the early morning because one could not receive communion, not even the priest, unless one fasted from everything (even water) from midnight on. So they scheduled Mass at 4AM, 5AM or 6AM because can you imagine having Mass at 6PM and having to fast from everything since midnight?

So, in the old days, Saturday morning was already an Easter Mass. Because it was Easter, we were able to sing the GLORIA again, something we gave up since Lent began. So people called Holy Saturday SÅBALON GLORIA or LORIA (some people had a hard time pronouncing the GL in gloria ). "Glory Saturday," in English.

Because Såbalon Loria was the day you got punished for breaking the Lenten rules, the punishment itself was called MA LORIA , "to be gloria'd." Usually the parent told you to go pick off the tångantångan tree branch yourself which the parent would use to whip your dågan (rear end). Many parents knew exactly how many times you broke the rules, and would strike once for each infraction.

If this were 1922, the teenagers surfing yesterday would have been MA LORIA pretty much as soon as they woke up today.

And so would the adults picnicking on the beach yesterday, the twenty-somethings dancing at the club last night or the man ordering a Chicken burger yesterday because "chicken is not meat."

There'd be so much MA LORIA this morning this whole island would be screaming and crying.




VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

MA LORIA

Si estuviéramos en el año 1922 en vez de en 2022, la imagen de arriba nunca hubiera sido posible en las Islas Marianas. Jóvenes surfeando durante el Viernes Santo.

E incluso aunque los jóvenes se estuvieran divirtiendo en el mar el Viernes Santo de 1922, habrían sido castigados por sus padres y/o abuelos. Pero no inmediatamente. Serían castigados esta mañana; hoy, Sábado Santo.

La razón principal por la que la gente en Viernes Santo no surfeaba, nadaba, jugaba, hacía picnic, tocaba la guitarra, cantaba, cortaba leña, o básicamente hacía cualquier tipo de ruido, se explica porque el Viernes Santo es el día en que Jesús sufrió y murió por nosotros, los pecadores. Tratar el Viernes Santo como un día cualquiera en el que uno puede hacer ruido y divertirse era impensable en aquellos tiempos en que la fe de la gente era mucho más fuerte y mejor informada.

Esta regla de guardar silencio y abstenerse de divertirse se extendía a TODA la Semana Santa. La regla de no ir de fiesta se extendía a TODA la Cuaresma.

Entonces, incluso si un joven surfeaba en Viernes Santo, no sería castigado ese mismo día. ¿Por qué? Porque castigar a los jóvenes en Viernes Santo resultaría en HACER RUIDO. Hacer ruido el Viernes Santo o la Semana Santa infringiría la regla, aunque el ruido viniera de castigar a los que la infringían.

Así que los padres esperaban hasta hoy Sábado Santo para castigar. Todas las reglas que se rompían durante la Cuaresma eran castigadas hoy y en la mañana. ¿Por qué hoy?

Esta noche de Sábado Santo, cuando se ponga el sol, nuestros templos católicos celebrarán la Pascua. Jesús resucitó de entre los muertos el Domingo por la mañana antes de que saliera el sol. Tradicionalmente, la misa se viene celebrando a medianoche antes del Domingo. La Iglesia entonces permite que la misa se celebre antes de la medianoche, pero definitivamente no antes de que se ponga el sol.

Pero en aquellos tiempos, la misa siempre tenía que ser temprano en la madrugada del Sábado porque uno no podía recibir la comunión, ni siquiera el sacerdote, a menos que uno ayunara de todo (incluso el agua) desde la medianoche en adelante. Así que programaron misa a las 4, 5 o 6 de la mañana porque ¿te imaginas tener misa a las 6 de la tarde y tener que ayunar de todo desde la medianoche?

Entonces, antiguamente, el Sábado por la madrugada ya se celebraba la Misa de Pascua. Por ser Pascua, se podía cantar nuevamente el GLORIA, algo que dejamos de hacer desde que comenzó la Cuaresma. Entonces la gente llamaba al Sábado Santo SÅBALON GLORIA o LORIA (algunas personas tenían dificultad para pronunciar el GL en gloria).

Debido a que Såbalon Loria era el día en que se castigaba por romper las reglas de Cuaresma, el castigo en sí se llamó MA LORIA, "para ser glorificado". Por lo general, el padre le decía a su hijo que fuera a cortar él mismo la ramita del árbol tångantångan que el padre usaría para azotar su dågan (parte trasera). Muchos padres sabían exactamente cuántas veces se rompían las reglas y azotaban una vez por cada infracción.

Si ahora estuviéramos en 1922, los jóvenes que surfeaban ayer habrían sido MA LORIA casi tan pronto como se despertaran hoy Sábado Santo.

Y también los adultos que ayer hicieron un picnic en la playa, los veinteañeros que bailaron en el club anoche o el hombre que pidió una hamburguesa de pollo ayer porque según cree "el pollo no es carne".

Habría tanta MA LORIA esta mañana que toda la isla estaría gritando y llorando.

"HAPPY EASTER" IN CHAMORRO

Thursday, April 14, 2022


SHORT ANSWER


FELIS PÅSGUA

or

FELIS PÅSGUAN RESUREKSION




Felis is borrowed from Spanish feliz which means "happy." You can replace felis with magof which is the indigenous, Chamorro word for "happy." Our grandparents who lived closer to Spanish times would have stuck with felis .


LONG ANSWER


This will take PATIENCE to learn and understand. Read slowly.

We moderns and we Americanized are used to greetings.

Happy Birthday. Happy Mothers Day. Happy National Chocolate Chip Day (May 15).

But greetings, at least to the extent we do so in modern times, wasn't as widespread in the old days.

Besides greeting people and saying goodbye, people didn't do a whole lot of "Happy This" or "Happy That" in the old days.

Many of the occasions Chamorros in the last three hundred years would celebrate came from their Catholic religion, which came from Spanish missionaries and which had Spanish names. Tres Reyes (Three Kings, January 6). Pentecostés (Pentecost, fifty days after Easter). La Purísima (Immaculate Conception, December 8).

One of these feasts was Easter. It celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus. It is an entirely Christian feast, first brought to the Marianas by Spanish Jesuit missionaries. So don't be surprised if the Chamorro words used for Easter are based on Spanish.

EASTER in Chamorro is called PÅSGUA . But here we run into a little trouble, which no longer remains trouble once we understand something.

Chamorro PÅSGUA comes from Spanish PASCUA which comes from Latin PASCHA. If you have a lot of exposure to the Catholic liturgy, you will see the Latin PASCHA in churchy English words like PASCHAL. We light the PASCHAL CANDLE at Easter. The season after Easter is called PASCHAL TIME (or Paschaltide). Latin PASCHA is a form of the Jewish word for the PASSOVER which is Pesach. So, due to Catholicism once being the universal religion of Europe, even English has Latin-derived words like PASCHAL.

The "problem" is that, in Spanish, PASCUA was applied to THREE major Catholic feasts : Christmas, Easter and Pentecost.

In order to be clear which Pascua was being celebrated, the Spaniards called Christmas PASCUA DE NAVIDAD.  Easter was called PASCUA DE RESURRECCIÓN (or Pascua Florida). Pentecost was called PASCUA DE PENTECOSTÉS.

Roughly translated, they mean PASCUA OF BIRTH (nativity, navidad ); PASCUA OF RESURRECTION (flowery or florida , due to springtime Easter flowers); PASCUA OF PENTECOST.

Once you keep in mind that PASCUA can mean three feasts, it's no longer a "problem." If someone wishes you happy PASCUA in April, you know he or she doesn't mean Christmas, which is always in December. It's not a problem.

Look how these Christmas, Easter and Pentecost greetings in Spanish all use the word PASCUA but then specify WHICH PASCUA is being celebrated.











So the Chamorro version of Spanish PASCUA DE RESURRECCIÓN is

PÅSGUAN RESUREKSION.


Of course, if you wanted to, you can make up your own Chamorro Easter greeting. We live in a DIY Chamorro era; Do It Yourself; make up your own version.

Magof Luma'lå'-ña Ta'lo si Jesukristo! Happy Jesus Christ's Resurrection!

But in this post I share what our grandparents and their parents knew, understood and said, and I like speaking what my grandmother spoke. And it's shorter.

FELIS PÅSGUA! (no need for Resureksion . It's April!)


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

¿CÓMO SE DICE “FELIZ PASCUA” EN CHAMORRO?

Respuesta corta : FELIS PÅSGUA o FELIS PÅSGUAN RESUREKSION

“Felis” es un préstamo del español que significa "feliz". Se puede reemplazar por “magof”, que es la palabra indígena chamorra. Nuestros abuelos, que vivieron más próximos a la época española, se habrían quedado con “feliz”.

Respuesta larga : Lo a continuación expuesto requerirá paciencia para aprender y comprender. Leamos despacio.

Los modernos y americanizados estamos acostumbrados a las felicitaciones.

Feliz Cumpleaños. Feliz Día de la Madre. Feliz Día Nacional de las Chispas de Chocolate (15 de mayo).

Pero este tipo de felicitaciones, al menos en la medida en que lo hacemos en los tiempos modernos, no estaba tan extendido antiguamente.

Además de saludar a la gente y despedirse, antes no se decía "Feliz por esto" o "Feliz por aquello".

Muchas de las celebraciones de los chamorros en los últimos trescientos años provienen de la religión católica, recibida de los misioneros españoles y que tenían denominaciones hispanas. Tres Reyes (6 de enero). Pentecostés (cincuenta días después de Pascua). La Purísima o Inmaculada Concepción (8 de diciembre).

Una de estas fiestas era la PASCUA. Cuando se celebra la Resurrección de Jesús de Nazaret. Es una fiesta enteramente cristiana, traída por primera vez a las Islas Marianas por misioneros jesuitas españoles. Así que no nos sorprendamos si las palabras chamorras que se usan para la Pascua se basan en el español.

La PASCUA en chamorro se denomina PÅSGUA. Pero aquí nos encontramos con un pequeño “problema”, que ya no lo es si entendemos algo.

La palabra chamorra PÅSGUA proviene del español PASCUA que a su vez procede del latín PASCHA.

El "problema" es que, en español, PASCUA se aplica a TRES grandes fiestas católicas: Navidad, Resurrección y Pentecostés.

Para tener claro cuál era la Pascua que se celebraba, los españoles llamaron a la Navidad PASCUA DE NAVIDAD. La Resurrección se llamaba PASCUA DE RESURRECCIÓN (o Pascua Florida). Pentecostés se llamó PASCUA DE PENTECOSTÉS.

Aproximadamente traducidos, significan PASCUA DEL NACIMIENTO (natividad, navidad); PASCUA DE LA RESURRECCIÓN (florida, por las flores primaverales de Pascua); PASCUA DE PENTECOSTÉS (descenso del Espíritu Santo).

Una vez que tengamos en cuenta que PASCUA puede significar tres celebraciones distintas, ya no es un "problema". Si alguien nos desea feliz PASCUA en abril, sabemos que no se refiere a Navidad, que siempre es en diciembre. No es un problema.

Esas felicitaciones de Navidad, Resurrección y Pentecostés en español usan la palabra PASCUA pero luego especifican QUÉ PASCUA se está festejando.

Así que la versión chamorra de PASCUA DE RESURRECCIÓN es

PÅSGUAN RESUREKSION.

Por supuesto, si quisiéramos, podríamos inventar nuestra propia felicitación de Pascua en chamorro más indígena. Vivimos en la era “Hazlo tú mismo”, “Inventa tu propia versión”.

Magof Luma'lå'-ña Ta'lo si Jesukristo!

¡Feliz Resurrección de Jesucristo!

Pero en esta entrada les comparto lo que sabían, entendían y decían nuestros abuelos y sus padres, y me gusta hablar lo que hablaba mi abuela. Y además es más corto.

FELIS PÅSGUA! (no hay necesidad de decir Resureksion. ¡Es abril!)

"MA ENGLIS"

Tuesday, April 5, 2022

AMERICAN MARINES ON GUAM
1899


A marriage case in court gives us insight into a few things about Chamorro life in the 1920s, one of them being a new word coined by some Chamorros involving prostitution and the US Marines.

José and Dolores were not getting along in 1924, to put it mildly. For some reason, José despised Dolores, his wife of just four years.

Besides striking and kicking her at times, he would also verbally abuse her, calling her a puta (whore) and telling her, " Hånao ya un ma Englis !" " Go and get Englished !"

It could have just been José's personal slang, but perhaps other Chamorros used the phrase. For a Chamorro woman to seek the companionship of American men is to MA ENGLIS .

José always mentioned the Marines specifically when telling Dolores to go look for Americans. Dolores testified that José asked the local teacher to take Dolores to the Marine Barracks and sell her to the Marines. The local teacher testified that José did, in fact, say that, but only after Dolores herself had said she'd rather live with the lowest-ranking Marine than with her husband.

It seems the chance to air their grievances in court brought them some relief, because José and Dolores ended up asking the judge to dismiss the case as the two had decided to reconcile. It turned out that José and Dolores lived as husband and wife for many more years, and raised almost a dozen children.

There was no need for Dolores to MA ENGLIS .


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

“MA ENGLIS”

El caso de un matrimonio que acudió a los tribunales nos da algunas ideas de cómo era la vida de los chamorros en la década de 1920. Una de ellas es una nueva palabra acuñada por algunos chamorros que involucra a la prostitución con los marines estadounidenses.

José y Dolores no se llevaban bien en 1924, por decirlo suavemente. Por alguna razón, José despreciaba a Dolores, su esposa, desde hacía  unos cuatro años.

Además de golpearla y a veces patearla, también abusaba verbalmente de ella, llamándola “prostituta” y diciéndole: " Hånao ya un ma Englis !" "¡Ve y entrégate a los americanos!"

Podría haber sido simplemente la jerga personal de José, pero tal vez otros chamorros usaron la frase. Para una mujer chamorra buscar la compañía de hombres americanos era MA ENGLIS.

José siempre mencionaba específicamente a los marines cuando le decía a Dolores que fuera a buscar americanos.

Dolores testificó que José le pidió al maestro local que se la llevara al Cuartel y la vendiera a los marines.

El maestro local testificó que José, había dicho eso, pero solo después de que la misma Dolores comentara que prefería vivir con el infante de marina de menor rango antes que con su esposo.

Parece que la oportunidad de presentar sus quejas en el tribunal les trajo cierto alivio, porque José y Dolores terminaron pidiéndole al juez que desestimara el caso. Los dos habían decidido reconciliarse. Resultó que José y Dolores vivieron como marido y mujer durante muchos años más y criaron a casi una docena de hijos.


LOST SURNAMES : HOLL

Tuesday, March 29, 2022



There used to be a HOLL family on Guam since Spanish times, but they were descendants of a German named John Holl. In German he would have been Johann or Johannes (nickname Hans) and in Spanish Juan.

But the name HOLL would have been hard for Chamorros to pronounce the German way. Chamorro doesn't like words to end in L. Spanish hospital becomes Chamorro ospitåt . Spanish ángel becomes Chamorro ånghet .

Final L in another language becomes final T in Chamorro. HOLL has to become HOT.

But the H in Spanish spelling is silent. In order to produce the H sound, Spanish has to make it a J. Like Jose and Juan. So HOT became JOT or JAT.

Father Aniceto Ibáñez in his diary (really chronicles) tells us that a JUAN HOLL , a native of Prussia (a part of Germany) but married on Guam (the assumption here is to a Chamorro wife) presumably drowned in the sea outside of Hagåtña in 1867. He and some others were in a boat taking kamute (sweet potatoes) to a whaling ship when it capsized. His body was never found.



PRUSSIA IN THE 1800s
Before Germany was one nation


The German Juan married a Chamorro named PAULA DE CASTRO .

Apparently Juan and Paula had nothing but daughters! Here are the three daughters I have been able to find : MARIA, ANA and MAGDALENA .


MARÍA CASTRO HOLL had a son outside of marriage named Guillermo Holl. Guillermo married Caridad Quitugua, the daughter of María Quitugua.

Guillermo and Caridad had six children children; from their birth records we see that they spelled their last name Holl are HART. If you remember that Chamorros would have pronounced Holl as Hot or Håt, you can see why it could also be spelled Hart.

Of the six children, three were sons.

Of the three boys, only Pedro was married and he had two daughters.





Two of the three daughters married, so their children would take on their fathers' last names. One of the daughters, María, married Juan Salas Cruz.






ANA CASTRO HOLL married Juan Reyes Sablan. Born on Guam, they moved to Saipan in Spanish times. Their daughter María married Antonio de la Cruz de los Reyes.

They had a son whose name changed depending on what country was governing Saipan. He was born WILHELM during German times. He would have been called GUILLERMO by Chamorros and the Spanish priests in Saipan. When the Americans took over in 1944, he switched to WILLIAM. But everyone called him by his nickname - BITLIN, believed to be a Chamorro pronunciation of Wilhelm. He was a famous educator in Saipan after the war and they named an elementary school in Chalan Kanoa after him.




WILLIAM "BITLIN" SABLAN REYES
Great Grandson of the German Juan Holl





MARIO REYES BORJA
Great great grandson of German Juan Holl

Mario, of SAKMAN fame, is the great great grandson of Juan Holl through his daughter Ana Castro Holl, her daughter Maria Holl Sablan, her daughter Magdalena Sablan Reyes, Mario's mother.


MAGDALENA CASTRO HOLL married Vicente Cruz Mendiola. Their daughter Consolación Holl Mendiola married Manuel Concepción. Their daughter Antonina, married to Blas Sholing Pérez, recently passed away.

This family spells Holl JAHT. It's how Holl would have been pronounced by Chamorros in the old days, with a Spanish J like Jose and Juan.



ANTONINA CONCEPCIÓN PÉREZ
Great Granddaughter of the German Juan Holl




If Juan Holl had never drowned taking kamute to a whaling ship, presumably he would have lived many more years and possibly have had sons, and we might today know all kinds of HOLLS in Guam, Saipan and who knows where else.

A FORGOTTEN CUSTOM

Tuesday, March 22, 2022



OLD PHOTO OF SAN FRANCISCO DE BORJA CHURCH
Songsong, Luta


A very Chamorro thing to do in the old days was to COMPOSE SONGS for just about any special occasion.

When a dignitary arrived on island, they composed a song to sing in his or her honor when getting off the ship or plane.

When someone celebrated a milestone or an anniversary, someone put words to music to tell the story.

When a new building, school or church was begun or finished, they wrote a song for everybody to sing to celebrate the project.

Here is Ray Barcinas singing something he learned from his mañaina (elders) in Luta (Rota) about the start of the building of the new church there after the war.





Ray was born a long, long time after the church in Luta was built. But here he is telling a bit of the story, how the plans were done in 1951; how the Chief Commissioner (who would be called a Mayor now), Tomás Camacho Mendiola, who held that position from 1947 to 1952, led the project; how the community was called together to make the plans a reality. The song bridges the long gap between the building of the church and Ray's own life many decades later.

The words Ray sings are :

Mit nobesientos singkuentai uno munhåyan i plåno
(1951 the plans were done)

para u ma håtsa i nuebo na guma'yu'os-ta.
(to build our new church.)

Chief Commissioner Tomás yan i man ga'chong-ña.
(Chief Commissioner Tomás and his team)

Ha kombida i taotao songsong, ayo suena mås.
(He invited the people of the village, as was fitting.)



TOMÁS CAMACHO MENDIOLA
Chief Commissioner of Luta 1947-1952


The song also helps us not forget the Chief Commissioner of Luta at the time, Tomás Camacho Mendiola. Those of us not from Luta or too young to have known him may never even hear his name, except that this song keeps his name alive.

In 1935, the US Secretary of War paid a visit to Guam. Our people composed a song to welcome him, and sang it in Chamorro, a language the American official didn't understand.

When the Northern Marianas was made into its own diocese in 1984, on the occasion of Bishop Tomás Camacho's ordination as bishop and elevation of Chalan Kanoa's church to a cathedral, Juan Sánchez of Saipan composed two dozen verses in Chamorro telling the tale.

It goes to show, the instinct of our people in those days was to write a song, even if they used familiar melodies, to memorialize the event.

Sadly, we don't do that much at all today. Once in a blue moon I've seen it done at celebrations. But sadder still, fewer people today could compose such a song in Chamorro, for an audience that increasingly doesn't understand their native language.

FQ SÁNCHEZ OF HUMÅTAK

Tuesday, March 15, 2022


FRANCISCO QUINATA SÁNCHEZ
1899-1954


Many people, even in the old days, were content with simply keeping the law, doing their daily duties and staying out of trouble. But there were always some who wanted to do more; to bring the community together and accomplish things for the benefit of all.

In Humåtak before the war, one of those few was Francisco Quinata Sánchez. He personified the civic spirit, especially when it came to the children. He was Humåtak's school teacher, but he was more than that. He was a kabayero , a term describing a man who is noble, esteemed and respected.

Here's why he rose to that level among his community.


FAMILY

Francisco was born in Humåtak in 1899, the son of Antonio Sánchez and Emilia Quinata. Antonio was a simple farmer, as almost every man was in those days. But Francisco took a different path early in life. By the age of 16, in the year 1915, he began teaching school in Humåtak. In those days, a child may only reach the fourth or fifth grade then quit, so it was not unusual to hire a smart 16-year-old to teach the little ones.

His younger brothers, Joaquín and Ignacio, did the same. They started teaching in their teens, as well.


TEACHER


HUMÅTAK SCHOOLHOUSE


Humåtak is one of our smaller villages and in the 1920s the village had roughly 350 residents. Numbers were low enough that a one-room schoolhouse was all that was needed, and often just one teacher, Sánchez himself, who held the title of Principal and Teacher.

School was not just where students learned to read, write and add. It was where government tried to form the island's society by training the children who would soon become the island's working population. Everything from hygiene to agricultural improvements was touched, and Sánchez was the main player. Sánchez was an avid supporter of volleyball and his school scored prizes in island-wide competitions.



VOLLEYBALL IN HUMÅTAK


It's very likely that Sånchez got some teacher training in Hagåtña, though I haven't found anything describing the details. Many teachers still went to night school to enhance their own knowledge. Sánchez also wrote articles for the government newsletter about Humåtak's activities, school and otherwise. Humåtak won a good share of prizes in education, sports and civic activities because of Sánchez.


MAGELLAN DAY


MAGELLAN DAY 1926


Humåtak in the old days was very proud that tradition held that Magellan anchored here when he "discovered" Guam and the Chamorros discovered him!

So Magellan Day, as it was called then, in March, was always a major event in Humåtak. It was a time, other than the agricultural fair and the patronal feast of San Dionisio in October, when the village hosted large crowds of people from all over the island. It was a time for Humåtak to beam with pride, and Sánchez made sure every Magellan Day was better than the last. Humåtak was so identified with Magellan that the village school which Sánchez headed was officially called Magellan School.

As there was no real road between Hågat and Humåtak back then, many people took a boat, the USS Penguin , from Piti to Humåtak. Sánchez lead the Humåtak people in greeting the boats as they came in. The school children took a leading part in the festivities, especially in singing and giving speeches, so Sánchez was behind all those arrangements.

Someone said that Sánchez should be considered the Grandfather of Guam Tourism because he was one of the first people to promote Guam tourism, albeit local. He made sure the Magellan Day celebrations and Humåtak's agricultural fair were huge affairs that drew Hagåtña and Sumay people down to Humåtak. It is believed he, really, was the originator of the annual Magellan celebration.



LANDING AT HUMÅTAK
for Magellan commemoration in the 1920s


Sánchez was involved in the formation of the Guam Teachers Association in 1920 and he must have convinced the Association to adopt as one of its goals the erection of a monument in Humåtak to Magellan. The Association raised the money and the Monument was finished in 1926.  Sánchez is credited with a lot of this work, including the design of the monument. A lot of the yearly fanfare on Magellan Day happened at this Monument.




Sánchez did a lot of the planning and execution of Magellan celebrations. The students and young people of the village had an active role in these events, from singing to acting to speaking, as the nicely-dressed young man pictured above was doing at the Monument. Sánchez was behind all of these plans.

They say Sánchez penned this song that the Humåtak children and people sang as the boats left the bay when the celebrations were done for the day.

Goodbye, friends, you are leaving today.
Goodbye, friends, you are going far away.
But you are coming back again on next Magellan's Day,
to dear old Humåtak by the sea.

In our dear old southern home,
situated right by the sea,
where Magellan landed when he crossed the silent sea,
in our dear old Humåtak by the sea.


AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP CAMPAIGN




In 1936, Guam's political leaders decided to send a delegation to Washington, DC to lobby for US citizenship and other changes on Guam. The Naval Government of Guam refused to finance the cost of such a trip. So, the people of Guam began to raise funds on their own. Sánchez was one of them.

He got his school children to go out every Saturday evening and Sunday morning from house to house, asking for donations. The Guam Recorder mentioned this and added this message of thanks :

The amount of contributions
will appear for you to see;
sixty dollars was collected
by Umatac on the sea.
Many thanks we are extending
to all the citizenry
for aiding the delegation.
Praise be Umatac by the sea!

Pedro "Doc" Sanchez recalls seeing a dozen or so Humåtak school children, lead by Sánchez, singing in the streets of Hagåtña asking for donations for the delegation's trip to Washington. The children held open some sheets and people from their homes would throw nickels, dimes and quarters.


OUTDOOR LIBRARY



In 1933, Sánchez put into action an idea to have a small concrete structure built on the side of the main road passing through the village where he could stack books where people could come and read. There was no librarian. People could read the book and leave it on the shelf when they had to go.

Although different roofing was placed over the concrete book shelf,  some of them woven material and sometimes tin, the books were still vulnerable to the weather; rain, wind and sun.

Besides books and reading material, the village put trophies and awards in the structure won by the village. It was fitting that "Umatac Pride" was written on the structure. Behind the outdoor library was Magellan School, which was replaced by a new and larger school after the war further down the road.

The Humåtak people provided the muscles and donated supplies, except for the cement. Books were donated by the Navy.

During the Japanese Occupation, all the books were removed by the Japanese. After the war, new books were donated, often by the military, till the library fell into disuse.

It's fitting that, in the middle of the structure, Sánchez designed a heart. It was a labor of love for his community.




Besides all of this, Sánchez was elected a Congressman in the old, advisory Guam Congress, representing Humåtak.



DEATH AND RECOGNITION



FQ SÁNCHEZ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL


Sánchez passed away in 1954 at the young age of 55. At around the same time, a brand new, concrete school was being built in Humätak, one of the first post-war permanent and typhoon-resistant schools built.

Members of the Guam Legislature thought it was opportune to name the new school after the village's long-time and beloved educator and civic leader. The Legislature passed a resolution asking the island's education board to do so. The board ignored the request and, when a second resolution was passed to press the point, the board said they could honor Sánchez with a plaque or statue.

The board was out of touch with the sentiments of the general public, which wanted to do more. The Legislature passed a bill, then Governor Elvidge signed it into law, mandating the school be named after Sánchez. It was the first Guam public school named for a Chamorro educator. The first Guam public school named after a Chamorro was before the war, when the Naval Government named the public school in San Antonio district in Hagåtña after Padre Palomo.




SÁNCHEZ WITH WIFE AMPARO AND DAUGHTER ANGELINA
Photo courtesy of Joe Quinata, GPT


There are plans in the making to repair and reuse FQ Sánchez School as a charter school, museum, senior citizen center, mayor's office and to include a coffee shop. The Government of Guam has put aside $3.5 million for this project. Senator Joe S. San Agustin introduced the funding bill.

BURT PUGH : HAGÅTÑA'S HOMELESS MAN

Tuesday, March 8, 2022


BURT AND BABY


One of the late Burt Pugh's dubious distinctions is being one of Guam's first homeless people. It's a sad story, but I thought it would be a positive lesson to share how Guam responded to Burt's passing away in 1976; a real testament to the island's values of the time.

Burt, born Bartholomew M. Pugh, Jr., was obviously not always homeless. He came to Guam in 1947 with the Army Air Corps. He left island to do some sailing all over the Western Pacific. Done with that, he opened a heavy equipment business and machine shop on Guam. He even ran as an independent candidate for Senator in 1960 and received 303 votes, not enough to win a seat. His slogan was, "A vote for Pugh, is a vote for you!"

Court battles with the Federal Government over the ownership of some equipment cost him his money, and his spirit. He just wasn't the same after that. He more or less gave up, but not entirely. But he was short on money for the rest of his life. He was arrested several times for small-time thefts, DUI and the like and served short sentences.

He had a house to live in as late as 1972, because he reported to police that it was burglarized.

In April of 1973, the wooden house in Hagåtña where Burt and some other men were living burned down, as the grassy area behind Ada's Market where the house stood caught on fire. It was a very bad dry season and large grass fires had broken out in several places, especially in the southern hills, threatening homes there.

Apparently that's when Burt became homeless, saying he lost everything in the house fire except the clothes he was wearing. He found some people to take him in, then they threatened him at gun point. So he left.

He moved to the Paseo de Susana and slept on the bleachers, storing his things underneath. "The good Lord asks no rent," Burt said. It was 1974. He had a stray dog for companionship named Baby.

He kept the bleacher area clean, and then he would go all over Hagåtña, Sinajaña and Tamuning on foot collecting discarded copper, glass and bottles. He made $4 a day selling them to Island Equipment Company and the soda pop people. He was hoping when he turned 62 and qualified for a pension that he could now afford, with some government help, to rent a place.

He was frequently seen in various places around the capital city, asking people for spare change at Town House, the Julale Shopping Center and the Guam Legislature.

He was at the Guam Legislature sometimes to testify on bills! His favorite topics were public utilities - power and telephones - things he didn't have.

When Typhoon Pamela (May 1976) wrecked the Paseo and its bleachers, Burt moved to live under the Spanish Bridge (Tollai Åcho').

But homelessness was not the only problem Burt faced. He had turned to the bottle very heavily. Vodka was his drink of choice. It was just a matter of time before booze did him in.

He landed at Guam Memorial Hospital in October of 1976. He escaped the hospital once, and was found in hospital gown and no pants walking the street. He died at GMH on December 22, 1976 of gastro-intestinal bleeding and cirrhosis of the liver. He was just 64.

Burt's death left some things unresolved. First was how would his hospital bill be paid. Second was who would bury him. A daughter lived in the States, but would she come and take care of Burt's funeral?


AN ISLAND RESPONDS



BURT'S BURIAL AT TIGUAG
Attended by Madeleine Bordallo (left), Father Mel McCormack and others


For almost two months, Burt's body lay in the morgue unclaimed.

There had been, in fact, no daughter. But Burt had a brother in the States, but he could do nothing for his deceased sibling.

Then Pete Ada of Ada's Mortuary stepped in. Bearing most of the expenses himself, he arranged for Burt's remains to be given a proper burial. Burt was placed in a casket, then a hearse took the casket to Tiguag Public Cemetery (now Vicente A. Limtiaco Memorial Cemetery).

Attending the burial were 18 people, some who knew Burt but others who didn't. They only heard about Burt and his burial from the newspaper the day before. The newspaper worried that the only people who would be at his burial would be reporters who had written stories about Hagåtña's homeless man.

It wasn't to be so. Capuchin Father Mel McCormack, who knew Burt since Burt first came to the island, lead the religious prayers at the grave site.

Madeleine Bordallo, First Lady at the time, also attended and laid a floral arrangement on Burt's casket before it was lowered. She knew Burt from his constant presence around Hagåtña and the Legislature. "He always said 'Hi Madeleine.' when he saw me," she said.

A public school teacher, Opal Jaquette, who didn't even know Burt, sang "Sunrise Tomorrow." And someone else, a man who wished to remain anonymous, gave flowers. Two flower shops, Floral Boutique and Eileen Kershaw, also donated floral tributes.

Father Mel said, "Burt never harmed anyone, so please see that no harm comes to him now."

And so that is how our island in 1977 took care of a homeless man who passed away. He was alone, but not really. I wonder, though, what happened to Baby.



THE ADA'S HEARSE PASSES BURT'S HOME - THE PASEO
before heading up to Tiguag

AN UNKNOWN SENATOR

Tuesday, March 1, 2022


So tell me what you know about ALFRED CHING .

Nothing? I'm not surprised. Some much older people surely remember the name, and even though I'm just entering man åmko' status, I remember hearing the name before but couldn't tell you either who he was.

But he was Guam's FIRST SENATOR NOT BORN ON GUAM .

We're not talking about the old Guam Congress under the US Navy administration, where someone like Tomás Calvo served, who was born in Manila. We're talking about the popularly-elected Guam Legislature that was created by the Organic Act in 1950.


BORN IN HAWAII

Alfred Kwai Doon Ching was born in Hawaii in 1919.

He was of Chinese background, his father having born in Guangdong (Canton) and his mother having been born in Hawaii but of Chinese parents.

Ching got involved in the construction business after finishing high school. He moved to Guam in the early 1950s and continued in that line of work; building houses and other things, selling building supplies, and developing real estate.



GUAM BUSINESSMAN


He got involved civically, too, becoming President of the Guam Lions Club and serving on the Territorial Planning Commission.


ELECTED IN 1958

Ching decided to give politics a try for the first time in 1958.

In those days, the only way to get elected on Guam was to run as a Popular Party candidate. So he added his name to a list of 28 candidates. There was no primary election in those days. The party had a convention in September and the convention voted for the party's final list of 21 candidates. Ching won enough votes to make it among the 21.

In the 1956 election, the Popular Party won all 21 seats in the Legislature and the Territorials won zero. It looked like it would be a repeat performance in 1958 and, sure enough, the Popular Party won all 21 seats again, with Ching coming in last (or next-to-last according to the Hawaii newspapers).

Though coming in at the bottom, he was still elected and an equal to the other 20 winners once sworn in. As a Senator (called Congressman in those days), he was quite vocal and was often in the news. He had his fiery arguments with other Senators, even though they were all of the same party. he was known as a stickler for correct spelling and clear wording in the bills being debated, often calling the attention of the Legislature to typos.


DROPPED FROM LIST, RETURN TO HAWAII

In the 1960 Popular Party convention, Ching did not make it to the official list of 21 senatorial candidates. He was beat out by another candidate by one vote for the 21st slot. So Ching was unable to run in 1960 as a Popular Party candidate.

After some years, he decided to return to Hawaii where he continued in private business and passed away in 1997.

He and his wife did have children and one that I know of went to Father Dueñas Memorial School. So I wonder if the children are still with us and have been back to the island any time lately?

HINENGGEN CHAMORRO : DOGS AND OCTOPUS

Tuesday, February 22, 2022



MÅTGAN SIEMPRE I PILU-ÑA I GA'LÅGO YANGGEN CHUMOCHO GÅMSON

If a dog eats octopus, its hair will fall off.


I've heard this al my life.

But is it true?

According to many websites, run by veterinarians or canine experts, dogs can eat cooked octopus in moderate amounts now and then with no risk to their health. Eating raw octopus or octopus in large amounts and with frequency could be hazardous to dogs (germs, worms, mercury and many other factors involved).

As for the dog's hair falling off, only one internet source that I came across treats the question and the vet's answer is "no." It won't happen.

Maybe it's just a Guam/Marianas thing.

If someone has a personal experience seeing a dog eat octopus and lose its hair, please share the story in the comments.

Still, don't feed your dog octopus. If you do, there will be less kelaguen gåmson for humans.

True or not about the dog losing its hair, I decided to write a little poem about it :


Gåmson senan-måme, pues in yite' nai i sepbla;
Kinanno' palo ni ga'lågo yan palo ni kulepbla.
Lao dumåkngas i ga'lågo, patås-ña yan ilu-ña,
sa' an ha kånno' nai i gamson, siempre måtgan i pilu-ña.


Octopus was our dinner, then we threw out the leftovers;
some was eaten by the dog, and some by the snake.
But the dog became bald, his paws and his head,
because when he eats the octopus, his hair will surely fall.


"But how do you say it, Påle? How do you say it?"

Here's the audio, complete with sing-song intonation :




NOTE


PODDONG is the Chamorro word for "fall" or "drop" and can be applied to just about any fall.

MÅTGAN means more like "falling off," like when a fruit falls off a tree when ripe, or the handle of a suitcase when it's old. So, when something is attached to something else and falls off, måtgan is the better word to use, and a dog's hair is attached to its body. But when the entire dog falls into a pit, then poddong is the word.

PARA HÅFA SI YU'US

Monday, February 14, 2022


It being Valentines Day, I composed this poem celebrating the love between spouses which most times creates new life, we the children! So blessed is this union that it is a Sacrament of the Church.

The Bible also has romantic imagery. Listen to these words from the Song of Songs in the Old Testament : Listen! My beloved! Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, bounding over the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.

I got my inspiration for my poem from the idea that eyes are useless if they do not behold anything beautiful, which for us believers is everywhere, for everything created speaks of the divine artist, our Creator.


Para håfa si Yu’us
(Why did God)
Na ha nå’e yo’ ni dos matå-ho
(give me my two eyes)
Yanggen ti siña hu li’e’
(if I cannot see)
kada dia i bonitå-mo?
(your beauty every day?)

Para håfa na ha nå’e yo’
(Why did He give me)
Ni dos talanga-ho
(my two ears)
Yanggen ti siña hu hungok
(if I cannot hear)
I suåbe na kuentos-mo?
(your gentle voice?)

Para håfa na ha nå’e yo’
(Why did He give me)
Ni gui'eng-ho
(my nose)
Yanggen ti siña hu nginge’
(if I cannot smell)
I mames na paopao-mo?
(your sweet fragrance?)

Para håfa na ha nå’e yo’
(Why did He give me)
Ni dos kanai-ho
(my two hands)
Yanggen ti siña hu go’te
(if I cannot hold)
I manñaña’ na kanai-mo?
(your tender hands?)

Para håfa na ha nå’e yo’
(Why did He give me)
Ni dos adeng-ho
(my two feet)
Yanggen ti siña yo’ malågo
(if I cannot run)
Guato gi fi’on-mo?
(there by your side?)
Para håfa na ha nå’e yo’
(Why did He give me)
Nu este i labios-ho
(these my lips)
Yanggen ti siña hu chiko
(if I cannot kiss)
I guaiyayon na fåsu-mo?
(your lovable face?)

Para håfa na ha nå’e yo’
(Why did He give me)
Ni todo i lina’lå'-ho
(my whole life)
Yanggen ti siña hu na’ danña’
(if I cannot unite it)
Yan entero lina’lå’-mo?
(to your entire life?)

The English translation is not always exact, because the outcome wouldn't be graceful. But the English is essentially what the Chamorro is saying.

Since many of you tell me you need to know how the Chamorro words sound, here's the audio :


AUDIO



KÅNTAN GUMA'YU'US : GOF MÅ'GAS HAO

Tuesday, February 8, 2022


When I was a priest in Saipan from 1991 to 1994, Chamorro was my main language of daily communication. It was there that I got into a Chamorro-translating phase, putting at least a dozen church hymns into Chamorro, mostly from Spanish hymns. A few I taught to my choir and one or two songs caught on, at least for a while.

But somehow the thought came to me translate an English Protestant hymn, How Great Thou Art , into Chamorro. It is said that How Great Thou Art is the second best-known English hymn, after Amazing Grace . I think in the Marianas How Great Thou Art is not that well-known.

But, the music moves me, and the lyrics are not in opposition to Catholic teaching, and I would be translating it freely anyway, meaning changing things up a little, mostly in order to match the musical notation. In the end, I inserted a line about the Blessed Mother, so the hymn became Catholic!

For the Chamorro title, I rendered "How great thou art," which is four syllables, as " Gof må'gas hao ," also four syllables, which literally means, "You are very great."

Gof Må'gas Hao is the one hymn I've translated that is still sung here and there. From my one parish in Saipan, it spread to other Saipan parishes and then to Guam. I just heard it sung the other day by a choir in Santa Rita.

Here is one of Guam's top vocalists, Ruby Aquiningoc Santos, singing two verses of the song which, in Chamorro, is Gof Må'gas Hao ( You are Very Great ). She is assisted by Lawrence Perez Borja.





LYRICS

Saina Yu’us hågo muna’ fan huyong
(Oh Lord God you created)
I tano’ yan todo i guinahå-ña.
(the earth and all that it contains.)
I atdao yan i pilan yan puti’on
(The sun, the moon and stars)
Muna’ annok i metgot kanai-mo.
(show forth your mighty hand.)

Refrain

Pues i anti-ho kumantåye hao :
(So sings my soul to you : )
Gof må’gas hao! Gof må’gas hao!
(You are very great! You are very great!)

Hu li’e’ i flores siha gi tano’
(I see the flowers on the earth)
I ekso’ yan i taddong na tåse.
(the hills and the deep sea.)
Hu tuna hao pot todo i che’cho’-mo
(I praise you for all your works)
Hu guaiya hao, sa’ un gof guaiya yo’.
(I love you, for you have truly loved me.)

Ya un deside para un fa’tinas
(And you decided to make)
Hame ni taotao i imahen-mo.
(Us, the people, your image.)
Un pega ham para u pulan maolek
(You placed us to watch over well)
Todo i nina’huyong-mo siha.
(All your creation.)

Ya annai poddong i taotao-mo siha
(And when your people fell)
Ya man abak gi chachalan-ñiha,
(and lost their way,)
Un na’ hånao i mames na Lahi-mo
(You sent your sweet Son)
Para u såtba ham ni man isao.
(to save us sinners.)

Puede ha’ mo’n i langet bai hanaogue
(Would that to heaven I shall go)
Ya guihe bai hu sen adora hao.
(and there will truly adore you.)
Gi fi’on i Bithen Sånta Maria
(Alongside the Blessed Virgin Mary)
Bai hu kånta : Saina, gof må’gas hao!
(I will sing : Lord, you are very great!)

DATING IN THE 1950S

Wednesday, February 2, 2022


My conversation with this elderly widow took an unexpected turn when she began telling me how her late husband began courting her. The lady is not one to say much about her married life, which lasted for fifty years plus till his death, so I was surprised she wanted to tell me these stories.

What she shared can be seen in Chamorro life long before her; the strictness and the rules of courtship. But in the late 1950s, early 1960s when she was of dating age, life had changed on Guam in other ways. There were more venues to take a girl out than before the war. There was much more access to automobiles.

But the dating rules of old Guam were still in force as in her grandmother's day, as she relates :

" My late husband told me he first saw me at a parish dance when I was 15 and he was 16. He knew better than to come up and talk to me, since I was still young and he knew my parents were strict. But he said he took one look at me and said, 'That's my girl. I will marry her one day.'

When I was already 16, my father allowed me to work a few hours after school at a nearby store. My father knew the owners, an elderly couple, and they assured my father they would keep an eye on who was trying to talk to me.

My husband would come every week and buy a case of 7-Up just to be able to see me and exchange a few words, always with a big smile. He didn't have to say much. I saw it in his eyes. I pretended not to notice and treated him like everybody else. The store owners, especially the wife, probably could tell this man liked me, but so did a few other men but nothing ever happened and she never brought up the topic. But every week he came and bought a case of 7-Up.

Finally when I began my senior year at George Washington, my husband came to my house and asked to speak to my dad. Being a year older than me, my husband was already graduated and found a good job with the Navy and, even though he only had a high school diploma, his supervisor at the Navy liked him and put him in an apprentice program. It wasn't an official program, more like the supervisor told an experienced worker to take my husband under his wings and teach him everything.

I guess my husband felt more confident that way and he asked my dad if he could visit me at my home. He also told my dad that if my dad needed any help around the house or at the ranch, he would help. He told my dad that he had a good job and that I was already a senior so it's time to look at the future.

I think my dad liked my husband's confidence and said, "OK, you can visit here but only on these days and at these times." And when my husband did come to visit, there were my mom and dad sitting with us, and me on one side of the såla (living room) and my husband on the other side. Of course we could not talk about everything we wanted to but we did talk about his family, his work and his hopes for the future so I did get to know more about him.

Finally my dad allowed my husband to take me on dates but only on Saturday night so there would be no interference with my homework. We would go to the movies. We had the Johnston, Universal, Gaiety and even the Drive In theaters. He taught me how to bowl at the Guam Bowling Center. A favorite of mine was going to Dairy Queen in East Agaña. Every time we went I tried a different thing. When he was low on money we'd just go to the beach. And he had to be low on money sometimes because every time he took me out, there were never less than four of us; me, him and two others in my family. If not my brothers and sisters then even a cousin. And he had to pay for all of us! He would tell me, "It cost me my life savings to win your hand in marriage!"

But that's how my parents felt safe letting me go on a date. And my parents were smart enough to always have one of my sisters go, not just a brother, because brothers are easily bribed. The guy just has to give him a few dollars and tell him to go away for a while and he will. But my two sisters would never do that, so either both sisters go with me, or one sister then one of my brothers.

My birthday is in January so in January of my senior year, I turned 18. According to American law, I was now free to do what I want, but try doing that when you're still living with your Chamorro parents. At the same time, I didn't want to go with the modern ways. I saw that the old kostumbre (customs) were good and protected me.

But my husband came to my dad in February asking permission to take me to the senior prom just him and me, since I was already 18. He promised to take me from my home straight to the dance, where my aunt would be because she worked at George Washington and would be at the prom. Then when the prom was over straight back to my house. So my dad said "yes" under those conditions.

Well, on the way to the prom, my husband's car had a flat tire. It really did! And he did not have a spare. Luckily, he pulled over near a friend's house who just happened to have a spare tire lying around the house in Chalan Pago. So we made it to the prom, but almost an hour late. My husband explained to my auntie what happened and even showed her his dirty hands and dust on his clothes, but my auntie was not happy.

When my husband dropped me home, my dad did not know what happened because there was no way for my auntie to call him. But the next day I was expecting my father to be angry at me. The whole day I was thinking the phone will ring and it will be my auntie with all the news. But my father said nothing the whole day, and the next and the next.

Little did I know that my auntie didn't tell my dad first. She told my husband's parents first! It just so happened that the next day was Sunday, and my auntie and my husband's family were from the same village and went to the same Mass. So she told my husband's parents what happened.

Long story short, my father never said anything to me because my own husband's parents grounded him for one month. They said he brought shame to his family, so they punished him. For one month he could not see me or communicate with me for any reason. Somehow his father talked to my father about the whole thing, and my father was satisfied. A week or so later, my mother talked to me privately. When I told her that the whole truth of the matter was my husband's car did have a flat tire and nothing happened between me and him, she said, "I believe you," and said nothing more about the topic.

Later on I found out that my husband convinced his father, and later on my father, that our story was true, because my husband showed his dad his flat tire and the friend from Chalan Pago also swore that my husband came to him to borrow a spare tire.

Oh the good old days! So strict! But I think life was better in those days ."

FILIPINO CANDIDATE, CHAMORRO AD

Wednesday, January 26, 2022



In 1970, the vast majority of Guam voters were Chamorro. Many of those Chamorro voters were elderly, born when schools went as far as the fourth or fifth grade in many cases. So, quite a number of senior voters spoke little to no English in the 1970s.

Even if many voters spoke English, their primary language was still Chamorro and to speak Chamorro to many voters was more effective than to speak to them in English.

So when Juanito Peralta, a Filipino, ran for the Guam Legislature in 1970, he thought it a good idea to put some campaign ads in the newspaper in the Chamorro language. Not only did he have an uphill battle winning because he was not Chamorro, he also ran as a Republican, a new party on Guam that had not won a single seat in the Legislature yet.

Peralta had a Chamorro wife who perhaps assisted him in writing the Chamorro ad, or perhaps a Chamorro supporter penned it for him. The spelling is quite rough, so I'll put it in my own way of spelling Chamorro.


HÅFA ADAI MAN ATUNGO'-HO yan todos hamyo taotao Guam.
(Greetings to all my acquaintances and to all of you people of Guam.)

Guåho si Juanito T. Peralta, asaguan Rita Flores Guerrero, ginen Bånik yan Charot na familia.
(I am Juanito T. Peralta, the husband of Rita Flores Guerrero, from the Bånik and Charot families.)

Numero diesisais yo' gi agapa' na bånda gi baloto.
(I am number 16 on the right side of the ballot.)

Pot fabot na' saonao yo' gi bentiuno na kandidåto para en bota.
(Please include me among the twenty-one candidates you will vote for.)

Malago' yo' bai anunsia na yanggen suette ya humålom yo' gi konggreso
(I would like to say that if I am lucky and am admitted into the Legislature)

bai protehe mås i mamopble yan bai hu setbe maolek para i interes-miyo
(I will protect the poor more and serve well your interests)

yan i fina'maolek i tano'-ta.
(and the improvement of our land.)

I fuetsa gaige giya hamyo. Hamyo i ma'gas, guåho i setbiente. Ennao i hinengge-ko.
(The power is with you. You are the boss, I am the servant. That is my belief.)


NOTES

Notice that uses his wife's full maiden name, including her maternal and paternal surnames and even the Chamorro nicknames for her families. This is a way to connect with all the voters who might be related or who these families well. A candidate can win by one vote, so every vote counts.

He doesn't say he is on the Republican side of the ballot. In 1970, the island was still very Democrat. The Democrats won all 21 seats in the Legislature two elections in a row before 1970. The word "Republican" would instantly turn off a number of voters and, as every vote counts, it's safer to just say "right side of the ballot."

He calls the Legislature Konggreso or "Congress." This was the way older Chamorros called the Legislature. It goes back to the pre-war Guam Congress established by some Naval Governors, which was purely advisory and lacked real power. Even when, in 1950, Guam got a Legislature with the power to pass laws, older Chamorros kept calling it the Konggreso and the members Konggresista . Even in English, members of the Legislature were called Congressmen/women till 1970. Old habits die hard.




Seen above, it's 1953, Guam has a Legislature, not a Congress, but the new Speaker is called CONGRESSMAN A.B Won Pat, not Senator A.B. Won Pat.


DEMOCRAT SUPER MAJORITY

Peralta did not win, but neither did fourteen of his fellow Republicans.

The Democrats swept the 11th Guam Legislature in 1970 with a super majority of fifteen seats, against six Republican winners.




SAIPAN SISTER, BUT ONLY SPANISH

Thursday, January 13, 2022



SISTER JULIANA DE LA CRUZ, MMB


I once knew a Chamorro sister who wouldn't speak Chamorro to me. She would only speak Spanish.

In 1992, I flew to Spain to research in our Capuchin archives in Pamplona, Spain where many documents are stored concerning Guam, mainly about the Church from the 1900s to 1941.

After a week of research in Pamplona, my next visit was to Bérriz, a small town not too far away from Pamplona. If I had a car, I could have driven from Pamplona to Berriz in two hours. But I didn't have a car and took the train, instead, which meant it took me pretty much the whole day to get to Bérriz (by changing trains at least 2 or 3 times).

My goal at Bérriz was to meet some older Spanish Mercedarian Sisters who had once served on Saipan since the 1930s. But little did I know that there was a Chamorro Mercedarian Sister there as well!




SISTERS HELEN (Palau), JULIANA (Saipan), BEATRIZ (Spain) and ME (Guam)
At tomb of Mercedarian Foundress Bd Margarita Maturana, Spain, 1992


Her name was Sister Juliana Roberto de la Cruz, of the familian Bisco from Saipan. She was born in 1912, so she was 80 years old when I met her. Her parents, Vicente San Pedro de la Cruz and María Sablan Roberto, were both born on Guam but moved to Saipan where they met and married in 1904.

She was in the first group of Saipan women who joined the Mercedarian Sisters after the war. She ministered for many, many years away from Saipan so I had never seen her before. Even the Chamorro Mercedarians from Saipan who never worked on Guam I knew from meeting them in Saipan, but Sister Juliana had long left Saipan by then.

I finally met this surprise (for me) Chamorro sister all the way in Spain in the parlor. I do not remember now if my first words to her were in Chamorro or Spanish; knowing me I would have let her begin the dialogue and choose the language.

Naturally I would have wanted to explain to her who I was and what my connection to Saipan was. I distinctly remember trying to say all this in Chamorro, and she understood, because when she answered, her comments followed up on what I was saying, but she said it all in Spanish.

But when she spoke in Spanish, it was said with a very identifiable Chamorro tone and pronunciation. I kept hearing Spanish words, but the "music" was Chamorro. So I kept going back to Chamorro when it was my turn to speak. But, her complete reliance on Spanish (she didn't say a word to me in Chamorro) made its impression on me. Eventually I switched to Spanish, as well, and Spain was bereft of hearing Chamorro that day.

Sister Juliana seemed very interested in what I had to say; I knew her family in Saipan. We talked about how they were, what the latest news was in Saipan, a little bit about her and a little bit about me. It was the one and only time I ever met her, and the impression remains with me to this day. This urge to speak Chamorro far, far away from home, with a Chamorro woman fifty years older than me, but who would only speak Spanish to me. How often would I get to experience that!



SISTER JULIANA WORKING IN THE RETIREMENT HOME
Kansas City, Missouri in 1985


Sister Juliana had joined a Spanish community of Sisters. When she joined them, all the Sisters were Spanish-speaking and only one, I believe, Sister Beatriz (previously Angélica), spoke some English. They recruited new Sisters from all over Micronesia; Palau, Chuuk, Ponape as well as Saipan. English was unknown to them, so Spanish was the dominant language in the Micronesia community until some years later when enough time had passed to allow more of them to learn English.

But Sister Juliana eventually left Micronesia and began serving in the US. One of her last assignments was assisting the elderly in a Mercedarian facility in Kansas City, Missouri. Then she retired to the Mercedarians' motherhouse in Bérriz, Spain.

All those years away from the Marianas meant that Sister Juliana stopped speaking a whole lot of Chamorro, and got accustomed to speaking Spanish more and more, the language of most of the Sisters. She must have continued to communicate in Chamorro with her family, who did not know Spanish. But, for whatever reason, we only conversed in Spanish.

In a way, Sister Juliana reminds me of the countless Chamorro men who left the Marianas forever on the whaling ships in the 1800s, and ended up living a new life wearing new clothes, eating new food and speaking other languages because they had few people, sometimes no one, to speak Chamorro with.

Hearing Sister speak Spanish with a Chamorro accent also took me back in time to the 1800s when quite a number of Chamorros spoke excellent Spanish. We know this because many government documents written in the Marianas in perfect, high-level Spanish were penned by Chamorro clerks and officials. But I assume many (most?) spoke it with a Chamorro accent.

Not many years after I met her, Sister Juliana went to her eternal reward and is buried in Spain. In 1668, Spain came to the Marianas as Sanvitores started the Catholic mission, and one of his fruits 300 years later, Sister Juliana, went from the Marianas to Spain and her remains are still there. U såga gi minahgong. Descanse en Paz. Rest in Peace.


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


LA HERMANA JULIANA DE SAIPÁN, ISLAS MARIANAS

Una vez conocí a una hermana chamorra que no me hablaba en chamorro. Ella solo me hablaba en español.

En 1992, viajé a España para investigar en nuestros archivos capuchinos en Pamplona, donde se almacenan muchos documentos relativos a Guam, principalmente sobre la Iglesia desde 1900 hasta 1941.

Después de una semana de investigación en Pamplona, mi siguiente visita fue a Bérriz, un pequeño pueblo no muy lejos de Pamplona. Si tuviera un coche, podría haber conducido desde Pamplona a Bérriz en dos horas. Pero yo no tenía coche y cogí el tren, por lo que tardé casi todo el día en llegar a mi destino.

Mi objetivo en Bérriz era conocer a algunas hermanas mercedarias españolas mayores que alguna vez habían servido en Saipán desde la década de 1930. ¡Pero no sabía que allí también había una hermana mercedaria chamorra!

Su nombre era Sor Juliana Roberto de la Cruz, de la familia Bisco de Saipán. Había nacido en 1912, así que tenía 80 años cuando la conocí. Sus padres, Vicente San Pedro de la Cruz y María Sablan Roberto, nacieron en Guam pero se mudaron a Saipán donde se conocieron y se casaron en 1904.

Juliana estaba en el primer grupo de mujeres de Saipán que se unieron a las hermanas mercedarias después de la segunda guerra mundial. Ella ministró durante muchos años, lejos de Saipán, así que nunca la había visto antes. Incluso las mercedarias chamorras de Saipán que nunca trabajaron en Guam, las conocí por haberlas visto en Saipán, pero Hermana Juliana ya hacía mucho tiempo que se había ido de la isla.

Finalmente conocí a esta (para mí) sorprendente hermana chamorra en España. No recuerdo ahora si mis primeras palabras con ella fueron en chamorro o en español; Conociéndome, le habría dejado comenzar el diálogo y elegir el idioma.

Naturalmente, hubiera querido explicarle quién era yo y cuál era mi conexión con Saipán. Recuerdo claramente tratar de decirle todo eso en chamorro, y ella me entendía, porque cuando me contestaba, sus comentarios seguían a lo que yo estaba diciendo, pero lo decía todo en español.

Cuando hablaba en español, lo decía con un tono y una pronunciación chamorros muy identificables. Yo continuaba escuchando palabras en español, pero la "musicalidad" era chamorra. Así que seguí en chamorro cuando me tocó hablar. Sin embargo, su completa confianza en el español (no me dijo una palabra en chamorro) me impresionó. Eventualmente también cambié al español, y ese día España no pudo escuchar una conversación en chamorro.

Hermana Juliana parecía muy interesada en lo que tenía que decirme; Conocí a su familia en Saipán. Hablamos de cómo estaban, cuáles eran las últimas noticias en Saipán, un poco de ella y un poco de mí. Fue la primera y única vez que la vi, y la impresión permanece conmigo hasta el día de hoy. Esas ganas de hablar chamorro lejos, muy lejos de casa, con una mujer chamorra cincuenta años mayor que yo, pero que sólo me hablaba en español. ¡¿Con qué frecuencia llegaría a experimentar eso?!

Hermana Juliana se había unido a una comunidad española de hermanas. Cuando se unió a ellas, todas hablaban en español y solo una, creo, Hermana Beatriz (anteriormente Angélica), hablaba algo de inglés. Reclutaron nuevas hermanas de diferentes partes de Micronesia: Palaos, Chuuk, Ponapé y Saipán. El inglés era desconocido para ellas en aquella época, por lo que el español fue el idioma dominante en la comunidad de Micronesia hasta algunos años más tarde, cuando pasó suficiente tiempo para que aprendieran inglés.

Pero Hermana Juliana eventualmente dejó Micronesia y comenzó a servir en los Estados Unidos. Una de sus últimas asignaciones fue ayudar a los ancianos en una instalación mercedaria en Kansas City, Missouri. Luego se retiró a la casa matriz de las mercedarias en Bérriz, España.

Todos esos años lejos de las Islas Marianas hicieron que Hermana Juliana dejara de hablar mucho el chamorro y se acostumbrara a hablar cada vez más el español, el idioma de la mayoría de las hermanas. Debió seguir comunicándose en chamorro con su familia, que no sabía español. Pero, por alguna razón, nosotros solo conversamos en español.

En cierto modo, Hermana Juliana me recuerda a los innumerables hombres chamorros que dejaron para siempre las Islas Marianas en los barcos balleneros durante el siglo XIX y terminaron viviendo una nueva vida, vistiendo ropa nueva, degustando comida diferente y hablando otros idiomas porque tenían poca gente, a veces nadie, con quien hablar chamorro.

Escuchar a la hermana hablar español con acento chamorro también me llevó atrás en el tiempo a 1800 cuando muchos chamorros hablaban un español excelente. Sabemos esto porque muchos documentos gubernamentales escritos en las Islas Marianas en perfecto español de elevado nivel, fueron escritos por empleados y funcionarios chamorros. Pero supongo que muchos, tal vez la mayoría, lo hablaban con acento chamorro.

No muchos años después de que la conocí, Hermana Juliana fue a su eterna recompensa y está enterrada en España. En 1668, España había llegado a las Islas Marianas cuando San Vitores inició la misión católica, y uno de sus frutos 300 años después, Hermana Juliana, pasó de las Islas Marianas a España y sus restos aún están allí. Descanse en Paz.

THE OTHER LADRONES ISLANDS

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

CHINA'S LADRONE ISLANDS
Near Macau and Hong Kong


We were not the only Ladrones, at one time.

Less known were the Ladrone Islands in China.

Our islands were the first to be called Ladrones, so named after Magellan's fight with our ancestors over a skiff taken off of Magellan's ship in 1521.

But not long after that, in 1557, the Portuguese set up shop in China, specifically in Macau, which Portugal controlled all the way up to the year 1999.

The Portuguese were in Macau for one reason : trade. Over the many years, think of silk, jade, fire crackers, incense, opium....all commodities popular at different times.

This trade attracted pirates and sea bandits who hid in their vessels in the small islands outside Macau. The Portuguese called these the Islands of Thieves. The Spanish word for "robbers" or "thieves, " ladrones was what the English used, so in English books and newspapers, these Chinese islands were also known as the Ladrones or Ladrone Islands, just like the Marianas. Sometimes they were called the Great Ladrone islands.




Just as our islands were renamed the Marianas, and Ladrones was dropped in time, no one today calls these islands near Macau the Ladrones anymore. Instead, they are known by the Chinese name Wanshan Archipelago.



SI JOSÉ YAN SI MARÍA

Monday, December 13, 2021


They say that modern man doesn't know how to wait, and so we jump right into Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. In many homes, the Christmas tree comes down on December 26 and people find it odd when others continue to say "Merry Christmas" till January 6 or so.

We celebrate too early and we end it too early.

But the traditional Catholic way is to wait and to prepare, and then to extend the celebration of Christmas to January 6 (Three Kings) or later even.

Nothing told us kids growing up 50 or more years ago that Christmas was coming than to hear this song, Si José yan si María , being sung by the family kneeling before the family belen or nativity scene.

There are two melodies of this song. One, it is said, is older, perhaps we can say the original. The second, it is believed, is newer, and is the same melody used in a Saipan Christmas song, " Hingok i Dos na Saklestan ." But, since we have no evidence one way or the other, which is the older, all we can say is that this is what people think or believe.

Here is the "older" melody.





Here is the "newer." I think this is the melody sung nowadays by most, but in my childhood it was the "older" melody that was sung more.





LYRICS AND MEANING

This song is meant to prepare us for the birth of Jesus. That story begins with the Annunciation by Archangel Gabriel to Mary at which Mary conceived Jesus in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit, and not by man; the marriage of Joseph and Mary so that Mary would have the help of a husband and that Jesus would have a human foster father, and grow up in a normal family setting.

But Joseph had to take the pregnant Mary with him to his ancestral town of Bethlehem to register for the census, and it is there that Mary gave birth, fulfilling the prophecy.

So already we have the themes of a PILGRIM GOD , a God who leaves heaven and journeys to the earth, entering human life through the womb of Mary, which is like a gate for God to enter our world. In addition, the infant Jesus still in Mary's womb travels from Nazareth to Bethlehem, where He is born. So the refrain says " Oh Yu'us na pelegrino ," "Oh Pilgrim God." We cannot go to God on our own power, so God comes down to us.

And when God comes to us, He doesn't receive a triumphant welcome. There is no room in the inn. The baby is put in a manger, which is a wooden trough for animal food, and thus we can assume there are animals around him, and was possibly in an animal shelter, and by tradition a cave. All He has for worshippers are humble shepherds, sent by an angel.

So the song has the message that the Chamorro faithful give the baby Jesus the welcome He did not get but which He deserves.

Si José yan si María / esta guennao man maså'pet.
( Joseph and Mary / are suffering there. )

Koro : O Yu'us na pelegrino / sugo' mågi giya hame.
( O pilgrim God / stop and stay with us .)

1. Taitutuhon na Tiningo' / taihinekkok na Finaye / takkilo'-ña i ta'chong-mo / ke i sagan mapagåhes. Håfa na un dingo på'go / i ginefsagan i langet?
( Knowledge without beginning / endless wisdom / your seat is higher than the clouds.  Why now do you leave / the riches of heaven? )

2. Saina hao, Yu'us Lahi-ña / ni i bula mina’åse' / mama'taotao yan humuyong / Yu'us Taotao, che'lon-måme. I Mesias hao, i Kristo / hagas ham man ma sangåne.
( You are Lord, God the Son / full of mercy / you were made man and became / God and man, our brother.  You are the Messiah, the Christ / which was told to us from of old .)

3. An humålom i chatanmak / ya ma chakchak i ha'åne / un na' sulo' gi sankattan / i atdao-mo, bula guåfe. Hågo i ma'lak na åtdao / i mañiñila' na kåndet.
( When the dawn comes / and the day breaks / you make shine in the east / the sun, full of fire.  You are the bright sun / the shining light. )

4. Cha'-mo chåchågo' Asaina / guine gi fanågon-måme / gos manengheng i sanhiyong / meggai lokkue' i mañakke. Maila' hålom, Påtgon Yu'us, sa' yan-måme dinanña'e.
( Don't go far, Lord / from our shelter here / it is very cold outside / there are many thieves as well.  Come inside, God Child, because we would like to join together .)

5. Guai fanhakman i gimå'-ta / yagin magof hao humåtme. Maila' hålom giya hame / sugo' ya un ma adahe / kalan i ma'gas i gima' / yan Rai i lekka' na långet.
( Our house has a door / if you would like to enter.  Come inside among us / visit and be cared for / as the head of the house / and King of heaven exalted .)

6. Nangga nåya gofliion / in sangåne hao magåhet / i taotao-mo hao yumute' / sa' mañåguat manmandage. Ti u cho'gue i Chamorro / sa' ti ennao påyon-mame.
( Wait for a while, beloved / we tell you truthfully / your people abandoned you / because they are insolent liars.  The Chamorro will not do that / because that is not our custom .)

7. Sugo', dikkike' na påtgon / maila' ya un ma dandåne / ni man na' magof na dåndan / guine gi åtpa yan låbet. Hago ha' siña dumåndan / sa' manungo' hao yan faye.
( Stay, little child / come and we will play for you / joyful songs / here with harp and violin.  You alone can play / because you know how and you are capable .)


LANGUAGE NOTES


Guai . This is a word most Chamorro speakers, even older ones, are not familiar with and so they often change it to gai . But guai is an old form of the word gai , which means "it has, there is."

Fanhakman . This word, meaning "door" comes from FAN+HÅLOM+AN. Hålom means "to enter." The FAN and the AN make it "place of" or "time of" entering. Fanhaluman can be shortened to fanhakman .

*** Agradesimiento para si Señot Lawrence Borja para i dos audio na file.

NINA'HUYONG YU'US TÅTA

Monday, December 6, 2021


This is a big favorite among many people.

The nice melody has a lot to do with it, but the words are very meaningful and have a lot to say about who Mary is for us Catholics. I'll get to that later in this blog post. But first the audio :




And to share the way it is sung in Saipan, which is basically the same melody as Guam's but with some slight variations. The Saipan recording is special to me because this is the sound we all heard when we were kids; no organ, no piano. Just Chamorro women singing full throttle the hymns from memory :





LYRICS

1. Nina’huyong Yu’us Tåta, sinantusan i anti-mo, sen masåmai bula gråsia, tai isao i ha’ani-mo. Ennao mina’ man sineyo as Yu’us i taotao siha, ya ha ågang man sen magof ini na Abe Maria.
( O daughter of God the Father, your soul is holy, very beautiful, full of grace, your life is sinless. That is why the people were sealed by God, and they called out most joyfully this Ave Maria .)

2. Nånan Yu’us i Lahi-ña, iya hågo nai in li’e’ na gaige si Jesukristo i Yu’us i ginefli’e’. Hame nai in taitai på’go ayo na finiho siha na sinangan i Atkånghet as Gabriel: Abe Maria.
( Mother of God the Son, in you we see present Jesus Christ the God of love. We now pray those words spoken by the Archangel Gabriel : Ave Maria .)

3. I Tetsero na petsona i Espiritu i Tata ha na’huyong iya hågo i patgon-mo ni Saina-ta. Ennao gue’ man ga’chong-måme i tres na Petsonas siha ya in sangan gi me’nå-mo ta’lo i Abe Maria.
( The Third Person the Spirit of the Father brought forth in you your child who is our Lord. Those are our companions, the Three Persons, and we say before you again the Ave Maria. )


MEANING OF THE HYMN

This hymn is about Mary in relation to the Three Persons in one God; the Most Holy Trinity.

Mary is DAUGHTER of God the Father. That is why, in the first verse, she is called Nina'huyong Yu'us Tåta. Nina'huyong means "creation." Mary is sinless and most holy, but she is not God. God is uncreated and existing from all eternity, without beginning or end. God created Mary, just as God created all of us. We are God's sons and daughters, and He is our Father.

Mary is MOTHER of God the Son, and so she is called in the second verse. Mary is not the Mother of God in the sense that she gave Jesus His divinity; of course not. But Jesus was conceived in her womb; lived there for nine months, nourished by her body; and was born of her. And since Jesus is fully God, in that sense we can say she is Mother of God. Mary gave Jesus His blessed humanity, His human flesh; and brought Him into the world.

Mary is SPOUSE of God the Holy Spirit. The conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary was not accomplished with the help of a human father, but through the power of the Holy Spirit. So Mary is in that sense the spouse of the Holy Spirit.

When the Archangel Gabriel greeted Mary with his "Ave," or "Hail," he was speaking the words of God, for an angel is God's messenger and only says and does what God instructs him to say and do. So when you and I say, "Hail Mary," we are only repeating what Gabriel said, and what the Three Persons in One God said through Gabriel. God Himself chose Mary to be His daughter and spouse, and prepared her from her conception to be the sinless Mother of Jesus. God honored Mary, and when we honor her, we only do what God Himself did.

*** Agradesimiento para si Señot Lawrence Borja para i audio files.

GUAM DURING PROHIBITION

Wednesday, November 17, 2021


THERE WAS ALWAYS TUBA AND AGI


In 1919, the 18th Amendment to the US Constitution outlawed the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors. It came into effect in 1920 and was known as Prohibition.

It was not a success.

Make something illegal and its popularity doubles.

People made liquor themselves (moonshine), sold it illegally (bootleg) or smuggled it in from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. The Mafia's power and income were propelled thanks to Prohibition, as they made millions of dollars in the illegal sale of liquor.

During Prohibition, booze didn't disappear. It went into hiding. And many people found it.


DID PROHIBITION APPLY TO GUAM?



Yes and no.

When Guam came under US power in 1898 through the Treaty of Paris signed between Spain and the US, the US Congress was supposed to determine the civil rights and political status of the people of Guam and the other territories taken from Spain.

The US Congress did so right away for the Philippines, passing Organic Acts in 1902 and 1916. Guam didn't get an Organic Act till 1950.

In the Philippines Organic Act of 1916 (also known as the Jones Act), it was determined that American laws did not apply to the Philippines unless the American law specifically mentioned the Philippines. The law putting the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) into effect was called the Volstead Act, and the Volstead Act failed to mention the Philippines. So, while you could not buy a glass of Scotch legally in the US, the booze freely flowed in the Philippines.

American newspapers commented that Prohibition would have been fiercely opposed by most Filipinos.

On Guam, the Naval Governor was king. It was debatable whether the Volstead Act (never mentioning Guam) was applicable to Guam. But it didn't matter. The Naval Governor could outlaw all liquor if he wanted to. And the Naval Governor of Guam in 1920 wanted to.

Governor William W. Gilmer, Governor from 1918 to 1920, outlawed the making and consumption of tuba (coconut wine or toddy), except for use in bread and for vinegar.




GILMER

So yes, Prohibition did happen on Guam for a time, but thanks to the Naval Governor's supreme and uncontested power to make such a law, whether the 18th Amendment or Volstead Act applied to Guam or not.



NOT REALLY


But, just as liquor only went into hiding in the US, liquor didn't disappear from Guam either, no matter what the Naval Governor said.

An American visitor to Guam in 1926 wrote in a newspaper that he had spent just a few hours in Piti, and a few hours in Hagåtña and still a few more hours in Sumay, and before the day was done he had heard that tuba was available, despite the law. More than tuba ; åguayente or agi , which can be made from tuba and distilled into clear and stronger alcohol, was also available.

The problem enforcing Prohibition on Guam was the remoteness of the agi stills and the tuba collecting. Guam had very few automobile-worthy roads, especially in the southern and northern rural areas. Deep river valleys in the south hid many illegal agi or tuba sites. Law enforcement would need to get to these locations by animal or on foot. Policemen tried their best; they had a reason to. Out of the $5 fine bootleggers paid, $1 went to the policeman who discovered the illegal still or tuba tree. But it was hard for the police to find the hidden ones. There were only some 20 patrolmen anyway; not enough to poke around every corner.

In 1926, a gallon of tuba , or a gallon of åguayente , sold for 50 cents. All hush hush, so it was said. But how hush hush could it have been when a short-term visitor heard all about it on his first day?


SMUGGLED BOOZE



Local alcohol wasn't the only illegal liquor available during Prohibition.

An American civilian worked for a trading company on Guam in the 1920s. He had never been in trouble with the law on Guam before. But he made the mistake of firing his Chamorro cook, who went to police to report on his former boss, as a form of revenge. The American, the Chamorro cook said, owned booze smuggled from overseas shipped on the Gold Star.

When the police went to the American's house to investigate, they found crates marked ginger ale, only to find a tin inside each crate and inside the tins 6 quarts of whiskey. The American was cited for making a false customs declaration and for receiving illegal and smuggled alcohol.

In 1933, Prohibition ended with the repeal of the 18th Amendment. Guam once again had saloons, bars and restaurants serving liquor. But, the whole time they were illegal, the tuba and agi never dried up.


NORTHERN MARIANAS



It should be said, for completeness regarding all Chamorros and all the Marianas, that Prohibition never happened in the Northern Marianas which were under Japanese jurisdiction. Research needs to answer the question whether the Japanese imposed some restrictions on tuba and/or agi production, such as licenses (probably) or quotas. But the sake, beer and other liquors freely flowed under Japan.

ANGLOPHOBIA OF 1800

Wednesday, November 10, 2021



If you walk around Hagåtña and also if you look up in the direction of Agaña Heights, you will see more than one Spanish-era structure all thanks to one man.

Governor Manuel Muro, Governor of the Marianas from 1794 till 1802.

Perhaps more than any other Spanish Governor, Muro built a lot and much of it we can still see.

He built Fort Santa Águeda , also known as Fort Apugan. He built the Spanish Bridge in Hagåtña, more properly known as the San Antonio Bridge and colloquially by our own people as the Tollai Åcho' (stone bridge).

There are walls behind the Azotea at the Palåsyo (Governor's Palace) that he built. All these have survived war and natural calamities and you can still see them.

But there is more that Manuel Muro built which you cannot see anymore, having fallen victim to both natural and manmade destruction.



MURO'S FORT SANTA CRUZ IN APRA HARBOR
Later removed by the US Navy


He built Fort Santa Cruz , which used to be in Apra Harbor. He built another fort, San Rafael , closer to the Hagåtña shore near the main Bank of Hawaii building today. And, besides these, he built even more, smaller projects, which have since disappeared.

Muro built all these things, naturally, with Chamorro muscles, obliged to work on government building projects so many days a year in place of paying taxes. The people thought Muro worked them to death.

Fort San Rafael - 1799
Fort Santa Águeda - 1800
Fort Santa Cruz - 1801

Why all these forts? And in a short period of time, 1799 to 1801, or just three years?


THE BRITISH MENACE



For many years, England and Spain were historical enemies.

Think of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Conflict between the two nations continued, and often involved British pirates harassing Spanish ships laden with Latin American and Asian wealth. Some of the British privateers even made it to Guam, such as William Dampier and Woodes Rogers.




In 1762, while England and Spain were at war, the British succeeded in conquering Manila and stayed there for two years till the war ended, then left.

Thirty-four years later, in 1796, Spain and France united against England. Napoleon Bonaparte was already a military star in France, and would soon be ruler of France and went on to conquer much of Europe, fighting the British as well. France was another historical rival of England, so Spain and France wound up on the same side against England.

So, when Manuel Muro was Governor of the Marianas, Spain wanted her Asian and Pacific territories to prepare for possible attack from the British.

In the Philippines in 1800, the Governor-General there ordered all able-bodied men to form a militia, to pick up guns and use them against the British if necessary. According to the newspapers at the time, all of the Philippines was in fear of another British invasion. Seacoast towns were emptied as the population moved inland.

British newspapers spoke of the anxiety felt by Spanish leaders in Manila, and of the poor state of the military, militia and Spanish warships. The British were already in India, and the Spaniards in Manila believed a British attack could be launched from there. The British were not just in faraway Europe; they were already in Asia.

So Muro's busy building projects on Guam from 1799 to 1801 were all about the same thing; preparing Guam for a British attack, which, in the end, never came.

The British defeated the Spaniards and French at Trafalgar, Spain in 1805. Spain itself was occupied by France in 1808, thinking it could do a better job running the government of their ally. Spain revolted against this occupation and war between France and Spain began. Spain continued to decline, losing most of her territories in Latin America by 1821. The British didn't need to worry about Spain at all.

Yet, because of the fear of a British attack which never came, Spanish forts were built on Guam, which never saw battle.



TWO OF MURO'S LASTING PROJECTS
Remain Guam Icons

So the next time you look up to Fort Santa Águeda (Apugan), you might remember that all that was built because the Spaniards on Guam in 1800 were thinking of the British.


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

ANGLOFOBIA DE 1800

Si caminamos por la ciudad de Agaña y miramos hacia arriba en dirección a los Altos de Agaña, veremos más de una estructura de la época española, todo gracias a un solo hombre:

Manuel Muro, gobernador de las Islas Marianas desde 1794 hasta 1802.

Quizás más que cualquier otro gobernador español, Manuel Muro construyó mucho y todavía podemos ver bastante de todo aquello edificado.

Levantó el Fuerte Santa Águeda (abajo en la foto), también conocido como Fuerte Apugan. Construyó el Puente Español en Agaña, más propiamente conocido como el Puente de San Antonio y coloquialmente por nuestra propia gente como el Tollai Åcho' (puente de piedra).

Hay unas paredes detrás de la Azotea en el Palåsyo (Palacio del Gobernador) que él construyó. Todas estas obras han sobrevivido a guerras y calamidades naturales y todavía se pueden ver.

Pero hay más de lo que construyó Manuel Muro que ya no se puede apreciar, habiendo sido víctima de la destrucción tanto natural como provocada por el hombre.

Construyó el Fuerte Santa Cruz, que se encontraba en el Puerto de Apra. Construyó otro fuerte, el San Rafael, más cerca de la costa de Agaña, cerca del edificio principal del Bank of Hawaii, en la actualidad. Y además de éstos, construyó otros proyectos más pequeños, que desde entonces han ido desapareciendo.

Manuel Muro construyó todas estas cosas, naturalmente, con mano de obra chamorra, obligados a trabajar en proyectos de construcción del gobierno un número determinado de días al año, en lugar de pagar impuestos. La gente pensaba que Manuel Muro los hacía trabajar hasta la extenuación.

Fuerte San Rafael - 1799

Fuerte de Santa Águeda - 1800

Fuerte Santa Cruz - 1801

¿Por qué fueron construidos todos estos fuertes? ¿Y en un corto período de tiempo, de 1799 a 1801, es decir, solo tres años?

Durante siglos, Inglaterra y España fueron enemigos.

Pensemos en la Armada Española en 1588. El conflicto entre las dos naciones continuó, y a menudo involucró a piratas británicos que acosaban a los barcos españoles cargados con riquezas de Hispano-América y Asia. Algunos de los corsarios británicos incluso llegaron a Guam, como William Dampier y Woodes Rogers.

En 1762, mientras Inglaterra y España estaban en guerra, los británicos lograron conquistar Manila y permanecieron allí durante dos años hasta que terminó el conflicto, luego fueron expulsados.

Treinta y cuatro años después, en 1796, España y Francia se unieron contra Inglaterra. Napoleón Bonaparte ya era una estrella militar en Francia, y pronto sería gobernante de ese país pasando a conquistar gran parte de Europa y luchando también contra los británicos. Francia fue otro rival histórico de Inglaterra, por lo que España y Francia terminaron del mismo lado contra los ingleses.

Entonces, cuando Manuel Muro era gobernador de las Islas Marianas, España quería que sus territorios de Asia y el Pacífico se prepararan para un posible ataque de los británicos.

En las Filipinas, en 1800, el gobernador general ordenó a todos los hombres aptos que formaran una milicia, que recogieran armas y las usaran contra los británicos si era necesario. Según los periódicos de la época, todo Filipinas temía otra invasión británica. Las ciudades costeras se vaciaron a medida que la población se trasladaba tierra adentro.

Los periódicos británicos hablaron de la ansiedad que sentían los líderes españoles en Manila y del mal estado de los militares, milicias y buques de guerra españoles. Los británicos ya estaban en la India, y los españoles en Manila creían que se podía lanzar un ataque británico desde allí. Los británicos no solo estaban en la lejana Europa, ya estaban en Asia.

De modo que los ajetreados proyectos de construcción de Manuel Muro en Guam desde 1799 hasta 1801 eran casi sobre lo mismo; preparar a Guam para un ataque británico que al final, nunca llegó.

Los británicos derrotaron a los franceses y españoles en Trafalgar en 1805. La propia España fue ocupada por Francia en 1808, pensando que podría hacer un mejor trabajo dirigiendo el gobierno de su aliado. España se rebeló contra esta ocupación y comenzó la guerra entre Francia y España. España siguió decayendo, perdiendo la mayor parte de sus territorios en Hispano-América en 1821. Los británicos no tenían que preocuparse por España en absoluto.

Sin embargo, debido al temor de un ataque británico que nunca llegó, se construyeron fuertes españoles en Guam, que nunca presenciaron batalla.

Así que, la próxima vez que miremos hacia el Fuerte Santa Águeda (Apugan), quizás recordemos que todo eso fue construido en Guam porque los españoles en 1800 estaban pensando en los británicos.

ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Wednesday, October 27, 2021


This is the last bridge over a river you will pass if you're heading north from Hagåtña. Past this point, there are no more rivers to cross. The flat, limestone terrain of northern Guam doesn't allow for the flow of rivers, since the rain percolates straight into the porous rocky soil and forms a huge, underground lake from which a lot of us get our tap water.

A strong, reliable bridge crossing the Hagåtña River going northwards was much more important to the US military in 1944 than before the war. Once Guam was back in American hands from the Japanese, the US still had a whole extra year to finish the entire war with the Japanese.

That was to end in August of 1945, but not before the US bombed Japan with great destruction, largely thanks to the air strips built on Guam, Tinian and Saipan which put American bombers close to Japan. Thus, the port of Apra Harbor in the south and the air fields in the center and north of Guam had to be linked securely. Trucks carrying supplies and bombs had to travel smoothly from naval base to air base, crossing the Hagåtña River.

So, it's no wonder that the American military made building this Hagåtña Bridge a priority and got it done by March of 1945. And it had to be solid, able to take on truck after truck of military arms and equipment.

The bridge still remains, though it has been improved and redone over the years.

What used to be just a few vehicles in the 1950s and 60s has become congested with heavy traffic. And, in the background of the photo, what used to be a few single-story, wood and tin roof buildings has become two or three-storied concrete commercial buildings.

Before the war, that area you just enter after crossing that bridge was the barrio of San Antonio. Hagåtña was divided into half a dozen barrios or districts.

CHURCH PEWS

Wednesday, October 20, 2021



The above is a photo of the inside of the Hagåtña church around the year 1900. Notice anything?

NO PEWS .

You see some benches, but there are curious things about these benches.

First, there are too few benches to seat the entire congregation, at a time in history when that church would be filled to capacity on Sundays. Even on weekdays, there were large crowds at Mass. Secondly, the benches are not facing the sanctuary (altar space). Thirdly, the benches are not uniform. They look as if they were obtained from different sources, at different times perhaps. Lastly, the benches have no kneelers. Everyone knelt on the floor, or remained seated/standing if you were unable to kneel due to old age or infirmity.


PEWS ARE A "NEW" THING


MEN KNEELING OR STANDING AT MASS
No pews, no seats


People might be surprised to find out that pews are a "new" thing in the Church. When a Church is 2000 years old, as is the Catholic Church, "new" doesn't mean last year. "New" can mean 500 years ago. That's still "new" compared to 1500 years before that.

In the ancient Church, people stood and knelt. There was no idea that one was to be "comfortable" attending Mass. One stood at some parts of the Mass, and one knelt at other parts of the Mass. Standing was a posture of respectful attention, and kneeling was a posture of adoration, humility and sorrow.

Of course some people found it a physical challenge to do either, to stand or to kneel for long or for any length of time at all. The old and infirm who could not stand or kneel often didn't come to Mass, then, since they were excused on account of their situation. If they came to Mass, they could sit on stools or chairs. Some of them brought their own if the church didn't have enough or any at all.




GARAPAN'S PEWLESS CHURCH IN SAIPAN AROUND 1900
Just a few benches facing each other


By and by, people who could afford to buy or have made their own benches brought them to church. Not everyone had the money or lumber to do that. But in time the people who did bring their own benches left them in the church, rather than carry them back and forth each Sunday.

As time went on, more and more people began to think everyone should be able to sit during some parts of the Mass and that pews should be available for everyone. Providing pews for everyone meant an additional expense for the church, and I imagine that's why our churches in the Marianas were without pews at least some of the time, as evidenced in the photo at the top.

Some churches did without pews for practical reasons, too. In this photo of the Catholic Church's headquarters, so to speak, Saint Peter's in the Vatican, benches and chairs are brought out only when needed. Otherwise the church is laid bare, as seen in the photo. Too many things happen in the Basilica and permanent pews would limit the movement of the different things that go on inside.



SAINT PETER'S BASILICA IN ROME
No permanent pews


MEN AND WOMEN SEPARATED



If you notice in this photo of the Garapan Church in Saipan around the year 1900, all the women are in one group on the left, and all the men are separate in their own groupings behind the women and more on the right of the photo.

This reminds us of the fact that Church Law in the old days recommended that men sit (or kneel/stand) on one side of the church (if there was a statue of Saint Joseph, usually on the right, then in front of him) and the women on the opposite side (if there was a statue of Mary, usually on the left, then in front of her).

This custom was codified in the 1917 Code of Canon Law (Church Law) which said, in Canon 1262 (1) : "It is desirable that, in harmony with ancient Church order, the women in church be separated from the men."

This was not a strict rule, but it was recommended. Thus it was not always followed. It depended on the priest at the time or on the custom of the place. The current Canon Law of the Church says nothing about men and women occupying opposite sides of the church.


PEW RENTAL OR ASSIGNED PEWS



PEDRO MARTÍNEZ, PASCUAL ARTERO, JOSÉ TORRES AND JAMES UNDERWOOD
Clockwise beginning with top left


One way for churches to cover the expense of providing pews in church was to rent out the front pews to whoever was willing to pay the rent. This rent ensured that that family got to sit in that pew. Pew rents were a thing in some Protestant churches, as well, in the old days.



PEW RENT INCOME
in a Protestant church in the US in 1897


I am not sure this was done in Guam, but what I do know for certain is that four prominent families had the right to sit in the first two pews on either side of the center aisle in the Hagåtña Cathedral before the war. Whether they paid a rental fee for this or not, I do not know. These four families were already such big financial contributors to the Church that I wouldn't be surprised if there was no fee at all.

The four families were those of Pedro Pangelinan Martínez, Pascual Sáez Artero, José Martínez Torres and James Holland Underwood. All four men, and sometimes their wives, were very active in supporting the Church. They all had some financial means, from businesses, ranches or government positions. Martínez and Underwood were brothers-in-law. Underwood had been raised a Baptist in his native North Carolina, but became Catholic when marrying his Chamorro wife. Artero was a Spaniard, close to the Spanish priests before the war. Torres was a merchant, a musician and related to Pedro Martínez and Martínez's wife.

Four families, four pews; the first two on either the left or right of the main aisle.

I don't think this was done in the other churches of Guam or the other islands of the Marianas. And, after the war, the custom was discontinued in the Hagåtña Cathedral, which was destroyed anyway during the American bombardment of 1944 and wasn't rebuilt till 1959.

At the time, no one made an issue of the privilege of sitting in the front pews going to certain families. And I think the newer generations of those same families wouldn't want the custom to be revived. Even pew rents, which did cause bad feelings in the past, were discontinued many years ago as people's thinking changed.


TODAY MAY NOT BE ANY BETTER



It is always a temptation to think our times are better than the past.

But if we point fingers at the past when sitting up front in church, in a few cases, was reserved for the few, think about our modern mindset where some people choose what church to go to based on how cold the church air conditioning is.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

ABSENTEE HUSBANDS

Tuesday, October 12, 2021



Rosa de León Guerrero Cepeda , whose signature appears above, was a 43 year old married woman in Hagåtña who decided to register her property with the Spanish government in 1897.

When she submitted her documents to do that, she described herself as being married to a man who had already been absent "overseas" for FIFTEEN YEARS without knowing his "whereabouts."

This left her with four children to raise on her own, although typically Chamorro families had aunts and grandmothers to lend a hand. When her husband left island, her oldest child, a daughter, was just entering her teenage years but her youngest was just born, perhaps even about to be born.

Rosa was married to a man named Manuel de Castro, but she remained Cepeda, because in the Spanish system, married women kept their birth names.

Another woman filed her papers with the government stating that her husband had been " ausente de la isla ," " absent from the island ," for TWENTY-ONE YEARS .


LEGAL COMPLICATIONS

These wives and mothers were, to be honest, abandoned. It would be nice to think that their far-away husbands were sending them money, but I haven't come across any document showing that and, instead, I have found a number of documents suggesting the opposite. So many women wrote that their husband was away and his "whereabouts are unknown."

In one case, two minor children got the attention of the court, because their mother had died and their father was "absent and his location is unknown." These two children already lost their father to the big world and wide open sea, and they now lost their mother to the small confines of the grave. The court had to call a council of relatives together to provide for the minors.

Some women had to file petitions with the court about house and property ownership, which sometimes were in their absentee husbands' names. Writing wills, paying debts, property boundary disputes, providing for minor children when the mother died....all of these were left to the woman and/or the court.

The biggest legal complication was the inability of the woman to marry a new husband. Since there was no proof of death for the current but absent husband, neither the Church nor the government wanted a bigamous marriage, and divorce was not permitted at the time. So, some women just had a new man live in the house without the benefit of marriage.


WHALING SHIPS

We cannot be certain why Rosa's husband, Mr Castro, left Guam and, from all appearances, never returned. But a good guess would be to serve on the whaling ships or some other kind of commercial ocean vessel.

In another case, it is very clear that the absentee husband left on a whaling ship.

María Rivera Gogue , born on Guam, married José Barcinas, also from Guam. In 1898, María, living in Luta (Rota), filed a petition with the court for legal recognition of her land ownership.



MARÍA'S PETITION


She wrote in her petition,

"That my mentioned husband is found absent from this province for nine years, his whereabouts being unknown. That he left on one of the whaling ships that arrived at this port and since then no word from him at all has been had."

At least for some years, the Spanish Government on Guam made whaling captains sign promises to bring these Chamorro whalers back to Guam after a specific time, but this promise was routinely ignored and the Spanish Government had no way of enforcing its fulfillment anyway.

The thing is, many, if not most, of the numerous Chamorro men who left Guam to sail the seas, numbering in the hundreds, were bachelors. Some were as young as fourteen. So most of them left behind parents and siblings, not wives and children.

But Rosa's and María's situation reminds us that some of these Chamorro seafarers were married and did leave behind wives and children, without communication or financial support. In the Guam Census of 1897 there are many single mothers named and identified as "married," not "widowed," but their husbands' names are nowhere to be found. The government documents of the time show us the reason why, for at least many of them. Their husbands simply got on a ship and never came back.

THE ROCK AT THE FORK

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

THE ROCK AT THE FORK


Two things about Tutuhan or Triangle Park that I remember as a child : the pine trees and the rock.

Having grown up in Sinajaña and then lived most of my adult life in Agaña Heights, I have passed this park almost every day for the major part of my life.

As a child in the 1960s, though, this triangular patch of land looked much different than it does today. It looked larger, as a matter of fact. There were no man-made structures like we have today; no parking lot or walkways; no fence or decorative wall. It was just a large, wide open, triangular piece of land punctuated with tall Norfolk pine trees that we, as kids, just called Christmas trees, even in July. They stood out because they were the only trees (that I recall) in that place, most numerous at the top of the triangle.

But there was also this rock, at the bottom tip of the triangle, at the fork of the road where the one road from Hagåtña splits into two, with one road going up to Sinajaña and the other road going up to Agaña Heights. You couldn't help but notice the rock as you moved up the hill on either side, whether going to one village or the other.  It seemed off. What was a rock doing sticking out of the ground all by itself at the bottom of a large, grassy triangle that didn't have so much as a bump, except for this one rock?




WHEN IT WAS ALL GRASS AND TRESS
The Park in 1981



THEY BLEW UP THE LAND

There had always been two "roads" leading up San Ramón Hill; one going to Sinajaña and the other to what we now call Agaña Heights but, before the war, was known by the various little areas that now make up the village.

But after the war the populations of both villages soared with former Hagåtña residents unable to return to their war-devastated city. The roads up to Sinajaña and Agaña Heights would have to be widened and paved; a far different thing from the narrow dirt roads before the war.

But the terrain wasn't easy and the people in charge decided they needed to blow up some land to level the area and make road-building easier. And so they did. But they forgot one thing.


WITHOUT ASKING PERMISSION

The designers and builders were not locals, and they couldn't know that people claimed there was a taotaomo'na trail going up San Ramón Hill. When they blew up the area, they wrecked the taotaomo'na trail. The ancestral spirits were furious. First, no one asked their permission and, second, their trail was destroyed.

One solitary rock was left over from the explosion, and for some reason it was never removed. It still lies at the tip of Tutuhan Park.




CAR ACCIDENTS

Today, hardly anyone knows the story of the taotaomo'na trail blown up by road builders.

But in the 1950s, enough car accidents happened in the area to cause some people, who did know the story, to wonder. Were car accidents happening in an area where taotaomo'na were angry at what happened?




These are just three stories of car accidents on San Ramón Hill and they're all from the 1950s.  There were other stories, as well., and they weren't always about two cars colliding either.

One lady skidded and her car spun around, and now, facing the opposite direction, rolled backwards, hitting an embankment in the process.

A woman was going downhill and when she made a turn, the passenger door opened and two children riding with her tumbled out of the car.

A third lady was driving down the hill when the gas pedal jammed, stuck to the floor. She felt she had no choice but to veer to the right, off the road and into a gully.

Strange occurrences, indeed, and only God knows what really happened, but in the 1950s and 60s, older people who knew the hill's reputation tried to drive past the rock as quickly as possible.



CRASHED INTO THE ROCK

In 1981, a stolen pickup truck was crashed into the rock, seen on the right.
Courtesy of the taotaomo'na???

KÅNTA : I PUTI'ON KAHULO'

Wednesday, September 22, 2021




This song was recorded more than twenty years ago by the Singing Bus Drivers of the Department of Public Works.






LYRICS


I puti’on kahulo’ åntes de hu maigo’.
(The star rises before I sleep.)

I pilan sumåhe gi uriya. (1)
(The moon nearby wanes.)

Ya bai hu sodda’ i kayon ya hu dalalake. (2)
(I will find the path and I will follow it.)

Osodda’ si nene ni hu guaiya. (3) (4)
(Go to find the baby whom I love.)

Ya i kamå-ña gaige gi fi’on bentåna.
(And her bed lies by the window.)

Na ini’inan i pilan hålom.
(Where the moon shines in.)

Ini’inan i pilan mampos triste.
(The shining of the moon is so sad.)

Ha na’ fåtto piniti-ho.
(It brings my sorrow to me.)

Ya desde ayo na momento nai hu hasso
(And from that moment is when I remembered)

fina’tinås-ña si nene nu guåho. (5)
(what baby did to me.)


LANGUAGE NOTES

(1) Uriya literally means either the edge of something or the immediate vicinity of something . It is borrowed from the Spanish orilla which means the edge or outer limit of something (the edge of a table, the banks of a river, the rim of a cup, the hem of a garment). From there Chamorros broadened the meaning to include the immediate vicinity or surroundings of a thing because the edges of things are in the vicinity of the thing, just not at the center.

(2) Sodda '. Because the recording is from many years ago and probably a copy of many copies, the audio quality is rough at times and the words not entirely clear. So there is a possibility that the singer is saying SOTTA instead of SODDA '. Sotta means "to let go of." In this case, the song says the singer will leave the road (the path of life he is on) and follow the star which will lead him to the one he loves.

(3) Osodda '. I am not 100% positive this is what the singer is saying and he has passed away so I cannot ask him. But I can think of no other word that comes close to what I am hearing him sing and it does make sense, though it is the first time I have heard this word used, if in fact it is the word he is singing. Sodda' many of us know means "to find." When we attach an O or an E in front of a word, it can mean "to be in search of." To OPÅNGLAO is "to go in search of land crab." So OSODDA' would mean "to go in search of finding something."

(4) Nene literally means "baby" but it's also a term of endearment, just as we say in English, "Baby darling."

(5) Fina'tinas literally means "something made" but here it means what someone did, because our actions are what we make happen. The Chamorro term for "Act of Contrition" is Fina'tinas Sinetsot .

TURTLE ISLAND IN CHAMORRO

Wednesday, September 15, 2021


It certainly looks like a turtle, but no one called it that till modern times.

People in the recent past looked at the island and called it Turtle Rock. In Chamorro, that would be Åcho' Haggan, or maybe Isletan Haggan (Turtle Islet). There is only one reference to Turtle Rock in the Pacific Daily News in the 1970s, and none in the 1950s and 60s. We'd have to check the prewar Guam Recorder and other prewar literature to see if there was anything called Turtle Rock, but I'm skeptical. So it seems the name "Turtle Rock" became standard only after the war.

So what did the Chamorros call this island or rock?


NIHI



Two older people, one from Hågat and the other from Sumay, told me that, in Chamorro, the rock is called Nihi.

Perhaps, then, Åcho’ Nihi (Nihi Rock) or Isletan Nihi (Nihi Islet). I have no idea if Nihi is the same as the Chamorro word nihi which means “let’s.” Or, if the name Nihi comes from another source.

But Nihi is what these two elders, both just recently deceased, heard their parents and elders call it before the war. They were Art Toves from Hågat and Marian Babauta from Sumay (Santa Rita). U såga gi minahgong . Thank God I asked them before they passed, because other Hågat and Sumay people, even around their age, couldn’t remember the Chamorro name, but they did.

Both were born before the war; Art in 1928 so he was a teenager when the war broke out, and Marian in 1935, but being from those two villages they saw Turtle Rock every day and their parents, elders and fellow villagers would have mentioned the island in their youth using the local name.


NEYE ISLAND



Just to complicate things, for two hundred years, possibly more, old maps said that Turtle Rock was called NEYE ISLAND.

We have maps above from 1814 by the Frenchman de Freycinet, and two US Navy maps from 1902 and 1913 that all call Turtle Rock Neye Island.

But when I asked Art Toves and Marian Babauta if they had ever heard of a Neye Island, I might as well have been talking Ancient Greek to them. Neye Island was totally unknown to them.

Obviously, then, the name Neye was known only to non-Chamorro map makers who copied older maps. The oldest of the bunch, from 1814, was done by Frenchmen, who spelled Chamorro names the way it sounded to their French ears. You can see that they spelled Sumay Soumaye, and Haputo is spelled Apoutou. The small W-looking letter is an old form of OU, which in French sounds like English OO. Bonjour sounds like BON - ZHOOR.

Could Neye be a French rendering of Nihi? Who knows? And if an older Spanish map called it Nihi, it would have been spelled NIJI, with a J.  The reason for this is because, in Spanish, the H in Nihi would have been silent. When we say "hi" in Spanish we say "Hola!" but it sounds like "Ola!" The H is never voiced. But, in Spanish, a J before a vowel sounds like a voiced H. Think of José and Juan.

I can just imagine someone seeing NIJI and mistakenly writing down NEYE. And on and on the mistake is continued in newer maps, made by people who didn't even live here.

I'd be looking for even older maps to see what they call Turtle Rock.


FUÑA



Funny I should say that because there is an older map, from 1676, that calls a rock or a small island off the coast of either Hågat or the Orote Peninsula FUÑA.

What if Fuña is Nihi (Turtle Rock)?

It's possible, and we shouldn't be surprised if later on people stopped calling it Fuña and called it Nihi instead. The names of places don't always stay the same over the many years. That happens all over the world.

Was Fuña the same islet as Nihi (Turtle Rock)? Like many things in Guam or Marianas history, it's hard to say. It's always good to have hard evidence for the things we say are true, and many times hard evidence has disappeared through the passage of time.


WORLD WAR TWO



During World War II, the Japanese suspected that the Americans might land at Hågat's beaches, as well as at other spots. They used Turtle Rock as a natural blockage of the view of the artillery the Japanese had on the shore behind the Rock. The Americans were irritated that they couldn't see the position of those Japanese guns firing at them, flying above Turtle Rock and landing on the Americans. There were a few Japanese guns on Turtle Rock itself, too.

All along these waters are many remnants of wartime armaments and machinery dumped into the ocean when the war was over.

Today, divers go out to Turtle Rock where they, amusingly, find turtles to play with.

But, if you venture out to Nihi Island, just remember that turtles are not the only critters in the ocean. Just west of Turtle Rock is the Shark Pit.

TÍTANOS

Tuesday, September 7, 2021


Someone asked me the other day how to say BONE MARROW in Chamorro.

The surprising thing is that the person is in her 70s; her first language is Chamorro (her parents didn't speak much English, only Chamorro) and she was born and raised in Saipan back when the Chamorro language dominated the land. English was spoken only in offices and schools.

But how often does the topic of BONE MARROW come up in conversation? Not much. Even though many of us like to suck out the bone marrow in our kåddo (stews).

Surprise, surprise. The Chamorro word for BONE MARROW is the same Chamorro word for BRAIN.

TÍTANOS

How did that happen?


SPANISH TUÉTANO



To understand this, one has to go back to the Spanish word TUÉTANO , because Chamorro TÍTANOS comes from the Spanish word.

In Spanish, the tuétano means the marrow of the bone, or the inner part of a root or plant stem.

So, in the picture above you can see the marrow of bones, called tuétano . But these here below are also tuétano :




So we can note that some things all these tuétano have in common are :

  • they are the interior part of something
  • which are encased (surrounded on all sides)
  • and are fleshy, or pulpy, and can be softer than the exterior which encases them

So a brain has all those characteristics.

A brain is something soft and squishy, inside a skull, which encases the brain.

So perhaps that explains why our ancestors used the same word for brain and bone marrow, borrowing the Spanish word and changing its pronunciation.


TÍTANOS I TE'LANG

In case one wanted to be extra clear that one is speaking about bone marrow and not the brain, one can say títanos i te'lang , or títanos to'lang , which means "marrow of the bone," to be very clear.


FINAL -S

Many times when our ancestors borrowed Spanish words, they only used the plural form, even when it was a single item.

For example, "shoe" in Chamorro is sapåtos , whether it be one shoe or two. But, in Spanish, zapatos means "two or more shoes." One shoe is zapato ; no -S.

It's the same for "onion." In Chamorro, it's seboyas whether it be one or a hundred onions. But, in Spanish, it's cebolla for one onion and cebollas for two or more onions.

And that's why, in Chamorro, it's títanos , with a final -S, even though the brain is one; no one has two brains. The original Spanish is tuétano for one, and tuétanos for two or more.


NO INDIGENOUS WORD?

Our word for both brain and bone marrow is borrowed from Spanish.

Did our ancestors not have a word for them?

We can be pretty sure they knew these two things existed.

Maybe they did have a word for them, or maybe not. We need evidence to be able to answer this.


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


" TÍTANOS "

Alguien me preguntó el otro día cómo se dice MÉDULA ÓSEA en chamorro.

Lo sorprendente es que la persona tiene más de 70 años; su primer idioma es el chamorro (sus padres no hablaban mucho inglés, solo chamorro) y nació y se crió en Saipán cuando el idioma chamorro dominaba la isla. El inglés se hablaba solo en las oficinas y las escuelas.

Pero, ¿con qué frecuencia surge el tema de la MÉDULA ÓSEA en una conversación? Pocas veces. Aunque a muchos de nosotros nos gusta sorber la médula ósea en nuestro kåddo (caldo).

Sorpresa. La palabra chamorra para médula ósea es la misma palabra que para cerebro.

TÍTANOS

¿Cómo ocurrió eso?

Para entender esto hay que ir a la palabra española TUÉTANO, porque la palabra chamorra TÍTANOS proviene del español.

En español, el tuétano significa la médula del hueso, o la parte interna de una raíz o tallo de una planta.

En las imágenes se puede ver la médula ósea, llamada tuétano. Pero también el tuétano de unas plantas:

Entonces podemos notar que estos tuétanos tienen algo en común:

-son la parte interior de al

-que están encerrados (rodeados por todos lados)

-y son carnosos o pulposos, y pueden ser más suaves que el exterior que los envuelve

Entonces, un cerebro tiene todas esas características.

Un cerebro es algo blando, dentro de un cráneo, que encierra el cerebro.

Tal vez eso explique por qué nuestros antepasados usaron la misma palabra para cerebro y médula ósea, tomando prestada la palabra del español y cambiando su pronunciación.

TÍTANOS I TE'LANG

En caso de que uno quisiera aclarar que se está hablando de la médula ósea y no del cerebro, se puede decir títanos i te'lang , o títanos to'lang , que significa específicamente "médula del hueso".

-S FINAL

Muchas veces, cuando nuestros antepasados tomaban prestadas palabras del español, solo usaban la forma plural, incluso cuando era un solo elemento.

Por ejemplo, "zapato" en chamorro es sapåtos , ya sea un zapato o dos. Pero, en español, zapatos significa "dos o más zapatos". Un zapato es zapato; sin -S.

Es lo mismo para "cebolla". En chamorro, son seboyas , ya sean una o cien cebollas. Pero, en español, es cebolla por una cebolla y cebollas por dos o más cebollas.

Y por eso, en chamorro, es títanos , con una -S final, aunque el cerebro sea uno; nadie tiene dos cerebros. El español original es tuétano para uno y tuétanos para dos o más.

¿NO EXISTE UNA PALABRA INDÍGENA?

Nuestra palabra para cerebro y médula ósea está tomada del español.

¿Nuestros antepasados no tenían una palabra para ellos?

Podemos estar bastante seguros de que sabían que existían estas dos cosas.

Quizás tenían una palabra para ellas, o quizás no. Pero necesitamos pruebas para poder responder a esto,


ONLY CHAMORRO TO THE CHAMORRO

Tuesday, August 31, 2021


Tan Båcha' ( u såga gi minahgong ), pictured above, was a good friend of my nånan biha (grandma) and my grandma's sisters, the aunties who raised me.

She was born in 1909 so she grew up at a time when the Chamorro language dominated the island. English could be heard in far fewer places on Guam in the 1910s and 20s than in the 1950s. Tan Båcha' could speak basic English, but she was one of those older Chamorro people who would stick to Chamorro if she knew you were Chamorro, no matter how poor your Chamorro was.

That's my point in this blog post.

There was a kind of Chamorro in the past, and some probably remain to this day, who will speak only Chamorro to you, another Chamorro, even though your grasp of Chamorro isn't strong.

That's your problem, so to speak! LOL

Her sister, Auntie Kita (María Salas) was two years older than Auntie Båcha', and was the same way. Even though my Chamorro was at best the knowledge of 50 words, which I could hardly string into a sentence, in my teens and 20s, Auntie Båcha' and Auntie Kita would only speak Chamorro to me. It was my problem to figure it out, remember how they spoke, remember words I didn't know and go find out what they meant.

These two sisters weren't the only man biha (older ladies) to do that to me. Tan Ebe' (Nieves San Nicolás) from Sinajaña would look at me, a white-faced tanores (altar boy) in church and tell me to go do something (turn on a light, open a door) and only in Chamorro. Na' fañila' i kandet. Baba i petta . It was my problem to figure it out, and in so doing learn how to say those things in what was supposed to be my language. Auntie Ebe' could have said those same things to me in English, but she chose not to.



"AUNTIE EBE'"
My face was white, but she only spoke Chamorro to me


Even though I had a white face, Auntie Ebe' knew who I was and more importantly who my family was. She considered me Chamorro, because my mother and grandmother and all my maternal side were Chamorro. Therefore, she would only speak Chamorro to me even though I could hardly reply to her in Chamorro.

There was another white face in church, our pastor from New York, but she treated the two white faces, his and mine, differently. When she had to say something to him, she would say it haltingly in what little English she knew. Both the New York priest and this young kid from Sinajaña (me) had about as much Chamorro language between them, but she laid her Chamorro on me, and not on him.

This rose to a whole new level when I went to Saipan in the 1990s, and would stay for short periods in Luta and Tinian. There. a whole segment of the older population had almost no grasp of English, except for some words, and could only speak to you in Chamorro. If a non-Chamorro speaker came to the door, a child or grandchild would have to come along and act as interpreter. To a lesser extent, this also happened in Malesso' and Humåtak on Guam, where I was also stationed for a time in the 1990s.

But in Saipan I met more than a few middle-aged Chamorros who spoke English but who, when they found out I was Chamorro, immediately switched to Chamorro, even if I was only beginning to improve my Chamorro. These people could have continued speaking English to me, but they switched to Chamorro when they asked me, " Kao Chamorro hao ?" and I responded " Hunggan ." They didn't ask me next how good were my Chamorro speaking skills. They just switched to Chamorro and it was my problem if I couldn't catch every word.

Not only was this a way to learn Chamorro, it was a better way for them to communicate with me. They were much more open, more telling, more expressive when speaking their mother tongue.

If there had been more Auntie Båcha's and Auntie Ebe's, we might have more Chamorros speaking Chamorro today. My own nånan biha spoke mainly English to me. She was a teacher and school principal under the US Naval Government most of her early life before the war, so that could have been a factor.

People can say, "But we should do this now! Speak only Chamorro to other Chamorros!"

I'm all for it, with two caveats or cautions.

First, I would hope that it would be people who DO speak Chamorro speaking Chamorro to other Chamorros. It's sad but true that today, on Guam, there are many who at times speak incorrect Chamorro but think they're just fine. Sadly they can pass on their errors to those who know even less and won't know they're learning erroneous Chamorro. And as this effect ripples over time, we will find ourselves in a deeper hole I'm afraid.

My advice to those who have some grasp of Chamorro is to, first of all, not be over-confident and to triple check what they have to say in Chamorro with a first-language speaker, meaning someone who learned Chamorro in childhood in their family environment (while we still have them!). Someone truly fluent, and not someone who guesses and "thinks" they're right. A language is passed down from the community that speaks it; books encapsulate only a part of the language. Books and videos cannot stop you and say, "Sorry, that was a mistake," or, "That's not how it's said."

Second, promoting the Chamorro language by speaking only Chamorro to other Chamorros will work only if it's done long enough and with people who want to learn. If a non-Chamorro speaker is "forced" to hear Chamorro once or twice a month, little will be gained. If a non-Chamorro speaker could care less, or think it's just too hard to learn, and the Chamorro goes in one ear and out the other, little again will be gained. Sure, a non-Chamorro speaker will have to learn a Chamorro word now and then if they hear it often enough, but they'll probably never learn to speak the language if they could care less or think it's just too hard for them to even try.

But, it could be, and probably there will be, cases where someone begins to learn to speak their language because people like Tan Båcha' came along and refused to speak English to someone they identified as Chamorro. Ta li'e' .






I CHALÅN-TA : GUAM'S FIRST HIGHWAY

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Courtesy of Mayor Hofmann

SENATOR GIBSON DRIVE


Growing up in Sinajaña, I've always heard of Senator Gibson Drive.

It's one of the village's main streets, taking you down to Hagåtña or out to Route 4 to Ordot and beyond. When Route 4 to Hagåtña is blocked or slow for some reason, Senator Gibson Drive is an alternative route.

But who was Senator Gibson? I always paid attention to elections since the 1970s, and never heard of anyone named Gibson running for the Legislature.

Since the street was in Sinajaña, I thought there was a Senator named Gibson who was from Sinajaña, but I never heard of any Gibson family in Sinajaña.

Well, here's the story.


SENATOR ERNEST W. GIBSON, SR



Ernest Willard Gibson, Sr was a US Senator from Vermont. He represented that state in the US Senate from 1933 till his death in 1940.

He was Republican, but a progressive one and backed many efforts to fund Guam projects and extend civil rights on the island, such as representative, civilian government and US citizenship for Guam's people.




So it was at Gibson's doors that BJ Bordallo and Francisco B. León Guerrero knocked when the two Guam spokesmen went to Washington, DC in 1937 lobbying for US citizenship. Gibson introduced a bill but it died in the face of Navy opposition.

Still, the Guam politicians considered Gibson a friend of Guam and showed their appreciation in the usual Chamorro ways; sending him an ifit wood cane with the Guam seal on the handle; a lamp with a shade made from transparent sea shell fetched at a depth of 1500 feet; a machete with accompanying sheath.

But the highest gift bestowed on Gibson by Guam's politicians in the Guam Congress was to have the island's only highway named in his honor in 1938.




That highway was perhaps Guam's longest stretch of road, starting in the capital city of Hagåtña, passing through Sinajaña, Ordot, Chalan Pago, Yoña, Talofofo, Inalåhan, Malesso' and ending in Humåtak. That is one long road, now called Route 4. No wonder they called it a highway, although it was just a two-lane road.

It was the first time a Guam road was called a highway.

We moderns think of wide, paved roads with four or more lanes and higher speed limits when we hear the word "highway." But the older meaning of highway was the main road from one town to another. Guam in 1938 didn't have modern highways. The older meaning was meant in "Senator Gibson Highway."

If you look at the pre-war map, you can see how the highway leaves Hagåtña and goes through Sinajaña, just a small, one-street village at the time.




PRE-WAR SINAJAÑA


AFTER THE WAR



After the war, what was known before as Senator Gibson Highway became Route 4. Only the Sinajaña portion of the highway was still called Senator Gibson, but often times Road or Drive. This remnant of the prewar highway was residential and could not be a modern highway, with high speed limits.

In 1978, Senator Antonio M. Palomo introduced a bill, later passed into law, renaming Senator Gibson Drive Pale' Kieran Hickey Drive in honor of the Sinajaña pastor who built Saint Jude Church.




And yet, though many people do call it Pale' Kieran Drive, other people to this day still call the street Senator Gibson Drive. Old habits die hard.




FROM 2001

Twenty-three years AFTER the name of the street was changed, some people were still calling it Senator Gibson Drive.

Only the tail end of old Senator Gibson Drive, which ends in a cul-de-sac, retains the Vermont Senators' name, called Senator Gibson Court up to this day. At least the half-dozen families who live on Senator Gibson Court will know why their street is so-named, if they read this blog.





LEE MARVIN, SAIPAN VET

Wednesday, August 18, 2021


Tough guy Hollywood actor Lee Marvin performed in over 50 movies from the 1950s till the 1980s, often playing villains, criminals and Western gunmen. Besides many other awards, he won an Oscar for the 1965 Western comedy film, Cat Ballou . He also had a career in television.

But he also played soldier, even disguised as a German one in The Dirty Dozen , and for war movies Marvin could draw on real life military experience. Marvin served as a US Marine in World War II, actually fighting in the Battle of Saipan and getting wounded in it.

In 1942, Lee Marvin enlisted in the Marines and was placed in the 4th Marine Division. By early 1944, Marvin had already seen combat in the Marshall Islands. But he had a funny feeling about his next battle, that over Saipan which was set to begin in June. He sensed he would be carried out of battle lying on a stretcher.



MT TAPOCHAO, HIGHEST POINT ON SAIPAN
And Lee Marvin's Objective


Mount Tapochao, 1500 feet high and even taller than Guam's Mount Lamlam, was Saipan's highest point and militarily valuable. The Americans had to capture it, and Marvin was his company's point man, whose job it is to be the first out front and scout the area.

Sure enough, as Marvin walked forward, Japanese bullets tore apart his sciatic nerve, which runs from the hip down to the leg. Then Marvin's foot was shot by a sniper. Marvin lay on Saipan's ground, an easy target, except that, according to him, another American soldier coming up the high ground was also hit and fell on top of Marvin, as dead as can be. This fallen soldier's body shielded Marvin from further wounds. Marvin screamed till he nearly lost his voice for someone to take him to safety.

In another account, Marvin says he somehow dragged himself to the beach, where he was rescued.



MARINES ON MOUNT TAPOCHAO


What is remarkable is that only six Marines in his company of 247 men were not killed or wounded. Marvin had cheated death, but he was seriously wounded, and was awarded a Purple Heart for his wounds on Saipan.

It took 13 months for Marvin to recover from his wounds, and the war was only a few more months away from ending. He was given a medical discharge and received disability payments.

That night after being rescued from the battle, Marvin lay on a hospital bed on a ship outside Saipan. "I felt ashamed," Marvin said, because there he was safe and comfortable while "all the guys were still fighting it out." He said he felt like "a coward and a heel."


A CURE FOR NIGHTMARES - RETURN TO SAIPAN



MARVIN RETURNS TO SAIPAN IN 1967


In 1967, Marvin was asked to star in a World War II movie called Hell in the Pacific . The movie's production team decided to film it on Palau, then a part of the Trust Territory headquartered in Saipan. Needing the permission of the Trust Territory government to film on Palau, Marvin and some of the movie's production team flew to Saipan.

Marvin and the movie's director went around Saipan seeing if they could find a filming location there as well. Tony Benavente and Manuel "Kiyu" Villagómez were some of the local residents who accompanied them throughout their time on Saipan.

Marvin was very nervous about going back to the place where he was wounded and could have lost his life. After the war, he said he would get vivid nightmares now and then about his battle experience on Saipan. Now he was going to the very source of the nightmares. After the meeting with the government officials, when Marvin and the others went around the island, Marvin said he came upon the actual site where he was shot, and claimed the tree he hid under was still there!

He was uneasy about sleeping that night, but he actually slept peacefully. When he awoke, he felt that he had healed his psychological scars from the war. "That was one of the greatest personal triumphs of my life," he said.




LEE MARVIN'S CASUALTY RECORD

DUKE NAVARRO

Tuesday, August 10, 2021


"DUKE NAVARRO"
JESÚS BLAS MANIBUSAN


Perhaps he was the first Chamorro showman.

By that I mean more than a singer, musician or dancer. I mean someone who puts on an entire production. To the extent of creating a full showman's persona, complete with a stage name. Duke Navarro .

In the US, he was a member of the Actors Guild, TV and Radio Guild, Showman and Show Folks of America and Dancing Masters of America. He said he appeared in ten movies, but I can't find a record of which ones, so maybe he was an uncredited extra. But the record does show he was very active chairing stage shows and the entertainment portion of various California social events.

He was born Jesús Pascual Blas Manibusan in Hagåtña in 1917, the son of Benigno Camacho Manibusan and Joaquina Cruz Blas.

Manibusan was showing his flair for entertaining as early as 1937 when he was working for the Pan Am hotel on Midway Island. He wrote a poem playfully praising the Pan Am boss on Midway.

By 1940, Manibusan was back on Guam, living with the priest of Sumay, along with the priest's house boy and cook, styling himself an "artist" as his occupation.

When the Americans came back to Guam in 1944 to take the island back from the Japanese, Manibusan was hiding at Monsignor Calvo's family's property at Chochogo in Toto when he met a company of US Marines. He was impressed when the Americans didn't ask where the Japanese were but where the Chamorros were (to take them out of harm's way).

After the American return, Manibusan was on the stage, performing with other Chamorro entertainers for the American troops. Some of those he performed with were Joaquín Arriola, later an attorney, and the Ploke sisters.

By 1954, Manibusan had adopted his stage name, Duke Navarro, and was organizing stage shows in the San Francisco Bay Area where he now lived.

After many years in the US, where he was regularly performing as well as staging shows, he returned to Guam in 1965. He continued his entertainment activities, performing here and there, as well as trying to beef up local talent, such as for the Allen Sekt TV show. He died in 1970. U såga gi minahgong . Rest in peace.




HÅFA AGAFA GUMAS?

Wednesday, August 4, 2021



Most people don't even think twice about the name AGAFA GUMAS . It's just a name, and of a place that is somewhat out of the way for most people. It's way up north. So north it's even past Yigo Church.

Some people think the name sounds funny. As if trying to be Chamorro but not quite getting there.

The fact is, AGAFA GUMAS is not a Chamorro name, and it's not the local name for that location. There was no name Agafa Gumas until 1946, and in fact it was Agafo, not Agafa at first.

According to a military wife living in Agafo Gumas in 1946, Colonel Douglas Pamplin, who lived two houses down from her in Agafo Gumas, was the one who came up with the name. Agafo stands for Army Garrison Force and Gumas is an American corruption of the Chamorro word guma ' which means house or houses. We do not add an S to Chamorro words to make them plural.

Some people say that GUMAS also stands for something, and is not "houses," but the military wife living at Agafo Gumas in 1946 and who knew Colonel Pamplin specifically states in her new article that the Gumas added to Agafo came from the Chamorro word for "houses." If some official documentation from the early years shows up stating that Gumas stands for something, I will add that information to this blog.


A rmy GA rrison FO rce


So, if the military wife's story is accurate, Agafo Gumas was Pamplin's attempt to say, in Chamorro, AGAFO HOUSES, or maybe HOUSING.

The problem is, from a Chamorro standpoint, gumas is not a Chamorro word. A house or two or a thousand houses, in Chamorro, are still just guma '. No S.

But, lest we be too hard on Pamplin, look at all the younger generations of Chamorros on Guam who say things like

MAN ÅMKOS, when it should be MAN ÅMKO'

CHE'LUS, when it should be MAÑE'LU

SAINAS, when it should be MAÑAINA


Americanization has made its mark!

So the area was Army housing in the military heyday at the end of World War II and right after it. The military wife talks about jeeps and jeeps and more jeeps. The area was surrounded by roads leading to military bases, and military traffic was endless on those roads. Trucks and bulldozers made noise all day, as well as other machinery used in construction. Guam was being built into a fortress.

There was a mess hall and an Officers Club.


FROM AGAFO TO AGAFA


As early as 1949, it was being called Agafa Gumas instead of Agafo Gumas. A newspaper article about the wedding of a military couple whose reception was at the Officers Club there called it Agafa, not Agafo, Gumas.

It was just easier to say, I imagine. Keep it all the same vowel.

Language is in the mouths of the speaker, and not all mouths were created equal.

There are even those who call it AGAFU Gumas, with a U.





TURNED OVER TO GOV GUAM


1966

At some point, the Army didn't need housing in Guam anymore and the land in Agafa Gumas was turned over to the Department of the Interior.

They, in turn, handed it over to the Government of Guam. In 1966, the Department of Land Management made the former military lots at Agafa Gumas available for lease or purchase, and local residents began moving into the area. In time a Catholic chapel (Santa Bernadita) was built by the people and recently a new concrete church there has become a parish church.


SEEKING A LOCAL IDENTITY

As the Agafa Gumas community kept expanding, and as people wondered more and more about the name, people began to think about dropping the name Agafa Gumas. A growing community was looking for an identity, and name, they could be more comfortable with.

First of all, the Army Garrison Force is there no more and hasn't been for a long time. Second, it's not the actual, Chamorro name for the area. Third, it's not a Chamorro name for anything. Fourth, the name actually uses a Chamorro word badly ( gumas ).

So some people say the Chamorro name for Agafa Gumas is Machananao. In fact, they named the public school right next to the Santa Bernadita Church Machananao Elementary School, and underneath the school name the location - Machananao.

But other people wonder, "Is it Machananao? Or Machanao?" And other people wonder, "Isn't Machanao/Machananao in another place?" Pre-war maps of Guam seem to indicate that Machanao/Machananao was further north of Agafa Gumas.

So, we'll have to investigate more and write another blog post just on Machananao/Machanao.




CHAMORRO DENTIST

Tuesday, July 27, 2021


Francisco Martínez Santos, the son of Juan Borja Santos and Josefa Concepción Martínez was born in 1900.

Sometime during World War I (1917-1918 for the US), Santos started working for an American Navy dentist, Dr William S Thompson. In the 1920 Guam Census, Santos is described as being a dentist. In the record, the first entry states "App Dentist," the "App" probably meaning "apprentice." But then someone crossed out the "App," leaving "Dentist" by itself.

So impressed was Dr Thompson with Santos that when Thompson returned to the US in 1920, he brought Santos over in 1924 to continue learning dentistry under his tutelage at his dental clinic in Newman, California, not far from Modesto.




Santos returned to Guam and continued working as a dentist out of his home in Aniguak. After the war, when Hagåtña was destroyed and people moved elsewhere, Santos lived in Sinajaña, and practiced out of his home, where the photo at the top was taken

Long before the war he married the former Josephine Untalan Day and had one daughter, Juanita, who married David Ulloa. The little girl in the photo at the top has to be Juanita, as she was their only child and was born in 1938, making her around 7 years old in 1945 after the war, as the girl in the picture seems to be.

For weeks the Americans bombed and strafed Guam before they landed ashore. Many Chamorros were injured, and some died, as a result. Josephine's mother Juana was one of them, getting hit in the legs from American bullets. Santos used his dental tools to take out the bullets from her injured leg.



WILLIAM S. THOMPSON
who trained Santos in dentistry


Like many Chamorro professionals and businessmen, Santos never refused to help a person in need of his services, even if they couldn't pay immediately.

According to the family, he was a jovial man who loved to play solitaire. When Juanita was being courted by her future husband David, the two would sit in the house chatting on the couch while Santos sat off to the side at a table by himself playing solitaire. That was "dating" in the strict days of the past.

When Urban Renewal got going in Sinajaña and new streets were laid out, many lots were lost to residents, to be given new lots in exchange. Even though Santos was given another lot in Sinajaña when his original one, where his house stood, was to be taken over by Urban Renewal, Santos moved his residence and dental practice to Tamuning. He passed away in 1970. U såga gi minahgong . Rest in peace.



FRANCISCO AND WIFE JOSEPHINE
Courtesy of Ed Ulloa


BAYINERO : ANTONIO MENDIOLA

Tuesday, July 20, 2021


ANTONIO MENDIOLA
in 1918


Chamorros have been moving to California for a long, long time. Since Spanish times in the 1800s.

Although Antonio Mendiola may not have actually been a whaler, because whaling had died down very much by the time Antonio came along, I use the term BAYINERO (whaler) to describe all those young Chamorro men, some still teenagers, who began to leave Guam by the dozens in the 1800s because of the whaling ships.

The whaling ships were most numerous in the early 1800s, and by the 1870s they dropped in number. Still, young Chamorro men kept joining merchant and commercial ships that happened to stop on Guam. Antonio Mendiola was one of them.

Antonio ended up in California, where we have some documents telling us a little about who he was.

Although his grave stone says he was born in 1886, a seaman's document from 1918 states that he was born in 1875. He began life as a cook on commercial ships in 1894. He sometimes went by the name Anton.

He settled in San Francisco, living most of the rest of his life on Mason Street, just on the outer limits of Chinatown. By 1915 he was married to a Mexican lady, Esther Figueroa. This was very common. Many Chamorro men who ended up in California married Mexican or Latina women and we shouldn't be surprised. Those Chamorro men moving to the US in the 1800s and early 1900s saw themselves as being connected to Spain. They often put as their native country "Spain" and their native language "Spanish."

Even if the Chamorro man spoke very rough or incorrect Spanish, he felt an affinity toward Spanish-speaking people. With Mexicans, he would have found some of the food familiar, since Chamorros inherited many corn-based foods from the Mexican soldiers who lived, married and died on Guam ( titiyas, tamales, atule ). And, of course, there was the Catholic religion that bound them both.

With Esther, who had two sons from prior relationships, Antonio had two daughters but only one of them lived to adulthood.

Antonio never lost his connection to the sea. He worked as a cook on commercial vessels and was absent in the 1930 and 1940 US Census on account of, I believe, his serving on ships out at sea. He left the US in 1943 for Australia, for example, as a worker on a commercial ship, and didn't return to San Francisco till 1944.

Antonio went by the middle name Guerrero. But was it really Guerrero? Or was it Leon Guerrero, since some people shortened Leon Guerrero that way back then? He also states in a document that he has a brother named Ben Mendiola on Guam. Was that Vicente Mendiola? Vicente Guerrero (or Leon Guerrero) Mendiola?  Or was Ben really Benjamin? These clues are a start, but may not be strong enough to tell us what Mendiola family Antonio came from.

When Antonio died in 1952, he was buried in the Italian Cemetery for San Francisco located in the little town of Colma. Although established for Italians, people from all races were buried there. U såga gi minahgong. Rest in peace.






VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

" BAYINERO ": ANTONIO MENDIOLA

Los chamorros se han estado mudando a California desde hace mucho tiempo, desde la época española, en el siglo XIX. Aunque Antonio Mendiola puede que en realidad no fuera ballenero, porque la caza de ballenas había disminuido mucho cuando Antonio nació, uso el término BAYINERO (ballenero) para describir a todos aquellos jóvenes chamorros, algunos todavía adolescentes, que comenzaron a salir de Guam por docenas en el siglo XIX en los barcos balleneros.

Los barcos balleneros eran más numerosos a principios del siglo XIX, y en la década de 1870 disminuyeron en número. Aun así, los jóvenes chamorros siguieron uniéndose a los barcos mercantes y comerciales que se detuvieron en Guam. Antonio Mendiola fue uno de ellos.Antonio terminó en California, donde tenemos documentos que nos cuentan quién era él.

Aunque su lápida dice que nació en 1886, un documento de marinero de 1918 dice que nació en 1875. Comenzó su vida como cocinero en barcos comerciales en 1894. A veces se llamaba Anton.

Se instaló en San Francisco, viviendo la mayor parte del resto de su vida en Mason Street, justo en los límites exteriores de Chinatown. En 1915 estaba casado con una mujer mexicana, Esther Figueroa. Esto era muy común. Muchos hombres chamorros que terminaron en California se casaron con mujeres mexicanas o hispanas y no debería sorprendernos. Aquellos hombres chamorros que se mudaron a los Estados Unidos en el siglo XIX y principios del XX se veían a sí mismos conectados con España. A menudo ponen como su país natal "España" y su lengua materna "español".

Incluso si el hombre chamorro hablaba un español muy rudo o incorrecto, sentía afinidad por las personas de habla hispana. Con los mexicanos, habría encontrado algo de la comida familiar, ya que los chamorros heredaron muchos alimentos a base de maíz de los soldados novohispanos que vivieron, se casaron y murieron en Guam (titiyas, tamales, atule). Y, por supuesto, estaba la religión católica que los unía aambos.

Con Esther, que había tenido dos hijos de relaciones anteriores, Antonio tuvo dos hijas, pero solo una de ellas vivió hasta la edad adulta.

Antonio nunca perdió su conexión con el mar. Trabajó como cocinero en embarcaciones comerciales y estuvo ausente en el censo estadounidense de 1930 y 1940 debido, creo, a su servicio en barcos en alta mar. Dejó los EE. UU. en 1943 rumbo a Australia, tal vez, como trabajador en un barco comercial, y no regresó a San Francisco hasta 1944.

Antonio tenía el segundo apellido de Guerrero. ¿Pero era realmente Guerrero? ¿O era León-Guerrero, ya que algunas personas acortaron el León-Guerrero? También declara en un documento que tiene un hermano llamado Ben Mendiola en Guam. ¿Era Vicente Mendiola? ¿Vicente Guerrero (o León-Guerrero) Mendiola? ¿O era Ben realmente Benjamín? Estas pistas son un comienzo, pero pueden no ser lo suficientemente contundentes como para decirnos de cuál familia Mendiola procedía Antonio.

Cuando Antonio falleció en 1952, fue enterrado en el Cementerio Italiano de San Francisco ubicado en el pequeño pueblo de Colma. Aunque establecido para los italianos, personas de todas las nacionalidades fueron enterradas allí. U såga gi minahgong. Descanse en paz.


PITI NAVY YARD

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

PITI NAVY YARD IN 1944
Just before US bombardment


For most of us, Piti is a small village we mainly pass by on our way north or south on Guam's western side.

If you have friends or relatives there, you stop by, not pass by.

You may work at Cabras and pass through Piti on a daily basis, or when business requires you.

Fish Eye, Veterans Cemetery and the annual fiesta are some of the other reasons why most of us spend time in Piti now and then.

But at one time, before the war, Piti was a lot more active in Guam's island life, and the action was right in the village and not out on Cabras as much of it is today. Back when ocean travel was the only way to get to Guam, Piti was a key link in that chain of travel.


PITI LANDING



Even in the 1800s during Spanish times, Piti was an important site on Guam as the main landing point for arriving passengers from the sea.

Ships would anchor in Apra Harbor, but passengers would then get in little boats and land at a pier at Punta Piti (Piti Point). Landing at Piti rather than Sumay saved people a couple of hours' journey to Hagåtña. Even from Piti, it took over an hour for people to get to Hagåtña by horse-driven carriage on a gravel road. It took longer if by bull or karabao cart.

When the Spaniards surrendered to the Americans in 1898, the surrender took place at Punta Piti. That way the Spanish officers and soldiers could get on transport boats right away and go to the waiting ships to take them as prisoners of war to Manila.

The port's pilot, responsible for guiding vessels into Apra, lived in Piti and met arriving ships on his little boat. Enterprising men rented out boats and carriages at Piti for sea and land transport.

When the Americans took over Guam in 1898, they continued to use the pier at Piti for landings.


NAVY YARD





But greater things were in store for Piti. The Americans would build up Guam militarily more than the Spaniards had done in a long time. The Americans also had the benefit of  huge improvements in technology by the time they came along.

The landing facilities at Piti were to be expanded. There had already been a pier and boat houses, and maybe even a customs house, under Spain but under the US an actual Navy Yard was to be built and developed over time. The Navy Yard was able to handle small activities such as transporting passengers and cargo from ship to land. In time, to this was added minor and emergency ship repair facilities.

Right up to the war, two patrol boats were docked at the Piti Navy Yard.

All of this came with all the newest tools and supplies needed in modern transportation. Workshops and warehouses were built. In 1941, eight American Navy men staffed the Yard, separate from the patrol boats' crews, and 31 Chamorro Insular Guardsmen. The US could have done more, and some in Washington wanted to build up Guam more. But the 1922 Washington Treaty between the US and Japan limited any militarization that could provoke the other party.

Every time a ship pulled into Apra Harbor, many people from Hagåtña would go down to Piti to see who was coming on island. Some people described it as almost a holiday on Guam when a ship paid the island a visit.

The strong typhoon of November 1940 (typhoons weren't named back then) severely damaged the Piti Navy Yard. But the Navy rebuilt the Navy Yard just in time for the Japanese to take it over.



PITI NAVY YARD AFTER 1940 TYPHOON


WORLD WAR II


UNDER JAPANESE COMMAND


The Japanese knew of the importance of the Piti Navy Yard so they made it one of their targets when they attacked Guam on December 8, 1941.

But Japanese bombing of the Yard did little damage. The Japanese were able to make use of the Yard without needing to repair much.

Prior to the Japanese taking over the Yard, the Americans scuttled the two patrol boats.

When the Japanese gathered all the American Prisoners of War on Guam, they were brought down to the Piti Navy Yard to be taken out to the Argentina Maru and shipped off to the prison camp in Japan.

The Japanese did almost nothing to build on or improve the Yard in the short time they had it. They had too much fighting going on in the rest of the Pacific to devote any attention or resources to developing Guam.

The irony is that is was the Americans themselves who destroyed their own Navy Yard when the US returned to take back Guam in 1944. The US bombed everything on Guam they felt the Japanese were located or could use to their advantage. Sadly, a lot of historic and non-military assets on Guam were forever destroyed by those American bombs.

The US flag flown at yard was secretly hid for the entire Japanese Occupation in a pillow by Gaily Roberto Kamminga, one-time Commissioner of Piti.



PITI NAVY YARD DESTROYED IN WAR
Bomb craters dot the Piti landscape on right


After the war, the US military decided not to rebuild the Piti Navy Yard. Instead, Sumay and the whole Orote Peninsula would be turned into a modern naval base, many more times the size of a simple Navy Yard.

Today, the area where the Piti Navy Yard used to be, and the area where the Piti pier used to be, and the spot where the Spaniards surrendered to the US in 1898, and where the Americans in turn were sent away by the Japanese, is a fuel storage area by the power plants and where Atlantis docks its boats.




WHERE THE YARD WOULD BE TODAY

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO....?

Wednesday, July 7, 2021



FAUSTINO CHARGUALAF???


Bernard Punzalan over at chamorroroots.com shared some photos of busts molded of Chamorro men in 1839.

A French scientific expedition visited Guam that year and one of the academic team made these molds, and these photos were later taken of them and are now at the National Museum of Natural History in France. These busts, in my opinion, have an effect unlike photographs. It's almost as if the man is really there, just asleep with eyes closed.

Since the busts come with names, I thought it would be interesting to see if the men came up in old records and if we could see what eventually happened to them.

The man above is identified as FAUSTINO CHARGUALAF from Humåtak.

Chargualaf is not a surname that makes us think of Humåtak as quickly as the surnames Quinata or Topasña, but records show there were quite a bit of Chargualafs in Humåtak in the 1800s, though in time their number decreased and Chargualaf remained more prominent in Inalåhan and Malesso'.

For example, in 1897 there were NINE people in Humåtak named Chargualaf. By 1920, there was only ONE. But in the early and mid 1800s, there were many more Chargualafs in Humåtak and Faustino was one of them.

According to the Humåtak church records, Faustino married Salomé Quinata.

From this marriage of Faustino and Salomé at least one son, Ignacio, died in 1837 and probably died in childhood or youth, which was much more common in the old days than now.

But there could have been more children, as many burials do not give the parents' names. If all the children died young, that explains why we don't see anyone identified as descendants of Faustino and Salomé later on, and the Chargualaf surname slowly disappeared in Humåtak up to World War II.

Maybe there are some Chargualafs in Humåtak today, but they probably came from another branch of Chargualafs from another village and moved to Humåtak only recently.

NORTHERN MARIANAS STATISTICS 1900-1902

Tuesday, June 29, 2021

A LETTER FROM SAIPAN DURING GERMAN TIMES
But the Spanish government seal was still being used (upper left corner)



First, let's look at the numbers and then I'll share a few historical lessons we can learn from them. These numbers come from the German administrator of the Northern Marianas in the early 1900s, Georg Fritz.

1902

CHAMORRO

CAROLINIAN

FOREIGN

TOTAL

SAIPAN

Garapan

891

524

42

1457

Tanapag

76

97

1

174

TINIAN

36

59

0

95

ROTA

440

49

1

490

SARIGUAN

7

1

0

8

ALAMAGAN

6

2

0

8

PAGAN

35

102

0

137

AGRIGAN

14

18

0

32

TOTAL

1505

852

44

2401



The population of Guam at this time was 9676, around four times the population of all the other Mariana islands combined.

Saipan had only two villages, and there was a huge difference in population between them. Garapan was divided into separate Chamorro and Carolinian sections. Tanapag was more mixed.

The foreigners in Garapan were Germans, Japanese, Spaniards (the priests) and other Pacific islanders. The two single foreigners, one in Tanapag and the other in Luta, were Spanish priests.

The gap in numbers between Chamorros and Carolinians was widening. Just twenty years before this, there were more Carolinians on Saipan than Chamorros. But Chamorros from Guam (and a small number from Luta) kept moving north to Saipan in a steady stream from the 1880s onwards. Carolinians also moved to Saipan from Guam, Luta (Rota) and the Caroline Islands but in smaller numbers than the Chamorros. The gap would get even wider as time went on with the Chamorros being around 2/3 of the population by 1900. Chamorros from Guam kept moving to Saipan till the end of German times in 1914.

Take a look at the growth of the Chamorro population just in three years.


CHAMORRO

CAROLINIAN

FOREIGNER

TOTAL

1900

1302

700

36

1938

1901

1330

772

30

2132

1902

1505

852

44

2401



Between 1901 and 1902, the Chamorro population increased by 175 people while the Carolinian numbers increased by 80. Chamorros from Guam were enticed to move to Saipan were land was plentiful and the government eager to have settlers farm that land.

But, if you notice in 1901, the Carolinian population jumped by 72, whereas the Chamorro population increased by just 28. The high numbers of additional Carolinians in 1901 can be explained by the relocation of Guam's Carolinians to Saipan on orders of the American Governor, which delighted the Germans. The Germans always wanted to increase the population of the Northern Marianas.

Tinian did not have a stable, permanent Chamorro community till after World War II. In German times, Chamorros and Carolinians from Saipan worked the farms and cattle ranches on Tinian, but they didn't put down permanent roots there. Some workers were single. Some were married but came to Tinian by themselves and went back to Saipan (close by) for periodic visits. Some brought their wives and children but the mothers took their newborns back to Saipan for baptism. Tinian at the time was a place to work, not to settle permanently. Men outnumbered the women on Tinian because of this; work was the motive for being on Tinian, not lifetime settlement.

Luta's small and dwindling Carolinian population were later encouraged by the Germans to move to Saipan and join their fellow Carolinians there, who were more numerous. Not long after this census, Luta had no more Carolinian residents.

Pagan was where the action was in the northern islands, with Agrigan a distant second. Pagan was considered the ideal northern island by the government and investors hoping to make money from copra. The inhabitants of the northern islands, Chamorro and Carolinian, were all from Saipan, Guam and a few from Luta.


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

POBLACIÓN DE LAS ISLAS MARIANAS A PRINCIPIOS DEL SIGLO XX.

La población de Guam a principios del siglo XX era de 9676 personas, es decir casi cuatro veces la población de todas las demás Islas Marianas, que rondaba los 2401 habitantes.

SAIPÁN, con 1631 residentes, tenía solo dos aldeas y había una gran diferencia de población entre ellas. Garapan (1457) se dividía en secciones separadas de nativos chamorros e indígenas carolinos. Tanapag (174) estaba más entremezclada.

Los extranjeros en Garapan eran alemanes, japoneses, los sacerdotes españoles y otros isleños del Pacífico.

La brecha numérica entre chamorros y carolinos se estaba ampliando. Solo veinte años antes de esto, había más habitantes carolinos en Saipán que chamorros. Pero los chamorros de Guam (y un pequeño número de Rota) siguieron mudándose hacia el norte hacia Saipán en un flujo constante desde la década de 1880. Los carolinos también continuaron trasladándose a Saipán desde Guam, Rota y las Islas Carolinas, pero en menor número que los chamorros. La brecha se haría aún más amplia a medida que pasara el tiempo, ya que los chamorros llegarían a ser alrededor de 2/3 de la población en 1900. Los chamorros de Guam siguieron mudándose a Saipán hasta el final de la época alemana en 1914.

En 1902, la población de chamorros aumentó en 175 personas mientras que el número de carolinos aumentó en 80. Los chamorros de Guam fueron atraídos a mudarse a Saipán donde la tierra era abundante y el gobierno alemán estaba ansioso por que los colonos cultivaran aquellos terrenos.

Sin embargo, en 1901, la población de carolinos había aumentado en 72, mientras que la población de chamorros lo había hecho en solo 28. La gran cantidad de habitantes de Carolinas adicionales en 1901 puede explicarse por la reubicación de los habitantes carolinos de Guam en Saipán por orden del gobernador estadounidense que deleitó a los alemanes. Los alemanes siempre habían querido aumentar la población de las Marianas del Norte.

TINIAN, 95 habitantes, no tuvo una comunidad de chamorros estable y permanente hasta después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. En la época alemana, los chamorros y carolinos de Saipán trabajaban en las granjas y ranchos ganaderos de Tinian, pero no echaron raíces permanentes allí. Algunos trabajadores estaban solteros. Algunos estaban casados pero iban a Tinian solos y regresaban a Saipán para visitas periódicas. Algunos llevaron a sus esposas e hijos, pero las madres trasladaban a sus recién nacidos a Saipán para el bautismo. Tinian en ese momento era un lugar para trabajar, no para establecerse permanentemente. Debido a esto, los hombres superaban en número a las mujeres en Tinian; el trabajo era el motivo para estar en Tinian, no un asentamiento vitalicio.

Más tarde, los alemanes alentaron a la pequeña y menguante población carolina de ROTA a mudarse a Saipán y unirse a sus compañeros carolinos allí, que eran más numerosos. No mucho después de este censo, con 490 moradores, Rota no tendría más residentes carolinos.

PAGAN, 137 personas, se encontraba donde estaba la acción en las islas del norte, con Agrigan en un distante segundo lugar. Pagan fue considerada la isla ideal del norte por el gobierno y los inversores que esperaban ganar dinero con la copra. Los habitantes de las islas del norte, chamorros y carolinos, eran todos de Saipán, Guam y algunos de Rota.

En la imagen de arriba vemos una carta enviada desde Saipán a Sachsenberg durante la época alemana. Aunque en aquellos años el sello del gobierno español todavía se seguía utilizando (esquina superior izquierda).


STUCK IN HAWAII

Wednesday, June 23, 2021


ARRIOLA AND QUAN


Two Chamorro men, Richard Borja Arriola and John Concepción Quan, wanted to fly to California in 1947, armed with "Guam passports" and certificates of "Guam citizenship." Guam was a US possession so no problem flying to the States, right? Wrong.

In 1947, Guam was still under Navy rule and the Chamorros of Guam were not US citizens (except for a few exceptions). The Governor of Guam in 1947 was still a Navy officer, at that time Rear Admiral Charles A. Pownall. Guam residents were considered "nationals" of the US. This meant they fell under the "protection" of the US and owed allegiance to the US, but did not have all the rights which a US citizen had.

US Immigration in Hawaii, where Arriola and Quan arrived separately, said that Pownall could determine, for Guam's purposes, who was a "citizen of Guam," but that being a "Guam citizen" did not automatically make the person a US national, for reasons which will soon be clear as the story continues. US Immigration wanted to make certain that Arriola and Quan were indeed US nationals.


ARRIOLA



ARRIOLA'S HONOLULU ARRIVAL RECORD
Held for Proof of Status


The first red flag for US Immigration in Hawaii went up when it became known that Arriola was born in Saipan in 1926. In 1926, Saipan was under Japanese jurisdiction. Even though Arriola moved to Guam at the age of 6, before World War II, and lived with one of the Goyo families (Josefina Díaz Pérez, a widow, whose son Pedro served as senator), US Immigration did not count him an American national, being born on an island under Japan in 1926 and in 1947 a United Nations Trust Territory only entrusted to provisional US administration.

Pownall considered Arriola a US national, having lived on Guam for so long, but US Immigration said he could not be a US national if he was not born on Guam or Samoa.


QUAN



QUAN HELD FOR BSI IN HONOLULU
"Board of Special Inquiry"


Quan was even more bewildered by his detention because US Immigration had no problem letting him travel to the US mainland earlier in 1946 where he stayed quite a long time. Furthermore, there was no question that Quan was born on Guam in 1923, long after Guam became a US possession.

But there was a technicality. Quan's father was Chinese, born in China. According to the rules in force between 1900 and 1940, in order to be considered a US national, both your parents had to be US nationals, which Quan's father was not.

A second problem was also found. The rules in force between 1907 and 1922 stated that any female who was a US national who married a non-national lost her status. Quan's Chamorro mother, Engracia Concepción, married Quan during those years, so she lost her status as a US national. John ended up being born in 1923 the son of two non-US nationals!

When Pownall heard what happened to Arriola and Quan, he demanded their release and freedom to travel, but US Immigration basically said Pownall's authority extended only as far as Guam's shoreline. The US Navy and US Immigration were thus at odds, something rare at the time.

Travel records show that Quan returned to Guam after this. I don't know what was the next step for Arriola.

All this became resolved for Quan in 1950 when the Organic Act conferred US citizenship on Quan, but not for Arriola who was born in pre-war Saipan, whose only resort was the naturalization process, or to wait till 1986 when US citizenship was extended to the Northern Marianas.

KÅNTA : FLORES ROSA

Wednesday, June 16, 2021


FLORES ADETFA
( Oleander )


One of my favorite Candy Taman songs. On the surface you'd think it's all about different flowers, but he told me the heart of the song is, " Håfa taimano siña un konsuelan maisa hao, para un disimula i piniti-mo ." " How you can comfort yourself, to cover your pain ."

The melody is a traditional one from many years ago.





LYRICS


Flores de Dios ginen as adetfa.
(Flower of God, from the oleander)
Ya si hasmin triste gi kamå-ña.
(and jasmine, sad in her bed.) (1)
Tamantiget malåyo hagon-ña
(The petals of the tamantiget are wilted) (2)
Na sige de tumånges ya mumaleffa.
(as she weeps continuously and then forgets.) (3)

Hågo solo et mås bonita
(You alone are the most beautiful)
Na flores gi halom korason-ho.
(flower inside my heart.)
Ya petmanente guine sagå-mo
(And you have a permanent place here)
Ya ti un li’e’ nene ine’son-ho.
(and you will never see my fatigue.) (4)

Ai ai ai ai keridå-ho
(Oh my beloved)
Hågo flores gi halom korason-ho.
(You are a flower within my heart.)
Flores rosåt gi halom maseta
(Rose flower in a vase)
Sen bonita ya bai hu respeta.
(Very beautiful and I will respect it.)
Kada dia siempre bai hu rega
(Each day I will surely water it)
Ya ti bai desatiende ti bai maleffa.
(And I won't ignore nor forget about it.)

Ai ai ai ai keridå-ho
(Oh my beloved)
Hågo flores gi halom korason-ho.
(You are a flower within my heart.)
Ai ai ai ai todo i tempo
(Oh all the time)
Ya ti un li’e’ nene ine’son-ho.
(And you won't see my fatigue.)


NOTES

(1) Bed, as in bed of flowers.

(2) Tamantiget . The name of a flower in Saipan.

(3) The sad flower weeps and by weeping forgets her sorrow and is consoled.

(4) Ine'son comes from the adjective o'son which means "weary or fatigued" but emotional and mental tiredness, not physical fatigue. When one sees a person too much, or has been watching TV to the point of boredom, one becomes o'son . Ine'son is the noun form (weariness, boredom, fatigue).


PAGAN'S KAMUTE A HIT

Tuesday, June 8, 2021


An American whaling captain once visited Pagan and took some kamute (sweet potato) growing there on board. Seven months later, still on the high seas, the Pagan kamute was still in fresh condition, which amazed the captain so much that he took the kamute to a scientist at UC Berkeley to be studied and hopefully be planted in the US.

James Alden Macomber was a veteran whaling captain, so well-known a whaler that he was called "Sperm Whale Jimmy."

In April of 1905, while whaling in the North Pacific, Macomber, commanding the Gotama schooner out of San Francisco, made a stop at Pagan. The Germans were in charge of the Northern Marianas at the time and there were people living on Pagan, especially engaged in copra production. One of the local products he tried there was the kamute . Liking the root, he took a good quantity with him as he sailed away.

He expected it to go bad after several weeks, like other root plants. But, to his amazement and pleasure, the kamute stayed fresh right up to his return to San Francisco in November. He decided to take a sample to Professor EJ Wickson at the University of California Berkeley, just across the bay from San Francisco.

Wickson succeeded in propagating seed from the Pagan kamute and made it available to growers. Sweet potato farming was big in Merced County, not far from San Francisco. Wickson called the Pagan kamute "Macomber's Sweet Potato." But, a quick search for "Macomber's Sweet Potato" turns up nothing. The kamute was white-fleshed, and the white sweet potatoes grown in California today go by other names, so who knows what became of the Pagan kamute that ended up at UC Berkeley!





The kamute , by the way, came to the Marianas by way of Mexico, where it is widely grown and eaten. From Mexico it also went to the Philippines. Our word kamute and the Spanish word camote are taken from the Nahuatl word camotli . Nahuatl is a native language of Mexico spoken by the Aztecs.

FAMILIA : RESPICIO

Wednesday, June 2, 2021


Because the first Respicio on Guam arrived less than 200 years ago, and we still have documents where his name appears, we can easily identify who he was. As late as 1901 we find him in a court transcript written in Spanish where he is named as one of the carpenters involved in the court case.

ROMANO MIGUEL RESPICIO was from the Philippines, but unfortunately I cannot say precisely where in the Philippines since I have not found any document stating where. Family members who might know can chime in in the comments section.

Miguel, by the way, is his mother's maiden name. Many people have a Christian, or personal, name as a last name. Think of the Pablo family or the Francisco family.

After coming to Guam, he married LUISA LIZAMA PÉREZ.

They had three daughters : Rosa, Carmen and María.

And one son, ANTONIO . Antonio married Ana Materne Dueñas, the daughter of José Tenorio Dueñas and Felisa Dueñas Materne of the familian Gaspåt.

Antonio and Ana had the following sons :

ROMÁN , who married María Borja Castro, the daughter of Luís Palomo Castro and Concepción Santos Borja.

JOSÉ , who married Isabel Agualo Rivera, the daughter of José Ulloa Rivera and Carmen Taitingfong Agualo.

AMBROSIO , who married Teresita Garrido San Nicolás, the daughter of Enrique Rosario San Nicolás and Ana Garrido.

They also had an adopted son ROMÁN who married Frances Pangelinan Aguon, the daughter of Juan Santos Aguon and Francisca Pangelinan.

Those who carry the Respicio last name on Guam today are descendants of any one of these four men.

Romano and Luisa's daughters :

Rosa , who married Juan Cruz Fejarang, the son of Lucas Santos Fejarang and Antonia Santos Cruz.

María , who married Jesús Cruz Aquiningoc, the son of Juan Aquiningoc and Juana Cruz.

Another daughter, Carmen , never married.

Even though there is only one Respicio family on Guam, they are sometimes known as the familian Romano . Family nicknames were helpful in distinguishing which branch of a big family you belonged to, but even small families could have their own "better known as."

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : KORASON FÅHA

Tuesday, May 25, 2021



KORASON FÅHA

Soft Hearted


The fåha is the soft, juicy kernel of a brown, fallen coconut that is considered to be a treat by many people. It can be eaten as it is, but many people like to freeze it and eat it like tropical ice cream.

Because the fåha is so soft, some elders use the word symbolically to describe a soft hearted person.

One lady talked about how her ten-year-old son would cry whenever he would see her kill a chicken for their lunch or dinner before the war when people raised or caught their own food.

" Pareho ha' nåna yan mamuno' hao taoato! " " It's the same as you killing a person, mothe r!"

She said, " Korason fåha ayo. " " He has a heart of fåha ."

AN OLD CUSTOM

Tuesday, May 18, 2021



It used to be a very common practice. But, today, even many devout Catholics in the Marianas don't do it.

And that is to make the sign of the cross whenever you pass

A CATHOLIC CHURCH
A CEMETERY
A FUNERAL PROCESSION
A RELIGIOUS IMAGE

Like the lady in this video, who makes the sign of the cross inside a car, passing something, but something we cannot tell from the video.




IN FRONT OF A CHURCH

The reason we were told to make the sign of the cross, or bless ourselves, when passing a Catholic Church is because "Jesus is there." What was specifically meant was that the True Body and Blood of Jesus, under the appearance of bread and wine, are in a Catholic Church, housed in the Tabernacle.

Ordinary bread and wine are consecrated by a priest, who has been empowered by a bishop, whose bishop's powers go all the way back 2000 years to the Last Supper where Jesus told His 12 Apostles, "Do this in memory of me." Once the priest consecrates the bread and wine at Mass, they are no longer bread and wine but rather the True Body and Blood of Jesus. "This is my Body, this is the cup of my Blood," Jesus said at the Last Supper.

When Mass is over and there are leftover Hosts, they are put in the Tabernacle. So, on account of this, we bless ourselves when passing a Catholic Church. As other Christian churches don't have this, we don't bless ourselves when passing those churches.




CEMETERY

We bless ourselves when passing a cemetery on account of the people buried there. We pray for their souls, and we cross ourselves when we begin and end prayers.

FUNERAL PROCESSION

When a hearse passes by, we bless ourselves as we pray for the deceased in that hearse. In the old days, if one were walking on the road when a funeral procession passed by, you stopped what you were doing till the procession finished passing by. If you were a man wearing a hat, you took off your hat.




RELIGIOUS IMAGES

In olden times, there were many large crosses planted all over the islands. One would make the sign of the cross when passing these or other noticeable religious images outdoors.

ALSO....

Many people blessed themselves when feeling a tremor, or when making a promise, or when talking about the sick or someone in need of something, or when an ambulance passes by (to pray for the patient), before entering the jungle, to ward off evil and when afraid.


GUMINA'AN I TATA

To "make the sign of the cross" in Chamorro is gumina'an i Tata , from the first words of the prayer " Gi na'an i Tata ," "In the name of the Father."

It ends with the thumb up to the nose because the full sign of the cross was accompanied by a cross made by crossing the thumb with the index finger. One wasn't kissing one's thumb; one was kissing the cross made by the crossing of the thumb and index finger, which made a cross.

Originally, this was the proper way to form the fingers of the right hand when signing yourself with the Cross. But, over time, people got lazy and lost the original way. I'll post on the traditional Sign of the Cross in a future blog post.






VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

UNA ANTIGUA COSTUMBRE

Era una práctica muy común. Pero hoy, incluso muchos católicos devotos de las Islas Marianas ya no lo hacen.

Consiste en santiguarse cada vez que se pasa por delante de una iglesia, un cementerio, un cortejo fúnebre o una imagen religiosa.

IGLESIA

La razón por la que se hace la Señal de la Cruz, o nos bendecimos, al pasar por una iglesia, es porque "Jesús está allí". Lo que se quiere decir específicamente es que el Verdadero Cuerpo y Sangre de Jesús, bajo la apariencia de pan y vino, están en una iglesia, ubicados en el Sagrario.

El pan y el vino ordinarios son consagrados por un sacerdote, que ha recibido el poder de un obispo, cuyos poderes a su vez se remontan 2000 años hasta la Última Cena, donde Jesús les dijo a sus Doce Apóstoles: "Hagan esto en conmemoración mía". Una vez que el sacerdote consagra el pan y el vino en la Misa, ya no son pan y vino, sino el Verdadero Cuerpo y Sangre de Jesús. "Éste es mi Cuerpo, ésta es la Copa de mi Sangre", dijo Jesús en la Última Cena.

Cuando termina la Misa y quedan Hostias sobrantes, se colocan en el Sagrario. Entonces, por eso, nos bendecimos al pasar por una iglesia. Como otras iglesias cristianas no tienen esto, no nos bendecimos al pasar por esas iglesias.

CEMENTERIO

Nos bendecimos al pasar por un cementerio por las personas enterradas allí. Oramos por sus almas y nos santiguamos cuando comenzamos y terminamos las oraciones.

CORTEJO FÚNEBRE

Cuando pasa un coche fúnebre, nos bendecimos mientras oramos por los difuntos de ese coche. Antes, si uno caminaba por la carretera cuando pasaba una procesión fúnebre, dejaba lo que estaba haciendo hasta que la procesión terminaba de pasar. Si uno era un hombre que llevaba sombrero, se quitaba el sombrero.

IMÁGENES RELIGIOSAS

En la antigüedad, se plantaron un montón de grandes cruces por todas las Islas Marianas. Uno haría la Señal de la Cruz al pasar por éstas u otras imágenes religiosas notables.

ADEMÁS....

Mucha gente se bendecía al sentir un temblor, o al hacer una promesa, o al hablar de un enfermo o de alguien que necesitaba algo, o cuando pasaba una ambulancia (para rezar por el paciente), antes de entrar en la selva, para ahuyentar a alguien malvado o cuando se tenía miedo.

GUMINA'AN I TATA

"Hacer la Señal de la Cruz" en el idioma chamorro se dice Gumina'an i Tata, de las primeras palabras de la oración "Gi na'an i Tata", "En el nombre del Padre".

Terminaba con el pulgar hacia la nariz porque la Señal de la Cruz completa iba acompañada de una cruz que se hacía cruzando el pulgar con el dedo índice. No se estaba besando el pulgar; uno besaba la cruz hecha por el cruce del pulgar y el índice, que formaban una cruz.

Originariamente, ésta era la forma correcta de poner los dedos de la mano derecha al hacer la Señal de la Cruz. Pero, con el tiempo, la gente se volvió perezosa y perdió la manera original. Publicaré sobre la Señal de la Cruz tradicional en una futura publicación.

MOTHER'S DAY SONG

Sunday, May 9, 2021


A song for all our mothers, living and deceased, sung by the late Frank "Bokonggo" Pangelinan.


MAGOF HA'ÅNEN MAN NÅNA! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY





LYRICS


Nånan-måme deskånsa.
(Rest, mother.)
Båsta fan para på’go.
(Please stop for now.)
Sa’ på’go na ha’åne
(Because this day)
Ha’ånen i man nåna.
(Is Mother's Day.)

Sen espesiåt hao na nåna
(You are a very special mother)
Guine nai na familia.
(In this family)
Kada måtto este na dia
(Each time this day comes)
Hågo i mås takkilo’.
(You are the highest.)

Un hoggue ya un totktok ham gi pecho-mo.
(You carried and hugged us at your breast.)
Maså’pet hao pot hame.
(You suffered for us.)
Un poksai ham todos gi dos kanai-mo.
(You raised all of us with your two hands.)
Un guaiya ham gi korason-mo.
(You loved us from the heart.)

Nånan-måme hago ha’ solo
(Mother you're the only one)
Yan mames kulan hao raina.
(And sweet, you are like a queen.)
Hågo ha’ na flores gi halom hatdin
(You are the only flower in the garden)
Sen paopao yan bonita.
(Most fragrant and beautiful.)

Ya si Yu’us un nina’e
(And may God give you)
Bulan gråsia gi lina’lå’-mo
(Abundant graces in your life.)
Ya i regalu-mo ginen hame
(And your gift from us)
Man gaige ham gi uriyå-mo.
(Is we are at your side.)




ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Tuesday, May 4, 2021


One hundred years ago, this is what the road going down San Ramón Hill into Hagåtña looked like, in the photo to the left. Just kaskåho (gravel), no dividing line and no posted speed limit, neither for automobile nor karetan guaka (cattle-driven carriage).

Gravel roads are not as common today as in the past, and one of the problems with gravel roads is you basically deal with only two conditions. DUST when it's dry season, and MUD when it's rainy season.

The rain also often washes away part of the road, sometimes leaving deep barångka (potholes) that can send your car to ICU.

But the paved road after the war didn't guarantee total safety. Just in the ten years of the 1950s, there were a dozen or more news reports about cars losing their brakes and rushing down the hill; cars stalling on their way up the hill and falling back down the hill in reverse; the gas pedal getting stuck to the floor, sending the car into race mode!



1958



GOVERNMENT HOUSE IS NOT SAN RAMÓN HILL



Some people mistakenly say that Government House is on San Ramón Hill. But what is commonly understood as San Ramón Hill is the hill right above what used to be the barrio (district) of San Ramón, which is where today's court buildings are, as well as the Guam Law Library, some offices and private residences.


1900 MURDER

The bottom of San Ramón Hill was the scene of a murder in old Guam, something that was rare back then. In 1900, a man was shot in the back three times by someone known to him. The story can be read at :

https://paleric.blogspot.com/2017/09/murder-in-san-ramon.html

SAVED BY THE ANGELUS?

Tuesday, April 27, 2021


Guam was so devoutly Catholic in the 1800s that a political prisoner may have been liberated from captivity partly on account of it.

In 1872, there was an uprising against the Spaniards in Cavite in the Philippines which was quickly squashed. But many were arrested, even executed, while others were banished to the Marianas. One of these was Antonio María Regidor, a Spaniard by race but born in the Philippines and a supporter of Philippine causes and eventually of Philippine independence.

The escape of Regidor and one other from imprisonment on Guam is a long, convoluted story that leaves as many questions as it does answers. But one writer thinks that the escape to a waiting ship in Apra Harbor to take them away was made easier by the ringing of the Angelus bell.

In the old days, when you heard the Angelus bell at 6AM, 12 noon and 6PM, you dropped whatever you were doing and said the Angelus. The writer's suggestion is that while guards and officials were standing attentively in prayer for the Angelus, Regidor, or the ship he was on, was quietly slipping out of Spanish hands.

Regidor, disguised as a priest, made it to the ship in the early morning hours and sailed away, finding his freedom from Spanish prison. He was eventually pardoned.

The Angelus story conflicts with official records and other evidence still housed in the Philippine National Archives about Regidor's escape. It seems Regidor and his companion escaped from their cells by 4AM, long before the Angelus. The ship he managed to get on, which was American, sailed out of Apra between 10 and 11AM, long before the noon Angelus.

So much for the Angelus explanation. But it does make for a colorful anecdote and, even if the anecdote is not true at all, it does point to a general truth of which we can be certain, that the Angelus bell did stop normal activities three times a day for a minute or two in the old days.




In Catholic Ireland, national TV plays the Angelus bell!





VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

TAL VEZ SALVADO POR EL ÁNGELUS.

Guam era un lugar tan devotamente católico en el siglo XIX que un prisionero político pudo haber escapado del cautiverio en parte gracias a eso.

En 1872, hubo un levantamiento contra los españoles en Cavite, Filipinas, que fue rápidamente sofocado. Pero muchos fueron arrestados, incluso ejecutados, mientras que otros fueron desterrados a las Marianas. Uno de ellos fue Antonio Regidor, de sangre española pero nacido en Filipinas y partidario de las causas filipinas y eventualmente de la independencia filipina.

La fuga de Antonio Regidor y otros, del encarcelamiento en Guam, es una historia larga y compleja que deja muchos interrogantes. Pero alguien escribió que la fuga a un barco que los esperaba en el puerto de Apra se hizo más sencilla gracias al sonido de la campana del Ángelus.

Antiguamente, cuando se escuchaba la campana del Ángelus a las 6 de la mañana, a las 12 del mediodía y a las 6 de la tarde, se dejaba lo que se estaba haciendo y se rezaba. La sugerencia del escritor es que mientras los guardias y oficiales estaban parados atentos en oración por el Ángelus, Antonio Regidor se escapaba en barco silenciosamente de las manos de los españoles.

Antonio Regidor, disfrazado de sacerdote, llegó al barco en las primeras horas de la mañana y zarpó, encontrando su libertad de la prisión. Finalmente fue indultado.

La historia del Ángelus entra en conflicto con los registros oficiales y otras pruebas que aún se encuentran en los Archivos Nacionales de Filipinas sobre la fuga de Antonio Regidor. Parece que Regidor y su compañero escaparon de sus celdas a las 4 de la mañana, mucho antes del Ángelus. El barco en el que logró subir, que era estadounidense, zarpó de Apra entre las 10 y las 11 de la mañana, mucho antes del mediodía del Ángelus.

Hasta aquí la explicación del Ángelus. Es una anécdota colorida e, incluso si la anécdota no es cierta, sí apunta a una verdad general de la que podemos estar seguros, que en Guam durante aquellos tiempos, la campana del Ángelus detenía las actividades normales de la gente tres veces al día durante un minuto o dos.

TWO ROSARIES

Tuesday, April 20, 2021



One of the noble traits of the traditional culture of the past, still practiced by many, is the great care we had for each other, especially in the family.

No grandmother needed to be put in a senior home, nor care givers hired for her, because the family members themselves took care of her.

No grandchild needed to be sent to a daycare, since grandma or grand aunt was home all day to care for the children.

This care for family members extended beyond death. With most being Catholic, most Chamorro families pray for their dead, believing that our prayers help the souls of our departed while being cleansed in Purgatory.

Just as we pray a novena (a period of nine days, from the Latin word novem meaning the number "nine") to celebrate a saint's feast and ask for blessings from heaven, we also pray a novena of rosaries for the deceased. But not just one; traditionally there were two sets of rosaries to be prayed for the dead.


LISÅYON LINAHYAN




The first set of rosaries is when the general public comes and prays. It is called the LISÅYON LINAHYAN , meaning, the Rosary of the Assembly. Linahyan can mean "crowd, multitude, congregation, assembly." Everyone and anyone can come and join this rosary.

RIGHT AWAY . It begins, in most cases, on the day of death. If the person dies way past sunset, it will begin the following day. Not only was the rosary begun as soon as possible, burial also happened quickly in the old days. Before the war, there was no place to hold the body in cold storage, so burial had to happen quickly, usually within 24 hours.

NOON AND EVENING . In the old days, two rosaries were prayed during these first nine days. The first was at noon. Anyone could attend it, but typically most people waited till the second rosary, which was prayed at night, often at 8PM in the old days. So the noon rosary was a smaller affair, involving mainly the family members and older friends of the deceased who didn't have work or farm obligations.

PRIVATE HOME . The rosary was prayed at a private residence, typically the home where the deceased lived. Sometimes the rosary was held in another home, but within the family, when, for example, the deceased's house was not suitable to hold a rosary either because of problems with the house, or lack of outdoor space for the crowds or remoteness of location.

Because of the large numbers of people, most attendees sat outside, and a tent or canopy was sometimes opened over them. Long before we had folding chairs, wooden benches were more available in the old days and many times people just stood.

REFRESHMENTS . Unlike modern times when full meals were often served every night, in the prewar days refreshments were simple. It was often as simple as one kind of breadstuff ( broas , buñuelos , roskete ) but there was always mamå'un passed around ( pugua', pupulu, åfok, amåska or betel nut, pepper leaf, lime chalk and chewing tobacco). Pastries were touch and go but mamå'un was always offered.

FINAKPO '. The end of the nine nights of public rosary was celebrated with a big meal. Before the war, this is when the pig was slaughtered, or even a cow depending on the family.


LISÅYON GUMA'



But a second set of nine nights of rosary was prayed for the deceased immediately after the first nine nights. But, this time, it was only for the "immediate" family, "immediate" in the Chamorro sense, not American sense. The "immediate" family in our own culture means siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, in-laws. That could be 50 people right there.

This second set of rosaries was called the LISÅYON GUMA' or LISÅYON HALOM GUMA' . This means the House Rosary or Rosary Inside the House, making a distinction between the rosary to which the LINAHYAN (Multitude) was invited and the rosary to which only those inside the home ( Halom Guma' ) came.

It couldn't be called the Lisåyon Familia (Family Rosary) because, in Chamorro mentality, "family" means anyone even distantly related. Now we're back to 400 people at the rosary.

Halom Guma' showed that this rosary was meant for family members more closely linked to the deceased, the ones living in the same home as the deceased. But, a sibling or close cousin living in another home wasn't excluded, either.


SLOWLY DYING

Rosary for the dead is not disappearing, but it certainly is changing and in some cases is disappearing.

The second set of rosaries, the Lisåyon Guma' , is definitely not practiced by a growing number of families. The first nine nights was enough for them, they feel.

The noon rosary has also fallen into disuse in many families.

The majority of families now have the rosary at church, rather than their homes. This lightens the burden for the family in some ways, but it involves an additional cost (paying the church for power usage) and it passes on some difficulties to the parish (tying up use of the church, wear and tear of the building, trash issues).

Since most families use the church and have the deceased remembered at the Mass right before or after the rosary, some families decided to skip the rosary altogether and just have a "rosary" of Masses, that is, nine nights of Masses for the deceased.

Another big change is language. It's getting harder to find a techa (prayer leader) to lead in Chamorro, and many families don't want it in Chamorro anymore.

In the 1970s and 80s, even the poorest of families tried their best to put on a good meal for nine nights. Today, even the wealthiest of families skip refreshments altogether, without even water or iced tea.

There are many factors involved in these changes. Some people say they have too many rosaries to go to. Some nights, one family has to vacate the church immediately so that another family can start theirs. Some pastors try to get two families to have one rosary for both deceased. They usually are not successful in convincing them. Families are getting smaller over the years, and the burden of feeding 200 people every night falls on fewer family members now, compared to the bigger families of the past. And there are more reasons why our rosaries for the dead are not what they used to be in many cases.

I predict we will see more of these changes in the years to come, till only a small number of more traditionally-rooted families practice most of the old customs.

SUCKING WIPES

Tuesday, April 13, 2021


Manuel, age 16, was at the kitchen sink when he casually asked his grandmother :


Manuel : Nåna, håfa "sponge" gi fino' Chamorro?
Manuel : Grandma, what is "sponge" in Chamorro?

Nåna : Espongha.
Nåna : Espongha.

Manuel : Ti "saosao mañopchop?"
Manuel : It isn't "sucking wipes?"

Nåna threw her slipper at Manuel.

But to use Manuel's remark as a learning tool, let's look closer.

ESPONGHA is borrowed from Spanish, where the word for "sponge" is ESPONJA .


MARINE SPONGES



A SPONGE FOUND AT GABGAB BEACH


The first sponges were from the sea. People figured out that these marine animals (yes, animals - not plants) were absorbent and could be used to apply oils or perfume on human skin. From there, the human imagination put the marine sponge to many other uses. Famously, a Roman soldier dipped a sponge in vinegar and lifted it up for Jesus to drink while He was hanging on the cross.

Obviously our ancestors, being so at home in the ocean, knew about marine sponges. Whether they used them for anything, or whether there was a word for them, I don't know. But in the last 100 years or more, our people just call sea sponges espongha , and there isn't any regular use of them.

In time, people were able to make sponges from different material and, when these were first sold in the Marianas, our people called them espongha .


TO FLUFF UP




But espongha can also be used to mean "to puff up, to be fluffy." Even in Spanish that can be a meaning. And, common sense will tell you the reason just by looking at a fluffy cake like the SPONGE CAKE .

No one calls sponge cake kek espongha in Chamorro, but one could call it that.

What our mañaina (elders) did say, as evidenced in older dictionaries, is na' espongha when they wanted someone to fluff up something like, let's say, a cake or bread.


SAOSAO MAÑOPCHOP




Manuel's invented phrase saosao mañopchop is not without logic.

Saosao means "to wipe" or the wipe itself.

Mañopchop comes from chopchop , which means "to suck."

To suck means to absorb, to take into. The guy in the picture is sucking on a straw and is taking in the drink. He is absorbing the drink through the straw he is sucking on.

A sponge absorbs the liquid it is wiping up.

So one could say saosao mañopchop , but nobody does. Only Manuel thought that one up. And grandma's slipper put a quick end to it.


HOW TO PRONOUNCE


Many readers ask me to always put an audio clip so they will learn how to say the word. Here it is :




GA'PAN OR CAMEL ROCK

Monday, April 5, 2021



We all know it as Camel Rock.

It only looks (vaguely) like a camel if you look at it from a certain angle. Otherwise, it just looks like a flat rock, with jagged edges. lying on the reef.

It was only called Camel Rock during American times. Our own people call it GA'PAN and sometimes GA'PANG . Some might call it Åcho' Ga'pan (Ga'pan Rock) and others might call it Isletan Ga'pan (Ga'pan Islet, or very small island).

Since the name  "Camel Rock" has become so common, there might be people who want to call it Åcho' Kameyo which is "Camel Rock" in Chamorro, but Ga'pan is the actual Chamorro name.

I wasn't sure about the accurate pronunciation of Ga'pan till recently. The maps and documents just spell it Gapan and sometimes Gapang, but is there a glota in the way it is pronounced but just doesn't show in the old spelling? Is one A really an Å, which sounds different, like the two vowels in HÅGAT? Since the maps don't indicate any of these, the best thing is to hear the name pronounced by older residents of the area.  It took me some time, but I found someone very active in the community, who knows fishermen who know the area, and he's always heard the fishermen and man åmko' (elders) say Ga'pan, with the glota and the two As being the same kind of A that sounds like the A in "cat" and not like the A in "far."




OLD MAPS (1819 and 1900) SHOWING GA'PAN



When was the last time you say a camel on Guam? We don't have them. So this American writer in 1959 wondered how Chamorros came up with the idea to name the rock after an animal they had never seen.





The writer assumes too much. First, she assumes the Chamorro people named it Camel Rock. They didn't. They already had a name for it - Ga'pan.

Second, she assumes Chamorros never saw camels.

We have no camels in the Marianas, but many Chamorros in the old days would have had some idea about them and how they looked because camels are often featured among the different statues in the belén or nativity scene. Not every Chamorro family had belén in their homes in the old days, but even those who didn't have them would have seen camel statues in those families that did have them or even in pictures. At the very least, a priest could have explained what a camel was, since camels are part of the Christmas story, especially with the Three Kings which Chamorros celebrated joyfully.




Still, our people did not call it Camel Rock, nor did they think of camels when they looked at the rock. It was always Ga'pan or Ga'pang. Calling it Camel Rock was an American idea.


THE LEGEND(S)

If you wanted to know how the rock got there in the first place, I would reply by asking " Which legend do you want to hear?"

There is more than one legend, and they differ a lot but also contain a few details common to all versions of the story.

Let me start with the oldest one I have found so far.


FROM 1927

I'll summarize the legend as published in the Guam Recorder in 1927. No author and no source is stated.

The people of Hagåtña were tired of being raided or invaded by warriors of other villages, who would attack Hagåtña sailing their canoes through the opening in the Hagåtña reef.




Maps as old as 1819 and during the war show the break in the reef in front of Hagåtña. Today, thanks to dredging by man and machine, the channel has been deepened and widened.



TODAY'S BREAK AND CHANNEL


So the chiefly class of Hagåtña decided that everybody, young and old, would solve the problem by collecting rocks and dumping them at the break in the reef to seal it up. Enemy canoes would no longer be able to come in, so they thought.

The problem was the rocks they collected and dumped were small, so when the tide changed, the rocks were washed out to sea. The break in the channel remained open.

Obviously they realized they needed a bigger rock, one big enough that the flow of water when the tide changed couldn't move. But they didn't know of any rock big enough in the Hagåtña area. But the maga'låhe (chief) of Orote was a friend of the maga'låhe of Hagåtña and said they could find one in Orote. So, off some men of Hagåtña went in their canoes to Orote, where they found a nice big rock and loaded it onto one of their canoes and headed back to Hagåtña.

Now the problem was Asan. The people of Asan had a grudge against the people of Hagåtña who raided their village from time to time. When the maga'låhe and people of Asan saw the Hagåtña canoes passing by and one loaded with a huge rock, they knew what it was for and that it would prevent them from attacking Hagåtña by sea. The time to act was now. So the Asan warriors got in their canoes and attacked the Hagåtña canoes, whose men hadn't planned to fight when they made their voyage to Orote. Lacking the proper weapons for battle, the Hagåtña men easily succumbed to the Asan attack.

The Asan warriors decided to break up the Hagåtña canoe just enough so that the big rock it was carrying would submerge it. And so it happened, and all that was left on the reef outside Asan Point was the rock from Orote the men of Hagåtña intended to bring to their village.


MR. JUSTO CHARGUALAF, BORN 1874

Justo Quitugua Chargualaf was a life-long Asan resident, who was interviewed in 1961 at the age of 86 years. That means he could have heard the legend of Ga'pan as a child in the 1880s, which would predate the 1927 Guam Recorder article. But, since we don't know how old Justo was when he heard the story about Ga'pan, I'll have to place him after the Guam Recorder story to be safe.

In his version, it was the people of Piti and Hagåtña who were at odds. In Spanish times, the people of Piti actually lived in Tepungan, a little closer to Asan. It was a taotaomo'na of Piti (or Tepungan) who decided to block the Hagåtña channel with a big rock so he got one from Apapa' or Cabras Island. He did it at night, as taotaomo'na generally are not active during the day. But, before he could reach Hagåtña with the big rock, the sun started to rise so he threw the rock down on the reef outside Asan Point.


THE TWINKLING STAR VERSION

In another version, seen in print more recently, two boys, only four years old, from the Aguada clan, were sent to get the rock from Orote for the same purpose, of sealing the Hagåtña channel to prevent enemy attack. The detail that the two boys were only four years old means that Chamorros were so strong back then that even two children that young could fetch a huge rock. Their clan had a rule never to be out past a certain time at night. So, on their way back to Hagåtña, they saw a twinkling star which they mistakenly believed meant that the sun was soon to rise and they would break their curfew. So they dropped the huge rock on the reef at Asan Point to hurry back home in time.

On account of them being tricked by the twinkling star, the story is sometimes called Dinagi Laolao , which means "The Lie of Quivering," meaning the quivering or twinkling star.

GÅDAO VERSION

In yet another version, the two men who fetched the rock were sons of Chief Gådao of Inalåhan. He sent them for the same mission, to seal up Hagåtña's opening in the reef. He told them to get the job done and return home before sunrise. They saw the twinkling star and, fearing sunrise, ditched the rock on the reef at Asan Point and beat a hasty return to Inalåhan.

There are a few more versions, some of them even giving the names of the two boys, or the name of their father.

But, as you can see, the versions are wildly different in many ways, but let's see how all versions say the same thing in some respects.


CONSISTENT ELEMENTS

1. The mission was to seal up the break in the reef at Hagåtña.

2. That would be accomplished by taking a big rock from somewhere else to Hagåtña to put in the break and seal it up.

3. The mission was not successful and the rock was dropped on the reef outside Asan Point.

Because the job was not accomplished, some people say that ga'pan means "unfinished work," but I cannot substantiate that from older dictionaries. The word doesn't appear even in the 1865 Chamorro dictionary.

So these three points are the heart of the story that appear in all the versions. But then the different versions of the legend add to the skeleton of the story in the different ways you see here. Who knows what newspaper article or book of legends in the future will add even more new elements to the story. And of course there may be old versions of the legend not passed down to us, or hidden somewhere on a piece of paper at MARC.



Ga'pan is a better name for this rock because it doesn't always look like a camel, but it always looks like a Ga'pan to me.


AMERICA'S SIBERIA?

Tuesday, March 30, 2021



Guam has been ruled mainly by two foreign powers, Spain and the United States. Both nations have used Guam as a place of exile. Just as the French had Devil's Island and the Russians had Siberia, there was also Guam.

Guam's remoteness was an asset to Spain and the US when they wanted to make trouble makers "disappear." Send them to Guam! And, in the case of Spain, send them to the Marianas!

Spanish political agitators, and Filipino criminals and revolutionaries were sent here by Spain, and the US also used Guam to house Filipino rebels such as Mabini and many more.

But, in 1919, an American senator came up with another reason to use Guam as a place of exile. Guam, he said, should be an island prison for radical American Communists wanting to overthrow the government.


THE 1917 RUSSIAN REVOLUTION



In 1917, the Bolshevik faction of Russian Communists took over the Russian government through force of arms. The Soviet Union was born. It was the first nation to be ruled by Communists.

In 1919, an American Communist party was founded and still exists today. Many Americans feared them, and the loss of democratic and religious freedom.

Although the Bill of Rights protected Americans and their right to hold  whatever political ideas they wanted, it was against the law to aim for the violent overthrow of the government and this is where the anti-Communists searched for targets.



But, besides putting these Communists in jail, exile was also an option. Exile got trouble makers out of the way, so they could make less trouble.

Senator Duncan Fletcher, a Democrat from Florida, introduced a bill in the US Senate to make Guam a place of exile for American Communist radicals.

Guam was far away and the entire island was ruled by a Naval commander. The island was tropical, with no concern for winter heating, and mother nature gave up her gifts of fish and fruits without effort. After a month of good behavior, a Communist prisoner may even be allowed to roam the island freely, and still cause no harm to the United States.

Some went so far as to say that, since the Communists believed they could create a perfect human society, they could first do it on Guam and, if they succeeded, then maybe others would believe them, as well.


AND THE CHAMORROS?




None of the proponents of this idea seemed to have cared at all that they didn't ask an important group of people what they thought of the idea; the people of Guam who had lived here for thousands of years.

When they even mentioned the existence of Chamorros (or Guamese, Guamians or Guamites), they said "Too bad." Someone has to pay the price for isolating the reds, let Guam be the sacrificial goat. "I have more interest in the people of the United States," said one American Senator, "than in the people of Guam."

Some would argue that sentiment is still rife in Washington, DC. For that politician just quoted, the United States was one thing, and Guam was something else.

But others, to be fair, asked, "Why pick on Guam? And the Chamorros?" The Chamorros of Guam were too nice, they said, to be troubled, corrupted or harassed by such unseemly people as Communists.

Fletcher's bill went nowhere and the Chamorros of Guam needn't be bothered by red Americans. They had enough to deal with with red, white and blue Americans.



"SEND THEM TO GUAM!"
Florida Senator Duncan O. Fletcher


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

¡ENVIADLOS A GUAM!

Guam ha sido gobernado principalmente por dos potencias, España y Estados Unidos. Ambas naciones han utilizado a Guam como lugar de exilio. Así como los franceses tenían la Isla del Diablo y los rusos tenían Siberia, España y EE.UU. tenían a Guam.

La lejanía de Guam fue una ventaja para España y Estados Unidos cuando querían hacer que los alborotadores "desaparecieran". ¡Enviadlos a Guam! gritaban los americanos. Y, en el caso de España, ¡A las Marianas con ellos!

Los agitadores políticos españoles y los criminales y revolucionarios filipinos fueron enviados aquí por España. Y Estados Unidos también usó Guam para albergar a rebeldes filipinos como Mabini y muchos más.

Pero, en 1919, a un senador estadounidense se le ocurrió otra idea para usar Guam como lugar de exilio. Guam, dijo, debería ser una prisión para los comunistas estadounidenses radicales que deseaban derrocar al gobierno democrático.

En 1917, la facción bolchevique de comunistas rusos se hizo cargo del gobierno ruso por la fuerza de las armas. Nació la Unión Soviética. Fue la primera nación gobernada por comunistas.

En 1919, se fundó un partido comunista estadounidense y todavía existe hoy. Muchos estadounidenses les temían a ellos y a la pérdida de libertad democrática y religiosa.

Aunque la Declaración de Derechos protegía a los estadounidenses y su derecho a sostener cualquier idea política, era contra la ley apuntar al derrocamiento violento del gobierno y aquí es donde los anticomunistas buscaban soluciones.

Pero, además de encarcelar a estos comunistas, el exilio también era una opción. El exilio eliminaba a los alborotadores para que no causaran problemas.

El senador Duncan Fletcher, en la foto, un demócrata de Florida, presentó un proyecto de ley en el Senado de los Estados Unidos para hacer de Guam un lugar de exilio para los radicales comunistas estadounidenses.

Guam estaba lejos y toda la isla estaba gobernada por un comandante naval. La isla era tropical, no había que preocuparse por cómo calentarse en invierno, y la madre naturaleza proporcionaba pescado y frutas en abundancia sin tener que esforzarse. Después de un mes de buen comportamiento, a un prisionero comunista se le podía permitir vagar libremente por la isla sin causar daño a los Estados Unidos.

Algunos llegaron a decir que, dado que los comunistas creían que podían crear una sociedad humana perfecta, primero podían hacerlo en Guam y, si tenían éxito, quizás otros también les seguirían.

A ninguno de los proponentes de esta idea parecía importarle en absoluto que pensaba la gente de Guam que había vivido aquí durante miles de años.

Cuando incluso mencionaron la existencia de chamorros o guameños, dijeron "Lástima". Alguien tiene que pagar el precio por aislar a los rojos, habrá que sacrificar a Guam. "Tengo más interés en la gente de los Estados Unidos", dijo un senador estadounidense, "que en la gente de Guam".

Algunos dirían que ese sentimiento todavía abunda en Washington, DC. Para ese político que acabo de citar, Estados Unidos era una cosa y Guam era otra.

Pero otros, para ser justos, preguntaron: "¿Por qué meterse con Guam? ¿Y los chamorros?" Los chamorros de Guam eran demasiado amables, decían, para ser molestados, corrompidos o acosados por personas tan indecorosas como los comunistas.

Afortunadamente, el proyecto de ley de Fletcher nunca fue aprobado.

"LONESOME STRANGER" OF TALOFOFO

Monday, March 15, 2021



Here is a slice of old village life that mental health professionals and others may reprove, but it happened and may even happen today.

I recently heard for the first time about what someone called the "Lonesome Stranger" of Talofofo.

That's all the writer said, so I had to do some digging. I went straight to the source; lifelong Talofofo residents.

There was once a man living in Talofofo who kept to himself. He was described as a hermit. Everyone in the village knew to leave him alone because that's what he wanted, and the man himself heightened the chance of remaining alone by living by himself most of his life, and by venturing out only in the early morning hours or after sunset. As daily Mass in the 1950s and 60s was as early as 5AM, people going to daily Mass would sometimes see him walking about. Naturally he preferred walking around at night when the sun was down.

He had family, a large one, in fact, but they respected his desire to be on his own. For a while he lived in a separate structure in the back of a brother's house. Later he lived on his own; in a cave or at Ipan along the shore. Family members always kept an eye on him, bringing him food, clothing and supplies. He could have always worn the new clothes the family gave him, but he preferred the tattered clothes he had already until he had to switch to the new ones. When he passed away, the family took care of his funeral.

But for many years, especially for Talofofo kids in the 1950s and 60s, the "Lonesome Stranger" was something of a mythical figure. Parents told their children not to be out of the house at night because the man might snatch them, which of course never happened. The "Lonesome Stranger" never scared anyone; kids were just scared of him. His ragged clothes and peculiarities just looked frightful to them.

There is talk that the man lost his mind during the war when bullets were fired right over his head, whizzing by within inches of killing him. After that experience, he was never the same, so it is said.

Stories grow less and less accurate as they spread. That's because the next story teller adds his own inventions to make the story more interesting. People outside of Talofofo called him the "Lonesome Stranger." But the truth was he was no stranger at all; his large clan lived in Talofofo. Stories circulated that the "Lonesome Stranger" appeared on the road so suddenly that drivers were thrown off by the fright.  Saying that makes the story is more interesting than just a man walking the village streets minding his own business.

One man, not from Talofofo, claimed he was driving around in the early hours of the morning in the 1970s when he came upon the stop at the top of the hill overlooking Talofofo Bay. On his approach, he saw no one, but after he continued driving he looked in his rear view mirror and saw a man sitting on the guard rail. He turned back to check, and there was no one. But when he drove off again, there the man was again in his rear view mirror. He said it could have been the "Lonesome Stranger" who legend says died in that spot. But the real "Lonesome Stranger" was alive and well, and didn't pass away for another forty years.




TALOFOFO


The "Lonesome Stranger" was harmless, but parents used his idiosyncrasies to scare the children into good behavior.

He would go around the village with a sack, collecting bottles and cans. Your trash might go missing, too, as he would go through your garbage can waiting by the road side for pick up and bring them back to his hide-away to sort them.

Kids might have called him names or thrown rocks at him, but villagers tell me this wouldn't have been often and if adults had been around the kids would have been scolded. Generally, he was left alone. If he saw someone coming his way, he'd make a detour if possible. If you passed him, he wouldn't look at you.

Several villages in the 1950s, 60s and 70s had their own version of the "Lonesome Stranger." In all cases, they did no harm and no harm was done to them, except for the occasional tease from children (as children can be till taught better). Children at first have that kind of reaction to the odd or different. The older the children got, they lost their fear of these special people and saw them as fellow human beings who just had their own way, and then blended into the scene.

Rest in peace, "Lonesome Stranger."


CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : NAPPA'

Monday, March 8, 2021


YANGGEN NAPPA' UN TÅNME,
SIEMPRE NAPPA' DOKKO'

If you plant nappa',
nappa' will sprout.





The other day I was sharing with an older man how this young man in his twenties is still a child in thinking and behavior. His whole day is spent on computer games, and his evenings are spent playing music and drinking with friends. No thought is given to furthering his education or finding a job to develop skills, earn a living and contribute to society.

But, his father is the same way. If it weren't for the fact that the father is very talented in one thing that brings in money without much effort on his part, since he's so good in it, the family would be penniless.

The older man replied to me with the above proverb. If you plant nappa ', you get nappa '. Nappa ' will grow.

The son was "planted" by the father (and mother). As the father, so the son. The Bible says, "You reap what you sow." The apple doesn't fall far the tree, and many other sayings like that from all over the world, in their own manner of speaking.


NAPPA '


Nappa ' is the Chinese cabbage.

But the word nappa ' is borrowed from Japanese nappa , which refers to the leaves of vegetables in general, especially those used for food.

The fact that Chamorros use a Japanese word for it, when Japanese influence in the Marianas did not start till around 1900, suggests that the cabbage is not old in the Marianas. Safford (1905) states that cabbage didn't grow on Guam, but does say that Japanese merchants were bringing in plant seeds from Japan by the time he was on Guam (1899-1900). So, more than likely, nappa ' began to be grown in the Marianas thanks to Japanese infuence in the 1900s and so even the name is taken from Japanese.

So, at least from the early 1900s, nappa ' has been grown in the Marianas and the saying came about. If you plant nappa ', nappa ' will sprout. Train a child a certain way, he or she will grow up that way.

CHAMORRO MOONSHINE PROS AND CONS

Monday, March 1, 2021

MAKING ÅGUAYENTE OR AGI
Early 1800s Guam


As someone once told me, "Almost anything can be made booze, if it has sugar."

So our ancestors learned the art of making åguayente (from Spanish aguardiente or "burning water"), also known as agi .

Corn, tuba, sugar cane, among other things, could all be used to make it.

But alcohol can be dangerous, especially since not all alcohol are created the same. Methanol is a bad one, when it comes to human consumption. It can kill you.

People didn't have the ability in those days to use laboratory methods to analyze moonshine. People only guessed from actually drinking it what proof it had. If it was too strong, or if methanol was produced sometimes by natural microbes that got in, the agi could be deadly.

And so one elderly man told me that his grandfather died that way. His grandfather was a great agi drinker and maker. He made it clandestinely before the war and a little after the war. But one time, his last time, he made it too strong. Perhaps he was used to it being that strong after all those years. But he died some hours after drinking.

" Sinengge i san halom-ña ," the grandson told me. "His insides were burned up."

There were no autopsies performed in the late 1940s when the grandfather died so there's no telling what he truly died from. But he had the telltale signs of methanol poisoning. Beginning with headache, dizziness, confusion, abdominal pain  and leading to, hours later, loss of movement and vision and finally death.

Methanol poisoning from homemade liquor happens frequently all over Asia.

And yet.....




According to the same older man whose grandfather died, probably of agi toxicity, when gasoline became hard to find in the final days of the Japanese Occupation, the Japanese sometimes used local åguayente , if it were higher in alcohol content, to fuel their trucks, if you care to believe him.

One man's poison was another man's propellant.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

PROS Y CONTRAS DEL DESTILADO CHAMORRO

Como alguien me dijo una vez, "Casi de cualquier cosa se puede hacer alcohol, si tiene azúcar".

Así que nuestros antepasados aprendieron el arte de hacer åguayente (del español “aguardiente” o “agua ardiente”), también conocido como agi.

El maíz, la tuba de coco, la caña de azúcar, entre otros productos, podían usarse para elaborarla.

Pero el alcohol puede ser peligroso, especialmente porque no todos los alcoholes son iguales. El metanol es malo en lo que respecta al consumo humano. Puede matarte.

En los tiempos de antes, la gente no tenía la capacidad de utilizar métodos de laboratorio para analizar el destilado. Solo lo reconocían probándolo. Si era demasiado fuerte, o si el metanol era producido por microbios naturales, el agi podía ser mortal.

Así es que, un anciano me contó que su abuelo había muerto en esas circunstancias. Su abuelo era un gran bebedor y productor de agi. La hacía clandestinamente antes de la guerra y también un tiempo después. Pero la última vez, la hizo demasiado fuerte. Quizás estaba acostumbrado a que fuera tan fuerte después de todos esos años. Pero murió unas horas después de beber.

"Sinengge i san halom-ña", me dijo el nieto. "Sus entrañas estaban quemadas".

No se realizaban autopsias a fines de la década de 1940 cuando murió el abuelo, por lo que no se sabe de qué murió exactamente. Pero tenía los signos reveladores de intoxicación por metanol. Comenzando con dolor de cabeza, mareos, confusión, dolor abdominal y llevándolo, horas más tarde, a la pérdida de movimiento y visión y finalmente a la muerte.

La intoxicación por metanol de licor casero ocurre con frecuencia en toda Asia.

Según el mismo anciano cuyo abuelo murió probablemente por toxicidad del agi, cuando la gasolina era escasa durante la ocupación japonesa de Guam, siempre que tuviese un alto contenido en alcohol, se usaba åguayente local para repostar los camiones.

El veneno de un hombre era el propulsor de otro.


GUAM HUB FOR MISSING ULITHIANS

Monday, February 22, 2021

THE SIX ULITHI SAILORS LOST AND FOUND


What was supposed to be a two or three day journey, five hours each way, from Ulithi to Fais, only fifty miles away, ended up being a frightful 53-day lost at sea ordeal, 37 days of them without food.

And Guam served as the hub for the rescue efforts to get the lost sailors back home.

On April 11, 1963, six sailors set sail in a 36-foot traditional outrigger canoe from Fassarai, one of the atolls in Ulithi in Yap State. Their destination was Fais, another atoll some fifty miles to the east. People grew tobacco in Fais and the six sailors leaving Fassarai wanted to trade for tobacco.

The group was lead by Pedro Yamalmai, 34 years old. Three others were from Fassarai : Luis Yoloreg, 45; Pablo Hasgur, 60 and, the oldest in the group, Marcher Yayulfar, 65. There was also Joseph Yormar, aged 62, from another Ulithi atoll called Mogmog. Finally there was Johanes Yguy, aged 42, from Satawal which is not part of Ulithi but it is in Yap State and the two languages and cultures of Ulithi and Satawal have similarities

After ten days at sea and not sighting Fais, they realized they had miss the small atoll and turned back. After some time retracing their route, they saw Fais in the distance, but strong currents overpowered them and pushed the canoe past Fais and towards the west. They tried to sail for Palau, or some other island within the Trust Territory, but when they didn't see any land for days, and with their food and water running low, they decided to head west for the Philippines.




It took them over a month to find the Philippines, some 850 miles from Ulithi, and by day 16 they had no food or water left. They had brought on a lot, but they didn't expect to need two months' worth of supplies for what should have been several days at sea. They still had 37 days to go before finding land. They must have been able to collect some rain water, and eaten some fish straight from the ocean.

Finally, their canoe arrived at Samar, one of the large Philippine islands. They were all in decent shape. No one's life was in peril.

It was not the first time, by the way, that people from western Micronesia ended up on Samar's coast. Mother Nature plays a role, with the trade winds and ocean currents naturally guiding vessels westward from Micronesia. Leyte and Mindanao can also be landing spots for Micronesian canoes lost at sea. This has been going on for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.





GUAM'S ROLE


Guam entered the rescue scene right away.

Given our geographic location and availability of government and military resources, search planes from Guam went out for 10 days looking for the lost canoe, but with no luck.

When the Ulithi sailors made landfall in Samar, the US Embassy in Manila was contacted. The American officials knew the next step : send them first to Guam.

Imagine these six island sailors who began their voyage in a traditional canoe ended it by flying on a Pan Am jet plane from Manila to Guam. But that's what they did, landing on Guam on June 7, 1963.




Joseph Yormar was the only one who needed medical attention, having injured a foot. He went straight to Naval Hospital. The others went back to Ulithi after a few days on Guam.


ONE THING MISSING


ULITHI CANOE AT GUAM NAVAL STATION


Although the six sailors made it to Guam, their canoe didn't.

That canoe weighed a ton. That's 2000 pounds.

So it wasn't something that could just go on the next flight.

It took a while, perhaps longer than the Ulithians wanted, but the Trust Territory Government and the Commander of Naval Forces Marianas put their heads together and got the canoe to Guam by March of 1964, on board a US Coast Guard cutter. From Guam the canoe was sent to Ulithi.

The canoe was vital to the livelihood of the Ulithian sailors. Without it, they could not go from place to place to trade goods.

RAMÓN REYES IN HONOLULU

Monday, February 15, 2021

OLD HONOLULU IN THE 1800s


Just as there is no one way to be Chamorro today, Chamorros had differences among themselves 200 years ago.

These differences can be seen among the Chamorro young men who left the island, most of them permanently, starting in the 1820s, to join the whaling ships that stopped at Apra Harbor. Others also joined merchant ships.

There's a difference right there. There were many young Chamorro men who would never be interested in leaving island; and there were many others who couldn't wait to leave.

When these Chamorro seamen eventually settled permanently in their chosen lands, they all followed different paths. Some were unable to read or write, and so they could only hold low-paying jobs, while others were more prosperous, a few becoming property owners, businessmen or clerks. Some got married, some never did. Some even ended up in prison.

Today I want to look at one Chamorro seaman whose story is not typical. He wasn't the only one of his kind, but his path in life was not the usual one for the Chamorro settler abroad in that era. He got into retail business, and did some business on the side it seems. Officially he identified himself as a "salesman." But the little we know about him, from newspapers and government documents, shows us a glimpse of a man who was frequently in court for financial and legal issues.  When he couldn't pay back loans, he  lost some assets to pay them back.



FINANCIAL ISSUES 1884


I can't say more, because we don't have the documents to tell us the full story. But RAMÓN REYES , better known as RAYMOND REYES in Hawaii, where he settled in 1870, was not the usual Chamorro immigrant who did manual labor or farming as many of them did in Hawaii, or California or wherever else they settled.

REYES made some money. He lost some, too. But he certainly was, as we say, "in the game." He was known in the Honolulu community, and appeared quite a lot in the newspaper and in court.

Take a look at this piece of evidence. Imagine you're a young Chamorro man and you left Guam around 1870, and just thirteen years later you have made enough money and acquired a home to throw a luau party in Honolulu interesting enough to make it in a local newspaper.



1883

This was not a simple meal. Even the road, and not just the house, was decorated and illuminated. There was not just food, but also dancing and musicians. This meant money. Reyes was very unlike most of his Chamorro countrymen in Hawaii and elsewhere; hidden and unnoticed.

How did Reyes make his money? As he called himself in many records, he was a salesman, and it's clear that he was a salesman for the JT Waterhouse Store in Honolulu as early as 1880, just ten years after coming to Hawaii. Waterhouse was an importer and merchant. By 1895, a newspaper called Reyes the "head salesman."

The fact that Reyes was a salesman for a commercial business in Hawaii in the 1880s tells us a few things. First, that he had command of enough English to be a salesman, dealing with customers and suppliers in that melting pot of Hawaii. In later censuses, Reyes states he can read, write and speak English, and that he could also speak Hawaiian.  And from what you can see from the language of the newspaper notices he posted, his level of English qualified him to be a salesman or clerk, and to do his own business dealings on the side.

All of this puts Reyes in a category different from many of his fellow Chamorro immigrants. The fact that Reyes was a salesman for Waterhouse just ten years after coming to Hawaii makes me wonder if he had picked up enough English on Guam (as some did), speaking to British and American whalers or learning from the English-speaking settlers on Guam, or if he was just a fast learner once he left Guam.



REYES WORKED FOR JT WATERHOUSE STORE IN THE 1880s
People were casual about spelling and names in those days


Here's a newspaper notice from 1889 showing that Reyes owned a house and lot which he put up for sale. Knowing his future financial difficulties, I wonder if he had to sell these to cover debts. Maybe not. But the fact that Reyes owned a house and lot, and wasn't just renting, again puts him at a different level from many of his fellow Chamorro immigrants who were living in rented bachelor pads and boarding houses.




A MARRIAGE, THEN DIVORCE

At some point, Reyes married a Hawaiian woman named Kapeka. The marriage ended in 1884 when Reyes filed for divorce on the grounds of his wife's adultery. The divorce was granted. There was certainly a daughter born of this marriage named Esther, born in 1882. There seems to have also been a son, but I can't track him down.




THE MACHADOS

And then, in 1888, Reyes' life became intertwined with the lives of five fatherless minors, the children of the deceased Andre Machado, a Portuguese settler in Hawaii. Machado had married a woman named Kulea from the Marshall Islands, according to the 1900 Census. Kulea was still living when Machado died, but the case was brought to court which determined that an administrator of the deceased father's estate be appointed. Reyes was not the first administrator appointed but he was given the position in 1888. He was now responsible for managing the Machado's assets in the interest of the minor children who would, upon reaching adulthood, inherit their share.

The oldest of the five children, Maria, also known as Mary, was not a minor when Reyes became administrator. She turned 18 that same year Reyes became administrator. It was also the same year Reyes married the same Maria Machado. Perhaps that's why Reyes became administrator of the Machado estate. Reyes' children from his first wife Kapeka, did not live with him.

Many Chamorros in Hawaii married Portuguese women, and Chamorros in California married Mexican women, because of the Marianas' Spanish heritage of 200 years.

Maria stuck by Reyes through the ups and downs of their life together till he died in 1909.  They had several children. The oldest, a daughter named Annie, married Fred Owen. The youngest, another daughter name Rosalie (in some documents Rosaline), married Thomas Beckley and then Joseph Keanu. So their descendants all have the Chamorro blood of Ramón Reyes.


ancestry.com


ANNIE MACHADO REYES
daughter of the Chamorro Ramón Reyes


The one son, Valentine Reyes, seems to never have married or have children. He seems to have spent quite a bit of time as a seaman and we lose all trace of him in the end.



Financial Troubles up to the End



HE READ HIS OWN DEATH NOTICE



The story of Reyes reading his own death notice in 1895 in a Honolulu newspaper is not only humorous; it also shows how well he was known in the community because the newspaper that erroneously reported his death wrote not only that he had died, but also included the circumstances of his death, all of it mistaken. The newspaper said Reyes was "Spanish" and well-liked by the kama'aina (people of the land). In reality, Reyes hadn't died and lived for another fourteen years.


AN EARLY US CITIZEN



Doubtless Reyes heard that his native island of Guam had been taken by the US in 1898. But was he now, by virtue of being a Guam native, a US citizen? It seemed so to the Hawaii judge, but to be safe Reyes went through the normal naturalization process and was made a naturalized US citizen in 1900.

His people on Guam wouldn't acquire that till 1950.

What a life Reyes had! He was born in 1839. He came to Hawaii around 1870 but before that he could have been on a whaling ship or living elsewhere, for all we know.

He made good for himself as a salesman for a store in Honolulu, but had his share of life's troubles.

He laid down his earthly burdens and passed away in 1909 according to the death certificate. He was buried at the King Street Catholic Cemetery. Rest in peace.

TELEFON HALAIHAI

Tuesday, February 9, 2021



We don't hear it too often nowadays, but in the past an expression used now and then was TELEFON HALAIHAI .

It meant "word of mouth," news that spreads from person to person, not what can be read in the newspaper or heard on radio or TV. And today, by phone or internet.

Since people use telephones to communicate one-on-one, the word TELEFON was used.

HALAIHAI refers to the vines that grow especially on beaches. In English, they're known as Morning Glories.

Just as the halaihai is connected by these vines and just as they spread all over, news that is spread all over by people communicating with each when they connect is called the telefon halaihai .



THE HALAIHAI SPREADS OVER THE BEACH
and the
TELEFON HALAIHAI SPREADS THE NEWS


The English counterpart to the halaihai is the GRAPEVINE .

There is the famous song "I Heard it through the Grapevine" sung by Gladys Knight and the Pips, Marvin Gaye and others.

The expression "grapevine," like telefon halaihai , means news that is spread by word of mouth.

The origin of the expression comes from the observation that telephone wires reminded people of grapevines.






DID YOU KNOW?

There's an area of Saipan called Halaihai. If you go to the famous Lourdes shrine in As Teo, just keep heading east.



HALAIHAI, SAIPAN

THE TRINCHERA MASSACRE

Monday, February 1, 2021


For some Chamorros, the heart-breaking brutality of war hit them right in the face in the first two hours of Japanese rule on Guam.

Six members of the Limtiaco family by blood lost their lives all at the same time, killed by the Japanese on the very first day of Japanese rule, and all they were doing was fleeing to the relative safety of the ranch lands of Yigo. Many families lost one member in wartime, but imagine six.

Three more people connected to the Limtiacos by marriage perished in the very same incident.

It's a wonder the Limtiaco clan doesn't talk much about this tragedy. Perhaps it's best not to bring up this painful memory.

Five other people, not related or connected to the Limtiacos but who were from the same village, were murdered in the very same massacre. Seventeen civilians were attacked, fourteen died, two were wounded but survived and one escaped without injury.


ESCAPING PITI AND ASAN

From the moment the Japanese began the aerial bombardment of Guam on December 8, continuing on the 9th, the people living in municipal communities fled to the rural parts of the island. They believed they would be safer from bullets and bombs that way. Half the island lived in Hagåtña and most of them fled to their ranch lands in central and northern Guam. People in the south generally fled for their ranch lands or mountain valleys.

Hagåtña's streets were congested with every sort of vehicle transporting people out of the city. Even the priests used their cars to load people up all day and night on the 8th and 9th to get them to safety. People with cars didn't help just their own families, many transported whoever they found in need.

A branch of the Limtiaco family had been in the auto business for many years already. Santiago Aflague Limtiaco of Asan was one of the earliest civilians to buy a car on Guam, purchasing one in 1916 from Atkins Kroll. He turned it into a business, hiring himself out to whoever needed transportation. His brothers followed suit, many of them being identified in censuses as chauffeurs or garage owners. The Limtiacos began in Asan, but in time some of them moved to Piti, besides the few in the family who moved to Hagåtña and Sumay.

So the Limtiacos were also occupied those first two days of the war shuttling people from Piti and Asan to the ranch lands of the north, using the family and family business cars. Time was critical, so they drove all hours of the day and night.


WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME

Sadly, the last group of Limtiacos in Piti and Asan began their ill-fated trip north right at the same time the Japanese were landing their troops at Apotguan Beach, better known nowadays as Dungca's Beach. Seventeen people from Piti and Asan, two-thirds of them Limtiacos by blood or connected by marriage to the Limtiacos, piled into a jitney owned by the Limtiacos and headed for Hagåtña with Yigo as their final destination. The other third of the passengers were from two other families in Piti.

There are conflicting stories about who was the driver. Tony Palomo wrote in a newspaper story that Juan Limtiaco Blas was the driver. But Gregorio Aflague San Nicolas' daughter Daidai, who was 8 years old at the time, says her father, who was married to a Limtiaco, was the driver. Daidai also says that the jitney belonged to her grandfather, Santiago Aflague Limtiaco.

Once past Hagåtña, the plan was to take the road that followed the shore into Trinchera, now known as East Agaña. The next place would be Apotguan, and from there the road went north to Yigo.  The problem was the Japanese were going to be on the exact, same road at the exact, same time! And the Japanese were not going to bother to check IDs before shooting. They were in attack mode. Shoot anything that moves.



INTENDED ROUTE
of the Limtiacos on December 10


Couldn't the Limtiacos have known they were heading towards danger? No, they couldn't.

The Japanese landing around 4AM that morning was done without bombs or artillery. There was no one to shoot at. The American Marines and Navy men were not there, and neither were any local defense force. The Japanese had zero opposition when they landed at Apotguan. Only the light of flares shot into the sky to provide some illumination for the Japanese wading ashore alerted the Americans that something was going on in Apotguan. But this information was not made public; it was sent to the Governor. It was all happening "in the moment." There was no way to tell the people, most of whom had deserted the city by that time anyway. There was no radio station on Guam, broadcasting the latest local news.

So when the Limtiaco jitney made it past Hagåtña and were in Trinchera on the quiet road heading north, they had no idea that 400 trigger-happy Japanese soldiers were moving in their direction. As we all know from driving through East Agaña, Marine Corps Drive is hemmed in on one side by the bay and on the other side by steep cliffs. There is not much of an escape route.





SHOOT FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER

Out of the blue, the Japanese opened fire when they heard or faintly saw an approaching vehicle. Juan Limtiaco Blas, yelled, "I've been hit!" The tires of the car were punctured with bullets, making a hasty U turn impossible, with the driver hit and eventually dead.

Gregorio Aflague San Nicolás, around 32 years old, was able to jump out as soon as he heard the gun fire. Without getting hit at all, he dashed for the cliffs and, with the adrenalin running, scaled the steep walls of the cliff till he reached the top, around the place where Jerry Calvo's home is at the Calvo Compound in Maite. He was the only one to escape without harm. He hid in the Maite area for two days before learning it was safe to come out, eating corn he found growing in the location. According to his daughter, who was 8 years old at the time, the family began saying the rosary for the dead when he didn't turn up in those 2 days or so.




Everyone else were either shot or stabbed by bayonet or both. The oldest was Nicolasa Camacho Santos Sablan, aged 51 or so. She was from the Tibutsio clan of Piti and married a Sablan. She was holding a statue of San Vicente Ferrer on her lap as she rode on the jitney. The youngest to die were around 14 years old; Joaquín Limtiaco San Nicolás and Rosa Barcinas Yamanaka.

The massacre was tinged with a note of bitter irony. The only victims who were not Limtiacos by blood or connected to the Limtiacos by marriage were half-Japanese, half-Chamorro residents of Piti brought along by the Limtiacos; the Matsumiya siblings and Rosa Yamanaka. The Japanese had killed their own; individuals who would have been treated a cut above the others during Japanese Rule by the very Japanese who killed them.


THREE WOUNDED SURVIVED

Vicente Aflague Limtiaco, the leader of the group, was bayoneted but didn't die. The same for Joaquín Santos Sablan, who was seriously injured but not dead. Magdalena Limtiaco San Nicolás, Vicente's sister, was stabbed eight times by Japanese bayonets, from her head to her torso. She played dead, restraining her breathing, when Japanese soldiers inspected the bodies.

The three survivors were perhaps helped by the fact that the Japanese didn't have the freedom to linger. Their mission was to take over Hagåtña, the capital city, so off they went, leaving the three wounded wherever they were lying.

By 6AM, only two hours after landing ashore, the Japanese were in control of Hagåtña, as Governor McMillin signed the letter of surrender. Local Japanese residents were quickly identified to help with interpreting and telling various people what the Japanese wanted done. Some of the half-Japanese, half-Chamorro sons of these Japanese residents were also called to lend a hand with Japanese organizing efforts.

As the victims in Trinchera lay on one of the main roads in and out of Hagåtña, it was only a matter of time when automobiles would pass once the fighting was over. A half-Japanese Chamorro, Joaquín Torres Shimizu, sent on an errand by the Japanese that he couldn't get out of, drove by and promised Magdalena to alert people to come help her and the survivors.

Then a truck passed by. In it was a Japanese soldier who, according to Magdalena's daughter, was ready to kill the three survivors, but the driver, a half-Japanese, half-Chamorro named Félix Flores Sakai, convinced the soldier not to do it. This truck took the three survivors to the hospital where they were treated. Unfortunately, Joaquín Santos Sablan did not last long, dying some days later as a result of his injuries sustained in the attack. His death was merely postponed for a period after the massacre and he truly died at the hands of the Japanese.

Gregorio Aflague San Nicolás, who escaped with his life in the massacre, eventually did die during the Japanese Occupation, in 1943, according to some.  His daughter told me that he was already sick from exposure to the sun and rain, and the Japanese came to their ranch in Yigo looking for him and beat him up so that he died as a result. So, in the end, only two people in the group attacked by the Japanese in Trinchera lived beyond the war to tell the story, Vicente Aflague Limtiaco and his sister Magdalena Limtiaco San Nicolás, except that, like most who went through the war, bitter memories were best left unspoken rather than retold. No book was written by them nor interviews published. Stories were told only at select times to select people.

Vicente would have to deal with some physical effects for the rest of his life, on account of the multiple stabs he suffered from the bayonet. That didn't stop him from serving the Piti community as Commissioner (today's Mayor) for sixteen years (1957-1973). The public cemetery at Tiguac is named after him. Magdalena passed away in 1976; Vicente in 1984.

I wonder what Vicente and Magdalena felt, and what images flashed in their minds, when they would journey on Marine Corps Drive in Trinchera (East Agaña) where, in an instant, bullets and bayonets tried to take away their lives, and did take away the lives of loved ones. Physical scars heal, but the emotional ones may have hurt all the way till their deaths.



THE TWO LONG-LASTING SURVIVORS
Brother and sister Vicente Aflague Limtiaco and Magdalena Limtiaco San Nicolás



WAR CRIME?

Had it been feasible to identify the actual Japanese soldiers who shot or bayoneted the Chamorros at Trinchera, it's possible they could have been tried for war crimes. But many Japanese soldiers who committed atrocities could never have been brought to justice, not only because many could not be identified, but also because many never lived long enough to face trial. Few Japanese surrendered at the end of war; most died in battle, even committing suicide rather than be captured.

The Japanese soldiers at Trinchera killed unarmed, non-combatant civilians, among them teenagers and a woman in her fifties. Those Japanese soldiers were not responding to enemy shooting. They were the first and the only ones to shoot. Even if they argued that they could not know, in the darkness of the early morning hours, that the approaching jitney was filled with harmless civilians, they cannot argue that once they started bayoneting their victims they didn't know.

Burying the Chamorro war dead was not high on the list of priorities for the Japanese. Local people, including the priests, had to take the initiative to get clearance from the Japanese to bury the dead, including the victims at Trinchera. Digging graves for the rapidly decaying bodies was exhausting work. Father Calvo, soaked with perspiration, told Bishop Olano he had to leave the burying to some other priests already helping. I cannot find any reliable source telling us where the bodies were buried, but my sense is that they were buried right in that area. Normal burial customs (at the cemetery) were disrupted in those destabilizing first days of war. Even Gregorio's daughter Daidai thinks her relatives were buried just in that area.

One source, probably relying on Dorothea SN Furukawa, Magdalena Limtiaco San Nicolás' daughter, says the massacre happened in the general area of the Mobil Station in East Agaña (Trinchera). Daidai Taitano, daughter of Gregorio San Nicolás, says her father climbed the cliff below Jerry Calvo's Maite home. So these two bits of information help us get closer to pinpointing the area of the massacre and the probable burial spot.



GENERAL LOCATION OF MASSACRE AND PROBABLE BURIAL


For many years we have been honoring, and rightly so, the memory of innocent victims in the massacres at Tinta and Faha in Malesso', and more recently at Chagui'an and Fena. Perhaps a memorial can be erected at Trinchera Beach to honor the memory of the seventeen unarmed civilians attacked by the Japanese on the first day of Japanese Rule.

Even the Japanese themselves, with the encouragement of Father Oscar Luján Calvo, built a memorial to the Chamorros who died in the Japanese bombardment and invasion of Guam. The monument disappeared during the destruction that accompanied the American invasion of 1944. Gregorio's daughter Daidai says there was some marker put in Trinchera after the war to commemorate the massacre but that, over time, the marker was worn down, probably from the natural elements, and disappeared.


WHO WERE THEY

I will give the names of the seventeen in two different ways, depending on what information is desired. First, just a list of names in alphabetical order, with their ages :

DIED

Blas, Ana Limtiaco (19)
Blas, Juan Limtiaco (22) - the driver
Limtiaco, Rosa Aflague (35)
Matsumiya, Jesús Mendiola (25)
Matsumiya, José Mendiola (23)
Matsumiya, Josefina Mendiola (24)
Matsumiya, Tomás Mendiola (19)
Sablan, Joaquín Santos (15) - died some time after the massacre but due to his wounds
Sablan, Nicolasa Camacho Santos (51)
Sablan, Vicente Santos (23)
San Nicolás, Joaquín Limtiaco (14)
San Nicolás, José Limtiaco (15)
San Nicolás, María Limtiaco (19)
Yamanaka, Rosa Barcinas (14)

SURVIVED BUT WOUNDED

Limtiaco, Vicente Aflague (27) - head of the group
San Nicolás, Magdalena Aflague Limtiaco (29)

ESCAPED UNINJURED

San Nicolás, Gregorio Aflague (32)


THE LIMTIACO FAMILY CONNECTIONS

Half of the seventeen people in the Trinchera Massacre were Limtiacos by blood and another four were connected to the Limtiacos through marriage.

SIBLINGS

Three were siblings :

Vicente Aflague Limtiaco, the coordinator of the trip to Yigo that ended in massacre.
Magdalena Aflague Limtiaco, married to Antonio Flores San Nicolás.
Rosa Aflague Limtiaco, who never married.

CHILDREN, NIECES AND NEPHEWS

Magdalena's two children :

María Limtiaco San Nicolás
Joaquín Limtiaco San Nicolás

Then there were nieces and nephews, children of Limtiaco siblings who were not traveling with the group that morning :

The children of Joaquina Aflague Limtiaco, married to José Blas :

Juan Limtiaco Blas
Ana Limtiaco Blas

The son of María Aflague Limtiaco, married to Vicente Flores San Nicolás :

José Limtiaco San Nicolás

IN-LAWS

The Sablans were the in-laws of Vicente Limtiaco, who had married Martina Santos Sablan. Nicolasa was Martina's mother, so Vicente's mother-in-law, and Vicente and Joaquín Sablan were Martina's brothers, and thus Vicente's brothers-in-law.

Gregorio Aflague San Nicolás was married to the Limtiacos' niece, Matilde, daughter of their brother Santiago Aflague Limtiaco and his wife Ana Flores San Nicolás. Gregorio was thus, Chamorro-style, their nephew-in-law.


RESIDENCE

The Limtiacos, as I mentioned, started in Asan but some family members moved elsewhere, including Piti just a mile away. The two villages being neighbors, there was some fluidity in movement between relatives in both places. For example, there are some Limtiacos who lived in Piti who are included in the memorial to the war dead from Asan. But, according to the 1940 Guam Census, just a year before the war, here are the residences of the seventeen people involved in the Trinchera Massacre :

PITI (14 people)

Vicente Aflague Limtiaco, Magdalena Limtiaco San Nicolás, José Limtiaco San Nicolás, María Limtiaco San Nicolás, Joaquín Limtiaco San Nicolás, Gregorio Aflague San Nicolás, Nicolasa Santos Sablan, Joaquín Santos Sablan, Vicente Santos Sablan, José Mendiola Matsumiya, Jesús Mendiola Matsumiya, Tomás Mendiola Matsumiya, Josefina Mendiola Matsumiya and Rosa Barcinas Yamanaka.

ASAN (3 people)

Rosa Aflague Limtiaco, Juan Limtiaco Blas, Ana Limtiaco Blas

BÅTBAS UHANG

Tuesday, January 26, 2021


So I learned a new Chamorro word today and I wanted to share it with you.

In English it's called the shrimp's antennae. Even then I'm sure people come up with their own word(s) for it, even calling it a "thingy" if we ever have to talk about it at all!

But I was so happy to hear an older man call it the BÅTBAS UHANG. The shrimp's beard!

Sure enough, I found the expression in some older Chamorro dictionaries.

But what pleases me is how our elders looked at something and came up with words that describe the thing just as it is, as they saw it. We find it in many other words and phrases we use for things that other languages see differently. Just one example would be "sleeping water" for a water puddle.

The word BÅTBAS (beard) is used in combination with other words, too, for other things. But I'll save those for future blog posts.

By the way, we aren't the only ones who describe shrimp antennae using facial hair.

In Filipino it is called the SHRIMP'S MUSTACHE . Bigote ng hipon .

Both bigote (used in both Filipino and Chamorro) and båtbas ( barba ) are borrowed from Spanish.

PUTI ÑÅLANG, PUTI HÅSPOK

Monday, January 18, 2021



Humålom si Pedro gi sagan chumocho ya ha sodda' i amigu-ña as Kiko'
(Pedro went into the restaurant and found his friend Kiko')

na esta monhåyan chumocho sa' tåya' esta nengkanno' gi na'yan siha.
(who was done eating as there was no more food on the dishes.)

"Håfa Kiko' na un lalasa i tiyån-mo?" mamaisen si Pedro.
("Hey Kiko' why are you rubbing your tummy?" asked Pedro.)

Man oppe si Kiko', "Ai amigo, puti håspok!"
(Kiko' answered, "Man buddy it hurts to be full!")

Ilek-ña si Pedro, "Pues guåho puti sa' ñålang yo'!"
(Pedro said, "Well I'm in pain 'cause I'm hungry!")

Ilek-ña si Kiko', "Puti-ña håspok!"
(Kiko' said, "It hurts worse to be full!")

Ineppe gue' as Pedro, "Lache hao amigo. Sa' masea puti an håspok, lao sige adumiddide' mumågong.
(Pedro answered him, "You're wrong buddy. Because even if you hurt to be full, little by little

Lao an ñålang hao, mås luma'atdet puti-ña para mo'na!"
(it keeps getting better. But when you're hungry, it gets worse as time goes on!")



NO MORE CHAMORROS?

Wednesday, January 13, 2021



When I was a kid I would hear, now and then, that there aren't any real Chamorros left.

Many years later, I met people from the south of Guam. And later, people from Luta. And eventually started doing their family trees.

And then I laughed at what I had heard earlier. No real Chamorros left.

Take for example my friend Maria Espinosa Quinata from Malesso' and for many year now living in Santa Rita. That's her in the picture above.

When I did her family tree just on her father's side, all her family names on that side are indigenous with the exception of two.

Since Malesso's baptismal records go all the way back to 1835, I was able to trace Maria's family tree that far back.

Here are all the names on her father's side going back to the 1830s :

EGUIGUAN
NAMASI
TAIJERON
CHARGUALAF
NASAYOF
BABAUTA

Those are the indigenous Chamorro names. The only two names that are not Chamorro are

ESPINOSA
SAN NICOLAS

Half of the Chamorro names are based on words so old we don't use them anymore and so we're not sure what they mean.

Namasi is easy to see, because we still use the word na'mase ', which means "pitiful." Chargualaf is really chatgualaf , which means "to hunt by moonlight badly." Thanks to a Spanish writer in the late 1600s, we know that an obsolete Chamorro word for "flag, emblem, symbol" is babao , so Babauta is babao-ta , "our flag, emblem or symbol."

If you understand how Spaniards spelled Chamorro names the way their ears heard it, you can understand how Terlaje is really tatlahe , meaning "no son" or "no man." That got me thinking that Taijeron is really taihilon . Hulon is an old Chamorro word for "leader, ruler, judge." The tai changes hulon to hilon . So, "no leader, no ruler." The Spaniards often put an R where an L ought to be. Think of Inalåhan and Malesso' (Inarajan and Merizo).

But Eguiguan and Nasayof remain doubtful, or even unknown. Not only have the words died out; even the family names have died out.

As for Espinosa, that is a well-known Spanish family name, and has been in Guam since the early 1700s. But we don't know what specific country the founder of the Espinosa clan on Guam came from.

As for San Nicolás, that name was given now and then by some Spanish priests to illegitimate babies, in honor of the Augustinian saint who was the patron of those priests. So, San Nicolás is Spanish but it doesn't mean the baby's father was Spanish. The baby's biological father could have been Chamorro, but the baby was given a saint's name in Spanish.

So, when I look at Maria, she has all the features of the Chamorro as described by many European visitors 200 years ago. Strong and big boned. All that Eguiguan , Nasayof , Chargualaf , Namasi and Babauta blood. And her mother's side Tedpahogo and Gofigan , more indigenous names.


THE SOUTH AND LUTA



We have to keep in mind the history of people's movement and settlement in the 1700s.

The foreign soldiers (Mexican, Filipino, the Spanish officers) lived in Hagåtña. This is where we find the Cruzes, Santoses, Pangelinans, Mendiolas and Camachos; a mix of those three ethnicities, from Mexico, the Philippines and Spain. Soldiers from abroad who didn't bring wives with them married Chamorro women, and the children of foreign soldiers took on Chamorro blood, language and culture.

The outlying satellite villages of Hagåtña (Aniguak, Asan, Tepungan, Apotguan, Mongmong, Sinajaña and Pago) were mostly Chamorro. There we find names like Ungacta, Materne, Gumataotao, Angoco, Terlaje, Maañao, Megofña, Taimanglo, Quidachay, Tedtaotao, Quichocho, Atoigue.

The southern villages were likewise mostly Chamorro with few foreigners. There we find names like Topasña, Aquiningoc, Nededog, Aguon, Afaisen, Naputi and Mantanoña.

Luta, as well, had few foreigners so the Ayuyu, Hocog, Songsong and Taisacan are strong there.

Although Maria most likely has Mexican, Spanish and Filipino additions, she is neither Mexican, Spanish or Filipino, just as a Filipino with a Chinese grandmother is not Chinese, just as a Spaniard with a French great grandmother is not French. People have additional strains of blood, but their predominant racial profile remains, and their ethnic identity is more than a matter of mathematics.

After all, Barack Obama's mother was Caucasian, but he is considered America's First Black President.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

¿NO MÁS CHAMORROS?

Cuando yo era niño a veces escuchaba que ya no había chamorros auténticos.

Muchos años después, conocí a gente del sur de Guam y luego, gente de Rota que comenzaron a hacer sus árboles genealógicos.

Así que me reí de lo que había escuchado en el pasado: que ya no quedaba ningún chamorro real.

Tomemos por ejemplo a mi amiga María Espinosa Quinata, originaria de Merizo que desde hace muchos años vive en Santa Rita. La podemos ver en la imagen de arriba.

Cuando hice su árbol genealógico solo por el lado de su padre, todos los apellidos de ese lado son indígenas, con la excepción de dos.

Dado que los registros bautismales de Merizo se remontan a 1835, pude rastrear el árbol genealógico de María hasta tan atrás.

Aquí están todos los apellidos del lado de su padre que se remontan a la década de 1830:

EGUIGUAN
NAMASI
TAIJERON
CHARGUALAF
NASAYOF
BABAUTA

Ésos son apellidos indígenas chamorros. Los dos únicos apellidos que no son indígenas son

ESPINOSA
SAN NICOLÁS

La mitad de esos apellidos indígenas se basan en palabras tan antiguas que ya no las usamos, por lo que no estamos seguros de lo que significan.

“Namasi” es fácil de comprender, porque todavía usamos la palabra na'mase ', que significa "lamentable". “Chargualaf” es realmente chatgualaf, que significa "cazar mal a la luz de la luna". Gracias a un escritor español de finales del siglo XVII, sabemos que una palabra chamorra obsoleta para "bandera, emblema, símbolo" es babao, por lo que “Babauta” es babao-ta, "nuestra bandera, emblema o símbolo".

Si entendemos cómo los españoles deletreaban los apellidos chamorros en la forma en que los escuchaban sus oídos, podemos comprender cómo “Terlaje” es realmente tatlahe, que significa "ningún hijo" o "ningún hombre". Eso me hizo pensar que “Taijeron” es realmente taihilon. Hulon es una antigua palabra chamorra para "jefe, líder, gobernante, juez". El tai cambia de hulon a hilon, “ningún jefe”. Los españoles a menudo ponen una R donde debería estar una L. Pensemos en Inalåhan y Malesso' (Inaraján y Merizo).

Pero Eguiguan y Nasayof siguen siendo dudosos, o incluso desconocidos. No solo se han extinguido las palabras; incluso los apellidos han desaparecido.

En cuanto a Espinosa, es un apellido español muy conocido y ha estado en Guam desde principios del siglo XVIII. Pero no sabemos de qué país específico vino el fundador del clan Espinosa en Guam.

En cuanto a San Nicolás, ese apellido fue dado a veces por algunos sacerdotes españoles a los hijos naturales, en honor al santo agustino que era el patrón de esos sacerdotes. Entonces, San Nicolás es un apellido español, pero eso no significa que el padre del bebé fuera español. El padre biológico del bebé podría haber sido chamorro, pero el bebé recibió el nombre de un santo en español.

Entonces, cuando observo a María, tiene todas las características del indígena chamorro tal y como lo describieron muchos visitantes europeos hace 200 años. Fuerte y de huesos grandes. Toda esa sangre de Eguiguan, Nasayof, Chargualaf, Namasi y Babauta. Y del lado de su madre, Tedpahogo y Gofigan, que son más apellidos indígenas.

Debemos tener en cuenta la historia del movimiento y asentamiento de personas en el siglo XVIII.

Los soldados extranjeros (mexicanos, filipinos, oficiales españoles) vivían en Agaña. Aquí es donde encontramos a los Cruz, Santos, Pangelinan, Mendiola y Camacho; una mezcla de esas tres etnias, de México, Filipinas y España. Los soldados del exterior que no traían esposas se casaron con mujeres chamorras y los hijos de los soldados extranjeros adquirieron la sangre, la lengua y la cultura chamorras.

Los pueblos satélites periféricos de Agaña (Aniguak, Asam Tepungan, Apotguan, Mongmong, Sinajaña y Pago) eran en su mayoría de población indígena chamorra. Allí encontramos apellidos como Ungacta, Materne, Gumataotao, Angoco, Terlaje, Maañao, Megofña, Taimanglo, Quidachay, Tedtaotao, Quichocho, Atoigue.

Los pueblos del sur de Guam también eran en su mayoría indígenas chamorros con pocos extranjeros. Allí encontramos apellidos como Topasña, Aquiningoc, Nededog, Aguon, Afaisen, Naputi y Mantanoña.

Rota también tenía pocos extranjeros, por lo que los Ayuyu, Hocog, Songsong y Taisacan son comunes allí.

Aunque lo más probable es que María tenga adiciones mexicanas, españolas y filipinas, no es mexicana, española o filipina, al igual que un filipino con una abuela china no es chino, al igual que un español con una bisabuela francesa no es francés. Las personas tienen cepas de sangre adicionales, pero su perfil racial predominante permanece y su identidad étnica es más que una cuestión de matemáticas.

KÅNTA : MAMES KORASON

Tuesday, January 5, 2021


A song recorded by the Saipan musical group Rematau.





Mames korason
(Sweet heart)
yanggen konfotme hao
(if you agree)
na un guaiya yo'
(to love me)
sa' hågo ha' i guinifi-ho.
(because you alone are my dream.)
Triste yan mahålang
(Sad and longing)
ya bai hu padese
(and I will suffer)
yan i putin korason-ho
(and the pain of my heart)
nene aksepta yo'.
(baby accept me.)

Matå-mo sen asut,
(Your eyes are so blue,)
fasu-mo sen freska
(your face so fresh)
lao i guinaiya-mo nene
(but your love baby)
ti para guåho.
(is not for me.)
Sångan i magåhet
(Tell the truth)
kao esta guaha otro
(if there is already someone else)
ya bai fan aligao lokkue'
(and I too shall search)
para i lina'lå'-ho.
(for someone for my life.)


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

Una canción grabada por el grupo musical de Saipán, Rematau.

Mames korason
(Dulce corazón)
yanggen konfotme hao
(si estás conforme)
na un guaiya yo '
(para amarme)
sa' hågo ha' i guinifi-ho.
(porque solo tú eres mi sueño)

Triste yan mahålang
(Triste y anhelante)
ya bai hu padese
(y voy a padecer)
yan i putin korason-ho
(y el dolor de mi corazón)
nene aksepta yo '.
(nena acéptame)


Matå-mo sen asut,
(Tus ojos son tan azules)
fasu-mo sen freska
(tu cara tan fresca)
lao i guinaiya-mo nene
(pero tu amor, nena)
ti para guåho.
(no es para mí.)

Sångan i magåhet
(Di la verdad)
kao esta guaha otro
(si ya hay otro más)
ya bai fan aligao lokkue '
(y yo también buscaré)
para i lina'lå'-ho.
(a alguien para mi vida)


GUAM'S "FIRST" TRAFFIC VIOLATION

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

If Luís Atao Cruz of Piti was not the first guy on Guam to get a speeding ticket, he was one of the first. That's why I put "first" in quotation marks in the title.

Records of the time are not complete, so there could have been others before him, but Cruz's traffic violation in November of 1917 is the first such case I've come across in Guam's court records.

That night on November 27, at around 7:15, a patrolman noticed Cruz driving above the speed limit on the road through Asan. The patrolman signaled Cruz to pull over and Cruz ignored it.

In court, Cruz plead guilty. For all this, Cruz had to pay $55 in fines and fees, spend twenty days behind bars and lose his driver's license, at least for a time. He was only 19 years old then so after a while he got his license back. Cruz passed away in 1973 and is buried in Togcha. May he rest in peace.

Automobiles were new, of course, to the island. But people were buying cars that early, including the Limtiacos of Asan who soon got into the transportation business chauffering passengers.

Perhaps it took a while for ideas such as speed limits to settle in people's minds. The lack of significant traffic and the lateness of the hour in a small village (thus fewer people on the road) could have made speeding a natural temptation.

And yet I imagine the speed limit was low, by our standards. Ten miles per hour? Twenty? Cars back then could rarely go more than 30 mph. Then the condition of the road (not paved with asphalt) would have prevented higher speeds anyway. In November, it would have been dark already by 7PM. So I'm picturing the scene like an old movie. Dark, quiet; and a lone policeman seeing the one car on a dirt road sputtering along and the policeman yelling, "Pull over."

Many of us, yours truly included, have been pulled over by the police for going over the speed limit. We can all commiserate with Luís who may hold the title of first traffic violation in Guam's history. Maybe the first, but only of thousands of speeding tickets that came after him.




VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

LA “PRIMERA” INFRACCIÓN DE TRÁFICO DE GUAM

Tal vez Luís Atao Cruz, originario de Piti, no fuera el primer hombre en Guam en recibir una multa por exceso de velocidad, pero al menos fue uno de los primeros. Es por ello que puse en el título "primera" entre comillas.

Los registros del tiempo no están completos, por lo que podrían haberse producido otros antes que él, pero la infracción de tránsito de Cruz en noviembre de 1917 es el primer caso de este tipo que he encontrado en los registros judiciales de Guam.

Esa noche del 27 de noviembre, alrededor de las 7:15 pm, un patrullero notó que Cruz conducía por encima del límite de velocidad en la carretera que atraviesa Asan. El patrullero le indicó a Cruz que se detuviera y Cruz lo ignoró.

En la corte, Cruz fue declarado culpable. Por todo esto, Cruz tuvo que pagar $ 55 en multas y tarifas, pasar veinte días tras las rejas y perder su licencia de conducir, al menos por un tiempo. Entonces solo tenía 19 años, así que después de una temporada recuperó su licencia. Cruz, en paz descanse, falleció en 1973 y está enterrado en Togcha.

Los automóviles eran una novedad en la isla. Pero la gente adquirió coches muy pronto, incluidos los Limtiaco de Asan que pronto se metieron en el negocio del transporte como choferes de pasajeros.

Quizás fue necesario un tiempo para que ideas como los límites de velocidad se asentaran en la mente de las personas. La falta de tráfico significativo y el retraso de la hora en un pueblo pequeño (por lo tanto, menos gente en la carretera) podrían haber hecho que el exceso de velocidad fuera una tentación natural.

Y, sin embargo, imagino que el límite de velocidad era bajo, según nuestros estándares. ¿Diez millas por hora? ¿veinte? Los autos en esa época rara vez podrían ir a más de treinta millas por hora. En aquel entonces, las condiciones de la carretera (no pavimentada con asfalto) habrían impedido de todos mods, velocidades más altas. En noviembre, ya habría oscurecido a las 7 p.m. Así que me imagino la escena como en una película vieja. Oscuro, tranquilo y un policía solitario que ve el único automóvil en un camino de tierra que pasa y el policía grita: "Deténgase".

Muchos de nosotros hemos sido detenidos por la policía por superar el límite de velocidad. Todos podemos compadecernos de Luís, que puede que ostente el título de la primera infracción de tráfico en la historia de Guam. Quizás la primera de las miles de multas por exceso de velocidad que le siguieron.

BEFORE THERE WAS MAPLE SYRUP

Tuesday, December 22, 2020


In case you haven't noticed, there are no maple trees in the Marianas.

So why do we eat buñelos dågo at Christmas time with maple syrup?

The dågo has been around since before the Spaniards. The buñuelos was taught to our people by either the Spaniards, or by Mexican or Filipino soldiers who came with them.

But maple syrup only came around after World War II, at least for the majority of people.

Well, long before Western maple syrup graced our store shelves, we had our own syrup called ATNIBAT .



It was made with something we grew right here in our islands - either SUGARCANE ( TUPU) or COCONUT SAP (TUBA ).

The juice of the sugarcane was boiled until it became a syrup. That was the FIRST METHOD .

The SECOND METHOD was to use the brown sugar made from the juices and, when boiled with water, the sugar made a perfectly fine syrup.

The THIRD METHOD of making syrup was to boil sweet tuba , made from coconut sap.

The Spanish word for it is ALMÍBAR , but we pronounce it ATNIBAT .




You may think it's OK, we'll always have maple syrup. But, you may need syrup right away with no time to run to the store. Or, God forbid, some worldwide situation delays cargo ships from bringing manufactured goods to the island.

As long as you have brown sugar, you can make your own atnibat or syrup, just like we did 100 years ago.

Here's how easy it is to do :




VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

ANTES DE QUE EN GUAM EXISTIERA EL SIROPE DE MAPLE

En caso de que no nos hayamos dado cuenta, no hay maple en las Islas Marianas.

Entonces, ¿por qué tomamos “buñuelos dågo” en Navidad acompañados de sirope de maple?

El “dågo” en Guam es un producto originario pre-hispánico. La preparación de “buñuelos” fue enseñada a nuestro pueblo por los españoles, o por los soldados mexicanos o filipinos que los acompañaban.

Pero el sirope de maple solo apareció en Guam después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, al menos para la mayoría de la gente.

Pues bien, mucho antes de que el sirope de maple adornara los estantes de nuestras tiendas, elaborábamos nuestro propio sirope llamado “ATNIBAT”.

Se hacía con algo que cultivamos aquí en nuestras islas, ya fuese caña de azúcar (TUPU) o savia de coco (TUBA).

Se hervía el jugo de la caña de azúcar hasta que se convertía en almíbar. Ése era el primer método.

El segundo método era utilizar el azúcar moreno. Cuando se hervía con agua, el azúcar moreno formaba un almíbar perfectamente fino.

El tercer método de hacer almíbar era hervir tuba dulce, hecha de savia de coco.

La palabra en español es “ALMÍBAR”, pero la pronunciamos en chamorro, “ATNIBAT”.

Podemos pensar que siempre tendremos sirope de maple en las tiendas. Pero es posible que en alguna ocasión necesitemos sirope de inmediato sin tiempo para ir a comprarlo. O, Dios no lo quiera, alguna situación mundial retrase a los buques de carga de traer productos manufacturados a la isla.

Siempre que tengamos azúcar moreno, podemos hacer nuestro propio “atnibat” o sirope, tal como lo hacíamos hace 100 años.

Así de fácil es prepararlo:

Antes de que el comercio moderno llevara el sirope de maple a las Marianas, nuestra gente hacía su propio sirope usando azúcar moreno de caña o savia de coco, ambos cultivados aquí en casa. Este sirope se llama ATNIBAT. A continuación, os indicamos cómo prepararlo con azúcar moreno.

Usemos dos medidas iguales de agua y azúcar. Para una persona, 1/4 de una taza es suficiente. Llevar a ebullición y revolver. Esperemos hasta que tenga la consistencia que se desea, luego retiremos del fuego y aguardemos a que enfríe.

Me gusta el almíbar no demasiado espeso, todavía un poco líquido, ya que los “buñuelos” lo absorberán mejor y resultarán más empapados.

A veces el almíbar se pega a los lados de la taza, pero está lo suficientemente líquido como para que los “buñuelos” lo absorban completamente.

FELIZ PASCUA DE NOCHEBUENA.


BORN IN AGRIGAN

Tuesday, December 15, 2020


A hundred and twenty-two years of political separation between Guam and the Northern Marianas help explain why, for many Chamorros from Guam, islands like Anatåhan and Agrigan are "far away" places that have about as much relevance to them as do Nepal and Suriname.

It's an unfortunate consequence of this political separation because we are connected to those islands in many other ways, not the least of which is found in some of our great grandparents or great great grandparents.

When all the Marianas were one political unit during Spanish times, some of our Guam great grandparents were born, not only in the Northern Marianas, but in the smaller, northern Northern Mariana islands like Pagan and Agrigan and the others.


LUÍS SABLÁN FROM SUMAY WAS BORN IN AGRIGAN


Take, for example, a Sumay man named Luís Castro Sablán. When he testified in court in 1917, we were still using the Spanish naming method where the father's surname comes first, then the mother's. So in this court record he is known as Luís Sablán Castro. He is 29 years old in 1917, so born around 1888.

He was born in Agrigan. Why?

In 1888, all the Marianas were one political unit. Going from Guam to Luta or Saipan was like going from Malesso' to Yigo. We were all one "nation," as it were. All the islands had priests from the same Order, lead by the priest of Hagåtña. All the islands had civil officials taking orders from the Governor in Hagåtña. Prior to these recent colonial structures, we were, of course, one race of people for thousands of years.

Vicente Díaz Sablán, Luís' father, was a Guam Chamorro from Sumay who moved up and down the Northern Marianas in the 1880s and 1890s. His many children were either born on Guam, Saipan, Pagan and Agrigan. And his moves weren't one time events. He had a child in Guam, then Saipan, then Agrigan, then back to Guam, then back to Saipan, then Pagan, then Saipan again. He even stayed in Saipan up to German times, but by the early 1900s he and his children were back on Guam.

There were only two reasons why Guam people moved up and down the northern islands. It was either because they had a government position or because they wanted to make money. I'm not speaking about permanent settlers; I'm speaking about those who actively, frequently moved "up and down" the islands, often changing places. The Spanish Government sent teachers and local officials to the northern islands now and then. The northern islands were also places where people hoped to make money from copra (dried coconut meat) which was in high demand by Japanese and Western buyers to be used in making soap, cosmetics, food and other products.

With Vicente, it seems both government and business played a role. Vicente's father, Luís Guzmán Sablán, was alcalde (mayor) of Agrigan for some time during the Spanish era.

But we also know, from court records, that Vicente's older brother Pedro was working in Agrigan in the 1890s on John Turner Harrison's copra plantation. Harrison was married to a Portusach, and his wife's family was always involved in commercial enterprises, including copra production in the northern islands.




GRAVE OF LUÍS IN SUMAY

Assuming Vicente and his family moved back to Guam in the early 1900s, Luís would have been just in his teens. But he would have been able to tell stories about Saipan, and maybe Pagan, where his sister was born when he was old enough to form memories, and share tales about riding in boats up and down the northern islands. He could have told us about the Germans in Saipan, and about the Carolinians who not only lived in Saipan and worked in the northern islands on the copra plantations but who were also often in charge of the sailing crafts up and down the Marianas.

Luís married a woman older than he, who already had a daughter. His wife's name was Ascensión (sometimes rendered Asunción) Cruz and her daughter was Rosalía. Luís and Ascensión did not have children of their own. Ascensión died before Luís, and Luís lived alone till he died in 1936. His grave is still there in Sumay Cemetery. It affirms he was born in 1888.

So, in the 1920s and 30s, these conversations with a Guam man about life in the northern islands could have been had and, had he had children of his own and passed down these stories, these stories could be with us still today.


A LESSON ABOUT OFFICIAL RECORDS

People say that oral history is not always reliable and indeed that is truly the case. We get facts wrong about what happened last week. Imagine when "information" is passed down about what happened 100 years ago.

But official records can also be unreliable. Official records are made by humans and, as the saying goes, to err is human.

A clerk could hear the wrong thing and write it down. A clerk could be distracted and write the wrong thing down. A typist could miss a key and not notice it. A clerk could take the person's word for it, and boom the "fact" becomes legal once it's entered into the official record.

Take, for example, the 1920 Census of Guam. That's an official record. Yet it contains errors.




I'll type out what it says, much too small, in the snippet from the 1920 Census above.

SABLAN, LUIS C . Head. Male. Chamorro. 32 (years). Married. Then it says he was born on Guam. Wrong! Just three years before this Census, he was saying in court under oath he was born in Agrigan.

The 1930 Census got it right.



The writing is hard to read, but it says :

SABLAN, LUIS C . Head. Male. Chamorro. 41 (years). Widower. But it gets his birth place right. Agrigan.

Perhaps the Census taker in 1920 didn't even ask Luís where he was born, taking for granted he was born on Guam. But, in 1930, the Census taker asked the question and Luís, over forty years later, knew and said he was born in Agrigan.




Luís died in 1936 so it's no surprise we have no photos of him. He also had no children of his own, so there aren't descendants who might have a photo. But I did know Luís' nephew Jesús, the son of his brother Joaquín. Jesús was 9 years old when his Agrigan-born uncle died. I wonder if Jesús ever talked with his uncle Luís and heard his stories. In those days, children were seen, not heard. Elders were not so forthcoming about family history. So it's not very likely but still possible.

The main thing to learn from Luís Sablán's story is that, for us Chamorros from Guam, Agrigan, Pagan and the other northern islands are well connected to our own story, and not as distant to us as Nepal and Suriname might be to us.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

NACIDO EN AGRIGAN

Ciento veintidós años de separación política entre Guam y las Marianas del Norte nos ayudan a explicar por qué, para muchos chamorros de Guam, islas como Anatahan y Agrigan son lugares tan "lejanos" que tienen para ellos tanta relevancia como Nepal o Surinam.

Es una consecuencia lamentable de esa separación política pues estamos conectados con esas islas de muchas formas, una de las cuales se encuentra en algunos de nuestros bisabuelos o tatarabuelos.

Cuando durante la época española, todas las Islas Marianas eran una unidad política, algunos de nuestros bisabuelos de Guam nacieron, no solo en las Marianas del Norte, sino en las islas más pequeñas del norte de las Marianas del Norte como Pagan, Agrigan y otras.

Tomemos, por ejemplo, a un hombre de Sumay llamado Luís Castro Sablán. Cuando testificó ante el tribunal en 1917, todavía estábamos usando el método de apellidos en español donde el apellido del padre va primero, luego el de la madre. Por eso en este expediente judicial se le conoce como Luís Sablán Castro. Tiene 29 años en 1917, por lo que nació alrededor de 1888.

Nació en Agrigan. ¿Por qué?

En 1888, todas las Marianas eran una unidad política. Ir de Guam a Rota o Saipán era como ir de Merizo a Yigo. Todos éramos, por así decirlo, una "nación". Todas las islas tenían sacerdotes de la misma orden religiosa, dirigidos por el sacerdote de Agaña. Todas las islas tenían funcionarios civiles que recibían órdenes del gobernador en Agaña. Antes de estas estructuras coloniales recientes, fuimos además, por supuesto, una misma etnia durante miles de años.

Vicente Díaz Sablán, el padre de Luís, era un chamorro de Guam, concretamente de Sumay que se trasladó a varios lugares a lo largo de las Marianas del Norte en las décadas de 1880 y 1890. Sus muchos hijos nacieron en Guam, Saipán, Pagan y Agrigan. Y sus mudanzas no fueron eventos únicos de él. Tuvo un hijo en Guam, luego en Saipán, luego en Agrigan, luego de regreso a Guam, luego de regreso a Saipán, luego a Pagan, luego de nuevo a Saipán. Incluso se quedó en Saipán hasta la época alemana, pero a principios del siglo XX, él y sus hijos ya estaban de regreso en Guam.

Solo había dos razones por las que la gente de Guam se trasladaba a diferentes lugares a lo largo de las islas del norte. Era porque tenían un cargo en el gobierno o porque querían ganar dinero. No hablo de colonos permanentes, me refiero a los que se trasladaban con frecuencia "arriba y abajo" a lo largo de las islas, a menudo cambiando de lugar. El gobierno español enviaba maestros y funcionarios locales a las islas del norte de vez en cuando. Las islas del norte también eran destinos donde la gente esperaba ganar dinero con la copra (carne de coco seca) que era muy demandada por los compradores japoneses y occidentales para ser utilizada en la fabricación de jabón, cosméticos, alimentos y otros productos.

En el caso de Vicente, parece que tanto el gobierno como las empresas desempeñaron un papel relevante para que él se mudara a las islas del norte. El padre de Vicente, Luís Guzmán Sablán, fue alcalde de Agrigan algún tiempo durante la época española.

Pero también sabemos, por los registros judiciales, que el hermano mayor de Vicente, Pedro, estuvo trabajando en Agrigan en la década de 1890 en la plantación de copra de John Turner Harrison. Harrison estaba casado con una Portusach y la familia de su esposa siempre estuvo involucrada en empresas comerciales, incluida la producción de copra en las islas del norte.

Suponiendo que Vicente y su familia se mudaron de regreso a Guam a principios de la década de 1900, Luís habría sido apenas un adolescente. Pero habría podido contar historias sobre Saipán, y tal vez Pagan, donde nació su hermana cuando él tenía la edad suficiente para formar recuerdos, y compartir historias sobre viajes en bote por las islas del norte. Podría habernos hablado de los alemanes en Saipán y de los carolinos que no solo vivían en Saipán y trabajaban en las islas del norte en las plantaciones de copra, sino que también estaban a menudo a cargo de las embarcaciones a vela en las Marianas.

Luís se casó con una mujer mayor que él, que ya tenía una hija. El nombre de su esposa era Ascensión (a veces traducido como Asunción) Cruz y su hija era Rosalía. Luís y Ascensión no tuvieron hijos propios. Ascensión murió antes que Luís, y Luís vivió solo hasta que murió en 1936. Su tumba todavía está en el cementerio de Sumay. Dice que nació en 1888.

Entonces, en las décadas de 1920 y 1930, estas conversaciones con un hombre de Guam sobre la vida en las islas del norte podrían haberse producido y, si hubiera tenido hijos propios y hubiera transmitido estas historias, estas historias podrían estar con nosotros todavía hoy.

UNA LECCIÓN SOBRE REGISTROS OFICIALES

La gente dice que la historia oral no siempre es confiable y, de hecho, ése es realmente el caso. Nos equivocamos en los hechos sobre lo que sucedió la semana pasada. Imagínese cuando se transmite "información" sobre lo que sucedió hace 100 años. Pero los registros oficiales también pueden ser poco fiables. Los registros oficiales son hechos por humanos y, como dice el refrán, errar es humano. Un empleado podría oír algo incorrecto y escribirlo. Un empleado podría distraerse y escribir algo incorrecto. Un mecanógrafo podría perder una tecla y no darse cuenta. Un empleado podría creer en la palabra de la persona, y boom, el "hecho" se vuelve legal una vez que se ingresa en el registro oficial. Tomemos, por ejemplo, el censo de 1920 de Guam. Ése es un registro oficial. Sin embargo, contiene errores. Escribiré lo que dice el fragmento del censo de 1920.

SABLAN, LUIS C. Jefe. Masculino. Chamorro. 32 (años). Casado. Luego dice que nació en Guam. ¡Incorrecto! Apenas tres años antes de este censo, estaba diciendo en la corte bajo juramento que nació en Agrigan.

El censo de 1930 lo hizo bien. La escritura es difícil de leer, pero dice: SABLAN, LUIS C. Jefe. Masculino. Chamorro. 41 (años). Viudo. Pero acierta en su lugar de nacimiento. Agrigan.

Quizás el encargado del censo de 1920 ni siquiera le preguntó a Luís dónde nació, dando por sentado que nació en Guam. Pero, en 1930, el censista hizo la pregunta y Luís, más de cuarenta años después, supo y dijo que había nacido en Agrigan.

Luís murió en 1936, por lo que no es de extrañar que no tengamos fotos de él. Tampoco tuvo hijos propios, por lo que no hay descendientes que puedan tener una foto. Pero sí conocí al sobrino de Luís, Jesús, hijo de su hermano Joaquín. Jesús tenía 9 años cuando murió su tío nacido en Agrigan. Me pregunto si Jesús alguna vez habló con su tío Luís y escuchó sus historias. En aquellos tiempos, los niños eran vistos, no escuchados. Los ancianos no eran tan comunicativos con la historia familiar. Así que no es muy probable, pero aún es posible.

Lo principal que debemos aprender de la historia de Luís Sablán es que, para nosotros, los chamorros de Guam, Agrigan, Pagan y las otras islas del norte están bien conectadas con nuestra propia historia, y no tan distantes para nosotros como lo podrían ser Nepal o Surinam.

WHEN GRANDMA BROKE QUARANTINE

Sunday, December 13, 2020


A man got caught breaking quarantine when the girlfriend's slippers were seen inside the boyfriend's hotel room. She wasn't allowed to visit him, and she hid when staff came into the room, but the female slippers on the floor blew her cover.

It reminded me of our custom of leaving our shoes and slippers outside the front door.

And how our old ladies wore very distinctive velvet and beaded slippers.

So here's an antigo (old) version of the quarantine story above.

Junior brought his wife and newborn baby girl to Guam for Christmas. Naturally they had to quarantine at a government-designated hotel, with no visitors allowed.

But it was Tan María's first grandchild. How could she resist? It was out of the question the old lady would have to wait 7 to 14 days to see her first grandchild.

So she snuck into the hotel bedroom.

Except that the security guard passed the room and saw these red velvet, colorfully beaded slippers outside the door.

Knock, knock.

Yes?  (without opening the door)

Do you have a visitor?

No, of course not!

Whose slippers are these?

"Mine," says Junior's young wife.

The guard asks : "Do you have a mestiza dress to match?"

Caught by slippers. Old and new version of the story.



If grandma hadn't left her slippers outside, she could've gotten away with it.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

CUANDO LA ABUELA INCUMPLIÓ LA CUARENTENA

Un hombre fue cazado incumpliendo la cuarentena cuando las zapatillas de su novia fueron descubiertas dentro de la habitación del hotel en el que se encontraba. No se le permitían visitas y además ella se escondió cuando el personal entró en la habitación, pero las pantuflas semiocultas bajo la manta, lo delataron.

Me recordó nuestra costumbre de dejar los zapatos y zapatillas fuera de la puerta principal de casa.

Y también como nuestras ancianas usaban pantuflas bordadas de terciopelo muy distintivas.

Así que a continuación tenemos una versión antigua de la historia anterior.

Junior llevó a su esposa y a su bebé recién nacido a Guam por Navidad. Naturalmente, tuvieron que ponerse en cuarentena en un hotel designado por el gobierno, sin que se les permitieran visitas.

Pero era el primer nieto de Tan María. ¿Cómo podría ella resistirse? Era imposible que la anciana tuviera que esperar de 7 a 14 días para ver a su primer nieto.

Así que se coló en la habitación del hotel.

Sin embargo, el guardia de seguridad pasó por la habitación y vio estas zapatillas de terciopelo rojo con bordados de colores fuera de la puerta.

TOC Toc.

¿Sí? (sin abrir la puerta)

¿Tiene una visita?

¡No, claro que no!

¿De quién son estas zapatillas?

"Mías", respondió la joven esposa de Junior.

El guardia insistió: "¿Tiene un vestido de mestiza a juego?"

Cazados por unas zapatillas. Versión antigua y nueva de la historia.

WHEN THE PASSPORT IS LOST

Saturday, December 12, 2020


Times have changed in our islands, and they can be seen in the differing generations living in the same home, such as this one when a mother, daughter and grandmother were talking.

Mother : Oh no! I think I lost my passport! I can't find it. Now I have to drive to Rev and Tax and apply for a new passport.

Daughter : No mom you can apply for an emergency passport and after you finish your trip then apply for a new one.

Mother : I don't know what to do. Grandma, what do you say?

Nånan Biha : Ta tåyuyut si San Antonio.
( Grandma : Let's pray to Saint Anthony .)

Saint Anthony is the patron saint of lost things, and the passport is lost. That was grandma's solution.




SÅNTA MARIA'N KAMALEN POEM

Monday, December 7, 2020


Frederick Baza Quinene of Malesso', may he rest in peace, was Guam's first officially declared "poet laureate," since 1986. Perhaps he still is the only person holding that title.

He wrote this poem relating the story of the finding of the statue of Sånta Maria'n Kamalen off the shore of his native place.

Poetry is not history, so not every detail is meant to be taken as fact. The entire origins of the statue remain, in large part, a mystery.

I have provided an English translation, trying to stick to the original Chamorro as much as possible, even if the English isn't quite elegant.


Fan atitu ya en hingok
este i estoria ni bai sångan
pot i pasu-ña gi tano’-ta
i mås dichosa na palao’an.

Åpmam tåtte nai na tiempo
annai i Españot må’gas nai gi isla
ma susede giya Malesso’
dångkulon milågro nai na ira. (1)

Sa’ un taotao guihe na ha’åne
humånao para u talåya.
Ti ha tungo’ yan ti ha komprende
na i dia para u sagråda.

Annai ha dingu i lugåt-ña
ha fåna’ guato iya Dåno’. (2)
ya pumåra gi annai ya-ña
åntes de u fåtto nai gi tano’.

Annai gaige gi halom hånom
ya lumisto para u fan dåggao
ha li’e’ gi halom hånom
kalan button taotao.

Dumångkulo atadok-ña.
Ti siña hun håfa ha sångan
sa’ i butto ni ha li’e’
todo figuran palao’an.

Ya gina’chuchungi i palao’an
dos pånglao nai ni oro
yan mañiñila’ dos danges.
Esta mampos este hun todo.

Lao ha sungon i mina’å’ñao-ña
ya ilek-ña para u gu’ot
ya ennao na ha repåra
na ti siña gue’ humihot.

An ha chule’ mo’na un påso
humånao tåtte i figura
sa’ i peskadot ti ha komprende
na pot tåya’ magagu-ña.

Pues humålom nai i taotao
ya ha sångan estoriå-ña
ya ma respuesta ni man man hungok
na milågro lini’e’-ña.

I maga’låhe despues ha hungok
pues un sendålo ha na’ falågo
para u imbestiga i ma sångan
yan kao magåhet na milågro.

Ya i sendålo annai ha sodda’
sinede para u hihot
ya pot kabåles magagu-ña
sinede para u gini’ot.

Pues i sendålo nai ha konne’
i imåhen para Hagåtña
ya i Gobietno dumeklåra
amåno para sagå-ña.

Pues i imåhen ma na’ såga
gi gima’ i sendålo
pues pot i kamalen sagå-ña (3)
ennao na’ån-ña asta på’go.

Pues despues de ennao ta’lo
ha fatta nai mås milagru-ña.
Pot uno ma sodda’ fotgon
i san papa’ gi magagu-ña.

Nina’fotgon magagu-ña
ni i che’op ma supone
an humånao pumaseo
an ma chakchak i ha’åne. (4)

Yan pot otro na estoria
ni tåya’ nai rason
tinampe i imåhen guåfe
lao ma sodda’ ti kemason. (5)

Ai magåhet na ma onra
ya ma bendise i tano’-ta
desde ke måtto ya sumåga
i mås gåtbo na nanå-ta.

Ya gof debe ha’ nai lokkue’
na i imåhen na u ta onra.
Ya pot Nånan Yu’us gue’
guiya lokkue’ u ta adora. (6)

Pay attention and listen
to this story I will relate
about her event in our land
of the most blessed lady.

A long time back
when the Spaniards ruled the island
it happened in Malesso’
a great miracle act of God.

Because one man that day
went to fish with a net.
He didn’t know nor understand
that the day would become holy.

When he left his place
he faced toward Dåno’
and he stopped where he liked
before arriving on land.

When he was in the water
and getting ready to throw
he saw inside the water
like the image of a person.

His eyes became big.
He couldn’t say anything
because the image he saw
was entirely a woman’s figure.

And the woman was accompanied
by two golden crabs
and two candles were lit.
He said all this was already too much.

But he endured his fear
and said he would grab it
and that’s when he realized
that he couldn’t approach it.

When he took one step forward
the figure went back
for the fisherman didn’t understand
it was because he had no clothes.

So the man went ashore
and told his story
and those who heard answered him
that he saw a miracle.

The Governor heard later
so he sent a soldier running
to investigate what was said
and if the miracle were true.

And when the soldier found it
he was allowed to come near
and as he was completely clothed
he was allowed to hold it.

So the soldier brought
the image to Hagåtña
and the Governor declared
where would be its place.

So they placed the image
in the soldiers’ barracks
and because a camarín was its place
that is its name until now.

And after that once again
she showed more of her miracles.
For one, it was found to be wet
the bottom of her clothing.

Her clothing was made wet
from the dew, they suppose
when she went walking
when the day dawned.

And concerning another story
which has no explanation
the image was covered in flames
but was found unburnt.

Oh truly it is honored
and is blessed our land
since she came and stayed
our most beautiful mother.

And it also should be
that we honor the image.
And because she is Mother of God
she also we adore.



FREDERICK BAZA QUINENE
1942 ~ 2019



NOTES

(1) Ira means "anger" and the violence that can result from it. But in Chamorro it is almost exclusively applied to the anger of God which He shows through natural calamities. Thus ira can also mean "an act of God." Even in English, in insurance matters, a policy can exclude disasters considered an "act of God." There was no natural disaster in the finding of the Kamalen statue, so Fred must have meant the miracle was an act of God.

(2) Dåno' is the Chamorro name for Cocos Island.

(3) A kamalen in Chamorro is usually referring to a shed, such as a canoe shed on the beach. The word is borrowed from the Spanish camarín , which can mean several things, including a special room or area for a religious statue in a church. Why this statue was called Our Lady of Camarín is not historically proven, though several theories have been held for many years.

(4) This detail has a long history in the folklore. There are even versions of this story that say inifok (sticker burrs) could be found on the image from walking through the streets of Hagåtña. But these details suggest that the statue at one time had clothing made of fabric.

(5) This episode is attested to by living witnesses who were flower girls during the very procession after the war (late 1940s) when a candle tipped over and ignited the cotton surrounding the statue on the karosa (cart). The whole area was engulfed in flames. The statue was rescued, and people saw there was not a single burn mark or singed hair, which was true, human hair.

(6) "Adore" is meant in the poetic, not literal, sense. We adore only God. But it is common even between humans to use "adore" in a poetic sense when we say the child is adored by his or her parents. And, as even the layman Fred Quinene knows in his simple but solid theology, we revere her because she is "Mother of God," meaning mother of Jesus, who is God. Jesus revered His mother, and so do we, His followers. Everything we revere in Mary is in direct relation to her connection with God. Without that connection to God, everything about Mary vanishes.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

POEMA A SANTA MARIAN KAMALEN

Frederick Baza Quinene, que en paz descanse, originario de Merizo, fue oficialmente declarado el primer "poeta laureado" de Guam, desde 1986. Quizás todavía sea la única persona que ostenta ese título. Escribió este poema relatando la historia del hallazgo de la imagen de Santa Marian Kamalen frente a la costa de su aldea natal. La poesía no es historia, por lo que no todos los detalles deben tomarse como hechos auténticos.

Los orígenes de la imagen siguen siendo, en gran parte, un misterio. He proporcionado una traducción al español, tratando de ceñirme al chamorro original tanto como me resultó posible, incluso si la traducción al español no resulta muy elegante.


Prestad atención y escuchad
esta historia que voy a relatar
sobre un acontecimiento en nuestra tierra
de la dama más bendita.

Hace mucho tiempo
cuando los españoles dominaban la isla
sucedió en Merizo
un gran acto milagroso de Dios.

Porque un hombre ese día
fue a pescar con su red.
No sabía ni entendía
que el día sería santo.

Cuando salió de su aldea
miró hacia Dåno
y se detuvo donde le gustaba
antes de llegar a tierra.

Cuando estaba en el mar
y preparándose para lanzar
vio dentro del agua
como si fuera la imagen de una persona.

Sus ojos se agrandaron.
No pudo decir nada
porque la imagen que vio
era completamente la figura de una mujer.

Y la mujer estaba acompañada
por dos cangrejos dorados
y se encendieron dos velas.
Exclamó que todo esto ya era demasiado.

Pero soportó su miedo
y dijo que la agarraría
y fue entonces cuando se dio cuenta
que no podía acercarse a ella.

Cuando dio un paso adelante
la imagen retrocedió
el pescador no entendió,
fue porque no tenía ropa.

Entonces el hombre regresó a tierra
y contó su historia
y los que lo
oyeron le respondieron
que había sido un milagro.

Después lo escuchó el gobernador
así que envió a un soldado corriendo
para investigar lo que se contaba
y si el milagro era cierto.

Y cuando el soldado la encontró
se le permitió acercarse
y como estaba completamente vestido
se le permitió sostenerla.

Entonces el soldado llevó
la imagen a Agaña
y el gobernador declaró
donde sería su lugar.

Entonces colocaron la imagen
en el cuartel de los soldados
y porque un camarín sería su sitio
ése es su nombre hasta hoy.

Y después de eso, de nuevo
mostró más de sus milagros.
Por un lado, se encontraron con que estaba mojada
la parte inferior de su ropa.

Su ropa estaba mojada
del rocío, se supone
cuando ella fue caminando
al amanecer el día.

Y otra historia
que no tiene explicación
la imagen estuvo envuelta en llamas
pero fue encontrada sin quemarse.

Oh, de verdad es un honor
y es bendita nuestra tierra
desde que ella vino y se quedó
nuestra madre más bella.

Y también debemos honrar la imagen.
Y porque ella es la Madre de Dios
a ella también la adoramos.

NOTAS SOBRE LA VERSIÓN ORIGINAL EN CHAMORRO

(1) Ira significa "rabia" y la violencia que puede resultar de ella. Pero en chamorro se aplica casi exclusivamente a la ira de Dios que se manifiesta a través de las calamidades naturales. Por tanto, ira también puede significar "un acto de Dios". Incluso en inglés, en materia de seguros, una póliza puede excluir desastres naturales considerados un "acto de Dios". No hubo ningún desastre natural en el hallazgo de la imagen de Santa Marian Kamalen, por lo que Fred debe haber querido decir que el milagro fue un acto de Dios.

(2) Dåno 'es el nombre chamorro de la isla de Cocos.

(3) Un Kamalen en chamorro generalmente se refiere a un cobertizo para canoas en la playa. La palabra está tomada del español Camarín, que puede significar varias cosas, incluida una habitación o área especial para una imagen religiosa en una iglesia. El motivo por el cual la imagen se llama Nuestra Señora del Camarín no está probado históricamente, aunque se han sostenido varias teorías durante muchos años.

(4) Este punto tiene una larga historia en el folclore. Incluso hay versiones que dicen que se pudieron encontrar inifok (aristas pegajosas de ciertas plantas) en la imagen después de caminar por las calles de Agaña. Estos detalles sugieren que la imagen en un momento tenía ropa hecha de tela.

(5) Este episodio está atestiguado por personas vivas que eran niñas llevando flores durante la misma procesión después de la guerra (finales de la década de 1940) cuando una vela se volcó y encendió el algodón que rodeaba la imagen en la karosa (carroza). Toda la zona estaba envuelta en llamas. La imagen fue salvada y la gente vio que no había ni una sola marca de quemadura o cabello chamuscado, lo cual era cierto, cabello humano.

(6) "Adora" se entiende en el sentido poético, no literal. Adoramos solo a Dios. Pero es común incluso entre humanos usar "adorar" en un sentido poético cuando decimos que el niño es adorado por sus padres. Y, como incluso el laico Fred Quinene sabe en su teología simple pero sólida, la veneramos porque es "Madre de Dios", es decir, Madre de Jesús, que es Dios. Jesús reverenciaba a su madre, y también nosotros, sus seguidores. Todo lo que veneramos en María está en relación directa con su conexión con Dios. Sin esa conexión con Dios, todo en María se desvanece.


HE DIDN'T SHAMPOO

Saturday, December 5, 2020



Todo i tiempo, si María humåhånao para i tenda para u fåhan i nengkanno' yan i kosas siha ni ma nesesita gi gima'.
(María always went to the store to buy the food and things needed for the house.)

Mamåhan si María nuebo na shampoo para i båño ya ha po'lo gi sagan habbon yan shampoo gi papa' i grifo.
(María bought new shampoo for the bathroom and put it on the soap and shampoo caddy under the shower head.)

Annai monhåyan umo'mak i asaguå-ña as Juan, mamaisen si María, "Asaguå-ho, kao un chagi i nuebo na shampoo ni hu fåhan? Kao ya-mo?"
(When her husband Juan was done showering, María asked, "My husband, did you try the new shampoo I bought? Did you like it?")

Manoppe si Juan, "Åhe' adei ti hu chagi sa' ilek-ña i boteya : For Dry Hair, ya esta hu na' fotgon."
(Juan answered, "No, I didn't try it because the bottle said : For Dry Hair, and I already wet it.")



(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


ÉL NO USÓ EL CHAMPÚ

Todo i tiempo, si María humåhånao para i tenda para u fåhan i nengkanno 'yan i kosas siha ni ma nesesita gi gima'.
(María siempre iba a la tienda a comprar la comida y las cosas necesarias para la casa).

Mamåhan si María nuebo na shampoo para i båño ya ha po'lo gi sagan habbon yan shampoo gi papa' i grifo.
(María compró champú nuevo para el baño y lo puso en la jabonera debajo del grifo).
Annai monhåyan umo'mak i asaguå-ña as Juan, mamaisen si María, "Asaguå-ho, kao un chagi i nuebo na shampoo ni hu fåhan? Kao ya-mo?"
(Cuando su esposo Juan terminó de ducharse, María preguntó: "Esposo, ¿probaste el nuevo champú que compré? ¿Te gustó?")

Manoppe si Juan, "Åhe' adei ti hu chagi sa' ilek-ña i boteya: For Dry Hair, ya esta hu na' fotgon".
(Juan respondió: "No, no lo probé porque la botella decía: Para Cabello Seco, y ya lo mojé").



IF YOU SMELL LEMON CHINA

Tuesday, December 1, 2020


If you smell lemon china in the outdoors, it could be the dekku or the chepping .

Those were names, now mostly forgotten, for a female taotaomo'na (ancestral spirit) who liked the scent of lemon china . That kind of lemon has a very strong smell and was used by our people to wash the hair, long before shampoo came along.

The dekku had long, flowing hair down to her feet. She loved to wash her hair in the river and use lemon china to do so and to give it fragrance.

Thus she was normally seen by a river or at a waterfall, although occasionally she could also be found at a trongkon nunu (banyan tree).

She was not dangerous, and was usually shy and would run away from people, especially groups of people. But if she wasn't shy, she would call out with a sweet voice the names of ladies gathered at the river to wash clothes. This would be enough to send the women running away.




VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

SI HUELE A LIMÓN CHINA

Si huele a limón china al aire libre, podría ser la dekku o chepping.

Ésos eran nombres, ahora casi olvidados, de una taotaomo'na (espíritu ancestral) a la que le gustaba el aroma del limón china. Ese tipo de limón tiene un olor muy fuerte y era utilizado por nuestra gente para lavar el cabello, mucho antes de que apareciera el champú.

La dekku tenía el pelo largo y suelto hasta los pies. Le encantaba lavarse el cabello en el río y usar limón china para darle fragancia.

Por lo tanto, normalmente se la veía junto a un río o en una cascada, aunque ocasionalmente también se la podía encontrar en un trongkon nunu (baniano).

Ella no era peligrosa, y por lo general era tímida y huía de la gente, especialmente de los grupos de personas. Pero cuando no sentía tanta timidez, gritaba con voz dulce los nombres de las damas reunidas en el río para lavar la ropa. Esto sería suficiente para que las mujeres salieran huyendo.


TEACHERS' EVALUATION 1884

Wednesday, November 25, 2020


What a surprise to find out that Guam teachers went through evaluations in Spanish times as they do today.

It may not have happened a lot, but it did happen. The method used to evaluate appears to have been subjective. Their version of the Board of Education, the Junta de Instrucción Primaria (Committee of Primary Instruction), made up of the Governor, the parish priest and the government finance officer, stated their opinion about the merits of the teachers being evaluated.

Only three teachers were evaluated in the document I found covering the year 1884. All three were teachers of the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán, which was higher than the normal school for young children. The Colegio was to teach the smartest and the best, so they hoped. The islands' future teachers, government clerks and village officers were to come out of the Colegio.

These were the three teachers :

José Cruz Torres

He was born around 1865 and was the son of José Díaz Torres and Rita Reyes Cruz. Torres was part of the elite Torres family. His uncle Luís was Guam's top teacher and had gone to school in Manila.

Vicente Flores Aflague

Vicente was from the familian Katson, born around 1865, the son of Manuel Camacho Aflague and Saturnina Manalisay Flores.

Juan Rosario Sablan

Juan was from the familian Te', and the son of José Pangelinan Sablan and María Flores del Rosario.



VICENTE AFLAGUE'S ORNATE SIGNATURE
His initials are VAF for Vicente Aflague Flores
In the Spanish manner, the father's surname comes first



THE EVALUATION

The three members of the Junta had to give marks on these three teachers in six categories : Reading and Writing, Spanish Grammar, Arithmetic, Geography, Sacred History and Doctrine.

Reading and Writing . This would involve reading comprehension but also the ability to read out loud. Writing had to involve correct spelling but also calligraphy. All in the Spanish language.

Sacred History . This really meant Bible stories. Teachers had to know the most important stories of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments. The German Capuchin missionaries in Saipan would compose a Chamorro version, called Historia Sagråda (Sacred History) in 1910.

Doctrine . This meant the catechism. Basic Catholic teaching.

Notice there is no physical science and nothing about local history or even the history of Spain. That doesn't mean that these were never discussed, but that they were not topics needing dedicated categories. We have documents showing that there were brief histories of the Marianas written in Spanish but they were short descriptions focusing on the Spanish conquest and Catholic mission.

If the Colegio's main mission was to provide the next generation of government clerks and school teachers, clerks would need to read, understand and write Spanish well. They would need to know something of geography because the Marianas dealt with ships from all over the world and government and commercial ties with the Philippines, Hawaii, the United States and so on. Clerks working in finances would need to know basic arithmetic. School teachers would need to teach Bible stories and the catechism to children.


THE RESULTS



Reading/Writing


Grammar


Arithmetic



JOSÉ TORRES


VERY GOOD


VERY GOOD


GOOD



VICENTE AFLAGUE



GOOD


GOOD


GOOD


JUAN SABLAN



GOOD


GOOD


GOOD






Geography


Sacred History


Doctrine



JOSÉ TORRES


GOOD


GOOD


VERY GOOD



VICENTE AFLAGUE



GOOD


GOOD


GOOD


JUAN SABLAN



GOOD


GOOD


GOOD



As you can see, José Torres did the best, scoring Very Good in Reading/Writing, Grammar and Doctrine while the other two never scored a Very Good at all, but rather Good in all six categories.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

EVALUACIÓN DE PROFESORES EN 1884

Qué sorpresa descubrir que los profesores de Guam durante la época española, eran evaluados, tal y como ocurre hoy.

Puede que esto no sucediese siempre, pero sí en ocasiones. El método utilizado para evaluar parece que era subjetivo. Su versión de la moderna “Board of Education”, la “Junta de Instrucción Primaria”, integrada por el gobernador, el párroco y el funcionario de finanzas del gobierno, expresaba su opinión sobre los méritos de los docentes evaluados.

En el documento que encontré se examinaba a tres profesores del año 1884. Los tres eran profesores del Colegio de San Juan de Letrán en Agaña, que era de mayor nivel que la escuela para niños pequeños. El Colegio debía enseñar a los más inteligentes y a los mejores, o eso se esperaba. Los futuros maestros, secretarios del gobierno y funcionarios de las Islas Marianas saldrían del Colegio de San Juan de Letrán.

Éstos fueron los tres maestros evaluados:

1.-José Cruz Torres

Nació hacia 1865 y era hijo de José Díaz Torres y Rita Reyes Cruz. Era parte de la élite de la familia “Torres”. Su tío Luís era el mejor maestro de Guam y había ido a estudiar a Manila.

2.-Vicente Flores Aflague

Vicente era de la familia “Katson”, nació alrededor de 1865, hijo de Manuel Camacho Aflague y Saturnina Manalisay Flores.

3.-Juan Rosario Sablan

Juan era de la familia “Te”, e hijo de José Pangelinan Sablan y María Flores del Rosario.

LA EVALUACIÓN

Los tres miembros de la “Junta de Instrucción Primaria” debían puntuar a estos tres profesores en seis categorías: Lectura y Escritura, Gramática Española, Aritmética, Geografía, Historia Sagrada y Doctrina.

Lectura y Escritura. Esto implicaría comprensión de lectura, pero también la capacidad de leer en voz alta. La escritura tenía que implicar una ortografía correcta, pero también caligrafía. Todo en idioma español.

Historia Sagrada. Historias bíblicas. Los maestros debían conocer las historias más importantes de la Biblia, tanto del Antiguo como del Nuevo Testamento. Los misioneros capuchinos alemanes en Saipán compondrían asimismo una versión en chamorro, llamada “Historia Sagråda” en 1910.

Doctrina. Esto era el catecismo. Enseñanza católica básica.

Vemos que no aparecen las Ciencias Físicas ni nada sobre Historia local o incluso Historia de España. Eso no significa que estos temas nunca se discutieran, sino que no eran temas que necesitaran categorías específicas. Tenemos documentos que muestran que hubo breves historias de las Islas Marianas escritas en español, pero fueron breves descripciones centradas en la conquista española y la misión católica.

Si la misión principal del Colegio era proporcionar la nueva generación de empleados del gobierno y maestros de escuela, los empleados necesitarían leer, comprender y escribir bien el español. También necesitarían saber algo de Geografía porque a las Islas Marianas llegaban barcos de todo el mundo y existían vínculos gubernamentales y comerciales con Filipinas, Hawái, Estados Unidos, etc. Igualmente los empleados que trabajasen en finanzas necesitarían saber además Aritmética básica. Y por último, los maestros de escuela necesitarían enseñar Historias bíblicas y el Catecismo a los niños.

LOS RESULTADOS

José Torres fue el mejor, con una puntuación “muy buena” en Lectura / Escritura, Gramática Española y Doctrina, y “buena” en Aritmética, Geografía e Historia Sagrada, mientras que los otros dos, Vicente Aflague y Juan Sablan, no llegaron a obtener una puntuación “muy buena”, sino más bien “buena” en las seis categorías.

MÅHÑAO UMATANG

Saturday, November 21, 2020





What a pretty place Talofofo Falls is!

Of course our mañaina (elders) didn't call it Talofofo Falls. Places and things on Guam didn't start getting English names till the Americans established the Naval Government here in 1899.

So what did they call the place?

MÅHÑAO UMATANG according to some old-timers in Talofofo.

MÅHÑAO means "to stop from proceeding or going ahead," and in some cases it can also mean "to go back, to return."

So if you decide to go down to Adelup to complain to the Governor about some GovGuam office, then decide not to go, that's måhñao .

When you get back in your car and drive back home instead, that's also måhñao .

UMATANG is the name of a fresh water, river fish. In English it can be called a river flagtail. The scientific name is Kuhlia rupestris .




UMATANG


The umatang is a silvery fish with black spots.

Its life begins in the ocean and, as it grows, it swims up river.

But the umatang cannot jump above waterfalls. Other fish and eels can, but not the umatang . In fact, if you're hiking the southern hills of Guam and notice there's no umatang in the river, you can almost be sure there's a waterfall of some kind up ahead that the umatang couldn't pass over.

And so Talofofo Falls was a place where the umatang couldn't jump over and continue going upstream. It's where the umatang stopped moving forward and went back ( måhñao ).

Our mañaina were very observant of Mother Nature. Their lives depended on being so.





So now we know how to say Talofofo Falls in Chamorro (which isn't Talofofo + Falls at all).

I'm pretty sure tourist brochures and post cards won't all of a sudden switch to Måhñao Umatang. Talofofo Falls is just so ingrained in us and easier to pronounce for non-Chamorro speakers, which includes thousands of Chamorros!

How is Måhñao Umatang pronounced? Here's your answer :





*** Many thanks to Brent Tibbatts from the Department of Agriculture's Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources for information on and photos of the umatang .


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

"MÅHÑAO UMATANG"

¡Qué bonito lugar es Talofofo Falls! (Cascada de Talofofo). Por supuesto, nuestros "mañaina" (antepasados) no lo llamaban así. Los lugares y cosas en Guam no comenzaron a recibir nombres en inglés hasta que los estadounidenses establecieron el Gobierno Naval aquí en 1899.

Entonces, ¿cómo llamaban al lugar?

"MÅHÑAO UMATANG", según algunos mayores de Talofofo.

"MÅHÑAO" significa "dejar de avanzar" y, en algunos casos, también puede significar "volver, retornar".

Por ejemplo, si decidimos ir a Adelup para quejarnos al gobernador sobre algo, pero después decidimos no ir, eso es "måhñao".

O por ejemplo, cuando regresamos al coche y conducimos de vuelta a casa, eso también es "måhñao".

"UMATANG" es el nombre de un pez de río, de agua dulce. En inglés se le puede llamar “flagtail” y en español “cola de bandera”. El nombre científico es "Kuhlia rupestris".

El "umatang" es un pez plateado con manchas negras.

Su vida comienza en el océano y, a medida que crece, nada río arriba.

Pero el "umatang" no puede saltar las cascadas. Otros peces pueden hacerlo, pero el "umatang" no. De hecho, si vamos de excursión por las colinas del sur de Guam y notamos que no hay "umatang" en el río, casi podemos estar seguros de que existe alguna cascada que el "umatang" no pudo saltar.

Y así, Talofofo Falls (Cascada de Talofofo) era un lugar donde los "umatang" no podían saltar y continuar río arriba. Es donde el "umatang" dejaba de avanzar y regresaba ("måhñao") al mar.

Nuestros "mañaina" (antepasados) eran muy observadores de la Madre Naturaleza. Sus vidas dependían de ello.

Entonces ahora ya sabemos cómo decir Talofofo Falls (Cascada de Talofofo) en chamorro.

Estoy bastante seguro de que los folletos turísticos y las tarjetas postales no cambiarán de repente a "Måhñao Umatang". Talofofo Falls (Cascada de Talofofo) está muy arraigado en nosotros y es más fácil de pronunciar para quienes no hablan chamorro, ¡lo cual incluye a miles de chamorros!

*** Muchas gracias a Brent Tibbatts de la División de Recursos Acuáticos y de Vida Salvaje del Departamento de Agricultura de Guam por la información y las fotos del umatang.


MAOLEK PARA STROKE

Tuesday, November 17, 2020


When I was young, Vicks was the cure for almost anything. The ad pictured above is from 1965 when it cost less than a dollar. Vicks might be an American product but it became as Chamorro as red rice.

Just to show how Chamorro a medicine Vicks is, here's an actual conversation I had with an 80-year-old lady from the south of Guam not long ago :

Guiya : Ai Påle' sa' stroke yo' nigap.
(Her : Oh Father, I had a stroke yesterday.)
Guåho : Ha? Håfa ma susede?
(Me : Huh? What happened?)
Guiya : Makmåta yo' ya annai malak i kemmon yo' ya hu li'e' gi espehos na gaige gi matå-ho i labios-ho, ayo na hu tungo' na stroke yo'.
(Her : I woke up and when I went to the bathroom and I saw in the mirror that my lip was up to my eyes, that's when I knew I had a stroke.)
Guåho : Ya ti ma konne' hao para i espitåt?
(Me : And they didn't take you to the hospital?)
Guiya : Este siha? Ti bisnes-ñiha yanggen malångo yo'. Hu palala'i Vicks ya sige de hu lasa.
(Her : These (her family)? It's none of their business if I'm sick. I rubbed Vicks and kept massaging it.)




VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

BUENO PARA EL DERRAME CEREBRAL

Cuando yo era joven, Vicks era la cura para casi cualquier mal. El anuncio que se muestra arriba es de 1965 cuando costaba menos de un dólar. Vicks podría ser un producto de origen estadounidense, pero se volvió tan chamorro como el arroz rojo.

Solo para mostrar cuán chamorro se hizo este remedio, aquí una conversación real que tuve con una señora de 80 años del sur de Guam no hace mucho tiempo:

Ella: Oh padre, ayer tuve un derrame cerebral.

Yo: ¿Eh? ¿Qué pasó?

Ella: Me desperté y cuando fui al baño y vi en el espejo que mi labio llegaba hasta mis ojos, fue cuando supe que tenía un derrame cerebral.

Yo: ¿Y no te llevaron al hospital?

Ella: ¿Éstos (su familia)? No es de su incumbencia si estoy enferma. Me froté Vicks y seguí masajeando.


IT WAS THE GODPARENTS

Saturday, November 14, 2020



Baby Yolanda Mendiola, on the day of her baptism in 1967 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Santa Rita, is not being held in this photo by her parents Jesús and Regina. Instead, she is being held by her godparents, matlina and patlino , (godmother and godfathers) Mr and Mrs Joaquín Fejeran and Mr George Lizama.

This was the photo chosen by the parents to publish in the local newspaper. It's not the first time the photo chosen for the public was of the baby with the godparents, not the parents.




In this christening photo from 1965, baby Melinda Diego is not being held by parents Fred and Ana of Inalåhan, but by matlina and patlino (godparents) Ignacio León Guerrero and his sister Teresita León Guerrero.

Why are the parents missing in these, and many other, christening photos chosen for the news?

There is only one reason. Before Vatican II (the Church Council of all the bishops held between 1962 and 1965), the godparents had a more important role in the baptism of children than the parents.

In the old, traditional Rite (ceremony), the priest does not speak to the parents not even ONCE. All the questions are made to the godparents and are answered by them.

It's as if, as far as the ceremony went, the parents were not there at all. Of course they were there, at least most of the time. But not always. But a godparent or godparents were always there and made all the responses.

Why?

GOD-parents

Part of the answer, and perhaps the main answer, is revealed in the name godparent (officially they are called sponsor). They are God-parents, meaning they are the parents who bring the child to God, to be saved by God through baptism, to be made a child of God through baptism.

The baby has NATURAL parents, to be sure. The biological mother and father bring the baby into the world, but the godparents bring the child to baptism which begins the baby's path to heaven.

As Jesus taught, we must be "born again." Our first birth was into this earthly life, but we must have a second birth into a second life, heavenly life. Jesus said, "Unless you be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven." (John 3:5) In Titus 3:5, St Paul says that God "washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and a new life through the Holy Spirit," connecting what Jesus said in the Gospel of John, water and the Holy Spirit. All the ancient Christian writers, from the very first centuries of the Church, explain John 3:5 as pointing to baptism.

Physical birth is absolutely important. If no baby is born, there is no baptism. But physical birth does not automatically lead to eternal life in heaven when earthly life is done. That begins with baptism, so we have a new set of parents, spiritual parents : God-parents. So in the Sacrament where the Second Life is given, the Second set of parents have the central role to play. It is they whom the priest asks, it is they who answer the priest. It is they (usually the godmother) who holds the baby during the baptism.

And, as the photos above show, it is the godparents who pose with the baby for photos, especially for publication.

PARENTS MAY NOT EVEN BE AT THE BAPTISM

This can happen for several reasons.

One reason could be that the biological father of the baby is "out of the picture," as we say. Maybe he's not married to the mother, and mother and father may not even be on good terms at all! So in that case he doesn't go to the baptism.

The mother may not be physically able to be at the baptism. Remember that, in those days more than now, giving birth was always a potentially risky thing. We didn't have the medical technology then as we do now to deal with difficult childbirth. Infant deaths were not only a higher possibility; newborns actually died at a much higher rate than now. So it was usual to baptize the baby on the very day of birth or the next day. Almost never longer than the second or third day. To wait that long would risk the baby dying without baptism.

Well, if the delivery was hard on the mother, she was often recuperating in bed on the day of baptism, and thus couldn't go to the ceremony. Sadly.....a number of women died in giving birth.

The next reason didn't happen in a Chamorro context since the year 1700, but it did happen in a Carolinian context in the Marianas in the 1800s. There were many baptisms of Carolinian children where neither parent was Catholic. Mom and dad weren't baptized; mom and dad weren't asking for baptism; but mom and dad (at least one or the other) asked that their baby or child be baptized.

Non-Catholic Carolinian adults were often not ready to be baptized and for more than one reason. But they knew enough about Catholic teaching that they wanted their children, too young to have some of the issues they as adults had that made being a Christian a difficult option, to have the benefits of the sacrament and a beginning of their journey to heaven. So, there were many cases where the non-Catholic parent(s) did not attend the baptism, but the godparents certainly did.

SOME BABIES NAMED AFTER GODPARENT

In some cases, the godparent really took on a dominant role in the christening, to the point where the baby was named after the godparent or the godparent chose the name for the baby.

And so began, in many cases, a lifelong relationship between godparent and godchild that isn't seen in many cultures, not even in other very Catholic cultures, where godparents and godchildren often drift apart.

In traditional Chamorro culture, godparents usually held certain rights over the godchild till death, but also certain responsibilities.



GODPARENTS AGAIN, NOT PARENTS
In 1958 with Fr Antonine at St Jude Church, Sinajaña

Twins Richard Pérez, with godparents Mr and Mrs Walter Pérez, and Ronald Pérez with godparents Martina and Joaquín SN Flores.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

ERAN  LOS  PADRINOS

La bebé Yolanda Mendiola, en la primera foto, el día de su bautismo en 1967 en la iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, Santa Rita, no la sostienen sus padres Jesús y Regina. La sostienen sus padrinos, “matlina” y “patlino”, (una madrina y dos padrinos) el Sr. y la Sra. Joaquín Fejeran y el Sr. George Lizama.

Ésta fue la foto elegida por los padres para publicar en el periódico local. No es la primera vez que la foto elegida para el público es del bebé con los padrinos, no con los padres.

En la segunda foto de bautizo en 1965, la bebé Melinda Diego no está en brazos de los padres Fred y Ana de Inaraján, sino del “patlino” y la “matlina”, Ignacio León Guerrero y su hermana Teresita León Guerrero.

¿Por qué faltan los padres en estas y muchas otras fotos de bautizo elegidas para las noticias locales?

Hay una sola razón. Antes del Concilio Vaticano II (celebrado entre 1962 y 1965), los padrinos desempeñaban un papel más importante en el bautismo de los niños que los propios padres.

En el antiguo rito o ceremonia tradicional, el sacerdote no hablaba con los padres ni siquiera un momento. Todas las preguntas se hacían a los padrinos y eran respondidas por ellos.

Es como si, en lo que respecta a la ceremonia, los padres no estuvieran allí. Por supuesto que estaban, al menos la mayor parte del tiempo. Pero no siempre. Sin embargo, un padrino o los padrinos siempre estaban y daban todas las respuestas.

¿Por qué?

Parte de la respuesta, y quizás la respuesta principal, se revela en el significado mismo de la palabra “padrino” (el que patrocina, defiende o protege). Los padrinos son los “padres” que llevan al niño a Dios, para que Dios lo salve a través del bautismo, y lo haga hijo de Dios a través del bautismo. Son sus patrocinadores.

El bebé tiene padres naturales, sin duda. La madre y el padre biológicos traen al bebé al mundo, pero los padrinos traen al niño al bautismo que inicia el camino del bebé al cielo.

Como enseñó Jesucristo, debemos "nacer de nuevo". Nuestro primer nacimiento fue en esta vida terrenal, pero debemos tener un segundo nacimiento en una segunda vida, la vida celestial. Jesús dijo: "A menos que nazcas de nuevo del agua y del Espíritu Santo, no puedes entrar al Reino de los Cielos". (Juan 3: 5) En Tito 3: 5, San Pablo dice que Dios "lavó nuestros pecados, dándonos un nuevo nacimiento y una nueva vida a través del Espíritu Santo", conectando lo que Jesús dijo en el Evangelio según San Juan, agua y espíritu santo. Todos los escritores cristianos antiguos, desde los primeros siglos de la Iglesia, explican que Juan 3: 5 apunta al bautismo.

El nacimiento físico es absolutamente importante. Si no nace ningún bebé, no hay bautismo. Pero el nacimiento físico no conduce automáticamente a la vida eterna en el cielo cuando termina la vida terrenal. Eso comienza con el bautismo, así que tenemos un nuevo grupo de padres, padres espirituales: Padrinos. Entonces, en el Sacramento donde se da la Segunda Vida, el segundo grupo de padres tienen un papel central que desempeñar. Son ellos a quienes pregunta el sacerdote, son ellos quienes responden al sacerdote. Son ellos (normalmente la madrina) quienes sostienen al bebé durante el bautismo.

Y, como muestran las fotos de arriba, son los padrinos quienes posan con el bebé para las fotos, especialmente para su publicación

LOS PADRES NO PUEDEN ESTAR EN EL BAUTISMO

Esto puede suceder por varias razones.

Una razón podría ser que el padre biológico del bebé esté, como se suele decir, "fuera de escena". Tal vez no esté casado con la madre, y es posible que madre y padre ni siquiera estén en buenos términos. Entonces, en ese caso, no va al bautismo.

Es posible que la madre no pueda estar físicamente en el bautismo. Recordemos que, en aquellos días más que ahora, dar a luz siempre fue algo potencialmente riesgoso. No teníamos la tecnología médica entonces como la tenemos ahora para lidiar con los partos difíciles. Las muertes infantiles no solo eran una posibilidad mayor; de hecho, los recién nacidos fallecían a una tasa mucho más alta que en la actualidad. Por eso, era habitual bautizar al bebé el mismo día del nacimiento o al día siguiente. Casi nunca más del segundo o tercer día. Esperando tanto tiempo correría el riesgo de que el bebé muriera sin el bautismo.

Bueno, si el parto había sido difícil para la madre, a menudo se estaba recuperando en la cama el día del bautismo y, por lo tanto, no podía ir a la ceremonia. Lamentablemente... algunas mujeres morían al dar a luz.

La siguiente razón no sucedía en las Islas Marianas en un contexto chamorro desde el año 1700, pero sí ocurría en un contexto carolino incluso en el siglo XIX. Hubo muchos bautismos de niños carolinos en los que ninguno de los padres era católico. Madre y padre no se habían bautizado; madre y padre no estaban pidiendo el bautismo para ellos mismos; pero madre y padre (al menos uno u otro) pedían que su bebé o niño sí fuera bautizado.

Los adultos carolinos no católicos a menudo no estaban listos para ser bautizados y por más de una razón. Pero sabían lo suficiente sobre la enseñanza católica y querían que sus hijos, demasiado pequeños para tener algunos de los problemas que tenían de adultos y que hacían que ser cristiano fuera una opción difícil, obtuvieran los beneficios del sacramento y un comienzo de su viaje al cielo. Entonces, hubo muchos casos en los que los padres no católicos no asistían al bautismo, pero los padrinos ciertamente lo hacían.

ALGUNOS BEBÉS RECIBÍAN EL NOMBRE DE SUS PADRINOS

En algunos casos, el padrino realmente asumía un papel predominante en el bautizo, hasta el punto en que el bebé recibía el nombre del padrino o el padrino elegía el nombre del bebé.

Y así comenzó, en muchos casos, una relación de por vida entre padrino y ahijado que no se ve en muchas culturas, ni siquiera en otras culturas muy católicas, donde padrinos y ahijados a menudo se separan.

En la cultura tradicional chamorra, los padrinos solían tener ciertos derechos sobre el ahijado hasta la muerte, pero también ciertas responsabilidades.

En la tercera foto vemos de nuevo a los padrinos, no a los padres.

En 1958 con el sacerdote P. Antonine en la iglesia de St Jude, Sinajaña.

Los gemelos, Richard y Ronald Pérez, con sus padrinos, el Sr. y la Sra. Walter Pérez, y Martina y Joaquín SN Flores, respectivamente.

I TINÅHA

Tuesday, November 10, 2020


Rosa Pangelinan Martínez stands outside a home, probably hers, sometime in the 1910s. To the right stands a TINÅHA . Many homes in the old days had tinåha placed around the house.

A tinåha is a standing clay jar. The word comes from the Spanish tinaja .

The tinåha served two main purposes.

CATCH WATER . Rain water was the best water to drink, as long as no pollutants came into the stored water. If a rainy day came after a long dry spell, the roofs were given a chance to first get rinsed by the falling rain before collecting the water. Dust, bird droppings or any other undesirable elements could be washed off first. Then tinåha could be uncovered and catch the rain dripping from cleansed roofs.

A wire mesh or cloth could be extended over the mouth of the tinåha to filter out pollutants even more. What was important was to keep the lid tightly fastened to the mouth of the tinåha to keep the water potable.

STORE GRAIN . Corn was the main grain grown by our mañaina (elders). Once harvested, they were dried in the sun then stored in tinåha . This kept out bugs and moisture.

Other foods, even liquids, could be stored in a tinåha .

A tinåha was also a UNIT OF MEASUREMENT when quantifying corn or other grains.

One tinåha was equal to 16 gånta which was around 48 liters or 12 gallons. For grain in the US, a bushel is about 35 liters, so just a little less than a tinåha .

When our mañaina bought or sold corn or rice, it was by the gånta or the tinåha .



Today, you can still see tinåha in a few homes but they now serve a decorative purpose most of the time.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


LA TINAJA

Vemos a Rosa Pangelinan Martínez frente a una casa, probablemente la suya, en algún momento de la década de 1910. A la derecha se encuentra una TINÅHA. En aquellos tiempos, muchas casas tenían tinåha colocadas alrededor.

Una tinåha es una vasija de barro, de pie. La palabra proviene del español, tinaja.

La tinåha tenía dos propósitos principales.

RECOGER AGUA . El agua de la lluvia era la mejor agua para beber, siempre que no entraran contaminantes en el agua almacenada. Si llegaba un día lluvioso después de una larga temporada de sequía, los techos tenían la oportunidad de enjuagarse primero con la lluvia que caía antes de recogerse el agua. El polvo, los excrementos de pájaros o cualquier otro elemento indeseable se debían lavar primero. Después la tinaha podría descubrirse y recoger el agua de la lluvia que goteaba desde los techos limpios.

Se podría extender una malla de alambre o un paño sobre la boca de la tinåha para filtrar aún más los contaminantes. Lo importante era mantener la tapa bien sujeta a la boca de la tinåha para mantener el agua potable.

ALMACENAR EL GRANO . El maíz era el principal grano cultivado por nuestros mañaina (ancianos). Una vez cosechado, se secaba al sol y luego se almacenaba en tinåha. Esto mantenía alejados a los insectos y la humedad.

Otros alimentos, incluso líquidos, podían almacenarse en una tinåha.

Una tinåha también era una UNIDAD DE MEDIDA cuando se cuantificaba maíz u otros granos.

Una tinåha era igual a 16 gånta. Un gånta eran 48 litros o 12 galones. Para el grano en los EE. UU., un bushel equivale a unos 35 litros, es decir, un poco menos que una tinåha.

Cuando nuestros mañaina compraban o vendían maíz o arroz, lo hacían con gånta o tinåha.

Hoy en día, todavía se puede ver tinåha en algunas casas, pero ahora tienen un propósito decorativo, la mayor parte de las veces.

MA PUNO' I TORO!

Wednesday, November 4, 2020


An older couple in one of our villages was telling me the story of one of the former Commissioners from the 1950s and 60s. Before we had Mayors we had Commissioners.

The man owned a lot of cattle and every election, not far from election day, he would slaughter one or two cows and pass out the meat to village residents or barbeque and have people come and enjoy a free meal.

He won every election!

It got so the village people would say, " Ma puno' i toro !" " The bull was slaughtered !" meaning this Commissioner was sure to win.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

MA PUNO' I TORO

Una pareja de ancianos de uno de nuestros pueblos me estaba contando la historia de uno de los ex comisionados de los años cincuenta y sesenta. Antes de tener alcaldes teníamos comisionados.

El hombre tenía mucho ganado y en cada elección, no muy lejos del día de las elecciones, sacrificaba una o dos vacas y repartía la carne a los residentes del pueblo o hacía una barbacoa y hacía que la gente viniera y disfrutara de una comida gratis.

¡Ganaba todas las elecciones!

Llegó a que la gente del pueblo exclamara:

"Ma puno 'i toro!" "¡El toro fue sacrificado!" lo que significaba que el Comisionado con toda seguridad iba a ganar.


A DIFFERENT KIND OF MASS IN HUMÅTAK

Saturday, October 31, 2020


OTRO NA KLÅSEN MISA GIYA HUMÅTAK


Ekkungok este na estoria ni ma susede gi tiempon Españot.
(Listen to this story which happened in Spanish times.)


Si Mariano kahulo’ gi ga’-ña karabao giya Malesso’. Achok ha’ esta ges painge, tinago’ gue’ as nanå-ña para u hånao ensegidas para Humåtak sa’ mumalångo si tiå-ña, i che’lon nanå-ña, ya ha nesesita åmot. Annai esta kahulo’ si Mariano gi ekso’ giya To’guan, ha siente na guaha taotao kahulo’ gi tatte-ña ma u’udai gi karabao lokkue’. Annai ha bira i ilu-ña para u li’e’ håye, ha li’e’ na påle’, lao ti ha tungo’ håye na påle’.
( Mariano got on his carabao in Malesso'. Even though it was late at night, he was sent by his mother to go straightaway to Humåtak because his aunt was sick, his mother's sister, and she needed medicine. When Mariano already climbed the hill at To'guan, he sensed someone had gotten on behind him, also riding the carabao. When he turned his head to see who it was, he saw it was a priest, but he didn't know which priest. )


“Påle’,” ilek-ña si Mariano, “kao siña hu ayuda hao?”
("Father," Mariano said, "may I help you?")


Man oppe si Påle’, “Konne’ yo’ lahi-ho para i gima’yu’us Humåtak sa’ guaha Misa ni debe de hu sångan.” Ya kumonfotme si Mariano.
(The priest answered, "Take me, my son, to the church in Humåtak because there is a Mass I must say." And Mariano agreed.)


“An siakåso siña hao mañetbe gi Misa, ayuda yo’ pot fabot sa’ debe de u guaha tanores ni siña ha oppe yo’ gi Misa,” ilek-ña si Påle’. “Oh hunggan, Påle’, ginen tanores yo’,” man oppe si Mariano, ya ma kontinua i hinanao-ñiha i dos para Humåtak, ya maolek sa’ gualåfon na puenge.
( Should you be able to serve Mass, help me please because there ought to be a server who can answer me at Mass," the priest said. "Oh sure, Father, I was an altar boy," Mariano answered, and the two continued their journey to Humåtak, and it was good that the night had a full moon. )


Annai esta hihot i dos kontra i bihu na guma’yu’us Humåtak ni hagas ma tomba sa’ pot linao, ilek-ña si Påle’, “Påra, iho, sa’ estague’ i gima’yu’us.” Hinengang si Mariano, sa’ i bihu na guma’yu’us, ya ilek-ña as Påle’, “Lao saina-ho, ti guiya este i gima’yu’us Humåtak gi presente.” Lao man oppe si Påle’, “Po’lo ha’, sa’ este ha’ na guma’yu’us tiningo’-ho.”
( When the two were near the old Humåtak church, which had fallen awhile ago because of an earthquake, the priest said, "Stop, son, because here is the church." Mariano was shocked because it was the old church, and told the priest, "But my Father this isn't the current church in Humåtak." But the priest answered, "It's OK, because this is the only church I know." )


Humålom i dos gi hagas guma’yu’us, ya gigon humålom, ma tulaika todo i posision-ña i lugåt. Bula danges ni man man i’ina, gumuaha ta’lo åttat, button mañåntos, komutgatorio….todo kabåles. Humuyong si Påle’ ha gogo’te i kålis, ya si Mariano ha hungok na guaha taotao mangånta. Ha bira i ilu-ña para u atan ya guaha dosena na taotao, pinat famalao’an, ni man didimo gi halom guma’yu’us.
( The two entered the church and as soon as they did the appearance of the place changed. There were a lot of glowing candles, there was an altar again, statues of the saints, communion rail....all was complete. The priest came out holding the chalice and Mariano heard people singing. He turned his head to look and there were a dozen people, mostly women, kneeling inside the church .)


Sige mo’na i Misa, ya si Mariano ha oppe si Påle’, “Et cum spiritu tuo,” “Deo gratias,” yan “Amen.” Lao gigon ilek-ña si Påle’ “Ite missa est,” ni kumekeilek-ña, “Fan hånao, sa’ måkpo’ esta i Misa,” humomhom ta’lo i lugåt, malingo si Påle’ yan kontodo i taotao man malingo, yan i hagas guma’yu’us ha bira gue’ tåtte gi mayulang yan ma abandona na posision-ña .
( The Mass continued and Mariano answered the priest, "Et cum spiritu tuo," "Deo gratias" and "Amen." But as soon as Father said, "Ite missa est," which means "Go, the Mass is ended," the place became dark again, the priest disappeared, the people as well disappeared and the old church returned to its ruined and abandoned appearance.)


Lao ti este i uttimo. Annai måtto si Mariano gi gima’ tiå-ña, ma sangåne gue’ na gotpe ha’ humomlo’ i palao’an ya esta ti ha nesesita åmot. Annai mamaisen si Mariano ke ora na ma susede, ya ma sangåne gue’ nu i ora, ha repåra si Mariano na humomlo’ si tiå-ña annai eståba gue’ gi bihu na guma’yu’us, umayuyuda si påle’.
( But this wasn't the end. When Mariano arrived at his aunt's house, they told him she had instantly gotten well and didn't need any medicine anymore. When Mariano asked what time this happened and they told him the time, he realized that his aunt got well when he was at the old church assisting the priest. )


Many readers tell me they want to hear how the words sound, so here it is, in three clips because of video length limitations :






* Fina'tinås-ho ha' este na estoria. Åhe' ti magåhet.
(I made up this story. It isn't historical.)


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

OTRA CLASE DE MISA EN UMATAC

Pongamos atención a esta historia que sucedió en Guam durante la época española.

Mariano se había subido a su carabao en Merizo. A pesar de que era tarde en la noche, su madre lo envió urgentemente a Umatac porque su tía estaba enferma, la hermana de su madre, y necesitaba medicamentos. Cuando ya Mariano subió al cerro de To'guan, sintió que alguien se había subido atrás, en el carabao. Cuando volvió la cabeza para ver quién era, vio que era un sacerdote, pero no lo conocía.

"Padre", dijo Mariano, "¿puedo ayudarlo?"

El sacerdote respondió: "Llévame, hijo mío, a la iglesia de Umatac porque hay una misa que debo decir". Y Mariano aceptó.

“Si puedes servir en la misa, ayúdame por favor porque debe haber un servidor que pueda contestarme en la misa", dijo el sacerdote. "Oh, claro, Padre, yo fui monaguillo", respondió Mariano, y los dos continuaron su viaje a Umatac, y fue bueno que la noche tuviera luna llena.

Cuando los dos estaban cerca de la antigua iglesia de Umatac, que había caído hacía un tiempo debido a un terremoto, el sacerdote dijo: "Detente, hijo, porque aquí está la iglesia". Mariano se sorprendió porque era la iglesia vieja y le dijo al sacerdote: "Pero Padre, ésta no es la iglesia actual de Umatac". Pero el sacerdote respondió: "Ésta es la única iglesia que conozco".

Los dos entraron a la iglesia y tan pronto como lo hicieron, la apariencia del lugar cambió. Había muchas velas encendidas, había un altar nuevamente, imágenes de los santos, alfombra para ir a comulgar... todo estaba completo. El cura salió sosteniendo el cáliz y Mariano escuchó a la gente cantar. Volvió la cabeza para mirar y había una docena de personas, en su mayoría mujeres, arrodilladas dentro de la iglesia.

Continuó la misa y Mariano respondió al sacerdote: "Et cum spiritu tuo", "Deo gratias" y "Amen". Pero tan pronto como el Padre dijo, "Ite missa est", que significa "Ve, se acabó la misa", el lugar volvió a oscurecerse, el cura desapareció, la gente también desapareció y la vieja iglesia volvió a su aspecto arruinado y abandonado. .

Pero éste no fue el final. Cuando Mariano llegó a la casa de su tía, le dijeron que se había recuperado instantáneamente y que ya no necesitaba ningún medicamento. Cuando Mariano preguntó a qué hora había ocurrido esto y le dijeron la hora, se dio cuenta de que su tía se recuperó cuando él estaba en la vieja iglesia de Umatac asistiendo al cura.


LÁPIDA GI FINO' ESPAÑOT

Tuesday, October 27, 2020


A lápida is a grave stone or marker.

There are precious few that survived World War II. Even the ones in Sumay, for example, have deteriorated a lot in the last ten years. So I try to photograph and document them as much as possible before, sadly, the writing is effaced and no one will know what they said. A blank lápida is almost entirely useless.

Many of the prewar lápida were in Spanish. Our mañaina (elders) used the Spanish language much more than we sometimes realize.

This is the lápida for JUAN CRISÓSTOMO MARTÍNEZ who died in 1907.

He was an elite Chamorro, having served in a few government capacities. Thus, he earned the title DON , which is abbreviated D before his name. Don in Spanish is similar to the English "Sir."

Government records also identify him as a platero or silversmith. Family lore says he made more than one trip to Asia. Hong Kong would be a good guess, among other possible destinations.

Since Chamorros then were using the Spanish style of naming, his father's surname comes first, Martínez, followed by his mother's surname Crisóstomo, bridged together with the Spanish word Y which means "and." So his name on the lápida is in the Spanish style : Don Juan Martínez y Crisóstomo. Everyone in those days would have known that his father was a Martínez and his mother was a Crisóstomo.

The very top of the lápida begins with the abbreviation DOM , which stands for DEO OPTIMO MAXIMO, a Latin expression meaning "to God the Best and the Greatest."

The date inscribed, February 15, 1907 is his date of death, confirmed by court documents concerning his estate. Those documents also show that he died (so young, too!) of epithelioma on the tongue, which is a cancerous tumor. The documents state "with extension," which means the cancer had spread. Unless the Navy doctors had given him morphine, Juan would have suffered a lot in dying. In 1907, a prescription wasn't even needed in the US for morphine, so it's possible morphine was available some other way, but no one knows the details of Juan's death other than what is stated.

Some family members wonder if the cancer of the tongue was connected with betel nut chewing.

A la edad de 47 años means "at the age of 47 years." Juan died at age 47.

Rogad por él means "Pray for him."

Recuerdo de su esposa e hijos means "Memorial from his wife and children."


JUAN'S CHILDREN

Juan was the father of PEDRO PANGELINAN MARTÍNEZ , one of the wealthiest men on Guam before the war and one of the first Chamorro entrepreneurs. He owned several businesses, selling cars, ice and merchandise. He also owned one of the largest cattle herds on Guam, with a ranch in Dandan.

Pedro's children included one priest and two Mercy Sisters.

His other son, VICENTE , was also in business and his son Melchor (Metka) ran a gas station and auto repair service in Barrigada after the war.

Juan's daughter ANA married James H. Underwood. The Underwoods are well-known on Guam, especially in business, education and politics.

Another daughter, CONCEPCIÓN , nicknamed Conchita, married Hiram Elliott, also a business man and very involved in community affairs, including promoting and organizing the Guam Museum.

MARÍA married Santiago Eugene Calaor in California and remained there. He was originally from the Philippines.

ANTONIA never married.




I don't have a photo of Juan, but here above is his wife Rosa Martínez Pangelinan.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

LÁPIDA EN ESPAÑOL

Una "lápida" es una losa con una inscripción para recordar a alguien; en especial la que cubre un sepulcro.

Son muy pocas las que se salvaron de los bombardeos de la Segunda Guerra Mundial en Guam. Incluso las de Sumay, por ejemplo, se han deteriorado mucho en los últimos diez años. Así que trato de fotografiarlas y documentarlas tanto como sea posible, lamentablemente, la escritura se borra y nadie sabrá lo que decían. Una lápida en blanco es completamente inútil

Muchas de las lápidas de antes de la guerra estaban en español. Nuestros "mañaina" (ancianos) usaban el idioma español mucho más de lo que a veces creemos.

Ésta es la lápida de JUAN CRISÓSTOMO MARTÍNEZ fallecido en 1907.

Era un chamorro de la élite, habiendo servido en algunos cargos gubernamentales. Por lo tanto, se ganó el título de "DON", que se abrevia "D" antes de su nombre.

Los registros gubernamentales también lo identifican como platero. Según unos familiares, Juan viajó más de una vez a Asia. Hong Kong sería una buena suposición, entre otros destinos posibles.

Como buen chamorro que era, utilizaba primero el apellido de su padre, Martínez, seguido del apellido de su madre Crisóstomo, unido a la palabra española Y. Así que su nombre en la lápida está al estilo español: Don Juan Martínez y Crisóstomo. Todo el mundo en esos tiempos habría sabido que su padre era Martínez y su madre era Crisóstomo.

La parte superior de la lápida comienza con la abreviatura D. O. M. o DEO OPTIMO MAXIMO, una expresión latina que significa "a Dios el Mejor y el Más Grande".

La fecha inscrita, el 15 de febrero de 1907, es la fecha de su fallecimiento, confirmado por documentos judiciales relacionados con su patrimonio. Esos documentos también muestran que murió (muy joven también) de epitelioma en la lengua, que es un tumor canceroso. Los documentos dicen "con extensión", lo que significa que el cáncer se había extendido. A menos que los médicos de la Marina le hubieran dado morfina, Juan habría sufrido mucho al morir. En 1907, ni siquiera se necesitaba una receta en los EE. UU. para la morfina, por lo que es posible que la morfina estuviera más disponible, pero nadie conoce los detalles de la muerte de Juan aparte de lo que se indica.

Juan murió a los 47 años.

Rogad por él.

Recuerdo de su esposa e hijos.

LOS HIJOS DE JUAN

Juan era el padre de PEDRO PANGELINAN MARTÍNEZ, uno de los hombres más ricos de Guam antes de la guerra y uno de los primeros empresarios chamorros. Era dueño de varios negocios, vendía autos, hielo y mercancías. También era dueño de una de las manadas de ganado más grandes de Guam, con un rancho en Dandan.

Los hijos de Pedro incluían un sacerdote y dos monjas mercedarias.

Su otro hijo, VICENTE, también tenía un negocio y su hijo Melchor (Metka) dirigía una gasolinera y un servicio de reparación de automóviles en Barrigada después de la guerra.

La hija de Juan, ANA, se casó con James H. Underwood. Los Underwood son bien conocidos en Guam, especialmente en los negocios, la educación y la política.

Otra hija, CONCEPCIÓN, apodada Conchita, se casó con Hiram Elliott, también hombre de negocios y muy involucrado en los asuntos de la comunidad, incluida la promoción y organización del Museo de Guam.

MARÍA se casó con Santiago Eugene Calaor en California y permanció allí. Él nació en Filipinas.

ANTONIA nunca se casó.

SHOEMAKER'S SIGN

Saturday, October 24, 2020



Before manufactured shoes were imported to the Marianas in large quantities in the early 1900s and sold in stores, our people had shoes made by local sapatero , or shoe makers.

Chamorro sapatero used leather made right here in our islands from slaughtered cattle to make shoes or sandals.

Some of the sapateros on Guam mentioned in government documents in the late 1800s were Lorenzo de León Guerrero, Juan Tenorio Santos, José Salas Sarmiento (familian Ñarak), Mariano Reyes Blas, Victor Tainatongo Lujan (familian Vittut), Matías Espinosa de León Guerrero, Vicente Ada Reyes, Ariston Gumabon and, of course, there were others as well. All of these sapatero I just listed lived around the same time, so there was a lot of shoe making going on on Guam at the time.

Not everyone had money in those days, so a lot of services were paid with goods, not with money.

And so one sapatero hung this sign ( tapblero ) outside his house, since craftsmen worked right out of their homes.

Sumåsaga guine un maolek na sapatero.
I maolek na che’cho’-ña siempre u annok.
Yanggen tåya’ salape’-mo, tåya’ problema.
Sa’ magof ha aksepta masea i chada’ pat i mannok.

A good shoe maker lives here.
His good work will surely be seen.
If you have no money, no problem.
He gladly accepts either the egg or the chicken.




VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


CARTEL DE UN ZAPATERO

Antes de que los zapatos manufacturados fueran importados a las Marianas en grandes cantidades a principios del siglo XX y se vendieran en las tiendas, nuestra gente tenía zapatos hechos por zapateros locales o “sapateros”.

El “sapatero” chamorro usaba cuero obtenido aquí en nuestras islas a partir de ganado sacrificado, para hacer zapatos o sandalias.

Algunos de los “sapateros” de Guam mencionados en documentos gubernamentales a fines del siglo XIX fueron Lorenzo de León Guerrero, Juan Tenorio Santos, José Salas Sarmiento (familia Ñarak), Mariano Reyes Blas, Victor Tainatongo Luján (familia Vittut), Matías Espinosa de León Guerrero, Vicente Ada Reyes, Ariston Gumabon y, por supuesto, también hubo otros. Todos estos “sapateros” que acabo de enumerar vivieron aproximadamente al mismo tiempo, por lo que en Guam hubo mucha fabricación de zapatos en ese momento.

No todos tenían dinero en esos días, por lo que muchos servicios se pagaban con bienes, no con dinero.

Y así, un “sapatero” colgó este cartel (tapblero) fuera de su casa, ya que los artesanos trabajaban desde sus casas:

“Aquí vive un buen zapatero.
Seguramente se verá su buen hacer.
Si no tienes dinero, no hay problema.
Con mucho gusto acepta el huevo o la gallina”.

KÅNTA : I MAN GA'CHONG GI PUBLIC WORKS

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Some thirty years ago, the late Vicente M. Perez wrote a song in tribute of the employees of Guam's Department of Public Works, to honor all the work they do for the island community.

He gave the song the title " I man ga'chong gi Public Works ." Ga'chong means "companion," someone you are with on a journey, or in some event, or staying in the same dwelling. It can also mean people you're associated with in work. So it can mean the gang, the crew and similar words.




LYRICS


Maila’ ya ta saluda
(Let's salute)
i man ga’chong gi Public Works
(the crew at Public Works)
pot todo i ånimon-ñiha
(for all their valor)
yan cho’cho’ para hita.
(and work on our behalf.)
Pues måtto i momento
(So the moment has come)
para ta onra siha på’go.
(for us to honor them now.)
Ta agradese i che’cho’-ñiha
(Let us appreciate their work)
ginen este mañe’lu-ta.
(from these our brothers and sisters.)

Man ma konne' i famagu’on-ta
(They take our children)
pot para u fan eskuela.
(so they can go to school.)
Ma fa’ maolek i chalån-ta,
(They fix our streets,)
man ma yute’ basulå-ta.
(they dispose of our trash.)
I ira yanggen måtto, (1)
(When fury comes,)
taiguennao na påkyo,
(like typhoons,)
i Public Works na man ga’chong
(the Public Works crew)
annai ta sosodda’ alibio.
(is where we find relief.)
Familia u fan ma dingu
(They will leave their families)
gi interes i pupbliko
(in the public interest)
gi impottånte na setbsio
(in the important service)
sa’ siha ta angokko.
(because we depend on them.)
I atension tåt na fåtta
(Attention is never lacking)
ya i problema ma komprende.
(and they understand the problem.)
Yanggen guaha nai linache
(If something is wrong)
todo i tiempo ma korihe.
(they always correct it.)

I Engineering na funsion,
(The Engineering role,)
Administration yan Operations,
(Administration and Operations,)
ginen este i tres na tuhu (2)
(these three droplets)
i fumotma i man ga’chong.
(which formed the crew.)
Siha lokkue’ man impottånte
(They also are important)
sa’ sin siha ti u kabåles
(because it wouldn't be complete without them)
i asentådo na setbisio
(the fitting service)
ni pumosipble gi Public Works;
(which is made possible at Public Works;)
asentådo na setbiso ni u ta sodda’ gi Public Works;
(fitting service which we will find at Public Works;)
i man gåtbo na setbisio ni u ta sodda’ gi Public Works.
(the beautiful service we will find at Public Works.)

NOTES

( 1 ) Ira in Spanish means "anger, rage" like the English word ire . But applied to nature in means "violence, fury, wrath" as in anything calamitous in nature; typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and so on. Iran Yu'us means "God's rage" and older generations believed that natural disasters could be God's punishment for our evil deeds. Iran Yu'us .

( 2 ) The singer says that the crew ( man ga'chong ) at Public Works were formed by three tuhu (or droplets, as in water drops). The author is passed away so we cannot ask him what he meant by this. But just as a large body of water is formed by single, individual drops of water, perhaps the author is saying the same thing.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

Hace unos treinta años, el fallecido Vicente M. Pérez compuso una canción en homenaje a los empleados del Departamento de Obras Públicas de Guam, para honrar todo el trabajo que hacían por la comunidad isleña.

Le dio a la canción el título "I man ga'chong gi Public Works". Ga'chong significa "compañero" (del español, gachón), alguien que te acompaña en un viaje, o en algún evento, o que se queda en la misma vivienda. También puede referirse a las personas con las que uno está asociado en el trabajo. Entonces puede significar la pandilla, la tripulación o palabras similares.

LETRA

“Saludemos
al equipo de Obras Públicas
por todo su valor
y por trabajar en nuestro nombre.
Entonces ha llegado el momento
para que los honremos ahora.
Apreciemos el trabajo
de estos hermanos y hermanas.
Se llevan a nuestros hijos
para que puedan ir a la escuela.
Ellos arreglan nuestras calles,
tiran nuestra basura.
Cuando viene la furia
de los tifones
en el equipo de Obras Públicas
es donde encontramos alivio.

Dejarán a sus familias
por el interés público
es un servicio importante
porque dependemos de ellos.
La atención nunca falta
y entienden el problema.
Si algo anda mal
siempre lo corrigen.
El rol de Ingeniería
Administración y Operaciones,
estas tres gotitas.
que formó esta tripulación.
También son importantes
porque no estaría completo sin ellos
el servicio de montaje
que es posible en Obras Públicas;
servicio de montaje que encontraremos en Obras Públicas;
el hermoso servicio que encontraremos en Obras Públicas.

NOTAS

(1) La palabra chamorra “Ira” en español significa "ira, rabia" como la palabra inglesa “ire”. Pero aplicado a la naturaleza significa "violencia, furor" como cualquier cosa calamitosa en la naturaleza; tifones, terremotos, erupciones volcánicas, etc. “Iran Yu'us” significa "la ira de Dios" y las generaciones anteriores creían que los desastres naturales podrían ser el castigo de Dios por nuestras malas acciones.

(2) El cantante dice que la tripulación (man ga'chong) de Obras Públicas estaba formada por tres tuhu (o gotitas, como en gotas de agua). El autor falleció, por lo que no podemos preguntarle qué quiso decir con esto. Pero así como una gran masa de agua está formada por gotas de agua individuales, tal vez el autor esté haciendo una comparación.


HAGÅTÑA'S WELLS

Saturday, October 17, 2020



HAGÅTÑA WELL


During a construction project in Hagåtña in 1972, workers discovered a prewar well.

Sixty years before that, we would have seen many wells all over Hagåtña.

Before the Naval Government made available a modern water supply system, there were only THREE WAYS the people of Hagåtña got fresh water :

1. THE HAGÅTÑA RIVER AND FONTE RIVER (SÅDDOK)

Luckily, a river flowed right through the heart of the city, starting at the spring (Måtan Hånom) to the east in the Dedigue area and moving right through the capital till it emptied into the sea at the entrance of Aniguak. But the river water was never used for drinking. People did the laundry in the river. Animals did their business there, too, and all kinds of pollutants made river water dangerous to drink.

The Fonte River was untouched by human activity but one had to walk half a mile or more to Fonte with your water containers. It was done, but Fonte was never a major source of water for Hagåtña in the old days.

2. RAIN WATER (HÅNOM SINAGA)

This is the water most people drank in those days. The custom was to place large containers, wood, clay and less frequently metal, under the eaves of roofs and catch the rain water. The problem was the dry season. Stored water would eventually dry up if it didn't rain at all for a while. Most times it rained even just a bit during the dry season, but sometimes it did not.

3. WELLS (TUPU')




Hagåtña sits on limestone soil, pictured above. The good thing about limestone soil is that it allows rain water to percolate down into the ground till it forms an underground lake. Dig a well and you can tap into that subterranean lake.

The bad thing about limestone soil is that the rain water picks up the chalky, white dust of the limestone. You dig a well and find water, but it is chalky, heavy and brackish. If you put well water into a clear glass, you will see a cloudy, dull gray liquid. Keep drinking that chalky water and in time you might develop kidney stones, among other potential problems.

The other, more serious problem with limestone soil is that rain water that falls on contaminated soil will carry those impurities down to the underground lake. Animals of all sorts lived in Hagåtña, around houses and even under houses. Those animals used the bathroom right on the ground, so fecal matter and urine seeped into the soil and into the underground lake.

Besides animal waste, there was also no indoor plumbing, so people also went to the bathroom outside but in the privacy of outhouses. Still, all that human waste also seeped into the ground. All kinds of waste water was thrown out on the ground.

So people avoided drinking well water as much as possible. But enough people resorted to drinking well water for government officials, both Spanish and American, to complain that Hagåtña's wells were contaminated and people were getting sick with dysentery and other diseases.

If you shouldn't drink well water, why dig a well in the first place? Well water was used for almost everything else, then. Washing the body, pots and pans; watering plants; general cleaning and even the laundry if you wanted to skip the river. Some cooking might be done with well water, depending on the dish. Although even the animals could get sick from contaminated well water, that was the drinking source many times. As mentioned, even people at times gave in and drank well water.



Hagåtña woman in front of a well


THE 1972 DISCOVERY

The well discovered, unintentionally, in 1972 was 4 and 3/4 feet deep from the surface of the ground at the time the well was being used, which was four feet lower than the ground surface in 1972. That's why archaeologists are always digging! The surface of the ground is always growing higher and the older keeps getting buried deeper below.

Three sides of the well were expertly lined with chiseled rock, to prevent the chalky limestone from affecting the water as much as possible. Stone steps were placed on the fourth side to allow someone to descend into the well and fill a bucket with water.

I don't know how the construction project could have gone on and still save the well as a relic of the past, but the well was covered over and construction went on as usual.



PREWAR LOCATION OF THE WELL


The well was located on the border between lots 385 and 383, those lots being owned by Juan Díaz Torres and María Aflague Castro respectively, in the barrio of San Ignacio, in between Maria Ana de Austria and Pavia streets. Today, this is the Pedro's Plaza area west of the Hagåtña GPD precinct. The well could have been used by both houses, and maybe even by other neighbors.



WELL LOCATION TODAY


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


POZOS DE AGAÑA

Durante unas obras de construcción en Agaña en 1972, los obreros descubrieron un pozo anterior a la Segunda Guerra Mundial.

Sesenta años antes de eso, habríamos visto muchos pozos por toda Agaña.

Antes de que el Gobierno Naval de EE.UU. pusiera a disposición un moderno sistema de suministro de agua, solo había TRES FORMAS por las que la gente de Agaña obtenía agua dulce:

1. EL RÍO HAGÅTÑA Y EL RÍO FONTE (SÅDDOK)

Afortunadamente, un río atravesaba el corazón de la ciudad de Agaña, comenzando en el manantial (Måtan Hånom) hacia el este en el área de Dedigue y atravesando la capital hasta desembocar en el mar a la entrada de Aniguak. Pero el agua del río nunca se utilizaba para beber. La gente lavaba la ropa en el río. Los animales también hacían su trabajo allí, y todo tipo de contaminantes provocaba que el agua del río fuera peligrosa y no apta para el consumo humano.

El río Fonte no fue alterado por la actividad humana, pero uno tenía que caminar media milla o más hasta Fonte con sus recipientes para el agua. Se hacía a veces, pero Fonte nunca fue en aquellos años, un suministro importante de agua para Agaña.

2. AGUA DE LLUVIA (HÅNOM SINAGA)

Ésta era el agua que la mayoría de la gente bebía en aquella época. La costumbre era colocar grandes recipientes, de madera, barro y con menos frecuencia de metal, bajo los aleros de los tejados y recoger el agua de la lluvia. El problema se presentaba durante la estación seca. El agua almacenada eventualmente se secaría si no llovía durante un tiempo. La mayoría de las veces durante la estación seca llovía aunque fuera un rato, pero a veces no era así.

3. POZOS (TUPU ')

Agaña se asienta sobre suelo de piedra caliza. Lo bueno del suelo de piedra caliza es que permite que el agua de lluvia se filtre hacia el suelo hasta formar un lago subterráneo. Cavemos un pozo y podremos acceder a ese lago subterráneo.

Lo malo del suelo de piedra caliza es que el agua de la lluvia arrastra el polvo blanco y calcáreo de la piedra. Cavamos un pozo y encontramos agua, pero es calcárea, pesada y salobre. Si ponemos agua de un pozo en un vaso transparente, veremos un líquido gris opaco y turbio. Si seguimos bebiendo de esa agua calcárea, con el tiempo podríamos desarrollar cálculos renales, entre otros problemas de salud.

El otro problema serio del suelo de piedra caliza es que el agua de la lluvia que cae sobre el suelo contaminado transportará esas impurezas al lago subterráneo. Animales de todo tipo vivían en Agaña, alrededor de las casas e incluso debajo de las casas. Esos animales hacían sus necesidades directamente en el suelo, por lo que la materia fecal y la orina se filtraban en el suelo y en el lago subterráneo.

Además de los desechos animales, tampoco había aseos en el interior de las viviendas, por lo que la gente también iba al baño afuera aunque en la privacidad de las dependencias. Aún así, todos esos desechos humanos finalmente se filtraban al subsuelo. Todo tipo de aguas residuales se arrojaban al suelo.

Así que en la medida de lo posible, la gente evitaba beber agua del pozo. Sin embargo, algunas personas recurrieron a beber agua del pozo para que los funcionarios del gobierno, tanto españoles como estadounidenses, se quejaran de que los pozos de Agaña estaban contaminados y la gente se estaba enfermando de disentería y otros males.

Si no era conveniente beber agua del pozo, ¿para qué excavar uno? Pues bien, el agua del pozo se usaría para casi todo lo demás. Asearse, lavar las ollas y sartenes, regar las plantas, hacer la limpieza general e incluso la ropa sucia si se quería evitar ir a lavar al río. A veces se podía cocinar utilizando el agua del pozo, según la comida. Aunque incluso los animales podían enfermarse por el agua del pozo contaminada, el pozo era muchas veces el único suministro de agua para el consumo de las personas. Mencionábamos antes que incluso la gente a veces se arriesgaba y bebía agua del pozo.

EL DESCUBRIMIENTO DE 1972

El pozo descubierto involuntariamente en 1972 tenía 4 y 3/4 pies de profundidad desde la superficie del suelo, en el momento en que se estaba utilizando el pozo, y estaba cuatro pies más bajo que la superficie del suelo en 1972. Es por eso que los arqueólogos tuvieron que cavar bastante. La superficie del suelo siempre está elevándose y lo antiguo siempre enterrándose.

Tres lados del pozo fueron revestidos por expertos con roca cincelada, para evitar que la caliza calcárea afectara al agua, en la medida de lo posible. Se colocaron escalones de piedra en el cuarto lado para permitir que una persona descendiera al pozo y llenara un balde con agua.

No se sabe cómo podrían haber continuado las obras de construcción y aún así salvar el pozo como una reliquia del pasado, pero el pozo fue finalmente tapado.

El pozo estaba ubicado en el límite entre los lotes 385 y 383, siendo estos lotes propiedad de Juan Díaz Torres y María Aflague Castro respectivamente, en el barrio de San Ignacio, entre las calles María Ana de Austria y Pavía. Hoy, ésta es la zona de Pedro's Plaza al oeste del recinto GPD (la comisaría) de Agaña. El pozo podría haber sido utilizado por ambas casas, y tal vez incluso por otros vecinos.

MAIPE KANAI-ÑA

Monday, October 12, 2020


Do you touch plants and somehow they die not long after?

Our mañaina (elders) had a belief about that.

They believed that some people's hands were gifted regarding plants, and that plants thrived under the care of their hands, while others were the opposite. Their hands killed plants just by merely touching them or handling them in some way.

They said their hand was maipe , or "hot." Maipe kanai-ña. His or her hand is hot, and that person should not be tasked to do anything with plants. I suppose hot hands kill things! It's opposed to what we say in English about having a "green thumb" which makes plants thrive.

The banana stalk in the picture was cut a week before the photo was taken. It's still green, even after a week of cutting (in Chamorro, ma honggo' i chetda ). Our mañaina say that, if the person cutting the banana has a "hot hand," the bananas will not ripen but just turn black and not be fit for eating.

I remember a story in my family about our ranch in Ungaguan, a part of Barrigada, before the war. One of my grandmother's siblings was asked to go cut a bunch of bananas. That bunch never ripened but just turned black one morning after a period of staying green. From then on, that child was never sent to cut bananas. Maipe kanai-ña . Another child was sent, whose pickings always ripened properly.




MAIPE KANAI-ÑA!


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


MODISMO CHAMORRO : TENER UNA MANO CALIENTE

¿Tocas las plantas y de alguna manera mueren poco después?

Nuestros “mañaina” (ancianos) tenían una creencia sobre eso.

Creían que las manos de algunas personas tenían el don de las plantas y que las plantas prosperaban bajo el cuidado de sus manos, mientras que otras eran lo contrario. Sus manos mataban plantas con solo tocarlas o manipularlas de alguna manera.

Decían que su mano era maipe, o "caliente". Maipe kanai-ña. Su mano está caliente, y esa persona no debe tener la tarea de hacer nada con plantas. ¡Supongo que las manos calientes matan cosas! Se opone a lo que decimos en inglés sobre tener un "green thumb o pulgar verde" que hace que las plantas prosperen.

El tallo del plátano de la imagen se cortó una semana antes de que se tomara la foto. Todavía está verde, incluso después de una semana de corte (en Chamorro, ma honggo 'i chetda). Nuestros “mañaina” dicen que, si la persona que corta el plátano tiene una "mano caliente", los plátanos no madurarán sino que se pondrán negros y no estarán aptos para comer.

Recuerdo una historia en mi familia sobre nuestro rancho en Ungaguan, una parte de Barrigada, antes de la guerra. A uno de los hermanos de mi abuela le pidieron que fuera a cortar un racimo de plátanos. Ese racimo nunca maduró, sino que se volvió negro una mañana después de un período de permanecer verde. A partir de entonces, ese niño nunca fue enviado a cortar plátanos. Maipe kanai-ña. Se envió a otro niño, cuyas recolecciones siempre maduraron adecuadamente.


SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Friday, October 9, 2020


PININO' I MACHING NI ETDOT

The monkey was killed by the ants.


The ant is a tiny creature, but it shouldn't be under estimated.

The monkey can be a playful animal, often moving about, touching whatever it finds. But this curiosity and playfulness can get the monkey in trouble, as when it comes in contact with an ant hill and gets attacked by a colony of many ants. It can even result in the monkey's death.

So this saying is a warning. Temper your curiosity or playfulness, don't be reckless in pursuit of fun or adventure, and don't under estimate small dangers that can become bigger.





VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


LA HORMIGA MATÓ AL MONO

La hormiga es una criatura diminuta, pero no debe subestimarse.

El mono puede ser un animal juguetón, a menudo se mueve y toca todo lo que encuentra. Pero esta curiosidad y alegría pueden meter al mono en problemas, como cuando entra en contacto con un hormiguero y es atacado por una colonia de numerosas hormigas. Incluso puede terminar con la muerte del mono.

Entonces este dicho es una advertencia. Modere su curiosidad o alegría, no sea imprudente en busca de diversión o aventura, y no subestime los pequeños peligros que pueden volverse mayores.

AINA DE VÁSQUEZ

Monday, October 5, 2020

AINA DE VÁSQUEZ


There's not much to this story except to show one more example what a melting pot Guam was already in the pre-war days. It was that way even 300 years ago.

We hear and are tempted to think how isolated Guam was in the old days, and how Chamorros supposedly didn't know much outside of the Marianas.

But our islands, small as they are, are situated in a part of the Pacific where many sea lanes intersect, bringing ships from all over the world through here.

One of the most exotic and rare origins of a foreign person living on Guam was Finland.

When was the last time you met someone from Finland? See!

How did a Finnish woman named Aina get to Guam in the early 1900s when not even the average American knew much of anything about Guam?

Through her husband, who was a musician in the US Navy. He, by the way, was from San José, Costa Rica, another far away place, in relation to Guam.







Apparently, both Aina and Jesús de Vásquez from Costa Rica immigrated to the US and found each other there. They were married, according to one passenger document, in San Francisco in 1900.

Sometime later Jesús was sent to Guam as a musician in the US Navy, along with the likes of Marcello Sgambelluri, Ermete Pellacani and others who settled on Guam permanently, founding families whose descendants are our neighbors, friends and relatives.

By 1909, Jesús was already mentioned in court records on Guam. Nothing criminal, just transactions that needed the court's involvement.

He eventually retired from the Navy and he and Aina opened a store in Hagåtña. In 1931, Jesús and Aina adopted a Chamorro named Loreta Cruz Flores, born in 1914 and the daughter of Joaquín Díaz Flores ( familian Åpu) and María Cruz. From the time she was adopted, Loreta went by the last name Vásquez.



ADVERTISEMENT FOR AINA'S STORE IN THE 1920s


Although husband and wife owned and ran the store, Aina seems to have been the captain at the helm and the more visible of the two in the business. It was her name that appeared in advertisements. The store was situated on Legaspi Street, across from the Officers Club. The building was built by a Japanese business that was active on Guam right at the turn of the 20th century, the South Sea Trading Company.

They seem to have lead quiet lives. One doesn't hear stories about the couple. They did make some money, as they both did a good amount of traveling in the 1920s. She even went back to Finland on a visit.



When her husband passed away and she was up in age, she figured it was time for her to quit running the store. She sold it to the Butler's, who already ran several businesses.

They both died just a few years apart; he in 1935 and she in 1937. They were both buried in the US Naval Cemetery in Hagåtña. We can assume Aina was not Catholic. Finland was once entirely Protestant and even today there are only 15,000 Catholics in a country of over 5 million people. Jesús we can assume was at least born Catholic and probably married Aina outside the Church and may have even stopped practicing Catholicism altogether. This may account for his being buried in a military cemetery rather than at Pigo, besides the fact that he was entitled to a plot there.




Loreta went back to live with her biological parents and is listed as living with them in the 1940 Guam census, still carrying the Vásquez name. She never married and, when she died in 1979, she went by her original last name Flores. She was buried at Pigo Catholic Cemetery.




Aina's home town of Hanko in Finland, in the winter time.

In Aina's home town, the yearly average temperature is 42 degrees Fahrenheit! But for almost forty years, Aina lived on tropical Guam where the yearly average temperature is double that.

"Aina," by the way, is a name found all over Scandinavia, and has nothing to do with the name Ana or Ann.

The Marianas were not as isolated from the rest of the world in the old days as one might think. Even before the Spaniards started a mission and colonial government here, there were shipwrecked people from all over the world; Europeans, Filipinos and the famous Chinese man named Choco.

Then soldiers from the Philippines, Spain and Latin America came. Priests from German-speaking nations, Italians and Flemish came. Then the whalers came; British, American, French, Dutch. Hawaiians, Carolinians, Chinese and then Japanese came and settled permanently. A few men of African descent, as well. There was even a Swedish man on Guam during Spanish times, a member of the Spanish military here in 1898! When we say that American Captain Glass deported the Spanish soldiers from Guam in 1898, we have to add "including one Swede." Who knows what other foreigner may have been in the group?

Yes it was hard to get to the Marianas in the old days. But we weren't as unaware of the big world out there as one might think. We had people from all over the world living here to give us a taste of it.




JESÚS DE VÁSQUEZ
Aina's Costa Rican Husband
US Navy Band musician on Guam in 1910


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


AINA DE VÁSQUEZ

Con esta historia tratamos de mostrar otro ejemplo de que Guam ya era un crisol de culturas en los días anteriores a la guerra. Ya era así incluso hace 300 años.

Escuchamos y nos sentimos tentados a pensar cuán aislada estaba Guam en los viejos tiempos, y cómo los chamorros supuestamente no conocían demasiados lugares fuera de las Islas Marianas.

Pero nuestras islas, por pequeñas que sean, están situadas en una zona del Pacífico donde muchas rutas marítimas se cruzan, encontrándose barcos de todo el mundo aquí.

Uno de los orígenes más exóticos y raros de una persona extranjera que vivió en Guam fue Finlandia.

¿Cuándo fue la última vez que conocimos a alguien de Finlandia? ¡A ver!

¿Cómo pudo llegar una mujer finlandesa llamada Aina a Guam a principios del siglo XX cuando ni siquiera el ciudadano estadounidense promedio sabía mucho de Guam?

Gracias a su esposo, quien era músico en la Marina de los Estados Unidos. Él, por cierto, era de San José, Costa Rica, otro lugar lejano, en relación a Guam.

Aparentemente, tanto Aina como su esposo Jesús de Vásquez de Costa Rica emigraron a los Estados Unidos y se encontraron allí. Se casaron, según un documento de pasajeros, en San Francisco en 1900.

Algún tiempo después, Jesús fue enviado a Guam como músico en la Marina de los Estados Unidos, junto con personas como Marcello Sgambelluri, Ermete Pellacani y otros que se establecieron en Guam de forma permanente, fundando familias cuyos descendientes son hoy nuestros vecinos, amigos y parientes.

En 1909, Jesús ya fue mencionado en los registros judiciales de Guam. Nada criminal, solo transacciones que necesitaban la participación del tribunal.

Finalmente se retiró de la Marina y él y Aina abrieron una tienda en Agaña. En 1915 les nació una hija, Loreta, aquí mismo en Agaña.

Aunque marido y mujer poseían y dirigían la tienda, Aina parece haber sido la más visible de los dos en el negocio. Era su nombre el que aparecía en los anuncios.

Parece que llevaban una vida tranquila. No se escuchaban historias sobre la pareja. Hicieron algo de dinero, ya que ambos viajaban bastante en la década de 1920. Incluso Aina regresó a Finlandia de visita.

Ambos fallecieron con solo unos años de diferencia; él en 1935 y ella en 1937. Ambos fueron enterrados en el cementerio naval de Estados Unidos en Agaña. Podemos asumir que Aina no era católica. Finlandia fue durante mucho tiempo totalmente protestante e incluso hoy en día solo hay 15.000 católicos en un país de más de 5 millones de personas. Podemos asumir que Jesús nació al menos católico y probablemente se casó con Aina fuera de la Iglesia y puede que incluso haya dejado de practicar el catolicismo por completo. Esto puede explicar por qué fue enterrado en un cementerio militar en lugar de en Pigo, además del hecho de que tenía derecho a una parcela allí.

No escuchamos sobre Loreta en el Censo de Guam de 1940. Al parecer, se mudó antes de la guerra, tal vez poco después de que su madre falleciera en 1937. Para entonces habría tenido poco más de 20 años y probablemente encontró un marido fuera de la isla o uno que se la llevó. No se menciona su matrimonio antes de 1941 en el Registro de Guam.

En la ciudad natal de Aina, la temperatura media anual es de 42 grados Fahrenheit. Pero durante casi cuarenta años, Aina vivió en la zona tropical de Guam, donde la temperatura media anual es el doble.

"Aina", por cierto, es un nombre que se encuentra en toda Escandinavia, y no tiene nada que ver con el nombre Ana o Ann.

Las Islas Marianas no estaban tan aisladas del resto del mundo en épocas pasadas como podría pensarse. Incluso antes de que los españoles comenzaran una misión y un gobierno colonial aquí, había náufragos de todo el mundo; europeos, filipinos y el famoso chino Choco.

Luego vinieron soldados de Filipinas, España e Hispano-América. Vinieron sacerdotes de naciones de habla alemana, italianos y flamencos. Luego vinieron los balleneros; británicos, americanos, franceses, holandeses. Hawaianos, carolinos, chinos y luego japoneses vinieron y se establecieron de forma permanente. Algunos hombres de ascendencia africana también. Incluso hubo un sueco en Guam durante la época española, ¡un miembro del ejército español aquí en 1898! Cuando decimos que el capitán estadounidense Glass deportó a los soldados españoles de Guam en 1898, tenemos que añadir "incluido un sueco". ¿Quién sabe qué otro extranjero pudo haber estado en el grupo?

Sí, era difícil llegar a las Marianas en los viejos tiempos. Pero no éramos tan ajenos al gran mundo como podría pensarse. Para darnos una idea, tuvimos gente de todo el mundo viviendo aquí.

TERESA AND TERESITA

Thursday, October 1, 2020


Today on Guam is the feast of the patron saint of Mangilao, Santa Teresita.

In English, we call her "Saint Therese," but there is another "Saint Therese" yet we call her in Chamorro (or Spanish) Santa Teresa, not Teresita.

What's the difference between TERESA and TERESITA .


SPANISH DIMINUTIVES

A diminutive is a change in a word to make that word a "little" version of the original.

In English, we all know that a kitchenette is smaller than a regular kitchen.

Adding - ette to "kitchen" makes the kitchen smaller. - Ette is a diminutive.

A cigarette is smaller than a cigar; a towelette is smaller than a towel.

The -ette we borrowed from French.

But we have other ways of making something a smaller version of the original. A duckling is a small or young duck. A piglet (-let, not -ette) is a small or young pig.

Spanish has many diminutives. Probably the most common is to add -ita (if feminine) or -ito (if masculine) to the word.


SEÑORA means "lady"

SEÑORITA means "young lady"

When the word is masculine, it goes

MOMENTO means "moment"

MOMENTITO means "a little moment"


So TERESITA means "Little Teresa." The reason for this is because there already was a Santa Tesesa who lived 300 years before Little Teresa.

And since "little" often means "younger," at the same time, diminutives can often mean something younger.

To add one more thing, something smaller and younger often means something more endearing, like babies or children are smaller and younger but also more protected and more cared for by older people. So Spanish diminutives are often a way of showing affection for someone or something.

Spanish gives us a short and easy way to distinguish between the two saints. The older one is Teresa, the newer one is Teresita. Older and younger. Bigger and smaller.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

Hoy en Guam es la fiesta de la patrona de Mangilao, Santa Teresita.

En inglés, la llamamos "Saint Therese", pero hay otra "Saint Therese" y la llamamos en chamorro (o español) Santa Teresa, no Teresita.

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre TERESA y TERESITA?

DIMINUTIVOS ESPAÑOLES

Un diminutivo es un cambio en una palabra para convertirla en una versión "pequeña" de la original.

En inglés, todos sabemos que una kitchenette (cocinita) es más pequeña que una kitchen (cocina).

Agregar -ette a "kitchen" hace que la cocina sea más pequeña. -Ette es un diminutivo.

Un “cigarette” (cigarrillo) es más pequeño que un “cigar” (puro); una “towelette” (toallita) es más pequeña que una “towel” (toalla).

La terminación -ette la tomamos prestada del francés.

Pero tenemos otras formas de hacer que algo sea una versión más pequeña de la palabra original. Un “duckling” (-ling) es un pato pequeño. Un “piglet” (-let) es un cerdo joven.

El español tiene muchos diminutivos. Probablemente lo más común sea agregar -ita (si es femenino) o -ito (si es masculino) a la palabra.

SEÑORA significa "dama"

SEÑORITA significa "joven dama"

Cuando el término es masculino,

MOMENTO significa "instante"

MOMENTITO significa "un pequeño instante"

Entonces TERESITA significa "Pequeña Teresa". La razón de esto es que ya existió una Santa Tesesa que había vivido 300 años antes que la Pequeña Teresa.

Y dado que "pequeño" a menudo significa "más joven", al mismo tiempo, los diminutivos a menudo pueden significar algo más joven.

Para agregar una cosa más, algo más pequeño y más joven a menudo significa algo más entrañable, como que los bebés o los niños son más pequeños y más jóvenes, pero también más protegidos y más cuidados por las personas mayores. Entonces, los diminutivos en español son a menudo una forma de mostrar afecto por alguien o algo.

El español nos brinda una forma breve y sencilla de distinguir entre los dos santos. La mayor es Teresa, la más nueva es Teresita. Mayor y menor. Más grande y más pequeña.


KÅNTA : SOMBRES I PILAN (DALAI NENE)

Monday, September 28, 2020

DAVID KAPILEO PETER


There are several recorded versions of this song, because it is one of our standard, "oldie but goodie" songs that started so long ago we don't even know when it was first sung or who composed it. It's been around so long that it has had time to be changed here and there by the many singers who sing it.

So you will see differences in the lyrics among the versions recorded by Johnny Sablan, Jimmy Dee and whoever else may have recorded it, or if you just hear it being sung live at parties or the kitchen table.

This is the late David Peter's version, as recorded in his album from many years ago. Most people know this song as "Dalai Nene," taken from the refrain, but here it is entitled "Sombres i Pilan," taken from the opening lines.

This song is FULL of Chamorro phraseology; things expressed in Chamorro that we would never phrase that way in English. So I have numerous explanatory notes at the very end.




LYRICS

Sombres i pilan yanggen sumåhi (1)
(Because even the moon when it is born)
guaha nai triste sumahi-ña. (2)
(its birth is sometimes sad.)
Kostaria un kilisyåno (3) (4)
(What more the person)
yanggen guaha piniti-ña.
(when he or she has pain.)

Ya dalai nene ya ti un siesiente (5)
(And my goodness baby and you don't sense)
i manåddong siha na inigong. (6)
(the deep groanings.)

Likido na finañågo (7) (8)
(Unique one)
kumaotiba i korason-ho. (9)
(captured my heart.)
Ya bai måtai gi hilo’ tåno’
(And I will die upon earth)
ya ti un li’e’ ine’son-ho. (10)
(and you won't see my fatigue.)

I lassås-mo para i kaohao (11)
(Your skin for the chest)
ya i fino’-mo maila’ mågi. (12)
(and let your word come here.)
Korason-ho aseladura (13)
(My heart is the lock)
ya i te’lång-ho para i yabe.
(and my bones will be for the key.)


NOTES

(1) Sombres . This is a shortening (contraction) of the phrase sa' ombres . Sa' means "because." Ombres is from the Spanish word hombre meaning "man." As we say in English, "Hey man!" The Spaniards say to each other, " Hombre !" and Chamorros picked it up and say ombre or åmbre . From there the meaning became "come on" or "oh please" as when we're asking someone to do something or if we're being sarcastic or disbelieving. There are many meanings to this expression! Ombres has the meaning "even." Ombres hågo means "even you." Sa' ombres , or sombres if cut short, means "because even you." Sombres hågo chumocho'gue! "Because even you do it!"

(2) For many people, the moon, in any of its phases, evokes deep feelings all across the board. For one, it can romantic. For another, it can make him or her homesick. For someone else, it can be scary, especially in the woods or jungle. There is no logical reason why. A fire burns everybody but how the moon affects you is personal to you. So whoever composed these lyrics is expressing his or her personal reaction to seeing a new moon being born. Why a new moon can be sad, only the composer knows why he or she says so, and every listener can hold the meaning it has for each.

(3) The Chamorro word kostaria comes from the Spanish " cual estaría ," which means "which would be" or "what would be," as in the question in English, "If I, who am young and strong, get sick like this, what would be the case with you, who are old and weak?"  So the Chamorro version of " cual estaría ," kostaria , means "what more" or "what would be the case," as in "If the new moon can be sad, what more, or what would be the case, with the person who has pain?

(4) Kilisyåno literally means "Christian." It's the Chamorro version of the Spanish word cristiano . But since all the Chamorros in time became Christian, the name became a way of calling another person. Instead of saying, for example, "Here comes that person," we could say, "Here comes the Christian." It emphasized the Christian identity of the other person, even another Chamorro we never met before. If the other person is a Christian, then we should treat him or her as a brother or sister in Jesus.

(5) Dalai is one of those that is hard to define precisely. Just as it's hard to define the English word "gosh." It is said to express our reaction to an imperfect situation, something we may find objectionable, even mildly. It's similar to the English "oh come on!" which we say when someone says something unbelievable or does something irritating.

(6) The deep ( tåddong ) groans ( ugong is the verb, inigong is the noun) of the singer's heart which loves his or her romantic interest.

(7) Likido means "unique" and I have only heard it in reference to a person and only in love songs. So, "unique" means "special." For years I have tried, without success, to find a possible Spanish original word because the sound of this word suggests a Spanish origin. So rare and mysterious in origin is this word that it didn't appear in any published Chamorro dictionary until 2009 (Katherine Aguon's dictionary).

(8) Finañågo literally means "someone birthed," and thus can mean "baby" or even, as in this song, a "person." Just like calling a person a Christian ( kilisyåno ), calling a person "birthed" is unusual to our Americanized ears but it's pointing to the other person's identity as a human being born into this world, just as the singer is. When combined with likido , it means "you're one of a kind," "the only person born into this world like you is you."

(9) Kaotiba is no longer understood by most Chamorro speakers and even some Chamorro singers think the word is kastiga ("to punish") and sing it that way rather than kaotiba . Kaotiba means "to captivate." It is borrowed from the Spanish cautivar , also meaning "to captivate." The singer's heart was captivated by this unique human being.

(10) His love is so genuine and lasting that till the day he dies he will never tire of loving her or working for the good of the family. O'son doesn't mean physical tiredness, but rather emotional or mental fatigue or boredom.

(11) Now we get into symbolic and poetic language, where words are not to be taken literally. A kaohao is a wooden chest where valuables are locked and stored. Their love is a treasured thing that must be protected so he is using the idea of the kaohao that is made up of their body parts; her skin, his heart and bones, for the different parts of the chest and the padlock. The imagery comes from an old Chamorro perspective which modern Chamorros may find unusual.

(12) He is asking his sweetheart for her word of promise, her word accepting his love and maybe marriage proposal. Her "yes" to him will be safely stored as in a kaohao .

(13) Aseladura means "lock" and comes from the Spanish cerradura , of the same meaning. Some people say seladura instead of aseladura and you'll find that in other versions of this song.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


SOMBRES  I  PILAN

Hay varias versiones grabadas de esta canción, porque es una de nuestras canciones estándar, "viejas pero buenas" que comenzaron hace tanto tiempo que ni siquiera sabemos cuándo se cantó por primera vez o quién la compuso. Ha existido durante tantos años que ha tenido la posibilidad de ser modificada aquí y allá por los muchos cantantes que la interpretan.

Entonces se verán diferencias en la letra entre las versiones grabadas por Johnny Sablan, Jimmy Dee y quienquiera que la haya grabado, o si solo se escucha cantar en vivo en las fiestas o en la mesa de la cocina.

Ésta es la versión del difunto David Peter, tal como se registró en su álbum de hace mucho tiempo. La mayoría de la gente conoce esta canción con el título de "Dalai Nene", tomado del estribillo, pero aquí se titula "Sombres i Pilan", tomado de las primeras líneas.

Esta canción está repleta de fraseología chamorra; cosas expresadas en chamorro que nunca expresaríamos así en inglés. Así que tengo numerosas notas explicativas al final.


LETRA

“Porque hasta la luna cuando nace,
su nacimiento es a veces triste.
Cuanto más una persona,
cuando tiene dolor.

Y vamos nena, no sientes
los profundos gemidos.

Alguien único
capturó mi corazón
Y moriré en tierra
y no verás mi fatiga.

Tu piel para el pecho
y deja que tu palabra venga aquí.
Mi corazón es la cerradura
y mis huesos serán la llave.

NOTAS

(1) “Sombres”. Ésta es una contracción de la frase “sa 'ombres”. “Sa” 'significa "porque". “Ombres” proviene de la palabra española "hombre". Como decimos en inglés, "Hey man!" Los españoles se dicen unos a otros: "¡Hombre!" y los chamorros lo tomamos prestado y decimos “ombre” o “åmbre”. A partir de ahí, el significado se convirtió en "vamos" o "oh, por favor", como cuando le pedimos a alguien que haga algo o si estamos siendo sarcásticos o incrédulos. ¡Hay muchos significados para esta expresión! “Ombres” tiene el significado de "incluso". “Ombres hago” significa "incluso tú". “Sa 'ombres”, o “sombres” si se abrevia, significa "porque incluso tú". “Sombres hågo chumocho'gue!” "¡Porque incluso tú lo haces!"

(2) Para muchas personas, la luna, en cualquiera de sus fases, evoca sentimientos profundos en diferentes ámbitos. Por un lado, puede ser romántica. Por otro, puede hacernos extrañar el hogar. Para otra persona, puede ser aterradora, especialmente en el bosque o en la jungla. No hay una razón lógica para ello. Un fuego nos quema a todos, pero la forma en que la luna nos afecta es algo personal. Entonces, quien haya compuesto estas letras está expresando su reacción personal al ver nacer una luna nueva. Por qué una luna nueva puede ser triste, solo el compositor sabe por qué lo dice, y cada oyente puede interpretarlo a su manera.

(3) La palabra chamorra “kostaria” proviene del español "cual estaría", que significa "cuál sería", como en la pregunta, "Si yo, que soy joven y fuerte, me enfermo, ¿cuál sería tu caso, que eres viejo y débil? " Entonces la versión chamorra de "cual estaría", “kostaria”, significa "qué más" o "cuál sería el caso", como en "Si la luna nueva puede ser triste, qué más, o cuál sería el caso, con la persona que tiene dolor”.

(4) “Kilisyåno” significa literalmente "cristiano". Es la versión chamorra de la palabra española “cristiano”. Pero como todos los chamorros con el tiempo se hicieron cristianos, el nombre se convirtió en una forma de denominar a otra persona. En lugar de decir, por ejemplo, "Aquí viene esa persona", podríamos decir, "Aquí viene ese cristiano". Enfatizaba la identidad cristiana de la otra persona, incluso de otro chamorro que nunca antes habíamos conocido. Si la otra persona es cristiana, debemos tratarla como a un hermano o hermana en Jesús.

(5) “Dalai” es uno de esos términos que es difícil de definir con precisión. Así como es difícil definir la palabra inglesa "gosh". Se dice que expresa nuestra reacción ante una situación imperfecta, algo que podemos encontrar objetable, incluso levemente. Es similar al inglés "oh, come on!" que decimos cuando alguien dice algo increíble o hace algo irritante.

6) Los gemidos profundos (“tåddong”) (“ugong” es el verbo, “inigong” es el sustantivo) del corazón del cantante que ama su interés romántico.

(7) “Likido” significa "único" y solo lo he escuchado en referencia a una persona y solo en canciones de amor. Entonces, "único" significa "especial". Durante años he intentado, sin éxito, encontrar una posible palabra original española porque el sonido de esta palabra sugiere un origen español. Esta palabra es tan rara y misteriosa en su origen que no aparece en ningún diccionario chamorro publicado hasta 2009 (diccionario de Katherine Aguon).

(8) “Finañågo” significa literalmente "alguien dio a luz" y, por lo tanto, puede significar "bebé" o incluso, como en esta canción, una "persona". Al igual que llamar cristiano a una persona (“kilisyåno”), llamar a una persona "nacido" es inusual para nuestros oídos americanizados, pero apunta a la identidad de la otra persona como un ser humano nacido en este mundo, tal como lo es el cantante. Cuando se combina con “likido”, significa "eres único en tu clase", "la única persona nacida en este mundo como tú eres tú".

(9) “Kaotiba” ya no es entendido por la mayoría de los hablantes de chamorro e incluso algunos cantantes de chamorro piensan que la palabra es “kastiga” ("castigar") y la cantan de esa manera en lugar de “kaotiba”. “Kaotiba” significa "cautivar". Está tomado del español. El corazón del cantante quedó cautivado por este ser humano único.

(10) Su amor es tan genuino y duradero que hasta el día de su muerte nunca se cansará de amarla o de trabajar por el bien de la familia. “O'son” no significa cansancio físico, sino fatiga o aburrimiento emocional o mental.

(11) Ahora entramos en un lenguaje simbólico y poético, donde las palabras no deben tomarse literalmente. Un “kaohao” es un cofre de madera donde se guardan y guardan los objetos de valor. Su amor es una cosa preciada que debe ser protegida por lo que está usando la idea del “kaohao” que se compone de las partes de su cuerpo; su piel, su corazón y huesos, por las diferentes partes del pecho y el candado. Las imágenes provienen de una antigua perspectiva chamorra que los chamorros modernos pueden encontrar inusual.

(12) Le está pidiendo a su novia su palabra de promesa, su palabra aceptando su amor y tal vez su propuesta de matrimonio. Su "sí" a él se guardará de forma segura como en un “kaohao”.

(13) “Aseladura” significa "candado" y proviene del español “cerradura”. Algunas personas dicen “seladura” en lugar de “aseladura” y eso lo encontraremos en otras versiones de esta canción.

SURVIVORS IN AGRIGAN

Tuesday, September 22, 2020


AGRIGAN


Our islands may be tiny according to the world's standards but a tiny piece of land is still paradise to anyone clinging on to dear life in the deep blue sea.

Time and time again our islands in the Marianas have saved the life of many a shipwreck survivor.

One such wreck from long ago happened in November of 1818. Mind you, Napoleon Bonaparte and Thomas Jefferson, to name a few, were still alive.

An American merchant ship, the Resource , under the command of Captain Cornelius Sowle (his name is spelled several ways), hit an unknown reef in the north Pacific and sank. Before the ship completely sank, they managed to get casks of drinking water and loads of biscuits onto the boats they were using to escape the wreck.

To add to their misfortunes, the longest boat which had the biggest stores of food and water leaked and was sunk, losing all its provisions.

Two boats were now left but one of them disappeared in the night. It was supposed that it capsized and all lives were lost. Included in that disappeared boat was Captain Sowle.

The one remaining boat was adrift at sea for 25 day during which time three men died on the journey. Their bodies, naturally, were sent overboard to be buried at sea. They had bread to eat but no water except what they could catch with their hands when it rained. On December 15, the nine remaining survivors landed on Agrigan.

Agrigan had wild goats and hogs, besides natural vegetation, so they could survive. But one of the nine died during an accident while fishing. Finally, after eleven months on Agrigan, a Spanish brig picked them up and took them to Manila.



A SHIPWRECK


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

SUPERVIVIENTES EN LA ISLA DE AGRIGAN

Nuestras Islas Marianas pueden ser pequeñas si las comparamos con el resto del mundo, pero un reducido pedazo de tierra se convierte en un paraíso y una salvación para cualquier persona que se aferre a la vida en un mar azul profundo.

Una y otra vez, nuestras islas han salvado la vida de muchos náufragos.

Uno de esos naufragios ocurrido hace siglos acotenció en noviembre de 1818. Napoleón Bonaparte y Thomas Jefferson, por nombrar algunos, todavía estaban vivos en esa época.

Un barco mercante estadounidense, el "Resource", bajo el mando del capitán Cornelius Sowle, chocó contra un arrecife desconocido en el Pacífico Norte y se hundió. Antes de que el barco se hundiera por completo, consiguieron llevar toneles de agua potable y montones de panes a los botes salvavidas que utilizaban para alejarse del naufragio.

Lamentablemente y para agregar a sus desgracias, el bote más grande que tenía las mayores reservas de comida y agua se hundió, perdiendo todas sus provisiones.

Quedaron dos botes, pero uno de ellos desapareció en la noche. Se supuso que había volcado y se habían perdido todas las vidas. En ese bote desaparecido viajaba el Capitán Sowle.

El bote restante estuvo a la deriva en el mar 25 días, durante los cuales tres hombres murieron en el trayecto. Sus cuerpos, naturalmente, fueron arrojados por la borda para ser sepultados en el mar. Tenían pan para comer, pero nada de agua, excepto la que podían recoger con las manos cuando llovía. El 15 de diciembre, los nueve supervivientes restantes desembarcaron en Agrigan.

Agrigan tenía cabras y cerdos salvajes, además de vegetación natural, para que pudieran sobrevivir. Por desgracia, uno de los nueve murió durante un accidente mientras pescaba. Finalmente, y después de once meses en Agrigan, un bergantín español los recogió y los llevó a Manila.


FAMILY NICKNAMES : SARASA

Thursday, September 17, 2020



If you look up funeral announcements on Guam, and search for deceased with the nickname SARASA , you will find many people with MANY different last names being members of the Sarasa clan : Bautista, Sahagon, Borja, Crisostomo, Dueñas, Cruz, Mafnas, Sanchez and even more.

How can they ALL be Sarasa?

One reason is because many of the deceased are married women, so the actual Sarasa clan is hidden in their middle (maiden) name.

A second reason is because their Sarasa ancestor is two or three generations back, so the actual name connected to Sarasa is hidden, but they still identify as members of the clan.


IT ALL BEGAN WITH AGUERO CAMACHO


But the earliest recorded Sarasas in Spanish documents and records from the early American period (before 1910) were either BAUTISTAS or SAHAGONS .

Both the Bautistas and Sahagons were CAMACHO on their mother's sides. I believe this is where the Sarasa comes in.

There are only three Sahagons in the 1897 Guam Census, and they are all Camacho Sahagon and they are all brothers. They are the sons of the deceased Ignacio Agustín Sahagon from the Philippines and Antonia Aguero Camacho. She is the Sarasa, and her children took on that nickname. There are also some daughters and granddaughters under Antonia, but they have, in the Census at least, the last name Camacho, yet in some other documents they could also be called Sahagon. It's possible these daughters were born after Ignacio Sahagon had died and are therefore not his daughters, thus they are named Camacho after the widowed mother, and maybe, because Antonia had been married to a Sahagon, sometimes they were also called Sahagon. Whatever the case, they had the nickname Sarasa because the Sarasa was the mother Antonia, who was a Camacho.

Then there is the Bautista family, of which there are many children, almost a dozen in the 1897 Census. They are the children of the deceased Gregorio Milicelda Bautista of the Philippines and his Chamorro wife Maria Aguero Camacho, the same family names as Antonia who married Sahagon.

Both Antonia Aguero Camacho and Maria Aguero Camacho are the daughters of Juan and María, so I am confident that Maria and Antonia are sisters, and come from a Camacho family nicknamed Sarasa, and this is why Bautistas and Sahagons, and their descendants, have the nickname Sarasa.


BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN?




That's not the answer many people want to hear, but it's the honest and safest answer in the case of Sarasa.

When our family nicknames started long ago, people didn't write down the reason.

So if the explanation isn't written down, the explanation has to be passed down by word of mouth, from one generation to the next. That didn't happen a lot of the time; perhaps even most of the time. The information died with the last person who knew it.

Some families did preserve the story how the clan got its nickname.

Sometimes it's not difficult to explain the origin of a family nickname. The nickname is really the name of an ancestor, sometimes in abbreviated form.

So when we lack those kinds of evidence, we can ask a few questions that may get us closer to an answer, but no guarantees.


IS SARASA A LAST NAME SOMEWHERE?



SPANIARD ANTONIO SARASA'S FACEBOOK PAGE


Yes.

It's a Spanish last name, though not very extensive. At last census, there were 1,268 people in Spain with the last name Sarasa. Another 30 people spelled it Saraza and only 10 spelled it Zaraza.

From Spain, the name spread to Latin America and the Philippines, in all its several spellings.

But what does the Spanish surname have to do with the nickname of a Chamorro family? Maybe nothing at all! We just don't know.


IS SARASA THE NAME OF A PLACE?

Yes. Right here on Guam.

The Sarasa River.




The Sarasa River flows in the hill country of Talofofo, way in the interior of the island. It eventually flows into and joins the Talofofo River.

Did the Sarasa family get its nickname from the river? Did the family perhaps own land by the banks of the river? Someone in the family could know, or perhaps someone in the family still own lands along the Sarasa River. Old land records could be researched, if someone had the time and interest to do that. If the family owned land along the Sarasa River, it would strengthen the theory that the nickname comes from the river.

Most of Guam's rivers have Chamorro names like Talofofo, Ylig, Ugam and Pågo. But a few have Spanish names, like the Salinas and Pasamåno rivers. Is the Sarasa River a Spanish name or a Chamorro name?


IS SARASA A WORD?

There is such a word in Spanish. You can find it in any good Spanish dictionary. Even in that one language, sarasa can have more than one meaning and more than one spelling.

In Spain, sarasa is a slang word (but not the usual slang word) for an effeminate male.

In Mexico, when spelled saraza , it means fruit, especially corn, which is beginning to ripen.

Also in Mexico, when spelled zaraza , it means a kind of printed, cotton fabric.

Don't forget that, in Mexico, Z is pronounced like an S. And don't forget also that Mexican soldiers came to Guam in large numbers 300 years ago, so we have a lot of Mexican influence in our food and language. Before the war, our people grew and ate a lot of corn. Maybe the word saraza was used at one time by our farmers.

Besides these, sarasa can mean half a dozen other things in Spanish depending on which country you're in. In Argentina, sarasa can mean "blah blah blah," but even many Argentinians are not familiar with the word. Did any of these other meanings, which are found just in particular countries, most of which did not have direct links with the Marianas, make it to our islands? It's hard to imagine. And even if one of them did, which one of them explains the nickname Sarasa? It's a case without enough clues.

There is also a word sarasa in the Philippines. There, a sarasa is a plant (also called balasbas ).Many Filipinos also moved to Guam in Spanish times. Did the word sarasa come to us from the Philippines? We have the sarasa plant here in Guam, but here it is called San Francisco!

So here we have more possibilities. Ripening corn, as in Mexico, or a plant called sarasa , as in the Philippines. Not to mention all the other less common definitions. We just can't be sure if any of them can explain the nickname Sarasa.


CHAMORRO SALASA

The 1975 Chamorro Dictionary put out by Donald Topping had the assistance of a man from Luta, Pedro M. Ogo. Thus, some words used only in Luta appear in that dictionary. Topping made sure to state clearly when a word was a Luta word, and salasa is one of them.

In Luta, a salasa is an area of shallow water just beyond the reef. Katherine Aguon's 2009 Chamorro Dictionary also has salasa (she spells it salåsa ), but she doesn't indicate that it's a Luta word. I've asked a few older people from Guam and Saipan and they've never heard the word salasa (nor salåsa ).

The older Guam-based Chamorro dictionaries, going back to 1865, do not include the word salasa . So I can only assume, based on all this documentation, that salasa is a word used in Luta, supplied to Topping by Pedro Ogo.
Perr isn't on
Some might wonder if the nickname Sarasa comes from the Luta word salasa .  But, if it did, how did a word used in Luta come to be a Guam nickname? Furthermore, Chamorro generally avoids the R sound and even replaces the R with an L when the original Spanish word has an R. Think of Spanish guitarra becoming Chamorro gitåla . But the family nickname is Sarasa, with an R, not salasa with an L. If a Guam family has a Luta word salasa for a nickname, how did it come to Guam in the first place and secondly how did salasa change to Sarasa when the Chamorro trend is the opposite; to change R to L?


MORE GUESSES

Someone in the family makes the claim that the Sarasa nickname comes from the fact that one of the males in the family was a maker of shrimp and crab traps called nasa . But how does Sarasa come from nasa ? The jump from one word to the other seems a bit far. Secondly, the Sarasa nickname goes back to Spanish times, and the male member of the family said to have been a nasa maker came later. In other words, the Sarasa nickname predates the nasa maker.

People love to offer explanations and often the explanations are just what seem right to them.

Someone else says Sarasa comes from a Hindu goddess named Saraswati, all the way in India. And someone could also go in the opposite direction to the Americas and there we find a place in Florida called Sarasota, a name of mysterious origins but possibly Native American (Indian). We need more than coincidental similarities between words from two different languages to establish a connection. It would be like thinking the Guam locale called Cañada was the country Canada.

Someone else wonders if Sarasa comes from the word råsa , or "race." Well, we could also wonder if Sarasa comes from the name Sara, Spanish and Chamorro for Sarah.

One's fertile imagination can create all sorts of suggested answers. But they're all products of our own minds, with nothing outside our minds to back it up.

If only Antonia or María Aguero Camacho, or someone else in that family, had written down an explanation!

But alas no one did. And so, while we have a few hunches, we have no sure way of knowing what the Sarasa nickname means nor how the family got that for a nickname but everyone is welcome to believe the version they think best.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


SARASA

Si buscamos esquelas en Guam y gente fallecida con el apodo de SARASA, encontraremos numerosas personas con apellidos diferentes que son miembros del clan Sarasa: Bautista, Sahagon, Borja, Crisóstomo, Dueñas, Cruz, Mafnas, Sánchez, etc.

¿Cómo pueden ser TODOS Sarasa?

Una razón es que muchas de las personas fallecidas son mujeres casadas, por lo que el clan Sarasa real está oculto en su segundo apellido (de soltera).

Una segunda razón es que su antepasado Sarasa se encuentra dos o tres generaciones atrás, por lo que el apellido real conectado a Sarasa está oculto, pero aún se identifican como miembros del clan.

TODO EMPEZÓ CON ANTONIA Y MARÍA AGÜERO CAMACHO

Los Sarasa más antiguos aparecidos en documentos y registros españoles del período americano temprano (antes de 1910) fueron BAUTISTA o SAHAGON.

Tanto los Bautista como los Sahagon eran CAMACHO por parte de sus madres. Creo que aquí es donde entra el apodo Sarasa.

Solo hay tres Sahagon en el censo de Guam de 1897, y todos son Camacho Sahagon y todos son hermanos. Son los hijos del fallecido Ignacio Agustín Sahagon de Filipinas y Antonia Agüero Camacho. Ella es una Sarasa, y sus hijos tomaron ese apodo. También hay algunas hijas y nietas de Antonia, pero tienen, al menos en el censo, el apellido Camacho, aunque en algunos otros documentos también podrían llamarse Sahagon. Es posible que estas hijas nacieran después de la muerte de Ignacio Sahagon y, por lo tanto, no sean sus hijas, por eso se llaman Camacho en honor a la madre viuda, y tal vez, porque Antonia se había casado con un Sahagon, a veces también se las llamaba Sahagon. En cualquier caso, tenían el sobrenombre de Sarasa porque Sarasa era la madre, Antonia, de apellido Camacho.

Luego está la familia Bautista, de la que hay muchos hijos, casi una docena en el censo de 1897. Son los hijos del fallecido Gregorio Milicelda Bautista de Filipinas y su esposa chamorra María Agüero Camacho, los mismos apellidos que la anteriormente mencionada Antonia que se casó con un Sahagon.

Tanto Antonia Agüero Camacho como María Agüero Camacho son hijas de Juan y María, por lo que confío en que María y Antonia son hermanas y provienen de una familia Camacho apodada Sarasa, por eso los Bautista y Sahagon, y sus descendientes, tienen el apodo Sarasa.

PERO ¿QUÉ SIGNIFICA “SARASA”? NO SABEMOS

Ésa no es la respuesta que mucha gente quiere escuchar, pero es la respuesta más honesta y segura en el caso del apodo de los Sarasa.

Cuando el apodo de nuestra familia comenzaba hace mucho tiempo, la gente no escribía el motivo.

Entonces, si la razón no quedaba por escrito, la explicación debía transmitirse oralmente, de una generación a la siguiente. Eso no sucedía la mayor parte de las veces; quizás incluso en la mayoría de las ocasiones, la información moría con la última persona que la conocía.

Algunas familias conservaron la historia de cómo el clan obtuvo su apodo.

A veces no es difícil explicar el origen de un apodo familiar. El apodo es realmente el nombre de un antepasado, a veces en forma abreviada.

Entonces, cuando carecemos de ese tipo de evidencia, podemos hacer algunas preguntas que pueden acercarnos a una respuesta, pero no hay garantías.

¿ES SARASA UN APELLIDO EN ALGÚN LUGAR?

Sí. Es un apellido español, aunque no muy extenso. En el último censo, había 1.268 personas en España con el apellido Sarasa. Otras 30 personas lo escribieron Saraza y solo 10 lo escribieron Zaraza.

Desde España, el nombre se extendió a Hispano-América y Filipinas, en todas sus diversas grafías.

Pero, ¿qué tiene que ver el apellido español con el apodo de una familia chamorra? ¡Quizás absolutamente nada! Simplemente no lo sabemos.

¿ES SARASA EL NOMBRE DE UN LUGAR?

Si. Aquí mismo en Guam.

El río Sarasa.

El río Sarasa fluye desde la zona montañosa de Talofofo, camino del interior de la isla. Posteriormente desemboca y se une al río Talofofo.

¿La familia Sarasa recibió su apodo del río? ¿Quizás la familia poseía tierras a orillas del río? Alguien de la familia podría saberlo, o quizás alguien de la familia todavía posea tierras a lo largo del río Sarasa. Se podrían investigar los registros de tierras antiguos, si alguien tuviera el tiempo y el interés para hacerlo. Si la familia tuviera tierras a lo largo del río Sarasa, reforzaría la teoría de que el apodo proviene del río.

La mayoría de los ríos de Guam tienen nombres chamorros como Talofofo, Ylig, Ugam y Pågo. Pero algunos tienen nombres españoles, como los ríos Salinas y Pasamåno. ¿El río Sarasa es un nombre español o un nombre chamorro? Quién sabe…

¿ES SARASA UNA PALABRA?

Existe una palabra así en español. La podemos encontrar en cualquier buen diccionario de español. Incluso en ese idioma, sarasa puede tener más de un significado y más de una ortografía.

En España, sarasa es una palabra del argot (pero no la palabra del argot habitual) para un hombre afeminado.

En México, cuando se escribe saraza, significa fruta, especialmente maíz, que está comenzando a madurar.

También en México, cuando se escribe zaraza, significa una especie de tela estampada de algodón.

No olvidemos que, en México, la Z se pronuncia como una S. Y no olvidemos tampoco que los soldados mexicanos llegaron a Guam en grandes cantidades hace 300 años, por lo que tenemos mucha influencia mexicana en nuestra comida y en nuestro idioma. Antes de la guerra, nuestra gente cultivaba y se alimentaba mucho del maíz. Quizás la palabra saraza fue usada en algún momento por nuestros agricultores.

Además de esto, sarasa puede significar media docena de diferentes cosas en español dependiendo del país en el que uno se encuentre. En Argentina, sarasa puede significar "bla, bla, bla", pero incluso muchos argentinos no están familiarizados con la palabra. ¿Alguno de estos otros significados, que se encuentran solo en países en particular, la mayoría de los cuales no tenían vínculos directos con las Marianas, llegó a nuestras islas? Es difícil de imaginar. E incluso si uno de ellos lo hizo, ¿cuál de ellos explica el apodo de Sarasa? Es un caso sin suficientes pistas.

También hay una palabra sarasa en Filipinas. Allí, una sarasa es una planta (también llamada balasbas). Muchos filipinos también se mudaron a Guam durante la época española. ¿Nos llegó la palabra sarasa de Filipinas? Tenemos la planta de sarasa aquí en Guam, ¡pero aquí se llama San Francisco!

Entonces aquí tenemos más posibilidades. Maíz maduro, como en México, o una planta llamada sarasa, como en Filipinas. Sin mencionar todas las otras definiciones menos comunes. Simplemente no podemos estar seguros de si alguna de ellas puede explicar el apodo de Sarasa.

SALASA EN IDIOMA CHAMORRO

El Diccionario Chamorro de 1975 de Donald Topping contó con la asistencia de un nativo de Rota, Pedro M. Ogo. Por tanto, en ese diccionario aparecen algunas palabras que se utilizan únicamente en Rota. Topping se aseguró de indicar claramente cuándo una palabra era una palabra de Rota, y salasa es una de ellas.

En Rota, salasa es una área de agua poco profunda más allá del arrecife. El Diccionario Chamorro 2009 de Katherine Aguon también recoge la palabra salasa (ella lo deletrea salåsa), pero no indica que sea una palabra de Rota. Le pregunté a algunas personas mayores de Guam y Saipán y nunca habían escuchado la palabra salasa (ni salåsa).

Los diccionarios chamorros más antiguos de Guam, que datan de 1865, no incluyen la palabra salasa. Así que solo puedo asumir, basado en toda esta documentación, que salasa es una palabra usada en Rota, proporcionada a Topping por Pedro Ogo.

Algunos se preguntarán si el apodo Sarasa proviene de la palabra de Rota, salasa. Pero, si fuese así, ¿cómo una palabra usada en Rota llegó a ser un apodo familiar en Guam? Además, el idioma chamorro generalmente evita el sonido R e incluso reemplaza la R por una L cuando la palabra española original tiene una R. Pensemos en la guitarra española convirtiéndose en chamorro, gitåla. Pero el apodo de la familia es Sarasa, con una R, no salasa con una L. Si una familia de Guam tiene una palabra de Rota, salasa para un apodo, ¿cómo llegó a Guam en primer lugar y, en segundo lugar, cómo se cambió salasa a Sarasa cuando la tendencia chamorra es la contraria; cambiar de R a L?

MÁS ADIVINANZAS

Alguien de la familia afirma que el apodo de Sarasa proviene del hecho de que uno de los hombres de la familia era un fabricante de trampas para camarones y cangrejos llamadas nasas. Pero, ¿cómo viene Sarasa de una nasa? El salto de una palabra a otra parece un poco lejano. En segundo lugar, el apodo de Sarasa se remonta a la época española, y el miembro masculino de la familia que se dice que fue un fabricante de la nasa llegó más tarde. En otras palabras, el apodo de Sarasa es anterior al fabricante de nasas.

A la gente le encanta ofrecer explicaciones y, a menudo, las explicaciones son lo que les parece correcto.

Alguien más dice que Sarasa proviene de una diosa hindú llamada Saraswati, desde la India. Y alguien también podría ir en dirección contraria a las Américas y allí encontramos un lugar en Florida llamado Sarasota, un nombre de origen misterioso pero posiblemente nativo americano (indio). Necesitamos más que similitudes coincidentes entre palabras de dos idiomas diferentes para establecer una conexión. Sería como pensar que la localidad de Guam llamada Cañada fuera el país de Canadá.

Alguien más se pregunta si Sarasa proviene de la palabra råsa, o "raza". Bueno, también podríamos preguntarnos si Sarasa proviene del nombre Sara.

La imaginación fértil de uno puede crear todo tipo de respuestas sugeridas. Pero todas son producto de nuestras propias mentes, sin nada fuera de éstas que lo respalde.

¡Si tan solo Antonia o María Agüero Camacho, o alguien más de esa familia, hubiera escrito una explicación!

Pero, por desgracia, nadie lo hizo. Y así, aunque tenemos algunas corazonadas, no tenemos una forma segura de saber qué significa el apodo de Sarasa ni cómo la familia lo consiguió como apodo, pero todos son bienvenidos a creer en la versión que crean mejor.

I CHALÅN-TA

Monday, September 14, 2020


Off the road that takes you into Pågo Bay is a street with this curious name.

Does anybody know someone named Juan dela Tran?

I don't. But I do know SAN JUAN DE LETRÁN .

San Juan de Letrán was the name of the first school in the Marianas during colonial times, founded by Blessed Diego Luís de Sanvitores in 1669, just the year after his arrival. His idea was to educate the most promising boys in the Marianas, not only in worldly subjects but especially in religion.

Following the European use of the word "college," the school was a Colegio , meaning a secondary school, not a part of a university.

San Juan de Letrán is the Spanish form of the name Saint John Lateran, the name of the Cathedral of Rome, the Pope's cathedral. That church was originally a huge building owned by the Lateranus family. That name is Lateran in English and Letrán in Spanish.



BASILICA OF SAINT JOHN LATERAN IN ROME
The Pope's Cathedral

The Colegio de San Juan de Letrán on Guam sat for two centuries in Hagåtña off to the side of the Dulce Nombre de María church. Chamorro boys schooled there became government and church clerks, municipal officials, teachers and military men. Boys from the southern villages and Luta lived at the school and took their meals there. The Spanish government paid for the running of the school. When the Americans took over Guam, the Colegio was closed for good.



COLEGIO DE SAN JUAN DE LETRÁN IN HAGÅTÑA
1818

VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

NUESTRAS CALLES: “JUAN DELA TRAN”

Saliendo de la carretera que nos lleva a la Bahía de Pago existe una calle con este curioso nombre.

¿Alguien conoce a un tal “Juan Dela Tran”?

Yo no. Pero sí conozco a SAN JUAN DE LETRÁN .

San Juan de Letrán es el nombre de la primera escuela de las Islas Marianas durante la época española, fundada por el Beato Diego Luís de Sanvitores en 1669, justo un año después de su llegada. Su idea era educar a los muchachos más prometedores de las Marianas, no solo en temas mundanos sino especialmente en religión.

Atendiendo al significado europeo de la palabra "colegio", la escuela era un instituto, es decir, una escuela secundaria, y no una universidad.

San Juan de Letrán es el nombre de la Catedral de Roma, la catedral del Papa. Esa iglesia fue originalmente un enorme edificio propiedad de la familia Lateranus. Ese nombre es "Lateran" en inglés y "Letrán" en español.

El Colegio de San Juan de Letrán en Guam existió durante dos siglos en Agaña, al lado de la iglesia del Dulce Nombre de María. Los niños chamorros escolarizados allí se convirtieron en secretarios del gobierno y de la iglesia, funcionarios municipales, maestros y militares. Los chicos de los pueblos del sur de Guam y de la vecina Rota vivían en la escuela y comían allí. El gobierno español financiaba el sostenimiento y funcionamiento de la escuela. Cuando los estadounidenses se apoderaron de Guam, el Colegio San Juan de Letrán se cerró definitivamente.


THE PURPOSE OF EYE GLASSES

Wednesday, September 9, 2020



NA’ LA DANGKULO I KATNE
(Make the meat bigger)

Guaha un taotao gi tiempon Españot ni na’ån-ña si Betto. I chalan ha’ sagågå-ña sa’ uniko na låhen sottera yan popble na palao’an ni esta måtai. Pues tolot dia lumalaoya ha’ gi chalan si Betto, man gågagao ayudu, magågo yan nengkanno’.
( During Spanish times there was a man named Betto. He stayed on the streets only because he was the only son of a poor and single mother who was already dead. So all day Betto walked the streets asking for help, clothing and food .)

Un dia, ha faisen un taotao kao siña ha na’ sena gue’. Meskino yan chattao na taotao i ha faisen, lao i taotao ha sedi na u hålom si Betto para u sena. Ha na’ sena si Betto kåddo, lao un dikkike’ ha’ na pedåson kåtne ha nå’ye gi tasón.
( One day, he asked a man if he could give him dinner. The man he asked was stingy and selfish, but the man allowed Betto to come in and have dinner. He gave Betto a dinner of stew, but there was just a small piece of meat in the bowl. )

Matå’chong i taotao gi otro båndan i lamasa, ha laknos un lepblo para u taitai ya ha po’lo i anteohos gi matå-ña. Si Betto tåya’ na ha li’e’ anteohos pues mamaisen, “Håfa señot na un u’usa ennao gi matå-mo?” Man oppe i taotao, “Pot para u ma na' la dangkulo i letra.” Pues ilek-ña si Betto, “Kao siña un atan este na pedåson kåtne ya un na' la dangkulo?”
( The man sat on the other side of the table, he took out a book to read and he put eyeglasses on. Betto had never seen eyeglasses so he asked, "Why, sir, are you using that on your eyes?" The man answered, "To make the letters bigger." So Betto said, "Can you look at this piece of meat and make it bigger?" )





H­ÅGAT AND HUMÅTAK CONNECTED IN 1954

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

HÅGAT TO HUMÅTAK


Nowadays driving from Hågat to Humåtak is a quick, pleasant and scenic drive on a very decent road.

Far from the narrow two-lane road of my childhood and youth, seen in the top left photo. That road was not exactly on the same path as today's road. It also went up and down more, curved more, and one had to be more wary of speeding drivers on the opposite lane. It was certainly more fun, like a roller coaster, especially riding on the back of a pickup truck. But it did take longer to get to Humåtak.

What many people may not know is that, in modern times, there wasn't even a road that connected Hågat and Humåtak until just about 66 years ago.



ROAD TO LAMLAM IN 1949
Dirt Road


NO ROAD FROM HÅGAT TO HUMÅTAK

Those mountains we call Lamlam and Humuyong Månglo' are the reasons why it was so difficult and required tremendous resources to build a road up those highlands to get from Hågat to Humåtak in the old days. And so, if you look at prewar maps of Guam, you won't find a road from Hågat to Humåtak. From around where the Talaifak Bridge is, you see trails but then those disappear as the terrain climbs higher.



PREWAR MAP


As you can see in the above map from before the war, there is a road on the eastern side of Guam going down to Inalåhan then across to Malesso and up to Humtak, but the road ends there. You cannot go past Humåtak up the mountains and then down to Hågat, nor from Hågat to Humåtak.

So, at the time, to get to Humåtak from Hagåtña, you had to either :

1. Go from Inalåhan to Malesso' to Humåtak by road

or

2. Go from Apra or Hågat to Humåtak by boat


It was the same for Malesso' residents. They often took a boat to Hagåtña unless they went by land through Inalåhan. Either way, it was a long trip.


THE ROAD GETS STARTED



HUMÅTAK ASSEMBLYMAN CALLS FOR NEW ROAD IN 1950



After World War II, Guam modernized by leaps and bounds. Many jobs became available, especially for southern residents, at the new naval base in Sumay. How could a Humåtak employee at the naval base get to work? How could the sick from Humåtak get quickly to the hospital up north? Southern farmers wanting to sell their produce also needed a faster way to get north.

In February of 1950, a little before the Organic Act was passed, an Assemblyman from Humåtak, José S. Quinata, was calling on the government to build a road from Hågat to Humåtak for all those reasons mentioned. Before the Organic Act created our current Guam Legislature, the island had two houses in the purely advisory Guam Congress. Quinata was a member of the lower house, the House of Assembly.



1950


By July of 1950, work began on a road between Hågat and Humåtak but it seems the work stalled because in 1953 the newly-inaugurated 2nd Guam Legislature introduced a bill to extend the road from Hågat to Humåtak.

The next year, 1954, Congressman Jesus R. Quinene of Malesso' (members of the Guam Legislature were called "congressmen" in the 1950s and 60s), was inviting members of the Guam Legislature to view the new Hågat to Humåtak road.

So perhaps we can say that Hågat and Humåtak were connected by road in 1954, but it was far from perfect. A news article that same year informs the public that the road couldn't be used after torrential rains washed much of it away. Other news reports speak of repairs all the way to 1956 when the Department of Public Works talks about "the completion" of the road. That year, 1956, is also when news articles speak about car accidents on that road, so we can be certain the road was done by 1956.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

AGAT Y UMATAC CONECTADAS EN 1954

Hoy en día, circular desde Agat hasta Umatac es un viaje rápido, agradable y pintoresco por una carretera en buen estado.

Lejos de la estrecha carretera de dos carriles de mi infancia y juventud, que se ve en la foto superior izquierda, ese camino no estaba exactamente en el mismo lugar en el que está el de hoy. También ascendía y descendía en más ocasiones, tenía más curvas y había que tener más cuidado con los conductores del carril opuesto que se excedían en velocidad. Ciertamente era más divertido, como una montaña rusa, especialmente si se viajaba en la parte trasera de una camioneta. Pero se tardaba más que hoy en llegar a Umatac.

Lo que muchas personas tal vez no sepan es que, en épocas más recientes, ni siquiera había una carretera que conectara Agat y Umatac hasta hace unos 66 años.

Esas montañas que llamamos Lamlam y Humuyong Månglo' son las razones por las que era tan difícil y se requerían tremendos recursos para construir un camino por esas tierras altas para llegar de Agat a Umatac. Entonces, si se miran los mapas de Guam de antes de la guerra, no se encontrará una carretera de Agat a Umatac. Desde donde está el puente Talaifak, se ven senderos pero luego desaparecen a medida que el terreno asciende.

Como se puede ver en el mapa anterior de antes de la guerra, hay una carretera en el lado Este de Guam que baja a Inaraján, luego a Merizo y sube a Umatac, pero la carretera termina allí. No se puede cruzar Umatac por las montañas y luego bajar a Agat, ni de Agat a Umatac.

Entonces, en ese momento, para llegar a Umatac desde Agaña, había que:

1. Ir de Inarajan a Merizo y a Umatac por carretera, o

2. Ir de Apra o Agat a Umatac en barco.

Lo mismo ocurría con los residentes de Merizo. A menudo tomaban un barco a Agaña a menos que fueran por tierra a través de Inaraján. De cualquier manera, era un viaje largo.

Después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, Guam se modernizó a pasos agigantados. En la nueva base naval de Sumay había muchos puestos de trabajo disponibles, especialmente para los residentes del sur. ¿Cómo podría ir a trabajar un empleado de Umatac a la base naval? ¿Cómo podían los enfermos de Umatac llegar rápidamente al hospital del norte? Los agricultores del sur que deseaban vender sus productos también necesitaban una forma más rápida de llegar al norte.

En febrero de 1950, poco antes de que se aprobara la Ley Orgánica, un asambleísta de Umatac, José S. Quinata, solicitó al gobierno que construyera una carretera de Agat a Umatac por las razones anteriormente mencionadas. Antes de que la Ley Orgánica creara nuestra actual Legislatura de Guam, la isla tenía dos cámaras en el Congreso puramente consultivas. Quinata era miembro de la cámara baja, la Cámara de la Asamblea

En julio de 1950, se inició el trabajo para una carretera entre Agat y Umatac, pero parece que el trabajo se estancó porque en 1953 la Segunda Legislatura de Guam recién inaugurada presentó un proyecto de ley para extender la carretera de Agat a Umatac.

El año siguiente, 1954, el congresista Jesús R. Quinene de Merizo (a los miembros de la Legislatura de Guam se les llamó "congresistas" en las décadas de 1950 y 1960), estaba invitando a miembros de la Legislatura de Guam a ver la nueva carretera Agat a Umatac.

Entonces, quizás podamos decir que Agat y Umatac estuvieron conectados por carretera desde 1954, pero los informes de noticias hablan de reparaciones hasta 1956, cuando el Departamento de Obras Públicas declara "la finalización" de la carretera. Ese año, 1956, es también el año en el que los periódicos ya hablan sobre accidentes automovilísticos en esa carretera, por lo que podemos estar seguros de que la carretera estaba terminada en 1956.


IT WAS FUNNY TO THEM

Saturday, August 29, 2020

HATS ON, HATS OFF!


A foreign writer in the 1800s visiting the Marianas observed the Carolinians living in our islands at the time. By 1815 or so, people from Satawal, Lamotrek and other islands in the Carolines were living in the Marianas and by the 1880s, they were living on all four main islands : Guam, Luta, Tinian and Saipan.

The writer said many things about the Carolinians; their customs, attire, dances and sailing.

Some people from Europe and the US saw the Carolinians as having strange ways. But the Carolinians could, and did, say the same thing about the Caucasians!

The writer said something the Caucasians did made the Carolinians laugh heartily. The kind of laugh that comes from the belly.

When Carolinians saw two Caucasian men meet on the road and take off their hats to each other, bow and put their hats back on, the Carolinians burst out laughing.

I suppose, to them, they saw no reason for men to do this. What was the point of taking it off and putting it right back on?

Taking off one's hat momentarily as a greeting or salute is called doffing and was part of Western etiquette back in the days when Western men wore hats on a regular basis. When greeting others, men would take their hat off, keep it in their hand for a moment and put it back on. Sometimes, when greetings crowds, politicians and dignitaries would wave their hat. This video gives us an idea.




VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

ERA DIVERTIDO PARA ELLOS

Un escritor extranjero que visitó las Marianas en el siglo XIX, observó a los habitantes carolinos que vivían en nuestras islas durante aquella época. Aproximadamente en 1815, la gente de Satawal, Lamotrek y otras islas de las Carolinas vivían en las Marianas y, en la década de 1880, vivían en las cuatro islas principales: Guam, Rota, Tinian y Saipán.

El escritor comentó muchas cosas sobre los carolinos; sus costumbres, atuendos, bailes y navegación.

Alguna gente de Europa y los EE. UU. veía a los habitantes de las Carolinas como personas extrañas. ¡Pero los carolinos podían decir, y dijeron, lo mismo sobre los caucásicos!

El escritor destacó que algo que hicieron los caucásicos provocó risas a los carolinos con ganas. El tipo de risa que sale del vientre.

Cuando los habitantes de las Carolinas vieron a dos hombres caucásicos encontrarse en el camino y quitarse el sombrero el uno al otro, hacer una reverencia y volver a ponerse el sombrero, aquellos carolinos se echaron a reír.

Supongo que ellos no veían ninguna razón para que los dos hombres hicieran eso. ¿Qué sentido tenía quitarse el sombrero y ponérselo de nuevo?

Quitarse el sombrero momentáneamente como saludo era parte de la etiqueta occidental en los días en que los hombres occidentales usaban sombreros con regularidad. Al saludar a los demás, los hombres se quitan el sombrero, lo mantienen en la mano por un momento y se lo vuelven a poner. A veces, cuando las multitudes saludaban, políticos y dignatarios agitaban su sombrero. Este vídeo nos da una idea.


FAMILY NICKNAMES : TUHU'

Monday, August 24, 2020



TUHU ' in Chamorro means "to drip."

When water drips from a faucet, that's tuhu '.

When tears fall from your eyes, that's tuhu '.

The word is used a nickname for one branch of the BORJA clan in the Marianas.


MANUEL MENDIOLA BORJA

The Tuhu clan of Borjas are the descendants of Manuel Mendiola Borja from Hagåtña, the son of José Borja and Gabriela Mendiola.

The old Spanish form of the surname was DE BORJA but, like many other families, the DE was dropped.

Manuel married Ignacia Sablan Díaz, the daughter of Ramón Díaz and Rita Sablan.

Manuel moved a lot between Guam and Saipan, and was even in Pagan for a while. His oldest children were born in Guam, then he went up to Saipan were other children were born, then he came back to Guam where he was a Cabeza de Barangay (neighborhood leader) in Hagåtña in 1897, then he went back to Saipan permanently where he eventually passed away in 1920.

His children born in Guam were José, Francisco, Ignacio and Ramón.

His children born in Saipan were Rita, Anunciación, Joaquín and Vicente.

Antonio was born in Pagan.

There were several babies who died in infancy.

The Tuhu' clan in Saipan is very well-known for more than one reason. There were many children, so the clan grew into the thousands by the third or fourth generations, intermarried with other big clans.

The famous Lourdes Shrine in As Teo, Saipan sits on land owned by the Tuhu' clan.

Olimpio Tudela Borja, a grandson of Manuel and Ignacia, was one of the best known civic leaders of Saipan in the post-war period up to the early Commonwealth. He was known by many on Guam and the other islands of the Trust Territory.

Jesús Camacho Borja, a great grandson of Manuel and Ignacia, was a judge and Lieutenant Governor of the CNMI. He is Olimpio's nephew.

Other well-known members of the clan are Borjas on the mother's side, so the Borja name is often unseen, such as Escolástica Borja Tudela who married Cabrera. But she is a Tuhu' on her mother's side, and she was well-known in Saipan and beyond as a businesswoman, baker and active Catholic. Juan Borja Tudela is a Tuhu' on his mother's side, and he was once Mayor of Saipan. And these are just a few examples. So, as you can see, a well-known clan.





WHY TUHU'???


What a lot of people are curious about is why this clan should have TUHU' (drip) for a family nickname?

The short answer is we really don't know for sure, 100%.

It's the same with a lot of other families with curious nicknames. Sometimes the family nickname is clear, because the clan is named after an ancestor's first name, which we know. Other times the family nickname comes from a physical trait, occupation or position, personal story or family land that is well-known and once in a while even documented.

But many times, the family nickname came about so long ago, and people didn't write things down in the old days, and the stories weren't passed down, that the origin of the nickname was lost.

BUT...we do have some theories about the reason why this Borja clan is nicknamed Tuhu', which different members of the clan put forward.

One explanation is that Manuel, the founder of the clan, didn't like drips, maybe from breaks in the thatched roofing when it rained.

A second explanation is that members of the family were known for being easy criers, that their tears easily tuhu ' (dripped) from their eyes.

There is another Borja clan who, like the Tuhu', started in Guam but moved. These Borjas, however, moved to Palau but they are related to the Tuhu'.

Francisco Díaz Borja, son of Manuel, moved to Palau and became for a period the head of the Chamorro community there. He was called the atkåtde (Spanish alcalde , or mayor). He had a leaky roof and was asked about it and responded, " Solo an u'uchan ha' na tutuhu'. " (It only drips when it rains.) People found the remark funny and attribute the family nickname to that.

These are the stories that circulate among the family, so it's anybody's guess, really. But, despite the mystery of the nickname, one thing is for sure and that is that this clan remains a large and well-known family.

VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

APODOS DE FAMILIA: TUHU’

TUHU’ en chamorro significa "gotear".

Cuando el agua gotea de un grifo, eso es tuhu'.

Cuando las lágrimas caen de tus ojos, eso es tuhu'.

L

a palabra se usa también en las Islas Marianas como apodo para una rama del clan BORJA

El clan Tuhu’ de los Borja es descendiente de Manuel Mendiola Borja de Agaña, hijo de José Borja y Gabriela Mendiola.

La antigua forma española del apellido era DE BORJA pero, como en muchas otras familias, se perdió el DE.

Manuel se casó con Ignacia Sablan Díaz, hija de Ramón Díaz y Rita Sablan.

Manuel se movió mucho entre Guam y Saipán, e incluso estuvo en Pagan por un tiempo. Sus hijos mayores nacieron en Guam, luego subió a Saipán donde nacieron otros niños, luego regresó a Guam donde fue Cabeza de Barangay (jefe de barrio) en Agaña en 1897, luego regresó a Saipán permanentemente donde finalmente falleció en 1920.

Sus hijos nacidos en Guam fueron José, Francisco, Ignacio y Ramón.

Sus hijos nacidos en Saipán fueron Rita, Anunciación, Joaquín y Vicente.

Antonio nació en Pagan.

Hubo varios bebés que murieron en la infancia.

El clan Tuhu' en Saipán es muy conocido por más de una razón. Había muchos niños de esa familia, por lo que el clan creció por miles en la tercera o cuarta generación, entremezclándose con otras grandes familias.

El famoso Santuario de Lourdes en As Teo, Saipán, se encuentra en un terreno propiedad del clan Tuhu'.

Olimpio Tudela Borja, nieto de Manuel e Ignacia, fue uno de los jefes civiles más conocidos de Saipán en el período de posguerra hasta principios de la Mancomunidad. Muchos lo conocían en Guam y en otras islas del Territorio en Fideicomiso.

Jesús Camacho Borja, bisnieto de Manuel e Ignacia, fue juez y vicegobernador de la Mancomunidad de las Islas Marianas del Norte. Es sobrino del anteriormente mencionado Olimpio.

Otros miembros conocidos del clan llevan el apellido Borja por parte de la madre, por lo que el nombre de Borja a menudo no se ve, como Escolástica Borja Tudela que se casó con un Cabrera. Pero ella es una Tuhu' por parte de su madre, y era muy conocida en Saipán y más allá como empresaria, panadera y católica activa. Juan Borja Tudela es un Tuhu' por parte de su madre, y una vez fue alcalde de Saipán. Y éstos son solo algunos ejemplos. Entonces, como podemos ver, era una familia muy conocida.

Lo que mucha gente siente curiosidad es por qué este clan lleva el TUHU' (goteo) como apodo familiar.

La respuesta corta es que realmente no lo sabemos con certeza.

Lo mismo ocurre con muchas otras familias con apodos curiosos. A veces, el apodo familiar es claro, porque el clan lleva el nombre del primer nombre de un antepasado, que conocemos. Otras veces el apodo familiar proviene de un rasgo físico, ocupación o posición, historia personal o terreno familiar que es bien conocido y de vez en cuando incluso documentado.

Pero muchas veces, el apodo de la familia surgió hace mucho tiempo, la gente no escribía las cosas en aquella época, y las historias no se transmitían, así que el origen del apodo se perdió.

Pero... tenemos algunas teorías sobre el motivo por el que este clan Borja es apodado Tuhu', las cuales han sido presentadas por diferentes miembros del clan.

Una explicación es que a Manuel, el fundador de esta familia, no le gustaban las gotas, tal vez por roturas en el techo de paja cuando llovía.

Una segunda explicación es que los miembros de la familia eran conocidos porque lloraban muy fácilmente, sus lágrimas fácilmente goteaban (tuhu’) de sus ojos.

Hay otro clan Borja que, como los Tuhu', se originó en Guam pero se mudó. Estos Borja, sin embargo, se mudaron a las Islas Palaos pero están relacionados con los Tuhu'.

Francisco Díaz Borja, hijo de Manuel, se trasladó a Palaos y se convirtió por un tiempo en el jefe de la comunidad chamorra allí. Fue llamado “atkåtde” (alcalde en español). Tenía goteras en el techo y se le preguntó al respecto y respondió: "Solo an u'uchan ha 'na tutuhu'". (Solo gotea cuando llueve). A la gente le pareció gracioso el comentario y le atribuyen el apodo de la familia.

Éstas son las historias que circulan entre la familia, por lo que es una incógnita, de verdad. Pero, a pesar del misterio del apodo, una cosa es segura y es que este clan sigue siendo una familia muy numerosa y conocida en Marianas.


CHAMORRO PROVERB

Tuesday, August 18, 2020




TODO GUSTO
SIEMPRE DISGUSTO.

Everything being pleasure
will surely become displeasure.




"Too much good is no good," is how some other languages express the same idea.

Look at nature. It's not always daylight, nor is it always dark. Even in the polar regions, it's never 12 months of daylight or 12 months of darkness.

Rain is followed by sun is followed by rain is followed by....

So it is with pleasure. Even that must be measured.

No matter how delicious the food, at some point we must stop eating it. To continue eating delicious food when we've already had enough becomes torture.

Too much alcohol, too much good food, too much rest....all excess pleasure turns into displeasure.


AN OBSERVATION

Every word in this Chamorro proverb is borrowed from Spanish. And yet all our mañaina (elders) would have understood the proverb, just as any Spanish speaker would.

You could also add the word yanggen (if), which can be shortened to anggen or an . Yanggen todo gusto, siempre disgusto . "If everything is pleasurable, it will surely become unpleasant."


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

“TODO GUSTO SIEMPRE DISGUSTO”


"Demasiado bien no es bueno", así es como en algunos otros idiomas se expresa la misma idea de este refrán chamorro.


Mira la naturaleza. No siempre es de día ni siempre es de noche. Incluso en las regiones polares, nunca hay 12 meses de luz diurna o 12 meses de oscuridad.


A la lluvia le sigue el sol, al sol le sigue la lluvia...


Así es que las cosas placenteras incluso deben medirse.


No importa lo deliciosa que sea la comida, en algún momento debemos dejar de comerla. Seguir comiendo comida deliciosa cuando ya hemos tenido suficiente se convierte en una tortura.


Demasiado alcohol, demasiada buena comida, demasiado descanso... todo exceso de placer se convierte en disgusto.


Cada palabra de este refrán chamorro está tomada del español. Y sin embargo, todos nuestros ancianos ( mañaina ) habrían entendido el refrán, como cualquier hispanohablante.


También se puede agregar la palabra yanggen (si), que se puede abreviar a anggen o an. Yanggen todo gusto, siempre disgusto. "Si todo es placentero, seguramente se volverá desagradable".

GODMOTHER'S POWER

Friday, August 14, 2020



In traditional Chamorro culture of the last 320 years, godparents play a big role in the extended family. They become co-parents of the biological parents of the child. That's why the mother and the godmother are called komådre ; co+mothers.

The godmother's key role in softening the mother's curse of the legendary Sirena is a well-known example of the godmother's power.

But here's another example from actual history.

In 1915, Ana, a wife and mother, was taken to court on the charge of selling a bottle of gin to Juan. She did not have a license to sell alcohol, and so she landed in front of the judge.

But we can actually say that the key factor in all this was the komådre , not Juan.

Juan was Ana's godson. He came to his godmother's house one night, when Ana was alone with her children, her husband having gone to the farm and was spending the night there.

Juan told Ana that his mother, Ana's komådre , had sent him to ask his godmother for some liquor. The reason? Juan was feeling sick.

As Ana explained, "This custom of giving strong drink for medical purposes is very general among the Chamorros."

It was night time; stores had long been closed around sunset; and Ana knew Juan would not be able to buy liquor at a store. Besides, she was not selling Juan anything. There was no law against giving liquor away for free. Juan had brought money, but Ana said he didn't give it to her. Instead, Ana found the money in her house and had no idea where it came from.

She also said, "Juan's mother is my komådre ." How could she refuse?

The court was not convinced that Ana did not give Juan gin in exchange for money, so she was found guilty of selling alcohol without a license and had to work off her hefty fine by public labor.

Too bad for Ana. But how could she refuse her komådre ?


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

LA FUERZA DE LA MADRINA

En los últimos 320 años, en la cultura tradicional chamorra, los padrinos desempeñan un papel fundamental en la familia. Se convierten en co-padres de los padres biológicos del niño. Por eso la madre ("nåna") y la madrina ("matlina") se llaman “komådre”: co + madre.

El papel clave de la madrina en suavizar la maldición echada por la madre de la legendaria Sirena es un ejemplo bien conocido en Guam del poder de las madrinas.

Pero aquí hay otro ejemplo de la vida real.

En 1915, Ana, esposa y madre, fue procesada por el cargo de venderle una botella de ginebra a Juan. No tenía licencia para vender alcohol, por lo que terminó sentada frente al juez.

Pero en realidad podemos decir que el factor clave en todo esto fue su “komådre”, no Juan.

Juan era el ahijado de Ana. Llegó a la casa de su madrina una noche, cuando Ana estaba sola con sus hijos, ya que su marido había ido al rancho y pasaba la noche allá.

Juan le dijo a Ana que su madre, la “komådre” de Ana, lo había enviado a pedirle licor a su madrina. ¿La razón? Juan se sentía enfermo.

Como explicó Ana al juez, "esta costumbre de dar bebidas fuertes con fines médicos está muy generalizada entre los chamorros".

Era de noche; las tiendas habían estado cerradas durante mucho tiempo desde el atardecer; y Ana sabía que Juan no podría comprar licor en una tienda. Además, no vendía nada a Juan. No había ninguna ley que prohibiera regalar licor. Juan había traído dinero, pero Ana dijo que no lo recibió. Sin embargo, Ana encontró el dinero en su casa y no tenía idea de cómo había llegado allí...

También dijo: “La madre de Juan es mi komådre". ¿Cómo podría negarse?

El tribunal no estaba convencido de que Ana no le diera ginebra a Juan a cambio de dinero, por lo que fue declarada culpable de vender alcohol sin licencia y tuvo que pagar su considerable multa mediante trabajo público.

Lástima para Ana. Pero, ¿cómo iba ella a no ayudar a su “komådre”?

ANA SABLAN TUDELA

Monday, August 10, 2020

ANA ROSARIO SABLAN TUDELA
1870 ~ 1947


The lady pictured above is a symbol of the ties Guam and the Northern Marianas have always had. Family ties, cultural ties and, for most of history, political ties. When we look at her face, we see Guam and Saipan all at once.


MOVING BETWEEN GUAM AND SAIPAN



Until 1898, Guam and the Northern Marianas were one political unit. They were, and still are, of the same racial and linguistic family - Chamorro.

Moving from Guam to Saipan or Luta did not feel like one was leaving his or her Chamorro homeland. Sure there were differences between the islands, but there were differences even between villages on Guam. Yet it was all one Chamorro homeland. Even the huge presence of Carolinians in Saipan didn't feel unusual to the Guam Chamorro moving to Saipan. Guam itself had its own Carolinian village - Tamuning - until they all moved to Saipan in 1901.

For roughly sixty years, from the 1740s till 1815 or so, no one lived on Saipan. The Spaniards had moved all the people down to Guam, where they mixed with the Guam population to form a new, mixed race with a Chamorro foundation and identity, with added blood lines of Spaniards, Latin Americans and Filipinos. From the 1850s onward, small numbers of Chamorros from Guam, and a few from Luta, started to move up to Saipan. By the 1890s, the numbers grew larger.


ANA MOVES TO SAIPAN

Ana Rosario Sablan, the woman pictured above, was one of those Guam Chamorros who moved north to Saipan. She did so because she was married to Francisco Ramírez Tudela who moved to Saipan as his father, mother and siblings had done a few years before him.

Ana was born on March 12, 1870 in Hagåtña, so she was 75 years old when this photo was taken in 1944. She would die only three years after the picture was taken.

Ana bore ten children, and the early ones were born almost a year apart. As a young wife, Ana was busy with a newborn every year almost!

The first four were born on Guam : José (1894), María (1895), Joaquín (1896) and Jesús (1897).

It seems that the family moved to Saipan in 1897 because the next child is born there, and Ana, her husband Francisco and these first four children are still listed as living in Hagåtña in the 1897 Guam Census.

The rest of her children were all born in Saipan : Ana (1898), Rosa (1900), Victoria (1902), Isidro (1905), Agustín (1907), Felicidad (1911).

With so many children, Ana helped make the Tudela name well-established in Saipan for many generations.


HER GUAM SIBLINGS : TEACHERS AND GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS



ANA'S BROTHER MANUEL WAS A COURT CLERK
His signature in 1901


But she left behind seven siblings in Guam!

They were all children of José Pangelinan Sablan and María Flores del Rosario. This Sablan branch is known as the familian Te'.

Her siblings on Guam were :

Vicente , a teacher at the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán in Hagåtña, who married Ana Flores Guerrero.

Juan , who married Ana Dueñas Palomo. Juan was the school teacher in Hågat and then in the early years of the American administration the Naval Governor appointed him to be Commissioner of Hågat.

Manuel , who married Rita Martínez Torres. Manuel was a clerk in the Guam court, and a teacher before that.

Joaquín , who married María Cepeda Castro.

Pedro , who married Concepción Dueñas Manalisay. Their son Ramón became the famous Doctor Ramón Sablan, the first Chamorro medical doctor and composer of the Guam Hymn (now Fanohge Chamorro ).

María , who married Pedro Mendiola Delgado.

Rosa , who married Francisco Santos Camacho.

As you can see, she came from a family of some social standing, with several brothers working in the government, in the courts and in education.

It's no wonder then that Ana put down on a registry form that she spoke and read Spanish. She lived under Spanish rule for almost thirty years and came from a family of school teachers and clerks educated in Spanish.

Rest in peace . U såga gi minahgong.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

ANA SABLAN TUDELA

La mujer que vemos en la foto es un símbolo de los lazos que siempre han unido a Guam y a las Islas Marianas del Norte. Vínculos familiares, vínculos culturales y, durante la mayor parte de la historia, vínculos políticos. Cuando miramos su rostro, vemos al mismo tiempo a Guam y a Saipán unidos.

Hasta 1898, Guam y las Islas Marianas del Norte eran una misma unidad política. Eran, y siguen siendo, de la misma familia étnica y lingüística chamorra.

Cuando alguien se mudaba de Guam a Saipán o a Rota no se sentía como si estuviera abandonando la tierra natal chamorra. Seguro que había diferencias entre las islas, pero había diferencias incluso entre las aldeas de Guam. Sin embargo, todo era una misma patria chamorra. Incluso la enorme presencia de carolinos en Saipán no se sentía inusual para los chamorros de Guam que se mudaban a Saipán. La propia Guam tenía su propio pueblo carolino, Tamuning, hasta que todos se mudaron a Saipán en 1901.

Durante aproximadamente sesenta años, desde la década de 1740 hasta 1815 más o menos, nadie vivió en Saipán. Los españoles habían trasladado a toda la gente desde Saipán a Guam, donde se mezclaron con la población de Guam para formar una nueva raza mixta con una base e identidad chamorra, con líneas de sangre adicionales de españoles, hispano-americanos y filipinos. Desde la década de 1850 en adelante, un pequeño número de chamorros de Guam y unos pocos de Rota comenzaron a trasladarse a Saipán. En la década de 1890, el número creció.

Ana Rosario Sablan, la mujer de la foto, fue una de esos chamorros de Guam que se trasladaron al norte de Saipán. Lo hizo porque estaba casada con Francisco Ramírez Tudela, que se mudó a Saipán como lo habían hecho su padre, madre y hermanos unos años antes que él.

Ana nació el 12 de marzo de 1870 en Agaña, por lo que tenía 75 años cuando se tomó esta foto en 1944. Fallecería solo tres años después de que se tomara la foto.

Ana tuvo diez hijos, y los primeros nacieron con casi un año de diferencia. Como esposa joven, Ana estaba ocupada con un recién nacido casi todos los años.

Los cuatro primeros nacieron en Guam: José (1894), María (1895), Joaquín (1896) y Jesús (1897).

Parece que la familia se mudó a Saipán en 1897 porque el siguiente hijo nace allí, y Ana, su esposo Francisco y estos cuatro primeros hijos todavía figuran como residentes en Agaña en el censo de Guam de 1897.

El resto de sus hijos nacieron todos en Saipán: Ana (1898), Rosa (1900), Victoria (1902), Isidro (1905), Agustín (1907) y Felicidad (1911).

Con tantos niños, Ana ayudó a que el apellido Tudela estuviera bien asentado en Saipán durante muchas generaciones.

¡Pero dejó a siete hermanos en Guam!

Todos eran hijos de José Pangelinan Sablan y María Flores del Rosario. Esta rama de Sablan se conoce como la familia Te '.

Sus hermanos en Guam fueron:

Vicente, profesor del Colegio de San Juan de Letrán en Agaña, que se casó con Ana Flores Guerrero.

Juan, que se casó con Ana Dueñas Palomo. Juan era maestro de escuela en Agat y luego, en los primeros años de la administración estadounidense, el gobernador naval lo nombró Comisionado de Agat.

Manuel, que se casó con Rita Martínez Torres. Manuel fue secretario en el tribunal de Guam y, antes, maestro.

Joaquín, que se casó con María Cepeda Castro.

Pedro, que se casó con Concepción Dueñas Manalisay. Su hijo Ramón se convirtió en el famoso Doctor Ramón Sablan, el primer médico chamorro y compositor del Himno de Guam (Fanohge Chamorro).

María, que se casó con Pedro Mendiola Delgado.

Rosa, que se casó con Francisco Santos Camacho.

Como podemos ver, ella provenía de una familia de cierto status social, con varios hermanos trabajando en el gobierno, en los tribunales y en la educación.

No es de extrañar entonces que Ana anotara en un formulario del registro que hablaba y leía español. Vivió bajo el dominio español durante casi treinta años y provenía de una familia de maestros de escuela y oficinistas educados en español.

Que descanse en paz.

A SURVIVOR REMEMBERS THE MARIANAS 1848

Friday, August 7, 2020

TINIAN


A man read the newspaper one day that the US had just taken Guam away from Spain.

Guam! He had been there fifty years before, in 1848. He had been, in fact, on Tinian and Luta as well. Memories came flooding back, and he went looking for some notes he wrote about his experience to refresh his memory. He read them again, and shared his memories with newspapers at the time.


SHIPWRECKED ON TINIAN




THE CANTON

Charles Miles was just sixteen years old in 1848. Somehow he became an apprentice crew member of a British ship, the Canton . The Canton was used for many things but one of them was transporting convicts to Australia, a penal colony of England at the time. But the ship also engaged in commerce and that day in 1848 it was bound for Hong Kong from Sydney with goods to sell. Finding itself in a storm, the ship lost its way and ended up crashing into Tinian. It was October. Typhoon season.

Twenty out of the twenty-five men on board perished. The wreck was so bad that even the mainmast came crashing down, but Miles and William Foxal managed to get into a lifeboat that they had lowered. Then they rescued from the water Thomas Avent, then William Thompson, and then a fifth man whose name wasn't recorded. Five survivors only.

For ten hours they drifted in the lifeboat till they managed to climb on shore, on the eastern side of Tinian which is almost all cliffs; not very high but which go straight down into the ocean. They survived on some fruits from trees found near the shore and on shellfish, probably small crabs, which they caught scurrying on the coral rocks.



Hard to land on most places in Tinian


FOUND BY CHAMORRO WORKERS

Unlike other shipwreck survivors who ended up on Tinian, the five survivors of the Canton found people on Tinian. That didn't always happen before.

Tinian, since the early 1700s, had no permanent population. The Spaniards had taken all the Tinian people down to Guam where they mixed with the Guam Chamorros. That left Tinian completely empty of people.

But the island was recognized as an excellent place to raise cattle. It was flat and grassy. Everything was owned by the Spanish government. Chamorro workers from Guam, numbering twenty or so, would go up to Tinian for temporary work, butchering cattle and pork and salting the meat, and sending down to Guam the meat and island produce to be sold by the government. The income was meant to support Guam's "lepers" and other indigents.

When other castaways on Tinian found no one, it just so happened they got there when the Guam workers were not there. But had the survivors stayed longer, it was only a matter of time before a boat of Guam workers would come up. Or the Spaniards would get word of a shipwreck in Tinian or Saipan, and the government would send up soldiers to check things out.

That day when the Canton was shipwrecked was a time when Guam workers were on Tinian. It was only a question when, not if, the five survivors would be found by those Chamorros farm laborers. The first indication that the survivors were not alone on Tinian was when they heard an unseen human voice cry out, "KOO EEE! KOO EEE!" Even though they had no idea if the calling was by friend or foe, the desperate survivors yelled back. Now even more unseen voices yelled out "KOO EEE," followed by the sound of barking dogs.

First appeared the dogs, then five island men, their teeth stained black and red from betel nut, most if not all we can assume were Chamorro, appeared, carrying musket guns and spears. The island men made friendly gestures and restrained the dogs, so the five survivors felt at ease. The Chamorro men offered the castaways local tobacco and then took out corn on the cob from woven baskets, which the survivors eagerly ate. Miles and his companions were escorted to the western side of Tinian, where the settlement was.

MEETING THE ALCALDE

Eventually, the alcalde (mayor) of Tinian came on the scene. Don Diego was dressed somewhat more fancy than the workers, who wore just the bare essentials, but the alcalde was barefoot. He had a long, dangling sword that got in the way of his legs. The alcalde explained that workers on the island had found wreckage washed ashore, plus the life boat and a box of stick candles, probably from the Canton . The candles the alcalde had burned before the image of San Antonio (Saint Anthony), who was obviously responsible for the survivors being found, the alcalde said. Saint Anthony is the patron saint of lost things.

LIFE IN TINIAN IN 1848

There were fifteen workers on Tinian at the time, the alcalde and his family and one convict, Manuel. Manuel was a Spanish political prisoner, having participated in a failed uprising in Madrid. Due to Tinian's isolation, Manuel was not confined to a cell; the whole island was his prison. The survivors ate well on Tinian and tried tuba for the first time. Though not a strong liquor, Miles noticed some of the men becoming rowdy after drinking it.

Every full moon, Carolinians in their canoes came to transport the dried meat and other products to Guam. It was one such Carolinian canoe that brought the survivors to Luta, their next stop before going to Guam.



CANOES OF SATAWAL
Many of the Carolinians in the Marianas were from Satawal


LUTA FOR A WHILE

Miles said that Luta rose out of the ocean like a "green gem." Luta was much higher than flat Tinian, and its coast not as rugged. There also seemed to be much more farming in Luta. Of course, what Miles may not have known is that Luta always had a permanent population since prehistoric times, never having been depopulated by the Spanish. Thus, while Tinian may have had 15 to 20 temporary workers, Luta always had 200 to 400 lifelong inhabitants. There, the alcalde , Don Joaquín, received the five Englishmen courteously, having read a letter handed over by Miles, written by the Tinian alcalde explaining who the survivors were.

On Luta, Miles found four Spanish convicts, all political prisoners, but this time they were chained, unlike Manuel who was not chained in Tinian. But, it was explained, the alcalde chained the Spaniards only when visitors came to Luta, for fear that the convicts might convince the visitors to take them off the island. Once visitors left, the prisoners were let loose again.

DOWN TO GUAM

The Carolinian canoe brought the survivors down to Guam and, being a canoe and not a ship, went straight for Hagåtña which a canoe could reach through the small channel. Hagåtña, with 5000 residents, presented of course a scene altogether different from Tinian and Luta. Here were many houses, stone buildings, a large stone church, a fort on the hill and the Governor's palace. Chanorro spectators looked on without smiles, not knowing if the five white men were pirates or unfortunate castaways. A large group of soldiers took the five to the Governor, who read the letter from the alcalde of Luta. All was well after that, and the Governor treated them very nicely.

The five men of the Canton stayed only a week on Guam. In 1848, many ships were coming to Gum and a French vessel happened to be leaving Guam for Manila. Miles eventually moved to the United States and it was there that he read the news about Guam coming under American rule and prompted him to publicize his time in the Marianas in 1848.

Two things about Guam made a big impression on Charles Miles.


ELEPHANTIASIS


A man from Guam with elephantiasis

Elephantiasis is a disease caused by parasitic worms which lodge in the body, blocking the flow of lymph which is part of our immune system. This results in the swelling of arms, legs and other parts of the body. The worms are carried by mosquitoes who pass the worms into the body when they bite.

The condition was common in the Marianas during the Spanish era. Apparently, it didn't always cause pain in those afflicted.


COCKFIGHTING




Cockfighting was all the rage on Guam on Sundays after Mass. Huge crowds, mostly men, gathered at the gayera held in an open field in front of the Hagåtña church. Men would walk to the pit with their roosters under their arms. The cocks fought with spurs, the crowd hissing and clapping and screaming bets. Dozens of birds died, but as soon as one match was over, a new one began. When the church bell rang, everyone knelt down and said prayers and got back up and the game continued.


MY OWN OBSERVATION : ENGLISH NOT UNKNOWN

It was only 1848, but quite a few Chamorros and Spaniards Miles met knew at least a few words in English.

This was certainly due to the large presence of British and American whalers who visited the Marianas starting around the 1820s. Many young Chamorro men joined the whaling ships and picked up basic English, but most never came back. If someone on Guam or Luta could say a few words in English, even swear words, it was because there were always Anglo whalers hanging around Guam, mixing with the people.

The very first English words Miles heard on Tinian outside his group of companions was from a dark-skinned woman nursing a baby at the small encampment on the western side. "Alright, alright," she said as she patted Miles' head to comfort him. That was the full extent of her English.

The alcalde of Tinian knew some English, but he did greet the English sailors "Good morning" when the sun was setting, so obviously his English was rough. But he did tell Miles, the 16-year-old, "Poor boy." I have a feeling Miles was not just young but also short at the time such that everyone was calling him "boy" and treating him like one.

The alcalde of Luta also knew some English. But when he received from the survivors the letter from the alcalde of Tinian, instead of saying "Thank you" he said "You're welcome." One of the guards on Luta said, "How do, Jack? We speak English very much." There was also a Carlos living on Luta who spoke English, whom the alcalde tasked to show the survivors around the island.

Miles said the Spanish Governor he met, who would have been Pablo Pérez, spoke very good English, telling them how glad he was that they were safe and sound and would be on the next ship possible sailing to Manila.

The point of all this is not to ascribe any value to our people's English-speaking abilities at the time. It is to point out the historical evidence that the British and American whalers were making an impact on a handful of Chamorros of the 1800s in terms of spreading familiarity with English. Long before the US took over Guam in 1898, many of our people were familiar with Americans, American ways and the English language.



ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE ILL-FATED VOYAGE
August 21, 1848
Sydney, Australia newspaper


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

EL SUPERVIVIENTE DE UN NAUFRAGIO RECUERDA LAS ISLAS MARIANAS DE 1848

Un día leyendo el periódico, un hombre se enteró de que Estados Unidos acababa de arrebatar Guam a España.

Guam. Había estado allí cincuenta años antes, en 1848. De hecho, también había estado en las islas de Tinián y Rota. Los recuerdos regresaron a raudales y fue a buscar algunas notas que había escrito sobre su experiencia para refrescar la memoria. Los volvió a leer y compartió sus recuerdos con los periódicos de ese momento.

Charles Miles tenía solo dieciséis años en 1848. De alguna manera se convirtió en aprendiz de tripulante de un barco británico, el Canton. El Canton era utilizado para diferentes finalidades, pero una de ellas era transportar presos a Australia, una colonia penal de Inglaterra durante aquellos años. Pero el barco también se dedicaba al comercio y ese día de 1848 se dirigía a Hong Kong desde Sydney con mercancías para vender. Al encontrarse en medio de una tormenta, el barco se perdió y terminó chocando contra las costas de Tinián en Marianas. Era octubre, temporada de tifones.

Veinte de los veinticinco hombres a bordo perecieron. El naufragio fue tan terrible que incluso el palo mayor se derrumbó, pero Charles Miles y William Foxal lograron entrar en un bote salvavidas que habían bajado. Luego rescataron del agua a Thomas Avent, luego a William Thompson y por último a un quinto hombre cuyo nombre no se registró. Solo cinco supervivientes.

Durante diez horas estuvieron a la deriva en el bote salvavidas hasta que lograron trepar a la orilla, en el lado este de Tinián, que es casi todo acantilado; no muy alto pero sus rocas descienden directamente al océano. Sobrevivieron alimentándose de algunas frutas de los árboles que se encuentran cerca de la costa y a los mariscos, probablemente pequeños cangrejos, que capturaron en las rocas de coral.

A diferencia de otros supervivientes de naufragios que ocurrieron en Tinián, los cinco supervivientes del Canton se encontraron con gente en la isla. Eso no siempre sucedía.

Tinián, desde principios del siglo XVIII, no tenía población permanente. Los españoles habían llevado a todo el pueblo tiniano a Guam, donde se entremezclaron con los chamorros guameños. Eso dejó a Tinián completamente vacía de gente.

Pero la isla fue reconocida como un excelente lugar para la cría de ganado. Era llana y cubierta de hierba. Todo era propiedad del gobierno español. Los trabajadores chamorros de Guam, unos veinte, subían a Tinián para realizar trabajos temporales, sacrificaban el ganado, salaban la carne y enviaban a Guam los productos de Tinián para que los vendiera el gobierno. Los ingresos iban destinados a mantener a los "leprosos" de Guam y otros indigentes.

Cuando en otros naufragios en Tinián, los supervivientes no encontraron a nadie, esto fue debido a que cuando llegaron allí, los trabajadores de Guam no estaban. Pero si los supervivientes se hubieran quedado más tiempo, era solo cuestión de que llegara un barco de trabajadores de Guam. O los españoles se enterarían de un naufragio en Tinián o Saipán, y el gobierno enviaría soldados desde Guam.

Ese día en que el Canton naufragó fue un tiempo en que los trabajadores de Guam estaban en Tinián. La duda estaba en cuándo los cinco supervivientes serían encontrados por esos trabajadores chamorros. La primera indicación de que los supervivientes no estaban solos en Tinián fue cuando escucharon una voz humana invisible que gritaba: "¡KOO EEE! KOO EE!" Aunque no tenían idea de si la llamada era de un amigo o de un enemigo, los desesperados supervivientes respondieron a gritos. Ahora incluso más voces invisibles gritaron "KOO EEE", seguido por el sonido de perros ladrando.

Primero aparecieron los perros, luego cinco hombres de la isla, con los dientes teñidos de negro y rojo por la nuez de betel, la mayoría, si no todos, que podemos asumir que eran chamorros, aparecieron portando fusiles de mosquete y lanzas. Los hombres de la isla hicieron gestos amistosos y sujetaron a los perros, por lo que los cinco supervivientes se sintieron a gusto. Los chamorros ofrecieron tabaco local a los náufragos y luego sacaron mazorcas de maíz de cestas tejidas, que los supervivientes comieron con entusiasmo. Charles Miles y sus compañeros fueron escoltados al lado occidental de Tinián, donde se encontraba el poblado.

Finalmente, el alcalde de Tinián entró en escena. Don Diego vestía algo más elegante que los trabajadores, que vestían solo lo esencial, pero el alcalde estaba descalzo. Tenía una espada larga colgante que se interponía en sus piernas. El alcalde explicó que los trabajadores de la isla habían encontrado en la orilla, además del bote salvavidas, una caja de velas y otros restos, probablemente del Canton. Las velas fueron encendidas ante la imagen de San Antonio, quien obviamente había sido el responsable de que los supervivientes fueran encontrados, aseguró el alcalde. San Antonio es el santo patrón de los objetos perdidos.

En ese momento había quince trabajadores en Tinián, el alcalde y su familia y un preso, Manuel. Manuel era un preso político español, habiendo participado en un fallido levantamiento en Madrid. Debido al aislamiento de Tinián, Manuel no fue confinado en una celda; toda la isla era su prisión. Los supervivientes se alimentaron bien en Tinián y probaron la tuba por primera vez. Aunque no es un licor fuerte, Charles Miles notó que algunos de los hombres se volvían ruidosos después de beberlo.

Cada luna llena, los carolinos en sus canoas venían a Guam para traer la carne seca y otros productos. Fue una de esas canoas carolinas la que llevó a los supervivientes a Rota, su siguiente parada antes de llegar a Guam.

Charles Miles dijo que Rota se levantaba del océano como una "gema verde". Rota era mucho más elevada que la llana Tinián, y su costa no era tan accidentada. También parecía haber mucha más agricultura en Rota. Por supuesto, lo que Charles Miles puede que no supiera es que Rota siempre tuvo una población permanente desde la prehistoria, y que nunca fue despoblada por los españoles. Por lo tanto, mientras que Tinián pudo haber tenido entre 15 y 20 trabajadores temporales, Rota siempre tuvo entre 200 y 400 habitantes. Allí, el alcalde, Don Joaquín, recibió a los cinco ingleses con cortesía, después de haber leído una carta entregada por Charles Miles, escrita por el alcalde de Tinián explicando quiénes eran los supervivientes.

En Rota, Charles Miles encontró a cuatro presos españoles, todos presos políticos, pero esta vez estaban encarcelados, a diferencia de Manuel, que no estaba encadenado en Tinián. Pero se explicó el alcalde diciendo que habían encadenado a los españoles solo cuando los visitantes habían llegado a Rota, por temor a que los convictos pudieran convencer a los visitantes de sacarlos de la isla. Una vez que los visitantes se fueron, los prisioneros fueron liberados nuevamente.

La canoa carolina llevó a los supervivientes a Guam y, como era una canoa y no un barco, se dirigió directamente hacia Agaña, que una canoa podía alcanzar sin problema a través del pequeño canal. Agaña, con 5000 residentes, presentaba, por supuesto, una escena completamente diferente de Tinián y Rota. Aquí había muchas casas, edificios de piedra, una iglesia de piedra, un fuerte militar en la colina y el Palacio del Gobernador. Los chamorros los miraban sin sonreír, sin saber si los cinco hombres blancos eran piratas o desafortunados náufragos. Un gran grupo de soldados llevó a los cinco al Gobernador, quien leyó la carta del alcalde de Rota. Todo estuvo bien después de eso, y el Gobernador los trató de maravilla.

Los cinco hombres del Canton se quedaron solo una semana en Guam. En 1848, muchos barcos llegaban a Guam y un barco francés salía de la isla hacia Manila. Charles Miles finalmente se mudó a los Estados Unidos y fue allí donde leyó las noticias sobre que Guam estaba bajo el dominio estadounidense y lo impulsó a publicitar su estancia en las Marianas en 1848.

Dos cosas sobre Guam causaron una gran impresión en Charles Miles.

1) La elefantiasis, una enfermedad causada por gusanos parásitos que se alojan en el cuerpo humano y bloquean el flujo de la linfa que forma parte de nuestro sistema inmunológico. Esto da como resultado la hinchazón de brazos, piernas y otras partes del cuerpo. Los gusanos son transportados por mosquitos que pasan los gusanos al cuerpo cuando pican.

Esta condición era común en las Marianas durante la época española. Aparentemente, no siempre causaba dolor a los afectados.

2) Las peleas de gallos estaban de moda en Guam los domingos después de la misa. Grandes multitudes, en su mayoría hombres, se reunían en la “gayera” celebrada en un campo abierto frente a la iglesia de Agaña. Los hombres caminaban hasta el pozo con los gallos debajo del brazo. Los gallos peleaban con espuelas, la multitud silbaba, aplaudía y apostaba. Decenas de gallos morían, pero tan pronto como terminaba una partida, comenzaba otra nueva. Cuando sonaba la campana de la iglesia, todos se arrodillaban y rezaban, se levantaban y el juego continuaba.

Era solo el año 1848, pero algunos chamorros y españoles que conocieron a Charles Miles sabían al menos algunas palabras en inglés.

Sin duda, esto se debió a la gran presencia de balleneros británicos y estadounidenses que visitaron las Marianas a partir de la década de 1820. Muchos jóvenes chamorros se unieron a los barcos balleneros y aprendieron un inglés básico, pero la mayoría nunca regresó. Si alguien en Guam o Rota podía decir algunas palabras en inglés, incluso palabrotas, era porque siempre había balleneros anglosajones merodeando Guam, entremezclándose con la gente.

Las primeras palabras en inglés que Charles Miles escuchó en Tinián, fuera de su grupo de compañeros, fueron las de una mujer de piel oscura que amamantaba a un bebé en el pequeño poblado del lado oeste. "Alright, alright (Está bien, está bien)", dijo mientras acariciaba la cabeza de Charles Miles para consolarlo. Ésa era la extensión completa de su inglés.

El alcalde de Tinián sabía algo de inglés, pero saludó a los marineros ingleses con un "Good morning (Buenos días)" cuando el sol se estaba poniendo, así que obviamente su inglés era flojo. Pero le dijo a Charles Miles, el chico de 16 años, "Poor boy (Pobre chico)". Tengo la sensación de que Charles Miles no solo era joven, sino también bajito en ese momento, de modo que todos lo llamaban "niño" y lo trataban como tal.

El alcalde de Rota también sabía algo de inglés. Pero cuando recibió de los supervivientes la carta del alcalde de Tinián, en lugar de decir "Thank you (Gracias)", dijo "You’re welcome (De nada)". Uno de los guardias de Rota dijo: "How do, Jack? We speak English very much (¿Cómo estás, Jack? Hablamos mucho inglés)". También había un Carlos que vivía en Rota y hablaba inglés, a quien el alcalde le encargó que mostrara la isla a los supervivientes.

Charles Miles dijo que el gobernador español que conoció, que habría sido Pablo Pérez, hablaba muy bien inglés y les dijo lo contento que estaba de que estuvieran sanos y salvos y que subirían al próximo barco que zarparía desde Guam para Manila.

El objetivo de todo esto no es atribuir ningún valor a las habilidades de habla inglesa de nuestra gente en esa época. Es para señalar la evidencia histórica de que los balleneros británicos y estadounidenses estaban teniendo un impacto en un puñado de chamorros del siglo XIX en términos de difundir la familiaridad con el inglés. Mucho antes de que Estados Unidos se apoderara de Guam en 1898, alguna de nuestra gente estaba familiarizada con los estadounidenses, las costumbres estadounidenses y el idioma inglés.


KÅNTA : AMERIKÅNAN PAO ASU

Monday, August 3, 2020


CANDY TAMAN


Several of Candy Taman's songs warn us against losing our culture and language as we become super Americanized.

We have a Chamorro term for that - Amerikånon Pao Asu . The smokey, or smoke-smelling, "American."

The Amerikånon Pao Asu is a Chamorro who tries to shed his or her Chamorro ways and become American alone in language and culture. But for all his or her effort to sound and act American, he or she still "smells like smoke," åsu (smoke), in reference to the brown Chamorro skin or perhaps ranch life or outdoor cooking. The Amerikånon Pao Asu speaks only English, with a stateside accent, and behaves and acts in American style, but his color and facial features, and certainly his roots and lineage are all Chamorro.

So the term Amerikånon Pao Asu is bursting the balloon of the American wannabee, who fails to change his skin color or make his Chamorro identity disappear entirely.

Candy's song pokes fun at the Chamorro lady trying to be as American as possible. So we switch to the feminine gender and instead of Amerikåno she is Amerikånan Pao Asu .





LYRICS


Un yute' nai i Chamorro
(So you threw away the Chamorro)
pot i Amerikåno.
(in exchange for the American.)
Binense hao sa' bulenchok
(You were won over by his pointed nose)
ya å'paka' i lasås-ña.
(and because his skin is white.)
Un penta i gapotilu-mo
(You dyed your hair)
agaga' yan amariyo.
(red and yellow.)
Lasås-mo åttilong.
(Your skin is dark.)
Mampos ti chumilong.
(It really doesn't match.)
Pao asu hao na haole. (1)
(You're a smoke-smelling haole.)

Ai ke pendeha! (2)
(What a vixen!)
Hågo ha' ma chachatge.
(Only you they mock.)
Ti usu-mo un u'usa (3)
(You don't use what is yours)
sa' mampos hao banidosa.
(because you are overly vain.)

Ginen lemmai yan chotda.
(It used to be breadfruit and bananas.)
Guihan yan fritåda. (4)
(Fish and blood stew.)
Ayo hao nai pumoksai.
(That's how you were raised.)
Chamorro na sentåda.
(Chamorro meals.)
Maleffa hao ni kostumbre.
(You have forgotten the customs.)
Kontodo i lengguåhe.
(And also the language.)
Lasås-mo åttilong.
(Your skin is dark.)
Mampos ti chumilong.
(It really doesn't match.)
Pao asu hao na haole.
( You're a smoke-smelling haole. )

Un pula' i magagu-mo. (5)
(You took off your clothes.)
Un usa i bikini.
(You wore a bikini.)
Annok sensen dagån-mo
(The flesh of your butt is showing)
kulan låtan kåtne.
(like a canned meat.)
Ma chuchuda' i sisu-mo.
(Your breasts are spilling out.)
Ti nahong nai tåmpe.
(There's not enough cover.)
Lasås-mo åttilong.
(Your skin is dark.)
Mampos ti chumilong.
(It really doesn't match.)
Pao asu hao na haole.
( You're a smoke-smelling haole. )


NOTES

(1) Chamorros picked up the Hawaiian word haole and use it to mean any Caucasian statesider.

(2) Pendeho (for the male) and pendeha (for the female) are not so easily translated. In Spanish, it generally means "rascal, rogue, mischievous person" but in Chamorro it's just a playful or teasing way of calling people.

(3) Literally "Your use is not what you're using." You do not use what is yours, meaning your own language and culture.

(4) Fritåda is a stew of animal organs cooked in its own blood and vinegar. The song points out that Americanized Chamorros lose their desire to eat traditional foods.

(5) Traditional Chamorro culture since Spanish times does not approve of women showing their bodies.


ORIGINAL SONG




Candy's song borrows the tune from Marty Robbins' 1962 hit song Devil Woman .


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

CANCIÓN: “AMERIKÅNAN PAO ASU”

Varias de las canciones de Candy Taman nos advierten de la pérdida de nuestra cultura e idioma a medida que nos volvemos súper americanizados.

Tenemos un término chamorro para eso: Amerikånon Pao Asu. El "americano" ahumado o con olor a humo.

El Amerikånon Pao Asu es un chamorro que intenta deshacerse de sus costumbres chamorras y convertirse en estadounidense en el idioma y la cultura. Pero a pesar de todos sus esfuerzos por sonar y actuar como un americano, él o ella todavía "huelen a humo", åsu (humo), en referencia a la piel marrón de los chamorros o quizás a la vida en un rancho o cocinar al aire libre. El Amerikånon Pao Asu solo habla inglés, con acento estadounidense, y se comporta y actúa al estilo americano, pero su color y rasgos faciales, y ciertamente sus raíces y linaje son completamente chamorros.

Entonces, el término Amerikånon Pao Asu está entorpeciendo al aspirante a ser estadounidense, que no logra cambiar el color de su piel o hacer que su identidad chamorra desaparezca por completo.

La canción de Candy se burla de la dama chamorra que intenta ser lo más estadounidense posible. Así que cambiamos al género femenino y en lugar de Amerikåno, ella es Amerikånan Pao Asu.


LETRA

Un yute 'nai i Chamorro
(Entonces tiraste el chamorro)

pot i Amerikåno.
(por el americano).

Binense hao sa 'bulenchok
(Te venció su nariz puntiaguda)

ya å'paka 'i lasås-ña.
(y porque su piel es blanca).

Un penta i gapotilu-mo
(Te pintaste el pelo)

agaga 'yan amariyo.
(rojo y amarillo.)

Lasås-mo åttilong.
(Tu piel es oscura)

Mampos ti chumilong.
(Realmente no coincide).

Pao asu hao na haole. (1)
(Eres una haole que huele a humo).

¡Ai ke pendeha! (2)
(¡Ay qué pendeja!)

Hågo ha 'ma chachatge.
(Solo de ti se burlan)

Ti usu-mo un u'usa (3)
(No usas lo que es tuyo)

sa 'mampos hao banidosa.
(porque eres demasiado vanidosa).

Ginen lemmai yan chotda.
(Solía ser fruta del pan y plátanos).

Guihan yan fritåda. (4)
(Cocido de pescado y sangre).

Ayo hao nai pumoksai.
(Así es como te criaron).

Chamorro na sentåda.
(Comidas chamorras.)

Maleffa hao ni kostumbre.
(Te has olvidado de las costumbres).

Kontodo i lengguåhe.
(Y también del idioma).

Lasås-mo åttilong.
(Tu piel es oscura)

Mampos ti chumilong.
(Realmente no coincide).

Pao asu hao na haole.
(Eres una haole que huele a humo).

Un pula 'i magagu-mo. (5)
(Te quitaste la ropa)

Un usa i bikini.
(Llevabas bikini).

Annok sensen dagån-mo
(La carne de tu trasero se ve)

kulan låtan kåtne.
(como una carne enlatada).

Ma chuchuda 'i sisu-mo.
(Tus pechos se están desbordando).

Ti nahong nai tåmpe.
(No hay suficiente cobertura).

Lasås-mo åttilong.
(Tu piel es oscura)

Mampos ti chumilong.
(Realmente no coincide).

Pao asu hao na haole.
(Eres un haole que huele a humo).

NOTAS

(1) Los chamorros tomaron la palabra hawaiana haole y la usaron para referirse a cualquier ciudadano caucásico.

(2) Pendeho (para el hombre) y pendeha (para la mujer) no se traducen tan fácilmente. En español, generalmente significa "persona pícara, traviesa", pero en chamorro es solo una forma divertida o burlona de llamar a la gente.

(3) Literalmente "Tu uso no es lo que estás usando". No usas lo que es tuyo, es decir, tu propio idioma y cultura.

(4) Fritåda es un guiso de órganos de animales cocidos en su propia sangre y vinagre. La canción señala que los chamorros americanizados pierden el deseo de comer alimentos tradicionales.

(5) La cultura tradicional chamorra desde la época española no aprueba que las mujeres muestren sus cuerpos.

POPULATION DECLINE AFTER SMALLPOX

Friday, July 31, 2020

A DEPICTION OF SMALLPOX
In the 1500s


In 1856, a smallpox epidemic on Guam erupted, killing half of the island's population. I have a blog post on it here : http://paleric.blogspot.com/2012/02/today-in-history_27.html

But in this post I want to show the numbers. Just how much the population declined due to the epidemic.

These figures come from the missionaries on Guam. They, in turn, could have gotten them from the government but they also could have gotten these statistics on their own, as they kept records of baptisms and deaths. In fact, there were no "birth certificates" at the time. People had to get their baptismal certificate from the priest to show proof of birth and parentage, since everyone at the time was Catholic and everyone got baptized.

The missionaries reported how many people lived in the capital city and the outlying villages the year before the epidemic, and how many died the year of the epidemic. Many things "killed" people in 1856; old age, accidents, other diseases. Not every death, therefore, can be attributed to the smallpox but the large majority could be because if a village had 10 deaths in 1855 but in 1856 had 150 deaths, something unusual must have happened in 1856.

For Hagåtña, included in the numbers were people from Aniguak, Sinajaña, Mongmong, Asan and Tepungan (which later became Piti in American times) because these villages were all considered districts of the capital city. They didn't even have their own priest; the priest of Hagåtña had care over them.





BEFORE

EPIDEMIC


AFTER

EPIDEMIC


HAGÅTÑA



6515


3897


PÅGO



356


108


INALÅHAN



362


84


MALESSO’



320


69


HUMÅTAK



310


184


HÅGAT



533


298


TOTAL



8396


4640




Statistics around this time will be all over the place, depending on the source. Some government reports will give different numbers for the population of Guam in 1856, the year of the epidemic. Those reports will give different numbers for how many died and how many survived.

But the differences are not drastic. They mostly hover around 8000 people at the time of the epidemic, and 4000 after the epidemic, or a 50% reduction in population. Half of Guam - gone in a year!






SMALLPOX NOT THE ONLY KILLER



Newspapers in 1857 reported that there was starvation on Guam at the time. It makes sense. If people were dying left and right from smallpox, it means that there were far less people to tend the farms and crops died. Thus, there must have been a food shortage on Guam following on the heels of the epidemic.


A WHOLE VILLAGE CLOSED DOWN


It's interesting that Malesso' and Inalåhan were devastated by the epidemic worse than Pågo, if the missionaries' numbers are right, but it was Pågo that the Spaniards closed down, not those two southern villages. I suppose the difference was the fact that Pågo was closer to Hagåtña and the people didn't have to travel far to move there and to Sinajaña where a number of Pågo people transferred. But to close down the southernmost villages of Guam and transfer the survivors north would have been too drastic a change for them.



BYE BYE PÅGO VILLAGE
Closed after the Smallpox Epidemic of 1856



LÅPIDA GI FINO' ESPAÑOT

Monday, July 27, 2020

LÅPIDA (HEADSTONE) IN PREWAR PIGO' CEMETERY


Pigo' (later Holy Cross) Cemetery was the main cemetery of Hagåtña before the war, as it is now. There were private cemeteries, a Baptist cemetery and a Navy cemetery as well. But Pigo' was the main graveyard and owned by the Church.

It went back to the 1870s and so there were graves in Pigo' since Spanish times, their lápida or headstones written in Spanish. Here are two of them, but I will focus on the one on the right.

Although blocked in large part by the wooden fence, so that we cannot identify whose grave it is, we see enough to know it is written in Spanish.




The top of the lápida has the initials D.O.M.

These stands for the Latin expression " Deo Optimo Maximo ," which means "To God the Best and the Greatest."

Next we can see the Spanish " Aquí yacen los restos mortales de... " which means "Here lie the mortal remains of..."

The name of the deceased should follow and it looks like it says "María" and then what looks like "Borja." The BOR is clear, which means it can only either be Borja or Bordallo, and there was no María Bordallo before the war.

One thing we can learn from this is that no one would have written a lápida in Spanish if there were no one able to read and understand it. This is not the grave of a Spaniard, nor of an elite Chamorro from the highest level of society. And so we can learn from this that, at least at one time, a good number of ordinary Chamorros, perhaps those more exposed to Spanish language and manners, but not necessarily just of the elite class, had a good knowledge of at least some Spanish.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

LÁPIDA EN ESPAÑOL

El cementerio Pigo (luego “Santa Cruz” o “Holy Cross”) fue el cementerio principal de Agaña antes de la guerra, como lo es también hoy en día.

Hubo en Guam cementerios privados, un cementerio bautista y un cementerio de la Marina. Pero Pigo era el cementerio principal y era propiedad de la Iglesia Católica.

Se remonta a la década de 1870, por lo que había tumbas en Pigo desde la época española, con lápidas escritas en español. Aquí hay dos de ellas, pero me centraré en la de la derecha.

Aunque tapada en gran parte por la valla de madera, de modo que no podemos identificar de quién es la tumba, vemos lo suficiente como para saber que está escrita en español.

La parte superior de la lápida dice D.O.M.

Es la expresión latina "Deo Optimo Maximo", que significa "A Dios el mejor y el más grande".

A continuación podemos ver en español "Aquí yacen los restos mortales de ...."

El nombre del difunto debe estar a continuación y parece que dice "María" y luego parece que dice "Borja". El BOR es claro, lo que significa que solo puede ser Borja o Bordallo, y no hubo nadie con el nombre de María Bordallo antes de la guerra.

Una cosa que podemos aprender de esto es que nadie habría escrito en español si no hubiera gente capaz de leerlo y entenderlo. Ésta no es la tumba de un español, ni de un chamorro de élite del más alto nivel de la sociedad. Y así podemos entender que, al menos en un momento, un buen número de chamorros, tal vez aquellos más expuestos al idioma y al estilo de vida españoles, pero no necesariamente de la aristocracia, tenían un buen conocimiento de al menos algo de español .


AGUEDA AND ELOISE

Friday, July 24, 2020


This is a story about a mother and the pains she went through to keep her ailing youngest daughter alive, while the Japanese could have killed them both at any time, or a stray American bullet could hit them as well.

She was no ordinary mother. She was perhaps the most influential female Chamorro on the island, before, during and after the war. Agueda Iglesias Johnston was a school teacher from a very early age and was quickly given more leadership roles and became principal of Guam's only public high school, George Washington, before the war.

If the Japanese were to be suspicious of any Chamorro, one of them would have to be Agueda. She was part of the American system of Guam, teaching Chamorro children English and American patriotism. She was married to an American, and an ex-military man at that. Indeed Agueda was suspected, of helping George Tweed, the lone American fugitive from the Japanese, or at least of knowing his whereabouts. They suspected she was involved in the underground radio, which fed war information to a select few. So, she was periodically dragged into Japanese interrogations and suffered beatings. That is a story in itself.


AT ORDOT

Around July 10, 1944, after over a month of terrific American bombardment, the Japanese ordered the Chamorros of central and northern Guam to march to various designated isolated camp sites. The idea was to keep the Chamorro population away from the expected battle sites, to keep them from informing Americans they might meet, as much as to keep them out of harm's way. Tå'i was one rendezvous point for the various groups forming the march to the camps. So Agueda and her children packed what they could and started marching towards Tå'i.

By the time they reached Ordot, just two miles from Hagåtña, the youngest child, Eloise, aged 11 years, was too sick to keep moving. Eloise had been ill nearly the entire Japanese Occupation. They thought perhaps the shock of seeing her father shipped off to prison camp in Japan was too much for the young girl, who was just eight years old at the time. So Agueda told the rest of her children, some already in their 20s, to move on ahead and she would stay behind with Eloise in the abandoned house of Mariana León Guerrero in Ordot.

Okinawan and Korean forced laborers who were working on an airstrip but who deserted it under American fire found Agueda and Eloise in the home. They ordered Agueda to cook the foods the men found, but their foraging for food was spotted by American planes and soon those American planes were shooting the house! The house was also close to a radio station used by the Japanese and also to a Japanese camp, so the house was always a target for the American flyers.

Then, one of Agueda's sons, Tom, came to the house urging his mother to follow him to Mañenggon. Agueda refused, saying Eloise's temperature was so high that they couldn't move. They were in the hands of God, she said. If the Lord took Eloise, Agueda had a pick and shovel ready. Tom left without mother and sister.

Another surprise came when a Japanese doctor appeared and rather quickly told Agueda to take the medicine he was handing her and run away with the child.


FRANK PÉREZ



FRANK D. PÉREZ
Goyo


Not long after the doctor disappeared just as quickly as he appeared, Agueda saw the top of a head passing the window. She called out in Chamorro. It was Frank Pérez, Goyo. He was looking for food for his mother, but seeing Agueda' situation, he promised to help her.

Just then, Segundo León Guerrero appeared, his leg swollen four times its normal size after a dog bit him. A Japanese doctor said he could do nothing more for Segundo. Pérez cut open the wound and let the puss drain. Then he and his brother Gregorio found a scrawny cow and an old buggy. Attaching planks and mattresses to the buggy, they placed Eloise and Segundo on them. Accompanied by José Quitugua they started their journey towards Mañenggon.


FROM MAÑENGGON TO REFUGEE CAMP

Following the Ylig river inland into the Mañenggon valley, the cart could not traverse the rough jungle trail. So they unhitched the buggy and carried Eloise on an improvised stretcher. They agreed to let Segundo wait on the side of the trail and fetch him later.

When word came to the thousands sheltering in Mañenggon that American troops had met some Chamorros, and when they noticed that the Japanese guards had quietly disappeared, thousands of people began marching across the hills and valleys of the central terrain towards Hågat, safely behind American lines. They met up with US Marines who escorted the long line of people to safety. Eloise was being carried on her stretcher by Manuel Mesa, Cristóbal Benavente and Henry Butler.

Eloise's temperature hovered around 103 degrees still, and Agueda doubted she would make it. It didn't help that Eloise couldn't even believe the Americans were there. Agueda walked a good distance ahead to find a Marine. She told the Marine there was a sick girl back in the line who wanted to see an American and that she may not make it. The Marine walked back to Eloise.

Eloise said, "I've been sick since the Japanese came and sent my daddy away. Now he's dead and I don't want to live anymore."

The Marine patted her and said, "You're safe now, little girl. The Americans are here and we'll never leave you again." Eloise bent up and said, "I'm better now. I want to walk." And walk she did, which was a relief, since there was a point where the trail was so narrow, with steep edges on both sides, that a stretcher would have presented a problem.

When they arrived at a camp, she rode her first jeep to a hospital. Her temperature was now normal. Eloise lived for the next 75 years, passing away in 2019 at the age of 86. May she and Agueda rest in peace.



ELOISE AND ÁGUEDA AFTER THE WAR
In 1947, Águeda her children invisiting Tucson, AZ
(L-R Eloise, Margaret, with baby daughter, Águeda and Thomas)


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


ÁGUEDA Y ELOISE


Ésta es la historia de una madre y el dolor que sufrió para mantener con vida a su hija más pequeña y enferma, mientras que los japoneses podrían haberlas matado a ambas, o una bala estadounidense perdida también podría haberlas alcanzado.


Ella no era una madre cualquiera. Ella fue quizás la chamorra más influyente en Guam, antes, durante y después de la guerra. Águeda Iglesias Johnston fue maestra de escuela desde muy temprana edad y rápidamente se le asignaron más funciones de liderazgo y se convirtió en directora de la única escuela secundaria pública de Guam anterior a la guerra, la George Washington.


Si los japoneses sospecharan de algún chamorro, uno de ellos tendría que ser Águeda. Ella era parte del sistema estadounidense de Guam, enseñando a los niños chamorros, inglés y patriotismo estadounidense. Estaba casada con un americano, un ex militar. De hecho, se sospecha que Águeda, ayudó a George Tweed, el solitario fugitivo estadounidense de los japoneses, o al menos sabía su paradero. Sospechaban que estaba involucrada en la radio subterránea, que proporcionaba información de guerra a los americanos. Por todo ello, fue conducida periódicamente a interrogatorios japoneses y sufrió palizas. Aunque ésa es en sí misma, otra historia.


Alrededor del 10 de julio de 1944, después de más de un mes de terroríficos bombardeos estadounidenses, los japoneses ordenaron a los chamorros del centro y norte de Guam marchar hacia varios campamentos designados. La idea era mantener a la población chamorra aislada y lejos de los lugares de batalla para mantenerlos fuera de peligro y asimismo evitar que informaran a los estadounidenses con los que podrían encontrarse. Tå'i fue un punto de encuentro para los diversos grupos que formaron la marcha hacia los campos. Entonces Águeda y sus hijos empacaron lo que pudieron y comenzaron a marchar hacia Tå'i.


Cuando llegaron a Ordot, a solo dos millas de Agaña, la niña más pequeña, Eloise, de 11 años, estaba demasiado enferma para seguir la marcha. Eloise había estado mal durante casi toda la ocupación japonesa. Pensaron que tal vez la sorpresa de ver a su padre enviado al campo de prisioneros en Japón era demasiado para la joven, que tenía solo ocho años en ese momento. Entonces Águeda le dijo al resto de sus hijos, algunos que ya tenían 20 años, que siguieran adelante y ella se quedaría con Eloise en la casa abandonada de Mariana León Guerrero en Ordot.


Los trabajadores forzados de Okinawa y Corea que trabajaban en una pista de aterrizaje pero que la abandonaron bajo el fuego estadounidense encontraron a Águeda y Eloise en la casa. Le ordenaron a Águeda que cocinara los alimentos que encontraron aquellos hombres, pero su búsqueda de comida fue detectada por aviones estadounidenses y ¡pronto esos aviones estaban disparando a la casa! La casa también estaba cerca de una estación de radio utilizada por los japoneses y también de un campamento japonés, por lo que la casa siempre fue un blanco para los aviadores estadounidenses.


Entonces, uno de los hijos de Águeda, Tom, llegó a la casa pidiendo a su madre que lo siguiera a Mañenggon. Águeda se negó, diciendo que la fiebre de Eloise era tan alta que no podían moverse. Estaban en manos de Dios, dijo ella. Si el Señor se llevaba a Eloise, Águeda tenía un pico y una pala listos para enterrarla. Tom se fue sin su madre y su hermana.


Otra sorpresa llegó cuando apareció un médico japonés y rápidamente le dijo a Águeda que tomara el medicamento que le estaba entregando y que se fuera con la niña.


Poco después de que el médico desapareciera tan rápido como había aparecido, Águeda vio la punta de una cabeza pasar por la ventana. Era Frank Pérez, alias Goyo. Estaba buscando comida para su madre, pero al ver la situación de Águeda, prometió ayudarlas.


En ese momento, apareció también Segundo León Guerrero, con la pierna hinchada cuatro veces su tamaño normal después de que un perro lo mordiera. Un médico japonés dijo que no podía hacer nada más por Segundo. Frank Pérez abrió la herida y dejó que el pus saliera. Luego, él y su hermano Gregorio encontraron un viejo carro tirado por una flaca vaca. Sujetando tablones y colchones al carro, acostaron a Eloise y a Segundo sobre ellos. Acompañados por José Quitugua, comenzaron su viaje hacia Mañenggon.


Siguiendo el río Ylig hacia el interior hasta el valle de Mañenggon, el carro no pudo atravesar el camino áspero de la selva. Entonces desengancharon el carro y llevaron a Eloise en una camilla improvisada. Acordaron dejar que Segundo esperara al lado del camino y lo vendrían a buscar más tarde.


Cuando se corrió la voz entre las miles de personas que se refugiaban en Mañenggon de que las tropas estadounidenses se habían encontrado con algunos chamorros, y cuando notaron que los guardias japoneses habían desaparecido silenciosamente, miles comenzaron a marchar a través de las colinas y los valles del terreno central hacia Agat, con seguridad, detrás de las filas estadounidenses. Se reunieron con marines americanos que escoltaron a la larga fila de personas a un lugar seguro. Eloise estaba siendo llevada en su camilla por Manuel Mesa, Cristóbal Benavente y Henry Butler.


La fiebre de Eloise rondaba los 40 grados todavía, y Águeda dudaba que pudiera seguir adelante. No ayudó que Eloise ni siquiera pudiera creer que los estadounidenses estaban allí. Águeda caminó una buena distancia para encontrar a un marine. Ella le dijo al marine que había una niña enferma en la fila que quería ver a un estadounidense y que tal vez no lo lograría. El marine regresó a Eloise.


Eloise dijo: "He estado enferma desde que vinieron los japoneses y se llevaron a mi papá. Ahora está muerto y no quiero vivir más".


El marine le dio unas palmaditas y dijo: "Ahora estás a salvo, pequeña. Los estadounidenses están aquí y nunca más te dejaremos." Eloise se inclinó y dijo: "Estoy mejor ahora. Quiero caminar." Y caminó, lo cual fue un alivio, ya que había un punto donde el sendero era tan estrecho, con bordes empinados a ambos lados, que una camilla causaría problemas.


Cuando llegaron a un campamento, ella montó en su primer jeep a un hospital. Su temperatura ahora era normal. Eloise vivió durante los siguientes 75 años y falleció en 2019 a la edad de 86 años. Que ella y Águeda descansen en paz.

THE FIRST LIBERATION DAY WAS DIFFERENT

Monday, July 20, 2020

FIRST LIBERATION DAY BEGAN WITH MASS
Plaza de España July 21, 1945


The very first Liberation Day on Guam had no parade. No marching bands nor village floats went down Marine Drive, although the road was already there.

There was no carnival, no ferris wheel and no beto beto booths.

July 21, 1945 was a Saturday, so there was no work that day for most anyway. But it wasn't a public holiday for GovGuam yet. There was no GovGuam yet! The island was still under a military government.

On that first Liberation Day, World War II was still being fought. The US was bombing Japan by air and had surrounded it by sea. When the Chamorros were celebrating Liberation Day on July 21, 1945, the war wasn't over but Guam was playing a part in ending it, with its massive air fields built by the US for American planes to bomb Japan. Just 120 miles north of Guam, Tinian's airfields were used by the US to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the war was over by August 15.

So when Agueda Johnston, island educator, suggested to the military brass that the first anniversary of the American return to Guam be celebrated, the American big shots didn't jump for joy at the idea. Maybe they thought there was a war still to be won, and had other priorities. Maybe they doubted that the island had what it took to put on a celebration, since the island was still picking up the pieces of the damage left by war. Hagåtña was a city in ruins, half-destroyed homes sitting empty covered with weeds. Military quonset huts covered the bulldozed terrain of the capital.

But Agueda got her permission and the anniversary was planned. But how different that first Liberation Day was from the ones that came later.


IT WAS RELIGIOUS




As can be seen in the photo above, the people gathered in the Plaza de España for an early morning Mass celebrated by Spanish Bishop Olano. There was a temporary church in Hagåtña by then, built by Monsignor Calvo, to replace the ruined prewar Cathedral, but it was smaller than the original church and an outdoor Mass could accommodate more people.


NOT A PARADE, BUT A PROCESSION





After the Mass, there was no parade. Instead, there was a religious procession of the people, lead by a crucifix and altar boys.

Newspapers said the procession went through the streets of devastated Hagåtña. A few streets were probably meant, and it must have been a somber mood to walk past the useless, mangled walls of what used to be homes filled with the sounds of family life.

Processing on Marine Drive would have been out of the question. It was a Saturday, but there was still a war going on, with hundreds of military trucks going up and down Marine Drive from the naval base at Apra up to one of the airfields in the north.

A LOCALIZED PARTY

The Hagåtña Mass and procession could be considered island-wide events. At least everyone was invited to participate, though transportation wasn't all that easy in 1945 and nearly everyone lived outside of Hagåtña. From the photo above, you can see that the crowd was decent but far from the actual number of people who would have attended had they still lived in Hagåtña, as they had before the war, and had transportation been more easily available.

So the rest of Liberation Day was a localized affair, each village and each family or association of whatever sort putting on their own celebration.

Agueda Johnston hosted a party at a school in Aniguak, where the youth were so enthusiastic in dancing the jitterbug that she was afraid they'd go through the flimsy walls made of light wood and local weaving. So there was dancing, music and cake, cut by her and a Marine officer. The people gathered in the school sang "God Bless America."



AGUEDA JOHNSTON


In the villages that had a priest in their churches or chapels, Mass was said that morning, the same way Bishop Olano said Mass in the Plaza.

Admiral Chester Nimitz addressed the radio listeners on island that morning with his greetings.

It was up to each village to feast as they wanted or could. Inalåhan went all out. Here's how one newspaper described it :




Here and there around the island, people held dances, put out food, waved the American flag, listened to civic leaders make speeches, poured out many glasses of tuba (coconut toddy).



AGNES CARBULLIDO DANCES WITH AN AMERICAN LIEUTENANT
at the Liberation Day party hosted by Agueda Johnston


There was also a remembrance of the American soldiers who died in the 1944 invasion. Many Chamorros died in that violence, but Chamorros laid wreaths on the first Liberation Day at the graves of American troops who fell in battle as well.



BOY SCOUT JESÚS SAN NICOLÁS
at the grave of US Marine RG Phelan on July 21, 1945


When our parents and grandparents celebrated July 21, 1945, they could still hear the bombs and bullets; they could still see the menacing faces of Japanese soldiers looking at them; they could still hear the screaming voices of irate Japanese rulers; they could still feel the pain in their hearts looking at relatives and friends wounded, and even dead, with no medical care in sight. And they could also see that all of that was over.

So, yes, the first Liberation Day was religious and patriotic. The people were proud to see the American flag wave again, and they were happy the Japanese were gone.

STILL WORK TO BE DONE

But this patriotism did not erase the Chamorro's sense of justice and love for their island and people. Concerns, and even resentment, brewed among some Chamorros over military land grabs and the prices paid. Just a year after the first Liberation Day, Chamorros were in the same Plaza where they had Mass to thank God for war's end, to protest the presence of US Navy man George Tweed, who wrote some objectionable things about some Chamorros in his postwar book about his flight from the Japanese.

Four years after the first Liberation Day, some members of the Guam Congress, all Chamorros, staged a well-publicized walkout to protest the Naval Governor at the time who was impeding their actions. Later that year, President Truman took Guam out of Naval control and put a civilian Governor in place and then the Organic Act followed the next year.




One year after the first Liberation Day celebration, Agueda Johnston, the woman who began that observance, aired her grievances about the continued military rule over Guam. She told reporters that Chamorros wanted their capital city rebuilt, a representative government instituted, the removal of military restrictions, constitutional protection and an acknowledgment from the US that the Chamorros of Guam fought the Japanese in their own way, and paid a price for it. All this coming from a Chamorro woman whose American patriotism was lauded by the US and resented by the Japanese.

In other words, Chamorro leaders at the time wanted to be as American as the Americans themselves defined America, with liberty and justice for all.



VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)



EL PRIMER DÍA DE LIBERACIÓN FUE DIFERENTE


El primer “Día de Liberación” que se celebró en Guam no tuvo desfile. No hubo bandas de música ni carrozas de los pueblos circulando por Marine Drive, aunque la calle ya estaba construida.


No hubo atracciones, ni ruleta de la fortuna ni cabinas beto beto (un juego de azar).


El 21 de julio de 1945 era un sábado, así que ese día la mayoría de la gente no trabajaba. Pero aún no era un día festivo para el Gobierno de Guam. De hecho, el Gobierno de Guam todavía no existía. La isla aún estaba bajo el gobierno militar americano.


En ese primer “Día de Liberación,” la Segunda Guerra Mundial todavía se estaba librando. Estados Unidos estaba bombardeando Japón por aire y lo había rodeado por mar. Cuando los chamorros se disponían a celebrar el “Día de Liberación” el 21 de julio de 1945, la guerra no había terminado, pero Guam estaba desempeñando un papel importante para ese fin, con sus enormes bases aéreas construidas por los EE. UU. para que sus aviones bombardeasen Japón. A solo 120 millas (193 km) al norte de Guam, los campos de aviación de Tinián fueron utilizados por los Estados Unidos para lanzar las bombas atómicas sobre Hiroshima y Nagasaki y la guerra terminaría el 15 de agosto.


Entonces fue cuando Águeda Johnston, una maestra de la isla, sugirió a los jefes militares que se celebrara el primer aniversario del regreso estadounidense a Guam, los peces gordos americanos no saltaron de alegría ante la idea. Tal vez pensaron que aún había una guerra por ganar, y tenían otras prioridades. Tal vez dudaron de que la isla tuviera lo necesario para organizar una celebración, pues aún se estaban recogiendo los escombros que había dejado la guerra. Agaña era una ciudad en ruinas, casas medio destruidas, vacías y cubiertas de maleza. Las cabañas militares prefabricadas cubrían el terreno arrasado de la capital.


Pero Águeda consiguió su permiso y el aniversario se iba a organizar. ¡Pero qué diferente fue ese primer “Día de Liberación” de los que vinieron después!


Como se puede ver en la foto, los chamorros se reunieron en la Plaza de España para una misa matutina celebrada por el obispo español Miguel Ángel Olano. Había para entonces una iglesia provisional en Agaña, levantada por Monseñor Calvo, para reemplazar a la catedral destruida, pero era más pequeña que la iglesia original y una misa al aire libre podía acomodar a más personas.


Después de la misa, no hubo desfile. En cambio, hubo una procesión religiosa por la ciudad, dirigida por una cruz y varios monaguillos.


Los periódicos señalaron que la procesión había discurrido por las calles de la devastada Agaña. Probablemente algunas calles estaban preparadas pero debió haber sido desolador caminar al lado de las paredes destrozadas de lo que habían sido hogares llenos de sonidos de la vida familiar.


Era sábado y la procesión en Marine Drive hubiera estado fuera de toda duda. Pero todavía había una guerra, con cientos de camiones militares subiendo y bajando por Marine Drive desde la base naval en Apra hasta uno de los aeródromos del norte.


UNA FIESTA LOCALIZADA


La misa y la procesión de Agaña podrían considerarse eventos para toda la isla. Al menos todos fueron invitados a participar, aunque el transporte no era fácil en 1945 y casi todos vivían fuera de Agaña. En la foto, se puede ver que la multitud era considerable pero lejos de la cantidad real de personas que hubieran asistido si aún hubieran vivido en Agaña, como lo habían hecho antes de la guerra, y también si el transporte hubiera sido más disponible.


Así que el resto del Día de Liberación fue un asunto localizado, cada pueblo y cada familia o asociación de cualquier tipo organizó su propia celebración.


Águeda Johnston organizó una fiesta en una escuela en Aniguak, donde los jóvenes estaban tan entusiasmados bailando el jitterbug que se temía que atravesaran las endebles paredes hechas de madera clara y tejidos locales. Así que hubo baile, música y tarta, cortada por ella misma y un oficial de la Marina. La gente reunida en la escuela cantó "God Bless America" (“Dios bendiga a América”).


En las aldeas que tenían un sacerdote en sus iglesias o capillas, la misa se celebró aquella mañana, de la misma manera que el Obispo Olano lo hizo en la Plaza de España.


El almirante Chester Nimitz se dirigió a los oyentes de radio en la isla esa mañana con sus saludos.


Dependía de cada pueblo festejar en la manera en que quisieran o pudieran. Inaraján hizo todo lo posible. Así es como lo describió un periódico: “En Inaraján, en la costa sureste, la gente decoró las fachadas de sus casas con hibiscos y hojas de palma. Se reunieron en siete grupos, los mismos siete grupos creados por los japoneses, porque ésa era la forma más fácil de controlar sus movimientos”.


Aquí y allá, alrededor de la isla, la gente organizaba bailes, preparaba comida, ondeaba la bandera estadounidense, escuchaba a los líderes cívicos pronunciar discursos, derramaba muchos vasos de tuba (bebida de coco), etc.


También hubo un recuerdo para los soldados estadounidenses que murieron en la invasión japonesa de 1944. Muchos chamorros murieron en ese momento, pero los chamorros depositaron igualmente coronas de flores en el primer Día de Liberación en las tumbas de las tropas americanas que cayeron en la batalla.


Cuando nuestros padres y abuelos celebraron el 21 de julio de 1945, todavía podían escuchar las bombas y las balas; aún podían ver los rostros amenazantes de los soldados japoneses mirándolos; todavía podían escuchar las voces de los gobernantes japoneses furiosos; todavía podían sentir el dolor en sus corazones al mirar a familiares y amigos heridos, e incluso muertos, sin una atención médica disponible. Y también podían ver que todo eso se estaba terminando.


Entonces, sí, el primer Día de Liberación fue religioso y patriótico. La gente estaba orgullosa de ver la bandera estadounidense ondear nuevamente, y estaban felices de que los japoneses se hubieran ido.


TODAVÍA TRABAJO POR HACER


Pero este patriotismo no borró el sentido de justicia y amor de los chamorros por su isla y su propia gente. Las preocupaciones, e incluso el resentimiento, surgieron entre algunos chamorros por el acaparamiento de tierras militares y los precios pagados por los americanos. Justo un año después del primer Día de Liberación, los chamorros se reunieron en la misma Plaza de España, donde se había celebrado aquella misa para agradecer a Dios por el fin de la guerra, para protestar por la presencia del soldado americano, George Tweed, quien escribió algunas cosas objetables sobre algunos chamorros en su libro de la posguerra durante su huída de los japoneses.


Cuatro años después del primer Día de Liberación, algunos miembros del Congreso de Guam, todos chamorros, organizaron una huelga muy publicitada para protestar contra el Gobernador Naval que en esos momentos impedía sus acciones. Más tarde ese año, el presidente Truman sacó a Guam del control militar y estableció un gobernador civil. Posteriormente se aprobó la Ley Orgánica al año siguiente.


Un año después de la primera celebración del Día de Liberación, Águeda Johnston, la mujer que comenzó esa observación, expresó sus quejas sobre el continuo control militar del gobierno americano sobre Guam. Ella declaró a los periodistas que los chamorros querían que la ciudad de Agaña fuera reconstruida, un gobierno representativo instituido, la eliminación de las restricciones militares, la protección constitucional y un reconocimiento de los Estados Unidos de que los chamorros de Guam lucharon también contra los japoneses, y pagaron un precio por ello. Todo esto proviene de una mujer chamorra cuyo patriotismo estadounidense fue elogiado por los Estados Unidos y resentido por los japoneses.


En otras palabras, los líderes chamorros en ese momento querían ser estadounidenses con libertad y justicia para todos, como los mismos estadounidenses definieron a Estados Unidos.


SUMAY : REVENGE BY FADANG

Friday, July 17, 2020

FADANG


The nut of the fadang (fedrico) palm has been used for centuries by Chamorros as a source of food, especially as flour. When the nut is dried and ground into a flour, it can be used in cooking and made into titiyas (flat bread like tortilla).

The one thing you have to know, though, is that fadang is poisonous. It contains cyanide!

So the nut is cut and is soaked in water that is constantly changed, for several days at a minimum, so that the toxin leaches into the water until it is all gone and the nut is safe to eat. Just to show you how poisonous it is, if the first batches of water in which the nuts are soaked are thrown out and somehow gather into a puddle, chickens will die if they drink that water.

During the war, some Japanese soldiers in Sumay were curious about the tree and some Sumay people told the soldiers that Chamorros used the nut as food, but they didn't tell the soldiers about the poison.

The soldiers picked the nuts and cooked them somehow, without soaking them for the several days required.

When the Sumay people saw how sick those Japanese soldiers became, there was an air of contentment in Sumay that day.





VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


SUMAY: VENGANZA “FADANG”


La nuez de palma “fadang” (federico) ha sido utilizada durante siglos por los chamorros como fuente de alimento, especialmente para hacer harina. Cuando la nuez se seca y se muele, se puede usar para cocinar y preparar “titiyas” (pan plano como la tortilla).


Sin embargo, lo único que se debe saber es que el “fadang” es venenoso. ¡Contiene cianuro!


Por lo tanto, la nuez se corta y se empapa en agua que se cambia constantemente, como mínimo durante varios días. Así la toxina se filtra en el agua hasta que se acaba y la nuez es segura para comer. Solo para demostrar su veneno, si se arrojasen los primeros lotes de agua en los que se mojan las nueces y de alguna manera se juntan en un charco, las gallinas morirían si bebiesen esa agua.


Durante la guerra, algunos soldados japoneses en Sumay sintieron curiosidad por el árbol y algunas personas del pueblo les dijeron a los soldados que los chamorros usaban la nuez como alimento, pero no les advirtieron sobre el veneno.


Los soldados recogieron las nueces y las cocinaron, sin remojarlas durante los varios días requeridos.


Cuando la gente de Sumay vio cuán enfermos se pusieron los soldados japoneses, hubo un aire de satisfacción en Sumay aquel día.



ŌMIYA KAIKAN

Monday, July 13, 2020

PREWAR ELKS CLUB


When the Japanese occupied Guam in World War II, they grabbed what they wanted and turned it into what they wanted. This they did with the prewar Elks Club in Hagåtña. Instead of a clubhouse for statesiders as was its original purpose, a local Japanese resident of Guam made it his own business - a clubhouse for Japanese military officers. Officers paid for their liquor, their main activity, but also for any meals they might order. It became known as the Ōmiya Kaikan; or the "Guam Hall."

Many Guam residents at least know of the Elks Club and its clubhouse located in Agaña Heights. Many a wedding reception, private party and bingo game has been held there. The original, before the war, was in downtown Hagåtña in a fine-looking, two storey, concrete building.

The Elks were founded in the US as a social club for white men, whose lodges were a place where they could socialize. They also have done a lot of charity work for all segments of the community. Among the several membership requirements, being white and a US citizen immediately disqualified nearly every Chamorro male on Guam from joining. The establishment of the Young Men's League of Guam was in reaction to such restrictions in American clubs. The Elks eliminated the racial qualification in 1973.





Members of the Elks Club who were living on Guam thanks to their military assignment began the process of petitioning for the establishment of a Guam lodge. This finally came about in 1914. Some of the original members were statesiders married to Chamorro wives : William Johnston, Hiram Elliott, Chester Butler and Walter Rowley.




A clubhouse was essential to the Elks and they found one in a two story, concrete building built by Jose K. Shimizu, a Japanese businessman on Guam.  The lodge bought the building from Shimizu and in time the building had three dining rooms, a hall, a bar, a club room and a reading room. The club occupied the second floor while the ground floor housed a store. By the 1930s, there were between 70 and 80 Guam members, all statesiders.

But the Elks club house was a haven not only for formal members of the Elks lodge. The Elks opened their doors to American enlisted military men. These enlisted men could not enjoy the Officer's Club up in Agaña Heights. But the Elks club provided affordable alcohol, dance music and the company of Chamorro women.


DURING THE JAPANESE OCCUPATION


When the Japanese took over Guam on December 10, 1941 everything was at their disposal. Automobiles, generators, boats, machinery, homes and buildings were all fair game. The Japanese felt especially free to grab whatever was owned by Americans on Guam, since the US was the enemy. The Americans were all rounded up and sent to prison camp in Japan anyway, so why not use the cars and buildings they left behind.

So a local Japanese resident and businessman, who became tied to the highest level of the Japanese government on Guam, took possession of the now-empty Elks Club and made it his own business, which he called the Ōmiya Kaikan. Ōmiya was the Japanese name for Guam, and kaikan meant "meeting hall." The club was to function mainly as a bar for Japanese officers. Meals could be served, too, as there was a kitchen, but the focus was on drinking and socializing. Whiskey, beer and soda were available.

The common Japanese soldier was not allowed in, unless he was the driver for some officer. Japanese civilians also could not just walk in and be served. One employee of the Kohatsu, a Japanese corporation that controlled commerce during the Occupation, strolled down the street intoxicated, heading for the clubhouse hoping to get in. The Japanese Governor, who was at the clubhouse at the time, took a sign off its hinges and put it on the front steps of the club, sending the man away. It was believed the sign said "Officers Only" or something to that effect.



THE BAR AT THE PREWAR ELKS CLUB
William Johnston on left behind the bar


Oddly enough, Chamorros were allowed in, but only as guests of the Japanese officers, and there was no lack of Chamorro guests. The Chamorro guests usually fell into one of two categories. Either they were of the higher class, such as businessmen or property owners, who could provide resources to the Japanese or make things happen in society. Or they were Chamorro socialite women; the pretty faces whose company the Japanese officers enjoyed.

The ordinary Chamorro folk used to gather outside the Ōmiya Kaikan when it first opened, peering in to see what was going on inside. They would be shushed away, being told the club was not for the general public. After another week of that the curious, uninvited didn't come around anymore.

A Chamorro staff was hired to run the place, cook and serve as waitresses. Vicente M. Taimanglo worked for a time at the club as bartender. After the war he testified that he didn't always receive his pay! Besides Vicente, there were Chamorro waitresses and a young boy who did odd jobs. The waitresses also said they weren't always paid as promised.




VICENTE M. TAIMANGLO

Many parties were held there, such as the departure dinner for the first Japanese Governor of Guam, Commander Hiroshi Hayashi, who left the island in June of 1942. He was the only Japanese who didn't have to pay for anything when he patronized the club.


FLAG DESECRATION INCIDENT



The next story is controversial. Some witnesses say one man did it, other witnesses say another man did it.

But they all say it happened! And what did happen? The second floor of the Elks clubhouse was where the hall was located. Although the clubhouse served meals, it wasn't really designed as a restaurant so the meals were served in that upstairs hall on the less frequent occasion when meals were ordered.

An evening party was to be held one night and as the hall was being prepared for that, some spillage was noticed on the floor. It could have been from a meal served earlier. Mops were looked for but instead an American flag, folded and stored away, was taken, spread over the spillage and used to mop the floor. The person doing so moved the flag with his foot.

The local Japanese who ran the club was accused after the war of being the guilty man. Several witnesses, including some Chamorro employees, claimed they saw him do it. But other witnesses, also including Chamorro employees, said it was a Japanese non-resident who did it.

Either way, the Elks Club members would have been outraged this had been done in their clubhouse. The Elks Club prides itself in having great devotion to the American flag. The Elks observe the national Flag Day observance and one cannot join the Elks if they are not willing to salute the flag.


DESTROYED BY AMERICAN BOMBS


RUINS OF THE ELKS CLUB

The Elks Club building was destroyed by American bombs in June of 1944 as the Americans prepared for its invasion the following month. An Elks Club member who participated in the invasion took this picture of the remains of the Elks Club. The smoke stack of the power plant in Hagåtña can be seen in the background.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

OMIYA KAIKAN

Cuando los japoneses ocuparon Guam durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, tomaban lo que querían y lo convertían en lo que deseaban. Esto lo hicieron en Agaña con el Club Elks anterior a la guerra. En lugar de una casa club para los estadounidenses como era su propósito original, un residente local japonés de Guam lo convirtió en su propio negocio: una casa club para oficiales militares japoneses. Los oficiales pagaban por sus licores, su actividad principal, pero también por cualquier comida que pudieran pedir. Se hizo conocido como el Ōmiya Kaikan; o el "Salón de Guam".

Muchos residentes de Guam al menos conocen el Club Elks y su casa club ubicada en Altos de Agaña. Allí se han celebrado muchas bodas, fiestas privadas y juegos de bingo. El original, anterior a la guerra, estaba en el centro de Agaña, en un elegante edificio de hormigón de dos pisos.

El Elks se fundó en los Estados Unidos como un club social para hombres blancos, cuyas reuniones servían para socializar. También han realizado muchas obras de caridad para todos los segmentos de la comunidad. Entre los varios requisitos de membresía, ser blanco y ciudadano estadounidense descalificaba de inmediato para su incorporación a casi todos los hombres chamorros de Guam. El establecimiento de la Liga de Hombres Jóvenes de Guam fue una reacción a tales restricciones en los clubes estadounidenses. El Elks eliminó la clasificación racial en 1973.

Los miembros del Club Elks que vivían en Guam gracias a su asignación militar comenzaron en su día el proceso de solicitar el establecimiento de una asociación en la isla. Esto finalmente ocurrió en 1914. Algunos de los miembros originales eran estadounidenses casados con sus esposas chamorras: William Johnston, Hiram Elliott, Chester Butler y Walter Rowley.

Una casa club era esencial para el Elks y encontraron una en un edificio de dos pisos construido por Jose K. Shimizu, un hombre de negocios japonés en Guam. La asociación compró el edificio a Shimizu y con el tiempo el edificio tenía tres comedores, un salón, un bar, una sala de club y una sala de lectura. Para la década de 1930, había entre 70 y 80 miembros de Guam, todos de los Estados Unidos.

Cuando los japoneses tomaron Guam el 10 de diciembre de 1941, todo estaba a su disposición: automóviles, generadores, botes, maquinaria, casas y edificios. Los japoneses se sintieron especialmente libres de tomar lo que fuera propiedad de los estadounidenses en Guam, ya que Estados Unidos era el enemigo. Todos los estadounidenses fueron detenidos y enviados al campo de prisioneros en Japón, así las cosas, ¿por qué no usar los autos y edificios que dejaron?

Entonces, un residente y empresario local japonés, que quedó vinculado al más alto nivel del gobierno japonés en Guam, tomó posesión del ahora vacío Club Elks y lo convirtió en su propio negocio, al que llamó Ōmiya Kaikan. Ōmiya era el nombre japonés para Guam, y kaikan significaba "sala de reuniones". El club debía funcionar principalmente como un bar para oficiales japoneses. Las comidas también se podían servir, ya que había una cocina, pero lo importante era beber y socializar. Whisky, cerveza y refrescos estaban disponibles.

Al soldado japonés común no se le permitía entrar, a menos que fuera el conductor de algún oficial. Los civiles japoneses tampoco podían entrar ni ser atendidos. Un empleado de Kohatsu, una corporación japonesa que controlaba el comercio durante la ocupación, se paseó por la calle borracho, en dirección a la sede del club con la esperanza de entrar. El gobernador japonés, que estaba en la sede del club en ese momento, oyó las bisagras y lo puso en los escalones delanteros del club, enviando al hombre lejos. Se creía que el letrero decía "Oficiales solamente" o algo por el estilo.

Por extraño que parezca, se permitía la entrada de chamorros, pero solo como invitados de los oficiales japoneses. Los invitados chamorros generalmente entraban en una de dos categorías: o eran de la clase alta, como empresarios o propietarios, que podían proporcionar recursos a los japoneses. O eran mujeres “socialité” chamorras; las caras bonitas de cuya compañía disfrutaban los oficiales japoneses.

La gente común chamorra solía reunirse fuera del Ōmiya Kaikan cuando se abrió por primera vez, mirando qué ocurría dentro. Esa gente eran rechazada, y se les decía que el club no era para el público en general. Después de otra semana, los curiosos y no invitados ya no aparecían.

Un chamorro fue contratado para dirigir el lugar, cocinar y servir como camarero. Vicente M. Taimanglo trabajó durante un tiempo en el club como barman. ¡Después de la guerra contó que no siempre había recibido su paga! Además de Vicente, había camareras chamorras y un niño que hacía trabajos extraños. Las camareras también dijeron que no siempre se les pagaba según lo prometido.

Allí se celebraron muchas fiestas, como la cena de partida del primer gobernador japonés de Guam, el comandante Hiroshi Hayashi, que abandonó la isla en junio de 1942. Era el único japonés que no tenía que pagar nada, cuando patrocinaba el club.

La siguiente historia es controvertida. Algunos testigos dicen que un hombre lo hizo, otros testigos dicen que fue otra persona.

¡Pero todos preguntan qué sucedió! ¿Y qué pasó? El segundo piso de la casa club de Elks era donde se encontraba el pasillo. Aunque la casa club servía comidas, en realidad no estaba diseñada como restaurante, por lo que las comidas pedidas se servían en el pasillo de arriba.

Una noche se celebraría una fiesta y mientras se preparaba el salón para eso, se notó un derrame en el suelo. Podría haber sido de una comida servida antes. Se buscaron trapeadores, pero en su lugar se tomó una bandera estadounidense, doblada y guardada, se extendió sobre el derrame y se usó para limpiar el piso. La persona que lo hizo movió la bandera con el pie.

El japonés local que dirigía el club fue acusado después de la guerra de ser el culpable. Varios testigos, incluidos algunos empleados chamorros, afirmaron que lo vieron haciéndolo. Pero otros testigos, incluidos también los empleados chamorros, dijeron que fuera un residente no japonés quien lo hiciera.

De cualquier manera, los miembros del Club Elks se habrían indignado de que esto se había producido en su casa club. El Club Elks se enorgullece de tener una gran devoción a la bandera estadounidense. El club observa la celebración nacional del Día de la Bandera y uno no puede unirse al Elks si no se está dispuesto a saludar a la bandera.

El edificio del Club Elks fue destruido por las bombas estadounidenses en junio de 1944 mientras los estadounidenses se preparaban para su invasión al mes siguiente. Un miembro del Club Elks que participó en la invasión tomó esta foto de los restos del club. La columna de humo de la central eléctrica en Agaña se puede ver al fondo.


WARTIME INTERROGATION

Friday, July 10, 2020


In 1943, Francisco received an unexpected visitor at his ranch in the Hågat district.

It was the interpreter from Saipan in charge of the Hågat district. The interpreter told Francisco he had to go with him to the taicho's house. The taicho was the local military commander, and his name was Takabana.

When they got to Takabana's house, he was told to do some sweeping while Takabana and the Saipanese interpreter conversed in Japanese. Then Takabana left and it was just Francisco and the interpreter.

"You took the gun at Fena, didn't you?" asked the interpreter. Another man from Hågat had informed the Japanese, even though it wasn't true.

Francisco denied it, because he truly hadn't taken any gun from anywhere.

The interpreter told Francisco to stand with his arms in the air, and took a piece of wood and started whacking Francisco's buttocks with the wood, sometimes as far down as the backside of his knees. He hit Francisco so many times, each time asking if Francisco took the gun.

Every time Francisco said "no," the interpreter whacked him again saying, "I'll keep doing this till you admit you took the gun."

In the Japanese system, the accused are guilty till proven innocent. What the Japanese try to do is extract a confession from the accused, even if the confession is made under duress. Thus, further evidence is not so needed and the case can be concluded more quickly.

Francisco still felt the interpreter would relent, but he didn't. Every time Francisco said he didn't take the gun, the interpreter struck him with the board. Unable to take any more of the pain, Francisco finally gave in and said he did take the gun, only so that the beating would stop.

The interpreter put away the board, itself being damaged from all the striking. "Let's go get the gun," he said. On the way to the location where the gun supposedly was, Francisco thought to himself, "He will be even more angry when we get there and I have no gun to turn in." So when he saw the opportunity, Francisco escaped. For two or three days, he wandered in the jungle. His wife got word to him urging him to turn himself in. He did.

He walked to the taicho's office, and the interpreter was there. He said he only told the interpreter that he took the gun so that the beating would stop, but that he had not, in fact, taken it. The taicho and interpreter told him it was okay and to go home.




Another man from Hågat named Román was interrogated on suspicion of stealing karabao . He claimed innocence, but the Japanese considered him guilty because karabao bones were found on his ranch property. He was beaten for several days in a row and was promised the beatings would stop if he confessed. Román said he couldn't confess because he hadn't stolen any karabao .

Takabana, the taicho , said, "Just admit you did it, even if you didn't do it."

Román said, "I admit I stole the karabao , even though I didn't do it."

The beating stopped but Román was then taken to the jail in Hagåtña and locked up for three months then released.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)



INTERROGADOS EN TIEMPO DE GUERRA


En 1943, Francisco recibió una visita inesperada en su rancho en el distrito de Agat.


Era el intérprete de Saipán a cargo del distrito de Agat. El intérprete le dijo a Francisco que tenía que ir con él a la casa del taicho. El taicho era el comandante militar local, y su nombre era Takabana.


Cuando llegaron a la casa de Takabana, le dijeron que barriera mientras Takabana y el intérprete de Saipán conversaban en japonés. Entonces Takabana se fue y solo se quedaron Francisco y el intérprete.


"Le disparaste a Fena, ¿no?" preguntó el intérprete. Otro hombre de Agat había informado de eso a los japoneses, aunque no era cierto.


Francisco lo negó, porque realmente no había tomado ninguna pistola de lado alguno.


El intérprete le dijo a Francisco que se parara con las manos arriba, tomó un trozo de madera y comenzó a golpear las nalgas de Francisco con la madera, a veces hasta la parte trasera de las rodillas. Golpeó a Francisco muchas veces, cada vez preguntaba si Francisco tomara el arma.


Cada vez que Francisco respondía "no," el intérprete lo golpeaba nuevamente diciendo: "Seguiré haciendo esto hasta que admitas que tomaste el arma."


En el sistema japonés, los acusados son culpables hasta que se demuestre su inocencia. Lo que los japoneses intentan hacer es extraer una confesión del acusado, incluso si la confesión se hace bajo coacción. Por lo tanto, no se necesitan más pruebas y el caso puede concluirse más rápidamente.


Francisco todavía sentía que el intérprete cedería, pero no lo hizo. Cada vez que Francisco decía que no tomara el arma, el intérprete lo golpeaba con el tablero. Incapaz de soportar más el dolor, Francisco finalmente cedió y dijo que tomara el arma, solo para que la paliza se detuviera.


El intérprete guardó el tablero, ya que resultó dañado por los golpes. "Vamos a buscar el arma," dijo. En el camino hacia el lugar donde supuestamente estaba el arma, Francisco pensó para sí mismo: "Se enojará aún más cuando lleguemos allí y no tenga el arma para entregarle." Entonces, cuando vio la oportunidad, Francisco escapó. Durante dos o tres días, vagó por la jungla. Su esposa recibió noticias sobre él instándolo a entregarse. Lo hizo.


Se dirigió a la oficina del taicho y el intérprete estaba allí. Dijo que solo le había respondido al intérprete que tomara el arma para que la paliza se detuviera, pero que, de hecho, no la había tomado. El taicho y el intérprete le dijeron que aceptaban su explicación y que se fuera a casa.


Otro hombre de Agat llamado Román fue interrogado bajo sospecha de robar un carabao. Afirmó su inocencia, pero los japoneses lo consideraron culpable porque se encontraron huesos de carabao en la propiedad de su rancho. Fue golpeado durante varios días seguidos y se le prometió que las palizas se detendrían si confesaba. Román dijo que no podía confesar porque no había robado ningún carabao.


Takabana, el taicho, dijo: "Simplemente admite que lo hiciste, incluso si no lo hiciste."


Román dijo: "Admito que robé el carabao, aunque no lo hice."


La golpiza se detuvo, pero Román fue llevado a la cárcel en Agaña y encerrado durante tres meses y luego liberado.




WARTIME FOR MARÍA

Monday, July 6, 2020


STRUCK BY HER JAPANESE TEACHER


María Cruz Siguenza was just thirteen years old when it happened in November of 1942.

She was attending school in Asan under the supervision of Kyomon Miwa, a civilian school teacher. He had been a school teacher in Japan before the war. Coming to Guam, he was assigned to Humåtak, where he had no trouble from the children.

But then he was transferred to Asan school and he had a bit of trouble with the school children there this one day.

Just to show you what "education" was during the Japanese Occupation, the school children were out in the rice paddies in Asan. They were put to work in the fields, trying to get rid of parasites attacking the rice seedlings. More than one child was unruly; giggling, horsing around, eating. Miwa kept scolding them, but they wouldn't listen. María had the misfortune of standing closer to Miwa, and she was eating a mango. He hit her head with a club and asked, "Will that make you listen?" To his surprise, he saw blood dripping from her head.

He took her to the hospital in Hagåtña. Sometime later he reported it to the Minseibu, the Japanese civil administration. He was told by the Japanese civil officials not to do it again. More time elapsed and this time Miwa was summoned by the Japanese Army Medical Corps. They wanted more information about what happened. Then a Japanese soldier came up to Miwa, very angry, and told Miwa off. The soldier struck Miwa so hard that he needed four stitches and had to go to the hospital every day for a few weeks. He was then transferred from Asan to Hagåtña.

Miwa surrendered to the Americans in January of 1945, after five months trying to elude them in the jungles of Guam. Somehow the US officials found out about María's assault and Miwa was arrested. He plead guilty, but argued that his sentence be lightened because the Japanese themselves had already punished him by beating him so hard it required medical treatment.

Miwa served a very short sentence of less than a year.

María, better known as Buntai, lived a long life, passing away at the age of 80. May she rest in peace.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)



TIEMPO DE GUERRA PARA MARÍA


María Cruz Sigüenza tenía solo trece años cuando esto sucedió en noviembre de 1942.


Ella asistía a la escuela en Asan bajo la supervisión de Kyomon Miwa, un maestro de escuela civil. Había sido maestro de escuela en Japón antes de la guerra. Al llegar a Guam, fue asignado a Umatac, donde no tuvo problemas con los niños.


Pero luego fue transferido a la escuela de Asan y tuvo algunos problemas allí con los muchachos de la escuela.


Solo para mostrarles qué era la "educación" durante la ocupación japonesa, los niños de la escuela eran enviados a los arrozales de Asan. Los pusieron a trabajar en los campos, tratando de deshacerse de los parásitos que atacaban las plántulas de arroz. Más de un niño era rebelde; riendo, cabalgando, comiendo. Miwa los regañaba, pero no escuchaban. María tuvo la desgracia de estar más cerca de Miwa, y estaba comiendo un mango. Él golpeó su cabeza con un palo y le preguntó: "¿Eso te hará escuchar?" Para su sorpresa, vio sangre goteando de su cabeza.


La llevó al hospital de Agaña. Algún tiempo después la niña lo denunció a Minseibu, la administración civil japonesa. Los funcionarios civiles japoneses le dijeron que no lo volviera a hacer. Pasó más tiempo y esta vez Miwa fue convocado por el Cuerpo Médico del Ejército Japonés. Querían más información sobre lo que había sucedido. Entonces un soldado japonés se acercó a Miwa, muy enojado, y le dijo a Miwa que se fuera. El soldado golpeó a Miwa con tanta fuerza que necesitó cuatro puntos de sutura y tuvo que ir al hospital todos los días durante unas semanas. Luego fue transferido de Asan a Agaña.


Miwa se entregó a los estadounidenses en enero de 1945, después de cinco meses tratando de eludirlos en las selvas de Guam. De alguna manera, los funcionarios estadounidenses se enteraron del asalto de María y Miwa fue arrestado. Se declaró culpable, pero argumentó que su sentencia se aligeraría porque los propios japoneses ya lo habían castigado golpeándolo con tanta fuerza que había requerido tratamiento médico.


Miwa cumplió una condena muy corta de menos de un año.


María, mejor conocida como Buntai, vivió una larga vida, falleció a la edad de 80 años. Descanse en paz.



A SAIPAN INTERPRETER INTERVENES

Friday, July 3, 2020

BOKKONGNGO'
Japanese Wartime Caves and Tunnels


This story was shared with me by the man who experienced it.

It was spring of 1944 and the Japanese knew the Americans were on the way. The Japanese had already started building defenses against an American invasion, and they forced the Chamorros to provide the muscle for it.

This man, his father who was approaching 50 years old, and his brothers were made to dig bokkongngo ' (caves) where the Japanese soldiers could hide. The Americans began bombing the island, and one day, while he and his family were digging, an American air raid broke out. The family went running for safety wherever they could find it.

Regrouping, the family wandered having lost their direction. They stumbled on a company of Japanese troops. A Saipanese interpreter was with them. The interpreter told them to go away, that they weren't allowed near there.

Off they went, but got lost again. To their surprise, they wound up right back at the same company of Japanese troops. The look on those Japanese faces made them nervous. The Japanese were not happy to see the same Chamorro men come upon them.

The Saipanese interpreter, too, was very angry. " Adda' ti hu sangåne hamyo para en retira hamyo ? Ti man ma petmite hamyo guine mågi ." " Didn't I tell you to stay away! You're not allowed here !"

The man explained that it was accidental. They didn't know the area well and were only there on Japanese orders to dig caves.

The interpreter believed them and explained it to the irate Japanese soldiers, who also accepted the explanation. The Saipanese interpreter told them, " Siña hu na' fanoka hamyo.* Lao fan hånao !" " I could get you men in trouble. But go. " And he gave them indications where to go, and sure enough the family didn't make the same mistake.

The man told me, "I think they thought we were spying on them. But the Saipan interpreter believed us."

This is one case, among many, where it probably was better for the Guam Chamorro that a Saipan interpreter was there to intervene, rather than this Chamorro family face agitated Japanese soldiers on their own.

* Some may not recognize the Chamorro. Toka is what we say to someone in trouble for doing something wrong. "Siña hu na' toka hao" means "I can get you in trouble." The plural would be "Siña hu na' fanoka hamyo."


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)



INTERVIENE UN INTÉRPRETE DE SAIPÁN


El hombre que vivió esta historia decidió compartirla conmigo.


Era la primavera de 1944 y los japoneses sabían que los estadounidenses estaban en camino. Los japoneses ya habían comenzado a construir defensas contra una invasión americana, y obligaron a los chamorros a proporcionar la mano de obra para ello.


Este hombre, su padre que se acercaba a los 50 años y sus hermanos fueron obligados a cavar bokkongngo' (cuevas) donde los soldados japoneses podrían esconderse. Los estadounidenses comenzaron a bombardear la isla, y un día, mientras él y su familia estaban cavando, estalló un ataque aéreo americano. La familia salió corriendo por su seguridad.


Al reagruparse, la familia deambuló por haber perdido su dirección y encontrarse desorientada. Se toparon con una compañía de tropas japonesas. Un intérprete chamorro de Saipán estaba con ellos. El intérprete les dijo que se fueran, que no se les permitía acercarse allí.


Se fueron, pero se perdieron de nuevo. Para su sorpresa, terminaron en la misma compañía de tropas japonesas. La expresión de esos rostros japoneses los puso nerviosos. Los japoneses no estaban contentos de ver acercarse a los mismos hombres chamorros.


El intérprete de Saipán también estaba muy enojado. " Adda' ti hu sangåne hamyo para en retira hamyo? Ti man ma petmite hamyo guine mågi ." "¿No te dije que te mantuvieras alejado? No tienes permiso aquí."


El hombre explicó que había sido accidental. No conocían bien el área y solo estaban allí por orden japonesa para cavar cuevas.


El intérprete les creyó y se lo explicó a los furiosos soldados japoneses, quienes también aceptaron la explicación. El intérprete de Saipán les dijo: " Siña hu na' fanoka hamyo. * Lao fan hånao !" "Podría meterte a los hombres en problemas. Pero vete". Y les dio indicaciones a dónde ir, y efectivamente la familia no cometió el mismo error.


El hombre me dijo: "Creo que pensaron que los estábamos espiando. Pero el intérprete de Saipán nos creyó".


Éste es un caso, entre muchos, donde probablemente fue mejor para el chamorro de Guam que un intérprete de Saipán estuviera allí para intervenir, en lugar de que esta familia chamorra se enfrentara por su cuenta a los agitados soldados japoneses.


* Algunos pueden no reconocer la expresión chamorra. Toka es lo que le decimos a alguien en problemas por hacer algo mal. "Siña hu na' toka hao" significa "puedo meterte en problemas." El plural sería "Siña hu na' fanoka hamyo."



DOS NA MAITE'

Monday, June 29, 2020


Ask anyone pretty much on Guam where Maite' is and they will tell you.

It's part of the Mongmong-Toto-Maite municipality and it's along the cliff overlooking East Agaña and Agaña Bay.

But very few people know that there is a second place on Guam also called Maite'. It's part of Inalåhan and many of the younger people of Inalåhan aren't aware of it either. They'd be surprised, frankly, that the area has its own name. Isn't that just Inalåhan? I mean it's literally across the street from Inalåhan church!

But remember that 100 years ago most people walked to where they wanted to go. Not only were there few automobiles, not everyone had a bull cart either. Our great grandparents were used to walking to where they needed to go, which is why you almost never see an obese person in photos of Chamorros long before the war.

When you drive nowadays from A to B, you can be there in 5 minutes. To walk it would take you half an hour. When driving the distance, you hardly notice the things you pass by. When you walk it, every ten minutes, with its somewhat different landscape, seems like a new place. Now we can understand why in the old days every thousand feet had a new place name.

Maite' in Inalåhan is to the east of the church. Before the war, the church was pretty much the end of the village. There were just a few homes beyond the church. That area is called Maite'.




Here's a closer look. And notice there is a street in Maite' called Maite' Street.




Here is old map from 1913 that indicates Maite' in Inalåhan :




So, from now on, when someone asks you to go to Maite', you can ask back, "Which one?"


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


DOS MAITES


Preguntémosle a cualquiera en Guam dónde está Maite y nos lo dirán. Es parte del municipio de Mongmong-Toto-Maite y está a lo largo del acantilado que domina el este de Agaña y su bahía.


Pero muy pocas personas saben que hay un segundo lugar en Guam también llamado Maite. Es parte de Inaraján y muchas de las personas más jóvenes de Inaraján tampoco lo conocen. Se sorprenderían, francamente, de que ese lugar tiene su propio nombre. ¿No es eso también Inaraján? ¡Quiero decir que está, literalmente, al otro lado de la calle de la iglesia de Inaraján!


Pero recordemos que hace 100 años la mayoría de las personas caminaban hacia donde querían ir. No solo había pocos automóviles, tampoco todos tenían un carro de bueyes. Nuestros bisabuelos estaban acostumbrados a caminar, por eso casi nunca se ve a una persona obesa en fotos de chamorros, antes de la guerra. Cuando hoy en día se conduce de A a B, podemos estar allí en 5 minutos. Caminar nos llevaría media hora. Cuando conducimos en una distancia, apenas notamos las cosas por las que pasamos. Cuando caminamos, cada diez minutos, con su paisaje diferente, parece un lugar nuevo.


Ahora podemos entender por qué en los viejos tiempos cada 300 metros teníamos un nuevo nombre de lugar. Maite en Inaraján está al este de la iglesia. Antes de la guerra, la iglesia era prácticamente el final del pueblo. Solo había unas pocas casas más allá de la iglesia. Ese lugar se llamaba y llama Maite.


En las fotos aéreas hay una visión más aproximada. Y notemos que hay una calle en Maite con el mismo nombre. También un viejo mapa de 1913 que indica Maite en Inaraján. Entonces, de ahora en adelante, cuando alguien nos pida que vayamos a Maite, puedes volver a preguntar: "¿A cuál Maite?"


RITA DÍAZ SABLAN

Friday, June 26, 2020

RITA DÍAZ SABLAN IN 1934


In 1934, the French artist Paul Jacoulet sketched a young woman in Saipan by the name of Rita Díaz Sablan. The sketch then became a color portrait using the Japanese woodblock print method called ukiyo-e . Jacoulet's work has become popular in the last few decades and his prints, being limited in number, fetch a good price in the art market today.

As Saipan was not under American control till after the war, the Chamorros in Saipan still used the Spanish naming system in 1934, so she is identified as Rita Sablan Díaz in the portrait, her paternal surname coming first.

For some unknown reason, she is also identified as a young single lady (mademoiselle) from Guam, though in truth she was born and lived her whole life in Saipan, though her father was born in Guam.

Because Jacoulet identified her using her complete name, we know who she was. Rita was the daughter of Gregorio Sablan, better known as Ton Gregorio'n Kilili'. Gregorio was born on Guam but moved as a child to Saipan with his mother and siblings around 1899. Gregorio was a community leader, one of the lay pillars of the church in Saipan and first "mayor" of Saipan after the war. The US military still ruled Saipan so Gregorio was not a mayor in the full sense, but he was the link between the US military and the civilian community.

Rita's mother was Joaquina Torres Díaz, the daughter of Vicente Flores Díaz, a merchant and businessman born on Guam but who settled in Saipan. Vicente married a Saipan-born Chamorro lady, Rita Atoigue Torres. So the Rita in the portrait was named after her grandmother.



JACOULET

Jacoulet had been born in France but moved to Japan as a child where his father had work. He would spend the rest of his life in Japan, until his death in 1960.

As all of Micronesia, except Guam, was under the Japanese government, Jacoulet found it easy to travel to various islands in Micronesia, including the Marianas. He traveled beyond Micronesia as well, and always did portraits of people, especially clad in traditional attire. He did quite a number of portraits in the Marianas, both Chamorro and Carolinian. All the Chamorro women Jacoulet sketched, including Rita, are dressed in the mestisa , with its distinctive fiber blouse ideal for the hot tropical weather.




Here is Rita some 50 years later. She passed away in 1990. She had been married to Luís Camacho Tenorio since 1939.

I wonder if Rita ever saw her portrait. And, if she did, what did she think of being the subject of a French painter's art?

Rest in peace. Deskånsa gi minahgong .


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

RITA DÍAZ SABLAN


En 1934, el artista francés Paul Jacoulet pintó a una joven de Saipán cuyo nombre era Rita Díaz Sablan. El boceto se convirtió en un retrato en color usando el método japonés de impresión en madera llamado ukiyo - e . El trabajo de Jacoulet se ha vuelto popular en las últimas décadas y sus impresiones, que son limitadas en número, alcanzan un buen precio en el mercado de arte actual.


Como Saipán no llegó a estar bajo control estadounidense hasta después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, los chamorros de Saipán todavía usaban en 1934 el sistema español de apellidos, por lo que la joven se identifica en el retrato como Rita Sablan Díaz, su apellido paterno es el primero.


Por alguna razón desconocida, también se la identifica como una muchacha soltera (señorita) de Guam, sin embargo había nacido y pasado toda su vida en Saipán, aunque su padre naciera en Guam.


Debido a que Jacoulet la identificó con su nombre completo, sabemos quién era esta joven. Rita era la hija de Gregorio Sablan, más conocido como Ton Gregorio'n Kilili '. Gregorio nació en Guam pero se mudó de niño a Saipán con su madre y sus hermanos, alrededor de 1899. Gregorio era un líder comunitario, uno de los pilares laicos de la iglesia en Saipán y primer "alcalde" de la isla después de la Guerra. El ejército de los Estados Unidos todavía gobernaba Saipán, por lo que Gregorio no era un alcalde en el sentido completo, pero sí era el vínculo entre el ejército de los Estados Unidos y la comunidad civil.


La madre de Rita era Joaquina Torres Díaz, hija de Vicente Flores Díaz, un comerciante y empresario nacido en Guam pero que se estableció en Saipán. Vicente se casó con una chamorra nacida en Saipán, Rita Atoigue Torres. Así que la Rita del retrato lleva el nombre de su abuela.


Jacoulet había nacido en Francia, pero se mudó a Japón cuando era niño, donde su padre tenía trabajo. Pasaría el resto de su vida en Japón, hasta su muerte en 1960.


Como toda Micronesia, excepto Guam, estaba bajo el dominio japonés, a Jacoulet le resultó fácil viajar a varias islas de la región, incluidas las Marianas. También viajó más allá, y siempre hizo retratos de personas, especialmente vestidas con atuendos tradicionales. Hizo bastantes retratos en las Marianas, tanto de chamorros como de carolinos. Todas las mujeres chamorras esbozadas por Jacoulet, incluida Rita, están vestidas con la “ mestisa ”, con su distintiva blusa de fibra, ideal para el clima tropical cálido.


En la foto vemos a Rita unos 50 años después. Falleció en 1990. Se había casado con Luís Camacho Tenorio en 1939.


Me pregunto si Rita alguna vez vio su retrato. Y, si lo hizo, ¿qué pensaría de ser la modelo de un pintor francés?


Descanse en paz.

ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO : RED CROSS BUILDING

Monday, June 22, 2020


The place has changed so much you would think, looking at these two photos, that they weren't the same place.

But underneath all that modern renovation (which is now itself in need of repair) is the original structure you see on the left. The old building was not entirely destroyed to build a new one. The exterior of the old was so renovated that the old is no longer recognizable.

It is a prewar structure, and thus of some importance, since 95% of prewar Hagåtña no longer exists thanks to American bombardment in 1944. The Americans felt that Japanese were so entrenched on Guam that they had to bomb the island to oblivion in order to weaken Japanese resistance. Major historic buildings in Hagåtña, not to mention people's homes, were the casualty. The capital city has not been the same since.


IT WAS GUAM'S RED CROSS OFFICE


Guam Chapter of the American Red Cross


The Red Cross began on Guam in 1915 according to an official of the Guam chapter writing in 1937. The file on this building at the Historic Preservation Office of the Department of Parks and Recreation says it was built in 1911. If that is accurate, then the structure was built for something other than a Red Cross office. But, in time, this became the office for that organization.

American bombs missed this little structure so it remained standing even though everything else around it lay in ruins and was eventually bulldozed. Once the military cleaned up Hagåtña, they spruced up the Red Cross building and in time the Red Cross was back in action in it.



THE LITTLE RED CROSS BUILDING SURVIVED


In 1969, the Red Cross moved to its new building near the courthouse. The old building was touched up and then housed the Public Defender and the Civil Service Commission. It became the Hagåtña Mayor's Office for a while and during that period it was renovated as you now see it. But when the Hagåtña mayor moved his office to its present location, the old Red Cross building was vacated and remains unoccupied to this day.



TODAY'S RED CROSS BUILDING
Next to the Court House since 1969


GO TO THE REAR

When the old Red Cross Building was renovated some 20 or more years ago, they put a wall up in front of the side of the building exposed to the public parking. This wall, its windows and doors, gave the outside a modern look.

But the rear of the building was not seen by the public because it came right up against the Academy cafeteria. In fact, the Academy's dumpsters are right next to the Red Cross Building. It's not very sightly, but at least on this rear side you can see the original structure.



THE BACK OF THE BUILDING



YOU CAN SEE THE ORIGINAL COLUMNS



THE PITCHED ROOF REFLECTS THE ORIGINAL




The building is so small many people may not recall where it is



VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


ANTES Y AHORA: EL EDIFICIO DE LA CRUZ ROJA


Mirando esas dos fotos de arriba, el lugar ha cambiado tanto que uno podría pensar que no son el mismo sitio.


Pero debajo de toda esa renovación moderna (que ahora necesita reparación) está la estructura original que vemos a la izquierda. El antiguo edificio no fue completamente destruido para construir el nuevo. El exterior del viejo fue tan renovado que ya no es reconocible.


Es una estructura anterior a la guerra, y por lo tanto de cierta importancia, ya que el 95% de la ciudad de Agaña anterior a la guerra ya no existe debido al bombardeo estadounidense de 1944. Los estadounidenses sintieron que los japoneses estaban tan atrincherados en Guam que tendrían que bombardear la isla para poder debilitar su resistencia. Los principales edificios históricos en Agaña, sin mencionar los hogares de las personas, fueron víctimas. La ciudad no ha sido la misma desde entonces.


La Cruz Roja comenzó en Guam en 1915 según un funcionario de la Sección de Guam que lo dejó por escrito en 1937. El archivo de este edificio que se encuentra en la Oficina de Preservación Histórica del Departamento de Parques y Recreación dice que fue construido en 1911. Si eso es correcto, entonces la estructura fue construida antes para algo más que para una oficina de la Cruz Roja. Pero, con el tiempo, se convirtió en la oficina de esa organización.


Las bombas estadounidenses fallaron con esta pequeña estructura, por lo que permaneció en pie a pesar de que todo lo demás a su alrededor quedó en ruinas y finalmente arrasado. Una vez que los militares limpiaron Agaña, arreglaron el edificio de la Cruz Roja y con el tiempo la organización recobró su actividad.


En 1969, la Cruz Roja se mudó a su nuevo edificio cerca del Palacio de Justicia. El viejo edificio fue retocado y albergó al Defensor Público y Comisión de Servicio Civil. Se convirtió en la oficina del alcalde de Agaña por un tiempo y durante ese período fue renovado como lo vemos ahora. Pero cuando el alcalde de Agaña trasladó su oficina a su ubicación actual, el antiguo edificio de la Cruz Roja quedó vacante y sigue sin estar ocupado hasta el día de hoy.



Cuando el antiguo edificio de la Cruz Roja fue renovado hace unos 20 años, levantaron una pared pegada al lado del edificio expuesto al estacionamiento público. Este muro, sus ventanas y puertas, le dieron al exterior un aspecto moderno.


Pero la parte trasera del edificio no estaba a la vista porque estaba pegada a la cafetería de la Academia. De hecho, los contenedores de la Academia están justo al lado del edificio de la Cruz Roja. No es muy visible, pero al menos en esta parte trasera se puede ver la estructura original.

WHEN MAMES MARRIED MALAET

Friday, June 19, 2020


Our Chamorro family nicknames can often be humorous in and of themselves. Just ask any member of the Makaka ' (Itchy) family, or the Pina'lek (Heartburn) family or the Båchet (Blind) family.

But sometimes it's when two different families combine that the nicknames become more interesting!

As did happen when Juan Torres Paulino married María Concepción San Nicolás.

Juan was better known as Juan Mames (Sweet).

María, on her mother's side, was from the familian Malaet (Bitter).

Juan's nickname appears even in his funeral announcement.





Many of the Concepcións of Guam are familian Malaet .






Our mañaina were great teasers and many times that's how someone acquired their nickname, and it was passed on to their children and grandchildren down to our day.

May Ton Juan Mames and Tan Maria'n Malaet rest in peace.



VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


CUANDO MAMES SE CASÓ CON MALAET


A menudo, los apodos de nuestras familias chamorras pueden ser en sí mismo, humorísticos. Preguntémosle a cualquier miembro de la familia Makaka' (picazón), o la familia Pina'lek (acidez estomacal) o la familia Båchet (ciego).


Pero a veces cuando se combinan dos familias diferentes, ¡los apodos se vuelven más interesantes!


Como sucedió cuando Juan Torres Paulino se casó con María Concepción San Nicolás.


Juan era más conocido como Juan Mames (Dulce).


María, por parte de su madre, era de la familia Malaet (Amargo).


El apodo de Juan aparece incluso en el anuncio de su funeral.


Muchos de los Concepción de Guam pertenecen a la familia Malaet.


Nuestros ancianos eran grandes bromistas y muchas veces así era como alguien adquiría su apodo, y se lo transmitía a sus hijos y nietos hasta nuestros días.


Que Ton Juan Mames y Tan Maria'n Malaet descansen en paz.




KAMPÅNAN YOÑA

Monday, June 15, 2020

YOÑA CHURCH'S PREWAR BELL
Bullet or shrapnel hole, top left


In the konbento (rectory) of Saint Francis parish in Yoña sits a bell with a bullet hole in it.

That bullet hole was shot from an American plane, flying around Yoña in 1944 looking for Japanese ground troops.

Several chapels, starting with walls of wood and thatched roofing, were built in Yoña in the 1910s up to the 1930s as the ranching population there grew. Priests from Hagåtña would drive there a few times each month to say Mass. The village did not have a resident priest nor fully-functioning parish till after the war when the population swelled with people from Hagåtña who moved there, as the capital city was so ruined that the original residents couldn't return to their homes.

The last church built in Yoña before the war was made of concrete. A statue of Saint Francis was made by Father Marcian Pellett, OFM Cap and put in a niche above the main door. Above that was a small espadaña (a Spanish term meaning a vertical extension on a roof where bells can be hung) and this bell was placed there.





You can see the bell is still hanging in the espadaña in the small chapel.




A close up of the façade of the chapel, with bullet holes very visible.




After the war, a new and much larger church was built so the little chapel became a konbento , or priest's residence and office. No bell, therefore, was needed and it was taken down from the espadaña .

After Typhoon Paka (1997) destroyed the konbento , it was bulldozed and a modern rectory was built in the same exact location in 1999.



THE YOÑA RECTORY TODAY
This is the same spot, the same walkway even, where Yoña's prewar church once stood.


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


LA CAMPANA DE YOÑA


En el “konbento” o rectoría de la parroquia de San Francisco de Yoña encontramos una campana agujereada por una bala.


Esa bala fue disparada desde un avión estadounidense, que volaba alrededor de Yoña en 1944 buscando tropas de tierra japonesas.


Varias capillas, en un principio con paredes de madera y techos de paja, se construyeron en Yoña en la década de 1910 hasta la década de 1930, a medida que la población aumentaba. Los sacerdotes de Agaña se acercaban allí varias veces al mes para celebrar misa. La aldea no tuvo un sacerdote residente ni una parroquia en pleno funcionamiento hasta después de la guerra, cuando la población creció con gente llegada de Agaña que se mudó allí, ya que la ciudad capital resultó tan destruida que los residentes originarios no pudieron regresar a sus hogares.


La última iglesia construida en Yoña antes de la guerra fue de hormigón. Una estatua de San Francisco fue hecha por el padre Marcian Pellett, OFM Cap y colocada en un nicho encima de la puerta principal. Encima había una pequeña espadaña (un término español que significa una extensión vertical en un techo donde se pueden colgar campanas) y esta campana se colocó allí.


Después de la guerra, se construyó una iglesia nueva y mucho más grande para que la pequeña capilla se convirtiera en un “konbento”, o residencia oficina del sacerdote. No se necesitaba, por lo tanto, la campana y fue retirada de la espadaña.


Después de que el Tifón Paka (1997) destruyera el “konbento”, éste quedó arrasado y se construyó una rectoría moderna exactamente en el mismo lugar en el año 1999.


TON LUIS DECHI

Friday, June 12, 2020


Luís Pangelinan Garrido was born in 1900, the son of Ignacio de León Garrido and Magdalena Dueñas Pangelinan. He was known as Ton Luis Dechi.

Though born in Hagåtña, his work, and often his residence, put him Sumay, where the cable company for which he worked was located. It was his exposure to worldwide communication, thanks to the underwater cables that connected Guam with the rest of the world, that got him interested in that field.



GUAM CONNECTED TO CABLE COMMUNICATIONS IN THE EARLY 1900s


As radio technology progressed, communication all over the globe could happen through radio waves. A Navy officer gave Garrido and a friend a receiver and the two men built their own transmitter. Once all was in place, Garrido could communicate by radio to the rest of the world. A certain frequency was assigned to amateur operators who communicated for purely personal, and not commercial, reasons. "Ham radio" is the usual term for it.

But there were difficulties. Guam being under the US Navy, there were security concerns for the military. The Federal Communications Commission didn't want to give Garrido a license to operate, because natives of Guam were not US citizens.



A MESSAGE FROM GARRIDO IN 1934


When the Japanese occupied Guam in December of 1941, the Japanese learned that Garrido was a "radio man." Fearing Garrido's ability to communicate with the enemy overseas, they arrested Garrido and kept him locked up for over a week then let him go. But the message was clear. Garrido had better behave and not give the Japanese a reason to arrest him again.

After the war, Garrido resumed his ham radio hobby. In time he had made contact with other ham operators all over the world, including the Soviet Union.

It wasn't just all for fun, either. Sometimes Garrido was the only way communication could be achieved during an emergency.

There was a time when Midway lost communication with the world during a typhoon. Because Hawaii was close enough to Midway for the bad weather to disrupt radio communication, California was able to reach Garrido on Guam and Garrido then acted as go-between for Hawaii and Midway ham operators exchanging needed information.

When the Northern Marianas or boats in distress around Guam waters needed messages to be heard, Garrido was there.

Garrido passed away in 1978. He was married to the former María Toves, an island educator. He served in the Guam Assembly and, after the war, on the Alcoholic Beverages Control Board. He was most proud of being a member of the Third Order of Saint Francis and the Young Men's League of Guam. RIP



TON LUÍS AT HIS HAM RADIO


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


TON LUIS DECHI


Luís Pangelinan Garrido nació en el año 1900, hijo de Ignacio de León Garrido y Magdalena Dueñas Pangelinan. Era conocido como Ton Luis Dechi. "Ton" quiere decir "Don." El nombre "Dechi" fue apodo.


Aunque nació en Agaña, su trabajo, y a menudo su residencia, lo ubicaron en Sumay, donde se encontraba la compañía de cable para la que trabajaba. Fue el hecho de estar expuesto a la comunicación internacional, gracias a los cables submarinos que conectaban a Guam con el resto del mundo, lo que lo interesó en ese campo.


GUAM CONECTADO A LAS COMUNICACIONES POR CABLE EN LA DÉCADA DE 1900


A medida que la tecnología de radio progresaba, la comunicación en todo el mundo podía realizarse a través de ondas de radio. Un oficial de la Marina le proporcionó

a Garrido y a un amigo un receptor y los dos hombres construyeron su propio transmisor. Una vez que todo estuvo en su lugar, Garrido pudo comunicarse por radio con el resto del mundo. Se les asignaba una determinada frecuencia a los operadores aficionados que se comunicaban por razones puramente personales y no comerciales. "Radioaficionado" es el término habitual para ello.


Pero hubo dificultades. Al estar Guam bajo la Marina de los EE. UU., había preocupaciones de seguridad para los militares. La Comisión Federal de Comunicaciones no quería otorgarle a Garrido una licencia para operar, porque los nativos de Guam no eran ciudadanos estadounidenses.


UN MENSAJE DE GARRIDO EN 1934


Cuando los japoneses ocuparon Guam en diciembre de 1941, supieron que Garrido era un "hombre de la radio". Temiendo la capacidad de Garrido de comunicarse con el enemigo en el extranjero, arrestaron a Garrido y lo mantuvieron encerrado durante más de una semana y luego lo liberaron. Pero el mensaje era claro. Garrido debería comportarse mejor y no dar a los japoneses una razón para arrestarlo nuevamente.


Después de la guerra, Garrido retomó su pasatiempo de radioaficionado. Con el tiempo se había puesto en contacto con otros radioaficionados de todo el mundo, incluida la Unión Soviética.


Tampoco era solo por diversión. A veces, para Garrido era la única forma en que se podía lograr la comunicación durante una emergencia.


Hubo una ocasión en que Midway perdió la comunicación con el mundo durante un tifón. Debido a que Hawai estaba lo suficientemente cerca de Midway como para que el mal tiempo interrumpiera la comunicación por radio, California pudo comunicarse con Garrido en Guam y Garrido actuó como intermediario para los operadores de Hawai y Midway que intercambiaban la información necesaria.


Cuando las Marianas del Norte o los barcos en peligro alrededor de las aguas de Guam necesitaban que sus mensajes fuesen escuchados, Garrido estaba allí.


Garrido falleció en 1978. Estaba casado con María Toves, una educadora de la isla. Sirvió en la Asamblea de Guam y, después de la guerra, en la Junta de Control de Bebidas Alcohólicas. Estaba muy orgulloso de ser miembro de la Tercera Orden de San Francisco y de la Liga de Hombres Jóvenes de Guam. D.E.P.



KÅNTA : SUNGON HA'

Monday, June 8, 2020



Saipan singer Daniel de León Guerrero did a remake, in Chamorro, of the famous Beatles' hit song, composed and written by Paul McCartney, Let it Be. In that song, the phrase "Mother Mary" is said. It actually refers to McCartney's mother, whose name was Mary, but McCartney himself said the listener can interpret it any way he or she wants, and many, including Daniel de León Guerrero, think of the Virgin Mary. Mary McCartney was Catholic, anyway, so it all works out.





LYRICS

An gof makkat i lina’lå’-ho

(When my life is very difficult)
ya ti hu hulat kumåtga kilu’os-ho

(and I am unable to carry my cross)
dumimo yo’ ya manaitai

(and kneel and pray)
as Sånta Maria un momento.

(to Blessed Mary for a moment.)

Hu faisen si Sånta Maria

(I ask Blessed Mary)
håfa na taiguine ai lina’lå’-ho.

(why is my life like this.)
Ha bira gue’ ya ha oppe yo’

(She turns and answers me)
ya ilek-ña “Sungon ha’ ai lahi-ho.”

(and says, "Just endure it, my son.")

“Sungon ha’, sungon ha’, sungon ha’ lina’lå’-mo

(Just endure your life)
sa’ guåho as Sånta Maria umadadahe hao på’go.

(because I, Blessed Mary, am protecting you now.)
Sungon ha’, sungon ha’, sungon ha’ mo’na i tiempo

(Just endure the times ahead)
sa’ guåho as Sånta Maria ai kumåkåtga kilu’os-mo.”

(because I, Blessed Mary, am carrying your cross.")

Pues annai monhåyan yo’ manaitai

(So when I am done praying)
hu saosao tengnga på’go i lago’-ho.

(I often then wipe away my tears.)
Ilek-ho as Sånta Maria,

(I say to Blessed Mary,)
“Gof makkat i tiempo.”

("The times are very hard.")

Ha oppe yo’ si Sånta Maria

(Blessed Mary answered me)
ya ilek-ña ai guihe na momento,

(and said to me at that moment,)
“Ai lokkue’ lahi-ho

(Oh dear, my son)
ai uma ha’ i kilu’os-mo.

(oh just carry your cross.)

Ya un sungon ha’, sungon ha’, sungon ha’ i lina’lå’-mo

(And just endure your life)
sa’ mientras gagaige hao gi fi’on-ho

(because while you are by my side)
guåho umadadahe hao på’go.

(I am now protecting you.)
Sungon ha’, sungon ha’, sungon ha’ lina’lå’-mo

(Just endure your life)
sa’ guåho as Sånta Maria umadadahe hao på’go.

(because I, Blessed Mary, am now protecting you.)

Sungon ha’, sungon ha’, sungon ha’ i lina’lå’-mo

(Just endure your life)
sa’ guåho as Sånta Maria umadadahe hao på’go.

(because I, Blessed Mary, am now protecting you.)
Sungon ha’, sungon ha’, ai sungon ha’ mo’na i tiempo

(Just endure the times ahead)
sa’ guåho as Sånta Maria ai kumåkåtga kilu’os-mo.

(because I, Blessed Mary, am carrying your cross.)
Sungon ha’, sungon ha’, sungon ha’ i lina’lå’-mo

(Just endure your life)
sa’ guåho as Sånta Maria ti bai hu dingu i fi’on-mo.

(because I, Blessed Mary, won't leave your side.)
Sungon ha’, sungon ha’, sungon ha’ i lina’lå’-mo.

(Just endure your life)
sa’ guåho as Sånta Maria umadadahe hao på’go.”

(because I, Blessed Mary, am now protecting you.)


A BIT OF CONTEXT

For 320 years, more or less, the Chamorro people of the Marianas have been mainly Catholic, and for a majority of those years, only Catholic, whether strong or weak. That faith has definitely made its mark on the people of those three centuries; in their thinking, feeling, speaking and doing.

I'll never forget observing a man who left Catholicism to join a Protestant church who, in conversation with someone, would say, "Sånta Maria!" every now and then. He couldn't shake that part off of his childhood roots in Catholicism.

The Blessed Mother has always been highly revered by Chamorros these past three hundred years. María had been the most widespread personal name for women for many years in the past. Almost half of Guam's churches are named for Mary : Lourdes (Yigo), Dulce Nombre (Hagåtña), Nuestra Señora de las Aguas (Mongmong), Immaculate Heart (Toto), Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje (Chalan Pago), Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament (Agaña Heights), Our Lady of the Purification (Maina), Assumption (Piti), Mt Carmel (Hågat), and Guadalupe (Santa Rita). Keep in mind that the historical patroness of the churches in Malesso' (Our Lady of the Rosary) and Inalåhan (Nuestra Señora de la Consolación) are titles of Mary. Guam is proud of its Our Lady of Camarin, Saipan has its Lourdes Grotto in As Teo and Luta has an old and historical devotion to Sainan Ina (Our Lady of the Light).

She is, above all, a mother; mother of Jesus and ours as well. When a Chamorro goes to Mary, he or she is going to his or her mother.

Part of this is shown in more than one Chamorro song, and by that I mean secular song, not a church hymn. It can sometimes be just one or two lines in the song referring to the Blessed Mother.

But Daniel de León Guerrero's song Sungon Ha ' ( Just Endure ) is entirely focused on the Blessed Mother. This is a strong example of how most Chamorros, raised in the traditional culture, see and value the Blessed Mother.


SPIRITUAL MESSAGE

The singer Daniel, through his lyrics, reveals that he has the traditional Catholic understanding of suffering in life, and the religious answer to that suffering; an understanding that became very ingrained in the Chamorro psyche, especially among the women.

God, at times, does take away pain and suffering. But, for the many times that God allows the hardship to continue, there is no other remedy than to willingly accept it ( sungon ha' ). To endure it ( sungon ) is a kind of relief, because one no longer fights against the unchangeable. It takes a lot of effort to punch a wall. But when one realizes that one is only becoming fatigued and hurting his fists, and doing no harm to the wall, then accepting the wall brings some relief.

Secondly, relief is found in the fact that God and the Blessed Mother are there along with us in the midst of hardship. They, too, share in it. As the line goes, it is the Blessed Mother carrying our cross and, in another line, she will never leave us. She is also protecting us which means, although we experience hardship, worse suffering or permanent disaster will not happen under her motherly watch. Things will, somehow, work themselves out to our advantage in the end.


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)



CANCIÓN: “SOLO AGUANTA”


Daniel de León Guerrero, cantante de Saipán, hizo una nueva versión, en chamorro, de la famosa canción de los Beatles, compuesta y escrita por Paul McCartney, Let it Be. En esa canción, aparece la frase "Madre María". En realidad, se refiere a la madre de McCartney, cuyo nombre era Mary, pero el propio McCartney dijo que el oyente puede interpretarlo de la manera que quiera, y muchos, incluido Daniel de León Guerrero, piensan en la Virgen María. De todos modos, Mary McCartney era católica, así que todo encaja.


LETRA


An gof makkat i lina’lå’-ho

(Cuando mi vida es muy difícil)

ya ti hu hulat kumåtga kilu’os-ho

(y no puedo cargar mi cruz)

dumimo yo' ya manaitai

(y me arrodillo y rezo)

as Sånta Maria un momento.

(a Santa María por un momento)

Hu faisen si Sånta Maria

(Le pregunto a Santa María)

håfa na taiguine ai lina’lå’-ho.

(¿Por qué mi vida es así?)

Ha bira gue' ya ha oppe yo'

(Ella se gira y me responde)

ya ilek-ña "Sungon ha’ ai lahi-ho ".

(y dice: "Solo aguanta, hijo mío")


"Sungon ha’, sungon ha ’, sungon ha’ lina’lå’-mo

(Solo aguanta tu vida)

sa’ guåho as Sånta Maria umadadahe hao på’go.

(porque yo, Santa María, te estoy protegiendo ahora).

Sungon ha’, sungon ha’, sungon ha’ mo’na i tiempo

(Solo aguanta los tiempos por venir)

sa’ guåho as Sånta Maria ai kumåkåtga kilu’os-mo".

(porque yo, Santa María, estoy cargando tu cruz ")


Pues annai monhåyan yo' manaitai

(Entonces cuando termino de orar)

hu saosao tengnga på’go i lago’-ho.

(A menudo me limpio las lágrimas).

Ilek-ho as Sånta Maria,

(Le digo a Santa María)

"Gof makkat i tiempo".

("Los tiempos son muy difíciles")


Ha oppe yo’ si Sånta Maria

(Santa María me respondió)

ya ilek-ña ai guihe na momento,

(y me dijo en ese momento)

"Ai lokkue' lahi-ho

(Oh querido, hijo mío)

ai uma ha’ i kilu’os-mo.

(oh, solo lleva tu cruz)

Ya un sungon ha’, sungon ha’, sungon ha’ i lina’lå’-mo

(Y solo aguanta tu vida)

sa’ mientras gagaige hao gi fi’on-ho

(porque mientras estás a mi lado)

guåho umadadahe hao på’go.

(Ahora te estoy protegiendo).

Sungon ha’, sungon ha’, sungon ha’ lina’lå’-mo

(Solo aguanta tu vida)

sa’ guåho as Sånta Maria umadadahe hao på’go.

(porque yo, Santa María, ahora te estoy protegiendo).


Sungon ha’, sungon ha’, sungon ha’i lina’lå’-mo

(Solo aguanta tu vida)

sa’ guåho as Sånta Maria umadadahe hao på’go.

(porque yo, Santa María, ahora te estoy protegiendo).

Sungon ha’, sungon ha’, ai sungon ha ’mo’na i tiempo

(Solo aguanta los tiempos por venir)

sa’ guåho as Sånta Maria ai kumåkåtga kilu’os-mo.

(porque yo, Santa María, estoy cargando tu cruz).

Sungon ha’, sungon ha’, sungon ha ’i lina’lå’-mo

(Solo aguanta tu vida)

sa’ guåho as Sånta Maria ti bai hu dingu i fi’on-mo.

(porque yo, Santa María, no me iré de tu lado).

Sungon ha’, sungon ha’, sungon ha’i lina’lå’-mo.

(Solo aguanta tu vida)

sa’ guåho as Sånta Maria umadadahe hao på’go".


CONTEXTO


Durante aproximadamente 320 años, el pueblo chamorro de las Islas Marianas ha sido principalmente católico, y durante la mayor parte de esos años, con mayor o menor intensidad, solo católico. Esa fe definitivamente ha dejado su huella en la gente de esos tres siglos; en su pensar, sentir, hablar y hacer.


Nunca olvidaré a un hombre que abandonó el catolicismo para unirse a una iglesia protestante que, en una conversación con alguien, decía de vez en cuando: "¡Sånta Maria!". No podía eliminar esa parte de sus raíces de la infancia en el catolicismo.


La Santísima Madre siempre ha sido muy venerada por los chamorros en los últimos trescientos años. María fue el nombre más extendido para las mujeres durante muchos años en el pasado. Casi la mitad de las iglesias de Guam llevan el nombre de María: Lourdes (Yigo), Dulce Nombre (Hagåtña), Nuestra Señora de las Aguas (Mongmong), Inmaculado Corazón (Toto), Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje (Chalan Pago), Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Sacramento (Altos de Agaña), Nuestra Señora de la Purificación (Maina), Asunción (Piti), Monte Carmelo (Hågat) y Guadalupe (Santa Rita). Tengamos en cuenta que la patrona histórica de las iglesias en Malesso '(Nuestra Señora del Rosario) e Inalåhan (Nuestra Señora de la Consolación) son títulos de María. En Guam estamos orgullosos de Nuestra Señora del Camarín, Saipán tiene su Gruta de Lourdes en As Teo y Rota tiene una antigua e histórica devoción a Sainan Ina (Nuestra Señora de la Luz).


Ella es, sobre todo, una madre; madre de Jesús y la nuestra también. Cuando un chamorro va con María, va con su madre.


Parte de esto se muestra en más de una canción chamorra, y con eso quiero decir una canción mundana, no un himno religioso de la iglesia. A veces pueden ser solo una o dos líneas en la canción que se refieren a la Santísima Madre.


Pero la canción de Daniel de León Guerrero, Sungon Ha (Solo Aguanta) está completamente enfocada en la Madre Bendita. Éste es un claro ejemplo de cómo la mayoría de los chamorros, criados en la cultura tradicional, ven y valoran a la Santísima Madre.


MENSAJE ESPIRITUAL


El cantante Daniel, a través de sus letras, revela que tiene la comprensión tradicional católica del sufrimiento en la vida, y la respuesta religiosa a ese sufrimiento; un entendimiento que se arraigó mucho en la psique de los chamorros, especialmente entre las mujeres.


Dios, a veces, quita el dolor y el sufrimiento. Pero, muchas veces que Dios permite que continúen las dificultades, no hay otro remedio que aceptarlas voluntariamente (sungon ha'). Soportarlo (sungon) es una especie de alivio, porque ya no se lucha contra lo inmutable. Se necesita mucho esfuerzo para golpear una pared. Pero cuando uno se da cuenta de que solo se está fatigando y lastimando sus puños, y no está haciendo daño a la pared, entonces aceptar la pared trae un poco de alivio.


En segundo lugar, el alivio se encuentra en el hecho de que Dios y la Santísima Madre están allí junto con nosotros en medio de las dificultades. Ellos también lo comparten. A medida que avanza la línea, es la Santísima Madre la que lleva nuestra cruz y, por otro lado, ella nunca nos abandonará. Ella también nos está protegiendo, lo que significa que, aunque experimentemos dificultades, no padeceremos un peor sufrimiento o un desastre permanente bajo su vigilancia materna. Las cosas al final, de alguna manera, se resolverán a nuestro favor.




EXPRESSIONS : HUMÅGONG PULONNON

Friday, June 5, 2020


HUMÅGONG PULONNON

"Trigger Fish Breathing"




The pulonnon is the trigger fish, of which there are nearly a dozen varieties.

Fishermen say when the pulonnon first comes out of the water when it is just caught, it breathes very deeply as it struggles to live, though naturally it soon dies.

So the expression came about, when a person is breathing deeply because they are having difficulty breathing, that they are breathing like the pulonnon .

"Atan ha' sa' humågong pulolonnon si tåtan biho!"

"Look because grandpa is breathing like the pulonnon !"

You won't learn these Chamorro ways of thinking and speaking from classes or books. Language is best learned from the people who speak it naturally.



CATCHING PULONNON IN SAIPAN


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

EXPRESIONES: HUMÅGONG PULONNON.


El pulonnon es el pez gatillo, del cual existen casi una docena de variedades.


Los pescadores comentan que cuando el pulonnon es capturado y sale del agua por primera vez, respira profundamente mientras lucha por vivir, aunque naturalmente muere pronto.


Entonces, la expresión “humågong pulonnon” surge, cuando una persona respira profundamente porque tiene dificultad para hacerlo, se dice que respira como el pulonnon .


"Atan ha 'sa' humågong pulolonnon si tåtan biho!"


"¡Da un vistazo, porque el abuelo respira como el pulonnon!"


No aprenderemos estas formas chamorras de pensar y hablar en clases o libros. El idioma se aprende mejor de las personas que lo hablan con naturalidad.


FROM SUMAY TO WESTCHESTER

Monday, June 1, 2020


Westchester County in New York is one of the state's most envied addresses.

While every economic class of people live in the county, it has the second highest median income in the state and the highest property taxes as well. The county has a lot of woods and lakes yet it is close enough to New York City for wealthy doctors and lawyers to reside there and still practice in Manhattan.

In the 1930s, a young man from Sumay lived there, in one of the prestigious parts of Westchester County - the town of Croton-on-Hudson.



CROTON-ON-HUDSON, NEW YORK


In 1930, a big shot lawyer named Robert H. Elder, and his wife Bertha, lived in Croton-on-Hudson and hired a man from Sumay as their cook.

His name was José Concepción Baleto. Baleto was born in either 1896 (death certificate) or 1897 (draft card), the son of Vicente Dueñas Baleto and María Santos Concepción.

Baleto was still on Guam for the 1920 Census but in 1930 he appeared in both the Guam and the New York censuses! He couldn't very well be in both places at the same time, so it seems his family in Sumay told the census taker in 1930 that he was still considered part of their household.

But, in fact, Baleto was in New York, working as cook for Mr. and Mrs. Elder, who had no children. Elder had a penchant for hiring cooks from overseas. Before Baleto, Elder had a Japanese cook who had just come to the US.

How did Baleto leave Guam in the 1920s? If he joined the US Navy, I have found no records to indicate that. Few Chamorros from Guam joined the US Navy that early; the big recruitments came later in the last half of the 1930s. Still, people are resourceful, and a Chamorro man here and there managed to find a way to leave island even when it was difficult to do so for most. Perhaps someone in the family knows.

In any event, Baleto ended up in New York of all places, while most other Chamorros ended up in tropical Hawaii or the West Coast. Instead, this Sumay native became cook to a high-powered East Coast lawyer.



ROBERT H. ELDER

Elder was no ordinary lawyer. He had been assistant District Attorney for Brooklyn, New York. In private practice, Elder had some high profile cases. Politically engaged, he was a liberal Democrat, advocating women's rights, labor union causes and even defending socialists and communists.

In 1939, Mrs. Elder passed away and in the 1940 Census, Baleto was no longer working for Elder. Instead, he had taken up residence with a family in the Bronx and worked for J. Durst, a real estate development company, with offices on 5th Avenue in Manhattan.

Baleto died in 1947 at Fordham Hospital, in the Bronx, due to bronchial complications. He was buried at Ferncliff Cemetery in Westchester County. As far as I know, he never had any children.

I wonder if Baleto ever made chicken kelaguen for Mr. Elder?


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


El condado de Westchester en Nueva York es uno de los lugares residenciales más envidiados del estado.


Si bien es cierto que todo tipo de personas residen aquí, sin embargo goza del segundo ingreso medio más alto del estado y también sufre los impuestos a la propiedad más elevados. El condado tiene muchos bosques y lagos, pero está lo suficientemente cerca de la ciudad de Nueva York como para que los médicos y abogados adinerados residan allí y trabajen en Manhattan.


En la década de 1930, un joven de Sumay vivió allí, en una de las zonas más prestigiosas del condado de Westchester: la ciudad de Croton-on-Hudson.


En 1930, un gran abogado llamado Robert H. Elder, y su esposa Bertha, vivían en Croton-on-Hudson y contrataron a un hombre de Sumay como cocinero.


Se llamaba José Concepción Baleto. Baleto nació en 1896 (según el certificado de defunción) o 1897 (según su cartilla militar), hijo de Vicente Dueñas Baleto y María Santos Concepción.


Baleto todavía estaba en Guam para el Censo de 1920, ¡pero en 1930 apareció en los censos de Guam y Nueva York! No podía estar en ambos lugares al mismo tiempo, por lo que parece que su familia en Sumay le dijo al censor en 1930 que todavía se lo consideraba parte del hogar.


Pero, de hecho, Baleto estaba en Nueva York, trabajando como cocinero para el Señor y la Señora Elder, que no tenían hijos. El Sr. Elder tenía una inclinación por contratar cocineros del extranjero. Antes de Baleto, Elder tuvo un cocinero japonés que acababa de llegar a los Estados Unidos.


¿Cómo salió Baleto de Guam en la década de 1920? Si se unió a la Marina de los Estados Unidos, no he encontrado registros que lo indiquen. Pocos chamorros de Guam se unieron a la Armada de los Estados Unidos en época tan temprana; Los grandes reclutamientos de chamorros llegaron más tarde en la última mitad de la década de 1930. Aún así, las personas son ingeniosas, y este hombre chamorro logró encontrar una manera de salir de la isla, incluso cuando era difícil para la mayoría. Quizás alguien de la familia lo sepa.


En cualquier caso, Baleto terminó en Nueva York , mientras que la mayoría de los chamorros terminaban en el tropical Hawai o en la costa oeste de EE.UU. En cambio, este nativo de Sumay se convirtió en el cocinero de un abogado de alto poder, de la costa este.



Elder no era un abogado ordinario. Había sido asistente del fiscal de distrito de Brooklyn, Nueva York. En la práctica privada, Elder llevó algunos casos de alto rango. Políticamente comprometido, era un demócrata liberal, defendía los derechos de las mujeres, las causas sindicales e incluso defendía a los socialistas y comunistas.


En 1939, la Sra. Elder falleció y en el Censo de 1940, Baleto ya no trabajaba para la familia. En cambio, se había establecido con otra gente en el Bronx y trabajaba para J. Durst, una empresa de desarrollo inmobiliario, con oficinas en la Quinta Avenida en Manhattan.


Baleto murió en 1947 en el Hospital Fordham, en el Bronx, debido a complicaciones bronquiales. Fue enterrado en el cementerio de Ferncliff en el condado de Westchester. Que yo sepa, él nunca tuvo hijos.


Me pregunto si Baleto alguna vez hizo kelaguen (ceviche) de pollo para el Sr. Elder.



NOTHING NU

Friday, May 29, 2020


Sometimes the words just don't come out right away.

We need to pause and think about what to say next. For some reason, we still want sound while we pause to think, rather than have silence. So we say something that means nothing in itself, till we think of what to say next.

This is called a filler.

In English, we say UMMMMM.

In other languages people say EMMM, EHHHH, EUUUU, AAAAH.

Japanese tend to say ANO and many Spanish speakers say ESTE......drawing out the last syllable for as long as they need time to think.

In Chamorro we say NU.

If we really need more time, we say NUUUUUU.

Listen to this lady telling a joke, and saying NU when she needed to pause and think of the next line in the joke.




This is such a part of our Chamorro way of speaking that many Chamorros say it even when they speak English, which sometimes confuses non-Chamorro speakers.

"Hey, nu, what time do we, nu, go to the store?"

And the statesider looks confused and asks, "New? What new?"



VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


NADA DE NU(EVO)


A veces las palabras simplemente no salen de inmediato.


Necesitamos hacer una pausa y pensar qué decir a continuación. Por alguna razón, todavía queremos emitir un sonido mientras hacemos una pausa para pensar, en lugar de quedarnos en silencio. Entonces decimos algo que no significa nada en sí mismo, hasta que pensamos qué decir a continuación.


Esto se llama relleno.


En inglés, decimos UMMMMM.


En otros idiomas la gente dice EMMM, EHHHH, EUUUU, AAAAH.


Los japoneses tienden a decir ANO y muchos hispanohablantes dicen ESTE... alargando la última sílaba por el tiempo que necesiten para pensar.


En chamorro decimos NU.


Si realmente necesitamos más tiempo, decimos NUUUUUU.


Escuchemos a esta señora contar un chiste y decir NU cuando necesitaba detenerse y pensar en la siguiente línea del chiste.


Ésta es una parte tan importante de nuestra forma de hablar chamorro que muchos chamorros lo dicen incluso cuando hablan inglés, lo que a veces confunde a quienes no hablan chamorro, porque la palabra chamorra “nu” corresponde a la palabra inglesa “new,” es decir “nuevo.”


"Hey, nu, ¿a qué hora vamos, nu, a la tienda?"


Y la otra persona parece confundida y pregunta: "¿Nuevo? ¿Qué hay de nuevo?"



COWS FOR WOOD

Monday, May 25, 2020


As an example of how Chamorro economics before the war wasn't always cash-based, we have the case of a man needing wood to build a house. Instead of cash to buy the wood, he offered two head of cattle.

In 1915, José Torres Crisóstomo agreed to give Antonio Reyes Tenorio two heads of cattle for the following supply of wood :

Eight haligi (posts) of ifit wood
Panao wood for the flooring of the house
Dugdug wood for the walls, door and window frames
More ifit wood for other parts of the house

Measurements were made using the Spanish vara . The equivalent value in the American system would be roughly 33 inches or slightly less than a yard.

Right up to World War II, many things were traded for, rather than bought with cash. Even after the war, a Chamorro lawyer who practiced in the 1950s and 60s told me that his poorer clients paid him with eggs or fish.



TRONGKON IFIT
Prized wood especially for the main beams of a house


WHO WERE THESE TWO MEN?

José Torres Crisóstomo was from the Beyong family who married Filomena Delgado Pereira.



JOSÉ TORRES CRISÓSTOMO
Beyong


Antonio Reyes Tenorio was from the Bånik family and married Dolores Borja Torre. Perhaps you've heard of his daughters Connie Slotnick and Kitty Ferrante.



A CONTRACT WAS SIGNED
Crisóstomo on left, Tenorio on right
the penmanship is Spanish



VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


VACAS POR MADERA


Un ejemplo de cómo la economía de los chamorros de antes de la guerra no siempre se basaba en el dinero, es el caso de un hombre que necesitaba madera para construir una casa. En lugar de dinero en efectivo para comprar la madera, ofreció dos cabezas de ganado.


En 1915, José Torres Crisóstomo acordó darle a Antonio Reyes Tenorio dos cabezas de ganado para el siguiente suministro:


Ocho postes de madera de ifit para las vigas.

Madera de panao para el piso de la casa.

Madera de dugdug para las paredes, marcos de puertas y ventanas.

Más madera de ifit para otras partes de la vivienda.


Las mediciones se realizaron con la vara española. El valor equivalente en el sistema estadounidense sería de aproximadamente 33 pulgadas o un poco menos de una yarda.


Hasta la Segunda Guerra Mundial, se intercambiaban muchas cosas, en lugar de comprarse con dinero en efectivo. Incluso después de la guerra, un abogado chamorro que ejerció en las décadas de 1950 y 1960 me contó que sus clientes más pobres le pagaban con huevos o pescado.


¿Quiénes eran estos dos hombres?


José Torres Crisóstomo era de la familia Beyong que se casó con Filomena Delgado Pereira.


Antonio Reyes Tenorio era de la familia Bånik y se casó con Dolores Borja Torre. Quizás hayais oído hablar de sus hijas Connie Slotnick y Kitty Ferrante.


Se firmó un contrato

Crisóstomo a la izquierda, Tenorio a la derecha

la caligrafía es española.




THE GERMANS ON GUAM LOCKDOWN

Friday, May 22, 2020


Sitting at home all day for two months has gotten on many people's nerves during the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020.

"This is driving me crazy!" many an island resident can say.

In 1914, the German sailors and officers of the SMS Cormoran went on their own version of "lockdown." They, too, found it maddening.

The Cormoran was busy trying to avoid enemy ships, especially the Japanese, and decided to try their luck hiding in Guam, still not participating in the war. But the US would be breaking its neutrality if it rolled out the welcome mat to the Germans in Apra Harbor. After a brief stop, the Germans were ordered out. But lacking fuel and facing the Japanese menace and possible British encounters, the Germans decided that being interned at Guam was better than dying in the ocean.


SMS CORMORAN


Apparently, being confined to the ship started to take an emotional and mental toll on the German sailors. According to news reports, many of the crew fell into depression. In the beginning, it seems, they were stuck on the ship, doing the same routine day after day. They could see the green hills of Guam, but couldn't stand on terra firma . The ship didn't move, except when the weather was stormy and the Cormoran was allowed to stay just outside the harbor for safety. Otherwise, everyone was on lockdown in what one newspaper called "the Hell Ship."

A visiting American expedition stayed long enough on Guam in 1916 to observe the men of the Cormoran . The loneliness, deadening routine and meager food all contributed to the despondency of the crew. The sailors called it a "living death" to be stuck on the ship, and would have preferred to face real death on the battlefield.


Three Suffer Mental Breakdown



At least three crew members suffered worse than melancholy or depression. They were described as  "insane."

The first to break down was Lieutenant Hermann Berka. He started hallucinating, believing himself to be the son of the German Kaiser. Dr Georg Ballerstedt, medical officer of the Cormoran , was allowed to bring Berka to the US for treatment in June of 1915.

Some months later, in November of 1915, three more crew members were allowed to travel to the US for medical help, accompanied by Lieutenant Werner von Elpons. Two of them, Stanislaus Lewitski and Hugo de Roggenbucke, were identified by newspapers as having gone insane. The third, Friedrich Siegmeyer, was suffering from tuberculosis.


And yet....



We also read of news reports stating that, in early 1915, the German government sent a ship to Guam bringing the Cormoran men

420 casks of beer
40 cases of whisky
24 cases of rum
20 cases of vermouth


In 1916, Lieutenant Commander William Cronan, became acting Governor while waiting for the next Governor to arrive. Cronan had a more relaxed attitude about the Cormoran and allowed for more liberties. This helped the crew's morale. Around 20 German officers were allowed to rent lodgings on shore.

We know that one of the ship's officers, Karl Gebhard, married Eleanor Blaine, one of the American nurses at the Naval Hospital in Hagåtña in 1917. The two first met at a social affair on board the Cormoran . If there were social affairs on the ship, it wasn't all gloom and doom.



GEBHARD AND BLAINE MARRY IN GUAM

We read in the papers of the Catholic missionaries that the crew of the Cormoran sang German Christmas carols in the Hagåtña Cathedral. Anecdotes by older people, now deceased, who lived in those days, and photographic evidence, tell us that sailors from the Cormoran did, at times, mix with the local population.



THREE GERMAN SAILORS AND A CHAMORRO BOY

So, the truth of the hardships of the Cormoran's lockdown, and the resulting mental breakdown of some of her crew, has to be seen alongside the truth that it wasn't all misery all the time for everybody.


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


LOS ALEMANES CONFINADOS EN GUAM


Estar sentado en casa todo el día durante dos meses ha puesto nerviosas a muchas personas en la pandemia del Covid 19 de 2020.


"¡Esto me está volviendo loco!" muchos residentes de una isla podríamos gritar.


En 1914, los marineros y oficiales alemanes del SMS Cormoran se embarcaron en su propia versión de "confinamiento". Ellos también lo encontraron enloquecedor.


El Cormoran trataba de esquivar los barcos enemigos, especialmente los japoneses, y decidió probar suerte escondiéndose en Guam, que no participaba en la guerra. Pero Estados Unidos estaría rompiendo su neutralidad si extendiera la alfombra de bienvenida a los alemanes en el Puerto de Apra. Después de una breve parada, se ordenó la salida del barco alemán. Sin combustible y enfrentando la amenaza japonesa y los posibles encuentros británicos, los alemanes decidieron que seguir escondidos en Guam sería mejor que morir en el océano.


Aparentemente, estar confinados en el barco comenzó a tener un costo emocional y mental para los marineros alemanes. Según los informes, muchos de los tripulantes cayeron en depresión. Al principio, al parecer, estaban atrapados en el barco, haciendo la misma rutina día tras día. Podían observar las verdes colinas de Guam, pero no podían pisar tierra firme. El barco no se movía, excepto cuando el clima era tempestuoso y al Cormoran se le permitía quedarse a las afueras del puerto por su seguridad. Todos estaban encerrados en lo que un periódico llamó "la Nave del Infierno".


Una expedición estadounidense permaneció el tiempo suficiente en Guam en 1916 para observar a los hombres del Cormoran . La soledad, la rutina mortal y la escasa comida contribuyeron al desánimo de la tripulación. Los marineros lo calificaron como una "muerte en vida" por estar atrapados en el barco, y hubieran preferido enfrentar una muerte real en el campo de batalla.

Al menos tres miembros de la tripulación sufrieron de algo peor que la melancolía o la depresión. Fueron descritos como "locos".


El primero en derrumbarse fue el teniente Hermann Berka. Comenzó a alucinar, creyendo ser el hijo del Kaiser alemán. Al Dr. Georg Ballerstedt, oficial médico del Cormoran , se le permitió llevar a Berka a los Estados Unidos para recibir tratamiento en junio de 1915.


Algunos meses más tarde, en noviembre del mismo año, a otros tres miembros de la tripulación se les permitió viajar a los EE. UU. para recibir ayuda médica, acompañados por el teniente Werner von Elpons. Dos de ellos, Stanislaus Lewitski y Hugo de Roggenbucke, fueron identificados por los periódicos como locos. El tercero, Friedrich Siegmeyer, padecía tuberculosis.


También leemos informes de noticias que afirman que, a principios de 1915, el gobierno alemán envió un barco a Guam para llevar a los hombres del Cormoran :


420 barriles de cerveza

40 cajas de whisky

24 cajas de ron

20 cajas de vermut

En 1916, el teniente comandante William Cronan, se convirtió en gobernador interino de Guam mientras esperaba la llegada del siguiente gobernador. Cronan tenía una actitud más relajada sobre el Cormoran y permitió más libertad. Esto ayudó a la moral de la tripulación alemana. Se permitió a unos 20 oficiales alojarse en la costa de Guam.


Sabemos que uno de los oficiales del barco, Karl Gebhard, se casó con Eleanor Blaine, una de las enfermeras estadounidenses en el Hospital Naval de Hagåtña en 1917. Los dos se conocieron en un evento social a bordo del Cormoran . Si había asuntos sociales en el barco, no todo era pesimismo.

Leemos en los periódicos de los misioneros católicos que la tripulación del Cormoran cantaba villancicos alemanes en la catedral de Hagåtña. Las anécdotas de personas mayores, ahora fallecidas, que vivieron en aquellos días, y la evidencia fotográfica, nos dicen que los marineros del Cormoran , a veces, socializaron con la población local.


Entonces, la verdad es que las dificultades del confinamiento del Cormoran , y el colapso mental resultante de algunos miembros de la tripulación, debe verse junto con la verdad de que no todo fue miseria para los alemanes durante aquel tiempo en Guam.

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS

Monday, May 18, 2020


Para håfa hit guasguåson yanggen esta hit atalak?

What good is a remedy if we're already about to die?





This saying needs a lot of explaining, because the English translation of the Chamorro is not literal.

There are two words in the expression we need to understand first if we are to unravel the whole sentence.


GUASGUÅSON

This was the name of a soft volcanic stone, usually yellowish in color. It was scraped and the resulting powder added in the smashing of certain leaves to make herbal medicine for burning fevers called tabatdiyo .

So the saying " Para håfa hit guasguåson " means "Of what use to us is making herbal medicine with the guasguåson ?" The deeper meaning is "Of what use to us is the remedy?"


ATALAK

To atalak is to open the eyes as wide as possible and to fix one's gaze on one object and hold that gaze for a long time.

This prolonged, fixed and wide gaze is often associated with the dying. Many older, dying people stare at one spot on the ceiling for hours. We do not know why, for they often are at a stage by then when they cannot communicate. It's as if they're in their own world.

So the saying, " yanggen esta hit atalak " means "when we're at the last stages of dying, staring wide at a fixed point out there somewhere."

Putting these all together then, we get the meaning, " Of what use to us is a remedy, when we're already on the point of death ?"

It's a statement of surrender to the situation which we deem impossible to change.


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


EXPRESIONES CHAMORRAS


Para håfa hit guasguåson yanggen esta hit atalak?


¿Para qué sirve un remedio si ya estamos a punto de morir?


Este dicho necesita explicación, porque la traducción al inglés del chamorro no es literal.


Hay dos palabras en la expresión que debemos entender primero si queremos desentrañar la oración completa.


GUASGUÅSON


Éste era el nombre de una piedra volcánica blanda, generalmente de color amarillento. Se raspaba y el polvo resultante se agregaba a ciertas hojas para hacer hierbas medicinales destinadas a fiebres llamadas “tabatdiyo”.


Entonces, el dicho "Para håfa hit guasguåson" significa "¿Para qué nos sirve hacer hierbas medicinales con el guasguåson?" El significado más profundo es "¿Para qué nos sirve el remedio?"


ATALAK


Atalak es abrir los ojos lo máximo posible y fijar la mirada en un objeto y mantener esa mirada durante mucho tiempo.


Esta mirada prolongada, fija y amplia a menudo se asocia con la muerte. Muchas personas mayores y moribundas miran un punto en el techo durante horas. No sabemos por qué, ya que a menudo se encuentran en una etapa en la que no pueden comunicarse. Es como si estuvieran en su propio mundo.


Entonces el dicho, "yanggen esta hit atalak" significa "cuando estamos en las últimas etapas para la muerte, mirando fijamente a un punto fijo en algún lugar".


Al juntar todo esto, obtenemos el significado: "¿Para qué nos sirve un remedio, cuando ya estamos a punto de morir?"


Es una declaración de rendición a una situación que consideramos imposible de cambiar.



ESSITAN : I EKKLAO NA BIHO AN MAMOKKAT

Friday, May 15, 2020




Si Doctor Jesus yan si Doctor Jose annai ma retira i dos humånao para i papa’ trongkon lemmai ya matå’chong i dos ya duro ma akompåra i tiningo’-ñiha pot i chetnot siha yan håfa na klåsen åmot para ma usa.

(When Doctor Jesus and Doctor Jose got off work they went under the breadfruit tree and the two sat down and they kept comparing their knowledge of diseases and what kind of medicine to use.)

Pues ma li’e’ este biho na mamomokkat ya kalan ume’ekklao an mamokkat.

(Then they saw an old man walking and he was walking somewhat crookedly.)

Ilek-ña si Doctor Jose gi as Doctor Jesus, “I’ll bet you na ti un tungo’ håfa chetnot-ña ayo na biho mågi, i mamamaila’.” (1) (2)

(Doctor Jose said to Doctor Jesus, "I'll bet you you don't know what's that old man's disease who is coming.")

Ilek-ña si Doctor Jose, “Oh hunggan hu tungo’ håfa chetnot-ña ayo na biho.”

(Doctor Jose said, "Oh yes I know what is that old man's problem.")

“Na håfafa?”

("What is it?")

Ilek-ña, “Fana’an hemorrhoids ya eyo na mamokkat taiguiguihe sa’ puti santatte-ña.” (3)

(He said, "I think it's hemorrhoids and that's why he's walking that way because his back side hurts.")

Ilek-ña, “Ya hågo Doctor Jesus håfa mohon pot este na bihu ni mamamaila’?”

(He said, "And you Doctor Jesus what about this old man who is coming?")

Ilek-ña, “Oh arthritis eyo na biho. Puti i temmon-ña ya chatta mamomokkat mågi.” (4) (5)

(He said, "Oh that old man has arthritis. His knee hurts and he's walking here badly.")

Pues annai esta hihot i biho guato ilek-ña si Doctor Jose, “Saina-ho! Saina-ho!” (6)

(So when the old man was close there Doctor Jose said, "Sir! Sir!")

Ilek-ña eyi biho, “Håfa lahi-ho malago’-mo?”

(The old man said, "What do you want, my son?")

Ilek-ña, “Dos mediko ham yan pot i mamokkåkåt-mo na ume’ekklao mamokkåt-mo an tododo eyo. Ilek-ña este si Doctor Jesus ilek-ña na hemorrhoid hao. Guåho ilek-ho na arthritis hao.”

(He said, "We're two doctors and because your walking is crooked and all that, Doctor Jesus says that you have hemorrhoids. I say you have arthritis.")

Ilek-ña eyi biho, “Ai iho! Man cha lache hit na tres!”

(The old man said, "Oh son! The three of us are equally wrong!")

Ilek-ña si Doctor Jose, “Sa’ håfa ennao saina-ho?”

(Doctor Jose said, "Why do you say that sir?")

Ilek-ña, “Sa’ pine’lo-ko na para bai do’do’ ya hu tåtke yo’.”

(He said, "Because I thought I was going to fart and I went to the bathroom on myself."

Source : Mestisu Radio, Luis John Castro, Facebook


NOTES

(1) It was really Doctor Jesus asking Doctor Jose, as the rest of the dialogue shows.

(2) "I'll bet you" in Chamorro would be rendered "Let us bet" or " Ta aposta ."

(3) Hemorrhoids in Chamorro is pinidos .

(4) There is no Chamorro word for arthritis. We would simply say it hurts, or it's stiff.

(5) Chatta means "imperfectly" or "barely."

(6) Saina means more than the ordinary, modern sense of "sir." It's a term of deep respect. It recognizes the person's higher status due to age, place in the family or social position.

KÅNTA : I KOMETSI­ÅNTEN SAIPAN

Monday, May 11, 2020

The Saipan Big Four
Top Level : Jose Tenorio (Joeten), Manuel Villagomez (Manet Kiyu)
Lower Level : Herman Guerrero (Hetman Pån), Escolastica Cabrera (Esco)



This song by Candy Taman recognizes the successful efforts of Saipan's four main entrepreneurs after World War II. After the destruction of war, and at the time an undetermined political future, these four business pioneers lead the way for many others. As Candy points out, their commercial success flowed back into the community through the generosity of the four.




Este tres na señores yan i un señora :
(These three gentleman and one lady :)
si Joeten, Kiyu, Hetman Pån yan Kolåstika,
(Joeten, Kiyu, Hetman Pån and Kolåstika,)
yan i asaguan-ñiha :
(and their spouses :)
si Daidai yan si Tan Iching
(Daidai and Tan Iching)
si Tan Maria yan kontodo si Ton Goro.
(Tan Maria and also Ton Goro.)

Desde i finakpo' gera nai ma tutuhon man tenda.
(Since the end of the war they began owning stores.)
Man manusune sa' ti tatkilo' i eskuela.
(They persevered because schooling wasn't high.)
Si Ton Hetman panadero,
(Ton Hetman was a baker,)
Joeten,  Kiyu lateria,
(Joeten, Kiyu sold canned goods,)
ya si Kolåstika i magågo yan guyuria.
(and Kolåstika clothing and guyuria.)

Poko menos i benta sige ha' ma umenta.
(Stocks were low but they kept increasing.)
Ginen un sen asta i dollar *
(From one sen up to the dollar)
lao sige ha' ma muttiplika.
(but it kept multiplying.)

På'go sa' man gefsaga.
(Now they are rich.)
Korason-ñiha man geftao.
(Their hearts are generous.)
Meggai ayudun-ñiha gi taotao.
(Their assistance to people is a lot.)
Dångkulo i kontribusion
(Great is their contribution)
ekonomia, komunidåt
(to the economy, community)
sa' man manhongge nai gi che'cho' karidåt.
(because they believe in works of charity.)

Poko menos i benta sige ha' ma umenta.
(Stock were low but they kept increasing.)
Ginen un sen asta i dollar *
(From one sen up to the dollar)
lao sige ha' ma muttiplika.
(but it kept multiplying.)

Pues hafañe'los respeta.
(So brethren respect.)
Nihi ya ta supotta
(Let us support them)
kino un taotao hiyong
(rather than an outsider)
tåya' probecho-ta.
(where we have no benefit.)
Ta nå'e onro ya ta fan banidoso.
(Let's give honor and be proud.)

* A sen was a Japanese cent. Saipan of course used Japanese money until the Americans took over the island in June/July of 1944.


BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES

Jose Camacho Tenorio - Better known as Joeten. Founder of Joeten Enterprises, beginning in 1947 selling sodas and beer. From a basic grocery store to a multi-million dollar company including hotels, auto dealership and many more.

Manuel Seman Villagomez - Better known as Manet Kiyu. Besides being a police officer, he and his wife started a store. He left his police job eventually to focus on the business and it expanded over time. He used profits to invest in land. His land holdings increased, some of them proving lucrative as they were located in prime tourist and commercial areas. He also bought properties in the US mainland.

The generosity of both Joeten and Manet Kiyu helped fund the building of the main public library in Saipan, which is named for both of them.




Herman Reyes de León Guerrero . Better known as Hetman Pån. He began working for the US military on Saipan right after the war baking bread. With their encouragement, he went into private business doing the same. Over the years the bakery has expanded its product line and added a sit-down eatery. The bakery is popular beyond Saipan and Herman's products are often brought to the other islands whenever someone goes to Saipan.

Escolástica Borja Tudela Cabrera . Better known as Esco, but also as Kolåstika and Åtika. She was married to Gregorio Camacho Cabrera. After the war, she learned some skills working for the US military and officers' wives and then opened a beauty shop and did dress making, eventually opening a store where her own baked goods became popular.

They all gave back to the community in large and generous ways.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)



CANCIÓN: LOS COMERCIANTES DE SAIPÁN


Los cuatro grandes de Saipán.

En primer lugar: José Tenorio (Joeten) y Manuel Villagómez (Manet Kiyu).

En segundo lugar: Herman Guerrero (Hetman Pån) y Escolástica Cabrera (Esco).


Esta canción de Candy Taman reconoce los esfuerzos exitosos de los cuatro empresarios principales de Saipán tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Después de la destrucción de la guerra, y en ese momento con un futuro político incierto, estos cuatro pioneros empresariales abren el camino para muchos otros. Como señala Candy, su éxito comercial revirtió en la comunidad gracias a la generosidad de ellos cuatro.


Este tres na señores yan i un señora:

(Estos tres señores y una señora:)

si Joeten, Kiyu, Hetman Pån yan Kolåstika,

(Joeten, Kiyu, Hetman Pån y Kolåstika,)

yan i asaguan-ñiha:

(y sus cónyuges:)

si Daidai yan si Tan Iching

(Daidai y Tía Iching)

si Tan Maria yan kontodo si Ton Goro.

(Tía Maria y con todos Tío Goro).


Desde i finakpo' gera nai ma tutuhon man tenda.

(Desde el final de la guerra comenzaron a ser dueños de tiendas).

Man manusune sa' ti tatkilo' i eskuela.

(Perseveraron porque la escolarización no era alta).

Si Ton Hetman panadero,

(Tío Hetman era panadero)

Joeten, Kiyu lateria,

(Joeten, Kiyu vendían latería)

ya si Kolåstika i magågo yan guyuria.

(y Kolåstika ropas y guyuría).


Poko menos i benta sige ha' ma umenta.

(Pocas cosas para la venta pero seguían aumentando).

Ginen un sen asta i dollar *

(Desde un sen hasta el dólar)

lao sige ha' ma muttiplika.

(seguían multiplicándose)


På'go sa' man gefsaga.

(Ahora son ricos).

Korason-ñiha man geftao.

(Sus corazones son generosos).

Meggai ayudun-ñiha gi taotao.

(Su ayuda a las personas es mucha).

Dångkulo i kontribusion

(Grande es su contribución)

ekonomia, komunidåt

(a la economía, a la comunidad)

sa' man manhongge nai gi che'cho' karidåt.

(porque creen en obras de caridad).


Poko menos i benta sige ha' ma umenta.

(Pocas cosas para la venta pero seguían aumentando).

Ginen un sen asta i dollar *

(Desde un sen hasta el dólar)

lao sige ha' ma muttiplika.

(seguían multiplicándose)


Pues hafañe'los respeta.

(Pues los hermanos se respetan)

Nihi ya ta supotta

(Apoyémoslos)

kino un taotao hiyong

(en lugar de a un extraño)

tåya' probecho-ta.

(donde no tenemos ningún provecho)

Ta nå'e onro ya ta fan banidoso.

(Honrémoslos y estemos orgullosos)


* Un sen era un centavo japonés. Saipán, por supuesto, usó dinero japonés hasta que los estadounidenses tomaron la isla en junio / julio de 1944.


BIOGRAFÍAS BREVES


José Camacho Tenorio - Mejor conocido como Joeten. Fundador de Joeten Enterprises, a partir de 1947 vende refrescos y cervezas. Prosperó desde una tienda de comestibles básica hasta una compañía multimillonaria que incluía hoteles, concesionarios de automóviles y mucho más.


Manuel Seman Villagómez - Mejor conocido como Manet Kiyu. Además de ser un oficial de policía, él y su esposa abrieron una tienda. Finalmente dejó su trabajo de oficial para concentrarse en el negocio y se fue expandiendo. Utilizó sus ganancias para invertir en tierras. Sus propiedades aumentaron, algunas de ellas resultaron lucrativas ya que estaban ubicadas en áreas turísticas y comerciales de primer nivel. También compró propiedades en los Estados Unidos.


La generosidad de Joeten y Manet Kiyu ayudó a financiar la construcción de la biblioteca pública principal en Saipán, que lleva el nombre de ambos.


Herman Reyes de León Guerrero . Mejor conocido como Hetman Pån. Comenzó a trabajar para el ejército estadounidense en Saipán justo después de la guerra haciendo pan. Con su esfuerzo, entró en negocios particulares haciendo lo mismo. Con los años, la panadería expandió su línea de productos y agregó un restaurante. Su panadería es conocida más allá de Saipán y los productos de Herman a menudo se llevan a otras islas cada vez que alguien visita Saipán.


Escolástica Borja Tudela Cabrera . Mejor conocida como Esco, pero también como Kolåstika y Åtika. Estuvo casada con Gregorio Camacho Cabrera. Después de la guerra, aprendió algunas habilidades trabajando para el ejército de los EE. UU. y las esposas de los oficiales y luego abrió una tienda de belleza y confeccionó ropa, y finalmente abrió una tienda donde sus propios productos hechos al horno se hicieron populares.


Todos revirtieron en la comunidad de manera amplia y generosa.



THE OUTHOUSE

Friday, May 8, 2020


A SLICE OF OLD GUAM


As well as the rest of the Marianas.

Even today you might see an outhouse - the kommon sanhiyong - here and there in a hidden rural area of the island. But I am old enough to remember outhouses even in densely populated Sinajaña in the 1960s, right in between the houses.

In the prewar days, many families just didn't have the money to pay for indoor plumbing. Many of the houses were just not built for that either. According to the sanitary inspector in Hagåtña before the war, only 20% of the 1200 houses in the capital city had indoor plumbing. Most people did their toilet business in the kommon sanhiyong built in between houses.

After the war, many homes were made of wood and tin roofing, and indoor toilets were just not part of the plan, financial or otherwise. Even when people could afford a modern bathroom, some were just so used to the outdoor toilet that they continued to use them. One of my neighbors in old Sinajaña had both an indoor modern toilet and a kommon sanhiyong which predated the new indoor toilet. They never bothered to pull down the outhouse because the family was large and a second toilet came in handy for so many users.

"It kept the bad odors outside the house," an older lady shared with me, whose family could have added a modern toilet but kept the outhouse until they replaced their wood and tin roof house with a concrete one in the 1970s.

People were putting TV antennas on their roofs and driving brand new cars and parking them next to the outdoor toilet they were still using, despite their new cash flow.

The outhouse used no water and usually no store-bought toilet tissue so owners didn't care if the neighborhood kids used theirs, as there was no added expense. I remember the one in our neighborhood was available to all the kids if they were playing outside and their own indoor toilets were too far for an emergency. Sometimes one outhouse was shared by more than one family.

Six to ten feet . The hole was usually between six to ten feet deep. The deeper the better because in time you would cover the human refuse with soil or what have you and the hole would become shallower.

No door knob . Sometimes not even a handle. So the unlocked door was slightly ajar. You walked in and closed the door by using a simple hook latch.

Sit over the hole . The toilet was just a piece of ply board with a large hole cut in. I remember looking into the hole and seeing nothing. It was too dark to see anything in the hole. But the smell told you what was in the hole. I don't remember it being particularly bad. Just musty. Or earthy.

Odor Control . One way to control the foul odors was to burn newspapers or dead vegetation in the hole. A favorite one was dead banana stalks, which had dried out, were chopped into smaller chunks and dropped into the toilet then set on fire. The hole was deep enough that the fire wasn't a threat but the smoke replaced the odor of the human waste. Don't be surprised, though, if all sorts of critters (cockroaches, rats) scurry out of the hole.




The Daily News . You had to buy the daily newspaper anyway. In 24 hours, the newspaper became obsolete. Rather than let the paper go to waste, we used the paper for human waste. That's what we wiped ourselves with. I remember going into the outhouse and finding newspapers and even mail order catalogs lying around for us to use. Sears and Montgomery Ward.

Someone even came up with a little ditty about it, using the Håfa Adai song :



ORIGINAL SONG



KOMMON SANHIYONG VERSION


In America they say, “How are you?”

Filipinos say, “Kumusta kayo?

But when you’re on Guam you simply say,

“Hafa Adai! Hafa Adai!”



In America they use toilet tissue.

Filipinos use banana leaf.

But when you’re on Guam you simply use

Daily News. Daily News.






TEN CENT TOILET TISSUE IN THE OLD DAYS


INTO THE OCEAN


OUTHOUSES IN PREWAR SUMAY
Straight into the water

Even better than the kommon sanhiyong in your backyard was when you could do your business into the ocean. That way nothing accumulated in your backyard for flies to gather and transport harmful bacteria to you or your homes.

In Hagåtña and all the coastal villages, there were a few piers that stretched out as far as it could over the water. A small shack was built at the end and into the water went your human waste. You can see the ones in Sumay before the war in the pic above.

A man who was a teenager before the war in Hagåtña told me how people would send their kids to these seashore outhouses with their "honey dew" buckets of human waste and dump them there.

courtesy of Joe Quinata GPT

Some of the seaside outhouses weren't that far from shore, as seen in the pic above of a public outhouse in Humåtak in the 1960s. I am told that in some places the concrete foundation can still be seen.


MORE THAN GOING TO THE TOILET

The kommon sanhiyong was used for more than its intended purpose. Since the outhouse was avoided, due to the smell and contents, except when truly needed, some people found it a convenient place for things you wanted to hide.

Hiding Things

One man growing up in the 1950s was so naughty that he was regularly whipped by his parents with the kuåtta , the dreaded cow's tail whip. He told me that several times, when his parents weren't around, he'd take the kuåtta off the hook on the wall, the traditional place many parents kept them. The first time he threw the kuåtta on top of the outhouse roof. But his sister noticed it some time later and they retrieved it. So the second time he threw it into the outhouse hole. No one ever found out.

In the 1950s, a home in Dededo was broken into while the family was out. Stolen was a tin can with cash and jewelry in it. The family had a kommon sanhiyong . Just on a hunch, one of the police officers at the scene flashed his light down the hole and saw a silvery reflection. Yes, they retrieved the box, but it was empty.

Hiding Yourself

The kommon sanhiyong was a good place, at least for a while, to hide when you wanted to smoke or drink the little whiskey left in the bottle uncle forgot to put back. If the outhouse were so situated, you could hide behind it rather than inside it and still not be seen, but this way avoid the odors.

Discarded Babies

Sad to say, even unwanted or unexpected babies ended up in the kommon sanhiyong .

In 1958, an 18-year-old single lady in Aniguåk was feeling unusual in her abdomen and thought she needed the toilet. It was late at night. She went to the outhouse and gave birth to a baby boy. She told police she was not aware she was going to give birth, as she never had been pregnant before and had no idea what to expect. She put the baby on the floor of the outhouse and ditched her blood-stained clothes in the bushes. Hours later, her mother needed the toilet and found the baby, not knowing whose it was. The baby was taken to the hospital. Three days later the mother of the baby was feeling feverish and went to the hospital. There she confessed what happened.

A sadder story happened the following year in Tamuning. There, a 16-year-old high school student got impregnated by a 20-year-old unemployed drifter. She gave birth, unseen by anyone, and dumped the baby down the hole of the kommon sanhiyong . A few days later she went to the hospital for post-delivery complications and coughed up the truth. The body of the dead baby was retrieved and an autopsy needed to be done to find out if the baby died before or after birth. No subsequent news story can be found to know the answer.



This case happened in 1962. The mystery was never solved.


Suicides

Believe it or not, the kommon sanhiyong was a chosen place for several suicides in Guam history. Again, people don't hang around the outhouse so it's a place to do something you don't want people to notice, at least for a while.

In 1957, an 86-year-old man hanged himself in his outhouse in Sinajaña. He tied a woman's scarf around his neck. His step son-in-law saw him go into the outhouse but started to wonder why he was taking so long so he checked, and found the old man already dead. He had tried twice before to take his own life, but was prevented by others.

In 1959, a 49-year-old man in Dededo tied a bed sheet to his neck and to the beam of the roof of his kommon sanhiyong . His wife could not think of a reason why he would kill himself. What made this story so sad is that he did it on Christmas Day and his lifeless body was discovered by his 8-year-old daughter.


ROMANCE?


You would think that the outhouse would be a good place to meet a sweetheart, especially under cover of night.

There were two problems that made the outhouse not ideal. First, the odors and setting were less than romantic. Second, although the outhouse was usually avoided and thus private, when Mother Nature calls you answer, any time of the day or night.

A lady told me the story many years ago. It happened before the war.

Diesisais åños ha’ yo’ guihe na tiempo ya trabia ti siña yo’ gumai nobio

(I was 16 years old only that time and I couldn't have a boyfriend yet)

lao guaha ha’ iyo-ko uno. Kumontråta ham para in asodda’ gi kemmon sanhiyong,

(but I did have one. We agreed to meet each other at the outhouse,)

para in kuentos ha', gi oran a las dos gi chatanmak sa’ pine’lon-måme na todos

(just to talk, at 2 o'clock in the morning because we thought that all)

esta man mamaigo’ gi taiguihe na ora. Lao ai sa’ ha baba i petta uno na primu-ho

(would be sleeping at that hour. But oh my because one of my cousins who was staying)

ni sumåsaga giya hame. Hu faisen kao siña ha tåmpe, ya ilek-ña nu guåho,

(with us opened the door. I asked him to cover it up, and he said to me,)

“Ti bai kehåye hao lao debe de un promete yo’ na achok ha’ guaha håfa båba bidådå-ho

("I won't tell on you but you have to promise me that even if there is something bad you see me doing)

ni un li’e’ ti para un kehåye yo’ lokkue’,” ya kumonfotme yo’.

(you won't tell on me either," and I agreed.)




You never know when someone will need to relieve himself, so the avoided outhouse could be suddenly invaded.

HERE COMES KIKO' ENCHO'

Tuesday, May 5, 2020


KIKO' ENCHO'
(Francisco Baza León Guerrero)


In the United States, you scare the kids away by telling them that the Bogey Man is coming. In Spain, it is El Coco. In Russia, the Baba Yaga. Almost every place on earth has its equivalent.

In Guam in the 1930s, it was Kiko' Encho'.

Which would be sad, in a way, for Kiko' Encho' was a real human being and a very upright one at that. He was a good citizen and a faithful Catholic. The saving grace is that Kiko' Encho' took his reputation all in good humor. He understood that it was natural that his job, and the strict faithfulness with which he executed it, should instill such fear in people.

He was Hagåtña's Sanitary Inspector.

Public cleanliness was an important issue in those days because many of Guam's sick had preventable illnesses. But sanitation was the key. With only 20% of Hagåtña's houses connected to the city water and sewage system, the majority of the people collected water from public faucets, from private wells and from the rain. Garbage disposal was critical, since piling up waste even for short periods attracted rats. Lacking modern toilets, most people built outhouses ( kommon sanhiyong ) where disease-bearing mosquitoes and flies could breed if the outdoor toilets were not cleaned properly.

Dysentery, typhoid and other sanitation-related illnesses were common in the old days, affecting an estimated 10% of Hagåtña residents at any given time, according to Kiko' Encho'

The Naval Government made great progress by providing free medical care, improving the water supply so that less people relied on the wells where the water was murky and often contaminated. Less and less people were using the river for laundry as time went on. Many policies were put in place to improve conditions.

But to make sure people were complying as much as possible, Kiko' Encho' made daily inspections of Hagåtña, looking to see that garbage wasn't laying around; that pools of water weren't breeding grounds for mosquitoes; that latrines and outhouses were clean; that yards were raked and grass cut. If you failed to heed his warnings and corrections, Kiko' Encho' would issue a citation, which you had to pay off at court.

He was so strict that he even cited his own mother-in-law and his boss, a Navy officer, besides fining his friends and relatives. "I felt that I could not perform a good job," he said in an interview, "unless I showed the people that I was impartial." The people who gave him the hardest time were the upper classes, both Chamorro and American. But the courts backed him up. Even the elite Chamorros and American military officers lost to Kiko' Encho' in court. "I was mean," he said, but he had to be.


BARRIO BY BARRIO


THE BARRIOS OF PRE-WAR HAGÅTÑA


With 1,200 homes to inspect, Kiko' Encho' had a lot of ground to cover. Luckily, the capital city was divided into barrios since Spanish times. Kiko' Encho' just assigned certain barrios their specific days of the month to visit. He averaged three days a month for each barrio.

As soon as he left his house in the morning to start his inspection, the kids would all run to tell other kids living in the direction Kiko' Encho' was going, "He's coming! He's coming!" they shouted and all the other kids would run to their homes to warn their mothers, who grabbed brooms and rakes and garbage cans.. They might as well have been screaming that the Bogey Man was coming.

But Kiko' Encho's enforcement of sanitary laws in the capital had its effect. Visitors always remarked how clean and tidy the city was. The health of the people improved so much that cases of sanitation-related illnesses dropped and Kiko' Encho' didn't need to make as many home inspections as time went on. The people got used to keeping their homes and surroundings hygienic.

After the war, Kiko' Encho' didn't go back to his prewar job and instead worked for the military and then his own private business. He died in 1964.


FAMILY BACKGROUND

His full name was Francisco Baza León Guerrero, but therein lay a problem.

There was another Guam gentleman, just a few years younger, with the exact same name, who was also well-known in the island.

He was the famous Mr Organic Act, and for whom FB Leon Guerrero Middle School is named.

But that Francisco was the son of Zoilo Tello León Guerrero, so he was known as Kiko' Zoilo.

Our Sanitary Inspector, on the other hand, was the son of Lorenzo Manalisay León Guerrero, so he was called Kiko' Encho'. Kiko' is the nickname for Francisco, and Encho' is the nickname for Lorenzo.

These two Kikos were related, but not mainly through the León Guerrero side but more so on their mothers' side. Their mothers were sisters!

Zoilo married Justa Martínez Baza and Lorenzo married Joaquina Martínez Baza.

The two Francisco Baza León Guerreros were thus first cousins of their mothers' side.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


AQUÍ VIENE KIKO' ENCHO'


En Estados Unidos, asustan a los niños diciéndoles que el Hombre Bogey se acerca. En España, es El Coco. En Rusia, el Baba Yaga. Casi todos los lugares del mundo tienen un equivalente.


En Guam en la década de 1930, era Kiko' Encho'.


Lo cual es triste, en cierto modo, porque Kiko' Encho' era un ser humano real y muy correcto. Era un buen ciudadano y un fiel católico. La gracia salvadora es que Kiko' Encho' aceptó su reputación, con buen humor. Comprendió que era natural que su trabajo, y la estricta fidelidad con la que lo ejecutaba, infundieran tanto temor en las personas.


Era el inspector sanitario de Hagåtña.


La limpieza pública era un tema importante en aquel tiempo porque muchos de los enfermos de Guam sufrían enfermedades prevenibles. Y el saneamiento era la clave. Con solo el 20% de las casas de Hagåtña conectadas al sistema de agua y alcantarillado de la ciudad, la mayoría de las personas recogían agua de los grifos públicos, de pozos privados y de la misma lluvia. Lo que ocurría con la basura era preocupante, ya que la acumulación de desechos, incluso por períodos cortos, atraía a las ratas. Al carecer de baños modernos, la mayoría de las personas construían unos refugios (kommon sanhiyong) donde los mosquitos y las moscas portadoras de enfermedades podían reproducirse si esos baños al aire libre no se limpiaban adecuadamente.


La disentería, la fiebre tifoidea y otras enfermedades relacionadas con el saneamiento eran comunes en aquellos tiempos, y afectaban a aproximadamente el 10% de los residentes de Hagåtña, según Kiko' Encho'


Hubo un progreso notable cuando el Gobierno Naval proporcionó atención médica gratuita, mejorando el suministro de agua para que menos personas dependieran de los pozos donde el agua era turbia y a menudo contaminada. Cada vez menos personas usaban el río para lavar la ropa a medida que pasaba el tiempo. Se implementaron muchas políticas para mejorar las condiciones de vida.


Pero para asegurarse de que la gente cumpliera en la medida de lo posible, Kiko' Encho' realizaba inspecciones diarias en Hagåtña, asegurándose de que la basura no estuviera por ahí desperdigada; que las piscinas de agua no fueran criaderos de mosquitos; que las letrinas y las dependencias estuvieran limpias; que los terrenos fueran rastrillados y cortada la hierba. Si alguien no hacía caso de sus advertencias y correcciones, Kiko' Encho'  emitiría una citación, que tendría que pagar en la corte.


Era tan estricto que incluso llegó a citar a su propia suegra y a su jefe, un oficial de la Marina, además de multar a sus amigos y familiares. "Sentía que no podía realizar un buen trabajo", dijo en una entrevista, "a menos que le mostrara a la gente que era imparcial". Las personas que le dieron más dificultades fueron las clases altas, tanto chamorros como estadounidenses. Pero los tribunales lo respaldaron. Incluso la élite chamorra y los oficiales militares estadounidenses perdieron ante Kiko' Encho'  en la corte. "Era malo", dijo, pero tenía que serlo.


LOS BARRIOS DE HAGATÑA ANTES DE LA GUERRA


Con 1.200 hogares para inspeccionar, Kiko' Encho'  tenía mucho terreno por recorrer. Afortunadamente, la ciudad se dividía en barrios ya desde la época española. Kiko' Encho'  terminó por asignar a ciertos barrios sus días específicos del mes para visitar. Promedió tres días al mes para cada barrio.


Tan pronto como salía de su casa por la mañana para comenzar su inspección, todos los niños corrían a decirle a otros niños que vivían en la dirección en que Kiko' Encho'  iba: "¡Ya viene! ¡Ya viene!" gritaban y todos los otros niños corrían a sus casas para advertir a sus madres, quienes agarraban escobas, rastrillos y botes de basura. También podían gritar que venía el Hombre Bogey.


Pero la aplicación de las leyes sanitarias de Kiko' Encho'  en la capital tuvo su efecto. Los visitantes siempre comentaban cuán limpia y ordenada estaba la ciudad. La salud de las personas mejoró tanto que los casos de enfermedades relacionadas con el saneamiento disminuyeron y Kiko' Encho'  con el tiempo no necesitó hacer tantas inspecciones de viviendas. La gente se acostumbró a mantener sus hogares y alrededores limpios.


Después de la guerra, Kiko' Encho'  no volvió a su empleo anterior y en su lugar trabajó para el ejército y luego montó su propio negocio privado. Falleció en 1964.


TRASFONDO FAMILIAR


Su nombre completo era Francisco Baza León Guerrero, pero había un problema.


Había otro caballero de Guam, solo unos años más joven, con el mismo nombre, que también era conocido en la isla.


Era el famoso “Mr. Organic Act,” y por el cual se conoce hoy a la Escuela Intermedia Francisco Baza León Guerrero.


Pero ese Francisco era hijo de Zoilo Tello León Guerrero, por lo que era conocido como Kiko' Zoilo.


Nuestro inspector sanitario, por otro lado, era hijo de Lorenzo Manalisay León Guerrero, por lo que se llamaba Kiko' Encho' . Kiko' es el apodo de Francisco, y Encho' es el apodo de Lorenzo.


Estos dos Kikos estaban relacionados, pero no precisamente por parte de los León Guerrero, sino más bien del lado de sus madres. ¡Sus madres eran hermanas!


Zoilo se casó con Justa Martínez Baza y Lorenzo se casó con Joaquina Martínez Baza.


Los dos Franciscos Baza León Guerrero eran primos hermanos por parte de sus madres.





ANUFAT

Friday, May 1, 2020


"Acha chatpago hamyo yan si Anufat."

"You're as ugly as Anufat."



That's the way you might have been insulted in the old days.

Not all taotaomo'na were created the same.

Meet Anufat , the ugliest of them all.

He was dark and hideous. His teeth were six inches long and his fingernails were long as well.

Both sides of his head had holes, stuffed with grass, leaves and ferns.

So, if someone wanted to tease you, he or she might tell you that you were as ugly as Anufat.


WHISTLE / CHEFLA



In olden times, people considered any latte site, no matter how small the latte or how damaged the pillars and capstones might be, to be dangerous places.

Even if the area just had a lot of exposed coral rocks, be careful.

The spirits of the ancient dead, or taotaomo'na , usually dwelt among the latte stones, it was believed, and they often indicated burial grounds of the people who lived before colonization.

People had the custom of whistling when they approached such places. They did this in order to alert Anufat that they were coming close. Otherwise, if your unannounced appearance startled Anufat, he could get angry and punish you by making you sick.

Some versions of the story say we ought to whistle when walking around cemeteries, but I don't think modern, Christian cemeteries are meant. Anufat would not be interested in hanging around the graves of José Cruz or María Castro. Too Christian for him.

He'd be more interested in hanging around the skeletal remains of the people of his time, before the Europeans came.

Other versions of the story say he had a bird's nest growing out of the hole in his head. That was someone's mistaken reading of an old book which said Anufat's hole had bird's nest FERN stuffed in his hole. It was fern, not a nest.


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)



ANUFAT


“Acha chatpago hamyo yan si Anufat”.

“Eres tan feo como Anufat”


Ésa es la manera en que cualquier persona podía ser insultada en los tiempos de antes.


No todos los “taotaomo’na” fueron creados de la misma forma.


Conozcamos a Anufat, el más feo de todos.


Era oscuro y feo. Sus dientes tenían seis pulgadas de largo y sus uñas también eran largas.


En ambos lados de su cabeza había agujeros, rellenos de hierba, hojas y helechos.


Entonces, si alguien quería molestarte, podía decirte que eras tan feo como Anufat.


En la antigüedad, las personas consideraban lugar peligroso cualquier sitio donde hubiese piedras “latte”, no importaba cuán pequeña fuese la piedra “latte” o cuán dañados pudiesen estar los pilares y las piedras superiores.


Incluso si en esa zona había muchas rocas de coral expuestas, se debía tener cuidado.

Se creía que los espíritus de los antiguos muertos, o “taotaomo’na”, normalmente habitaban entre las piedras “latte”, y a menudo señalaban cementerios de gente que vivió antes de la colonización.


Se tenía la costumbre de silbar cuando uno se aproximaba a esos lugares. Se hacía esto para alertar a Anufat de que alguien se acercaba. De lo contrario, si su aparición no anunciada sorprendía a Anufat, él podía enfadarse y castigar a esa persona enfermándola.


Algunas versiones de la historia dicen que debemos silbar al caminar por los cementerios, pero no creo que los cementerios cristianos modernos estuviesen destinados a los “taotaomo’na”. Anufat no estaría interesado en pasar el rato en las tumbas de José Cruz o María Castro. Demasiado cristiano para él.


Le interesaría más quedarse con los restos esqueléticos de la gente de su tiempo, antes de que llegaran los europeos.


Otras versiones de la historia relatan que Anufat tenía un nido de pájaro saliendo de un agujero de su cabeza. Ésa es en realidad una lectura errónea de alguien, de un viejo libro, que decía que en el agujero de Anufat había un nido de pájaro relleno de helecho. Pero realmente era un helecho, no un nido.




WHEN THEY CLOSED LUTA'S SCHOOL

Monday, April 27, 2020

SONGSONG, LUTA IN GERMAN TIMES


Luta had a population of around 450 people in German times, from 1899 till 1914. Only one school was needed for such a small population, as the majority of the children under 18 didn't go to school even if there were one. In 1907, it was reported that there were 30 students in Luta's school, definitely a far cry from the number of school-age children.

But those were different times. As in the rest of the Marianas, people wondered just how much education a child of the islands needed when most were destined to till the soil and fish within the reef as their fathers and grandfathers were doing. It sometimes happened that girls especially were not sent in large numbers to school and as soon as the girls reached puberty, they were yanked out of school by their parents to keep them "safe."

So, 30 students in 1907 can be understood given the mentality of the time. These were probably younger children, who were taught to spell, count, read, write or at least write their names. Under the Spanish government, the Catholic religion would also have been taught, but not under German rule. It's even doubtful that the children learned German; their teacher was Chamorro who was paid 50 Marks a month and lived rent-free in a modest government residence.

There is talk of a "ma'estron Taitano" in some of the documents of the time. This is probably José Mangloña Taitano, whose father was from Guam and whose mother was from Luta. He was a teacher and also a lay leader of the Luta parish.

For whatever reason, the German colonial government closed the government school in Luta in May of 1910.

The German priest of Luta, Father Corbinian Madré, Capuchin, saw this is an opportunity to fill in the gap. He announced to the parents of Luta that he was willing to run his own school, without pay, as long as the parents agreed to build a school house. This they did, gathering whatever wood and supplies they could.

The government did not lift a finger. All the government did was lend some school desks now and then.

The work didn't take long and Father Corbinian began teaching on July 26. He divided the students into a higher level for older children (up to fourteen) and a lower level for children as young as seven. In total, he was teaching 95 students, triple the number of students when the government ran a school in 1907.


FATHER CORBINIAN
The German priest of Luta 1908 to 1919


"KASTIGA GUE' MÅS!"

Father Corbinian wrote out report cards, which the parents had to return. One parent wrote, " Kastiga gue' mås !" "Punish him more!" Those were the days when parents wanted other adults to punish their children, whether in school, at church or on the street.

Father focused on teaching German, math, reading and writing. He found that teaching German was easiest for the children. Arithmetic was not so easy for the students especially the girls, according to him. Reading and writing were also challenging. He found that the attention span of the students was short, and it tired him out to keep their attention by entertaining them in some way.

But the priest felt his work was not all in vain. He mentioned that some students who reached 14 years and were not supposed to stay in school came by anyway, wanting to learn some more.


THE SCHOOL CLOSES

The Japanese took over Luta, and the rest of the German Marianas, in October of 1914 when World War I broke out. Japan was on the side of the allies that time, against Germany and her allies.

Although the Japanese allowed Father Corbinian to remain on Luta till 1919, I can't imagine they allowed him to continue his school, teaching German, assuming the school was still open in 1914. But, whatever year it closed, it was definitely closed by the time the missionary left Luta for good.


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)



CUANDO CERRARON LA ESCUELA DE ROTA


La isla de Rota (Luta, en chamorro) tenía una población de alrededor de 450 personas durante la época alemana, desde 1899 hasta 1914. Solo se necesitaba una escuela para una población tan pequeña, ya que la mayoría de los niños, menores de 18 años, no iban a la escuela. En 1907, se informó que había 30 estudiantes en la escuela de Rota, definitivamente cifras muy alejadas de la cantidad de niños en edad escolar.


Pero ésos eran tiempos diferentes. Como en el resto de las Marianas, la gente se preguntaba cuánta escolarización necesitaba un niño de las islas cuando la mayoría de la población se dedicaba a cultivar la tierra y pescar dentro del arrecife como lo hacían sus padres y abuelos. A veces sucedía que las niñas, especialmente, no eran enviadas en gran número a la escuela y, tan pronto como llegaban a la pubertad, sus padres las sacaban de allí para mantenerlas "seguras".


Entonces, 30 estudiantes en 1907 se puede entender como algo normal dada la mentalidad de la época. Probablemente eran niños pequeños, a quienes se les enseñaba a deletrear, contar, leer, escribir o al menos escribir sus nombres. Bajo el gobierno español, la religión católica también se había enseñado, pero no bajo el dominio alemán. Incluso es dudoso que los niños aprendieran alemán; su maestro era chamorro, a quien le entregaban 50 marcos al mes y vivía sin pagar alquiler en una modesta residencia del gobierno.


Se habla de un tal "ma'estron Taitano" en algunos de los documentos de la época. Probablemente sea José Mangloña Taitano, cuyo padre era de Guam y cuya madre era de Rota. Era maestro y también líder laico de la parroquia de la isla.


Por alguna razón, el gobierno colonial alemán cerró la escuela gubernamental en Rota en mayo de 1910.


El sacerdote alemán de Rota, el padre Corbinian Madré, capuchino, vio que ésta era una oportunidad para llenar aquel vacío. Anunció a los padres de los niños de Rota que estaba dispuesto a administrar su propia escuela, sin cobrar, siempre y cuando los padres acordaran construir un edificio escolar. Esto lo hicieron, juntando cualquier madera y suministros que pudieron.


El gobierno no movió un dedo. Todo lo que hizo el gobierno fue prestar algunos pupitres de vez en cuando.


El trabajo no tardó mucho y el Padre Corbinian comenzó a enseñar el 26 de julio. Dividió a los estudiantes en un nivel superior para niños mayores (hasta catorce) y un nivel inferior para niños de tan solo siete años. En total, estaba enseñando a 95 alumnos, triplicando el número de estudiantes cuando el gobierno dirigía la escuela en 1907.


El Padre Corbinian escribía boletines de calificaciones, que los padres tenían que devolver. Un padre escribió: "Kastiga gue 'mås!" "¡Castígalo más!" Ésos eran los días en que los padres querían que otros adultos castigaran a sus hijos, ya fuese en la escuela, en la iglesia o en la calle.

Padre Corbinian se centró en la enseñanza del alemán, las matemáticas, la lectura y la escritura. Descubrió que enseñar el alemán era lo más fácil para los niños. La aritmética no era tan fácil para los estudiantes, especialmente para las niñas, según él. Leer y escribir también era un desafío. Descubrió que la capacidad de atención de los estudiantes no era grande, y se cansaba de mantener su atención entreteniéndolos de alguna manera.


Pero el sacerdote sintió que su trabajo no era en vano. Mencionó que algunos estudiantes que alcanzaron los 14 años y no debían quedarse en la escuela, venían de todos modos, queriendo aprender un poco más.


Los japoneses se hicieron cargo de la isla de Rota y el resto de las Marianas alemanas, en octubre de 1914, cuando estalló la Primera Guerra Mundial. Japón estaba del lado de los aliados esa vez y contra Alemania.


Aunque los japoneses permitieron que el Padre Corbinian permaneciera en Rota hasta 1919, no puedo imaginar que le permitieran continuar con su escuela, enseñando el alemán, suponiendo que la escuela aún estuviera abierta en 1914. Pero, en cualquier año que hubiese cerrado la escuela, sin lugar a duda no existía cuando el misionero abandonó definitivamente la isla de Rota.


MUCHÅCHA

Friday, April 24, 2020


People all over the world have employed domestic servants for as long as history records.

Under Spanish colonization, it is certain that both the civil and the church authorities in the Marianas employed both male and female domestic servants.

In fact, our Chamorro word for "altar boy," tanores , comes from the Philippines, where the tanores were servants to the priests and to government officials.

But by the 1800s, we have historical evidence that families with money employed muchåcha (females) and muchåcho (males) for all kinds of service. These two words are borrowed from Spanish and mean "girl" and "boy." The words were used for domestic servants even if they were adults, so some people found the terms demeaning.

A common retort in the old days when someone was too bossy was to shoot back at them,

"Kao muchachå-mo yo'?"
("Am I your maid?")

The muchåcha usually followed the woman of the house, and did the washing, ironing, sewing, house cleaning, baby sitting. Often a paid kosinera (cook) prepared the meals, but a muchåcha might also do some of that, too. The job description was agreed upon by åmo / åma (master or mistress) and muchåcho / muchåcha before hand.

A muchåcho usually followed the man of the house, and often to his ranch, and did more manual work, such as on the farm. Around the home, he would do repairs or the heavy lifting in domestic chores. Often the muchåcho's job that day was simply to accompany his åmo around, holding his hat, opening doors and so on.

Salaries were agreed by both parties and could be reduced if the servant lived in the master's home, eating from the master's table.

Becoming a Låhe or Håga

On occasion, a muchåcha or muchåcho would somehow bond more closely with husband, wife, both or the family in general. If some kind of personal bond developed and the relationship went on for some time, the servant might be called lahi-ho or hagå-ho ("my son" or "my daughter") by the man or woman and then they would know they had risen higher than domestic servant. Sometimes these relationships endured till death.

No Shortage of Hands

There was never a shortage of personnel. There were always young people from poor or large families (of a dozen children, for example) always looking for ways to earn money with no skills to offer other than domestic or farm labor.

Servants were sometimes recruited by Hagåtña families from the southern villages.

Pineksai versus Muchåcha

It sometimes happened that a child was reared by another family. Sometimes there was some blood ties, sometimes no blood ties at all.

The child was the pineksai , raised ( poksai ) by this new family.

Often, as the child grew older, he or she was given domestic responsibilities. Consolación Taitano Santos, for example, was brought up in the Wilson-Martínez home since she was 5 years old. By the time she was 16, she was the family cook. There were many daughters in that family, and some never married. Why didn't they cook? Well they were a family of financial means, and now it was time for Consolación to do something for the family that raised her. It could have also been a way that Consolación could remain a part of the family, even though she was of marrying age already.

There was a fine line between a pineksai becoming a muchåcha (or kosinera ). Perhaps in this case they never considered Consolación a muchåcha . She was a part of the family, to some degree, since age 5.



The Greek Alexander Veneziano and his Chamorro wife, Ana Guerrero, in 1908

Just one of many examples was Alexander, or Alejandro, Veneziano. A Greek who came to Guam as a Navy musician, he settled on island, marrying a Chamorro lady and opening some businesses.

He had the money to hire several muchåcha and muchåcho .

To assist his wife, there was Carmen "Deche," whose formal name was Carmen Ulloa Acosta; and Rosa Reyes Borja from Malesso'. They were 19 and 17 years old respectively in 1911.

His own muchåcho was José Salas Crisóstomo, 27 years old in 1907.

These were only some of the domestic help Veneziano hired over the years.


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


MUCHACHA


La gente de todo el mundo ha empleado servidumbre doméstica durante mucho tiempo, desde que hay registros históricos.


Bajo la colonización española en las Islas Marianas, es cierto que tanto las autoridades civiles como las eclesiásticas emplearon sirvientes domésticos.


De hecho, nuestra palabra chamorra para "monaguillo", tanores, proviene de Filipinas, donde los tanores eran sirvientes de los sacerdotes y de los funcionarios del gobierno.

Pero para el siglo XIX, tenemos evidencia histórica de que las familias con dinero empleaban muchåcha (mujeres) y muchåcho (hombres) para todo tipo de servicios. Estas dos palabras están tomadas del español y significan "niña" y "niño". Estos términos se usaban para los empleados domésticos, incluso si eran adultos, por lo que algunas personas encontraban a veces los términos degradantes.


Una réplica común en los viejos tiempos cuando alguien era demasiado mandón consistía en dispararles un…


"¿Kao muchachå-mo yo '?"

("¿Soy yo tu sirvienta?")


La muchåcha generalmente acompañaba a la mujer de la casa y lavaba, planchaba, cosía, limpiaba el hogar y cuidaba a los niños. A menudo, una cocinera pagada (kosinera) preparaba las comidas, pero una muchåcha también podía hacer algo de eso. La descripción del trabajo era acordada de antemano por el åmo o åma y el muchåcho o muchåcha.


Un muchåcho generalmente acompañaba al hombre de la casa, con frecuencia en su rancho, y hacía más el trabajo físico de la granja. Alrededor de la casa, él hacía también reparaciones o trabajo pesado en las tareas domésticas. A menudo, el trabajo del muchåcho era simplemente acompañar a su åmo, sosteniendo su sombrero, abriendo puertas, etc. Los salarios eran acordados por ambas partes y podían reducirse, si el sirviente vivía en la casa del amo, a comer de la mesa de éste.


En ocasiones, una muchåcha o muchåcho de alguna manera se unía más estrechamente al esposo, la esposa, a ambos o a la familia en general. Si se desarrollaba algún tipo de vínculo personal y la relación continuaba por algún tiempo, el hombre o la mujer podían llamar al sirviente lahi-ho o hagå-ho ("mi hijo" o "mi hija") y entonces significaba que había ascendido en comparación con los sirvientes domésticos. Algunas veces estas relaciones perduraron hasta la muerte.


Nunca hubo escasez de personal. Siempre hubo jóvenes de familias pobres o numerosas (de una docena de niños, por ejemplo) que buscaban formas de ganar dinero, eran jóvenes sin habilidades que podían ofrecer únicamente trabajo doméstico o agrícola. A veces, los sirvientes eran reclutados por familias de Hagåtña en las aldeas del sur.

A veces sucedía que un niño o niña era criado por otra familia. A veces había algunos lazos de sangre, a veces no.


El niño o niña era el “pineksai”, criado (poksai) por esta nueva familia.


A menudo, a medida que el niño o niña crecía, se le asignaban responsabilidades domésticas. Consolación Taitano Santos, por ejemplo, se crió en la casa de Wilson-Martínez desde que tenía 5 años. Cuando tenía 16 años, fue la cocinera de la familia. Había muchas hijas en esa familia, y algunas nunca se casaron. ¿Por qué no cocinaban? Bueno, eran una familia de medios económicos, y ahora era hora de que Consolación hiciera algo por la familia que la había criado. También podía haber sido una forma para que Consolación pudiese seguir formando parte de la familia, a pesar de que ya estaba en edad de casarse.


Había una fina línea entre un “pineksai” que se convertía en muchåcha (o kosinera). Quizás en este caso nunca consideraron a Consolación como una muchåcha o sirvienta. Ella era parte de la familia, hasta cierto punto, desde los 5 años.


Uno de los muchos ejemplos fue Alexander o Alejandro Veneziano. Un griego que llegó a Guam como músico de la Marina, se instaló en la isla, se casó con una dama chamorra y abrió algunos negocios.Tenía el dinero para contratar varios muchåcha y muchåcho.


Para ayudar a su esposa, estaba Carmen "Deche", cuyo nombre formal era Carmen Ulloa Acosta; y Rosa Reyes Borja de Malesso '. Tenían 19 y 17 años respectivamente en 1911. Su propio muchåcho fue José Salas Crisóstomo, de 27 años en 1907. Éstos fueron solo algunos de los servicios domésticos que Veneziano contrató a lo largo de los años.






BALUTAN MAGÅGON Å'PAKA'

Monday, April 20, 2020


Here's a taotaomo'na story you almost never hear about nowadays.  But hunters ( kasadules ) in the old days told this story, and I came across it in an article written in 1960 based on stories being told by older people at that time.

People said that sometimes when they hunted deep in the jungle, they would see a bundle of white clothing floating through the air. That was the balutan magågon å'paka' . Magågo is cloth or fabric. Å'paka ' means "white." Balutan means "wrapped or bundled up."

Not only would it float in the air, as it traveled it made such a crashing sound as if a bulldozer were trampling down the trees and crushing the rocks in the jungle. The noise was deafening.

But, if you followed the path of the balutan magågon å'paka' , you would find that the jungle was perfectly normal. Every tree in place. There was one thing out of the ordinary, though. The animals had heard the noise of the floating balutan magågon å'paka' and so they hid in fear. All the animals you hoped to catch in the jungle - the wild pigs, the deer, even the birds - all took shelter in hidden caves and behind thick vegetation, so there would be no successful catch for the hunter. If you saw the balutan magågon å'paka' , you might as well go home. There would be no catch for the time being.

The hunters believed this was the taotaomo'na's way of punishing the hunters for venturing into their territory, or for doing so without asking permission.

For those who may not know, the taotaomo'na are the spirits of the ancient people.



VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(Traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)



BALUTAN MAGAGON A’PAKA’


Hay una historia de taotaomo'na que casi nunca se escucha hoy en día. Pero los cazadores ( kasadules ) en épocas pasadas contaban esta historia, y yo la encontré en un artículo escrito en 1960 basado en cuentos narrados por personas mayores en ese momento.


Esa gente decía que a veces, cuando cazaban en lo profundo de la jungla, veían un bulto de tela

blanca flotando en el aire. Eso era el balutan magågon å'paka' . Magågo es “tela”. Å'paka ' significa "blanco". Balutan significa "envuelto".


No solo flotaba en el aire, mientras se desplazaba emitía un sonido tan estrepitoso como si una excavadora estuviera pisoteando los árboles y aplastando las rocas en la selva. El ruido era ensordecedor.


Pero, si seguías el camino del balutan magågon å'paka ', descubrirías que la jungla estaba perfectamente, en su estado normal. Cada árbol en su lugar. Sin embargo, había una cosa fuera de lo común. Los animales habían escuchado el ruido del balutan magågon å'paka' flotante y se habían escondido con miedo. Todos los animales que se esperaba cazar en la jungla (los cerdos salvajes, los ciervos, incluso los pájaros) se habían refugiado en cuevas ocultas y detrás de la espesa vegetación, por lo cual no habría una captura exitosa para el cazador. Si se veía el balutan magågon å'paka ', bien se podría ir uno a casa. No habría captura ese día.


Los cazadores creían que ésta era la forma que los taotaomo'na tenían de castigarlos por aventurarse en su territorio, o por adentrarse sin pedir permiso.


Para aquellos que no saben, los taotaomo'na son los espíritus de los pueblos antiguos.

LITTLE ORPHAN ANA

Friday, April 17, 2020


In 1912 on Guam, there was no Child Protective Services or adoption agencies.

Society left it to relatives and good-natured people to take the initiative to take care of orphans. Many times this was done without even bothering to formalize things with the government.A family would take in an orphan, an illegitimate child or a child from a poor family and that was that. No legal papers whatsoever.

In this interesting case, the priest of Hagåtña stepped in. I am leaving out the family name so as not to embarrass the clan.

Ana, just eleven years old, was the daughter of a deceased woman, Leonora. It seems the biological father was not in the picture at all. When Leonora died, the little girl Ana went to live with her cousin Remedios, the daughter of Leonora's sister. There was just one problem. Remedios was a "public woman,"

"Public woman" was a nice way of saying "prostitute." The government at the time had an actual list of women known as "public." Remedios' name was on it.

Påle' Luís de León, the Spanish priest of Hagåtña at the time, was horrified that a little girl would be exposed to that sort of life and, God forbid, follow in her caregiver's footsteps. To make matters worse, maybe take up that sort of life at a young age.

So Påle' Luís wrote a request to the Governor to have him compel Remedios, the public woman, to release Ana to his care.

Would the little girl Ana actually live under Påle' Luís' roof? Hardly! It would have been against all rules, decorum and common sense. Young, single men lived in the priest's house doing the cooking, cleaning and other work. There were four or five priests and brothers living in the konbento or rectory at the time. Putting Ana there would expose her to the same sort of danger to be found elsewhere. But Påle' Luís would have found Ana a suitable home to live in, and it appears this is just what the priest did, because the next thing we know, a widow very close to the church files a petition in court asking to adopt Ana. I am confident that Påle' Luís suggested that this widow do so.

The blood relatives of Ana, not including Remedios, said as much. They appeared in court to oppose the appointment of this widow as guardian over Ana, and stated that this was Påle' Luís' idea. These relatives said that another aunt had the right to become Ana's guardian. But the court, stating this that alleged aunt also had a bad reputation, decided to award the guardianship to the socially prestigious widow.

It didn't last forever. Just five years later, Ana, aged 16 going into 17, ran away from her adoptive home. She told the court that she was not being treated well there, and begged to be released to a female relative. Her request was granted and Ana was released from her first guardian to come under an aunt's supervision. A year later Ana, aged 18 and now an adult, was a servant in another family's home.



PÅLE' LUÍS DE LEÓN


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(Traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

LA PEQUEÑA HUÉRFANA ANA


En 1912 en Guam, no había servicios de protección infantil ni agencias de adopción.

La sociedad dejaba que familiares y personas de buen carácter tomaran la iniciativa de cuidar a los huérfanos. Muchas veces esto se hizo sin siquiera molestarse en formalizar las cosas con el gobierno. Una familia acogería a un huérfano, un niño ilegítimo o un niño de una familia pobre y eso era todo. No había documentos legales de ningún tipo.

En este interesante caso, el sacerdote de Hagåtña intervino. Estoy dejando de lado el apellido para no avergonzar al clan.


Ana, de solo once años, era hija de una mujer fallecida, Leonora. Parece que el padre biológico no estaba en la imagen en absoluto. Cuando Leonora murió, la pequeña Ana se fue a vivir con su prima Remedios, la hija de la hermana de Leonora. Hubo solo un problema. Remedios era una "mujer pública.”


"Mujer pública" era una buena manera de decir "prostituta". El gobierno en ese momento tenía una lista real de mujeres conocidas como "públicas". El nombre de Remedios estaba en él.


Påle 'Luís de León, el sacerdote español de Hagåtña en ese momento, estaba horrorizado de que una niña pequeña estuviera expuesta a ese tipo de vida y, Dios no lo quiera, seguir los pasos de su cuidadora. Para empeorar las cosas, tal vez tomar ese tipo de vida a una edad temprana.


Entonces Påle 'Luís escribió una solicitud al gobernador para que obligara a Remedios, la mujer pública, a liberar a Ana a su cuidado.


¿Viviría la pequeña Ana en realidad bajo el techo de Påle 'Luís'? ¡Apenas! Hubiera estado en contra de todas las reglas, el decoro y el sentido común. Hombres jóvenes solteros vivían en la casa del sacerdote cocinando, limpiando y haciendo otros trabajos. Había cuatro o cinco sacerdotes y hermanos que vivían en el “konbento” o rectoría en ese momento. Poner a Ana allí la expondría al mismo tipo de peligro que se encuentra en otro lugar. Pero Påle 'Luís habría encontrado a Ana un hogar adecuado para vivir, y parece que esto es exactamente lo que hizo el sacerdote, porque lo siguiente que sabemos es que una viuda muy cercana a la iglesia presenta una petición en la corte pidiendo adoptar a Ana. Estoy seguro de que Påle 'Luís sugirió que esta viuda lo hiciera.


Los parientes consanguíneos de Ana, sin incluir a Remedios, dijeron mucho. Se presentaron en la corte para oponerse al nombramiento de esta viuda como guardiana de Ana, y declararon que esto era idea de Påle 'Luís'. Estos parientes dijeron que otra tía tenía derecho a convertirse en la guardiana de Ana. Pero el tribunal, declarando que esa supuesta tía también tenía mala reputación, decidió otorgar la tutela a la viuda socialmente prestigiosa.


No duró para siempre. Apenas cinco años después, Ana, de 16 años a 17, se escapó de su hogar adoptivo. Ella le dijo a la corte que no la estaban tratando bien allí y rogó que la dejaran en libertad con una pariente. Su solicitud fue concedida y Ana fue liberada de su primera tutora para estar bajo la supervisión de una tía. Un año después, Ana, de 18 años y ahora adulta, era una sirvienta en la casa de otra familia.




SAMOAN CHIEF ESCAPES FROM SAIPAN TO GUAM

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

I'IGA PISA OF SAMOA


I'iga Pisa was a Samoan noble in status and in personality. People described him as pleasing and excellent in his speech and demeanor, besides being tall and regal.

But he lived during German colonial times and was all for Samoan independence. In 1908, tension between Samoan chiefs and the German colonial heads heated up as the chiefs saw their power slipping away. Samoan resisters organized and called themselves Mau a Pule, mau being a Samoan word meaning "resolve" or "unwavering." In 1909, the Germans decided to exile leading members of Mau a Pule far across to the other side of the Pacific, to another island the Germans controlled, Saipan. I'iga Pisa was one of those deported there.




FROM SAMOA TO SAIPAN
Both under German control

Just five years later, the Germans who had imprisoned him were themselves imprisoned when the Japanese took over Saipan in 1914. Japan had no quarrel with Samoans, but finding them transportation to Samoa would be more of a problem. Pisa also found out that his part of Samoa was passed from German control to New Zealand control. The German language he had started to learn in Saipan was now useless to him. He had to learn English if he were to return to Samoa and be of any use in the struggle for Samoan independence.


ALL BY HIMSELF IN A DUGOUT CANOE

Where could he learn English? Guam! Guam was just 136 miles away and he knew that Guam was in American hands. How would he get there? Most of the time he was in Saipan, Pisa had used a small dugout canoe for fishing. He made a paddle and on one night in 1915, he set off for Guam all by himself in his small canoe. He passed Tinian and then was out on the high seas. When he lost sight of all land, he started to become anxious. He had no compass but he knew about the southern cross and he knew, from the rising and setting of the sun, where south was; south where Guam lay!

Fatigue started to get the best of him and, as he nodded himself to sleep, the paddle fell from his hand into the sea. But, he looked up and saw Luta (Rota). He made it on land and crashed asleep in a cave. Some Chamorros found him and gave him food and water but, most of all, kept his secret. Even when a ship from Saipan came looking for him, the Chamorros told them that Pisa had rowed away for Saipan already. The Chamorros on Luta urged him not to row his canoe to Guam; it was too dangerous they said. But Pisa said he had paddled even longer, from Saipan to Luta and he survived. The Chamorros on Luta then relented. With a brand new paddle, Pisa set off for Guam, which he could already see at a distance when he was on the high ground in Luta.



I'IGA PISA'S ROUTE FROM SAIPAN TO GUAM
All by himself in a small, dugout canoe


FINALLY ON GUAM

It was around 1PM when Pisa made landfall on a deserted beach in northern Guam. He fell asleep and was later awakened by the sound of a man moving about. It was a Chamorro, who seemed to be slightly drunk from tuba, which Pisa knew from Saipan. The Chamorro was friendly; perhaps, in part, thanks to the liquor. The Chamorro offered him food. The Chamorro had no idea what Samoa was and was more satisfied thinking that Pisa was a Carolinian as the Chamorros were used to seeing. The Chamorro believed it would be best for Pisa to stay at his ranch and feed his pigs.

Pisa finally reached Hagåtña with his new Chamorro friend and insisted on going straight to the authorities. He marveled at Hagåtña's clean and tidy layout; at automobiles, which had not come to Samoa or Saipan yet, and electric lights. Pisa had with him a letter of recommendation his German school teacher in Saipan had written. Governor William J. Maxwell had a German-speaking member of the Marine band come and translate it. It made a positive difference since Pisa could not explain himself in English, though he could converse a bit in Chamorro to the Chamorro guards.


QUESTIONED BY THE GOVERNOR

The following day, Pisa was sent to be questioned by the Governor. Maxwell had José Torres Roberto, a young government clerk, act as an interpreter. Roberto would use Chamorro with Pisa, but it turned out that Pisa didn't know enough Chamorro to communicate at length. So the German-speaking band member was called again, since Pisa had a better command of German.

Luckily for Pisa, the German captain of the SMS Cormoran , hiding in Apra Harbor from the Japanese, was able to inform Governor Maxwell about Pisa's identity and why he ended up in Saipan. Maxwell did not think Pisa should go to Guam's government schools to learn English. The Governor would find some other way. Not long after, Pisa was put to work at the government printing office as a type setter. That way he would learn the English language, putting the letters together to print out bulletins in English. People he associated with, both inside and outside work, spoke to him in English and helped him learn that way, too. Maxwell decided Pisa should wait until the war was over and see who truly got control over Samoa before Pisa returned.



GOVERNOR WILLIAM J. MAXWELL



ON TO HONOLULU THEN SAMOA

Well, World War I eventually ended in 1918. Germany lost that war and New Zealand's control over most of Samoa was confirmed. But Pisa took the advice of the new American Governor of Guam to wait till a Navy transport could take him to Honolulu for free, since he had worked for the Naval Government for four years. The Governor also gave Pisa a letter of recommendation for the Navy heads in Pearl Harbor and, sure enough, Pisa got a job with the Navy in Hawaii and then later at a private printing company.

But Pisa's family wanted him back in Samoa, and so did the New Zealand colonial government there. Pisa had a good knowledge of English by now and would be useful in Samoa's governmental offices. His congenial personality won him man friends in Honolulu who were sad to see him go. His departure even made the Hawaii newspapers. He returned to Samoa and worked for the Department of Native Affairs until 1942.

He passed away in 1965.

Memoirs of I'iga Pisa, Marianas Variety, Saipan, October 13, 20, 27, 1972.


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(Traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)



JEFE SAMOANO ESCAPA DE SAIPAN A GUAM.


I'iga Pisa era un noble samoano en status y personalidad. La gente lo describió como agradable y excelente en su discurso y comportamiento, además de ser alto y regio.

Pero vivió durante la época colonial alemana y él anhelaba la independencia de Samoa. En 1908, la tensión entre los jefes samoanos y los jefes coloniales alemanes aumentó cuando los samoanos vieron que su poder se desvanecía. La resistencia samoana se organizó y se llamó a sí misma Mau a Pule, “mau” es una palabra samoana que significa "resolución" o "inquebrantable". En 1909, los alemanes decidieron exiliar a los principales miembros de Mau a Pule al otro lado del Pacífico, a otra isla que los alemanes controlaban, Saipán. I'iga Pisa fue uno de los deportados allí.


Solo cinco años después, los alemanes que lo habían encarcelado fueron también hechos prisioneros cuando los japoneses se apoderaron de Saipán en 1914. Japón no discutió con los samoanos, pero encontrarles transporte a Samoa sería un problema mayor. Pisa también descubrió que parte de Samoa había pasado del control alemán al control de Nueva Zelanda. El idioma alemán que había comenzado a aprender en Saipán ahora era inútil para él. Tenía que aprender inglés para regresar a su país y ser útil en la lucha por la independencia de Samoa.


TODO POR SÍ MISMO EN UNA CANOA DUGOUT


¿Dónde podría aprender inglés? ¡Guam! Sabía que Guam estaba en manos estadounidenses. ¿Cómo llegaría él allí? La mayor parte del tiempo que estuvo en Saipán, Pisa había usado una pequeña canoa para pescar. Hizo una paleta y, una noche de 1915, se dirigió solo hacia Guam en su pequeña canoa. Pasó junto a Tinián y luego salió a alta mar. Cuando perdió de vista tierra, comenzó a ponerse ansioso. No tenía brújula, pero conocía la cruz del sur y sabía, por la salida y puesta del sol, dónde estaba el sur; el sur donde yacía Guam.


La fatiga comenzó a arrebatar lo mejor de él y, mientras asentía para dormir, la paleta cayó de su mano al mar. Pero, levantó la vista y vio Rota. Llegó a tierra y se durmió en una cueva. Algunos chamorros lo encontraron y le dieron comida y agua pero, sobre todo, mantuvieron su secreto. Incluso cuando un barco de Saipán vino a buscarlo, los chamorros les dijeron que Pisa ya había regresado a Saipán. Los chamorros de Rota lo instaron a no continuar su viaje en canoa hacia Guam; Era demasiado peligroso, le dijeron. Pero Pisa les respondió que había remado aún más, desde Saipán hasta Rota y estaba vivo. Los chamorros de Rota cedieron entonces. Con una nueva paleta, Pisa partió hacia Guam, que ya había podido ver desde la distancia cuando había subido a la parte elevada de Rota.


FINALMENTE EN GUAM

 

Era alrededor de la 1:00 p.m. cuando Pisa tocó tierra en una playa desierta en el norte de Guam. Se durmió y luego fue despertado por el sonido de un hombre moviéndose. Era un chamorro, que parecía estar un poco borracho de tuba, bebida que Pisa conocía de Saipán. El chamorro era amigable, en la forma en que el licor a menudo hace a un hombre. El chamorro le ofreció comida; no tenía idea de qué era Samoa y estaba más satisfecho pensando que Pisa era carolino como los chamorros estaban acostumbrados a ver; y el chamorro creía que sería mejor para Pisa quedarse en su rancho y alimentar a sus cerdos.


Pisa finalmente llegó a Hagåtña con su nuevo amigo chamorro e insistió en ir directamente a las autoridades. Se maravilló de la disposición limpia y ordenada de Hagåtña; con automóviles, que aún no habían llegado a Samoa o Saipán, y luces eléctricas. Pisa tenía con él una carta de recomendación que su maestro de la escuela alemana en Saipán había escrito. El gobernador William J. Maxwell hizo que un miembro de habla alemana de la banda naval viniera y lo tradujera. Hizo una discriminación positiva. Porque, hasta entonces, Pisa no podía explicarse en inglés, aunque podía conversar un poco en chamorro con los guardias.


INTERROGADO POR EL GOBERNADOR


Al día siguiente, Pisa fue enviado para ser interrogado por el gobernador. Maxwell hizo que José Roberto Torres, un joven empleado del gobierno, actuara como intérprete. Roberto usaría el chamorro con Pisa, pero resultó que Pisa no conocía lo suficientemente el idioma para comunicarse. Entonces llamaron nuevamente al miembro de la banda, de habla alemana, porque Pisa tenía un mejor dominio del alemán.


Afortunadamente para Pisa, el capitán alemán del SMS Cormoran, escondido de los japoneses en la Bahía de Apra, pudo informar al gobernador Maxwell sobre la identidad de Pisa y por qué terminó en Saipán. Maxwell no creyó que Pisa debiese ir a las escuelas gubernamentales de Guam para aprender inglés. El gobernador encontraría otra forma. No mucho después, Pisa fue puesto a trabajar en la imprenta del gobierno como tipógrafo. De esa forma aprendería el idioma inglés, juntando las letras para imprimir boletines en inglés. Las personas con las que se asociaba, tanto dentro como fuera del trabajo, le hablaban en inglés y también lo ayudaban a aprender de esa manera. Maxwell decidió que Pisa debería esperar hasta que terminara la guerra y ver realmente quién tenía el control sobre Samoa, antes de que Pisa regresara.


EN HONOLULU, LUEGO SAMOA


Bueno, la Primera Guerra Mundial finalmente terminó en 1918. Pero Pisa escuchó el consejo del nuevo gobernador estadounidense de Guam para esperar hasta que un transporte de la Marina pudiera llevarlo a Honolulu de forma gratuita, ya que había trabajado para el Gobierno Naval durante cuatro años. El gobernador también le dio a Pisa una carta de recomendación para los jefes de la Marina en Pearl Harbor y, efectivamente, Pisa consiguió un trabajo con la Marina en Hawai y luego en una imprenta privada.


Pero la familia de Pisa lo quería de regreso en Samoa, y también el gobierno colonial de allí. Pisa tenía un buen conocimiento del inglés y sería útil en las oficinas gubernamentales de Samoa. Su personalidad agradable le ganó amigos en Honolulu que estaban tristes de verlo partir. Su marcha incluso llegó a los periódicos de Hawai. Regresó a Samoa y trabajó para el Departamento de Asuntos Nativos hasta 1942. Falleció en 1965.



I MAMOPBLE

Monday, April 6, 2020


Homelessness is not just a modern social problem.

Of course it is much worse today than in the past. But the historical record shows that not everyone had a comfortable life in the "good old days." The fact that life is not a bed of roses applies to all ages in history.

Two brothers were brought to the attention of the court in 1911 because they had no visible means of support.

The court called in witnesses from Inalåhan to provide information about the livelihood of Vicente and Marcelo . In a small village like Inalåhan, residents would have seen the two brothers on a daily basis and could provide accurate knowledge about the two brothers' situation in life.

According to the witnesses, Vicente had no property of any kind and thus no way to raise chickens, cows, pigs nor land on which to grow crops. He would fish in the sea, but what he caught wasn't enough for sustenance because he had only a sharp iron rod with which to stab a single fish when the tide was low. What he could catch would be enough for a day or two at most, and that was only when he had luck fishing that day. No mention is made where he lived, as opposed to his brother, so we can assume Vicente was homeless, sleeping wherever he could find a spot. One night here, another night somewhere else.



VICENTE'S ONLY WAY OF FISHING

His brother Marcelo also had no land, animals nor fishing nets, but he did have a humble hut on government property which he was allowed to use. He was also allowed to farm a piece of land belonging to someone else but apparently Marcelo did not make much of a living from that opportunity.

When it was lemmai (breadfruit) or gådo ' (wild yam) season, they would help themselves from trees or fields which were more or less "public." At times they would also eat other yams - nika and simarón - and also fadang (federico nut). They rarely ate corn or rice, the main staples of food at the time.

Both men were described as able-bodied and healthy, but having an aversion to manual work and a love for alcohol.

Because of their poverty, the two brothers were suspected of stealing things from their fellow Inalåhan villagers.

The sad thing was that both brothers had wives and several children each. Imagine how meager the children's daily meals were, unless, as sometimes happened, the mother and children left the man to live with her relatives.

The two brothers could be blamed for their laziness and intemperance, if they were truly guilty of these. But the fact that neither of them had any land was probably due to their parents' lack of land to pass on. Why was this so? Vicente and Marcelo were born in Inalåhan and so were their parents. This family had deep roots there. They must have had land at one time. How did they lose it? This has to be part of the reason why Vicente and Marcelo were so destitute.




RANCH SCENE NEAR INALÅHAN
at the time Vicente and Marcelo lived


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(Traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


LOS POBRES


La falta de vivienda no es solo un problema social moderno.


Por supuesto, es mucho peor hoy que en el pasado. Pero el registro histórico muestra que no todos tenían una vida cómoda en los "buenos viejos tiempos". El hecho de que la vida no sea un lecho de rosas se aplica a todas las épocas en la Historia.


Dos hermanos llamaron la atención de la Corte en 1911 porque aparentemente no tenían ingresos.

El Tribunal llamó a testigos de Inalåhan para proporcionar información sobre el sustento de Vicente y Marcelo. En un pequeño pueblo como Inalåhan, los residentes habrían visto a los dos hermanos diariamente y podrían proporcionar un conocimiento preciso sobre la situación de los dos hermanos en la vida.


Según los testigos, Vicente no tenía propiedades de ningún tipo y, por lo tanto, no tenía forma de criar pollos, vacas, cerdos ni tierras para cultivar. Pescaría en el mar, pero lo que pescaba no era suficiente para sustentarse porque solo tenía una barra de hierro afilada con la que capturar a un solo pez cuando la marea estaba baja. Lo que podría atrapar sería suficiente para un día o dos como máximo, y eso era solo cuando tenía suerte pescando ese día. No se menciona dónde vivía, a diferencia de su hermano, por lo que podemos suponer que Vicente no tenía hogar, durmiendo donde pudiera encontrar un sitio. Una noche aquí, otra noche en otro lugar.


Su hermano Marcelo tampoco tenía tierra, animales ni redes de pesca, pero tenía una humilde cabaña en propiedad del gobierno que se le permitía usar. También se le permitía cultivar un terreno que pertenecía a otra persona, pero aparentemente Marcelo no se ganaba la vida de ese modo.


Cuando era la temporada de lemmai (fruta del pan) o gådo '(ñame silvestre), se servían de árboles o campos que eran más o menos "públicos". A veces también comían otros ñames - nika y simarón - y también fadang (nuez federico). Raramente comían maíz o arroz, los principales alimentos básicos en ese momento.


Ambos hombres fueron descritos como aptos y sanos, pero que tenían una aversión al trabajo manual y sí un amor por el alcohol.


Debido a su pobreza, los dos hermanos eran sospechosos de robar cosas de sus vecinos de Inalåhan.


Lo triste fue que ambos hermanos tenían esposas y varios hijos cada uno. Imagine cuán escasas eran las comidas diarias de los niños, a menos que, como sucedía a veces, la madre y los niños dejaran al hombre para vivir con sus familiares.


Los dos hermanos podrían ser culpados por su pereza e intemperancia, si fueran realmente culpables de esto. Pero el hecho de que ninguno de ellos tuviera tierra probablemente se debió a la falta de bienes de sus padres para transmitir. ¿Por qué fue así? Vicente y Marcelo nacieron en Inalåhan y también sus padres. Esta familia tenía profundas raíces allí. Debieron haber tenido tierra alguna vez. ¿Cómo la perdieron? Esto tiene que ser parte de la razón por la cual Vicente y Marcelo eran tan indigentes.



"I GOTTA BE ME"

Friday, April 3, 2020


Believe it or not, that picture above is the signature of a woman signing her name Juana Rojas.

Even back in 1911, Guam had its share of eccentrics and free-spirited people, perhaps having a flair for artistic expression.

Juana, whose full name was Juana Rojas Díaz, according to the Spanish method of placing one's father's surname first, followed by the mother's, certainly had a unique way of signing her name.

To make it clearer that she was signing herself "Juana Rojas," let's look at this version :




Her first J seems recognizable, although some might think it's a Y.

Her style follows the Spanish fashion and of her time, the late 1800s.

She writes her R backwards. This was definitely unconventional by all standards at the time.

And her final S seems odd to us but may have been recognizable to Spaniards in the 1800s as an S.

Her As, which appear three times in her signature, are also unique but at least consistent. Even the non-conformist often conforms to his own rules.




I would have liked to have meet Juana. Did she have a flair in everything she did? Did she stand out in her attire? Did she add an unusual ingredient to her natiya ( latiya )? Who taught her how to sign her name? And did she quarrel with whoever taught her?


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(Traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)



TENGO QUE SER YO


Lo creamos o no, la imagen de arriba es la rúbrica de una mujer que firma su nombre, “Juana Rojas”.


Incluso en 1911, Guam tenía su propia cuota de gente excéntrica y de espíritu libre, tal vez con un don para la expresión artística.


Juana, cuyo nombre completo era “Juana Rojas Díaz”, según el método español de colocar primero el apellido del padre, seguido del de la madre, ciertamente tenía una forma única de firmar su nombre.


Para dejar claro que ella se estaba firmando a sí misma, "Juana Rojas", veamos la segunda imagen:


Su primera J parece reconocible, aunque algunos podrían pensar que es una Y.


Su estilo sigue la moda española y de su época, a fines del siglo XIX.


Ella escribe su R al revés. Esto definitivamente no era convencional para todos los estándares en ese momento.


Y su S final nos parece extraña, pero puede haber sido reconocible por los españoles en el siglo XIX como una S.


Sus As, que aparecen tres veces en su firma, también son únicas pero al menos consistentes. Incluso el inconformista a menudo se ajusta a sus propias reglas.


Me hubiera gustado conocer a Juana. ¿Tenía ella un don en todo lo que hacía? ¿Se destacó en su atuendo? ¿Agregó un ingrediente inusual a su natiya (latiya)? ¿Quién le enseñó a firmar su nombre? ¿Y se peleó con quien le enseñó?


BORN IN PAGAN

Monday, March 30, 2020

PAGAN IN THE 1800s

Around 1860 or so (we can't be totally sure when because he gave different ages for himself through the years), a Chamorro-American boy was born on the island of Pagan.

In those days, all the Marianas were one political unit. Before the Spaniards came, all our islands, though not governed by a single king, chief or maga'låhe , were nevertheless one Chamorro homeland. There were no borders between our islands. Only in 1898 did the Americans take Guam alone, separating it from the rest of the Marianas.

In the 1850s, people believed much money could be made in Pagan and in some of the other northern islands, especially in the copra trade.

Chamorros and Carolinians from Guam and, later on, Saipan and a few from Luta and Tinian, went up to Pagan, employees of several companies that won rights from the government to make copra in Pagan. These efforts lasted a few years then shut down, everyone returning to their home islands. Only till much later did a small, permanent community of Chamorros and Carolinians form on Pagan.

Thomas San Nicolás Payne was the son of an American (so he says in the 1920 census) and a Chamorro mother, it seems, by the last name of San Nicolás. I wouldn't be surprised if father Payne went up to Pagan, wife in tow, to work on the copra plantations there and returned to Guam after a short while.

In a court case in 1911, Payne testified as a witness and gave this information about himself. Note that even in 1911 Chamorros were still calling themselves in the Spanish fashion, stating their father's surname first, then their mother's.



Payne was married to Ana Ulloa Aguon (familian Makaka') and his descendants live to this day.




Thomas San Nicolás Payne's signature in 1911


VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(Traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)



NACIDO EN PAGAN

Un niño chamorro-americano nació en la isla de Pagan, alrededor de 1860 (no podemos estar totalmente seguros de cuándo, debido a que él se dio diferentes edades a lo largo de los años).

En aquellos días, todas las Marianas eran una unidad política. Antes de la llegada de los españoles, todas nuestras islas, aunque no estaban gobernadas por un solo rey, jefe o maga'låhe , eran, sin embargo, una patria común para los chamorros. No había fronteras entre nuestras islas. No fue hasta 1898 cuando los estadounidenses tomaron Guam separándola del resto de las Marianas.

En la década de 1850, la gente creía que se podía ganar mucho dinero en Pagan y en algunas de las otras islas del norte, especialmente en el comercio de la copra.

Chamorros y carolinos de Guam y, más tarde, Saipan y algunos de Luta y Tinian, se acercaron a Pagan, empleados en varias compañías que obtuvieron los derechos del gobierno para la copra. Estos esfuerzos duraron unos años y luego se cerraron, todos regresaron a sus islas de origen. Fue mucho más tarde cuando se formó una pequeña comunidad permanente de chamorros y carolinos en Pagan.

Thomas Payne San Nicolás era hijo de un estadounidense (eso dice en el censo de 1920) y de una madre chamorra, al parecer, por el apellido de San Nicolás. No me sorprendería que el padre, Payne se hubiera acercado a Pagan, para trabajar en las plantaciones de copra y regresara a Guam después de un tiempo.
En un caso judicial en 1911, Payne testificó como testigo y dio esta información sobre sí mismo. Tengamos en cuenta que incluso en 1911 los chamorros todavía se llamaban al estilo español, indicando primero el apellido de su padre, y luego el de su madre.

Tomás Payne San Nicolás. ¿Cuántos años tiene? 54 años. ¿Está usted soltero o casado? Casado. ¿Dónde nació usted? Nací en la Isla de Pagan, Marianas. ¿Dónde tiene su residencia? En Agaña, Guam, Marianas.

LACHE HININGOK-ÑA

Friday, March 27, 2020


Humånao si José para u ali'e' yan i mediku-ña.

Mediko : José! Håfa na dies libras hao mås makkat ke ni ma'pos na biåhe. Hu tågo' hao para un "exercise!"

José : Ai lokkue'. Pine'lo-ko, Doc, na ilek-mo "Extra rice."


José went to his doctor's appointment.

Doctor : Jose! Why are you ten pounds heavier than the last time. I told you to exercise!

José : Oh dear. I thought, Doc, you said, "Extra rice."



MOCKING THE GI SENGSONG

Wednesday, March 25, 2020


We're used to thinking of Aniguak as just a section of Hagåtña and today it legally is.


But not so in the old days.


At one time, Aniguak had its own civil officials under the Spanish government. As one can see in the map above, made around 1913, there was actual empty space between Aniguak and Hagåtña in those days and before.


But the separation was not only legal or geographical. It was also social.


Despite the fact that we resent being looked down on for coming from the Marianas, many Chamorros have no problem marking other Chamorros because they come from a different village, island and even social class.


For Chamorros in Hagåtña, where 2/3 of the entire island lived for a lot of the time, everyone on Guam who lived outside of the capital city was GI SENGSONG.


GI means "at" and in this sense "from." Sengsong is from SONGSONG, meaning "village."


Additionally, people could be called after the village or island they were from. Someone from Luta (Rota) was called Gi Lita.


Someone from Yoña was Gi Ye'ña. From Sumay was Gi Simay. And so on.



It's also the case that people from Hagåtña were called by others Gi Hagåtña.


In many cases, people didn't mean any insult at all when calling someone Gi Lita or Gi Simay or what have you. But people from those places could be sensitive and be offended by being called such because, at times, it was meant as a put-down.

People from the rural villages and other islands sometimes felt judged as "lower" in status by Hagåtña people.


In 1911, we see a case where someone from the villages was labeled such, and it was clearly meant as a put-down.


Ana and Manuel had neighboring farms in Yigo, and they would butt heads periodically. Stray cows wandering into the other's fields, for example. Ana was from Hagåtña, and Manuel was from Aniguåk. Even though Aniguåk was literally a five-minute walk from the edge of Hagåtña, the social distance was greater than several hundred yards.


In one verbal argument between the two, Ana said,


"Ai ke puñetero. På'go un gi Aniguåk yo' u na' kieto gi lugåt-ho."

("What a nuisance. Now someone from Aniguak is going to put me in my place.")


"Tatpalo i taotao Aniguåk."

("Aniguak people are useless.")


Manuel said in reply :


"Hågo maolek ni gi Hagåtña; po'lo ha' yo' yan i gi Aniguåk-ho."

("You are good who are from Hagåtña; leave me be and my being from Aniguåk.")


Manuel showed, by his remark, that he was totally comfortable being from Aniguåk.

A TASTE OF THE OCCUPATION

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

JAPANESE SAILORS IN HAGÅTÑA
during the Occupation 1942 or 1943


Some of the very hardships we are enduring now that the corona virus has made its appearance on Guam are the same hardships our elders endured during the Japanese Occupation (December 1941 to July 1944).

But the hardships may surprise you.

What we call "history" is often myth; a mixture of truth and untruth.

One such myth of the Japanese Occupation is that it was all misery and torture, starvation and massacre.

It wasn't.

As many an elder who went through the Occupation told me, "The worst part was the beginning and the end. The big middle was okay."

And it should make sense. When the Japanese first took over the island and then later when they struggled to keep the island, that's when the Japanese were the most brutal. But once the island was completely theirs and the nearest American was thousand of miles away, the Japanese could relax. They were human, too, and wanted to have as stress-free a day as possible and enjoy life. And when the Japanese relaxed, the Chamorro could, too. To some extent.

And so, one elder, who was 14 or 15 years old during the Occupation, said to me, "The hardest thing for us about the Japanese Occupation was the BOREDOM ."




Doesn't that sound like a lot of what we're facing now? As schools are closed? When people avoid the movies? As Tumon is a ghost town?

This lady who told me about the boredom of the Occupation knew first-hand the miseries of war. She and her teenage sisters were physically and sexually abused by Japanese guards at Mañenggon. Her mother was an emotional mess worrying that her daughters would be raped (they weren't). Her younger brother got hit by American shrapnel and almost lost his foot. But that was at the end of the Occupation, she says, when the Japanese went crazy knowing they were going to die. But for all of 1942 and 1943, the main difficulty she said was boredom.

Here are three of those difficulties in a bit more detail :

1. LACK OF RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY

The people were free to practice their religious devotions at home, but what the people really missed was Mass. Although Fathers Dueñas and Calvo said daily Mass, their Masses were not accessible to the majority. Father Dueñas said Mass mainly in Inarajan. Father Calvo said Mass mainly in his family chapel in Chochogo' in Toto. But this wasn't the same as the thousands who filled up the entire Hagåtña Cathedral, the large Santa Cruz church and all the smaller churches and chapels of Guam before the war.

The vast majority of people could not attend Mass at all for two and a half years, and they felt the sting of it. We're going through the same thing under the corona virus pandemic. Public Masses are suspended and many people feel the loss.




But it wasn't just Mass. It was the lack of interaction with the clergy and people. Church was also a setting which afforded social interaction. Various people were in charge of this or that. Techas lead the prayers. Lay teachers taught the catechism. People sang in the choir. Bachelors looked for their sweet hearts and tried to talk to them after Mass. Church was a key meeting point of many people on Guam. And it was gone for two and half years.

And it wasn't just Sunday Mass, or even just daily Mass. First Communions and Confirmations had to wait or were done without fanfare. Weddings were also celebrated with less festivity and fancy attire, if celebrated at all. Burials were done quickly and sometimes without the benefit of a priest.

Gone for that period were the fiestas that were observed with decorated arches and solemn processions, then by festive dinners in the homes.

Besides the absence of spiritual consolation, the lack of religious activities helped bring about great boredom for many people.

With a ban today on any gathering exceeding 50 persons, think of the implications for people wanting to celebrate funerals, death anniversaries, rosaries for the dead, christenings and so on. We face the same hardship as in 1942.

2. REDUCED SOCIAL LIFE

Nearly half the people living on Guam in 1941 resided in Hagåtña, a tightly compact city where some 10,000 people were squeezed in among houses, stores, bars, restaurants and offices. The capital was always busy with activity. To get anywhere inside the city, one just needed to walk. People were always visiting each other. Among the Naval officers and the local elite, parties and dinners, complete with live music and dancing, would be written up in the Guam Recorder monthly magazine.

The lady who told me about the boredom of the Occupation was from one such elite Chamorro family. She was used to going, even as a teenager, to dinners and parties where her influential father rubbed elbows with military brass and local statesiders who married Chamorro women. They dressed up, sang songs and danced. Stories, jokes and gossip took hours to relate.

That was mostly taken away during the Occupation. The military brass, of course, was deported but so were the local statesiders married to Chamorro wives. Even many of the elite Chamorros no longer had stores to run, since no goods were being shipped in to stock shelves. High ranking Chamorros sitting at desks in the American government were mostly now out of a job. So, almost all the local men, both high and low, had to survive by going back to the land and sea. People were too busy growing their food to carry on social events to the same extent they did before the war.

People had to be careful, too, about gathering in numbers or in circumstances that aroused Japanese suspicions. Ears and eyes were always on the lookout for anti-Japanese activities, real or imagined. With such fear and concern around, people didn't gather as much as they did before the war.

We're going through the same thing today. We're being told to keep three feet away from others, some even inside the same house. Gatherings of over 50 people are prohibited by the government. People aren't dropping by friends' homes for casual visits. And we've only just begun. Unless things change dramatically, we'll be sitting at home a lot for the next month. Now we know what the lady meant when she said boredom was the main difficulty of the Occupation.




HEARD NO MORE
Social events, and the American music often played at them, mostly disappeared


3. SCHOOLS, BUT ONLY UP TO A POINT

Despite Japanese reports and statistics during the Occupation, Guam's children didn't get much schooling during that period.

Japanese reports state that schools were running and teaching roughly 80% of the same number of school kids as prewar times.

But the older people would have told you that any schooling they had during the Occupation was brief and passing.

Even the Japanese reports have to admit the fact that classes were mainly to teach the children basic Japanese vocabulary, with lots of singing, physical exercise and social etiquette involved.

Brighter students who seemed to learn Japanese quicker than others were selected to undergo more vigorous language training in order to become Japanese teachers themselves one day. These managed to pick up some good command of the language, but the majority of Guam's children remained as incapable of carrying on a full conversation in Japanese after the war as they were before the war.

Today, our school children have to stay at home, many of them complaining of the boredom. The difference now is that the older ones can still do their school work online.



THERE WERE SCHOOLS
during the Occupation
but classes were brief and passing



So as we "suffer" endless hours mindlessly scrolling on our phones, or searching for more engaging videos on Youtube, let us remember, "This is what grandma went through in 1942." Except that she didn't have Youtube.

So when people say our crisis today is "unprecedented," that it's the worst we've ever been through, the point can be debated, but one thing remains clear. Our parents and grandparents went through the Japanese Occupation which, besides the whipping, rape and murders for a lot of our people, did include a whole lot of boredom. There is a precedence for what we're going through now.



KUARENTENA

Monday, March 16, 2020

BEFORE THE WAR


Not only did we have a word for QUARANTINE in the old days, we also had a place for it.

Due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) situation on Guam, some incoming passengers to the island will have to undergo mandatory quarantine, while others will have to self-isolate at home.

The English word quarantine comes from the Italian word for "forty," quaranta . Because of the Black Death, the port city of Venice in Italy mandated a waiting period of forty days for newcomers to enter the city. It was believed forty days were enough for a disease to manifest in the person, who would then not be allowed in and infect others. For forty days, the person had to stay on the ship or reside temporarily at a nearby residence by the port, but still outside the city proper.

So from the Italian word for "forty," quaranta , we get the English word quarantine.

Well, since we were under the Spanish, we used the Spanish word for it - cuarentena , and in Chamorro with a K - KUARENTENA .


CABRAS WAS QUARANTINE ISLAND




Some people ask why we call it Cabras ISLAND when it doesn't look like an island. It seems connected to Piti.

Now it is, by a man-made bridge. But, in the old days, Cabras was really an island, unconnected to the main island of Guam and completely surrounded by water on all sides.

Thus, being so close to the landing pier at Punta Piti, where passengers and cargo who arrived into Apra Harbor landed, and yet separated by water, Cabras Island was a perfect place for a quarantine station where passengers suspected of having some disease could reside until they were all cleared, or had to get back on the ship and never land.

Cabras, by the way, is the Spanish name for the island. Cabras means "goats." The Chamorro name for the island is Apapa.

In 1910, the German head of the Catholic Mission of the Marianas, which at the time included Guam, was not allowed to even step foot on Guam by the American Navy, so he had to hang out for a brief time at the Cabras Quarantine Station till he found a ride up to Saipan. Rome had put Guam under the rule of German priests, but the Spanish-attached Chamorro people of Guam and the American Navy did not want German priests here.



His name was Father Paulus of Kirchhausen, and you can see in the picture above he gave permission ("Imprimatur") for the publication of a Catholic book for use in the Marianas on June 19, 1910 writing from Apapa, the Chamorro name for Cabras Island, where he was in detention at the Quarantine Station till he was forced to go back to Saipan.

The Cabras Quarantine Station was destroyed, along with almost everything else, in the American bombardment of Guam in 1944. But, many years later, when more building projects on Cabras necessitated field studies of the area, the remains of the foundations of the Cabras Quarantine Station were found and are probably still there.



CABRAS IN 1900
Notice, not connected to the main island

HOW WE MADE MONEY

Thursday, March 12, 2020

guampdn.com

HOMEMADE SALT

made by Rose San Nicolás


Before the modern age of salaries and minimum wages, how did many of our people make money?

If you're 50 years or older, you remember the almost daily voice of children going door-to-door in the village selling food made by their mothers or grandmothers : empanåda , donuts, buchi buchi and a dozen more things.

But in the old days, besides selling ready-made food or products, our people sold raw materials; things more or less in their natural state.

Just to give you an idea, the following is taken from statements made in court by witnesses about how they earned some cash in the early 1900s. Things sold included some products using human skill, and many things just from mother nature.

Manuel, a single man still in his early 20s, sold the following, sometimes partnering with his father :

Copra - the dried meat of the coconut. This was, depending on the period, in high demand. It was the oil contained therein that was marketable. The oil was used in cosmetics, soaps, candles, cooking and many other purposes. Agents, often Japanese, would buy from local farmers and send off to Japan and elsewhere. Copra was a great money-maker for even the poorest Chamorro in those days. At other times, for different reasons such as over-production, the price of copra fell on the world market and local producers were less inclined to make copra.

Corn - the main staple of the Marianas until imported rice overtook it. It was mainly used to make titiyas but could be made into soups and other dishes.

Monggos - the mung bean.

Eggs

Chicken

Mañåhak - the juvenile rabbit fish. This fish was seasonal but in great demand. It was prepared in several ways and could be eaten whole without worrying about the tiny bones.




Marcela, just 16 years old, being smaller in frame, sold things she was better suited to make or harvest.

Rope - Our islands had the resources to make ropes and cords locally. Fibers from the coconut tree or from the pågo (wild hibiscus) plant, besides other plants, were used. Her older sister and sometimes her brother would help her operate the crank which twisted the fiber strands into rope. Marcela sometimes sold the fibers alone and let the buyer make the rope him or herself.

Fadang - The nuts of this plant are so poisonous that one has to soak them in water and change the water repeatedly to get the poison out. If chickens drink the first water thrown out, they will die! Despite this danger, and the inferior flavor compared to corn and other foods, our elders used fadang to grind into a flour and then make titiyas when nothing else was available. The flour could also be used as a starch but it wasn't very white and its odor was not pleasant to most people. The flour could be made wet and used as a paste. To give you an idea how offensive fadang is, when used as a paste the insects would avoid the area where it was smeared.

Asiento (starch) - Starch can be made from a number of plants in the Marianas, but the most favored was gapgap . It produced a brilliant white starch. A white shirt was starched splendidly using gapgap . But starch could also be obtained from mendioka (tapioca) and other sources.

Dukduk - A variety of breadfruit.

Huto - These are the seeds of the dukduk tree and were boiled or roasted as a snack. Cooks of old prized the oil from these seeds.

Lemmai - Or breadfruit. When in season it was eaten in abundance in a variety of ways. It was cut into chips and dried ( essok ) for storage to enjoy it when the lemmai season was over.

Asiga (salt) - Families living near the sea could send the kids to bring home buckets of salt water, the further away from the beach the better. This was boiled to evaporate the water (the slower the boil the better) and leave behind the salt residue. This was then left out in the sun to bleach it as white as possible. Then the salt could be sold to families who, for whatever reason, couldn't make their own. It was used not only in cooking; it was also used to preserve meat.

Washing - Besides selling things obtained from the land, some of our female elders made money by washing people's laundry. A washerwoman was called a labandera , from the Spanish word for the same thing. Washing could be done at home or in the river or in the few public water troughs built by the Spaniards. Drying ( ma tåla ) could be done by spreading the clothes out on palm branches or woven mats put on wooden platforms or hung on a line. Ironing could be done using a charcoal-filled iron, using starch made from local plants. Some labandera were "under contract" to wash the clothes weekly of some American military officers.


KÅNTA : SI NENI

Monday, March 9, 2020


My favorite line in this song recorded by Alfred Saures from Saipan is,

"Hu fa' eskusa un pugua' yan pupulu."

It means "I made betel nut and pepper leaf an excuse."

The man singing the song is attracted to a lady he has just seen for the first time. Apparently there is no one to introduce them, as he sees her at a social gathering. So, he goes up to her (and the friends she is with) and asks for a betel nut and pepper leaf. Just like people bum a cigarette off of others.

In the act of asking for betel nut, the guy can strike up a conversation with the woman he fancies. The betel nut was just a pretext, an excuse for making contact with her.

This is very cultural, and is vanishing. How many young people bum pugua ' and pupulu off of others nowadays? Maybe still in the Northern Marianas, but less so on Guam.




Sumåsaonao yo' mangonne' taotao
(I went along bringing people)
para guato Memorial Hall.
(over there to Memorial Hall.)
Guaha masusede ya ti bai maleffa
(Something happened and I won't forget it)
sa' i eksperiensia sumen båli.
(because experience is very worthwhile.)

Annai todo monhåyan i okasion
(When the occasion all was finished)
eståba yo' yan i man ga'chong. (1)
(I was with companions.)
Annai hu atan guato gi halom homhom
(When I looked there into the darkness)
esta ti hu hongge i dos matå-ho.
(I couldn't believe my two eyes.)

Eståba gue' nai si neni lokkue' yan man ga'chong.
(Baby was there as well as with companions.)
Hu fa' eskusa un pugua' yan pupulu. (2)
(I made an excuse of betel nut and pepper leaf.)
Annai hu tungo' i na'ån-ña
(When I knew her name)
esta ti siña yo' nai kontento
(I already couldn't be content)
gi hinanao-ho yan gi maigo'-ho guihe na puenge.
(on my way and in my sleep that night.)

Maloffan dos semåna ni sikiera kåtta
(Two weeks passed and not even a letter)
masea dilingding telefon.
(not even a ring from the telephone.)
Bula hu siesiente tåddong gi korason
(I felt a lot deep in the heart)
pot ha' si neni man nanangga.
(waiting just for baby.)

Hu resibe kåtta man ma kombibida ham
(I received a letter inviting us)
para fiestan san kattan. (3)
(to a fiesta in the north.)
Annai tumunok yo' gi karetå-ho
(When I got down from my car)
såbe Dios sa' hu li'e' ta'lo. (4)
(God knows I saw her again.)


NOTES


(1) Ga'chong . The literal meaning of ga'chong is companion. That is why we can ask someone what he or she is eating steak with; rice or potatoes? Håfa ga'chong-ña ? But it can also mean "friend," in the sense that one is usually accompanied by friends and not strangers or enemies. "Friend" is more properly amigo (male) or amiga (female), or the indigenous word åbbok .

(2) Fa ' eskusa . Fa ' is a prefix meaning "to make." Eskusa is the verb "to excuse." Hu eskusa hao . I excuse you. Eskuso is the noun "excuse." Håfa eskusu-mo ? What is your excuse? But, many times, speakers use the verb when they mean the noun. Everyone understands what is meant.

(3) San Kattan . The singer is from Saipan and there kattan is "north" whereas on Guam most people say lågo for north. The problem comes from the fact that, in Chamorro, we don't think of north, south, east and west. We think of towards the sea, away from the sea, to the left of the sea and to the right of the sea. Kattan means to the right of the sea. Lågo means towards the sea. So these words will take on different meaning, depending on where you, the speaker, are standing in relation to the sea. On the western shore of Saipan, where most of the population lives, to go "north" to Tanapag and San Roque, one goes to the right of the sea, thus kattan . It's the same in Humåtak, Guam. To go "north" from Humåtak to Hagåtña (or even Hågat) you go to the right of the sea, thus kattan again.

(4) Såbe Dios . A phrase borrowed directly from Spanish. It means "God knows." "God knows that I love you." Såbe Dios na hu guaiya hao . Or, if someone asks you a question and you don't know the answer, you can say, " Såbe Dios !" "God knows!' as in He's the only one who does.

I MAN GAI TAOTAO

Tuesday, March 3, 2020


It was because of a science project in 8th grade that I first came to know something more about the suruhåno and suruhåna (folk doctors) of our islands.

I chose for my topic traditional Chamorro medicine, made up mainly of herbs, flowers and roots, and put together by the suruhåno . So I asked an aunt to take me around to a few suruhåna to learn more about this art.

It was then that I learned, "We must choose our suruhåna carefully."

"What does that mean?" I asked. My aunt replied, "Some suruhåno have ga'chong . You can also say these suruhåno are gai ' taotao . These are spirit friends who tell the suruhåno information that ordinarily cannot be known, or who give the suruhåna powers ordinary people do not have."

"Like what, for example?" I asked further.

"A suruhåno who had a taotao or a ga'chong could tell the person what he did exactly, and where, to anger the taotaomo'na (ancient spirits). That way the suruhåno can tell the person exactly where to go back and apologize to the taotaomo'na ."

"Or, the ga'chong can give the suruhåno the power to heal, or catch an unusually large quantity of fish, or find a medicinal herb in the jungle hard to find."

But the main power of the suruhåno with a spirit friend, the reason why they were often sought out, even by practicing Catholics, is that these suruhåno with spirit friends could ask their spirit friend to lift the punishment inflicted on a person made sick for offending the taotaomo'na in the jungle or near rocks or latte stones or the trongkon nunu (banyan tree).

When western medicine didn't help, and when it was certain that the sick person, often young, misbehaved in those places known as sagan taotaomo'na (spirit places), or didn't ask permission to pass through the jungle or, worse yet, urinate in the jungle, parents were more convinced that a suruhåno with a spirit friend was needed.

So, the suruhåno would speak to his spirit friend as mentioned above. Sometimes, his taotaomo'na would have to fight with the taotaomo'na who made the person sick. If he prevailed, then the sick person got better. If he didn't beat the other taotaomo'na , the sick person stayed sick.

I once asked a practicing Catholic why she went to a suruhåno with a spirit friend, because her grandson was sick. " Ti isao i para ta gågao i taotaomo'na ni ayudu-ña? " "It's not a sin to ask the taotaomo'na for his help?"

She replied, " Ti guåho gumågao na i suruhåno. An isao pues isao-ña, ti isao-ho. " "It wasn't I who asked, but the suruhåno . If it's a sin then it's his sin, not mine."

When people feel helpless and think they have no alternative, this is how they reason.


BUT THERE IS A PRICE

"But the suruhåno who agrees to receive the help of a ga'chong has to pay a price,: my aunt said.

"What is that?" I asked.

"That suruhåno has to give up God."

"Oh my!" I said with some fear.

"That is why," my aunt said, "we have to chose our suruhåno carefully."

And so I heard for the first time that there were some suruhåno who never went to church.

One suruhåno , who died just 20-some years ago, had a religious wife who made sure the whole family, even he, went to Mass on Sundays. While the whole family sat inside the church for Mass, he stayed outside the church, close enough to the front door to periodically see what was going on. This suruhåno said nothing bad about God, or religion or the church. He didn't try to dissuade anyone from their Catholic faith, and if he was conversing with someone and the other person spoke about God or prayer, this suruhåno would nod his head in agreement and utter some supportive words. But he himself sat outside for Mass.

He was the exception. Most suruhåno/suruhåna who had a spirit friend avoided going to the church altogether. If the suruhåno couldn't avoid going to church, let's say because it was the funeral of a close relative or friend, the suruhåno with a taotao or ga'chong just stayed outside the church door, looking in. He would never enter the church door.

In fact, it was said that there was this one suruhåno who, even if he attempted to put one foot inside the church, was physically prevented from entering, pushed back by an invisible force.

"Not all suruhåno are gai ' taotao or gai ' ga'chong ," my aunt said. "And even some who have a spirit friend still go to church. But some who have a ga'chong , who have a spirit who tells them secrets and gives them power, some do not go to church. Because it's the devil's knowledge and power."


OTHER SPECIAL MARKS OF THE GAI TAOTAO

Besides the forsaking of Christianity, the gai taotao supposedly couldn't eat salt, either. They couldn't eat salty dishes, add salt to their food or dip fruits in salt as we often do. This might have something to do with the worldwide recognition of salt as a purifying agent which evil spirits detest.

Because the gai taotao communed with these spirits, there was a certain air or demeanor about them. You noticed right away that these suruhåno gave off a different feeling from ordinary people. They weren't the smiley type nor friendly in the normal way. They weren't belligerent either, but they were somewhat stoic and grave.

It was said that they couldn't look another man in the eye. They were often feared by their own people and by their neighbors. You kept a respectful distance from them.

They were usually willing to help you, and many people sought their help when a loved one, especially a child, was sick and western medicine didn't help. But even if your loved one got better, you didn't become best friends with the suruhåno who had a spirit friend. These suruhåno lived almost in a world of their own.


PASSED DOWN

Just as knowledge of herbal medicine was often passed down from parent to child, in many cases, a suruhåno with a spirit friend tapped one of his sons to follow in his path. The father usually enticed the son to join him when the son was a teenager. Sometimes the son struggled with the offer, whether to accept or not.

If a son didn't follow his father's footsteps, the suruhåno might take another boy under his wings, again usually in his teen years. The suruhåno's spirit friend or friends would then also adopt the young man as their own.


IMPRESSIVE, BUT FROM THE DEVIL

Some people were really impressed by these suruhåno with ga'chong .

One man admitted this when he went to see a suruhåno because of a swollen foot. He thought it might be gout, but he never had gout before. Still, he went to a western clinic and got tested. His uric acid was fine. The pills he was given did nothing to alleviate the swelling and the pain. So, he decided to "go Chamorro" and "go suruhåno ."

A certain suruhåno was recommended, one the suffering man had never met nor heard of. In fact, he had never gone to a suruhåno before. He met the suruhåno , who told him,

"Five Saturdays ago you parked at the back of Guam Memorial Hospital to visit someone in the hospital. You parked there because you couldn't find any other parking. As you parked, you felt the need to urinate. There was no one around. The sun was setting and it was getting dark. There were coral rocks in front of you, covered with tångantångan and other bushes. You thought you could easily pee there and no one would ever know. Nobody saw you, but the taotaomo'na were right there. You were urinating on their territory, and you didn't even ask permission. So they punished you with the swollen foot you have now."

The man's jaw hit the floor. How could this elderly suruhåno know this? Every detail was completely true! Other people are impressed by the suruhåno's identification of the ailment and the speedy cure of it.

But others would say, "They have knowledge and power, but from the devil. In the end, they get you into worse problems than the problems they cure."


TWEED OF ALL PEOPLE



If you needed more evidence, would you take it from an American Navy radioman who hid in Guam's jungles, avoiding capture by the Japanese, all due to the help he got from Chamorros, many of whom were punished and even killed?

If a man ever needed super human powers, it was George Tweed, often just an inch away from death at the hands of the Japanese.

And one Chamorro woman, probably having a crush on Tweed, was ever-ready to suggest a super human solution.

The story comes from Tweed himself, so take it for what it's worth. It is probably based on fact, but whether the story was embellished for the sake of book sales or not is anybody's guess.

The Chamorro lady of 19 was worried for Tweed. He needed to stay safe from the Japanese. Her uncle knew a man who had a ga'chong . The ga'chong gave this man the power to carry heavier loads and swim farther than other men.

These spirits, she said, were very powerful and could protect Tweed. The spirits could even hide Tweed so that the Japanese would never find him. Was she implying he could receive the power to suddenly become invisible to Japanese search parties? Stand right there and not be seen?

What must he do, Tweed asked? She replied, "Give up God and pray to the devil!"

This was a Chamorro girl speaking, certainly baptized Catholic. And yet this is what she told Tweed, according to him. Tweed declined her suggestion.

Even after almost 300 years of Catholic influence, not every Chamorro gave up old beliefs in spirits. Some even turned to demons, so it was said.

Contrary to what some think, the Spaniards did not make our Chamorro ancestors into little Spaniards. And not all of them became or remained genuine Christians.


NOTES

Ga'chong in Chamorro means "companion." It does not really mean a friend, although many people think it does. But a friend can and does accompany his or her friends at times, so then the ga'chong is also an åbbok , amigo or amiga (friend). When you see someone eating chicken but nothing else, you can ask the person eating, " Håfa ga'chong-ña i na'-mo månnok ?" "What is the companion to your chicken?" Companion; not friend.

Taotao can mean "person" or "people." A suruhåno who is gai ' taotao has the spirit of a person long-dead assisting him.

For some reason, it seems that more male suruhåno had spirit friends than female suruhåna , as far as I have heard all my life. Not that it's all suruhåno who have them.

DINGA' CHÅLAN

Thursday, February 27, 2020


This is a dinga' chålan .

In English we call it a "fork in the road."

You know it's a dinga' chålan when you have no choice but to turn either left or right.

That's why, in English, the expression "we have come to a fork in the road" means we have to make a decision, a choice.

DINGA ' means "twin" or "pair."

CHÅLAN means "road," "street," "path" or "way."

So a dinga' chålan is when one road has twins, so to speak. It breaks off into two separate paths. It becomes a pair of roads.

If you told an older person about a " tenedot gi chalan ," a "fork in the road," they wouldn't know what you're talking about. Language is more than just words. Language is also a way of thinking, imagining and feeling.

"Fork in the road" focuses on the break occurring in the one road. That's why it's "in the road." One road.

Dinga' chålan focuses on the two new roads, like twins sprung from the same original road.

No right or wrong; just two different ways of looking at the same thing. This mentality is shown in language.


KÅYO

Monday, February 24, 2020



In Chamorro culture, when two men share the same first name, they are called KÅYO .

Two Josés, two Juans, two Felipes.....to each other they are kåyo .

If two Josés work in the same office or business, you could ask one José about the other José and ask, " Mångge i kayu-mo? " " Where is your namesake ?"

The same would apply about two Josés no matter what the context, as long as the two Josés knew each other so that the one José would know who you were talking about.


ORIGIN

The word, and probably the concept, is borrowed from Hispanic culture.

In Spanish, TOCAYO is someone who shares your personal name.

There is no clear origin of this word, some even suggesting it comes from Náhuatl, the language of the Aztecs in Mexico.

Evidently, our Chamorro ancestors borrowed the term and shortened it to KÅYO .

The belief that kåyo comes from Spanish tocayo is also based on the frequency of repeated first names among Chamorros once they all became Catholic.

Prior to colonization, there were some repeated names among our ancestors, but not as much as after colonization. Once our ancestors became Catholic, duplication of first names abounded; many Marías and many Josés.

In Spanish and in Hispanic cultures, two women who share the same personal name are tocaya . But I don't think this was adopted by our ancestors or, if it was, it didn't last long. One hears of kåyo , never a kåya , and this is always applied to men. I never hear it applied to women.

In Tagalog, tocayo became katukayo . The ka - prefix means "partner" and tukayo means "name" or "nickname."

In modern slang, kåyo has been further shortened to kåts.



TO BE A TURTLE

Friday, February 21, 2020


It was a quarter past 8 in the morning and as I walked from my car in the parking lot to the front door of the building, I saw him sitting on a bench anxiously looking at his phone, as if expecting a message or a call.

As I got closer, I said to him,

~ Kalan guaha håfa un nanangga.
~ It's as if you are waiting for something.

~ Depotsi para u fan gaige esta i taotao-ho gi a las ocho ya trabia ti man måfåtto.
~ My people were already supposed to be here at 8 and they haven't come yet.

Then he added,

Ma tungo' man haggan.

They know how to be a turtle (haggan).


By that he meant it was in their nature to move slowly like a turtle, especially in the morning.

Tungo ' means "to know." Ma means "they." Ma tungo' means "they know."

Man can be a plural marker at times but it can also (along with fan ) make things a verb.

Haggan is the noun "turtle," but man haggan means "to be or act like a turtle."

There is another way the turtle is used in a Chamorro expression as a metaphor or symbol for something, but that's another blog post.

KNOW YOUR BABUE

Monday, February 17, 2020


Lanchero in the old days had a way to tell the difference between a wild pig and a pig owned by someone. This way, they wouldn't make the mistake of capturing and killing a pig that was running around free but which was, in fact, owned by someone.

When you owned a pig, you cut away parts of the ear or made notches in the ear of the pig. You could do this in different ways on the two ears; perhaps two cuts on one ear and three on the other.

Besides ear cropping or ear notching, you could also mark your pig by cutting the tail a certain way.

Wild pigs, on the other hand, showed no cropping or notches on their ears, nor did they have cut tails. If you came upon a pig like that, you could capture and kill it. It belonged to no one.

In order to avoid being accused of killing someone's pig, Chamorro men often cut off the intact ears of the wild pig to show any accusers that the pig was indeed wild and fair game for anyone.

Despite the fact that raised pigs were far more desirable as food, since the wild pigs lacked fat and thus the meat was less enjoyable, many men still killed wild pigs, cutting off the ear as evidence the pig was wild.

This was not just a Chamorro custom. It was practiced all over the world, and animal rights activists campaign against such practices today.



WHAT'S HIS DISEASE?

Friday, February 14, 2020


Language tells more than just literal meaning.

Guma ' for house and chålan for road.

Language also gives us clues into the psychology of the people speaking that language.

In English, we say, "What's his problem?" when someone seems upset for no reason, or who is in need of attitude adjustment.

While we can say, and often do say, " Håfa problemå-ña ?" in Chamorro, which means "What is his or her problem?" we also hear, and among older people I think even more so, " Håfa chetnot-ña? " which translates "What is his or her disease or illness?"

Here we see that the literal meaning of a physical illness or disease is not usually meant. Negative moods do sometimes come from a physical (or even mental) condition. But generally speaking this is not what is meant when someone asks what disease someone has who is throwing out a negative attitude.

We can psychologize why Chamorros call a bad attitude a disease. And our theories are probably right for some people, some of the time.

Maybe we are saying that a bad attitude hurts the person having it, more than it hurts others, just as any disease would. People with bad attitudes are often avoided, and they isolate themselves from others, bringing them added frustrations in life.

Maybe we are saying that a bad attitude has to be cured, just as we would want to cure any disease.

Maybe we are saying that a bad attitude isn't attractive, pleasing or enjoyable, just as any disease would be considered something unpleasant to dread and to avoid. This is why the opposite of a bad attitude, a good attitude, is called månnge ' by Chamorros. Good things are "delicious." They taste good and smell good.

Maybe we are saying that something is not right, something is "broken" in your way of thinking when we ask, " Håfa chetnot-mo ?" What is wrong with you? Why are you thinking or feeling that way? That is a broken way of thinking, an inappropriate way to feel. Something is wrong with you, just like a disease means something's not working properly in your body.

This is also why we say in Chamorro that a car with engine trouble also has a chetnot . " Guaha chetnot-ña i karetå-ho ." "My car has a problem." There is something not right, something wrong, something broken with it. So chetnot can also mean injury, defect, wound and similar things, besides disease or illness. And just as a car might need fixing, some people's attitudes may also need fixing.

I wonder if other cultures have something similar. Instead of asking, "What is his problem?" they ask "What is his disease?" Or "What is wrong with him?"

No matter the answer, it is a very Chamorro way of thinking and talking, among the older generations.

FAMILY NICKNAMES : KAKAROTE

Monday, February 10, 2020


A branch of the Rivera family on Guam is better known as the familian Kakarote. Or Kakaroti.

MEANING

According to the older dictionaries, kakarote means "to hop while spinning." Thus it also came to mean "fickle," that is, someone who isn't steady; someone who changes opinions or plans; just like spinning ends up in an unpredictable place. Kakarote also came to mean a "rascal," someone mischievous. Tricky people, like rascals, are unpredictable.

ORIGIN

The word sounds like it's borrowed from Spanish, but there is no Spanish word cacarote nor even cacarrote . There are a handful of Spanish words, some of them slang, that come close to cacarote , meaning many different things. Cacarote , or words similar in sound, appear in Galician, a language in northwestern Spain, and in Brazil, where they speak Portuguese but have many of their own words and slang and, in the modern age, there is even a Korean doll called cacarote. So, there's just no way for sure we know how kakarote came into the Chamorro language. The Marianas were under Spain for 230 years, but influences on us came from all over the globe.

FAMILY

The Kakarote seem to be the descendants of Juan Rivera and his wife Rosa Ulloa. This couple would have been born in the mid 1800s as their children were born beginning in the 1870s.

Their sons, who would generally be mainly responsible for carrying on the clan name, were :

Joaquín, who married Antonia Rosario and also Ana Tenorio

Manuel, who married Magdalena Dueñas Borja and also Dolores Dueñas Borja

Ignacio, who married María San Nicolás. This couple had a large number of children.

José, who married Carmen Taitingfong Agualo. This couple also had a large number of children.



JOAQUÍN ULLOA RIVERA
@ Kakarote

BOOTLEG IN ATANTÅNO'

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

SPANISH ERA DISTILLERY ON GUAM


"Bootleg" refers to the illegal manufacture, distribution or selling of alcohol.

In 1907, it was illegal to make or sell liquor without a government license.

Long-time Guam resident Hermogenes Daproza from Santa María in Ilocos Sur in the Philippines either didn't know or didn't care. He never got a government license.

But he maintained a still and made åguayente or agi , a hard liquor. Perhaps he thought he could get away with it because he lived and made his booze in Atantåno', a farming area south of Piti, just before you make the turn to travel towards Hågat or Sumay. Atantåno' wasn't exactly teeming with people, so maybe Daproza felt safe and secure in the peaceful, hidden quiet of his ranch land.




He didn't even sell those six and a half bottles of å guayente to Ana Matanane, the wife of José Pérez de la Cruz. He gave it to her as a gift. She said she needed it as medicine, as she anticipated being confined soon to her bed.

Somehow, the Island Attorney heard about it and sent police to Daproza's ranch, where they confiscated implements used in his bootleg operation. The bottles given to Ana were also confiscated.

Daproza plead guilty and was sentenced to pay a fine. He couldn't keep his still, either. The government said it would sell it at public auction and the income put in the island treasury.

There is humor to the end of the story. The court directed the local hospital to analyze the bootleg to see if it would have caused any harm to someone who drank it.

The analysis showed that Daproza's booze was 45% alcohol. His liquor was on the same level as whiskey. The doctor said it wouldn't do anyone any harm if drunk in moderation.

By the way, the doctor said, there's no need to dump Daproza's bootleg. The hospital could use it as rubbing alcohol.

CHOKOLÅTE

Friday, January 31, 2020

CHOKOL­ÅTE PARA MA GIMEN
Chocolate Drink


Long before we were sipping our coffee mocha at our favorite island coffee shop, our great grandparents were drinking chocolate almost every day.

That's right, drinking chocolate. Not eating chocolate.

Chocolate comes from the cacao seed and, thanks to our tropical climate, the cacao tree can grow very successfully here. Thanks also to our historical connection with Mexico, the cacao tree was brought to the Marianas. Spain ruled the Marianas out of Mexico. The yearly galleons sailed from Acapulco, Mexico to Manila, often stopping by the Marianas. Many of the so-called "Spanish" soldiers stationed on Guam were actually Mexican.

So, growing cacao and using the beans to make chocolate became a very Chamorro thing to do.

Just listen to a man's testimony in a 1910 Court case.

A man living in Hagåtña was called by his nephew Mariano in Hågat to come down back to the south, as the man's mother was seriously ill in Humåtak. The man describes passing the night in his nephew's house in Hågat  and what happened when they woke up.

"We passed the night on that day in his house. On the next morning, when we woke up, I opened all the windows of the house. Afterwards I charged Mariano to cook chocolate , and I went to the Japanese store to buy biscuits for our breakfast."

A few notes about this short paragraph.

1. He opened all the windows of the house . Despite the lack of air conditioning or even electric fans, our people closed all the windows at night. They had a strong fear of the sereno or cool wind. They believed the sereno caused illness.

2. Cook chocolate . Chocolate was a common breakfast beverage. Not a candy but a beverage. And it had to be cooked. I'll describe that further down in this post.

3. Japanese store in Hågat . In the court testimony, the store is identified as being owned by Kosaku Okiyama, later known as Francisco as he was baptized Catholic in order to marry Ana Charfauros Carbullido.


HOW OUR PEOPLE MADE CHOCOLATE

1. Dry the cacao seeds after harvesting and extracting the seed from the shell. According to Safford, one could also ferment the seeds first, which improved the flavor of the cacao.



CACAO SEEDS

2. Roast the seeds, or toast them in a pan over fire. This step is only done when one is ready to drink chocolate that day. Otherwise, the dried seeds are stored for later roasting.

3. Grind the toasted seeds on the metåte , also something we got from the Mexicans. If there was no metåte , a lommok (mortar) could be used. Now we get cacao powder. This is then made into a paste and from the paste it is formed into little balls or disks, each one enough for a single serving of chocolate.



GRINDING CACAO IN A LOMMOK (Mortar)

4. The chocolate balls are heated into a drink by adding hot water and thickened with regular flour or with arrowroot ( gapgap ) starch, and sweetened with sugar. A battidot (beater) was often used to do the mixing.



BATTIDOT

Our court testimony shows that chocolate was drunk as a breakfast beverage, but Safford says that our people drank chocolate in the late afternoon, what we call merienda , an afternoon snack to hold you till dinner at night.

Safford also says that our people gave local chocolate away as gifts to departing friends or family. When a visitor came to someone's house, hot chocolate was often served, along with a biscuit or cake.


CHOCOLATE HOUSE

The Chocolate House in the palåsyo complex in Hagåtña is so-named because the Spaniards drank chocolate here as a social event. But period records are also quite clear that it was a custom practiced regularly by nearly all Chamorros.



Pat Santos shows a stateside visitor how the battidot is used to make chocolate drink
1969

THE ELECTION OF ELIAS SABLAN

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

ELIAS PARONG SABLAN
1899 ~ 1968

When the Americans took possession of Saipan from the Japanese in July of 1944, they opened up camps for the Japanese military prisoners of war and for the civilians of many races : Japanese, Okinawans, Koreans and the indigenous Chamorros and Carolinians.

The Americans needed indigenous leadership to assist them, and it was a public relations asset to have local leaders in place. America, they said, stood for democracy and they had better give the Saipan natives a taste of it.  The Americans said they were training the local people for future self-government.

An election, therefore, for a mayor (sometimes called "chief" among Americans) was held in December of 1944. Whether by intention or by oversight, only adult Chamorro and Carolinian males were allowed to vote. The women had no vote. Elected was Gregorio Sablan, better known as Kilili'. Then, he passed away in March of 1945.

So, a new election had to be conducted to elect a successor, and what better day for the Americans to hold it than on July 4th. This time, adult Chamorro and Carolinian women were allowed to cast ballots as well as the men. The women had made their displeasure known about being disenfranchised the first time.

Many candidates put forward their names, but there was no overt campaigning. It was not the Chamorro way, said the Americans. No candidates' names were on the ballot, either. The voter him or herself had to write the name of the candidate.

Elected was Elías Sablan, a relative of the mayor who just died. He garnered 670 votes among the 1300 ballots cast.





NOT A JAPANESE FAVORITE

Elías was 46 years old when he was elected and had grown up under the Germans till he was 15 years old. He thus spoke German, besides his native Chamorro and Carolinian languages; Carolinian because his mother was Carolinian while his father was Chamorro. It was said that Elías not only spoke Carolinian but both dialects of that language as spoken on Saipan; the Tanapag dialect and the second one spoken by the majority of Carolinians.

His father had served on an American whaling ship, and spent some time in San Francisco when the ship was taking a break. From his father, Elías learned basic English but also a positive assessment of the United States. This was never to leave Elías, who even under the Japanese subscribed to an English-language magazine published in Japan. In the early part of the war, the Japanese put Elías in custody as a suspected spy. Although he was released as there was no evidence that he was a spy, the Japanese kept a wary eye on him as they knew he spoke English and had warm feelings for the US.

So Elías represented it all. He was like a microcosm of Saipan itself. By blood he was both Chamorro and Carolinian, the two local communities of the island. He spoke those languages as well as the languages of all the foreign powers that had ruled and were now ruling Saipan : Spanish, which many Chamorros, especially those from status families and the very religiously devout of that generation spoke, German, Japanese and English. As mayor, Elías could understand and make himself known to everyone on Saipan.



ELIAS SABLAN TAKES THE OATH OF OFFICE IN 1945

DALAI, WHAT'S A LITTLE TUBA?

Friday, January 24, 2020


It seemed like such a harmless thing.

Mariano de los Reyes was a prison guard who was tasked that morning with escorting three prisoners - Juan Pérez de la Cruz (better known as Oto, familian Gåga), José de Toves (better known as Katingo) and Vicente Crisóstomo (better known as Gañote) - to Chaot, just past Sinajaña, where they were to work on some public project. Prisoners were sometimes sentenced to do some hard labor, in addition to jail time, to pay for their crimes.

They had to pass through the barrio of San Ramón and the house of Ramón Díaz Camacho. Mariano, who was a close friend of Camacho, lead the way to Camacho's house, where they stopped for five minutes and each had some tuba to drink, both guard and prisoners.

Tuba is the fermented wine of the coconut's sap.

Five minutes' worth of tuba normally isn't enough to get a grown man drunk. Tuba is refreshing, if not invigorating, in that small amount. Sure what harm could it do? And it was only a five minute delay.

Well, Reyes got hauled into court for dereliction of duty.

His orders were to take the prisoners directly to Chaot and to prevent the prisoners from speaking with anyone on the way. Stopping by Camacho's house and conversing with him over tuba was in defiance of those orders, or so the complaint said.

But the judge decided otherwise. He ruled that, strictly speaking, the prisoners had never fled; that they remained under custody the whole time, and so Reyes never lost jurisdiction over the prisoners.

The judge dismissed the case.

I think today, if DOC guards stopped by Jeff's Pirates Cove for a round of Bud Lite with escorted inmates on their way to bush cutting detail, they'd get in trouble. I think.



FROM HAGÅTÑA TO CHAOT
with a little tuba along the way

PÅTTE PAREHO : THE ESTATE OF ANTONIO MARTÍNEZ

Monday, January 20, 2020

ANTONIO PANGELINAN MARTÍNEZ
1839 ~ 1907


Even today, many people in our islands die without writing a last will and testament prior to death.

In the past, this was even more the case. There was a Chamorro judge, lawyer and politician I once knew who died in the early 1980s - with no will! He had the profession of helping people draft their wills, and got paid for it, but didn't have one himself!

Many times, the person made known his or her wishes before death, and in many cases this was respected. In many court documents involving land ownership, many people claimed ownership of a piece of land "as inherited by my late father or mother," with no document to show that, and everyone accepted the claim in many cases. But as the American judicial system started to become observed more and more, and when estate issues started to become more contested, things got more complicated.

If the deceased had little to nothing left behind, things weren't complicated at all! But in the case of a wealthy man or woman, it wasn't so easy.

Take the case of Antonio Pangelinan Martínez, who died in 1907 at the age of 68 years. According to the standards of Guam at the time, Antonio was a wealthy man. And he died without a will.

To make matters more challenging, he had numerous children, and some of his heirs didn't live on Guam. So the court had to get involved, and it took six years to settle the estate. There were no squabbles among the heirs, but one administrator of the estate decided to move to Manila, so another had to be appointed. Antonio's holdings had to be appraised, so a committee of competent men had to be appointed by the court to do that. Family members died or moved away in the meantime, changing the dynamics of the process.



ANTONIO HAD A CATTLE RANCH IN DANDAN


When the estate was settled, one of the biggest assets of Antonio was his cattle ranch in Dandan, west of Malojloj. Dandan was more or less flat and grassy, and considered an excellent location for cattle ranching. The court divided the ownership of his cattle ranch equally among the heirs. In Chamorro, this is called påtte pareho , or "equal parts." Påtte means "part" and pareho means "equal, the same." This phrase is often heard among families when a parent dies and either the will, or lack of one, distributes the assets equally among all the heirs.

When Antonio died in 1907, he owned the following assets :


ASSET


VALUE IN US DOLLARS


at the time


One house of masonry with tiled roof in Hagåtña



$1600


A second house of masonry with tiled roof in Hagåtña



$500


A lot in Hagåtña



$50


A lot and building in Hagåtña



$250


Cattle ranch in Dandan (land only)



$1000


A lot in Mongmong



$50


A lot in As Penggao



$100


A lot in Maso’



$800


A lot in Mañila’



$100


144 cows, bulls and calves



$1850


One horse



$50


37 carabaos, male and female



$696


Furniture, household goods, bullcarts, etc.


$168.50


TOTAL : $7214.50




In today's value, Antonio's estate was worth $190,000 .

Antonio's wealth is visible in that he had two houses built of masonry ( mampostería ), a mixture of rock and lime, rather than a house made of wood or bamboo. Both roofs were made of tile, not thatched, although zinc was also starting to become more common in roofing for those who could afford it.

Antonio had properties, mostly in central Guam not far from Hagåtña, but that piece of Dandan land in southern Guam used for cattle ranching was also a big asset. He had a large herd of cattle, as well as carabao. Very few locals had a horse, but Antonio did.



ANTONIO WITH MOST OF HIS CHILDREN AND SOME GRAND CHILDREN
The attire speaks volumes about their social standing


The court decided there were seven heirs of Antonio; the five children who were alive when he passed away in 1907; one daughter who died before Antonio but who had children who took over her interest; and one grand daughter, the only child of one of Antonio's sons who died before him. The other children who died before their father Antonio died left no heirs. Antonio and his late wife, Eduviges Díaz Wilson, had fourteen children together but some died in childhood or in their youth.

While various lesser goods were distributed to different heirs, ownership of the Dandan cattle ranch was divided equally among the seven. Påtte pareho as far as the ranch went. It was up to each of the seven parties to decide whether to sell their share to someone else or go along with everyone else if they all wanted to sell to another buyer at the same time.

STILL CHAMORRO

Thursday, January 16, 2020

FAMILY PHOTO TAKEN IN 1920


This one photo is an image of the melting pot Guam was for all its modern history. "Modern" from 1668 to this day.

The woman in the photo has Chamorro blood. And Spanish. And English. And Scots. And Polynesian blood from the Marquesas.

The man in the picture is Portuguese but born in Hawaii.

The baby boy is all of the above. His great great grandmother was a Castro. His great great great grandmother was a Cruz. All the rest of his recent ancestors on his mother's side were Duarte, Andújar (both Spanish), Millinchamp (English), Anderson (Scots) and a Polynesian great great grandmother whose last name is hard to pin down. Pacific islanders traditionally didn't have surnames until European powers colonized them.

On his father's side, the baby boy is all Portuguese.

But, a Chamorro biha (elderly lady) living on Guam in 1920, if she asked who the baby's parents were, and heard that the mother was Rita'n Duarte, the biha would've said, " O! Låhen Duåtte !" "Oh! Duarte's boy," and the baby boy would have been considered Chamorro, part of the local, indigenous community. Even with all the extra ethnic lines. Why?

Because as long as there is one Chamorro line among the many; as long as the community can say, "Oh. So-and-so is the mother, grandmother, father, grandfather," and know who they're talking about, and whose parents they had, then the baby boy belongs to the Chamorro community. One drop of Chamorro blood makes you Chamorro, according to Chamorro culture, because it's all about connections. We don't care who else you're connected with. If you're connected with us, you're connected.


WHO IS THIS FAMILY?

She is Rita Millinchamp Duarte, born on Guam in 1896. Her father was Pedro Andújar Duarte, a Spaniard but born in the Philippines. He became a Spanish military officer and was sent to Guam, where he married María Victoria Anderson Millinchamp of Hagåtña. She was the daughter of Henry Millinchamp, born in the Bonin Islands of an English father and a mother from the Marquesas, in French Polynesia.

María Victoria's mother, though, was Emilia Castro Anderson, so the Chamorro enters in with Castro, and even her father, Juan Cruz Anderson, was Chamorro through his mother, a Cruz.

Adventure on the high seas brought Anderson to Guam, being part of the Freycinet expedition and, according to one account, remaining on Guam because of some past controversy. Proximity to the Marianas and troubles in the Bonin community brought the Millinchamps from those islands to Guam. Spanish military service brought Duarte to Guam. Working for the Cable company brought American David Dias from Hawaii to American Guam. Everyone else in the baby boy's lineage was born here.


CABLE STATION IN SUMAY




One of the first things the Americans did after they took possession of Guam in 1898 was connect Guam to the worldwide cable system. This put Guam in cablegram communication with the rest of the world. Electrical impulses on Guam were sent via an underwater cable to connection points all over the world and, voila, news and information could be sent and could be received within minutes.

The Cable Station was located in Sumay.

David Dias, born in Hawaii of Portuguese parents who moved there, came to work for the Cable company in Sumay. He met Rita Duarte and they were married at least by 1918, because their baby boy Walter was born on Guam on May 28, 1919.

KÅNTA : SAOSAO I LAGO'

Monday, January 13, 2020


A short, but to me catchy, song brought to us by Larry and Mary Saralu.

It seems to me that the man doing the talking in this song caused the woman great pain through his infidelity. He promises to be faithful from now on. Let's hope!




Saosao i lago' gi matå-mo ya un chagi kumomprende
(Wipe the tears in your eyes and try to understand)
na i korason-ho manehyok pot hågo.
(that my heart aches on account of you.)

Saosao i lago' gi matå-mo ya un chagi kumomprende
(Wipe the tears in your eyes and try to understand)
na magåhet yo' desde på'go giya hågo.
(that I am true to you starting now.)

Humånao yo' lao ti para bai åpmam,
(I left but I won't be long)
yan bai hu fañotsot asta i ha'ånen finatai-ho.
(and I will repent till the day of my death.)

NEVER WITHOUT MACHETE

Thursday, January 9, 2020

MACHETE AT THE HIP


When your life and sustenance depended on getting food off your own land and at other times from a thick jungle, nothing came in handier than a machete .

With a thicker upper edge that made the whole blade heavy, the machete could cut, chop, slash, split, scrape, scoop and even dig. With the thick, blunt edge, it could even hammer and crush. It could handle animals, all sorts of trees, bushes and vegetation and crack open a coconut. If you needed to protect your life, a machete could help do that.

Europeans brought the machete , as well as all metal implements, to our islands. Even before the Spaniards set up a permanent presence here, passing Spanish and other European ships would trade with our ancestors riding their sakman (flying proas). The Europeans wanted food and drink; the Chamorros only wanted lulok , lulok ! Iron, iron! They even knew the Spanish word for it. Hierro , hierro !

I'm sure the machete , or something similar, was wanted by our ancestors yelling " Hierro ! Hierro !" to passing ships, besides wanting nails, axes and chisels.

The word machete is Spanish in origin, and it comes from macho , an old word for hammer. This shows you the versatile use of the machete . It could cut but it could also hammer.

We can't discount the possibility that our knowledge of iron hundreds of years ago also came by means of Asian sources, such as China, the Philippines or Indonesia. Choco from China, who predated Sanvitores, knew a thing or two, it was said, about hard metals.


NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT

More than one visitor to the Marianas during Spanish times remarked that the daily uniform of every adult Chamorro male included the machete . Chamorro men may not have worn much, due to the climate, but a machete was almost always attached to the waist. Some remarked that you never saw a grown Chamorro male walking around without a machete strapped to his hip.




In time, Chamorros didn't always need someone from off island to bring a new machete . Once the local men learned how to work with iron, they could fashion a machete out of iron. Some Chamorro men specialized in iron smithing and became ereros or fragueros . Erero comes from the Spanish word herrero (iron smith) and fraguero comes from the Spanish word fragua or "furnace."

Because many machetes were made locally from spare bits of metal, many of them had their own distinctive look. The handles could also be unique and thus identify whose machete it was. Court records show that a machete found at the scene could sometimes be traced right back to the owner, due to the distinctive look of the machete . People didn't just leave their machete lying anywhere. Iron was hard to come by, so every machete was valuable and was passed down from one owner to the next, usually from father to son. If you saw a machete just lying around in an odd place, you could expect its owner was in trouble or worse. He wouldn't have just left it lying there on purpose.




Romualdo Chargualaf Diego from Inalåhan, aged 96 years in 1959, shows a machete that had been in his family for 150 years. It was given to him by his father. The handle of the machete was made from a carabao's horn.

Take a look at what William Safford says about the machete , writing in 1899 :

" Notwithstanding the fact that Don Joaquín is one of the principales (leading citizens) of this island, and occupies the highest social position, he was dressed simply, like any other native, in a loose shirt and trousers, and wore sandals. Hanging to his belt in a leather scabbard was his machete. Conforming to the custom of the natives I also carried a machete - a very good one it is - made by the village blacksmith and armorer of our native guard, Don Joaquin Leon-Guerrero. The blade was fashioned out of a condemned musket's barrel, with the steel from the spring of the trigger - welded in as an edge. The handle is of carabao horn and is inlaid with coin silver."

As you can see, Safford says it was the "custom of the natives" to carry a machete as they went about. It was made locally, using spare metal. And, like Romualdo Diego's machete , the handle was made from carabao horn. Safford was second to the American Governor and was interested in all things Chamorro.





The machete allowed you to cut stepping grooves in any coconut tree so you could climb and enjoy the fruit when needed.



THE MACHETE AS WEAPON

Since the machete was always attached to the hip of a Chamorro male, the machete always posed a danger to everyone else!

Time and time again, the court records of Guam in Spanish days and in the early part of the American period show how the machete could have been used, and was used, as a weapon against people. Two men meet on the road and start an argument. One of them loosens his machete hanging on his waist, as he makes threatening remarks.

Salomón Garrido, the island's prison warden, was mortally wounded with a machete and died from those wounds in 1904. Various people were wounded with angry adversaries carrying machetes , and in some cases people took revenge by crippling their enemies' cattle, slashing them in the legs with machetes .

Recently, two young men were arrested for threatening drivers and damaging their cars with machetes. It's an old tool, but it still does the job, good or bad. That depends on whose hands those machetes are in.





EVEN IN 2019


DID YOU KNOW?



If a machete was used in the commission of a crime, the courts could, and did, confiscate that machete from the criminal and sell it to the highest bidder in an auction? The money would go into the court's coffers.



ANNOUNCEMENT OF A MACHETE AUCTION IN 1908

ANNAI MA SAKENGGUAN SI KÓKORA

Monday, January 6, 2020


PEDRO MENDIOLA CEPEDA "KÓKORA"
At age 16, he witnessed José carry off the fabric, promising payment which never came


In 1907, Pedro Lizama Cepeda, better known as Pedro'n Kókora, had a little store in his Hagåtña home in the barrio of San Ignacio, on Maria Ana de Austria Street. He was actually a neighbor of my great grandmother.

One January day that year, a man named José, who was known for being something of a petty crook, walked into the Kókora store, asking to look at some fabric. Pedro'n Kókora was away that morning, but his wife Natividad Santos Mendiola was minding the house and store. She showed José a bolt of fabric called crespón rayado (crepe with stripes).



Striped Crepe Fabric
"Crespón rayado"


José asked for 15 and a half yards of it and Natividad cut it out. José then took up the fabric in his arms and turned around to walk out. Natividad asked him for payment. He told her, "I will pay you soon. I have to go home and get the money."

Natividad balked. She said, "I cannot allow that. My husband is not here and he would not be happy if I did that."

"Then let one of your children walk with me back to my home," José said.

Natividad then instructed her daughter Isabel, ten years old, to follow José to his house to get the money; seven Mexican pesos and 75 céntimos. But after they crossed the Hagåtña river, on the north side, José told Isabel to go back home and said he had no money to pay her mother.

Isabel went back home and told her mother.

Meanwhile, José went to a house and asked the owner if he would be willing to exchange the fabric for tuba. As the owner had no tuba, he declined. José had better success selling the fabric to two sisters, for 2 Mexican pesos and one dollar in gold. When the sisters asked José where he got the cloth, he made up the story that he got it as payment from the cable company in Sumay.

When Natividad learned from Isabel that José was dodging his obligation to pay for the cloth, she went, accompanied by a male neighbor, to look for José. When they found him, José said he had burned the cloth!

Natividad had no other option than to take the matter up with the law. José was tried and found guilty of swindling. He was sentenced to two years and four months' imprisonment and ordered to pay the sisters to whom he sold it. The fabric was recovered from the two sisters and used as evidence in the trial, after which it was restored to the Cepedas. José had to pay for the expenses of the trial or work on public projects if he had no money. Part of the reason for the severity of the sentence was the fact that José had been in court several times already for charges of theft, perjury and swindle.

Natividad's children Isabel, Pedro and Rosa testified at the trial.




ROSA MENDIOLA CEPEDA (married PEREZ)
She was 13 when she saw José swindle her mother

DYNAMITE CHICKEN

Thursday, January 2, 2020


Chicken that packs a punch - probably with red chili pepper - can aptly be called Dynamite Chicken.

But in 1907, Guam had a different kind of Månnok Dinamita (Chicken Dynamite), and it wasn't due to donne ' (red chili pepper).

Instead, 100 pounds of dynamite were stolen from the Navy's machine shop, located at the old Customs Office at Punta Piti.

Punta Piti, or Piti Point, was the landing spot for vessels anchored in Apra Harbor. From the big ships, people and cargo would ride smaller boats and land at a wharf ( pantalán ) at this point in Piti. This is where passengers' paperwork was processed and import taxes levied if applicable. When necessary, passengers were quarantined on Cabras Island nearby and, in those days, Cabras Island was really an island, not connected by a bridge yet to the main island as it is today.



PUNTA PITI WAS THE LANDING PLACE FOR GUAM


When the Americans started governing Guam in 1899, they built up Punta Piti little by little over the years, including improving the facilities and the road from Piti to Hagåtña. The old customs house at Piti was a machine shop operated by the Navy by 1907.

Police and naval authorities were at a loss who stole the dynamite but they didn't lack "persons of interest," and they were Chamorros.

The two main characters in the story were Tomás Espinosa de la Cruz from Malesso', and Pedro Camacho Quitugua, better known as Pedro'n Karabao, of Piti.

They both had two different versions of the story.

Cruz claimed that he had come up from Malesso' to Piti by boat, with a fighting rooster to sell. He says that Quitugua became interested in the rooster, and asked if Cruz would trade it for dynamite. Cruz said he'd have to ask the owner of the rooster, Juan Barcinas of Malesso', who happened to be in Hagåtña at the time. Barcinas, Cruz claimed, said go ahead and trade it. But Cruz couldn't find Quitugua when he returned to Piti.

Cruz gave the rooster to Mónica de San Nicolás, also known as Oka, of Piti, to hold on to. Cruz said if Quitugua appears, to trade the rooster with him for dynamite.

The following day, Cruz checked on Oka. She said Quitugua did come by but told Oka, "Tell Cruz to take back the rooster and eat it. Where can I steal dynamite?"

But when Cruz met up with Quitugua shortly after that, Cruz claimed Quitugua was willing to make the trade, chicken for dynamite but would give Cruz the dynamite the next time Cruz was in Piti. Cruz left the rooster with Oka in Piti and left on his boat for Malesso'.

Back in Malesso', Cruz had a talk with Vicente de Torres who informed Cruz that using dynamite was illegal. Cruz then asked Torres to retrieve the rooster from Oka, as Torres was intending to travel north. Torres eventually did just that. The rooster ended up back in Malesso' in Cruz's hands.

Well, none of this made Quitugua look very good but Quitugua had his own tale to tell.

He said that Cruz came to Quitugua at the Beach Master's Office at the old custom's office at Piti, asking where he might find Vidal de los Santos, for he was going to trade the rooster for some dynamite Vidal supposedly had. Quitugua informed Cruz that Vidal was working in Sumay and had no dynamite anyway.

The enterprising Cruz then asked if Quitugua would be interested in trading dynamite for the rooster. Quitugua said he would, if he could find any.

Later, Quitugua met up with Oka and told her to tell Cruz to keep the rooster, as he had no dynamite. When Quitugua went back to his home, he discovered some detonators that mysteriously appeared there. He took the detonators to the American Beach Master, who then went to the machine shop and discovered the missing dynamite and detonators.

It sounded all too suspicious. All this talk about dynamite just when 100 pounds of it were stolen.

Yet, despite all the interrogations, officials could not find any solid evidence who stole the dynamite and no one was ever charged.

Thus ended, with an unimpressive thud, Guam's first Dynamite Chicken story.



THE LANDING PIER AT PITI
Early 1900s

THE HOSPITAL IS A BAD PLACE

Monday, December 16, 2019

THE HOSPITAL IN PRE-WAR HAGÅTÑA


Genuine hospitals were a new thing on Guam when the Americans first took over the island. Under Spain, there was a military medical doctor on duty at times, and a US Navy report says the Spaniards had a "primitive hospital." There were also secluded houses set up for lepers and those mistakenly considered lepers. But hospitals in the modern sense of the word did not yet exist.

Yet, even when the US Naval Government set up a hospital in Hagåtña, with free medical care for the civilian population, many Chamorros avoided the hospital at all cost.

" Sagan finatai ayo ," some people said. "It's the place of death," when speaking about the hospital.

Well, to the casual observer it may seem so. Although the medical service was free and as good as was possible at the time, given all the limitations being as distant as we are, not everyone survived surgery or treatment. Some patients arrived when the disease was too advanced and nothing could be done. So, many a patient who walked into the hospital did not leave the hospital except to be buried in the cemetery.

Sagan finatai for sure.

But many people came to the conclusion that the hospital actually made you die! To be sure, even in our own day, this can be true!

So many Chamorro people in the old days preferred to stay at home, and be treated with traditional, herbal remedies furnished by a suruhåno or suruhåna . They claimed that the American medicine did them no good, and that there were side effects to them, as well.

" Atdet-ña i amot ke ni chetnot ." "The medicine is worse than the disease."

" Ti fina'maolek si tatå-ho ni amot Amerikåno. I amot Chamorro ha' ha angongokko ." "My father was not helped by American medicine. He only relies on Chamorro medicine."

Besides staying home, the old Chamorro habit was for the sick to stay home with all the windows closed, making the room as hot and as stuffy as possible. Blankets were even put on top of feverish patients. The belief was you could sweat the disease out of you, and that the draft or cool air ( sereno ) was deadly and what made you sick in the first place.

Closing up all the windows was the exact opposite of what American officials urged people to do. But no amount of American pressure could convince Chamorros to open the window.

Even in the 1990s, I would bring holy communion to the home-bound elderly, many of them quite sick. Their rooms were often dank and humid, because they always kept the windows closed.


ANOTHER CHAMORRO AVERSION




Another thing many old time Chamorros avoided was any sort of amputation, big or small. Or even the removal of internal organs.

" Malago' yo' na ha sodda' yo' kabåles si Yu'us, taimano i ha fa'tinas yo' ."

"I want God to find me complete, the way He made me."

" Singko na kålulot ha nå'e yo' si Yu'us, singko na kålulot bai nana'lo. "

"God gave me five fingers, five fingers I will return."

These are some of the sentiments expressed by many man åmko' .

Even when warned that keeping the diseased body part would lead to death, some older people refused to have any body part amputated or removed.

These religious reasons may have been just a convenient way to cover up fear or dread of living the rest of one's life with one foot. Not living at all was better for them than living with one foot.

SUNDAY COCKFIGHT IN 1849

Friday, December 13, 2019


Where is this Chamorro guy above going? With his rooster under his arm? Accompanied by an armed man, what looks like a village head or gobernadorcillo , wearing a top hat and with staff in hand, and a clerk with record book in tow?

Well to the cockfight, of course! The gayera was a strong element of Chamorro colonial times under Spain.

A visitor to Guam in 1849 says this about the cockfight as he saw it. It is written in a style of English sometimes strange to our eyes or ears, so I have explanatory comments in parentheses and in italics :

" Between the government house ( the palace or palåsyo ) and the calaboose ( prison ), which stood directly opposite it, was a small grass plot ( it must have been what we now call the Plaza de España ), toward which we saw several parties of Spaniards as well as seamen, directing their steps, and we retraced ours. There we found active preparations going on for a cock-fight, some four or five cocks being already there, a small cord being tied to the leg of each, and at the other end a small peg which was driven in the ground, beside each cock stood its owner, descanting ( speaking at length ) upon its merits, and waiting for bets, previous to heeling ( attaching blades to the heel ) and matching them.





Within a few yards of the last, another group were seated gambling for money, at a game peculiarly their own, and they too, within one hundred yards of the church, and the sound of the little bell before the altar, which we distinctly heard.

Nearly every individual then was laboring under a severe attack of the influenza, which was raging fearfully and fatally upon the island; but neither death nor disease prevented them from practicing this cruel and brutal amusement as it is termed.

At four o'clock the services of the church were concluded, which was announced by the tinkling of the bell, when they immediately uncovered ( their heads ) and dropped on their knees, remaining in that position until the boxed ( I can only assume he was being carried in a litter ) priest and his retinue had passed, the game cocks standing proudly erect, as though conscious of their superiority to the degraded beings who knelt around them.

The procession having turned an angle of the government mansion, they sprang from their knees, adjusted their hats and proceeded to cock-fighting with as much nonchalance as a Broadway exquisite would sip his julep ."


SOME NOTES

1. Cockfights were always held on Sundays after morning Mass. The church service the writer talks about having ended around 4PM was not Mass; it was Vespers and Benediction, always held in those days (in bigger churches) on Sunday afternoons. Mass in those days was always celebrated quite early; 4AM or 5AM. On Sundays, a second or third Mass was possible but none past 10AM.

2. The Sunday cockfight was THE social event of the Sunday, after church. People came out in large numbers. At times even the village priest attended the cockfight and sometimes even, if the writer was telling the truth, entered his own rooster in the contest! All this in opposition to church rules.

3. Chamorros in those Spanish times played different games of chance now forgotten, except for Tres Siette , remembered by a few. But other games were called paiket , tangga and panggengge . Games could involve cards, dice and other things.

4. The visitor happened to come the very same month a ship from Hawaii brought the flu to Guam, January of 1849, killing 200 people. His ship arrived on January 21 for three days, leaving on the 24th. Had the ship left the following day, the 25th, this visitor would have experienced one of the worst earthquakes the island had felt in a while. The church tower in Hagåtña even fell.

5. The writer speaks of a "boxed priest." Only one thing comes to my mind, to explain this curious phrase. People could be carried about in boxes carried on men's shoulders, called a litter or palanquin.





TODAY IN HISTORY : ÁNGEL FLORES

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

ÁNGEL LEÓN GUERRERO FLORES


The Japanese bombed Sumay and other targets on Guam on December 8, 1941. They continued doing so on December 9.

But the Japanese didn't land on Guam till the early morning hours of December 10.

An invasion force landed at Apotguan (what most people today call the Alupang side of Tamuning, or Dungca's Beach) and then marched west to Hagåtña, following what is now Marine Corps Drive. When they got to Hagåtña, they were met with the small and futile defense of the Chamorro Insular Force Guard in the Plaza de España, and a few American Navy men.

The Japanese victory was swift, but not without bloodshed and loss of life. At least seven men, Chamorro and stateside, died that day at the Plaza de España. Others perished at other island locations.

One of them was Ángel León Guerrero Flores, a married man aged 31 years or so, with five young children.

A story, which has been disputed by some who were at the Plaza that day, says that Flores was ordered by the Japanese to lower the American flag in front of Government House, the residence of the American Governor. Despite repeated orders shouted menacingly at him, Flores refused to lower it. A Japanese swung at his head with a sword but another Japanese did the job by pushing his bayonet into Flores. Other versions of the story say that he was killed a day or two later. To this day, no one knows where the Japanese buried his body, nor the bodies of some others killed in the Japanese invasion.

In 1978, the US Navy and the local government commended Flores posthumously, and others, for his conduct as a Prisoner of War under the Japanese.

Whether the flag story happened or not, what can be said with more certainty is that Flores remained at the Plaza, facing the threat of superior invading Japanese forces, at the risk of his life, which he eventually did lose.

A street in Sinajaña. where his widow and children resided after the war, is named after him.



THE LIZAMAS OF SAIPAN

Friday, December 6, 2019


JOAQUÍN SAN NICOLÁS LIZAMA
"Batittang"


There are three main clans of Lizamas in Saipan, known by their nicknames :

Pilåkku'. Batittang. Pina'lek.


PILÅKKU'

These are the earliest Lizamas to move from Guam to Saipan. Around 1893 or 1894, Vicente Cruz Lizama, from Hagåtña, Guam, and his wife Rosa Taisague Cabrera, also from Hagåtña, moved to Saipan. A son Antonio had already been born on Guam but Vicente and Rosa had many other children born on Saipan. These children in turn had many offspring and the Pilåkku' clan was well-established.

Vicente had a brother Antonio who also moved to Saipan but it seems he and his wife did not have children. Another brother of theirs, José, died in Saipan in 1895, apparently a bachelor.

Vicente was the son of Juan Mendiola Lizama, born around 1838 in Hagåtña (his father was Mariano and his mother was Margarita) and his wife Margarita Demapan Cruz, born around 1846 in Hagåtña, the daughter of Casimiro and Josefa.


BATITTANG

This clan of Lizamas in Saipan was founded by Joaquín San Nicolás Lizama, pictured above. Joaquín was born in Guam, the son of José Lizama and María San Nicolás. At some point he moved to Saipan, where he got married in 1903 to Carmen Mendiola Mendiola, of the Damoa clan, which had both Guam and Luta (Rota) origins.

Joaquín and Carmen had almost a dozen children, so the Batittang clan spread.

I knew one of Joaquín's daughters who told me how her father was a kapitan in the sendålon Alemán (a captain among the German soldiers). What she meant was her father was one of the local men recruited by the Germans to be police officers in Saipan.

A note on a photo of Joaquín said that, when the Japanese were coming to take Saipan away from Germany in 1914, he was eager to fight the Japanese. He was loyal to Germany.

Joaquín also had two boats which he used for trade and fishing. His daughter said, " Ti in tingo' tenda ," "We didn't know anything about stores, because my father always bought or traded things with the other boats."


PINA'LEK

The Pina'lek Lizama were the last of the three main clans to move to Saipan from Guam, making the move around 1915 or so.

Two brothers, Luís de León Lizama and Juan de León Lizama, moved to Saipan. They were the sons of Mariano Lizama and Rosa Palomo de León. By 1902 both parents were deceased when some of the children were still young (under 20 years). They were already called the Pina'lek clan in Guam, and not all of them moved to Saipan. Luís and Juan had siblings who remained on Guam.

Luís married a Naputi and Juan married a Crisóstomo, and their descendants continued the clan in Saipan.

Luís was an artillery man in the local insular force under the Americans in Guam in the early 1900s before he moved to Saipan.

The clan's nickname, Pina'lek, means "heartburn" in Chamorro. Why the clan is named that is something I have found no conclusive reasons for.



Juan de León Lizama @ Pina'lek
Signature in 1911


THEN THERE'S LUCIA

There was one other Lizama who moved from Guam and to Saipan, and she was actually there before the others.

Lucía Fausto Lizama, probably born in Guam and the daughter of Javier (also called Gabriel) and María was already in Saipan in the 1870s bearing children although she was not married. In time, she married the biological father of these children, José Acosta Arriola, and the children all became Arriolas.

NO LAST NAMES

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

The witness mentioned five people, but no last names!


As most of you know, nearly every Chamorro family has a nickname; a "better-known-as."

On an island where there was a José Cruz, Manuel Flores and Ana Dueñas around every corner, such nicknames were very helpful in specifying who you meant.

It seems that it was such a prevalent thing in the old days that, many times, people sometimes didn't even know the actual last names of the people they were talking about!

Take, for example, this court case in 1906 involving a land dispute.

A witness mentioned the names of five people who might be able to provide information on the case. He didn't use a single last name for any of the five. He called them all by their family, or perhaps, personal nicknames.

Let's see who they were.

JUAN JUMATAG

This would have been Juan Muña Garrido, whose family was better known as the familian Humåtak. In those days of Spanish influence, J sounded like H as in Juan and José. The Spaniards didn't use a K in their alphabet (except a few times when using Greek words, for example), so they used a hard G to spell Jumatag (Humåtak).


JUAN EMO

This would have been Juan Concepción Garrido, a relative of Juan Muña Garrido, but whose family was better known as the familian Emmo', after their patriarch Anselmo Camacho Garrido. The -elmo in Anselmo became Emmo'.


VICENTEN AMA

I haven't been able to find a family better known as Ama, so it could be that this is Vicente's wife's nickname or his mother's nickname. Sometimes people were identified by their spouse's first name. Like José married to Ana would be called Josen Ana, and Ana would be called Anan José. Or, there could have been another explanation for Ama, but we don't know what it is.


MANUEL CHADA

There are families better known as familian Chåda', mostly with the last name Cruz.


QUICO COSTAT

Quico is the Spanish spelling of Kiko', since there is no K in Spanish. Kiko' is the nickname for Francisco. There are several families better known as familian Kostat, so it's hard to say which one. Kostat is the Chamorro word for bag.


So when this witness mentioned all five of these people by their nicknames only, I wonder if the Chamorros in the court room (the judge, clerks, advocates) nodded their heads, saying to themselves, "Yes, we know who they are."


ANOTHER CASE FROM 1906

The witness was asked to identify someone, and his answer was,

"Tio Joaquín, Bådo, ti hu tungo' i apeyidu-ña."

"Uncle Joaquín, Bådo', I don't know his last name."

Imagine! It's his "uncle"; he knows his personal name and his nickname. But not his last name.

That's how it was for a lot of people in the old days. Last names were sometimes not known, even of the people you personally knew.


KNOWN BY SPOUSE'S NAME

Besides being known by your family or clan nickname, people were also known by their spouse's first name.

José and Ana, who are married, were known as José'n Ana and Ana'n José.

It often happened that you were ONLY known by your spouse's name by many people.

Here is a dialogue between a lawyer and a witness in 1910 :

~ Do you know her grandmother?
~ Yes.
~ What is her name?
~ Manuela'n Vicente.

How's that for identification? Manuela isn't known by her last name, but by her husband's name Vicente.

WHERE'S MY GOLD ROSARY?

Friday, November 29, 2019


If you've ever gone shopping with older Chamorro ladies, especially when they are on a pilgrimage or otherwise shopping in a religious store, you know that they really go for fancy rosaries.

The more glittering and sparkling the rosary, the more she likes it. It's probably the rosary that will grace her folded hands in her casket when she dies.

This is not a new thing; new as in only since American times. Court documents from Spanish times show that this has been going on for two hundreds years or more.

As simple as life was for most people during Spanish times, even the Chamorro lady who lacked many fancy things often was the owner of a gold rosary. Despite the fact that the Marianas did not have ships bringing in imported goods frequently; despite the fact that we had few "stores" to speak of in Spanish times, many of our people did have jewelry, watches and.....gold rosaries.

Gold rosaries show up in court documents over a hundred years ago in the Marianas in surprising frequency.

A last will and testament states that a gold rosary owned by the deceased is to be given after death to a certain daughter in the family.

A complaint is filed in court against a platero (a silversmith) for failing to replace beads in a gold rosary as the owner had requested.

Another complaint is filed in court alleging that so-and-so stole a gold rosary when the alleged thief was employed as a house servant.

That stolen gold rosary passed to no less than three different buyers until the matter was brought to court.

In another case involving the payment of a debt , a debtor includes a gold rosary as part of the payment.

Although gold rosaries were the most prized, rosaries that stood out in other ways were also valued. There is a case involving a lisåyon resplandot åttilong , a rosary with a black shine. Others were made of white pearl or of glass. They were included in the inventory of deceased persons when the estate was brought to court.



Gold rosaries were highly prized by Chamorro women

THE EL DORADO OF RECRUITS

Monday, November 25, 2019

BAYINERO
Whalers

Someone writing for a newspaper in 1849 called Guam the "El Dorado" of recruiters.

He meant whaling recruiters, looking for young men to replace dead, sick or deserted crew members on the whaling ships that crossed the Pacific and beyond.

Working on a whaling ship was miserable. One whaler said, "We have to work like dogs and live like pigs."

So, it's no surprise that many crew members left the ship, unauthorized, when they pulled into a new port. Whaling captains were always looking for replacements, and Guam had a reputation for being an easy place to find them .

Thus the remark El Dorado, the mythical city of gold which was later applied to any place of fabulous wealth or opportunity. The Marianas did not have gold or silver, but it did have young men dying to leave island and join the whaling ships. And not just whaling ships. Even merchant ships recruited men from Guam.

Just take a look at these Guam maritime recruits from one single year, in 1868. There is one man with an unfamiliar surname, Gioto. Either he was not Chamorro and just happened to be on Guam in 1868, or someone spelled his name wrong. There is also a man surnamed Pelayo. He could also have been non-Chamorro but was on Guam at the time.


GUAM RECRUITS IN 1868

Vicente de la Cruz, Manuel de la Cruz, Isidoro Pelayo, Vicente de Salas, Juan de la Concepción, Bernardo Blas and Pedro Gioto were recruited on the Hawaiian schooner JH Roscoe under the command of Captain N.T. Jones.

Luís de Guzmán and Antonio Pereda were recruited by

Captain J.R. Spencer for the Hawaiian schooner William H. Allen .

Martín Dueñas and Juan de la Cruz were recruited to go to Asención (Ponape) by

Captain Bell of the American merchant ship Aguila .

Leocadio Gogue and José del Rosario were recruited on the Anglo-American whaler Acorn Barnes under Captain Jeffries. "Anglo-American" means the ship was owned by a joint British and American company.

José Camacho, José de San Nicolás, Rufino Tenorio, Raimundo Tenorio and Juan Taijito . were taken by Captain Henry F. Worth of the Anglo-American whaler John Carver .

José Taitano, Pedro Luján and Ignacio Guerrero joined the crew of the Anglo-American whaler Eugenia under Captain W. Barnes.

Ramón de los Santos, Cecilio Materne, Pedro Namauleg, Mariano de la Cruz and Mariano Camacho were taken as crew members in the pesca de ballena (fishing of whales) by J.M. Soule,  captain of the American whaling ship Adeline.

José Mendiola, Isidro Mendiola, José de la Rosa and Mariano Baza were recruited by Captain

Phillips of the American ship Monticello.

The majority of these men, from the looks of their surnames, would have been Hagåtña residents. Materne might have come from Aniguak. Taijito from Asan. Namauleg could have come from Hagåtña, Aniguak or Asan. Perhaps some from Sumay. But there are no Babautas from Hågat, Afaisens from Inalåhan, Quinatas from Humåtak, or Nangautas from Malesso' on this list, for example. I don't see any Luta names either, although a few men from Luta did get recruited in the 1800s.



A whaling captain of days gone by

KÅNTA : KORONAN FLORES

Friday, November 22, 2019

KORONAN FLORES
Mwar, or floral crown

This song has been recorded by others, but this one is by the group Ti Napu.





Un na' beste hao koronan flores
(You dressed yourself with a crown of flowers)
para i che'cho'-mo.
(for your work.)
Asentådo i magagu-mo.
(Your clothes were proper.)
Ma kehåye hao mismo i amigå-mo
(Your own friend told on you)
na guaha otro ya dinanche i keha
(that there was another and the grumbling was correct)
sa' un fatta hao gi halom taotao.
(because you revealed yourself in public.)

Lao bai sungon i pinadese.
(But I will endure the pain.)
Håfa yo' bai cho'gue?
(What will I do?)
Yanggen ennao disposision-mo
(If that's your decision)
ai lokkue' nene.
(oh well baby.)
Ya un dia siempre un tungo' piniti-ho
(And one day you will surely know my hurt)
ya un tånga tåtte i gimå'-mo.
(and you will want back your home.)

I trongkon åtbot annai manflores
(When the flame tree flowers)
hu hasso hao nene
(I remember you baby)
ya hu tånga hao gi fi'on-ho.
(and I want you by my side.)
I famagu'on-ta konsuelu-ho kada puenge
(Our children were my comfort each night)
an un dingu ham pot i otro na guinaiya-mo.
(when you left us for your other love.)

MAGELLAN PLAZA

Monday, November 18, 2019


Everybody today knows it as the Plaza de España. If we were to render that in English, Spain Square.

But it wasn't called that originally, not even by the Spaniards!

They called it the Plaza de Magallanes. Magallanes is the Spanish form of the last name Magellan, after Ferdinand Magellan, the first European that we know of who made contact with our islands. That happened in 1521, just 19 years after Columbus bumped into what we now call the Americas.



FERNANDO MAGALLANES
In English, Ferdinand Magellan


Ferdinand Magellan was Portuguese by birth, and his last name in Portuguese is Magalhães.

When Chamorros learned of the Spanish version of his name, Magallanes, they pronounced it the Chamorro way. In Chamorro, we do not have the Y sound as in "yellow." Our Y is like Yigo or Yoña. In Spanish, double L (LL) has the Y sound like "yellow." In Spanish, Magallanes sounds like ma - ga - ya - nes. But our Chamorro elders pronounced the Y like the Y in Yigo or Yoña.




That's why when we say Acfalle, Tajalle or Quintanilla, the LL sounds like the Y in Yigo or Yoña. Double L (LL) in Spanish sounds like the Y in "yellow," but like the Y in Yigo and Yoña if being said with the Chamorro pronunciation.


THE PLAZA UNDER SPAIN

The first Governor's palace ( palåsyo ) in Hagåtña was built in 1736 so we can assume that a plaza of sorts was laid out in front of the palace. It was really just a big, empty space. At times, paintings and sketches suggest it was surrounded by hedges or even crops. We do know that, since it faced the palace, it was where people gathered to listen to special announcements from the Governor or to celebrate some events.

But, more or less, it was just an empty space. Not much going on on the site itself, except there seems to have been a cock fight done there every Sunday afternoon. It didn't always have straight four lines like a square.



The Plaza in 1819
Not a true four-sided square


THE AMERICANS

It was the Americans who started calling it the Plaza de España. Maybe Magallanes was too hard for them to say.

They were also the ones who built the kiosko (gazebo) in the center, various times, even beginning with a thatched roof one. The kiosko served as a bandstand at times and the military band played there weekly.

The Plaza has been the location of several important events in recent history. This is where members of the Guam Militia, Chamorros, shot their machine gun at the invading Japanese on December 10, 1941. This is where the Japanese made the American Governor and Spanish bishop strip to their underwear and run around the Plaza in order to show the Chamorros who was in charge now. This is where a Chamorro-organized protest against George Tweed was held. The Plaza has been the site of inaugurations, weddings, social events, political rallies and even movie and TV filming over the years.


BE CAREFUL WITH WIKIPEDIA

Wikipedia is an online, reader-contributed informational website.

The people who write the articles are human, so mistakes are bound to happen. And it happened with the wikipedia article on the Plaza de España in Hagåtña.

Whoever wrote the wikipedia article used information from the nomination of the Plaza to the national register of historic places. In that documentation, it is stated that the Plaza was originally named after Magellan, in Portuguese Magalhães.

While it is true that Magellan's real name, his Portuguese name, was Magalhães, the Spaniards called him Magallanes, not Magalhães, and so the Plaza was never called the Plaza de Magalhães, unless a Portuguese were writing or speaking.

Secondly, the author of the wikipedia article may have thought that Magalhães in the nomination was a typo. He may have thought that magalahes (chiefs / governors) was meant. That is not the case. It was never called the Plaza de Magalahes. In Chamorro, we do not make words plural by adding an S, as we do in English or Spanish and other languages. And in documentation from Spanish times never do we ever read about a Plaza de Magalahes. Plaza de Magallanes, yes. The author was confused by Magalhães, the Portuguese form of Magellan/Magallanes. The ~ over the A in Magalhães is a clue. The ã is a letter used by the Portuguese, but not by the Spaniards.




WIKIPEDIA

Not so!

AGRIGAN IN 1849

Friday, November 15, 2019
http://www.kpvcollection.com/agrigan.html

When the Spaniards forced the Chamorros of the northern islands (collectively called the Gani islands) to move south to Guam and Luta from 1695 on, those islands became depopulated, but not entirely and not for all time.

Even as I write this, or as you read this, there are small numbers of people living on Agrigan, an island that was evacuated in 1990 when the volcano started smoking, though no eruption occurred.

People have started to move back, little by little. But the lure of Agrigan has been there for a long time, and not just for people of the Marianas.

In 1810, a man named Johnson lead of group of four white men, two black men and twelve Hawaiians (we're not totally sure about the precise homelands of these 12) sailed to Agrigan to settle there, empty as it was and far enough, so they thought, from the Spaniards in Guam. But, far though Agrigan may have been, the Spaniards would not tolerate this colony and sent armed men up to Agrigan to round them up and bring them to Guam.

Just five years later, in 1815, the Spanish had to deport another colony in Agrigan made up of three Englishmen, one American and thirty-some Hawaiians.

In 1818, a group of shipwreck survivors who found safety in Agrigan had to be taken down to Guam.

A French settler in the Bonin Islands, north of the Marianas, by the name of Leseur, took a wife named Pidear, "a native of Grigan, one of the Ladrones." Agrigan was often spelled Grigan by English/American writers in those days. I suspect that Pidear was a Polynesian in one of the earlier groups that had lived briefly on Agrigan.

Then, in 1859, a ship was sailing from San Francisco, California to Hong Kong and passed in between Pagan and Agrigan. One of the mates on board remarked that he had been on Agrigan in 1849, and said there were two Caucasians and seven islanders living there. The comment didn't specify what kind of Caucasians or islanders they were.




The Spanish government and independent businessmen later tried to exploit Agrigan for copra, and the German and Japanese governments opened up the island to human settlement for that purpose as well. In 1960, there were 113 people living on Agrigan. The number of residents continued to drop until in 1990 they all left due to possible volcanic eruption.

People are still trying to get to Agrigan today, especially since the US military has expressed interest in using the northern islands for target practice. Putting people on these northern islands, they think, will make that impossible to do.

WHEN TALOFOFO RIVER WAS A BORDER

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

TALOFOFO RIVER BRIDGE IN 1946


The Americans may have taken Guam back from the Japanese on August 10, 1944, when General Geiger announced that organized Japanese resistance had ceased, but that didn't mean the island was safe from Japanese danger. Over 7000 Japanese troops were believed to be hiding in the jungles when the battle for Guam ended.

A line was drawn from Fadian Point (north of Mangilao) on the east to Tomhom (Tumon) on the west. The US believed the great majority of Japanese holdouts were north of this imaginary line. They wanted to make sure the Japanese did not venture south of the line.

But, in fact, there were Japanese soldiers hiding in the south of Guam. The last known one (Shoichi Yokoi) was found twenty-eight years later, in 1972!

The military government then decided to create a kind of a border to the extreme south of Guam at the Talofofo River. Guards were posted at the temporary, postwar bridge which replaced the prewar one destroyed in battle. The guards were there for two reasons. First, to keep American military personnel out of the extreme southern villages of Guam : Inalåhan, Malesso' and Humåtak. Even in the other villages and civilian camps, military personnel needed passes to enter. Keeping the military and civilian communities separate was good for everyone's safety. The US military brass knew that service men would be very interested in socializing with Chamorro women. In a supervised setting, like in a dance with eyes on the watch, there'd be less chance of any mishaps. But servicemen running free, looking for female companions in the villages, might create problems. Cases had already happened when this was the case.

In the extreme south of the island, far from military bases and airfields which were taking up so much land in central and northern Guam, the Chamorros could continue living their peaceful, farming lives as if war had never happened. There were no military installations in the deep south of Guam. American service men, therefore, had no business there except on a few, authorized occasions.



"OUT OF BOUNDS WITHOUT PERMIT"
Sign at the entrance of Barrigada after the war


Secondly, the guards at the Talofofo bridge ensured that any American servicemen who did have authorization to cross the bridge had a weapon. The countryside was still too dangerous for them to travel around unarmed. For several years, Chamorro ranchers would find missing chickens and stolen vegetables on their farms, the work of Japanese stragglers marauding for food at night.

You may ask why wasn't there a similar border crossing on the western side of the island, as in Hågat. The answer is simple. There was no road from Hågat to Humåtak in 1945! Nor even before the war. Look at this wartime map of Guam. From Hågat to Humåtak, there is no road. Before that road was finished years after the war, the only way to go from Hågat to Humåtak was by boat or by driving to Yoña, then Talofofo then Inalåhan then Malesso'. Going that way was even faster than by boat!

So there was no need for guards at Hågat. No one was interested in walking up the mountains over to Humåtak, or riding a cart pulled by very slow and uncooperative cows or carabaos.




NOTICE THE ROAD FROM PÅGO TO HUMÅTAK
But no road from Humåtak to Hågat


The border didn't last, of course, and in time anyone could go any where they pleased, except of course on base. A newer, wider bridge over Talofofo River was built, to be replaced several times as the years went by.

But isn't it true that there is a kind of an invisible border still, once you pass Talofofo river, or Hågat on the other side of the island, and enter the deep South. I used to live there, and I always enjoyed the feeling of being in a less rushed, more peaceful and more neighborly part of Guam.

THE MYSTERIOUS BEN JOSEPH

Thursday, November 7, 2019

"BEN JOSEPH'S" PRISON PHOTO IN 1908
From Malesso' to Folsom Prison to Gold Rush Country


He was from Guam and he went by more than one name.

Ben Walkins G. Joseph
Ben WG Joseph
Ben Joseph
Benjamin Joseph

The Walkins is really Watkins, a family that was started on Guam by an Englishman named William Watkins who settled on Guam around 1824 and married a Chamorro woman. William Watkins had some children, but the male line died out and the women married so the surname died out that way, too.

His Social Security information states that his father was John Warquin (Watkins) and his mother was María Borja. There was, in fact, a couple living in Malesso' in 1897, Juan Pangelinan Watkins and María Borja. The problem is - they had no children!

What they did have were relatives, on María's side, it seems, living with them. None of them have Watkins in their names. The youngest of the group is Vicente Borja, 13 years old in 1897. But remember that people in those days were very casual about dates. So this is very likely Ben, as Ben is a common Anglo nickname for Vicente. Ben's documents say he was born on August 14, 1887, so he'd be 10 years old in 1897. Not a big difference.

In the 1897 Guam census, Vicente has no maternal surname. He's just Vicente Borja. This suggests that he was illegitimate. Why isn't he being raised by his mother, a Borja? Maybe she had passed? So here we see some shadows of things to come. The boy is starting off life with some challenges already. Later in life, he credits the old folks who raised him, Juan Watkins and María Borja, as his father and mother.

And yet....he flees.

In 1907, or at the age of 20, he arrives in the United States. He could have left Guam even earlier, and went here and there before moving definitively to California. Like so many of the other Chamorro men who moved to the US, he used a different name from his own. Several versions, in fact. I don't know how he settled on "Joseph" for a surname.

Ah the poor lad. He then made a horrible mistake. Just the following year, in San Mateo, California, he committed murder.



BEN WAS DESCRIBED AS BEING FILIPINO
Very common for Chamorros back then


His victim was a Chinese merchant named Wong Ying Gim. Ben and Mr Wong lived in the same place, the cabin of a Mrs Nettie Harrison in Fair Oaks, a neighborhood of Redwood City south of San Mateo. It was Chinese New Year's, February of 1908, and Wong and Ben went to the Chinese neighborhood of nearby Menlo Park to celebrate and indeed they did. They had a lot to drink. When they got home, they argued, as drunk people often do. It was an argument about taking a trip to San Francisco, and Ben lost his cool. Unfortunately, deadly instruments were at hand. A club, a knife and a razor. Ben used all three. With the razor, he almost cut Wong's head clean off his neck. Blood was everywhere.

Ben ran, all the way to Oakland, across the Bay.

But another Chinese man, a relative of Wong, knew that Ben lived with Wong and may have also seen the two together that night at the Chinese New Year's celebration. The Chinese community of the area got the action started. They put reward money together and offered it to whoever might track the murderer down. Then they tasked Wong's relative to get on Ben's trail and never let go till police apprehended him. The man knew what Ben looked like, so it was a matter of time. The man spotted Ben in Oakland and called the police. Ben was arrested. Ben also confessed, making the police department's job a lot easier. Ben was sentenced to life imprisonment at Folsom State Prison.

And yet....he was released after just 8 years and 8 months.




In the 1920 census, Ben is living in a small town called Gridley in northern California, north of Sacramento, doing manual labor. For the census, he told the enumerators that he was from the Philippines and was 31 years old, which makes his birth year 1889. Like many others, he wasn't bothered by accuracy!

By 1930 he had moved to his more or less permanent home. Placer County, California. Gold rush country. Once again he told enumerators that he was from the Philippines and his stated age gave him a birth year of 1886, rather than 1887.

In 1944, he asked for and got a full pardon for his crime.




Ben lived many more years after that, remaining in Placer County. As he got out of prison after such a short time, when he had been sentenced to life, I'm not surprised that Ben avoided going back to San Mateo or the Bay Area. His victim's relatives and friends were still there. I don't think they would've been happy to know Mr Wong's murderer served such a short term.

Ben passed away on August 30, 1968 at 81 years of age. He was buried in the public cemetery in Roseville, in a grave marked Benito "Ben" Joseph, giving yet another variation on his name.

Apparently, Ben never married and never had children. He probably worked very humble jobs. One was at the Pacific Fruit Express plant, which transported farm products in refrigerated cars, at one time the largest network of refrigerated rail cars in the world.

But he managed to live to 81. Who attended his funeral? Did he connect with any Chamorros before his life was over? By the 1960s, there were a decent number of Chamorros living in the Sacramento area, not far from Placer. Had Ben made any contact whatsoever with relatives on Guam? So many unknowns in Ben's mysterious life from tropical Malesso' to the wooded hills of Placer County.





In this draft registration in the 1940s, Ben says he was from Guam in the Philippines!




In an earlier draft registration for World War I, Ben adds Watkins to his name and fudges his birth date again. One day off and if that says 1889 then two years off.

Ben also says he was born in Luzon, the Philippines! And is of the Malayan race.

He also says his work at the time was growing rice for a company in Gridley. Gridley and the surrounding area was, and is, a rice growing region. And so was Malesso'. So Ben probably had some rice farming experience already.

If I ever meet you in the afterlife, Ben, I'd ask you the questions I've already posed here, and a final one. What did the G stand for in your name Ben WG Joseph?

Rest in peace, Ben.


WHY DID EVEN BEN HIMSELF SAY HE WAS FILIPINO?

I'm old enough to remember the days when people would ask me where I was from and when I'd answer "Guam," they'd reply, "Where is Guam?"

That was in the 1970s and even 80s. Can you imagine 1900?

So many Chamorros just didn't bother with the hassle of explaining. Many Chamorros just said they were Spanish or Filipino.

SETBESAN ALEMÅN

Monday, November 4, 2019



People on Guam were able to enjoy imported German beer very early in the American administration, at least for a year or so.

A German entrepreneurial adventurer from Dresden named Paul Ferdinand Gustav Dachsel was already in business selling German beer on Guam in 1905. He sold it out of a restaurant he ran on Calle de la Soledad in Hagåtña called the Palm Garden. He served German beer in his restaurant, but he also sold beer to other businesses and private customers.

He sold German beer to the Hiki Trading Company, a Japanese business which probably sold the beer retail in its store. He sold beer to the Service Club for military patrons and also to two private clubs for the American colony on Guam, the Agaña Club and the Civil Club. He supplied the hospital mess hall with beer and one of his private customers was none other than Padre José Palomo, who once bought 200 pesos worth of beer. Be aware that a case of beer cost 14 pesos. Either Palomo liked beer or entertained a lot of guests, or both.

Dachsel bought the beer in Yokohama, Japan and had it shipped down to Guam.

Some of the specific brands he sold were Kaiser Pilsner, Kieler Tafelbier (a "table beer" lower in alcohol than the others) and Hofbrau München.

Prior to coming to Guam, Dachsel had tried to make a go of farming in Saipan in 1904, after hearing from Hermann Costenoble, the first German private citizen to move to Saipan in 1903 to seek his fortune. Both Dachsel and Costenoble experienced the opposite, having disagreements with the German colonial authorities and soon leaving Saipan for American Guam.

Whereas Costenoble stayed on Guam for a while, Drachsel didn't. By 1908 he was running a restaurant in China, in the port city of Tsingtao which the Germans controlled. If you've ever heard of a Chinese beer called Tsingtao, now you may have figured it out. That brand was founded by German and British businessmen in Tsingtao, China.



Another brand sold by Drachsel on Guam
HOFBRAU MÜNCHEN

BURIAL OF A CHAMORRO CHILD IN 1910

Thursday, October 31, 2019


Even today, despite much Americanization and loss of the older culture, a Chamorro funeral is not quite the same as a funeral in the US mainland. Unless, of course, the funeral in the US mainland is that of a Chamorro; then it is possible, to some extent, to have the same feel there as a Chamorro funeral in the Marianas.

But many people are not aware of all the aspects of the old-time Chamorro funerals.

Take, for example, the way children were buried a hundred and more years ago.

To give us a little glimpse of that, let's hear from the pen of a German Catholic missionary in Saipan, writing around the year 1910. What he describes would have applied to Guam, as well, since the Chamorros in Saipan originated in Guam. Some of them in 1910 would have just moved from Guam to Saipan a few years before. And, the missionaries on Guam during the same period have the same things to say about children's funerals on Guam as this German missionary says.

Before I share what he said, a few remarks are necessary to prepare you for it :


KEEP IN MIND

1. This is written from a foreigner's perspective, so expect him to be shocked by what you and I may have considered completely normal had we lived 100 years ago. That's just human nature. You and I do the same this very day. If we were to watch old news clips of the days when Russian Communist leaders, all male, sometimes kissed on the lips, you and I would be shocked and we might come up with some very inaccurate conclusions about what we just saw. So when a German missionary describes Chamorro customs, keep that in mind.

2. Our Chamorro grandparents and great grandparents were very knowledgeable about Catholic teaching concerning the death of a baptized child. According to Catholic belief, a baptized child is free of Original Sin, the sin of Adam and Eve which closed the door of heaven to the human race. Since the child is not old enough to commit his or her own sins (lying, stealing and so on), the child is not guilty of sin that would send him or her to hell, nor even Purgatory which a place of purification for those who die in the state of grace but who need cleansing from imperfections. The baptized child who dies goes straight to heaven and is like an angel. Thus, there should be happiness that the child is in the perfect joy of heaven. Furthermore, there is no need to pray for the soul of the child.

Our great grandparents expressed this happiness that a child has entered heaven in a manner that faded in time, such that even you and I would find it strange, as you will see when you read on.

3. What follows now is a LOOSE TRANSLATION of the German article written by Father Gallus Lehmann in 1910 about the funeral of a child in Saipan. It is not an exact translation since my knowledge of German doesn't allow it to be exact. But, I can assure you it is faithful to the general ideas expressed by Father Gallus.



German Father Gallus and some children of Saipan
1900s


A CHEERFUL FUNERAL IN SAIPAN
by Father Gallus, OFM Cap


Surely one of the most good natured people living on this bumpy world are the Chamorros in the Mariana Islands. They do not make life difficult for themselves or for others. In all circumstances they know how to find their way quickly and contentedly. The Europeans often want to envy this people on account of their adaptability. While we Nordic civilized people ponder, grumble and worry about unavoidable occurrences, there the Chamorro goes quickly to the day's affairs, with the same indifferent attitude as if nothing had happened.

But please, do not misunderstand me. My flock here is not stupid and cold, without any thinking. We'll hear right away when people feel an obligation to show feelings and thoughts. It doesn't especially take a long time to get to the heart. This is shown particularly when there is a death in the family.

How deeply does it cut into the soul of a European at the passing of a dear one! The tear, the wound in the heart often does not heal after years. When I tell this to a Chamorro, they find it hard to believe. He says: why? People have to die, no one can change that; there is nothing to wonder about if the wife, a child or a brother passes away.

Thus is his behavior when it comes to death. Especially when a child dies, he loves to hear some more cheerful music. A typical case is mentioned here.


My neighbor over on the other side of the street experienced the death of a two-year-old child. At the moment of death, the mother let out a loud scream heard on all sides. That was more or less "official." That scream was to let the neighbors know that someone had died. (1)

It was soon seen that the sadness, though, was not so deep. Because dead bodies rapidly decay in the tropics, they are buried soon, usually in the first 8 to 12 hours, and so it was in this case. (2)

The father of the child immediately set to work to make a coffin. He did that in the same room where the dead child lay. The sawing, planing, tapping, testing was all done in the presence of the mother. She looked on, with a double-sized cigar, (3) going in and out, chatting with whoever about the most mundane things of this world. Much less did the coffin maker display his emotion.

In the evening at 5 o'clock was the funeral. At the house, the clergyman and his five altar boys picked up the body. The interior of the Chamorro hut was full of grieving women, mostly relatives. The men were outside. The corpse was blessed in the usual way, and now four children were getting ready to carry the deceased to the cemetery. (4)

At this moment, the custom appeared as it always has to for the mother to show her emotions a second time, in a totally pagan manner. (5) When the four children put the stretcher on their shoulders, the mother raised a wild howl, waving her hands in the air. Then with her disheveled but beautiful, coal-black hair, she gestured as if to throw herself out the window. The relatives held her back, trying to calm her. Of course, the fuel was already in the fire of tragedy and she behaved even more desperately, calling her child all sorts of nicknames and....then suddenly the soothing funeral music.

This consisted of 3 violins, a triangle, a beat up drum and an accordion. So these 6 musicians were doing their best to give the funeral a different look. They succeeded completely. They played with an airy touch, "I must, I must leave the town." (6) Yes, that's what they played. I could not believe my ears when I first heard it. Since then I am as used to hearing it as I was used to hearing Chopin's famous funeral march. I had to exert all my power to keep serious.

When the song was over (they played it a few times), the noble musicians then played an even funnier waltz, making the listener itch visibly in the feet. (7)


And so it ended at the cemetery, under cheerful wise men, the dead child was tucked into the earth. Meanwhile, this little one is smiling up in the sky, shaking his head as he looks down on this strange funeral.



NOTES


(1) Chamorro women traditionally (even before European contact) expressed emotions at the death of a family member in very loud and dramatic ways, as can be seen also in many other cultures. Some people think it can be just a lot of show, at times. It is suggested by Fr Gallus that, in this case, the loud screaming was a way of notifying the neighborhood that someone had just died. It was a custom to leave the house lights on all night, inside and out. When people passed by at 2AM to see a house all lit up, it was a sign that there was a death in that house. Since in this case the child during the day, a scream was needed.


(2) Thus not even a funeral Mass was celebrated many times in the old days. This was because the body had to be buried soon, and one couldn't wait till the next day to arrange a Mass. A priest could be called more quickly for a simple burial. In those days, too, the priest had to say Mass early in the morning (4AM even) because the rules for fasting before Mass or communion were more strict than today. From midnight on, a priest could not even drink water before saying Mass. So a funeral Mass at 1PM was unthinkable.


(3) Many foreign observers in the 1800s mentioned the particular fondness Chamorro women had for smoking cigars. They didn't mention the men (who also smoked, but the women stood out). The tobacco was grown locally.


(4) Apparently an old custom was for children to carry the corpse of a child to the cemetery.


(5) Fr Gallus is using a judgment here, calling the wild actions of the mother "pagan" or "unchristian." Christian grief is supposed to be tempered by hope in the resurrection. Those who do not believe in the resurrection from the dead through Christ's resurrection (the pagans) can go overboard all they want, but the Christian can't. But there is something cultural, not theological, going on here Fr Gallus may not have been attuned to.'


(6) The shock is that the Chamorro musicians were playing a totally non-religious German folk song at a funeral. Here are some of the words of that song :


Do I have to, have to


Leave the city, leave the city

And you, my dear, stay here

When I come, when I come

When I come again, come again

I come, my dear, to your house

Can't I be with you for a while right away

I really enjoy you

When I come, When I come

When I come again, come again

I come, my dear, to your house.

No one was singing any words to the song, but Fr Gallus knew what the song was! Here's a link to the song. I'm sure some of you will recognize the tune, known by the English version "Wooden Heart," and that it has been put to Chamorro words.




What happened at this burial was not an isolated event. Even on Guam, the Spanish Capuchin missionaries who first came to the island in 1901 complained that church choirs were playing non-religious, secular songs that didn't belong in church.

(7) Meaning the waltz was so lively it made the listener want to dance (itchy in the feet). Perhaps Fr Gallus so some people tapping their feet as the band played on at the funeral.





KÅNTA : ÅPBLADORA

Monday, October 28, 2019


The well-known singer Candy Taman took the Beatles' original Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da and gave it a Chamorro twist, making it a song about an åpbladora , a woman who talks too much and who talks about other people's business.

The word åpbladot (for a man) or åpbladora (for a woman) is borrowed from the Spanish, based on the Spanish word hablar which means "to talk." We also get from there the word åpbladurías , meaning "gossip, rumor, hearsay."




Humånao yo' machocho tåftaf gi ega'an;
(I went to work early in the morning;)
gaige i asaguå-ho gi besino.
(my wife was at the neighbor's.)
Tinane' de umåpbla yan si kumaire
(She was occupied gossiping with comadre)
ya i gimå'-ña mampos mutung kochino.
(and her house was overly stinking dirty.)

Obladi oblada åpbladora.
(Obladi oblada gossiper.)
Ti måtto tåtte gi ora.
(She didn't come back on time.)

Sige de tumånges sa' ma trompåda;
(She kept crying because she was punched;)
todo man ma botcha matå-ña.
(all her face was swollen.)
Trinikos ni asaguå-ña sa' ha såsångan
(She was hit in the face by her husband because she was saying)
i mina' tres na påtgon otro tatå-ña.
(the third child had a different father.)

Obladi oblada åpbladora.


(Obladi oblada gossiper.)

Hågo lao pot mudora.
(You alone are stupid.)

Yanggen esta tåya' para un cho'gue, kieto.
(If you already have nothing to do, keep still.)
Maolek-ña un fama'gågåsi masea un fan lålåkse.
(Better for you to be washing or sewing.)

Maolek-ña mo'n pendeha ennao un cho'gue;
(It would be better silly for you to do that;)
laksiye famagu'on magågo.
(sew the children clothes.)
Tulaika i kostumbre-mo båsta umåpbla
(Change your ways, stop gossiping)
sa' i probecho puro ha' para hågo.
(because the benefits are all yours.)

Obladi oblada åpbladora.


(Obladi oblada gossiper.)

Hågo ha' bai adora.
(You alone I will adore.)


NOTES

(1) Kumaire comes from the Spanish word comadre , or co-mother. The mother of a baby and the godmother of that baby are co-mothers or kumaire . But in this song the lady isn't necessarily gossiping with her kumaire . Kumaire can mean, at times, a woman with whom you are close, as if you both are kumaire .

(2) The idea here is that the lady is gossiping about other people's dirty laundry and yet her own house is filthy because she neglects her duties in order to gossip with others.

(3) I am unsure if these lines refer to the gossiping lady, or do these lines represent the kind of gossip she engages in? In any case, the first two lines talk about a lady, I assume, being physically abused; she is crying because she is punched and her eyes are all swollen. Why? Possibly on account of the next two lines. Her husband has been deceived because the third child is not his but another man's.

(4) She should give up gossiping because she herself will benefit, not just those she is gossiping about.

(5) "You alone I will adore," is meant sarcastically. A gossip makes everyone else look bad, as if he or she is perfect and worthy of adoration.

KÅNTA : I SAINA-TA UN BINENDISE

Monday, August 26, 2019


DAVID PETER
One of my favorite singers of Marianas music


A song of blessing for someone leaving home. This happens a lot in the Marianas. People leave for the military. People leave for work in the US. Some come back; many never do.




Si nanå-mo un inecha (1) bendision-mo (2)
(May your mother pour your blessing on you)
masea måno hao guato.
(wherever you may go.)
I Saina-ta un binendise gi karerå-mo.
(The Lord bless you on your journey.)

Karerå-mo ti u chågo';
(May your journey not be far;)
fottunå-mo siempre un sodda'.
(may you surely find your fortune.)
I Saina-ta un binendise gi karerå-mo.
(The Lord bless you on your journey.)

I karerå-mo i atdao u inina;
(May the sun illumine your path;)
kåten påharo siha gi aire;
(the cry of the birds in the air;)
freskon månglo' siempre un guinaife
(a cool breeze blow on you)
masea måno hao guato.
(wherever you may go.)

Todo gåtbo siempre guinifi-mo;
(May your dream surely be all beautiful;)
tåya' siempre parehu-ña.
(surely it will have no equal.)
I Saina-ta un binendise gi karerå-mo.
(The Lord bless you on your journey.)


NOTES

1) Echa . Comes from the Spanish word echar , meaning "to chase out, fire from work" but also "to pour out." So " echa bendision " means "to pour out a blessing."

2) The traditional expression is " Si nanå-mo un inecha bendision-ña ." "Her blessing," because she is pouring on you a blessing from her.

ANSON'S ANCHOR

Wednesday, August 21, 2019


Commodore George Anson of the British Royal Navy visited Tinian in 1742, and lost two anchors.

Apparently, according to news accounts, one of the two was found around 1829 by a whaling vessel stopping at Tinian. When the whaling ship lowered its anchor, it touched Anson's old anchor resting at the bottom. The anchor was taken down to Guam, rusty but in usable condition, where it was banged by Chamorro workers into bars and bolts, since someone was building a ship and needed those parts.

Well, if this makes you sad, hold on.

History-minded persons in Saipan took advantage of a Scripps Institute research team doing some exploration in the very area offshore in Tinian where Anson's ship was anchored. They asked the researchers to keep an eye out for anchors, and they did in fact find two. In 2017, these two anchors were brought up. They very well could be Anson's two anchors, but the jury is still out on that until we can be more sure.

ANNAI MA AYAO I GUAKA

Monday, August 19, 2019


Here is a glimpse of agricultural låncho Chamorro society; the way they lived for 250 years until life after World War II took most of the people off the land.

People borrowed from each other in those days. A lot! Not everyone had everything, but those without X could borrow from those who needed their Y. That way, nearly everyone was covered.

This applied to animals, too.

One farmer might have fertile cows, but no bull to impregnate them. Another farmer down the trail might have a bull but no cow to get pregnant.



Alakunao in northern Guam


In 1922, this was Joaquin's situation. He had a bull, but no cow at his ranch in Alakunao. And so he asked Florencio if he could borrow Florencio's cow so that his bull could impregnate her.

Florencio considered the benefit possible for him. And so he agreed under these conditions :

1. The first baby calf born of the cow was to be Florencio's. The second would be Joaquín's.

2. If the cow died due to Joaquín's negligence, Joaquín would have to pay Florencio the value of the cow.

3. If the cow died and Joaquín was not at fault, both Florencio and Joaquín could still profit from the cow by selling the meat. In order to do this, however, Joaquín had to inform Florencio of the cow's death within 24 hours of finding out about the cow's death. That way, the meat of the dead cow would still be fresh enough to butcher and sell, to the profit of both men.

Well, a year later, Joaquín did find the cow dead on a Saturday morning at the ranch in Alakunao. He told Florencio, the owner, right up to the 24 hour limit, informing him of the death right after the 5AM Sunday Mass at the Hagåtña cathedral.

Florencio was not satisfied that Joaquín had taken proper care of the cow and was thus, he claimed, responsible for its death. Florencio took Joaquín to court but, in the end, Joaquín was exonerated of any wrongdoing.

CHAMORRO EUPHEMISM

Thursday, August 15, 2019

SPANISH PLAYING CARDS
Balåha


A euphemism is a nicer way of saying something.

"Passed away" sounds nicer than "died." That's a euphemism.

In traditional Chamorro culture, one doesn't come straight out and talk about sex. One finds ways to talk about it between the lines, around the bush. Hinting, suggesting.

There are many ways to do this. But the other day an older lady showed me one more way.

We were sitting across each other at a party and next to me was her older brother. Both, by the way, are in their 80s.

The lady started telling me about her brother, who was in his own world eating his food. He's hard of hearing anyway.

She was saying how he, a widower, met this younger lady " pues pumanggengge i dos unos kuåntos meses ." The two "played panggengge for some months."

Panggengge is an old card game, using Spanish cards as seen above. The word appears in an old song, " Panggengge, panggengge kon kuåttro Españot ."

So, literally, she said her brother and the younger lady played a card game, but the hidden meaning was not so hidden.

ÅSTA VERSUS ESTA

Monday, August 12, 2019


If you ever wonder how languages change over time, just keep your eyes opened.

It's happening right now, in our own times.

It's just a fact of life. Languages change over time. The English spoken today is not exactly the same English spoken 500 years ago. And neither is Chamorro.

It doesn't happen because the government changes it. It doesn't happen because a committee changes it. It happens because people change it. Without planning it, without intending it. It just happens.

Someone just starts saying something different, or someone gives an old word a new meaning, and it spreads, like the flu or cold.

We have had for several hundreds now two Spanish loan words with different meanings, and happening right now before our eyes (or ears) is that one of those words is taking on both meanings.

The first word is ÅSTA .

It comes from the Spanish word hasta , which means "until." In Spanish, the H is silent. It sounds like asta. So we can say the following in Chamorro using the word åsta :

Åsta a las dos . Until two o'clock .

Åsta ke måtai yo' . Until I die .

The second word is ESTA .

We know it comes from Spanish, but there are two Spanish words. One is esta , which means "this." And the other is está , which means "it is." Most people think the Chamorro word esta comes from the second Spanish word, está . Some even think the Chamorro word esta comes from the Spanish phrase está ya , which means "it is already there" or "it already is."

This would make sense because the Chamorro word esta means "already." So we use like this :

Esta måtto . He or she already came .

Kao måsa esta? Is it cooked already ?


THE CHANGE

But now, many Chamorros have dropped asta and say esta when they mean asta .

Listen to this short clip of two different singers singing the exact same line. One singer says asta and the second says esta , even though the singer means asta . The line they sing is " asta/esta i finatai-ho ," "until my death."




THE PROBLEM

When languages change, there is hardly anything anyone can do about it. We probably won't be able to stop people from abandoning asta and saying esta when they mean asta .

But now we have a harder time telling if they mean asta or esta . If esta can mean both "until" and "already," we now have to look for more information to know if they mean one or the other, because nowadays, " Esta a las dos " can mean EITHER "until two o'clock" or "it is already two o'clock."

Before, when asta clearly meant "until" and when esta clearly meant "already," we could easily tell the difference.

Now that esta can mean both words for many people, we have a harder time seeing the difference between "until" and "already."

So some of us old-fashioned people continue to say asta when we mean "until," and we say " esta " when we mean "already."

THE COINING OF "AGAÑA HEIGHTS"

Wednesday, August 7, 2019


I cannot find anything in writing prior to 1944 calling any place on Guam "Agaña Heights." If I find it, I'll update this post.

But the use of the name "Agaña Heights" occurs in writing so quickly after the war that I wonder if the name was used to describe the area "up the hill from Hagåtña" first by Americans, I would suspect, and then spread to Chamorros rubbing elbows with Americans more frequently than others.

The area which we now call Agaña Heights was not considered one place before the war. The area was included in Sinajaña municipality and was known by the specific names of the separate smaller areas such as Tutuhan, Taigigao, Pa'åsan, Apugan and a few others. Even today, some people refer to these specific areas by these traditional names.

Here is a map of the area in the 1940 US Census :


1940

As you can see, there is an Agaña, a Sinajaña and an Asan but no Agaña Heights. The area now known as Agaña Heights was then a part of Sinajaña municipality.

A village breakdown of the 1940 Census shows that Tutujan and Apugan (now parts of Agaña Heights) were barrios of Sinajaña in 1940 :



1940


AFTER THE WAR

Immediately after the return of US forces to Guam in July of 1944 we see the first references to an area called Agaña Heights. It started with the US military.

It started with the US military because the area above the capital city had strategic military value. This was recognized even in Spanish times, which is why the Spaniards built a fort in Apugan, now a part of Agaña Heights, which still remains to this day.

From the heights above Agaña, one could enjoy a military advantage over the city below.

And so, the US military started referring to "Agaña Heights" as they fought the Japanese coming from the south entering into Hagåtña. Here is an example. A war reporter writes as early as August, 1944 about a machine gun placed at "Agaña Heights."



1944

But, just to be clear, the writer wasn't referring to an established, political entity called Agaña Heights. In other news articles at the very same time, reporters sometimes do not capitalize "heights," meaning they literally are saying "the heights above Agaña," rather than saying there is a specific municipality called Agaña Heights. Other reporters call it "Agaña height," in the singular. Again, "Agaña Heights" was not a village name in 1944. But the name did get its start right at the time of the American return to Guam.


LITTLE BY LITTLE....

And so, from the last half of 1944 until around 1950, people called the same area by two names; the traditional name Tutujan and the newly-coined "Agaña Heights."

The area received a lot more attention after the war than before. The military had a lot to do with that.
The US Navy used the Tutujan area a lot right after the war, and sometimes referred to the area as "Agaña Heights." The US used the area for the stockade of Japanese prisoners and even for Saipan Chamorros, Guam Japanese civilians and Japanese-Chamorros. Then, the US built Naval Hospital in the area.

So, here's an October 1944 report on military construction on Guam, mentioning a building project in "Agaña Heights."



1944

And yet, people didn't abandon the name Tutujan just yet, as seen in this court testimony given by Adolfo C. Sgambelluri, a civilian police officer, in 1945 :


1945


And, as you can see, Tutujan was still considered a part of Sinajaña in 1945.

This map of Guam was printed just a year or so after the end of World War II. In it, Tutujan is still the name of the area we now call Agaña Heights.


1945


CHANGE COMES SWIFTLY

But change was on the way and very quickly. By 1950, "Agaña Heights" was the preferred, and eventually official, way of designating that area of the island.

And so, in this 1950 Guam Census map, the area once named Tutujan in earlier maps is now called Agaña Heights, still considered a part of Sinajaña in 1950.



1950

One very nice example of how the name Tutujan phased out and was replaced by "Agaña Heights" is seen in the Catholic directory of Guam parishes. The switch to "Agaña Heights" occurred in 1948, just four years after the American return to Guam. The 1949 Catholic Directory, reflecting information for the calendar year 1948, no longer lists a parish located in Tutujan, but rather in Agaña Heights. Here's an example from the 1952 Catholic Directory.


1952

TUTUJAN OR TUTUHAN?

Both.

We were under Spain for 230 years so we inherited many spellings of our Chamorro names, both of places and of people, from Spain. In Spanish, J is pronounced like Chamorro or English H.

Juan and Jose, for example.

And so we get Chamorro names like Sinajaña and Inarajan spelled with a J. Or last names like Fejeran and Terlaje where the H sound is spelled with a J.

So while the move lately has been to stick with the H instead of the J (Tutuhan instead of Tutujan), older documents will still use the J and I don't think we're going to see many Taijerons and Tajalles switch to the H just yet.


REVIVAL OF TUTUHAN?




In recent years there has been some attempt to bring back the name Tutuhan from the past.

The grassy triangle at the eastern entrance of the village, popularly called "Triangle Park" was christened "Tutuhan Park" by the mayor some years ago.

The village marker in that area says Tutuhan. It doesn't say "Agaña Heights."




But efforts to do more, as in officially changing the name of the municipality to Tutuhan, have met strong resistance by some of the residents of Agaña Heights themselves.

Apart from stating that people are so used to calling the village Agaña Heights for over 70 years already, opponents to the reversion to Tutuhan say that Tutuhan is not an accurate name for the village since Tutuhan is only one part of the municipality. Specifically, Tutuhan is the name of the area around the parish church and the center of the village. But many of the village residents actually live in Pa'åsan, or Taigigao or Apugan and other areas within the municipal borders. Is it fair, they ask, to name the entire village by just one of the many areas making up the municipality?

But, some others point out, that shouldn't be a problem because that's the situation with a number of other villages. Barrigada, for example, includes Cañada, As Penggao, Leyang, Ungåguan, Lålo' and many other areas, but no one living in those areas minds if the entire village is called Barrigada.

One Agaña Heights resident told me that there is, perhaps, another, more important reason for keeping the name "Agaña Heights." "In the alphabetical list of villages," he told me, "Agaña Heights appears at the very top of the list. The letter T, as in Tutuhan, comes towards the bottom of the list, as in Talofofo or Tamuning."

Ai ke!

KÅNTA : ADIOS KERIDA

Monday, August 5, 2019

CHAMORRO MAIDEN
by Paul Jacoulet


A song of lost love sung by Chris Kaipat of Saipan




ADIOS KERIDA
Farewell beloved.


1, Adios keridå-ho ya bai hu hånao
(Farewell my beloved and I will go)

sa' esta hu sen tungo' na guaha otro
(because I truly know that there is another)

guinaiya-mo mås ke guåho gi tiempo.
(whom you love more than me all the while.)

Ai sa' sen pinite korason-ho.
(Oh how very painful is my heart.)

2. Tumekkon yo' un råto ya hu hahasso
(I bowed my head awhile and was remembering)

i tiempo gi annai humihita.
(the time when we were together.)

Ai sen gåtbo lina'lå'-ta lao ti hu tungo'
(Oh our lives were so beautiful but I didn't know)

na otro esta nene ga'chochong-mo.
(that another already, baby, was your companion.)

3. Po'lo diåhlo ya bai hu sungon
(Just let it be and I will endure)

nu todo este piniten korason-ho.
(all this pain of my heart).

Ya un dia ma tulaika hinaso-mo
(And one day your mind changes)

ya un bira hao mågi nene gi fi'on-ho.
(and you turn back here, baby, by my side.)

WWI CHAMORROS

Thursday, July 25, 2019



When the United States entered World War I (late) in 1917, males aged 21 to 30 had to register for the draft. This included males who were not U.S. citizens but residing in the U.S., which meant that some Chamorro men living in the U.S. mainland registered for the draft.

These are some of them.

A few Chamorro men served in the U.S. military during World War I but directly from Guam. These are some of those who were already in the U.S. mainland in 1917 and registered. I don't know which of them actually were sent to war. At least one, who was in prison, probably did not go.

It's possible that one of these men was a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1917, but I'd look for documented evidence of that.

John ( Juan ) Crisostomo , born in 1884. He lived in Marin County in California.

Manuel Guerrero , born in 1886. Registered in New York, New York.

Frank ( Francisco ) Perez , born in1889. Living in Erie, New York.

Antonio Dueñas Materne . Born in 1891. Registered in Ohio. He actually rendered his name in the Spanish style; Antonio Materne Dueñas.

John ( Juan ) Herrero , born in 1892. Oakland, CA

Joaquin Aflleje Tydingco , born 1895. From Asan. Confined at San Quentin, CA

GC Felix . Born in 1895. Colorado. This was probably not his original surname (Felix) but many Chamorros did change their names when they moved off-island in those days.

Juan Tydingco . Born in 1896. San Francisco, CA

John ( Juan ) de la Cruz Flores , born in 1891. San Francisco, CA


PRISON BABY

Monday, July 22, 2019


In 1925, a woman named María of Hagåtña was serving time in prison for the crime of adultery.

María was married to one man, but broke her vow of fidelity to him and had relations with another man. Her betrayal was discovered, and she was tried and sent to prison.

The problem was she was pregnant.

When the child was born, a boy named Ramón, he was not given María's husband's last name, but rather María's maiden name. The child was María's, but not her husband's. Ramón's father's name was left blank on his birth certificate. Perhaps the father was the man with whom María had adulterous relations. But it could have been another, for all we know!

In order to give birth safely, the prisoner María was taken to the Naval Hospital. Once the baby was born, what to do with the baby? The baby could not remain under María's care, as she had more time to serve in prison.

The medical officer at the hospital gave the baby, with María's consent, to a Merizo woman named Dolores. Dolores and her husband José not long after went to court and, again with María's consent, became the legal parents of Ramón.

Why did the medical officer give the baby to Dolores? What was Dolores doing up in Hagåtña? At the hospital? Questions for which I have no answers.

José and Dolores were not relatives of María. They were not even from the same part of Guam. Perhaps they were childless and looked forward to raising the newborn Ramón as their own. Whatever the case, it was an act of charity for the couple to adopt a baby, the son of a woman in prison.

ANTIGO NA KUENTOS

Thursday, July 18, 2019


MÅTAI GI SINADDEN YU'US

He or she died in the bosom of God.


To place someone on another's lap is to sådde .





Sinasådde i patgon as nanå-ña.

The child is being held on the lap by his mother.

Sitting on someone's lap, especially when a child is sitting on a mother's lap, or the lap of some other caring adult, is a place of safety and security. So older people expanded the meaning of sådde to also mean a place of safety, which can be translated by the English word "bosom."

Originally, "bosom" meant a woman's breast. But over time it also began to mean a place of safety, as in the "bosom of Abraham," or when one's friend is a trusted intimate, he can be called a "bosom friend." A mother carries her child in her bosom.

When a Christian dies a holy death, having made a good confession and receiving the Last Rites, he or she can be said to pass from this life to the safety of God's hands, into His bosom.

Måtai gi sinadden Yu'us . He or she died in the bosom of God. A place of mercy and safety.

SAIBOK

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

SAIPAN : SAIBOK CHOTDA or AGA'
GUAM : GOLLAI ÅPPAN AGA'


I enjoy the traditional differences between Guam and Saipan (and Luta and Tinian) in language and customs. I think these differences add color and flavor to our collective Chamorro experience. Just as a family would be less interesting if every child were exactly like the other, our Chamorro family is all the more interesting because of our differences.

These differences are very manageable if we simply adhere to the common-sense rule to "do in Rome as the Romans do." When I am in Saipan, I use the Saipan term. When I am in Guam, I use the Guam term. How difficult is that?

In both Saipan and Guam, we eat the same dish which involves cooking some starch ( lemmai , chotda or aga ' or suni ; breadfruit, banana or taro) in coconut milk until most of the liquid in the milk evaporates and only the oil of the milk remains in white, bubbly patches.

In Saipan and the rest of the CNMI, the dish is called saibok . In Guam, it is called gollai åppan .

Gollai means "vegetable" and åppan means "the water in the dish has evaporated."

The late Escolástica Tudela Cabrera of Saipan explains :



THE CHARFAUROS FAMILY OF LIVERPOOL

Tuesday, July 9, 2019


JOHN (IGNACIO) CHARFAROS OF LIVERPOOL
in 1919


I wish I had more firm evidence to say conclusively that John (who was also called Ignacio) Charfaros is Chamorro, but I can't.

But I can say that there is a huge probability that he is Chamorro, and I would bet my last penny that he is.

All the documents that I have found, so far, say that John Charfaros was born in the Philippines. But I propose that he was not born in the Philippines, but rather in Guam.

Why?

1. CHARFAROS is not a surname found in the Philippines. From Ilocos Norte to Davao you can scour every inch of the Philippines and not find a Filipino with the last name Charfaros.

2. CHARFAROS is a surname found in Guam, specifically Hågat (and then spread to other villages). In the old days, people spelled Chamorro surnames in a variety of ways. Even brothers sometimes spelled their common surname in two different ways. To this day, we see this historical fact in names such as Megofña/Magofña, Tedpahago/Tedpahogo and Cheguiña/Chiguiña. In the Spanish records, Charfauros was sometimes spelled Charforos, Charfaulos and many other similar ways.

3. Many Chamorros overseas stated that they were from the Philippines or Spain, instead of saying they were from Guam, the Marianas or the Ladrones. The fact is that the Marianas were, for most of the 1800s, a part of the Philippines, which belonged to Spain. The Spanish Governor of the Marianas answered to the Spanish Governor-General in Manila, and he answered to the government in Madrid. When Chamorros were abroad, many people had no idea where the Marianas were, so it was easier for the Chamorro to say they were from the Philippines or from Spain, which technically was true at the time. Since Charfauros lived in England, which had even less reason to be familiar with Guam or the Marianas, I am not surprised he told the British authorities that he was from the Philippines.




From the Philippines? More likely Guam.
A donkeyman on a ship operated some of the ship's engines.


WHO WAS JOHN CHARFAROS?

One thing the records are consistent about is that John was born in 1882. The next thing we know, he is in Liverpool, England in 1912, getting married to a lady from Liverpool with Filipino and possibly Caucasian blood.

John would live the remainder of his life in Liverpool, a seaport city that welcomed many immigrants from all over the world.

His wife, Margaret Madeloso (sometimes spelled Maduloso) was the daughter of a Filipino, Gregorio, and his wife, a woman from Liverpool named Theresa Dair (or Durr). She was born in 1896, and was thus 14 years younger than John and married him at the tender age of 16. There are numerous families in the Philippines with the Madeloso surname, often spelled Madiloso, Madelozo and other ways. John and Margaret were married in the Catholic Church.

John was a seaman, which is probably how he left Guam in the first place. John is identified in half a dozen shipping documents as a crew member of this or that ship, sailing out of Liverpool.

John and Margaret had several children who died in infancy. But one son, Vincent, lived well into adulthood. I do not know if Vincent had his own children, who would have carried on the Charfaros name. It seems that he didn't.

John died on a ship, docked in Glasgow, Scotland in 1947. That makes him 65 years old at the time of death.


Liverpool


JOHN'S FIRST NAME

It seems that John's original first name was Ignacio.

In some records, he is called Ignasio, Inacio, Enasio, Enagnasio and even the Chamorro nickname for Ignacio, Inas (spelled Enos in the British documents). When he applied for naturalization as a British citizen in 1936, the announcement in a Liverpool newspaper gave both names; Ignacio and John as an alias.

Perhaps John was just an easier name for British people to say, rather than Ignacio (which they spelled in numerous ways!).




BY THE WAY.....

Charfaros was not the only Chamorro who ended up in Liverpool, England.

Sometime in the 1880s, long before Charfaros came, Juan Manibusan from Guam left his ship and settled in Liverpool, also marrying a women he met there. The difference was that Juan, his wife and some of his children moved back to Guam at the end of World War I.

You can google my blog post about them. Search for paleric+"a whaler who came back" or copy and paste this link :

http://paleric.blogspot.com/2017/11/a-whaler-who-came-back.html

I wonder if anyone in the Charfauros families on Guam have heard about Ignacio (John)?

SERENO-PROOF AMERIKÅNO

Thursday, July 4, 2019

CHAMORRO WOMEN IN 1902.
90 degrees but heads wrapped tightly in case of sereno !


This is a fictional work, "written" by a fictional statesider new to Guam.


I never feared the cool air. Until I came to Guam. Only then did I discover that the cool air can kill you.

I was only two weeks on Guam, moving here from Arizona, when I came into my landlady's house after mowing the lawn, both on her side of the property and on my side, where I was renting an annex.

She always welcomed me into her kitchen whenever I wanted, and since I was sweating profusely, I wanted a nice cold glass of her famous lemonade.

But instead of a warm welcome when I walked into her kitchen, she looked at me with an expression of horror and told me, "Get out of this kitchen! Can't you feel the air con????"

I said, "Yes! It feels good!"

"No, no, no," she said. " Sus Maria ! Do you want to get sick? Go back outside and dry off for awhile. Then you can come inside."

Thus began my island education about the evils of cool air.

Do you have a cold? You probably got wet in the rain and walked into an air conditioned room.

Do you have a fever? Close the windows, turn off the AC, wrap yourself in woolen blankets and sweat it out. You kill a fever with heat. The last thing you want is cool air.

Do you have high blood pressure? High cholesterol? Back pain? A tooth ache? You must have walked into cool air.

Some days later, I had to get up at 4AM so I could pick up a coworker arriving at the airport. I was surprised to see my landlady already up as well.

"See you later," I said, "I'm off to the airport!"

"Not like that!" she replied. "It's sereno ! You're gonna get sick if you don't cover your head." She gave me a hanky and I put it on my head. "At least when you're out of the car, cover your head till the sun comes up. Especially with your hair wet! You must have just showered."

Driving to the airport, I thought how blissfully ignorant we statesiders are about the dangers of the damp morning air. Sereno , as she said.




A few months later, I was getting out of my car when the heavens opened up and, out of nowhere, it rained cats and dogs. Unprepared for the unexpected rain, I got completely drenched. My landlady saw this happen, and saw me walk into my air conditioned annex.

The following day, she asked, "You're not sick? I saw you get soaking wet and walk into the air con."

"No," I said, "I'm perfectly fine."

"It must be your white genes," she said.

"I must be a sereno -proof statesider," I said with a bit of sarcasm.

Then last night, she called me on my cell phone.

"You didn't go to work today. Your car was here all day. Are you OK?" she asked.

"I'll live, but I think I have a 24 hour bug," I said.

Right away she said, "And knowing you, it will last exactly 24 hours. You're from the States."




SERVANTS TRAVEL TO MANILA

Saturday, June 29, 2019

MANILA
Around the 1920s


How times have changed.

Generally speaking, most Chamorros today would never consider working as a domestic servant.

But, in times past, many Chamorros were just that. And not just to foreigners, either. Many Chamorros worked as domestic servants for other Chamorros. The male servants were called muchåcho and the female muchåcha , words borrowed from Spanish for "boy" and "girl."

One indication how Chamorro attitudes about domestic service changed over time is the connotation those two words took on. The words muchåcho and muchåcha were considered too negative, especially if said in front of the servants, that people would called them lahi-ho or hagå-ho , "my son" or "my daughter," instead.

Working as a domestic servant had its advantages. Usually there was payment in cash, something more people came in contact with under the Americans but to which not all had access. Sometimes the employer would buy the servant work clothes. Servants could eat what was available in the house (later, of course). In general, by being in the home, office or environment of the boss, the servant could benefit from that environment.

When you worked for someone more affluent, who traveled abroad, you could, too!

In 1921, the Governor of Guam, Captain Ivan C. Wettengel, and his wife, wanted to travel to Manila. Accompanying them was First Sergeant Otto Cox, in the Marines but soon to retire. Cox was accompanied by his Chamorro wife, the former Dolores Borja of Sumay. With a bigger group of military and civilian passengers, they boarded the Army transport ship the USAT Thomas , which frequently stopped by Guam on its Pacific journeys.



The USAT Thomas docked in Manila in the 1920s


But the Wettengels and Coxes also brought their Chamorro domestic servants with them on the ship to Manila.

The maid of Mrs Wettengel, the Governor's wife, was Mrs . Juana Cruz . It's a common name, so I can't say which Juana Cruz she was in 1921.

The servant of Otto Cox was Miss T.A. Charfauros . I do not know what T stands for. Tomasa? Teresa? Teodora? Or the other dozen or so possibilities. I've looked through the 1920 Guam census for a single woman named Charfauros with a first name beginning with T.  I can't find one.

I can imagine Juana being told, "Pack our bags, Juana. We're going to Manila!"



PASSENGER LIST
showing Juana Cruz and TA Charfauros


Besides these Chamorro servants, Gaily Roberto Kamminga, and a Chamorro Navy man, Enrique R. Quitugua, were also sailing to Manila.

Juana Cruz and TA Charfauros were not the first, nor the last, Chamorro domestic servants to travel abroad, thanks to their employment. A former Spanish Governor of the Marianas and his wife even took their Chamorro maid with them back to Spain, where she lived and died.

WHALERS IN APRA IN APRIL 1835

Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Picture of the Foxhound etched on a tooth of a sperm whale captured by the ship
The ship visited Guam twice in 1835


Apra Harbor was very busy in the early 1800s, with as many as half a dozen whaling ships anchored there at one time.

A Spanish ship, the Pronto , sailed from Manila to Sydney, Australia, in 1835, selling sugar, rice, cigars, molasses and various things besides. Before coming to Australia, the Pronto had stopped by Guam and reported the following whaling ships visiting the island at around the same time :

Walmer (British)

Cheviot (British)

Foxhound (British)

Samuel Enderby (British)

Henrietta (British)

Superior (American)



APRA HARBOR IN SPANISH TIMES

Due to the arrival of significant numbers of whaling ships at Apra from 1820 onwards, the once-abandoned village of Sumay was repopulated mainly by people from Hagåtña moving down there.

TINIAN RANCH LIFE IN 1835

Thursday, June 20, 2019

View of Tinian from Anson's ship in 1742


Hopefully it is by now well-known by my readers that Tinian was used, during the major part of the Spanish period, for cattle raising and a few other animals.

The island is, in the main, quite flat and suitable for animal grazing.

Under Spain, Tinian was also depopulated, so the entire island could be dedicated to agriculture and animal husbandry. The sale of Tinian beef, pork and other farm produce helped fund the Spanish government and the care of lepers and other needy people in Guam.

Since Tinian itself had no population, the Spanish government employed Chamorro workers from Guam, often single men who could work on Tinian for a couple of years then return to Guam, replaced by a new batch of workers repeating the cycle. Towards the end of the 1800s, Carolinian workers were brought in, but that didn't last long.

Thanks to an English shipwreck survivor, we have a bit of a description of life in Tinian in 1835, lived by these Chamorro workers from Guam.

The survivor, whose name was William Reney, sailed in a boat with five other shipmates after his ship had crashed in the Kiribati (Gilbert) Islands, some two thousand miles away. When they spotted Tinian a month later, they had depleted their meager store of food and water. They were overjoyed to find land!

They arrived at night so it wasn't until dawn's light that they met human beings on Tinian. The men described themselves as being "exiles" from Guam. I'm not sure what was exactly meant by the term. Were they found guilty of some crime on Guam and sentenced to work the Tinian farms as punishment? Or was the term "exile" misapplied or misunderstood by either party? In any case, Reney met men from Guam. He doesn't say how many men he met, but the impression given is not too many; certainly not in the hundreds. From other documents, we can estimate some thirty or forty men, more or less.

These workers are under the command of a sergeant, sent from Guam as well. He had the power to punish any man by flogging. The men lived in little huts. There is water from a well, and the water, though brackish, is drunk. As an alternative, the men make and drink their own tuba (coconut toddy).



Today's Tinian Cattle

Tinian was abundant with fruit. Coconuts, oranges, breadfruit, sweet potatoes and more. The workers raised cattle, all milky white, and pigs, and many of these ran wild. Well-trained dogs were employed to hunt down wild pigs. Sometimes twenty to thirty pigs were caught in a day. They were cut open and emptied of the inner organs then hung up over a fire to burn off the hair.

One man was in charge of making salt from sea water. Then the others would salt the meat. Three times a year, a vessel from Guam would come up to collect the dried, salted meat to take back to Guam, and to supply the Tinian workers with whatever supplies might be needed.

Though no priest regularly lived on Tinian, the Chamorro men got up every morning at the sound of a horn, and gathered as one body to say their morning prayers. Around 9PM at night, they gathered for prayer one more time, then went to sleep.

Reney's report makes no mention of women. Unless each man was able to bring his own wife and children to Tinian, it would be dangerous, if experience is any teacher, to have a small number of women on an island inhabited by that many men. No wonder, then, that the men from Guam served in Tinian only for a few years then went home, either to find a wife or return to the one they already had.

FAMILY NICKNAMES : PAYESYES

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

The Payesyes bat

A branch of the Castro family on Guam is known as the familian Payesyes.

More people know about the fanihi bat, also known as the fruit bat.

Fewer people know about the payesyes bat, known by its scientific name Emballonura semicaudata . One of the reasons for this is because, as far as we know, the payesyes has disappeared from Guam. The last known sighting was in 1972. The brown tree snake and disturbances of their environment are causes for their extinction on Guam. There is a more or less safe population of payesyes on Aguiguan.

Payesyes used to live in caves and eat insects, unlike the fanihi which feed on fruits. Our people didn't eat them, again unlike the fanihi !




A deceased member of the Payesyes clan

WHY THE CHICKEN SCRATCHES THE GROUND

Tuesday, June 11, 2019


Why do chickens scratch the ground so much? Well, common sense tells you the chicken is scrounging for food. But here's a more colorful explanation, thanks to our mañaina a long time ago.




Mamaisen i patgon gi as tatå-ña biho,
(The child asked his grandfather,)

"Tåta, håfa na sesso de ha ka'guas i edda' i mannok?"
("Father, why does the chicken frequently scratch the dirt?")

Manoppe i amko' taiguine.
(The old man answered this way.)

"Ginen guaha låncho åpmam na tiempo tåtte.
("There was a ranch a long time ago.)

Entre todo i man gå'ga' ni man gaige guihe na låncho,
(Among all the animals that were at that ranch,)

gof umabbok un babui yan un månnok.
(a pig and a chicken were great friends.)

Ilek-ña i babui un dia gi mannok,
(The pig said one day to the chicken,)

'Pot i sen umaguaiya-ta, chule' este na aniyo
('Because of our loving each other much, take this ring)

kuentan inagofli'e'-ta.'
(as a token of our friendship.)

Sen magof i mannok ha chåhlao i aniyo
(The chicken was very happy to accept the ring)

ya ha pega gi agapa' na patås-ña.
(and he put it on his right foot.)

Un åño despues, må'pos i babui para otro na tåno'
(One year later, the pig left for another land)

ya åntes de ha dingu i lancho, ha sangåne i mannok,
(and before he left the ranch, he told the chicken,)

'Nangga yo' asta ke måtto yo' tåtte.'
('Wait for me till I come back.')

Lao humåhnanao i babui ti ha bira gue' tåtte.
(But it went on that the pig didn't return back.)

Pine'lo-ña i mannok na ni ngai'an ta'lo
(The chicken thought that never again)

para u ali'e' yan i babui.
(would he and the pig see each other.)

Un oga'an, makmåta i mannok ya ti ha sodda' i aniyo.
(One morning, the chicken awoke and didn't find the ring.)

Sige de ha espia, lao ti siña ha sodda'.
(He kept looking, but couldn't find it.)

Pot fin, måtto tåtte i babui gi lancho ya ha faisen i mannok,
(At last, the pig returned to the ranch and asked the chicken,)

'Mångge i aniyo ni hu nå'e hao?'
('Where is the ring I gave you?')

Tumekkon i mannok gi minamamahlao-ña ya ilek-ña,
(The chicken lowered his head in his shame and said,)

'Un oga'an makmåta yo' ya ti hu sodda'.
('One morning I awoke and didn't find it.)

Humåhnanao ha' ti hu sodda' i aniyo asta på'go.'
(It went on that I didn't find the ring till now.')

Lalålo' i babui ya ilek-ña,
(The pig got angry and said,)

'Pot i un na' falingo i hu nå'e hao na aniyo,
('Because you lost the ring I gave you,)

hu matdisi todo i mannok siha desde på'go para mo'na.
(I curse all the chickens from now on.)

Asta i uttimon i tano', todo i mannok siha
(Till the end of the world, all the chickens)

siempre ma ka'guas i edda' asta ke ma sodda' i aniyo.'
(shall surely scratch the dirt till the ring is found.')

I leksion ni para ta eyak guine na fåbula : Cha'-mo muna' falilingo i ma na'i-mo.
(The moral we are to learn from this legend : Don't dare lose what is given to you.)


OFISIÅLES HÅGAT

Tuesday, June 4, 2019


In a list of Chamorro government officials in the 1830s, we find the following officials for Hågat.

JOSÉ BABAUTA was the "Mayor" or Gobernadorcillo ("little governor").

MARIANO MATANANE was the second-in-command or Teniente .

RAYMUNDO BABAUTA was the Agricultural Officer or Juez de Palmas, Sementeras y Animales (Judge of Palms, Fields and Animals).

BLAS QUINTANILLA , JOSÉ BABAUÑA and ALVINO GUIGILO were the neighborhood leaders or Cabezas de Barangay (heads of the barangay ). A barangay was a district or neighborhood.

Because the Hågat baptismal records go back to the late 1860s, we can actually say a little about some of these people.

JOSÉ BABAUTA was more than likely the husband of Ana Jocog. These are the forefathers of the Min branch of the Babautas, which include the late Hågat mayor Antonio "Min" Babauta. Another branch of this family moved to Saipan in the early 1900s and became known as the Sa'i branch of Babautas.

RAYMUNDO BABAUTA was the patriarch of the second clan of Babautas. He married Joaquina Taimanglo. They have many descendants. It seems almost all the Hågat Babautas are either descendants of José and Ana Jocog or of Raymundo Babauta and Joaquina Taimanglo.

There was also a BABAUÑA family in Hågat, but I cannot find more information about a José Babauña going back to the 1830s.

Both names, Babauta and Babauña, come from the old word båbao , which was later dropped from common usage, which meant "flag, emblem, sign, banner." We know the meaning of the word thanks to the Spanish missionaries who wrote it down.

ALVINO GUIGILO's last name seems to be GIHILO' meaning "on top of" or maybe it's GEHILO' which means "higher." The name died out.

Blas Quintanilla, by the way, is the only one who has a Spanish last name. This means his ancestor was a soldier brought to Guam, and the Quintanillas eventually mixed with the Chamorro population. His first name Blas means "Blaise" in English. The first name "Blas" became a last name, just as Pablo ("Paul") and Francisco ("Francis") are first names that became last names.


I PÍKARO NA TUBERO

Friday, May 31, 2019

Drinking tuba out of a bongbong


Gi 1900 na såkkan, ma sodda' na tumutuba si Encho' sin lisensia.
(In 1900, Encho' was discovered making tuba without a license.)

Ma otden si Encho' para u fåtto sigiente dia gi tribunåt para u fåna' i Señot Hues.

(Encho' was ordered to go the following day to the court to face the Judge.)

Finaisen si Encho' ni amigu-ña, "Ti ma'åñao hao Encho' na debe de un falak i kotte agupa'?"

(Encho' was asked by his friend, "Aren't you afraid Encho' that you have to go to court tomorrow?")

"Åhe' adei," ilek-ña si Encho'. "Bai fañule' un galón tuba ya bai na' chagi i Hues.
("Not at all," Encho' said. "I will bring a gallon of tuba and I'll make the Judge try it.)

Siempre ha sotta yo' an monhåyan gue' gumimen."
(He'll surely let me go when he's done drinking.")





Tuba is fermented coconut sap, which develops into alcohol. It isn't very strong, usually 4% alcohol. But drink enough of it and you can become mildly intoxicated.

In the old days, a tuba maker was called a tubero . But nowadays hardly anyone uses the word. In the Philippines, a tubero is a plumber, based on the Spanish tubería (plumbing). Another Chamorro word for a tuba maker (or drinker) is tituba . The emphasis is on the first syllable; TItuba.

A bongbong was a bamboo container for liquid.

The early American Naval governors tried, some more than others, to regulate the production of tuba by requiring a government license to make it. Those who made tuba without the license, if caught, were fined. Some governors didn't pursue this very much and others did.

THE MURDER OF BROTHER MIGUEL

Monday, May 27, 2019

BROTHER MIGUEL TIMONER, SJ


While a great many people know about Guam's Father Jesús Baza Dueñas, killed by the Japanese just before the American return to Guam in 1944, very few people have even heard of Luta's Brother Miguel Timoner.

Timoner is Luta's Father Dueñas. He was executed by the Japanese in Luta around June 5, 1944, just a month ahead of Father Dueñas.


BEFORE THE WAR

Miguel Timoner Guadera was born in in 1892 in the town of Manacor, on the island of Mallorca in the Baleares, a part of Spain.


MIGUEL TIMONER
before he left for the Jesuit mission of Micronesia

He joined the Jesuits (Society of Jesus) but to remain as a brother, not to become a priest. As a brother, he was assigned to assist Father Juan Pons as his secretary. Pons was in charge of the Jesuit novitiate in Veruela near Zaragoza in Spain. The novitiate is the first formal step in becoming a member of a religious Order or congregation. It is a time spent in rigorous discipline and training.

Pons felt called to the missions and left, in 1921, to work in the Jesuit missions of the Carolines. Timoner followed Pons, ever his ready assistant. When Pons was assigned to Luta (Rota) in 1937, Timoner moved to Luta, as well. Timoner dedicated his whole life to nursing Pons who suffered from terrible ulcers on his legs. Pons eventually died in Luta in March of 1944.


TROUBLE WITH THE JAPANESE

In June of 1944, the Americans began making war on Luta. American ships and planes bombed the island intensely. The 800 or so Chamorros, many of whom lost their homes to American bombs, were sheltered in caves on orders from the Japanese. The Japanese eluded air raids as much as they could, and a thick feeling of dread overcame the Japanese as they expected the Americans to land any time. Even though the Americans never did invade Luta, the Americans sure made the Japanese think it was just about to happen.

Just as it happened on Guam, the Japanese were put in a volatile mood due to their fears of an American invasion, helped by locals feeding them information about Japanese defense positions. The Japanese on Luta were on high alert for any signs of Chamorro betrayal.

In this tense atmosphere, a dozen or so Chamorros were suspected of being American spies. After investigating their cases, only five of the suspects were deemed guilty of espionage. The rest were let go. Timoner was included among the five "guilty."


ESPIONAGE




What were these acts of espionage? The Japanese observed that torches, flashlight signals and different colored flares would go off at night, and that the American ships responded with their own signals. It was as if someone on shore was communicating with the American ships.

During the day, the Japanese discovered wide sheets of cloth spread out over the beach, as if to signal American planes. They would also find the remains of bonfires, some of them shaped like an arrow pointing to the Japanese air strip at Sinapalo. If lit at night, these fires could be seen and, even during the day, their ashen remains could still be seen by a passing plane.

As the Japanese investigated and interrogated people, they claimed to find secret notebooks and letters among these five "spies," indicating Japanese positions, describing weaponry, ammunition and numerical strength. Some of the information dealt with areas off-limits to the civilian population, indicating that these suspects trespassed into prohibited territory.

The Japanese claimed that these five individuals recorded all this sensitive and confidential military information to give to the Americans once they came. In addition, the Japanese claimed that these men cut off Japanese telephone lines, and spread demoralizing rumors among the people. Finally, the Japanese claimed that some Chamorros mentioned that these five men said they would contact the Americans once they arrived, in order to assist them, and some of these five men admitted, so the Japanese claimed, all the above to the Japanese when they were questioned.

Unfortunately, the records spelling out the specific instances of espionage by each of the five individually did not survive the war. We do not know what exact evidence was obtained (if at all) against Timoner, nor the others. All these accusations concerning these five men were based on oral statements by the Japanese involved in the killing of the five.

For the Japanese command in Luta, it was all cut and dry. They were convinced these five men were siding with the Americans and doing everything possible to harm the Japanese and assist the enemy. The Japanese commander in Luta asked the higher command in Guam what to do with these five men. Guam replied that the Japanese Army policy was to execute spies. No trial was considered necessary. The Japanese commander on Guam was judge, lawyer and jury.


THE EXECUTIONS




The first execution took place around June 25 along the cliff line in Tatåchok, not far from Songsong. A Japanese captain, Akira Tokunaga, had two Chamorro men taken to the spot and told them they were to be shot for the crime of espionage. Both men were given a cigarette each to smoke right before the execution. Six Japanese soldiers formed a firing line and shot them. Since the written records were lost after the war, one man was never identified and the second man was believed to be Bonifacio Esteves. Esteves was the only shoe maker in Luta at the time and several Japanese remembered that a Chamorro shoe maker was one of the two shot that day.

Around two weeks later, it was Brother Miguel Timoner's turn. A Japanese officer claimed he wanted more time to confirm the evidence against Timoner before killing him. What specific evidence surfaced was never identified. Around the 5th of July, the Japanese ordered Tomás Cruz Mangloña, Valentino Songao and Tomás Mendiola to fetch Brother Miguel and another man, the elderly Ignacio de la Cruz, from the cave where they were sheltered along with many other civilians.

By this time, the Japanese command had moved its headquarters to Tatgua, as American bombardment had rendered the Tatåchok area unusable. Timoner and de la Cruz were taken to Tatgua. There, Yoshio Takahashi, a military doctor, added potassium cyanide, a deadly poison, to a cup of coffee and offered it to Timoner, who did not know about the poison.

Timoner took a sip of the coffee but his shaking hands spilled some of it and he had an instant reaction, refusing to drink any more. He fell to the ground in great pain, clutching his stomach. Eventually he was able to sit up, but he writhed in agony. He had taken enough to poison to affect him, but not enough to kill him quickly. Takahashi sent a runner to inform Tokunaga of the situation and to ask what to do next. The runner came back with the instruction to finish off Timoner. It was seen as an act of mercy to kill him quickly, rather than let him suffer the effects of the poison some more.

Takahashi ordered a guard, Shigeo Koyama, to kill Timoner. Koyama hesitated at first, but then plunged his rifle's bayonet into the left side of Timoner's chest. Just one thrust, and Timoner fell back and died quietly.



Next, it was de la Cruz's turn. He was taken some distance away from Timoner's dead body, where it can be assumed de la Cruz could not see what happened to the Jesuit brother. De la Cruz was seated at a table where several Japanese were also sitting, with cups on the table as if they were drinking. Takahashi gave de la Cruz a cup of coffee laced with potassium cyanide, but this time de la Cruz was so thirsty that he drank the whole cup at once, after which he fell back and died in an instant.

After an American air raid, the Japanese and some Korean workers buried the two bodies in the area. No markers were used to identify the graves.

Thanks to a Chamorro passing by, Ramon Blanco Barcinas*, who knew Ignacio de la Cruz and saw him at the execution site, we can be sure it was de la Cruz who was killed. Barcinas also testified that it was Timoner who was also killed that day. Barcinas had been digging trenches and had run past the area when the American air raid began. De la Cruz was around 70 years old, and some Japanese witnesses stated that the second man killed the same day as Timoner was an older man.

The last civilian to be executed was an unidentified Chamorro male, shot by two Japanese soldiers in the Tatgua area on or around July 8.


WAR CRIMES


Scene from the Guam War Crimes Trials

The Americans never invaded Luta, as they did Saipan, Tinian and Guam. The war was actually over when the Americans simply showed up on Luta and the Japanese surrendered, in September of 1945. In time, all the Japanese military on Luta, including the killers of the five civilians, were sent back to Japan. It can be assumed that the Americans had not learned yet, about the killings.

But, in time, they did and the Japanese involved in these killings were arrested in Japan and brought to Guam in 1949 for trial as war criminals. Tokunaga, the commander on whose orders everyone else acted, Takahashi the doctor who mixed the poison with the coffee, and Koyama, the guard who bayoneted Timoner, were all found guilty and given sentences, the longest being Tokunaga's seven years. But these sentences were shortened due to the time these three already had already spent in jail before trial. They did their time at Japan's famous Sugamo prison, used by the Americans for Japanese war criminals.

The main argument of the prosecutors was that the accused executed the five men without the benefit of a trial, which violated the rights of espionage suspects as stated in the Hague Conventions.


ACCURACY

What little you can find in books, news articles and the internet about Timoner and the others sometimes state that he was shot or beheaded. The records from the war crimes trial show that Timoner was neither shot nor beheaded. He was poisoned then stabbed with a bayonet.

Some sources also state that he, and the others, were sent to Saipan first for questioning by the Japanese. This is never mentioned in the testimony of the Japanese arrested for their executions. Until I find documentation on this, I'll leave it alone for now.


POTASSIUM CYANIDE


This poison prevents cells from "breathing," using oxygen absorbed by the blood. In short time, the brain just shuts down and dies. If taken in sufficient amount, death can occur immediately. This was the poison of choice for such famous Nazi suicides as Eva Braun (Hitler's wife), Hermann Goering, Joseph Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler and Erwin Rommel.

Based on the war crimes trial records and early biographical notes in old Spanish press and some missionary letters.


* The documents state his name as Ramon B. Blanco, but this error is due to the fact that Northern Marianas Chamorros were still using the Spanish naming system where the father's surname comes first, followed by the mother's surname. There was no Ramon B. Blanco in Luta in 1944, but there was a Ramon Blanco Barcinas (American style naming), in Spanish style naming Ramon Barcinas Blanco.

PRIVATE TUTORS

Tuesday, May 21, 2019


Education was quite limited in the Marianas until modern times. Even in the early American administration of Guam and the Japanese administration in the Northern Marianas, the typical Chamorro child could go only as far as the fourth or fifth grade. More education than that was thought unnecessary for a society made up mainly of farmers and fishermen who were destined to be born and to die on the same, small island. You didn't need to know Spanish, nor grammar, nor even spelling, in order to grow corn or catch mañåhak .

Under Spain, colonial officials did, indeed, want some Chamorro men educated a lot more. This select class of Chamorro men would become part of the colonial system, connecting the system with the masses of Chamorro people who carried on with life on the farm and on the shore. In time, a school for girls prepared a select class of Chamorro women to become school teachers to educate some children in the basics. Some wives of prominent men, or daughters of prominent men, received a very good western education, often thanks to being taught in the home and not in the classroom.

But even in the highest schooling possible under the Spanish, one could sometimes only go as fast as the slowest learner. In order to get ahead of everybody else, one sometimes had to resort to private tutoring.



MANUEL CAMACHO AFLAGUE
Besides being a government clerk and official, he tutored others


What one really wanted, in order to get ahead, was a more extensive knowledge of Spanish. It was the language of government and - government jobs, what few there were. But if you landed a job as a clerk in the colonial government that paid a few pesos every month, you didn't have to work in the hot sun to feed yourself. You could pay someone to bring you the food and a cook to prepare it.

It wasn't just vocabulary that mattered. One wanted to learn a bit of history, law, literature and almost anything else that elevated you in people's eyes. Some Chamorros prided themselves, and were admired by others, as knowing a bit of Shakespeare.

Besides Spanish, if you learned English, all the better. English enabled you to do business with British and American whalers and other English-speaking people who came to Guam, some permanently, and many just passing through.

Other than academic subjects, one went to a tutor to learn how to play the piano or violin, or to do special sewing.

Someone like Manuel Camacho Aflague, a Chamorro government clerk and official, who was more than likely tutored himself as a child, made a few more pesos tutoring others when not at his government desk. Other educated Chamorros who tutored were Manuel and Luís Díaz Torres. Some of the Anglo settlers on Guam spread the knowledge of English to a number of Chamorros. Some of the Spanish priests, too, tutored promising Chamorro students.



PÅLE' JOSÉ PALOMO
was privately tutored by Spanish priests, besides getting a classroom education
in the 1840s and 50s


The ambitious parents of these ambitious children paid the tutors with money, if and when they had it. Otherwise, tuition was paid with a basket of taro or a dozen eggs.

SAIPAN SAILORS RESCUED

Tuesday, May 14, 2019


One morning in 1853, as the sun was just rising, Captain Shiell of the British ship Rodsley , saw what looked like a small European vessel in the distance.

As the ship got closer, he realized it was not European at all. Six islanders in an outrigger were barely clinging to life, lost at sea. The stranded men were hundreds of miles away from any land.

It took until the next day for the rescued men to be able to stand up. They were that weak.

When the Captain tried to communicate with the men, all he could find out at first was that the six men were from Saipan.

Shiell wanted to know how long they had been adrift. He pointed to the sun, meaning "how many days?" How many times did the sun rise and set when you were lost at sea?

The men thought the captain was saying that the sun was a god. So they held up three fingers as a sign of the Trinity, and crossed two fingers, indicating that they were Catholics, and not sun worshipers.



I wonder if this is what the seamen did.


This sign of the cross involves making a cross with the thumb and the index finger. Besides making a cross, this sign uses two fingers, representing the two natures of Jesus, being both God and man. The three other fingers pointing straight up represent the Three Divine Persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) who are all one God, not three gods.

Older people kept this gesture well in the old days. Over time, people stopped forming the cross with the thumb and index finger, and just used their thumb to sign themselves.

Eventually Shiell ascertained that they had been lost for ten days.

In 1853, the vast majority of people living on Saipan were Carolinians. Chamorros there were a small number still. But many of the Carolinians were only just beginning to become Catholics in the 1850s. We'll never know for sure if the six rescued men from Saipan were Carolinian, Chamorro or possibly a mixed group.




The star indicates where the six Saipan sailors were rescued, far from home.


Nottinghamshire Guardian (UK), 11 August 1853

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Saturday, May 11, 2019



Ai pobre kilisyåno!
Ma na' chispas sin pinto'-ña.
Ya ma sodda' gi bodega
na ha sasaosao lago'-ña.


(Oh poor person!
They made him/her disappear against his/her will.
And they found him/her in the basement
wiping away his/her tears.)


I have no idea what made the poor guy/gal run and cry.

But the verse is somewhat sympathetic, somewhat teasing.





NOTES

Pobre. This is Spanish, meaning "poor." Not necessarily materially poor, but as in lacking in other ways. Someone in a bad situation, or suffering some setback, is thus afflicted, grievous, woeful and many other adjectives. "Poor me!" is a common phrase said by someone in some disadvantageous situation. The word pobre is left untranslated, since in Chamorro we say popble , which is our pronunciation of pobre . The Spanish version of the word is kept in this verse because our elders did, in fact, say many things in the original Spanish, even if there were a Chamorro version of the same word.

Kilisyåno . This literally means "Christian," from the Spanish word cristiano . But Chamorros used it to refer to any human being, but assuming the person was a Christian. The term wouldn't have been used for Pacific Islanders or Asians who had not (yet) been baptized.

Ma na' chispas . Chispas literally means "spark." Then it came to mean any sudden movement, like a sudden burst of water from the hose, or a sudden rush from here to there. To be "made to rush" is to be forced to move, to run away, to disappear from sight.

Sin pinto'-ña . Pinto ' means "will." Sin means "without." "Without his will" means it was something he didn't want to do, but was forced to do.

Bodega . Basement. Almost all the homes built of mampostería (rock and lime) had a basement for storage and, when needed, shelter from a typhoon. Since it wasn't used like an ordinary part of the home, it was a good place to hide or find privacy.




A bodega (bottom part) in Inalåhan

Since the bodega was part-storage, part-shelter, it was usually made of stronger material and the rest of the house of lighter.

HAWAIIAN ARTIST IN GUAM

Wednesday, May 8, 2019

JAMES AUSTIN "KIMO" WILDER
1868 ~ 1934


The Marianas in the 1800s were known to quite a bit of people in the Western Hemisphere, especially those traveling from east to west across the Pacific.

Whalers, explorers, adventurers and opportunists were among them. Take for example a man from a prominent family in Hawaii - James "Kimo" Wilder.

The Wilder family in Hawaii was founded by patriarch Samuel, a native of Massachusetts. In Hawaii, Samuel was a shipping and transportation magnate. He was also active in Hawaii politics. In the Makiki district of Honolulu, there is a Wilder Avenue.

Kimo was the fifth child out of six. In 1893 he went to Harvard University and its Law School, became interested in art and studied painting, finishing university studies in 1895. But Kimo was not quite ready for a stationary life. After short stints at various jobs even as far away as Japan, he signed up for an expedition to the South Pacific, visiting many islands and atolls all over that vast ocean.

The expedition ended up in Hong Kong in 1897 and there he met Captain J.T. Harrison, an Englishman who had commercial and family interests in Guam, having married locally. Harrison was owner of the ship Esmeralda . Wilder agreed to go with Harrison to Guam, arriving there in 1898 with two Harvard classmates. They paid 300 yen each to go. It was supposed to be a little excursion of two weeks. Wilder ended up staying for six months. The Esmeralda did not return on schedule.

Wilder and his two companions rented an old konbento or priest's house in Hagåtña that was already showing signs of decay but still inhabitable after some simple repairs and cleaning. The one and only Spanish government doctor on Guam, José Romero y Aguilar, befriended Wilder and was the one who identified the old konbento as a place Wilder and the others could rent.


DR JOSÉ ROMERO Y AGUILAR
The Spanish government doctor on Guam who befriended Wilder


For a cook, Wilder hired a Chamorro man named Mariano, who apparently had spent time in Hawaii working as a cook on two Hawaiian boats, serving up special dinners at $10 each time. Back on Guam, he was happy earning $5 a month!

Hawaii was transitioning from an independent monarchy to an American territory and the Wilder money was not as available at that time as in years past. Wilder was in need of income on Guam. One way he earned money was by using his artistic skills. Wilder could paint portraits, and he made money painting the portraits of some Spanish officials on Guam and some members of the upper crust of society. He also stretched out an old sail from a boat and painted the portrait of the last Spanish governor of Guam, Juan Marina. For that, Wilder was allowed to eat as much as he wanted, I assume in the governor's kitchen.



JUAN MARINA Y VEGA
Last Spanish Governor on Guam

Wilder had nice things to say about Marina, describing him as an excellent administrator and a charming man. Wilder also made lasting friends among the Chamorro elite, calling them unspoiled and delightful.

Taking advantage of a ship going from Guam to Pohnpei, Wilder and companions took a trip there. As they made their way back to Guam, Wilder somehow got news that relations between the US and Spain were not good. The USS Maine exploded and sank in Havana harbor in February, and many in the US blamed Spain for it. Spain accused the US of aiding the Cuban independence effort. It seemed that war could break out between the US and Spain, with the American Wilder passing away the time on Spanish Guam!

So when the Esmeralda arrived on Guam and planned on sailing again, Wilder took the opportunity to leave with it. He later wrote out an extensive report on Guam which he sent to American authorities which was used in war preparations for the island.

Wilder left Guam with a special souvenir, a 13 year old boy! María Castro was a friend of Wilder's and Wilder was very fond of her. María brought her young son to see Wilder off, and she more or less gave José to take with him to Hawaii. "Teach him to read and write and to work hard," she said. "And don't let him do as he likes." José went to Honolulu with Wilder, working for him for five years and learning about the big, big world.

One can only wonder if he sketched or painted any Guam scenes, and where they may have ended up now. Did he write any memoirs or diary while on Guam? Did he have any Chamorro sweethearts and did he leave any descendants behind?

Settling for good in his native Hawaii, Wilder did good for himself, continuing his painting and founding the Boy Scouts in Hawaii.

FAMILY NICKNAMES : PÉPERO

Friday, May 3, 2019

A Korean snack brand known as Pepero.


A branch of the Dueñas family on Guam, and some Sablans from Saipan, are better known as familian Pépero .

The interesting thing about the nickname Pépero is that the sound of it is Spanish, not indigenous Chamorro, but, as far as I can tell from searching, the word has no meaning in Spanish or even in slang, whether from Spain or a former Spanish colony. There is also no surname Pépero among Spaniards. So....where did Pépero come from?


From a Guam funeral announcement. The deceased was a member of the Pépero clan, among others.

Some indications that Pépero is not an indigenous word is the use of the letter R. Typically, in Chamorro we avoid the R sound and often replace it with L. Guitarra becomes gitåla ; cigarro becomes chigålo .

It's also not typical that an indigenous word of three syllables stresses the first of the three syllables. It does happen, but not often.



A Saipan funeral announcement. There, Pépero refers to some Sablans.

There are many possible origins of the nickname Pépero. There might be a connection with the nickname Pepe for José. It might come from some slang word that has long been forgotten or which was once in use by a small group of people from Latin America or the Philippines. One day we may find the answer in some obscure, old book hiding in some dark corner of a library somewhere.

The family itself might have some oral legend about the name. But, until then, we do not know what it means or why it became a nickname for some families among us.

"NI GI AS NANÅ-HO"

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Mai'es (Corn)
The main staple of the Chamorro diet before the war


In 1902, Juan Mesa, from the familian Dodo , owed José Cruz Fejarang seven gånta of corn. That was a lot of corn.

A gånta was a measurement of dry grains or cereals, equivalent to about three liters. The term was borrowed from the Philippines.



Freshly harvested rice in a gånta crate


So imagine seven of the crates pictured above, but filled with corn kernels. That's how much corn Juan owed José.

One afternoon, Juan Dodo went to José Fejarang's house in Santa Cruz, a barrio on the western end of  Hagåtña.

Juan yelled at Fejarang from the street, so that even the neighbors could hear.

"Are you wanting to collect from me?"

Fejarang yelled back, "Yes!"

Juan yelled back, " Gran puñetero! Lanña' hao! Karåho! Maila' ya ta mumu! Tåya' ma'åñao-ho, ni gi as nanå-ho! "

" Big idiot! Screw you! Damn it! Come and let's fight! I have no fear, not even of my mother! "

Thankfully, the verbal fight did not move to fists.

Instead, the case was brought to court. Witnesses testified that Juan Dodo did say those words.

But the two enemies asked the court to drop the case, as they would solve the problem on their own.

The case was dropped.

Not even of his mother. Imagine that.

A MURDER IN TUTUHAN

Thursday, April 25, 2019



Salomón Tenorio Garrido was the alguacil of Hagåtña in the early 1900s.

The alguacil (Spanish title) was like a sheriff, court clerk or bailiff. His signature appears in countless court documents, like the one above.

Salomón was born around 1863, the son of Diego Garrido and María Tenorio. He married the former Carmen León Guerrero Blaz.

He had a ranch in what is now called Agaña Heights. According to one source, writing between 1917 and 1919, the ranch was southwest of today's Government House.

Salomón began noticing that things on his ranch went missing. Chickens, eggs, pigs. He told his wife, "I'm going to spend the night at the ranch and catch the thieves." Carmen pleaded with him not to do it, but Salomón took his machete and went to the ranch. He had his son Vicente bring him his rifle to the ranch later that day. The young Vicente returned home.




TUTUHAN

The next morning, Salomón had not returned home and Carmen was getting anxious because it was time for her husband to get ready for work at the court house. She saw a woman passing by the house on her way to fetch water from a well and told her about it. Carmen had already sent, Vicente, her oldest son who was around 12 or 13 years old, to check on his dad. Just as Carmen was talking to this woman passing by, Vicente returned to the house, visibly shaken.

So upset was Vicente that he couldn't talk for half an hour. The whole while Carmen kept asking him what was wrong. Finally he said, "Tåta is dead." Carmen became emotional and started screaming and all the children with her. The judge was called and he, accompanied by some men, went to the ranch and found Salomón dead on the ground. They carried his body to the hospital, where the doctor looked over the wounds of his body.

His wounds included gun shots, so he was probably overpowered by more than one man and shot with his own rifle. This happened in 1904.

The thing was that the gun shots that night were heard by a sentinel who stood guard not far from the ranch, in a place known back then as Kasamata, where Government House is now and where a tuberculosis hospital was located from 1916 till around 1930. But the sentinel who heard the gun fire felt he could not leave his post to check on what happened. One wonders if he had gone looking and found Salomón, would he have found Salomón alive? Would there have been enough time to run down to Hagåtña, bring back help, bring Salomón to the hospital and save his life?

No one, as far as we know, was ever charged with his murder. There were a few suspects, but nothing based on solid evidence and the case went cold to this very day.




* Salomón is the Spanish version of the name Solomon, which is the English version of the Hebrew original Shelomoh

CHA'-MO TUMATTITIYE I SIHEK

Tuesday, April 23, 2019


Cha'-mo tumattitiye i sihek yanggen chineflålågue hao.

(Don't dare follow the sihek if it is whistling to you.)


The sihek is a member of the kingfisher bird family. Besides being a pretty bird, it has a chirp that is just as pretty and which can be heard from a distance. But, if you're in the jungle and are attracted to its chirping, you will get lost if you follow it.

There is a story about the origin of the sihek and its loud chirping. There was once a loud woman in the village and the taotaomo'na (ancestral spirits) turned her into the sihek ! That'll show you!

There are different versions of this saying, apparently because more than one bird can lead you astray in the jungle. In Saipan they even call one type of bird nossan na' abak . Na' abak means "to lead astray." Some identify this bird as the chichirika .

As birds often move from tree to tree, or perch to perch wherever that may be, and since birds can fly and change location quickly and over more space, following the bird will lead you in all sorts of directions and you can easily lose your bearings or find yourself in a dangerous spot in the jungle.

Whatever the zoological details, the saying is a metaphor for the care we should take about the people, things and ideas that can lead us astray.

You can listen to various birds of our islands here :

https://www.guampedia.com/guam-birds-audio-files/


CHAMORRO Z

Wednesday, April 17, 2019


If you pronounce those two surnames differently, chances are your pronunciation is greatly influenced by American English.

In traditional Chamorro pronunciation, the Z sounds just like an S.

Try it out on names like Cruz, Baza, Lizama, Martinez.

If you hear the BUZZING of BEES when you say those names, that's American influence right there.

This video may help :



I CHATTAO NA DUEÑO

Monday, April 15, 2019


This is a story with a moral, a lesson in right behavior. The moral of this story is : Be generous. God punishes the selfish and takes away what they had.




Ginen guaha taotao ni gai iyo dångkulo yan lokka' na trongkon mångga.
(There was once a man who owned a large and tall mango tree.)

Fuera de i dinangkulo-ña yan linekkå'-ña, sen meppa' na trongkon mångga.
(Besides its size and height, the mango tree was very fruitful.)

Kada såkkan sen bula tinekchå'-ña mångga, asta ke ini'ingak påpa' i ramås-ña
(Every year it had a lot of mango, till its branches bent down)

kulan mohon para u pacha i edda'.
(as if to touch the ground.)

Mamopoddong i mångga yan meggai na fruta man låstima sa' ti man ma hokka'
(The mangoes would fall and much fruit was wasted because they wouldn't be picked up)

ya ti man ma kånno'.
(and wouldn't be eaten.)

Un dia, maloffan un sottero gi me'nan este na trongko ya ha repåra
(One day, a young man passed in front of this tree and noticed)

na man låstima i mångga ni esta man lamas gi hilo' odda' sa' ti man ma hohokka'.
(that the mangoes were wasted as they ripened on the ground because they weren't picked up.)

Umessalao para u yåma i dueño ni pine'lo-ña na eståba gi halom guma'
(He yelled to call the owner whom he supposed was inside the house)

lao ti humuyung i dueño.
(but the owner didn't come out.)

Entonses, ha tutuhon i sottero måmfe' mångga ginen i mas manakpapa'
(Then, the young man began to pick mangoes from the lowest)

na råmas ni man libiåno ma tife'.
(branches which were easy to pick.)

Gigon ha tutuhon måmfe', humuyung i dueño ginen i gima'
(When he started to pick, the owner came out of the house)

ya ha tutuhon lumalåtde i sottero ya ha dulalak.
(and started to scold the young man and chase him away.)

Må'pos i sottero sin håfa na mångga ya asta ke måkpo' i tiempon mångga,
(The young man left with no mangoes at all and till mango season was over,)

i dueño ti ha sedi ni håyeye para u fånfe' mångga ginen i trongko-ña,
(the owner didn't allow anyone to pick mangoes from his tree)

achok ha' meppa' ya man lålåstima i mångga.
(even though it was abundant and the mangoes were being wasted.)

Gi sigiente na såkkan, annai esta måtto i tiempo ni para u fanflores i
(The following year, when it came time for mango trees to flower,)

trongkon mångga, ma repåra nu i taotao na i mamalo na trongkon mångga
(people noticed that the other mango trees)

manfloflores, lao i trongkon mångga ni iyon i chattao na dueño tåya'
(were flowering, but the mango tree of the stingy owner)

flores-ña. Annai esta bula tinekcha'-ñiha i mamalo na trongkon mångga,
(had no flowers. When the other mango trees had a lot of fruit,)

ayo na trongko ni iyon i chattao na taotao, sen taya' tinekchå'-ña mångga.
(that tree owned by the stingy man was really lacking mango fruit.)

Mina' i chinattao-ña i dueño na si Yu'us ha kastiga ayo na taotao
(It was due to his selfishness that God punished that man)

ya ti ha na' gai tinekcha' i trongko-ña.
(and didn't make his tree bear fruit.)

IN CASE THE ISLAND TIPS OVER

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

WHALING SHIPS


Geologists tell us that Guam does not sit on a dormant volcano, waiting for the next big eruption to explode. Nor is Guam delicately sitting on top some underwater peak that the next mega earthquake will shake so violently that Guam will fall into the Marianas Trench.

But for many years, many people thought that.

On February 25, 1849, a very strong earthquake shook Guam, destroying a number of buildings, burying some victims underneath the rubble. The quake started around 2:40 PM and after shocks, numbering some 128, continued till 11PM that same day.

For nine more days, people could feel that the ground was different. It felt like the earth below their feet was moving like a river. People expected the worst. The dormant volcano of which Guam was thought to be was now awake, ready to explode and send all the people of Guam into the sky.

Sixteen whaling ships happened to be anchored at Guam at that time. According to a report by Spanish Governor Pablo Pérez, many people left the island to board those ships, waiting to see if Guam would explode and fall into the sea. This lasted for a few days till, to their relief, the island was not blasted in a volcanic eruption.

Lewistown Gazette (Pennsylvania), 18 August 1849.

GUMA' YOÅMTE

Monday, April 8, 2019

GUMA' YOÅMTE IN YOÑA


An important part of traditional Chamorro culture is being preserved and promoted through several "houses of healing," or guma ' yoåmte .

This is an initiative of the Håya Foundation, headed by Zita Pangelinan. For years she has gathered yoåmte , suruhåno and suruhåna , traditional healers from all over the Marianas, to share their knowledge in conferences and through print and other media.

Now traditional Chamorro medicine and therapy are actually being practiced and not just spoken about. The first guma ' yoåmte opened in 2016 at the Sagan Kotturan Chamoru at the old Guam Memorial Hospital site. Now there are three guma ', the second one opening in Hågat and the third in Yoña, both in March of 2019.

At the guma ', both experienced yoåmte and apprentices being trained are available first for consultation and then treatment. Treatment involves the use of medicinal herbs available on island and the use of massage therapy.

Listen to Kai share how she got started learning traditional Chamorro medicine.





GOOD RESPONSE

The response from the public has been strong and receptive. The guma ' at the Sagan Kotturan Chamoru is always busy with clients, and the other two centers also get many people seeking help. Many people getting Western medical attention like to supplement their care with traditional treatment and some amazing results are seen. One person was scheduled for an amputation due to diabetes but the Western doctor canceled the amputation when traditional medicine started to improve the person's condition.

A wide variety of people are coming to the guma '. Young and old, and people of all races. Even tourists and American military personnel seek traditional Chamorro treatments. Clients come not only for common health issues but also fertility concerns and also infant sicknesses.

In 2018, at the Sagan Kutturan Chamoru location alone, there were 5880 visits from clients.

This lady shares why she appreciates the help she is getting at the Yoña guma '.




CHAMORRO CULTURE

It's not just the medicine that is being practiced as a traditional Chamorro value. It's also the traditional Chamorro belief about payment.

In traditional Chamorro culture, there is no fee for the services provided. But, in traditional culture, the beneficiary of the yoåmte's services still shows appreciation by freely donating money or other goods.


APPRENTICESHIP

To ensure that our traditional healing skills continue for future generations, the Guma ' Yoåmte trains apprentices like Clarissa.







Poster of the yoåmte (healers) and hours of operation.



DITCHED ON SAIPAN IN 1859

Thursday, April 4, 2019

The seaman was dumped on a lonely Saipan beach,
probably to avoid Spanish authorities


Having a sick crew member on a ship in the old days was a matter of grave concern. There is no place to escape on a ship while it is on the high seas. Although they could quarantine a sick crew member or passenger, this didn't always prevent the disease from spreading to others.

If many crew members were sick in bed, who would run the ship? If the ship were a whaling ship, who would do the work of catching whales? Sick crew members meant a loss of income.

So there was always the possibility that, if you were sick, your captain would let you stay on the next island, if they would take you, and hopefully another ship would pick you up later.

Then there were times that a captain might dump you somewhere no matter what and, if getting permission from the local government was in question, a captain might let you down on an isolated beach and move on quickly.

In 1859, this is just what happened to an American whaler named Elias Young at the island of Saipan.

Young was sailing on the Arctic , commanded by Captain William Phillips. The Arctic sailed out of Honolulu and headed west. When the ship got close to the Marianas, Young took sick, but not, he claimed, in a way that posed a danger to anyone else, not even himself. Yet, he states, Phillips threw him off the ship at a beach in Saipan, far from the town and without allowing Young to take his personal possessions.

Young did not speak Spanish or Chamorro or anything other than English and had to walk to town and seek help. For a whole year, Young remained on Saipan with much hardship. He complained later that Saipan didn't get many visiting ships, but finally a passing ship took him on board. Returning to Hawaii, Young filed suit against Captain Phillips. The Hawaii court decided not to rule on it, citing a lack of jurisdiction. The ship was American and the two parties involved were American citizens, while Hawaii was still at that time an independent kingdom.

If only Young had written a diary, or taken photos of Saipan in 1859. But cameras were not common in those days, except for professional photographers.

THEIR PATRON SAINT TO THE RESCUE

Monday, April 1, 2019

TAIPINGOT, LUTA


As many of you may know, the Spanish depopulated all the Mariana Islands north of Luta (Rota), completing that by around 1740 or so. All the inhabitants of these islands were brought south to Guam and a few to Luta. With the exception of a small community of Chamorro men from Guam, numbering only a few dozen, living on Tinian to take care of the government cattle herds there for a year or two before returning to Guam, all these islands north of Luta had no human population till much later.

More than once, the Spanish tried to depopulate Luta as well, but no attempt ever succeeded.

The following is the gist of an oral legend passed down by some Luta elders many years ago about the first time the Spanish officials tried to take everyone from Luta down to Guam. This would have been in the early 1700s.

When the Spanish ship arrived to put into action the depopulation plan, the Spanish officials saw the reluctance of the Luta Chamorros to abandon their beloved island. The people of Luta had been spending day and night in church praying before their patron saint, San Francisco de Borja, pleading him to do something to stop the forced relocation.




People of Luta carrying San Francisco de Borja in procession

The Spanish officer in charge told the people of Luta that, because they were so devoted to their patron saint, he would take the image of San Francisco de Borja and tie it to the tallest mast of the ship. That way, the people would have to follow their patron and board the ship. The people grieved at the idea and remained praying in the church.

That night, the tallest mast of the ship fell straight down inside the ship and pierced through the bottom, filling the hull with water. Everyone on board abandoned ship and headed for shore. The ship sank! There was no way the people could be transported to Guam. Heaven had answered their prayers, thanks to the intercession of San Francisco de Borja.



THE RAZING OF TINIAN

Friday, March 29, 2019

THE HOUSE OF TAGA IN 1818
Around eight years before this incident
Sketch by Arago


Ever since the Spaniards depopulated Tinian in the early 1700s, the island never had a stable human community living there until the late 1800s.

For those hundred years or so, the Spaniards on Guam used Tinian for agriculture, especially cattle raising. The meat from those cows was sold and helped finance various things, including the government's care of Guam's lepers and other patients.

In order to raise that cattle, Chamorro men from Guam were employed, usually for a couple of years, to live on Tinian and take care of the government herd. Since wives and children couldn't normally live on Tinian at the time, these male workers did their time in Tinian and returned to Guam, replaced by a new set of workers. At times, no one was physically in Tinian now and then.

It was on one such occasion in 1826 that a British whaling ship, the George the Fourth , commanded by a Captain Buckley, stopped by Tinian and found no one there.

Buckley took advantage of whatever he found in Tinian for the benefit of his ship and crew but, being English and knowing that Tinian was a Spanish possession, Buckley decided to destroy whatever he could on Tinian before he left, and put the Spaniards at a disadvantage.

He burned down the homes used by the cattle workers. He even cut down breadfruit and coconut trees, and did various acts of devastation. One only wonders what he might have done to the cattle, besides letting them loose, after butchering some, I suppose, for the ship's needs.

The reason why we know of Buckley's razing of Tinian is because two of his crew deserted and remained behind on Tinian when the ship left. When the Spanish Governor on Guam, José Ganga Herrero (ancestor of Guam's Herrero family), sent a few soldiers to inspect Tinian some time later, they found the two deserters and learned the facts from them.

Vermont Journal, January 27, 1827

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Wednesday, March 27, 2019


Yanggen para hågo, siempre u fåtto.

(If it's meant for you, it will surely come.)


Don't work too hard for your dreams. Hard work does not guarantee that all dreams come true.

If it's meant to be, it will surely come. Sometimes without you even working for it, or even looking for it.

Work. Plant. Collect. Store. Ask. Watch.

But do not worry. Some things are meant for you, and they will surely come.

The Irish have a similar saying.

What's for you won't pass you.

If it's meant for you, it will surely come and not pass you by.

MA SUSEDE GIYA MAGA'

Monday, March 25, 2019


Maga' is an area in Mangilao, not far from the site of the University of Guam.

This entire, huge area of central Guam, up to the northern cliffs overlooking the northern coast, was Guam's prime farmland. Almost everybody in Hagåtña, the capital city, had farms east and north of the city.

Dionisio de Salas was one such farmer. In order to get to his ranch, he had to pass through Maga', using a road that went through Félix Meno's property.

According to Salas, this road was used by the general public without any problems for time immemorial. But, one day in 1902, he saw that Meno had put a fence right across the road. Salas now could not get to his ranch. He filed a grievance at the court house in Hagåtña.

Meno countered that the road he fenced was not the public one, but one which was on his private property. The public road was just a few feet away. That one he did not block.

Salas disputed that, and brought to court Pedro Torres Pangelinan, Agustín Cruz Royos, Vicente Flores del Rosario, Antonio San Nicolás Ada and José Demapan Rojas to testify that the road which Meno fenced off was the public one.

Meno brought his own witnesses to court, namely Juan Santos Quichocho, Joaquina Lajo Quidachay and Fernanda Balajadia Quichocho. Meno's witnesses were less helpful. They were somewhat vague in their testimony.

The court must have thought so, too, since it ruled in favor of Salas. Meno had to take down his fence and open the road again.



UN TINAYUYUT

Sunday, March 24, 2019


Asaina Yu'us Tåta,
(Lord God and Father,)

hågo muna' fan huyung todo i guaha.
(you made all that exists.)

Todo i ma susesede gi hilo' tåno', man ginigiha siha nu i kanai-mo.
(Everything that happens on earth is guided by your hand.)

Un po'lo hame ni taotao-mo guine na tåno' gi talo' gi halom tåse.
(You place us your people on this land in the middle of the sea.)

Meggai na chinatsaga in susede, man maså'pet ham gi todo klåsen minappot.
(We have gone through many hardships, we have suffered in all manner of difficulty.)

Lao i yo'ase' na kanai-mo sumåtba ham todos.
(But your merciful hand saved us all.)

Bendise ham todos på'go annai in silelebra i kutturan-måme.
(Bless us all now when we celebrate our culture.)

Na' fan uno ham gi guinaiya yan inagofli'e'.
(Make us one in love and mutual endearment.)

Sa' todo i bidan-måmåme para i ma tunan i na'ån-mo.
(Because all that we are doing is for the praise of your name.)

In gagagao hao ni este ginen i Lahi-mo as Jesukristo i Sainan-måme.
(We ask you this through your Son our Lord Jesus Christ.)

Taiguennao mohon.
(Amen.)

TIPI TIPI TIP

Friday, March 22, 2019

KADA UN KÅNNO' I KEK, KÅNNO' I PÅN
(Every time you eat the cake, eat the bread)


A song that has been around for a long time; for sure before the war. But the song may have come about only since American times (1898 and after) since the song uses the English loanword kek , for "cake." It is possible that the song goes back even earlier to the 1800s, since English-speaking British and American whalers and other seamen did visit the Marianas in those days and some English influence did affect the Chamorro language even during Spanish times.

At least the refrain of the song is definitely of foreign origin. The melody can be found in different countries, where it goes by various names such as the Tippy Tippy Tin Waltz, or Tipi Tin in Cuba.

The Chamorro version can also differ slightly depending on the version being sung or on who is singing it.




LYRICS


Ai ke yånto si Tan Martina,
(Oh what weeping is Tan Martina)
si Tan Rosa'n Benjamin.
(Tan Rosa'n Benjamin.)
Mås ke nungka yo' un guaiya,
(Even if you never love me,)
lao bai faisen hao pot fin.
(but I will ask you at last.)

Tipi tipi tip, tipi tan,
kada un kånno' i kek, kånno' i pån.
(every time you eat the cake, eat the bread.)
Tipi tipi tip, tipi tan
tipi tapi tipi tip.

Sinetnan chotda, chotdan tanduki,
(Boiled banana, tanduki banana,)
titiyas fadang yan mañåhak.
(Federico tortilla and rabbit fish.)
Sinetnan suni, sunin bisåya,
(Boiled taro, bisaya taro,)
konne' båsta nene de ababa.
(take, enough baby of being silly.)


NOTES

This song is something of a nonsense song, with no particular story or message. It's meant to be playful; an excuse, I think, to get up and dance.

Yånto . From the Spanish llanto , meaning "sobbing, weeping." The whole phrase is borrowed from Spanish, " A y que llanto. " "Oh what weeping."

Tan Martina . We don't know what woman named Martina is being mentioned. Perhaps it was just made up; or perhaps the composer had an actual Martina in mind. Tan is the honorific title for women.

Tan Rosa'n Benjamin . A woman (fictitious or real, we don't know) named Rosa is being mentioned.  People were identified through another person they were connected with. Benjamin could have been Rosa's husband, father or some other man.

Kada un kånno' i kek . This seems to be teasing; eating both cake and bread at the same time seems to be overdoing it. Some versions say : kada un kånno' i kek, un kånno' i pån . "Each time you eat cake, you eat bread."

Båsta nene de ababa . Most versions I hear do not say " Konne' båsta nene de ababa ," but simply " Båsta nene de ababa ."


THE REFRAIN

As mentioned, the refrain is definitely borrowed from an older source. Here's a compilation of other versions of the refrain, from different countries.





ANOTHER CHAMORRO RECORDING OF THE SONG



SAN JOSÉ LAO

Wednesday, March 20, 2019
INALÅHAN


Chamorro hymn to Saint Joseph





SAN JOSE LAO tai achaigua matunå-mo yan bittut-mo :
(Saint Joseph your praises and virtues are without equal :)

Refrain : GOGGUE HAM JOSE MAGUAIYA
NU I SANTOS TINAYUYOT-MO
(Beloved Saint Joseph defend us
by your holy prayers.)

1. Si Yu'us ha' muna' håne ayo i mafañagu-mo.
(God alone brought about your birth.)

2. Man sen manman i lumi'e' i sinantos pinatgon-mo.
(They are awestruck who witnessed your holy childhood.)

3. Si Maria asaguå-mo si Jesus ma fa' patgon-mo.
(Mary was your spouse and Jesus was made your child.)

4. Gos ya-ña si Jesukristo i minames tinektok-mo.
(Jesus Christ liked very much your sweet embrace.)

5. Na'manman yan sinantusan sasahnge i fina'pos-mo.
(Your life was awesome, holy and unique.)

6. Hungok i tinayuyot-ho gi sen ma'lak na tachong-mo.
(Hear my prayers from your glorious seat.)

7. Pulan yo' gi finatai-ho ya un såga gi fi'on-ho.
(Watch over my death and stay by my side.)


NOTES

Verse 3 : Jesus was not the biological son of Saint Joseph. Thus, Jesus "was made" his son, meaning Saint Joseph was considered the legal father of Jesus.

Verse 7 : Saint Joseph is the Patron of a Holy and Happy Death.

JIGO AND JOÑA

Monday, March 18, 2019


We don't write an awful lot in Chamorro.

Dalai. Many Chamorros don't even speak Chamorro.

And, being immersed in an English-speaking and an English-writing world, we are apt to let that influence us when we attempt to write in Chamorro.

But, itt was the Spanish and not the Americans who taught our ancestors the Roman alphabet and, for whatever reason, the Spaniards chose to use the letter Y (mainly) to represent the Chamorro sound that, in English, we might spell DZ. I have an idea why they used Y to stand for Chamorro DZ but that's something for another blog post.

Chamorro has its own sound, represented by the letter Y.

Check this out :




And so that's how we got the Chamorro Y. It has its own sound. And we really ought to be very familiar with it because we have two large villages whose names begin with Chamorro Y.



In Saipan, there is a place called Obyan and another called Chalan Kiya , and in both cases the Y is Chamorro Y, not English or Spanish Y.

We also have the surname Ayuyu .

And yet, despite an abundance of cases where the Chamorro DZ sound is spelled with a Chamorro Y, our Americanized minds revert to the English J when we want to say Chamorro DZ.

For example, in the picture at the very top, many people spell the family nickname Beyong with a J.

Or the family nickname Goyo with a J.

Or the family nichname Yeye with a J.

And in vocabulary, there are many people who spell it LATIJA and TITIYAS , instead of LATIYA and TITIYAS .

In these cases, we're switching from a Spanish-era Chamorro spelling to an American-era English spelling. We're mixing up two spelling systems.

So what happens in the case where the Bejong's first name is Juan?




In this example, the J has two different sounds. In Bejong, an American J. In Juan, a Spanish (and Chamorro) J.

If, in Chamorro, J and Y sound the same (which they don't), then what becomes of Joaquin Jeje and Josefa'n Gojo?

Far better to stick to the very clear Chamorro Y. Jesus Yeye. Juana'n Goyo. Joaquina'n Beyong.

Even in the top picture, the Siboyas family page keeps the Chamorro Y sound, instead of spelling it Sibojas.


LL

Just to complicate things further, the Spaniards also used LL for the Chamorro DZ sound.

This is because, in Spanish, LL sounds the same as Y.

And so Acfalle, Tajalle and Quintanilla all have the Chamorro DZ sound, because LL in Spanish sounds like Y, and Chamorro Y is like English DZ.

And so, some Goyos also spell their nickname Gollo.




But it's also perfectly right, in Chamorro, to spell it Goyo.



MY FIRST SURUHÅNO

Friday, March 15, 2019

Francisco Quitugua Tenorio
" Supiåno "
(pic courtesy of Fred Tenorio Rodriguez)

Around 1975 or 1976, our science teacher at Bishop Baumgartner Middle School, Sister Joan Weisenbeck, told us that we would all have to do something for a Science Fair she was organizing. It could be anything but the topic had to relate to a branch of physical science.

I decided to make a display about Chamorro herbal medicine. You can see that I already had the cultural bug in middle school. Well, herbs deal with biology, so I'm good, I thought.

I turned to my grand aunt, Asunción "Chong" Torres, my grandmother's sister. She was one of the elders in the family who raised me ( ma poksai biha ) and she was always willing to help me in anything. Sure enough, she took me one day to visit a suruhåno (folk doctor or herbal practitioner). His name was Francisco Quitugua Tenorio, better known as Supiåno, the family nickname.

We got into her car and we drove not a far distance to Chalan Pago. We went into the house of an older man whom I remembered as quite solid-framed. My aunt and he did most of the talking in Chamorro; I just listened. But in time he started getting out some leaves, branches and roots and explaining to me the various uses. I started to write down the information. What plant was used for what ailment. Most of the time it was a mixture of several plants.

Ton Supiåno gave me those plant samples and we went home and I started to put the display together. I got three poster boards and taped them together to form a three-paneled display. I taped or stapled the plants to the board and artistically explained their use on the boards. I also had some things displayed on the table in front of the boards. The Science Fair was just the next day. I think I won a prize.



Sr Joan Weisenbeck, FSPA


I know I pleased Sister Joan, which was important to me because I really liked her as a person and as a teacher.

But my exposure to Ton Supiåno was a new experience for me. For the hour or so I was at his house, I got a glimpse into Chamorro life I didn't see at my own house. The sights and smells of different plants. And the names of these plants!

Lodogao and betbena . But also tomåtes chå'ka , which even at age 14 I understood as "rat tomato," and mumutung palao'an , which I also already could understand as "woman's stench."

At age 14, from Ton Supiåno's explanations, I was seeing how people got sick (I didn't see much of that yet in life) and in so many different ways. And I saw how our people had their own way of addressing illness and using the natural things found right around us. Plants and trees were not just "there." They had practical uses, and maybe even "life and death" uses. The experience taught me that we were resourceful and that we had "our own way."

Ton Supiåno was not my first experience of Chamorro medicine. That happened when I was 5 years old (or maybe even younger but I don't remember) when Tan Romana Ramos, our next door neighbor, would come over with her åmot Chamorro (Chamorro medicine) made from some very bad tasting herbs. I don't even know what illness I had but they would lay me on someone's lap and force open my mouth and Tan Romana would dip a cloth into her herbal medicine and squeeze the cloth into my screaming mouth! Did it taste awful! But the old ladies were happy that I would now be able to live another day!

But Tan Romana was not a suruhåna in the full sense of the term. She was able to make one kind of medicine for children. She was not consulted by many about many health issues.

Later, I would encounter a suruhåna who was more of a makåhna (spirit intermediary) who dealt with spirits and divination, and not with herbal medicine. That was a weird experience.

But Ton Supiåno was my first experience of a bona fide suruhåno , someone the community looked up to as knowledgeable about all herbal medicine and many health concerns. And meeting him was an affirming experience of my Chamorro culture.

FIRST ELOPE, THEN PRISON

Tuesday, March 12, 2019


They say that love makes you do crazy things.

Case in point. Two American Marines, stationed on Guam in 1920, decided to grab a boat and hit the high seas with their newlywed brides.

First Sergeant Everett E. Clifton, 25, and Corporal William V. Dawson, 22, were both in love with Chamorro girls. Clifton fell in love with Tita León Guerrero Palomo, the daughter of Joaquín Blas Palomo and Rita Acosta de León Guerrero of Hagåtña. Their Palomo family nickname was Palolo. Dawson's belle was Rosa Cruz Lizama, the daughter of Ezequiel Fejarang Lizama and Candelaria Ulloa Cruz of Sumay.

The problem was that the Navy Governor at the time, Captain William Gilmer, disapproved of interracial marriages on Guam between military personnel and Chamorro civilians, so he outlawed it. His Executive Order forbidding interracial marriage was not scrapped till June 30, 1920, after enough voices in protest were heard in Washington, DC. By this higher authority, Gilmer was told to rescind his prohibition of interracial marriages on Guam and Gilmer was soon replaced as Governor.

Well, the two couples were not going to wait. With Gilmer's prohibition was still in force, what to do? They decided to escape Guam (and military duty) by finding a boat, loading it with supplies and head towards Australia, away from American jurisdiction. Then, free from Gilmer's laws, they could find someone to marry them. They set out on April 22.

But, problems soon came. First, they started to run out of food. Then, the fuel got desperately low. Finally, a storm obscured vision and posed a danger. Fortunately, they saw a small island and made for it. Sadly, the island had little to offer. The two couples subsisted on shell fish and what meager vegetation the island provided. But then, a Japanese trading vessel passed by and saw their distress signals. The ship picked them up and took them to Yap.



We know that the four left Guam and ended up in Yap, and somewhere along the way they stayed for a while on an unpopulated island with very few resources. Maybe it was Gaferut, but who knows?

In Yap, the Japanese authorities held them in custody. Then, the four were sent to Yokohama and then put under American supervision while there. The two Marines were made to live on a stationary Japanese ship while the two Chamorro ladies were housed at the local YWCA. Eventually, the four were sent back to Guam, where they celebrated their nuptials with the government's blessing since Gilmer was now gone. Both pairs got married on the same day - September 19, 1920. Dawson and Lizama got married in Sumay by Påle' León de Alzo, the future Bishop Olano. Clifton and Palomo got married at the Hagåtña Cathedral, officiated by Påle' Román de Vera.

There remained one problem. The two Marines faced trial for desertion.

Clifton and Dawson were sentenced to three years in prison and after that to be dishonorably discharged. They did their time in California.

Talk about broken dreams. They married, but they never got to enjoy their matrimony for long, since the two husbands were sent to be incarcerated in the US mainland. Rosa remained on Guam, and so did her son that she had with Dawson, George Lizama Dawson. They appear in the 1930 Guam census. But, in the 1940 census, Rosa Dawson is identified as being divorced and George is no longer with her. George had enlisted in the US Navy in 1939 and was off on his own. I suppose when Dawson was released from prison, he decided against returning to Guam and chose instead to find a new wife and remain in the US. By the early 1930s he already had a son with a new wife.

Clifton's marriage to Tita also did not last as he appears in the 1930 US census having a new wife, living in the US mainland.





EVERETT CLIFTON, HUSBAND OF TITA PALOMO
Serving time in San Quentin

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Monday, March 11, 2019


From the 1913 Typhoon

An American visitor to Guam around 1895 wrote about his experience of a typhoon coming out of nowhere.

We know, of course, that typhoons don't come out of nowhere but are actually formed over time when the right factors combine to create a storm that intensifies into a typhoon. But, in those days, they didn't have the technology we have today to see trouble spots and track the development and direction of storms.

Our American visitor was a spectator at the island's biggest cockfight of the year, where people were so focused on the contests that they didn't notice some of the telltale signs that islanders believe suggest a typhoon is on the way.

First, people eventually did notice that the air became still. There was no more wind, and it was the time of year when the trade winds should have been shaking the trees. People looked up, and all the coconut fronds were perfectly still. Not a breeze in sight.

Second, the birds had all disappeared. There were none to be seen resting on branches. There was no chirping to be heard. The birds had all flown somewhere else, to seek shelter from a storm they knew, ahead of the human beings, was coming.

Next, someone went down to the beach and looked at the horizon and the sky above. He was soon followed by others, till there was a bit of a crowd with him, all scanning the same horizon and sky. They all concluded that a storm was on its way, and they returned to their homes to prepare for it.

Long wooden stakes were nailed into the ground and the main posts and beams of the roofs of houses were anchored to these stakes by cords and ropes.


Wooden or metal stakes to help keep the roof from flying

Just as people were busy doing these things and tying up animals, a large gray cloud appeared from the southwest. The trees swayed once more, but with ever-growing strength. Gray turned to black and more black clouds appeared and the sky was darkened. The wind started to blow hard now, and some thatched roofs blew off.

But this storm was not a long one, nor a particularly strong one. By dawn the wind had died down to a normal breeze for that time of year. Some houses lost their roof and roads were impassable due to downed trees, but no one was seriously hurt. Thank God, it was a weak typhoon this time.

ANUNSION ABOGÅDA

Friday, March 8, 2019





Para hita guine gi islas siha i familia yan asunton familia i mås impottånte.
(For us in the islands, the family and family matters are the most important.)

Gi pot båndan i lai ti libiåno ma komprende kabåles
(In legal matters it isn't easy to understand thoroughly)

mucho mås para un fakcha'i un abogådo osino abogåda
(even more to find a lawyer, male or female,)

ni siña ha eksplikåye hao pot i lai gi klåro yan komprendiyon na manera
(who can explain the law to you in a clear and understandable way)

yanggen guaha kaosa fumåfåna' hao.
(when you are facing a case.)

Lao guaha remedio. I ofisinan i abogåda as Señora Rosemond Blanco Santos
(But there is a solution. The office of the attorney Mrs Rosemond Blanco Santos)

siña ha probeniye hao akonseho pot i fundamenton i lai,
(can provide you with advice concerning the basics of the law,)

håfa ha sedi yan ti ha sedi hao para un cho'gue,
(what the law allows and doesn't allow you to do,)

håfa i direcho-mo yan håfa lokkue' siha i gåsto yanggen un deside para un ma representa
(what are your rights and also what are the costs if you decide to be represented)

pareho ha' yanggen måtto i kaosa gi kotte osino åhe'.
(whether the case goes to court or not.)

Tåya' dinagi, tåya' fina'baba, tåya' fina'ga'ga' sinede nu i lai.
(The law allows no deceit, fraud or abuse.)

Yanggen este na manera ni malago' hao ma ayuda
(If you want to be helped in this way)

pues ågang i ofisinan Rosemond Blanco Santos
(then call the office of Rosemond Blanco Santos)

gi numero 234 4357.
(at number 234 4357.)


NOTE

Abogådo . Lawyer. Many people say abogao ( abugao ) instead. The female form of the word remains abogåda .


THE ONE CONSOLATION

Tuesday, March 5, 2019



Life is rarely totally black and white. There is good and bad in almost every facet in life.

Some Spanish governors of the Marianas were well-received by the people; some were not! Some were hard task masters. Some were unfair and unjust in their treatment of people. But one of the main complaints people had against some Spanish governors was financial.

Many Spanish governors considered their assignment to the Marianas a form of exile. Self-seeking Spanish officials saw only one advantage in being sent to the Marianas, especially those who happened to live at the time British and American whaling ships were coming to the Marianas in good numbers in the early 1800s. The Spanish Governor could make some decent money during their short stint on Guam, using the power of the office to demand fees of all kinds from visiting ships. The locals had no money; but a small fortune might be squeezed from whaling ships.

Spanish governors still had to be careful. A few Spanish Governors of the Marianas were, in fact, denounced in Manila and faced charges. But not always.

Here is how one American visitor to Guam described in a newspaper article a story he heard when he visited Guam, if we can assume from the time of publication, in 1895 or 1896.

In February of 1895, an American whaler had anchored in Apra Harbor. The captain was hoping to replenish the ship's food stocks and to give his crew rest and relaxation.

As usual, the Spanish Governor and his officers came on board. Captains knew they had to welcome the Governor and give him the royal treatment. Otherwise, the Governor could make trouble for the visiting ship. The smallest misbehavior by any foreign seaman could result in fines. Seamen could be jailed; ships not allowed to leave port. So, a nice dinner was served on the ship for the Governor and guests.

After the dinner, the Spanish Governor took the American captain aside for a private conversation. The Governor told the captain that he wished to buy an American $20 gold piece to use as a gift to his wife. These gold coins were called "Double Eagles," not because they had two eagles on them, but because they were worth twice the value of the $10 Eagle coins.



An 1877 Double Eagle


At the time, an American Double Eagle was worth 40 Spanish pesos, but the Spanish Governor haggled and got the American captain to sell one to him for only 14 pesos. When asked why he gave in to the Governor's ridiculously low price, the American captain said he had no choice. It's either give in and avoid trouble or irritate the Governor and pay a higher price for it in other ways. The Governor tried to buy more but the captain demurred. At least the Spanish Governor let him get away with that.

Later, the writer of the story says the Governor tried to sell gold coins to him and, when he saw the Governor's collection of gold coins, the Governor had no less than $600 worth of gold coins, most of them American. In current values, $600 would be $18,000.

The Governor of the Marianas in 1895, by the way, was Lt. Col. Emilio Galisteo y Brunenque, who served from late 1894 to late 1895.

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Friday, March 1, 2019



MAOLEK-ÑA MAÑOTSOT TÅTTE KE NI MAÑOTSOT MO'NA

It is better to regret backwards than to regret forward.


It is better to have already made a mistake in the past ( tåtte /behind) and regret it, than to move ahead ( mo'na /ahead) and do something you will learn to regret.

The mistake you made in the past is done. Whatever damage it would have caused, has happened.

But the mistake you make in the future may be bigger than expected; the damage more severe than you think will occur.

Best not to play with fire. Rather than just burn your finger tip, the fire may burn down the whole house.

Mañotsot can also mean "to repent," which means more than just the feeling of regret. To repent means to do something about what you regret, to repair the damage and to change one's life so as not to repeat the same mistake.

PÅLE' PONS

Wednesday, February 27, 2019
FR. JUAN PONS, SJ


The three main islands of the Marianas before the war - Guam, Luta and Saipan - Tinian had no stable Chamorro population until after the war - all seem to have had one priest who stood out.

Guam had Påle' Román; Saipan had Påle' Tardio; and Luta had Påle' Pons. His story is one of unusual suffering and religious piety. The people of Luta who knew him at the time considered him something of a saint. Stories about him were passed down to younger generations who, now in their old age, can still remember them.


BEFORE LUTA

Juan Pons was born in Manresa, a town in the province of Barcelona, Spain in 1876. He then joined the Jesuits (Society of Jesus) and was ordained a priest in 1911. In 1921 (he was 45 years old already!), he came to Chuuk to serve in the Jesuit missions of the Carolines and Marianas. He even became mission Superior for a time.

In 1935, he was sent to serve in Saipan, and now had to acquaint himself with a new language - Chamorro. It was the style in those days for the priests of Saipan and Luta to switch places every so often, so Pons also got a taste of life in Luta while serving in Saipan.



FR. JUAN PONS, SJ

IN TATÅCHOK

In 1937, Pons was permanently assigned to Luta. Around that time, the Japanese decided to relocate all the Chamorros from Songsong to a new location in Tatåchok. Songsong would be a totally Japanese community (with their Korean and Okinawan associates), with emphasis on the sugar industry. The big sugar company, the Nanyo Kohatsu Kaisha (NKK) paid for the building of a new Catholic church and konbento (priest's residence) in Tatåchok. Pons and a Jesuit brother companion, Miguel Timoner, took up residence there.



All that is left of the konbento Pons lived in at Tatåchok


THE ULCER

While in Luta, Pons' suffering began. Ulcers developed on his legs. Supposedly, the condition began while he was still in Chuuk but it seemed minor, at the time. But when he arrived in Luta, the ulcers began to ooze pus and also a clear, watery liquid. Doctor's treatments did nothing to heal it. He even went to Saipan to get medical attention from the Japanese doctors there, to no avail.

So, these awful ulcers became something Pons just had to live with, but not just Pons, but also those who cared for him and those who came in close physical contact with him, because these ulcers also smelled horribly.

Pons accepted his physical suffering with Christian resignation, and did nothing to stop flies from settling on them, which in time produced maggots. It was believed by others that Pons welcomed such mortification.

As the condition worsened, Pons would have to be carried into the church to say Mass. While he stood saying Mass, one or two adult men serving Mass had to wipe away the stinking pus on his legs, brace him up to avoid falling and catch him if he did lose his balance. When Pons distributed communion, two people needed to hold him on both sides. Despite the suffering, Pons never missed a single day of Mass until just a few days before he died.


His signature


THE RAIN

What really convinced the people that Pons was a holy man was the way his prayers on their behalf were heeded by God. Perhaps, they believed, God answered his prayers on account of the suffering he willingly endured.

When the farmers needed rain, Pons would look up to the sky, raise his hands and pray. Within hours, the rain would fall. It would be just enough rain, not too much.

When there was too much rain, and the crops were at risk of being damaged, Pons would pray again and, this time, the rain would stop.

When the ocean was too rough, and the fishermen couldn't go out to catch fish, Pons would pray for the sea to calm, and it did. Families could eat that day because the fish was caught.

People tolerated the horrible smell of Father's ulcers because they depended so much on him for these blessings.




These ladies from Luta tell me stories they heard from their parents and elders about Påle' Pons....



A DEATH PREDICTED

In March of 1944, the Japanese came to Pons' konbento in Tatåchok. The Japanese told him he had to vacate the house; the Japanese would be using it from now on. This was just months before the Americans came to the Marianas and the Japanese were already preparing for it.

The Japanese came back a second time on March 20 only to find Pons (and Brother Timoner) still living in the konbento . "Come back in three days and you can have the house," Pons told the Japanese. It was as if Pons knew in advance what was going to happen.

Pons could not get up from bed from that point on. He stopped saying Mass. On March 23, close to midnight, going into March 24, Pons died. In three days, he said, the Japanese can have the house.

Those taking care of Pons at his death noticed that the ulcers had disappeared, and so did the stench. Brother Timoner, Corbiniano Ayuyu and Bonifacio Esteves buried the body of Father Pons. It remains to this day in San José cemetery, behind San Francisco de Borja Church in Songsong, Luta.




FATHER PONS' GRAVE


EN ESPAÑOL


LLEGADA A ROTA

En el año 1937, el P. Pons fue enviado a Rota permanentemente. Alrededor de ese tiempo, los japoneses decidieron mandar a todos los chamorros (los indígenas de las Islas Marianas) en Songsong a una nueva localidad en Tatáchok. Songsong sería una comunidad japonesa (con sus socios coreanos y okinawenses), con énfasis en la industria del azúcar. La impresa grande de azúcar, la Nanyo Kohatsu Kaisha o NKK, pagó por el edificio de una nueva iglesia católica y convento en Tatáchok. Pons y un hermano jesuita, Miguel Timoner, fueron a vivir allí.

LA ÚLCERA

Cuando llegó a Rota los sufrimientos de Pons empezaron. Las úlceras se le desarollaron en las piernas. Se supone que esa condición empezó cuando él estaba todavía en la isla de Chuuk (o Truk o Ruk, en las Carolinas), pero la condición parecía muy pequeña en ese tiempo. Pero cuando llegó a Rota las úlceras empezaron a tener pus y tambien algo como líquido aguado. Los tratamientos de los doctores japoneses no servieron nada para curarle. Él incluso fue a Saipan (capital de las Marianas japonesas) para que los doctores japoneses le atendieran medicamente pero tampoco sirvió para nada. Así que estas úlceras horribles fueron algo con los que Pons tuvo que aprender a vivir. Pero no solo Pons sino tambien los que le cuidaron y los que acercaban a él. Esas úlceras olían horriblemente. Pons aceptó esto con resignación cristiana y no hizo nada para parar a las moscas por posarse en ellas. En poco tiempo se le produjeron gusanos. Algunos creyeron que Pons se gozaba en esta mortificación.

Cuando la condición se hizo peor Pons tenía que ser llevado a la iglesia a decir Misa. Cuando él se levantaba para decir Misa, uno o dos hombres tenía que limpiar el pus de sus piernas y cogerlo para evitar que cayera en caso de que perdiera su estabilidad. Cuando Pons daba la comunión, dos personas necesitaban sostenerlo en dos lados. A pesar del sufrimiento Pons nunca dejó decir Misa un solo día hasta solo unos días antes de morir.

LA LLUVIA

Lo que de verdad convenció al pueblo que Pons era un hombre santo fue la forma en que Dios escuchaba sus oraciones en favor de ellos. Cuando los labradores necesitaban lluvia, Pons miraba al cielo, levantaba las manos y rezaba. A las pocas horas empezaba a llover. La lluvia era suficiente y no demasiada. Cuando llovía demasiado y las cosechas estaban a punto de perderse, Pons volvía a rezar y esta vez la lluvia paraba. Cuando el mar estaba muy bravo y los pescadores no podían salir a pescar, Pons rezaba para que el mar se calmara y se calmaba. Las familias podían comer ese día por el pescado que habían cojido. La gente toleraba el espantoso olor de las úlceras del Padre porque dependían mucho en él por sus bendiciones.

UNA MUERTE PREDICHA

En marzo de 1944, los japoneses llegaron al convento de Pons en Tatáchok. Le dijeron que tenía que moverse de la casa. Los japoneses la iban a usar de ahora en adelante. Esto fue pocos meses antes que los norteamericanos vinieron a las Marianas y los japoneses estaban ya preparándose para ello. Los japoneses volvieron una segunda vez el 20 de marzo solo para encontrar que Pons y Timoner estaban todavía viviendo en el convento. "Venir dentro de tres días y tendréis la casa," Pons les dijo a los japoneses. Parecía que Pons sabía de antemano lo que le iba a pasar. Pons no se pudo levantar de la cama desde ese momento. Ya no pudo decir Misa. El 23 de marzo cerca de la medianoche Pons murió. El dijo que en tres días los japoneses podían tener la casa.

Los que cuidaron a Pons cuando murió notaron que las úlceras habían desaparecido y tambien el olor. El H. Timoner, Corbiniano Ayuyu y Bonifacio Esteves enterraron a Pons. Hasta este día su cuerpo se conserva en el cementerio de San José detrás de la iglesia de San Francisco de Borja en el pueblo de Songsong, isla de Rota.

I MAN BABAILA NA TAOTAOMO'NA

Monday, February 25, 2019



This taotaomo'na (ancestral spirits) story was told to me in Luta.

The focus of this story is the invitation to follow the spirits into the jungle. God forbid that ever happens, so the older people say. This is true especially of children, who seem to be the preferred targets of the spirits. When found by searching parents, the child is often mute, or dazed or affected in some other way.

Kada uttimon i semåna, siempre man danña' ham ni familia
(Every end of the week, we the family would surely get together)

gi lanchon-måme giya Teneto na lugåt giya Luta.
(at our ranch in Teneto, a place in Rota.)

Singko pat sais åños ha' yo' edåt-ho annai ma susede este.
(Five or six years only was my age when this happened.)

Ayo na ha'åne, ma tågo' yo' para bai maigo' gi halom guma'
(That day, I was told to sleep inside the house)

gi lancho mientras man machocho'cho' i mañaina-ho yan
(at our ranch while my elders)

i mås man dångkulo na mañe'lu-ho.
(and older siblings worked.)

Gi durånten i maigo'-ho, makmåta yo' sa' hu hungok na guaha
(While I slept, I awoke because I heard that there were)

taotao siha mangåkanta. Annai hu gef ekkungok ginen mano siha,
(people singing. When I listened closely where they were,)

hu repåra na man gaige gi hiyong guma' pues hu baba i kuttina
(I realized that they were outside the house, so I opened the curtain)

ya hu atan huyong. Dios mío sa' hu li'e' un dosena ni man lokka' na
(and I looked outside. My God I saw a dozen tall people)

taotao na mangåkanta yan man babaila gi tatten i gima'. Ti man lini'e' siha ni
(singing and dancing behind the house. They weren't seen by)

familiå-ko sa' man eståba i familiå-ko gi me'nan guma'.
(my family since they were in front of the house.)

Humuyong yo' gi pettan san tatte ya sige de hu atan i
(I went out by the back door and I kept looking at)

man babaila na taotao. Man lokka', man åttilong yan man na'
(the dancing people. They were tall, black and)

ma'añao hechuran-ñiha. Ti hu komprende i lengguåhe ni ma
(their appearance was scary. I didn't understand the language)

såsangan gi kantan-ñiha. Guaha unos kuåntos umatan yo'
(they were speaking in their song. There were a few who looked at me)

ya sige de ma kombida yo' para bai hu tattiye siha gi halom tåno'.
(and kept calling me to follow them into the jungle.)

Ti hu komprende ta'lo i fino'-ñiha, lao hu komprende ha'
(Again I didn't understand their language, but I understood)

gi halom hinasso-ko na ma kombibida yo'. Ma'åñao yo'
(inside my thoughts that they were inviting me. I was afraid)

tumattiye siha lao hu tattiye ha' siha, sa' ha na' malago' yo'
(to follow them but I followed them, because their dancing)

i bailan-ñiha. Siempre hu tattiye siha gi halom tåno'
(made me want to. I would have followed them into the jungle)

lao måtto si tatå-ho ya ha faisen yo' håfa bidådå-ho
(but my father came and asked me what I was doing)

gi sanhiyong sa' pine'lo-ña na mamaigo' yo' gi halom guma'.
(outside because he thought I was sleeping inside the house.)

Ha go'te kanai-ho ya ha konne' yo' hålom. Gigon hu bira
(He grabbed my hand and took me in. As soon as I returned)

yo', esta ti siña hu li'e' i taotaomo'na, ya hu tutuhon tumånges
(I couldn't see the spirits anymore, and I began to cry)

ni diruru. Gi sigiente dia, sige ha' yo' de tumånges ya hu kontinua tumånges
(abundantly. The following day, I kept crying and I continued crying)

gi mina' tres dias. Ma konne' yo' para Saipan para
(on the third day. They took me to Saipan to)

bai ma åmte ni suruhåna. Taotao Karolinas este na suruhåna ya ha palai
(be cured by a folk doctor. This suruhåna was from the Carolines and she anointed)

entero tataotao-ho ni låñan niyok pues man ngångas gue' hågon
(my whole body with coconut oil then she chewed leaves)

halom tåno' pues ha tola'e yo' ni nginangås-ña. Ha sangåne yo'
(from the jungle, then she spat what she chewed on me. She told me)

na ti siña yo' umo'mak asta i sigiente dia. Ai na nina' bubu
(that I couldn't shower till the next day. How irritating)

i para hu siente todo ennao gi lassås-ho! Sigiente dia, ha konne'
(for me to feel all that on my skin! The following day,)

yo' i suruhåna gi kanton tåse ya ha na' o'mak yo' gi tase.
(the suruhåna took me to the beach and made me bathe in the ocean.)

Magåhet na desde ayo, pumåra yo' tumånges.
(It's true that from then on, I stopped crying.)




NOTES

Karolinas . The suruhåna (folk medicine practitioner) was Carolinian. Carolinians have been living in Saipan since 1815 or so. Chamorros call them by various name, including taotao Karolinas (people of the Carolines).




TENETO

is not far from the main village of Songsong

MA PÅ'OT I NENE

Thursday, February 21, 2019


In Luta they have an old custom called på'ot .

When a newborn baby is unusually bothered or can't stop crying, or perhaps is experiencing the opposite and is unusually quiet, making no sound, perhaps even keeping his mouth wide open without a sound, people believe that something happened while the baby was still in the mother's womb. The child heard something going on outside the womb, and was affected by it.

One lady with roots in Luta told me how it happened to her child.

She was carrying her child in her womb and one of her male relatives decided that day to kill a chicken to make lunch. He went out to the coop and chose one chicken. Then, with some of the family members hanging around, including the pregnant lady, the man killed the chicken by wringing its neck. Obviously the chicken let out a squeal as it fought for its life.

When the baby was born, the mother noticed it wouldn't cry much. At times, the baby had its mouth wide open, but made no sound. The baby also had something like a blank look in its eyes.

She expressed this concern to her mother, who was born and raised in Luta and who knew something about traditional herb medicines and practices. The mother listened to her daughter's concerns and replied, " Debe de u ma på'ot i nene. " " The baby needs to go through på'ot. "

Another lady told me that a wild pig in the jungle was captured and brought to the house to be slaughtered the next day for a party. There was a member of the family who was pregnant at the time. While in captivity, the pig snorted a lot, especially since it was not happy to be caged.

When the baby was born, it also snorted! " Ha hungok nai lossos-ña i babui !" " He heard the snorting of the pig! "

Fermina Blas, a well-known herbal healer from Luta, explains it this way,




Este manhungok este nene nai....
(The child hears....)

taiguihe pa'go i guaha na biåhe na kalan umå'å'a' i patgon
(as when the child opens it's mouth)

pat eyi i guaha defekto-ña
(or when the child has a defect)

guaha na hiningok gi annai nenene, guaha na manhungok
(there are times it hears, when it is a baby, there are times it hears.)

~ Annai gaige trabia gi halom tuyan nanå-ña.
~ (When it is still in the womb of its mother.)

Guaha este hengok na påtgon
(There are children who listen well)

ya angin håfa bidådå-ña i saina
(and if the mother is doing something)

pat ya-ña este i saina umatan nai
(or the mother likes to look at something)

guaha na manhungok i patgon.
(there are times the child hears it.)


THE SOLUTION

In order to bring the child back to normal, the mother can wave her hand over the child, especially when the child is sleeping, and say

Takhungok, takhungok.
båsta manli'e', båsta manhungok.

Good of hearing, good of hearing.
Stop seeing, stop hearing.

Takhungok means "someone who hears very well." Hungok means "to hear" and the prefix tak means "good," "well," or "very much." We see it in taklalo ', meaning "someone who gets angry a lot."

Others say,

Takhungok, takhungok, båsta manhungok.
Takli'e', takli'e', båsta manli'e'.

Good of hearing, good of hearing, stop hearing.
Good of seeing, good of seeing, stop seeing.

Other people say the child should be brought into the jungle, and some say at night when no one can see them. Some also say if a suruhåna (folk doctor) can do it, all the better.

MARRIED IN A BLACK CHURCH

Monday, February 18, 2019

WHALING SHIPS IN NEW BEDFORD


In 1853, eight years before the American Civil War, a Chamorro seaman named Benjamin Crowell, got married in an African American Baptist church in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Crowell is not a Chamorro surname, but many Chamorro whaling men in the 1800s changed their names, both their given names and their family names. They changed them in all sorts of ways, but sometimes completely! A Chamorro named José de la Cruz might become Arthur Washington, for all we know, once he settled in the United States.

Benjamin was 29 years old, so born around 1824, though people were notoriously imprecise about their ages back then. Many times it was all guess work. Sometimes they told outright lies, to be older or younger as the benefit may be.

He stated that his father's name was Pedro Crowell. The Pedro is believable; the Crowell, not so much.

It's no surprise that he ended up in New Bedford, Massachusetts, one of the main whaling centers of the United States in the 1800s. Quite a number of Chamorro men ended up there, some of them settling there for good.

His bride was Mary Anderson, a native of New York. The minister officiating at their wedding was the Rev. Cummings Bray, who was pastor of Second Baptist Church in New Bedford. That church, located on Middle Street, was founded for African Americans in 1844. The church served as a station for the Underground Railroad, sheltering runaway slaves moving from the South to the North.

Why Benjamin got married in an African American church is a mystery. Was it on account of his (we assume) dark brown skin? Was it on account of his wife Mary's race (we are not sure what it was)? Was it on account of an altogether different reason?

In 1863, Benjamin got married again. His second wife was Elizabeth Howland. They were married by a Justice of the Peace. In this record, Benjamin's parents are listed as Peter and Sarah Crowell.



NEW BEDFORD IN 1876

I MAGÅHET NA GUINAIYA

Friday, February 15, 2019


Kao manhongge hao gi magåhet na guinaiya?
(Do you believe in true love?)

Eståba dos na asagua ni sen umaguaiya i dos.
(There were two spouses who really loved each other.)

Un dia, ilek-ña i lahe gi asaguå-ña, "Kerida, desde ke umassagua hit na dos,
(One day, the husband said to his wife, "Sweetheart, ever since the two of us got married,

tåya' ni un biåhe na ti humihita na dos maigo'.
(there was not even one time that we didn't sleep together.)

Promete yo' na masea håye dumingo este na tåno' fine'na,
(Promise me that whoever leaves this earth first,)

siempre ma håfot i uttimo måtai gi mismo naftån-ña i fine'na."
(the last to die will surely be buried in the same grave as the first.")

Ya taiguennao kontråtan-ñiha i dos.
(And that was how the two agreed.)

Måtai i lahe fine'na, ya para bente åños lumuluto i palao'an ha'åne yan puenge.
(The husband died first, and for twenty years the wife wore black day and night.)

Ti un li'e' i biuda solo gi halom guma'yu'us yan gi propio gumå'-ña.
(You wouldn't see the widow except inside the church and in her own house.)

Taiguennao tinaddong-ña i piniten i bumiudå-ña.
(That was how deep the pain was of her widowhood.)

En fin, kontodo i biuda måtai yan taimano ha' i kontråtan-ñiha i dos,
(Finally, the widow also died and as the two had agreed,)

ma guåddok i naftan i lahe pot para u ma håfot i palao'an.
(they dug up the grave of the husband in order to bury the wife.)

Annai måtto gi ataut i lahe, ma baba i ataut, ha estira i kanai-ña
(When they reached the husband's coffin, the coffin opened, the dead man )

i matai na låhe ni puro' ha' to'lang
(stretched out his bony hand)

ya ha go'te i kanai i matai na asaguå-ña.
(and grasped the hand of his dead wife.)




CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS

Wednesday, February 13, 2019


MAIGO' PALUMA

(Bird sleep)


Have you ever seen birds taking a nap while perched on a tree branch or utility cable? Do you notice how they bow their heads slightly, but wake up quickly every few seconds or so, because of a noise?

Some older Chamorros use that image when they see someone dozing off while sitting up. Just as soon as their chin hits their chest, they snap out of it and lift their head. Only to doze off again after a few seconds. Again the cycle repeats.

The sight reminded them of the way birds do the same when they nap on tree branches and other places. Maigo ' paluma . Bird sleep.




Maigo' paluluma este na palao'an.

FORGOTTEN CHAMORRO

Monday, February 11, 2019


Trust our mañaina (elders) to come up with a descriptive Chamorro name for a bell clapper; the hanging metal piece that strikes the bell from the inside.

We didn't have bells until the Spanish came and brought them with them, for use in the church, primarily. Thus our word for "bell" is borrowed from the Spanish - kampåna (in Spanish, campana ).

So the Chamorro word for the clapper can also be the Spanish name for it, which is badajo (or badåho in Chamorro).

Our elders also called it the panak kampåna (bell striker).

But two other old dictionaries give us descriptive Chamorro terms for the clapper.

Von Preissig (1918) calls it the CHILIN KAMPÅNA .

Påle' Román (1932) calls it the DAMMUT KAMPÅNA .

Both chili and dammut mean the male organ.

Go figure.


BIDA

Friday, February 8, 2019


One of the things that makes the English language so flexible is the wide choice of different words meaning, more or less, the same thing.

To describe someone powerful, you can use the words durable, forceful, vigorous, robust and many other words.

The reason why English can do this is because English borrows words from all over the place. The word strong is from German roots, while the words durable and robust are from Latin roots.

Chamorro also borrows from more than one language, but especially from Spanish, the language of the government of the Marianas from 1668 till 1898 (and 1899 in the Northern Marianas).

While the indigenous language has a word for "life," being lina'la ', and "to live" being " lå'la '," our forebears also adopted the Spanish word vida or "life." Our pronunciation for it is bida .


BIDA = ACTION, ACTIVITY

The main meaning in Chamorro of bida is "action" or "activity." Certainly, action and activity are signs of life.

Håfa bidå-ña? What did s/he do?

But we can also ask, " Håfa ha cho'gue? " and mean the exact same thing, "What did s/he do?" but using the indigenous term cho'gue ("to do").

Tåya' bidådå-ña . "S/he is doing nothing."

Bida can also be used in a passive sense, meaning "what is done to someone else."

Ai ma bidå-ña! "Oh my, what was done to him!"

Tai bida ("without action or activity") can be used to describe a person with nothing to do.

Malabida is a word meaning "bad life," but can mean a person who has done something wrong.


BIDA = LIFE

But Chamorro also uses bida to mean "life" itself. Fewer and fewer Chamorro speakers use the word in this way, but old writings clearly use it, even though we have had long before the Spaniards our own word for "life," which is lina'la '. So, we have two ways to say "life" in Chamorro : bida and lina'la '.



So, in the example above, from the Apostles' Creed, we can say "taihinekkok na bida" to say "everlasting life," or we can also say, "taihinekkok na lina'la'." In fact, we switch between the two depending on the island or even depending on the techa (prayer leader).




In this hymn from Saipan (which has spread elsewhere), the title of the song is "Jesus Bidå-ho," meaning "Jesus My Life." But one could just as easily say, "Jesus Lina'lå'-ho," "Jesus My Life."

In a Guam hymn entitled "Jesus Pån-måme," or "Jesus Our Bread," there is a line that goes

Yåfai yan mahgef i minetgot-ho
sa' ti dumanña' hao gi bidå-ho,

which means

Tired and weak is my strength
because you are not joined to my life.


And there is a hymn to Saint Joseph that says,

Gef adahe, San Jose, i bidå-ho
på'go yan i oran i finatai-ho.

Watch over my life well, Saint Joseph,
now and at the hour of my death.

So there you have it.

Two ways to say "life." Lina'la ' and bida . One indigenous to the Marianas and the other borrowed from Spanish.





OUR LINK WITH LATIN

Because we have incorporated many Spanish words into the Chamorro language, we actually have a linguistic connection with Latin, the language of ancient Rome. Because Rome conquered so much of Western Europe, the Latin language was planted there and over time developed into Italian, Spanish, French and many other languages and dialects of those languages.

So,  in Spain, the Latin word for "life," vita became vida . Then Spanish vida became Chamorro bida .

From Latin vita we get English words based on vita , since French also influenced English. Some of those words are vital , vitamin and vitality .

MIGUEL GARRIDO

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

MIGUEL SABLAN GARRIDO
Age 20 years in 1928


There's not much to this story, sad as it is. But it's not often we can look into the eyes in a photograph of a Chamorro born over 100 years ago.

Miguel Garrido, like many young Chamorro men, left Guam on a ship in search of a better life, so they believed. Many of them did settle down elsewhere and did well for themselves. Not all of them did.

Miguel, it seems, arrived in San Francisco from Manila in 1926. At least one Miguel Garrido from Guam, born in 1907, appears on a passenger list that year.

It didn't take long, however, for Miguel to find himself in trouble. Just the following year, he was arrested and charged with rape. He was found guilty and sentenced up to 50 years. In January 1928 he entered the gates of San Quentin Prison. He stood 5 foot seven and weighed 133 pounds. He was 20 years old, so born in 1907 as mentioned before.

There was a Miguel Garrido born in Guam in 1907. His full name was Miguel Sablan Garrido, the son of José Garrido and María Agüero Sablan.

He and his family appear in the 1920 Guam census as living in Malesso'. His mother had passed away already. He was only 13 years old and without a mother.

Garrido served 10 years at San Quentin and was paroled in 1938. He died just two years later in 1940, at the age of 33 years. RIP

A WEDDING PARTY IN 1895

Wednesday, January 30, 2019


GUAM SEÑORAS
1895


Based on an American visitor to Guam's description of a wedding feast he attended in 1895 or 1896.

The daughter of Félix, one of the richest men on Guam, is going to get married and Félix does nothing half-hearted. It is to be a grand feast.

The chubby father of the bride greets you with a handshake at his home. Crates of beer and claret wine are being brought in, as women in the rear of the house bake in an outside oven ( hotno ). They smile and wish you a " buenos dias ." Young boys are tending an outside fire meant to roast a pig. A neighbor brings in bananas ( aga ') and oranges ( kåhet ) as a gift. On the floor, to the side, lay a big pile of yams and taro ( dågo and suni ). An old woman is grinding cacao, which was often made into chocolate for drinking.

Later that night, you walk to the groom's house which you easily identify among the neighboring homes because of the noise of the fiddle and accordion. There, the groom is having his own party. The Chamorros all know how to dance the waltz ( båtso ) and the Virginia reel. Margarita, a member of the family, escorts you by the arm into the party. On one table one finds various breads, tropical jellies, fruits, cakes, chicken, meat and fish.



THE VIRGINIA REEL
Maybe your great grandmother danced this on Guam in the 1800s


On another table are wine, beer, gin and tuba (coconut toddy). Our American visitor is introduced to the groom's sister, who agrees to dance with him, her black eyes alive with excitement. After the dance, he must drink wine with her. In comes the groom, named Juan, accompanied by his male friends, who all tease him about the troubles of married life he is about the enter. In the corner is the groom's mother, puffing away at her cigar, made from local tobacco. He asks her for a dance, old as she is, to which she gives a curious look. Are you joking? But when she gets up to dance, she proves she's not as old as she looks.



All throughout the 1800s, visitors described how Chamorro women loved smoking cigars


The American now goes to the bride's party. Her father Félix owns a piano, which is being put to good use for the evening. In a prominent chair sits the bride's mother Guadalupe, and some plump, older ladies sit in their own chairs nearby, making remarks about this or that lady's attire. The bride is twirling on the dance floor with a Spanish officer. The Spanish officers go to all the parties, whether they are invited or not.

If you tire of dancing, there are always games of chance at these parties. And if you get bored at one party, you go the second one. Neither party will end soon, anyway. These parties go on till just before the sun rises.


WHO WERE THEY?

Although the newspaper article does not give last names, even first names are enough of a clue.

When the writer said that Félix was one of the richest men on the island, and that his wife was named Guadalupe, that was enough for me to think of Félix Díaz Torres and his wife Guadalupe Crisóstomo Martínez. Félix was one of the manakkilo ' (high status) Torreses. His brother Luís, for example, was a Manila-educated teacher and government official. Another brother, Juan, was island treasurer under American Governor Leary.

Félix and Guadalupe did have a daughter Josefa who married a Juan, Juan Anderson Millinchamp.

I'd put my last dollar that this American visitor had been a guest at the wedding parties of Juan Anderson Millinchamp and Josefa Martínez Torres.



Félix Díaz Torres

HAWAIIAN CASTAWAYS

Monday, January 28, 2019

A young Hawaiian male and female
1900


Whaling ships, which visited the Marianas with much frequency in the 1800s, were notorious for grabbing and disposing crew members left and right.

At times it was difficult to recruit whalers, so many a captain resorted to questionable methods to put men (and sometimes women) on their ships. It was not unheard of to lure men onto the ship for a party, get them drunk then pull out to sea while they were inebriated. When the poor lad woke up, he was many miles from home.

Sometimes, when a crew member or members became problems, such as with illness, or if they were trouble-makers, these whalers were conveniently "forgotten" on shore when the ship ventured off again.

It is a credit to the Hawaiian Government at the time that they pursued, perhaps at the urging of relatives, information about Hawaiians who left on a whaling ship and were not heard from again.

The Hawaiian Government wrote letters to Manila inquiring about four such Hawaiians reported to be on Guam. The Governor of the Marianas, Pablo Pérez, made the reply to the Hawaiian Government in 1849.

Pérez informed the Hawaiian Government that two Hawaiians, a brother and a sister, named John Tahuane and Maria (maybe Mary?) Tahuane were, in fact, left behind on Guam by a French whaling captain named Debats of the ship Gustave . But, Pérez said, he had put the pair on an American whaling ship, the Howard , in January of 1849, and had a signed, written promise by the captain, Alexander Bunker, that he would repatriate the siblings back to Hawaii.

In addition, Pérez said there was another Hawaiian, named Kalehuahi , who was abandoned on Guam due to illness by his captain, named Coteel, of the American whaling ship the Alabama . But Kalehuahi died on his illness on May 14 and was, we can assume, buried on Guam.

Besides these three individuals, there were no other Hawaiians on Guam to the best of Pérez's knowledge as of that date. Two other Hawaiians the Government inquired about were unknown to anyone on Guam.

Because trans Pacific sailing, especially due to the whaling ships, was frequent in the 1800s, our Chamorro ancestors were acquainted with indigenous Hawaiians, and adopted the sometimes offensive term kanaka to describe them.

FRESKON PÅCHOT

Thursday, January 24, 2019





Based on a true story from 1903.


Hagas ti man afamaolek i familian Vicenta yan i familian José.
(Vicenta's family and José's family did not get along in the past.)

Man besino siha giya Yoña.
(They were neighbors in Yoña.)

I lanchon Vicenta eståba gi kattan i chalan.
(Vicenta's ranch was to the north/east of the street.)

I lanchon José eståba gi lichan i chalan.
(José's ranch was to the south/west of the street.)

Un dia, mamomokat si Vicenta yan i yetno-ña as Manuel gi chalan gi entalo' i dos låncho,
(One day, Vicenta and her son-in-law Manuel were walking on the road between the two ranches,)

ya umessalao si José, "Håfa na mamomokat hamyo guennao na chålan?"
(and José shouted, "Why are you walking on that road?"

Manoppe si Vicenta, "Ya måno na chålan malago'-mo para in pokåte?"
(Vicenta answered, "And on what road do you want us to walk?")

Manoppe si José, "Famokkat nai gi chalan para sasalåguan!"
(José answered, "Walk on the road to hell!")

På'go si Manuel ha oppe si José,
(Manuel now answered José,)

"Ti in tingo' ayo na chålan para sasalåguan.
("We don't know that road to hell.)

Lao yanggen hågo tumungo' måno nai gaige,
(But if you know where it is,)

pues hågo un chule' ayo na chålan!"
(then you take that road!")

KÅNTA : BUENAS NOCHES MARIKITA

Tuesday, January 22, 2019


A Chamorro classic by Johnny Sablan





1. Buenas noches Marikita / kao siña yo' un na' hålom

(Good evening Marikita / can you let me inside)


ya ta hihita man rega nu / i man fresko siha na hånom.

(and water together / with fresh water.)


REFRAIN : Kao mungnga hao? Kao mungnga hao? Sa' hunggan yo', nene.

Will you not? Will you not? Because I am willing, baby.


2. Ti ya-mo åttilong na taotao / lao gof ya-mo i fanihi

(You don't like dark-skinned people / but you like the fruit bat)


ya hu desesea kerida na / un guaiya yo' taiguine.

(and I desire sweetheart that / you love me in the same way.)


3. Åttilong yo' nai na taotao / åttilong ti ma guaiya

(I am a dark-skinned person / dark-skinned persons aren't loved)


lao gef atan nu i dos matå-mo / sa' un dia un fina' baba.

(but look well at your two eyes / for one day they will deceive you.)


4. Ti pinite yo' as nåna / komo hågo yo' kumonne'

(I won't feel bad for mama / if you are the one to take me)


komo humihita chumochocho / ai masea linemmok donne'.

(if we eat together / oh, even if it's just crushed chili pepper.)


5. I famalao'an ni man dudus / man gof andi' i lalåhe

(The flirtatious women / the show-off guys)


an un pala'i labios-mo libistik / siempre ha' un ma essitane.

(if you smear your lips with lipstick / you will surely be mocked.)


6. Ti guåho na klåsen taotao / para hu tohge gi flores-mo

(I'm not the kind of person / to stand on your flowers)


lao måtto yo' para hu konsuela hao / annai hu hungok i tanges-mo.

(but I came to comfort you / when I heard your weeping.)




THE MYSTERY OF CHÅ

Monday, January 21, 2019


"Tea" in Chamorro in chå . It's the same word for tea in many Chinese languages; in Korean, Japanese ( ocha ) and Filipino ( tsaa ).

But tea didn't grow in the Marianas, so the word chå must have been adopted from other people who called "tea" cha . But from who?

The Spanish word for "tea" is . Why didn't the Chamorros borrow the Spanish word , as they did so many other Spanish words?


DO YOU DRINK CHA OR TE?

With few exceptions, the world has only two ways to say "tea." Both ways originate in China, where the plant was cultivated before anyone in Europe or America knew anything about it.

For much of China, "tea" is cha , and that word spread to Korea and Japan, and also to those places where tea was carried over land by merchants. Land routes carrying tea and other goods from China reached Persia (where cha became chay ); Russia (where cha also became chai ) and Arabia (where it became shay ).

But a coastal area of China called Fujian says te for "tea." Where tea was exported by ship from Fujian, the word te went with it. This is how English got the word tea , and French thé and Dutch thee . The Spanish word for tea is .

Interestingly, the Filipino word for tea is tsaa , even though the great majority of Chinese in the Philippines have roots in Fujian, where tea is called te .





WHO BROUGHT TEA HERE FIRST?

You would think that, if the Spaniards were the first to bring tea to the Marianas, we would also use their word for it - . But we don't.

Dutch and English ships also came to the Marianas now and then. We don't use a word similar to theirs for tea. When American ships started coming to the Marianas in the early 1800s, we didn't borrowing their word for tea, either.

Instead, we use a word coming from the majority of China, and Korea and Japan. But, other than Choco in the time of Sanvitores, we don't know of any Chinese living in the Marianas in the 1600s. And how much tea could Choco have had, if any? He was a castaway, anyway, who probably landed here with not a whole lot of possessions. Did Choco grow tea? If he did, from what source, having been a castaway? Tea didn't grow well in the Marianas. Safford (writing around 1905) says that they tried to grow tea on Guam, but it failed.

Chinese immigrants moved to Guam in the late 1850s and into the 1860s and after. They might have brought small supplies of tea, and relied on incoming British and American ships to sell them more. But almost all of these Chinese immigrants were from Fujian, where the word for tea is te , not cha .

That leaves Japanese merchants. Their word for tea is ocha . But the Japanese traders didn't start coming to the Marianas until the 1890s, and the Chamorros already had the word chå for "tea" since
1865 (or before) when Ibåñez wrote his Spanish-Chamorro dictionary and chå appears there as the Chamorro word for tea.

Perhaps the Filipinos, who always had a trickle of people coming to the Marianas in the 1700s and 1800s, brought the word chå to the Marianas.

Who knows? It's a mystery why Chamorros did not borrow the Spanish word for tea, and it's a mystery from whom they did borrow the word chå .

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

Friday, January 18, 2019


Perhaps because a new administration has just taken office on Guam, some people are wondering how to say "Lieutenant Governor" in Chamorro.

For many years already, the usual way most people say "Lieutenant Governor" in Chamorro is :


SEGUNDO MAGA'LÅHE


or, perhaps spelled Sigundo Maga'låhe or Segundu/Sigundu Maga'låhe.



Sigundo Maga'låhen Guåhan
"The Lieutenant Governor of Guam"


Segundo means "Second" and is borrowed from Spanish.

Segundo, by the way, is also a proper name, meaning a first name for a male. That's because most people in the past were named after saints and there are actually more than one Saint Secundus, in Spanish, San Segundo.




Maga'låhe is one way to say "Governor" and is an indigenous term, not borrowed from Spanish. It was the word for "chief" that was used at the time the Spaniards came to the Marianas.

It comes from two words. The first is må'gas , meaning "great." The second is låhe , meaning "man." The S in må'gas is dropped when combining the two words. When combined, the word means "great man." Thus, "chief."

But, over time, the Chamorros, whose chiefs all disappeared when the island politics changed, applied the word maga'låhe to the islands' Governor.

There are two issues, to my mind, created by the term " Segundo Maga'låhe ."

The first is that maga'låhe is used. Today we have a woman governor. She is now being called the maga'håga ("great daughter"). But the Lieutenant Governor is being called "the Second Great Man." Is there a first "Great Man?" Is his superior also a male? No. She is a håga . Daughter. So how can there be a Second Great Man if there is no First Great Man.

And suppose we had (again) a woman Lieutenant Governor (as in the days of Lt Gov Madeleine Bordallo). If we called her the Segundo Maga'håga , does that mean there is a First Great Daughter? That her superior is also female?

The second issue is that segundo is used. If the Lieutenant Governor is the Second Governor, do we now have two governors? A first and a second?

Both these terms seem a bit problematic to me, although I do concede that they may not be problematic to anyone else in the universe but me.

So what, then, would be an alternative?




The above name for the position "Lieutenant Governor" is traditional and avoids the messiness of calling one a maga'låhe and another a maga'håga , or calling someone a "Second Governor," implying that we have two governors.

The first word in this title is a word the older people remember, but not the younger. A teniente was the second-in-command, the vice or the assistant.

Take another look at the English word we use for Lieutenant Governor.

LIEU + TENANT (teniente)

LIEU comes from French and means "place."

TENANT also comes from French (and all the way back to Latin) and means "holder."

Think of the person renting an apartment as the tenant . Our word maintenance comes from "holding" (tenance) by the "hand" ( main , French from the Latin word for hand, manus , as in "manual").

A lieutenant is a "place holder." When the Governor is away, the Lieutenant Governor holds the place of the Governor.

The Marianas under Spain were full of tenientes . Take a look at this list of officials in Hagåtña during Spanish times :



At the top of this document it says "City of Agaña."

Then we see the name of Don (Sir) Mariano Luxan. He was the Governadorcillo ("little governor"), something like a town mayor, of Hagåtña. Don't worry about the X in Luxan (Lujan). For the Spanish in those days, X and J often had the same sound if it came before a vowel. Think of Don Quixote, or Oaxaca in Mexico (itself pronounced me - hi - co in Spanish).

But the next official, the second-in-command to Don Mariano, is Don Pedro Pangilinan (same as Pangelinan), who is called the - TENIENTE !

By using the word teniente , it is clear that we don't have a "second" Governor. We have only one Governor. But, we also have someone who holds the place of the Governor when she or he is absent. A Lieu-TENANT Govenor. Teniente .

Next, by using the word Gobietno (Governor), there is no issue of gender. The older meaning of maga'låhe , anyway, did NOT mean the ruler of the whole island. Before the Spaniards came, maga'låhe meant "chief," and there were many in one village and hundreds all over the island and in the neighboring islands. When all the Chamorro maga'låhe disappeared, due to the Spanish conquest, our ancestors applied the title to the Spanish Governor, of all things!

Believe me or not, in the 1970s or 1980s, I did see a campaign sign in Chamorro, asking voters to support someone for Gobietno and another person for Teniente Gobietno .

But I didn't know I'd have a blog one day, so I didn't take a photo of the sign.




This entry from Francisco Valenzuela's Chamorro Dictionary from the 1960s shows that teniente was a known word among our elders. And, as you can see, it means second-in-command.

WHEN NINA WENT TOO FAR

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

Washing in the Hagåtña River


The image of the old Chamorro grandmother as a sweet and cuddly matron is a figment of the imagination. Certainly there were many of those - but not all grandmothers were like that!

Many grandmothers, mothers and godmothers in the old days were strict disciplinarians, quick to use corporal punishment with all the strength of their seventy-year-old hands.

Take for example Manuela Manalisay Dueñas in 1903.

Manuela had a goddaughter, Joaquina Materne, aged 18 years old.

Joaquina was washing clothes in the river in Hagåtña one Thursday. Catalina Crisóstomo Cruz was there, as well, washing clothes in the river. Up came the godmother Manuela, who called her goddaughter Joaquina out of the river. As soon as Joaquina came up, Manuela whacked her repeatedly with a bamboo cane ( båston piao ).




Manuela withdrew and Joaquina went back to washing. But a short time later, godmother Manuela came back and this time beat Joaquina with a stick of ordinary wood.

Two days later, Manuela called Joaquina to her house, where she attacked her goddaughter with a piece of cord or rope. Catalina Bae Cruz was a witness to that. Joaquina filed a complaint in court against her own godmother.

Manuela admitted to the court that she beat her goddaughter Joaquina on those occasions. But, she argued, she was within her rights. Joaquina had disobeyed her and she, as godmother, had every right to punish her.




Unfortunately for Manuela, the law was not on her side. Even though she was godmother ( matlina , nina ) to Joaquina, what she did to Joaquina was a crime, according to the Código Penal (Penal Code) at the time. This was the same Spanish Penal Code used in the Marianas before the Americans came, so it can't be said that this was all American thinking.

In Chamorro culture, the godmother had a lot of say over her godchildren. Think of the legend of Sirena, and how her godmother mitigated the curse pronounced by Sirena's own mother.

But, even under Spanish law, the godmother could not do whatever she wanted to her godchild. Corporal punishment had its limits even then.

Manuela was fined and had to pay court costs.

The question is : did Joaquina involve her godmother in her wedding later in life? Or anything else later in life? Or was this relationship broken forever?




Godmother Manuela Dueñas' signature

CANNIBALS ON GUAM?

Monday, January 14, 2019

Slocum's article in 1889

A lot of wild and fantastic things have been said about the Marianas over the years, up to the present. Some of it is borne out of ignorance, and some of it is invented because it's entertaining to the purveyors of tall tales.

Apparently, one such fanciful tale was that you could get eaten up by cannibals if your ship happened to take you to Guam in the 1800s.

The story was that a 16-year-old boy had been captured at Guam and fattened by the natives to be the main course in a banquet.

Every westerner who sailed the Pacific in those days could have set the record straight.

One did; a rather colorful seaman named Joshua Slocum.



Slocum on the Spray

A Canadian-turned-American, Slocum was a veteran seaman who could be found in all the world's oceans. He spent a good deal of time in the Philippines and almost anywhere else you could imagine. At least once, we know, he set foot on Guam in 1879 on his way from Hawaii to Manila. On Guam, he replenished his water and food supplies, and visited Hagåtña while his ship lay in Apra Harbor.

Slocum wrote to a newspaper in 1889 mocking the report of cannibalism on Guam. He wrote that Guam had no cannibals and was a Spanish colony for a long time already. It was a place frequently visited by many ships to stock up on water, coconuts, yams, sweet potatoes, pigs and goats, all in abundance.

"One of the pleasantest days of my life was spent on this pleasant island off there in the Pacific Ocean," he wrote.

Slocum later achieved fame by being the first human being to sale around the world all alone, on his boat, the Spray , between 1895 and 1898.

MA PONGLE SI JOAQUINA

Tuesday, January 8, 2019


Vice and virtue have no favorites. They can be found, sometimes in equal measure, among all races, ages and genders.

Take for example Joaquina del Rosario, better known as Joaquina'n Dalalai.

Joaquina was at the top of the list of Guam's "bad girls" in the early 1900s. She was hauled into court on more than one occasion.

In 1903, Joaquina went to the home of Manuel Asunción, who was selling island moonshine called åguayente . Åguayente was a stronger liquor than tuba, although it was often made from tuba. But åguayente could be made from almost anything that contains sugar.

Joaquina bought three cups of åguayente for one reåt each. A reåt (in Spanish, real ; pronounced ray - al) was a coin found in the Spanish colonies and in Latin American countries.

Those three cups were enough to make Joaquina terribly drunk and she went around Hagåtña being a nuisance. She stopped outside the house of Juana Acosta and started yelling obscenities at her. " Puñetera! Karåho! Puta! Demonio! Animåt !" The whole neighborhood could hear her. There must have been bad blood already between Joaquina and Juana.

The police came and apprehended her. As she was disorderly in public, there was no want of witnesses. She was sentenced to serve a short time in the city jail.

Later, Joaquina'n Dalalai would be arrested for something more serious than public intoxication. But that's a story for a future post.

Åguayente , by the way, is the Chamorro version of the Spanish word aguardiente , made up of two words : agua (meaning "water") and ardiente (meaning "fiery"). Fire water!



Chamorros of the early 1800s distilling åguayente

SI PÅLE' LOTTOT

Monday, January 7, 2019


An older man was telling me how he would go on and on, talking to his mother when he was a child, making bold claims as he talked to her.

His mother was not impressed with what he was saying, as teenagers often become inflated with self-importance or become over-confident in what they are saying.

To cut him back down to size, his mother said to him, " Ya kao si Påle' Lottot hao ?" "And are you Father Lottot?"

The thing is that the man himself had no idea what lottot meant. His mother used the expression, and she was born in the early 1900s. We knew that påle ' meant "priest," but neither of us knew what lottot meant.

From the context we knew that "Påle' Lottot" was not a term of endearment. If by calling him Påle' Lottot, the mother was more or less telling him that he was full of baloney when he talked, we knew that lottot must have meant something disparaging.

According to all the more recent dictionaries, lottot means "full of lice."




But when I checked Påle' Román's older (1932) dictionary, he says that lottot means tina in Spanish, and tina in Spanish means a tub, or basin or a large jar. But this might be an error or a typo. Perhaps Påle' Román meant tiña , not tina . Tiña means a ringworm or a kind of mite that attacks beehives. That would correspond more with "lice."

But Påle' Román's dictionary solved the mystery by adding that "Påle' Lottot" means "a false priest or minister."

Those were the days of strong religious bias, with Catholics mocking Protestants and Protestants mocking Catholics. The Protestant missionaries came to Guam in the early 1900s claiming to be preachers of God's word. Catholic missionaries would have opposed that claim. Mockery and ridicule were found everywhere in the world, and Chamorros weren't outdone in that either. I am not surprised, then, that someone considered a false preacher was called a "lice-filled priest" in those days.


IT USED TO BE CALLED KASAMATA

Thursday, January 3, 2019


Today we simply call it "Government House" but, for some time during the Spanish period, the area was called Kasamåta, or in Spanish Casamata. It's mentioned in some Spanish-era documents.

That word has a meaning in Spanish. It means a domed structure where artillery is placed. Here's one photographic example of a casamata :




The late Marjorie Driver, for several decades head of the Spanish Documents section of the Micronesian Area Research Center, says that a casamata was built on "Mount Tutuhan," the hillside behind the Governor's Palacio, near Fort Santa Águeda. The location makes sense for one, as a fort with canon would need an artillery shed nearby.

Since the fort was not built till 1800, the casamata couldn't have been earlier than that. Some scholars say it was built by Governor Villalobos in 1833. So, the area wouldn't have been called kasamåta by the local people till that time. What the pre-Spanish name of the place was, if there had been one, is unknown to me unless and until we find some evidence for it.

A vigía , or lookout point, is also indicated at Fort San Ågueda by Governor Villalobos in 1833.





Here are two indications from documents from the past that show that, in the past, our people called the area where Government House is Kasamåta.

In 1904, a witness in court was testifying about an event occurring in the area of Casamata (Spanish spelling). The line in the written record of that testimony says, " el lugar llamado Casamata ," meaning "the place called Casamata."




Some ten years later, or so, a student wrote an essay about an incident that could be heard from Casamata, where the tuberculosis hospital was at the time. In that period, Guam's tuberculosis ward was located where Government House is today.




Apparently there were remains of the Spanish casamata until they were removed, demolished or built over when the present Government House was built after World War II.

TA FAN MAGOF TODOS

Monday, December 31, 2018


Thanks to the German Capuchin missionaries in Saipan, we have this one, old (1900s) Chamorro song about New Years.

New Years was not as big a celebration in olden Spain, and her colonies, as the world celebrates it today. But the German culture did celebrate it with a bit more attention and so it passed from the German missionaries to their flock in Saipan and Luta in the early 1900s.

The original German song is found in the video link at the end of this post. The Saipan version is actually a medley, a blending of two songs, as it does add a middle section taken from another song.




In the song, we thank God for the graces of the past year and we ask for continued grace and protection in the coming year. We also ask eternal rest on those who died in the past and on those who may die in the time ahead. This song, sung repeatedly in the Northern Marianas for New Year's, lead to the modern custom of lighting candles for each person who died in the year just passed.


LYRICS

Ta fan magof todos
(Let us all be happy)
mientras man lålå'la' hit.
(while we are still alive.)
Ta nå'e mit gråsias
(Let us give a thousand thanks)
i muna' fan huyong hit.
(to the one who created us.)

Esta måtto i nuebo
(The new year has already)
na såkkan ni para hita.
(come for us.)
Ta propone de nuebo
(Let us propose once again)
u ma arekla i ha'ani-ta.
(to rightly order our lives.)

Ta fan magof todos
(Let us all be happy)
mientras man lålå'la' hit.
(while we are still alive.)
Ta nå'e mit gråsias
(Let us give a thousand thanks)
i muna' fan huyong hit.
(to the one who created us.)

Jesus Yu'us-måme
(Jesus our God)
gi nuebo na såkkan
(in the new year)
gai'ase' nu hame,
(have mercy on us,)
apåtta i dåño.
(keep away all harm.)
Nå'e nu i deskånso
(Give rest)
i man gaige esta gi naftan
(to those already in the grave)
ya an guaha sea kåso måtai na såkkan.
(and to those who may die this year.)

Ta fan magof todos
(Let us all be happy)
mientras man lålå'la' hit.
(while we are still alive.)
Ta nå'e mit gråsias
(Let us give a thousand thanks)
i muna' fan huyong hit.
(to the one who created us.)

Fan adesea de nuebo
(Desire for each other again)
ginen i korason-miyo
(from your hearts)
"Felis na Åño Nuebo"
("Happy New Year")
todo i ha'anen-miyo.
(all the days of your life.)

Ta fan magof todos
(Let us all be happy)
mientras man lålå'la' hit.
(while we are still alive.)
Ta nå'e mit gråsias
(Let us give a thousand thanks)
i muna' fan huyong hit.
(to the one who created us.)


GERMAN ORIGINAL SONG




MAIGO' YINIUSAN PÅTGON

Saturday, December 29, 2018



A Christmas song from Saipan, where the Niño is always dressed in cloth, as in the picture above.




Maigo' Yiniusan Påtgon,
(Sleep, Divine Child,)
O maigo' sen måffong!
(Oh sleep so profoundly!)
I anghet ma pupulan hao
(The angels watch over you)
yan ma kantåtåye hao
(and sing to you)
yan ma kantåtåye hao.
(and sing to you.)
Hame nu i famagu'on-mo
(We your children)
man bebela gi fi'on-mo.
(keep vigil at your side.)
Maigo', maigo' Påtgon Långet maigo'.
(Sleep, sleep heavenly child, sleep.)

Si Maria Bithen Nåna
(Mary, the Virgin Mother,)
ina'atan hao magof.
(looks happily at you.)
Si Jose gi oriyå-ña
(Joseph at her side)
nina'manman nu hågo
(is in awe of you.)
nina'manman nu hågo.
(is in awe of you.)
I pastores ginen chågo'
(The shepherds from afar)
man adulalak guato.
(chase after each other there.)
Maigo' maigo' Påtgon Långet maigo'.
(Sleep, sleep heavenly child, sleep.)

TODOS HAM MAN LISTO

Saturday, December 22, 2018


In this Christmas carol from Saipan, the angel directs the shepherds to see the Christ Child in Bethlehem, and the shepherds respond in the refrain "We are all ready!"

This carol is only now becoming known on Guam, since it was only taught to the Chamorros of Saipan and then of Luta by the German Capuchin missionaries there in the early 1900s. Guam had the Spanish Capuchin missionaries at the time, teaching them different Christmas carols.




Todos hamyo fan malågo para i Belen guato,
(All of you run over to Bethlehem,)
para i Belen guato ya en li'e' i milågro i Mesias ni måtto.
(over to Bethlehem and see the miracle of the Messiah who has come.)
En li'e' gi un pesebre i Verbo Divino,
(You will see in a manger the Divine Word,)
i Verbo Divino na sen bula pinepble i sen såntos na Niño.
(the Divine Word, the most holy Infant who is full of poverty.)

Todos ham man listo ya tåya' u ma dingo para in adora i Niño.
(We are all ready and no one will be left behind to adore the Infant.)

Kulan sinilo åtdao en sedda' siempre i Niño,
(Like the sunrise, you will surely find the Infant,)
en sedda' siempre i Niño nai matå-ña gåtbo mås ke diamånten fino.
(you will surely find the Infant, whose face is beautiful, more than a fine diamond.)
Una bithen sin måncha en li'e' i nanå-ña,
(You will see His mother, a virgin without stain,)
en li'e' i nanå-ña ya i gaige gi langet ayo proprio Tatå-ña.
(you will see His mother and His true Father in heaven.)

Todos ham man listo ya tåya' u ma dingo para in adora i Niño.
(We are all ready and no one will be left behind to adore the Infant.)

En li'e' i estreyas na ma'lak ininå-ña,
(You will see the stars whose light is bright,)
na ma'lak ininå-ña para giå-ta guato gi sen popblen sagå-ña.
(whose light is bright to be our guide to His most poor dwelling.)
En li'e' gi un eståblo na hokkok mina'lak-ña,
(You will see in a stable its complete brightness,)
na hokkok mina'lak-ña i Niño mafañågo pot nina'siñå-ña.
(its complete brightness, the Infant born through His power.)

Todos ham man listo ya tåya' u ma dingo para in adora i Niño.
(We are all ready and no one will be left behind to adore the Infant.)

HIDDEN MALESSO' : JAPANESE RICE MILL

Thursday, December 20, 2018


Much of Guam's history is hidden right in front of our eyes.

We pass these sites all the time and are not aware of the history, or that they even exist. Just turn a corner we normally ignore; venture just a few steps more, and we're facing a piece of island history.

Take for example the Japanese rice mill in Malesso'. It's not terribly difficult to see, but it is off the main road. It sits on private land, so one has to ask permission of at least the neighbor through whose land one must pass. The barking dogs will make you do that, anyway.


JAPANESE OCCUPATION


Guam Rice Paddy during Japanese Occupation

When the Japanese occupied Guam, from December 1941 till July 1944, both the Chamorros and the Japanese turned to the land and sea for food. Some food continued to be imported from off-island, but in ever-decreasing amounts due to shortages and the dangers of American attacks.

In 1943, the Japanese government made self-reliance in food the absolute rule on Guam. Even more so for the Japanese than for the Chamorros, who were quite happy with corn and other carbohydrates, rice production was a top priority. Paddies were started typically in the southern half of the island where low-lying, watery areas, often crossed by rivers and streams, made rice growing ideal.

In December of 1943, a rice mill was built by the Japanese in Malesso'. It consisted of two, non-adjoining rooms. Rice paddies may have surrounded the area, which is low-lying, not far from the beach. Though no documentation exists, that we know of, to prove it was a rice mill, this is what some local residents alive during the Occupation say it was.




The mill was not in use for long, though, if at all. First of all, rice production was more or less a failure on Guam during the Japanese Occupation, for several reasons. Harvests were poor and could not adequately feed the Japanese military on Guam, especially when their numbers increased in 1944 in anticipation of the American invasion.

By March of 1944 or so, just four months after the mill was built, preparation for all-out battle with the Americans took precedence and farming took a back seat, especially when the Japanese rounded up the Chamorros to wait out the battle in the interior hills and jungles.

Today, the roof and interior floor of the mill are gone. Inside the building, vegetative and man-made debris litter the area. All around the mill, the same conditions exist. Yet, despite typhoons and earthquakes, the four concrete walls of the mill are still standing, more than 70 years later.

It is the only non-military Japanese-built structure surviving on Guam from the Occupation.

PUENGEN YU'US (SILENT NIGHT)

Wednesday, December 19, 2018



This Chamorro version of the famous carol "Silent Night" is sung by Donovan Afaisen and Andrea Pangelinan. It begins with the English version and then the Chamorro version follows.





Puengen Yu'us, puengen Jesus
( Night of God, night of Jesus )
u ma tuna si Yu'us!
( God be praised! )
Ya u f å tto gi taotao siha
( And may it come to the people )
i ha t åt å nga na p å s- ñ iha
( their longed-for peace )
gigigo ha' yan si Yu'us,
( together with God ,)
gigigo ha' yan si Jesus.
( together with Jesus .)

Puengen Yu'us, puengen Jesus
( Night of God, night of Jesus )
dalai lokkue' sen mampos!
( oh my, exceedingly so! )
A'annok i Rai i rai siha
( The King of kings is revealed )
guihe gi echong ñ an- ñ iha*
( there at their side )
ya ti yan- ñ iha si Yu'us,
( but they did not love God ,)
ya ti yan- ñ iha si Jesus.
( they didn't love Jesus .)


Echongña . This word is now forgotten by most. Even many older people (aged 80 years and up) do not know that it means "side." The word appears in other hymns, too, like in "O Maria Nana'magof" where it says, " tunanas gi echongñå-mo ," meaning "straight alongside of you." To modern-day Chamorros unaware of this word, it sounds like " echong ñåm o" or "crooked mosquito."

There are slightly different versions of the wording of this carol. P å le' Roman de Vera, Capuchin, was the first to publish a Chamorro version on Guam.

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS

Monday, December 17, 2018


NÁTATA LAGO'-ÑA

His/her tears are shallow.


Some people hardly ever cry at all, even when they are profoundly sad or moved. They have the ability to fight back the tears and keep their eyes dry.

Others can cry in an instant, for the simplest of reasons. It doesn't take them much to shed a tear. It's as if the tear was already on hand, just waiting for the slightest reason to come out.

These people are said to be nátata lago '- ña . Their tears are shallow. Why?

Their tears are right at the surface of their eyes. Any closer to the surface and their eyes would be spilling out tears all day long.

In order for these people to cry, they don't need to reach into the deep recesses of their storage of tears. Their tears are right there, on the surface, shallow, ready to shed at any moment.

WHEN THE AMERICANS BROUGHT CHRISTMAS TO GUAM

Friday, December 14, 2018

From a news article in 1911


As the above headline states, Christmas didn't happen on time on Guam one year, in 1910.

Well, that's according to the American Navy which ruled Guam in those days. The Chamorros and their Chamorro and Spanish priests, however, celebrated Christmas on time just the same anyway.

As far as the Americans were concerned, however, it was the United States that brought Christmas to Guam. The article from the same newspaper above stated, " Christmas on Guam is only twelve years old ," brought to Guam only in 1898 when the United States took control over the island away from Spain. Never mind that the Spaniard Sanvitores came to Guam in 1668 and celebrated the first Christmas here that same year, two hundred and thirty years before the Americans came.

According to the Americans, Christmas couldn't happen on Guam either unless the American Santa Claus brought gifts and toys to the island. That's why Christmas was late in 1910.

Starting in 1907, the American Navy brought hundreds of Christmas toys and candy to Guam for the school children every year. But in December of 1910, the health officer on Guam would not allow the Navy ship to unload passengers or cargo because one man on board had a mild case of smallpox and was actually already recovering from it. Still, no amount of convincing could change the health officer's mind. The ship had to continue to Manila without leaving behind all those toys and candies for Guam's school children.

And that is why, the American newspaper said, Christmas didn't happen on time on Guam that year.

Better tell that to the thousands of Chamorros who were at midnight Mass for Christmas. Apparently they had no idea that Christmas couldn't happen until the toys came.




Christmas on Guam only started in 1898, according to this American newspaper!
News article in 1911

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO'

Wednesday, December 12, 2018


CHÅDA' HÅLOM CHÅ'GUAN

Egg in the grass.


This saying sounds strange at first to people hearing it for the first time, but it was heard by some older people in the past.

Here's the idea behind it. A hen usually lays her eggs in a coop ( kasiyas ) or basket ( ålan månnok ).

So if a woman gives birth to a child out of wedlock, it's like the hen who lays her egg out on the grass, in a field and so on. Far away from the public eye, from the usual places a hen would lay an egg. Even the child would be called påtgon sanhiyong , a child "from the outside, " outside of marriage, that is.

There were lots of births out of wedlock in the old days. But it was considered something shameful. There would be no christening party, for example, when the baby was baptized.

"COPY THOSE CHAMORROS!"

Thursday, December 6, 2018

1742 SAKMAN

In 1742, the British admiral Lord George Anson stopped at Tinian and saw a sakman (flying proa) sailing on the sea. He was impressed with its speed, reckoned by many today at 20 knots or 23 miles per hour on land.

Anson needed to make repairs and replenish food and water supplies at Tinian, and give his crew some rest and the sick among them some convalescence, but he couldn't stay long since the Spaniards in Guam might send up an armed force if they heard about this British visit.




So Anson destroyed the boat and the sakman being used by the Spanish and Chamorro men drying beef in Tinian before he left the island. But he also had his draftsman draw, in great detail, the design of the sakman . This drawing made its rounds back in England, along with the story of Anson's travels in book form, published in 1748.




Well, twenty-some years after news of Anson's voyage in the Pacific, his visit to Tinian and his depiction of the sakman circulated around England, a British shipbuilder decided to make a canoe based on the Chamorro sakman as documented by Lord Anson. The story appeared in a British newspaper in 1767.

Notice that the article talks about a praw (proa) and that it belongs to the Indians, a common name in those centuries for natives of America and the Pacific. The Spaniards called Chamorros and Filipinos indios in those days, too. The Marianas were still called Ladrones by many in those days, as well.




The British copy of the Chamorro sakman could not have been an exact replica. Local, English materials were undoubtedly used, rather than Pacific island material. I wouldn't be surprised if there were technological changes made, too.

But it goes to show that European admiration for the Chamorro sakman's speed and agility was strong enough for one English man to make a functional replica of it 250 years ago. What became of it remains an unanswered question.

ASTA KE MA BELO

Monday, November 26, 2018


In a traditional Chamorro wedding, a veil or belo is draped over both bride and groom after they have exchanged their vows.

Just as the one piece of fabric covers both bride and groom at the same time, the belo symbolizes their union and also God's blessing (and that of the Blessed Mother or of the Holy Family) covering the newlyweds.

How important was this custom of pinning the belo ?

Before the war, evidently very important. As this one story illustrates.

This wedding took place in the mid 1930s in Hagåtña. The groom was Chamorro. His bride was mestisan Amerikåna , mixed Chamorro and caucasian. Her father was a statesider and her mother was Chamorro.

Perhaps in order to accommodate wedding guests from the American colony on Guam at the time, the wedding took place late in the day, and not at the usual dawn hour. Americans on Guam were not accustomed to waking up at 4 or 5 in the morning. Chamorros at the time were. So weddings, in fact almost all Masses, were celebrated before dawn or at the crack of dawn.

For whatever reason, the story never explains why, the belo was not pinned to the bride and groom at their wedding Mass late that day. I have a suspicion why, but it's only speculation. Perhaps the Spanish priests or the Chamorro mañaina (elders) felt that a late-in-the-day wedding was an agreeable compromise to allow stateside guests to attend, but that some tradition be maintained and that the belo not be put on until the following morning at the "completion," as it were, of the nuptial rites at the traditional, early hour. Bride and groom were expected to return to the church the next morning and get pinned with the belo .

And that is when Mrs. Ana Underwood asked the father of the groom if the belo had been pinned at the wedding. The father replied that it had not, but would be the following morning at another Mass. Tan Ana'n Underwood then said, "Then make sure the bride and groom do not consummate the marriage until then." Any romance between the bride and groom would have to wait. The groom, in fact, did not sleep with his bride that night after the wedding.

The next morning, Mr. Chester Butler, the bride's godfather, picked up the groom to take him to the morning Mass. He asked the groom if he and his bride had had a good night. The groom responded, "How could we? The belo is this morning so my wife went home last night after the fandånggo ."

Such was the importance of the belo in pre-war Chamorro weddings. You were not completely married, nor able to enjoy the blessings of marriage, until the belo was pinned on you and your spouse.



BISITAN PUENGE

Friday, November 23, 2018


In traditional Chamorro belief, the dead are never really gone.

Their bodies may be gone, but their spirits are ever among us; unseen by us, they see us all the time. But, once in a while, they make their presence known and perhaps even seen, heard or smelled.

This story is from the 1930s on Guam.

The man had just married his bride. Because the bride was the only surviving daughter of her mother Rufina (a sister, Ana, had passed away in her young adulthood), bride and groom moved into Rufina's house. That way, the young bride could still look after her widowed mother, and also care for her dead sister's young child. The groom, too, had lost a parent. His mother had died when he was just a young child.

One night, when husband and wife were walking home in Hagåtña, the man sensed a presence behind him.




Tumalak tatte yo' sa' hu siente na guaha ga'lågo ni tumattitiye ham.
(I looked back because I was feeling that a dog was following behind us.)

Ha faisen yo' i asaguå-ho, "Håfa un a'atan?"
(My wife asked me, "What are you looking at?")

Manoppe yo', "Kao guaha ga'lågo." Lao gi magåhet, hu sospecha na i espiritun nanå-ho eståba.
(I answered, "If there is a dog." But truly I suspected that my mother's spirit was around.)

Annai humålom ham gi gima' i sogrå-ko, humånao ham hulo' gi segundo piso.
(When we entered the home of my mother-in-law, we went up to the second floor.)

In hingok na ma baba i grifo gi halom båño. Annai in baba i pettan i båño,
(We heard the bathroom faucet turn on. When we opened the bathroom door,)

tåya' taotao! Ya ma huchom esta i grifo!
(there was no one! And the faucet was turned off!)

Ilek-ña i asaguå-ho, "Adahe na si Ana," i matai na che'lu-ña.
(My wife said, "Watch out that it's Ana," her dead sister.)

Sigiente dia gi pupuenge, annai in bira ham gi gima' sogrå-ko,
(The next day at night, when we returned to my mother-in-law's house,)

in li'e' na mañiñila' i kandet sanhiyong, ni fihu in pino' an esta gespainge.
(we saw that the outside light was on, which we usually turn off when it is late at night.)

Hu tungo' na guaha håfa ha susede i sogrå-ko.
(I knew that my mother-in-law experienced something.)

Annai in baba i petta, in hingok na kumåkånta i sogrå-ko "Abe Maria."
(When we opened the door, we heard my mother-in-law singing "Ave Maria.")

In faisen gue' håfa ma susede. Ilek-ña, "Eståba na umå'åsson yo' annai hu hungok na guaha taotao.
(We asked her what happened. She said, "I was lying down when I heard there was someone.)

Hu siente na guaha taotao umåsson gi fi'on-ho gi kamå-ho.
(I felt that someone lied down next to me on my bed.)

Kahulo' yo' ya hu baba i petta lao tåya' taotao. Pine'lo-ko na era hågo ya hu essalao i na'ån-mo.
(I got up and opened the door but there was no one. I thought it was you and shouted your name.)

Annai tåya' manoppe, hu huchom i petta, hu na' fañila' i kandet sanhiyong
(When no one answered, I closed the door, turned on the outside light)

ya hu tutuhon manaitai yan kumånta."
(and I started to pray and sing.")

Annai humåme ha' yan i asaguå-ho, ilek-ña i asaguå-ho,
(When it was just me and my wife, my wife said,)

"Ilek-ho na era si Ana."
("I say that it was Ana.")

Since Ana was not physically present at such a special occasion as her sister's wedding, they believed Ana was trying to somehow be there in the way she could. The same could be said for the man, who thought that the sensation of a dog following them at night was his deceased mother, also physically absent on his wedding day.

CHANKOCHA PAT SOTNE?

Wednesday, November 21, 2018


I used to love to converse with Escolástica Cabrera (also known as Tan Esco or Tan Átika) about anything. It didn't matter what we were talking about. It was her superb and articulate Chamorro that I loved listening to and learning from.

Here we talk about two different kinds of cooking by boiling.

If the boiling is done quickly, it's chankocha .

If more time is needed to cook it, it's sotne .

Chankocha is borrowed from the Spanish sancocha (the verb being sanchocar ), which means to boil or parboil (not completely boiled).

So, for example, most vegetables can be cooked quickly. But some, like hard tubers (sweet potatoes, yam, tapioca/cassava), will only get soft and edible when boiled a long time. Some animals (like wild deer meat) are so tough that they need a long time to boil, whereas lobsters and shrimp can cook very quickly.




DIALOGUE


Chankocha, sotne...
(Chankocha, sotne...)

Ennague meggai na man lalache este påle' i man hoben...
(There we have many of these young people who are wrong, Father...)

I chankocha yanggen gollai.
(It's chankocha if it's vegetables.)

Chankocha sa' an un råtoto ha'...no? Kalan para un na' fañåggue ha'.
(Chankocha because when it's only a brief moment...no? As if you're just going to make it tremble.)

På'go i ma sotne...kamuti, dågo....ni anåkko' tiempon-ña. Ma sotne. Mendioka.
(Now sotne....sweet potatoes, yam....which take a long time. Sotne. Tapioca.)

Taiguennao siha. Ennague' tiningo'-ho.
(Those things. That's what I know.)

Yan i mahongang pat uhang yanggen ma "boil" nai håfa gi fino' Chamorro?
(And lobster or shrimp if it's boiled what is it in Chamorro?)

Eyague' chankocha lokkue' sa'....ti anåkko' tiempon-ña siha,
(That's chankocha also because....those things don't take a long time,)

un råtoto ha' man måsa chaddek.
(a short time and they're cooked quickly.)

FÅBULAN I DOS METGOT

Thursday, November 15, 2018

A common theme in many old Chamorro stories is extraordinary strength in exceptional people and even in children.






Sesso ha hungok i metgot kåttan na guaha metgot gi san lichan.
(A strong man from the north* often heard that there was a strong man in the southern* side.)

Humånao gi galaide-ña ya annai måtto Inalåhan ha sodda' gi halom liyang
(He went in his canoe and when he came to Inalåhan gi found inside a cave)

fotsudo na låhe.
(a muscular man.)

Mamaisen, "Kao gaige guine i ma sångan na guiya mås metgot gi san lichan?"
(He asked, "Is the one they say is strongest in the south here?"

Manoppe i taotao, "Hunggan lao mamaigo' esta."
(The man answered, "Yes, but he is already sleeping."

"Lao maila' ya bai na' lågo i na' amotsan talo'åne para hita na dos."
"But come and I'll make lunch for the two of us.")

Ya konfotme i metgot kåttan.
(The strong man from the north agreed.)

I taotao liyang ha goppe i mås lokka' na trongkon niyok ya måmfe' månha.
(The man in the cave jumped the tallest coconut tree and picked young coconuts.)

Gigon tumunok ha fugue gi kanai-ña ha' nu i chigo' månha ya ha na' gimen i metgot kåttan.
(As soon as he came down he squeezed in his own hands the juice of the young coconut and made the strong man from the north drink.)

Entre guiya ha' ilek-ña i metgot kåttan, "Seguro na guiya este i lahen i metgot luchan.
(The strong man from the north said to himself, "Surely this is the son of the strong man from the south.)

Yanggen taiguine minetgot-ña i lahe, kuånto mås i minetgot-ña i tata?
(If this is the son's strength, how much more the father's strength?)

Gigon makmåta si tatå-ña, siempre ha ñukot i agagå'-ho."
(As soon as his father wakes up, he will surely choke my neck.")

Pues chaddek ha dingo Inalåhan ya ha bira gue' tåtte para i tano'-ña.
(So he quickly left Inalåhan and returned to his own place.)

Ti ha tungo' na i taotao ni ha sodda' gi halom liyang era et mismo metgot luchan.
(He didn't know that the person he found in the cave was the very strong man of the south.)

Mandagi i metgot luchan ya ha fa' si lahi-ña gue'.
(The strong man of the south lied and made himself out to be his son.)


* Kåttan / Luchan . In Chamorro, there really is no north, south, east and west in the Western sense; what we call "cardinal points" or "cardinal directions." There is, in Chamorro, "towards the sea" (lågo), "away from the sea" (haya), to the left of the sea (luchan) and to the right of the sea (kåttan).

YOUR AMERICAN IS SHOWING : HU GUIYA HAO

Tuesday, November 13, 2018


Because of over a century of American influence, many Chamorros think of the English letter I when they hear the Chamorro sound AI. As in "island, ice, iron."

So they spell GUAIYA, the Chamorro word for "to love," as GUIYA.

This creates confusion because there already is a Chamorro word GUIYA, and it means "he, she or it."

Watch the video.





So, to spell "I love you" in Chamorro, it is : HU GUAIYA HAO.

Not GUIYA.

GUIYA means "he, she or it."

KÅNTA : MILALAK PÅPA'

Wednesday, November 7, 2018


A song recorded by Genaro Saralu many years ago.




Milalak påpa' i lago'-ho
(My tears flowed down)
esta* påpa' gi fasu-ho
(even down on my face)
lao hu kesungon pot mungnga yo' tumånges
(but I tried to endure it so I wouldn't cry)
lao duro milalak påpa' i lago'-ho.
(but my tears kept on flowing.)

Ilek-mo na pa'** un hånao hao agupa'
(You said you were going to leave tomorrow)
ya på'go uttimo umali'e'-ta.
(and today is our last time to see each other.)
Entre triste yan mahålang bai padese
(I will suffer between sadness and longing)
nene yanggen un dingo yo' esta.
(baby if you will leave me already.)

Humånao yo' tåtte para i gima'
(I went back to the house)
despues de esta hao humånao.
(after you had already gone.)
Humålom yo' gi halom guma'
(I went inside the house)
ai ya duro yo' kumasao.
(oh and I cried a lot.)

* Esta . The older word is asta and it is borrowed from the Spanish word hasta , meaning "until, till, up to, down to, as far up or as far down as" and other similar meanings. When modern speakers change asta to esta , we encounter the question whether asta is meant or the already-existing word esta , which means "already." Usually context will answer that question but many older people retain the original word asta and keep asta and esta separate words.

** Pa ' is a shortening of para , meaning "to, for."

FOR ALL SOULS : MA ASI'E'

Thursday, November 1, 2018


As All Souls Day approaches, this is a good traditional song to learn, to pray for the souls in Purgatory.

The only reason why we pray for the dead is because many of them are still going through a painful but wholesome purification in Purgatory. The souls in heaven do not need prayers (instead, they pray for us), and the souls in hell cannot benefit from prayers. They are eternally condemned there, without hope of release nor of relief.

This song traditionally was always sung or said towards the end of the rosary prayed for the dead. If only one deceased person was prayed for, it was sung using the singular.

But since All Souls Day remembers all the dead, this version is sung using the plural.

The substance of the prayer is that it is through the innocent and unjust suffering and death of Jesus that atones for our sins and wins mercy for the repentant sinner. And so the suffering of Jesus is spelled out in the prayer in a more specific way. Our Lord suffered all these things in order to save our souls. This salvation is extended to us time and time again in the Mass ("Do this in memory of Me......For the forgiveness of sins.") and so the prayer reminds us to remember the dead at Mass. Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a special intercessor for the dead and so she is also mentioned.




1. Ma asi'e', ma asi'e', ma asi'e' siha, Yu'os-ho.
(Forgive, forgive, forgive them, my God.)

Refrain : Kristo Jesus-ho, ma asi'e' i anten-ñiha.
(Christ my Jesus, forgive their souls.)

2. Manaitai hao yan tumånges gi fangualuan Olibas.
(You prayed and wept in the Garden of Olives.)

3. Ma godde hao kalan sakke Såntos na Yu'us Lahi-ña.
(They bound you like a thief, O Holy Son of God.)

4. Ma saolak hao yan man annok todo i te'lang siha.
(They scourged you and all the bones were visible.)

5. Ma korona yan ma anña' i todo ha' ha na' siña.
(They crowned and assaulted the Almighty.)

6. Maså'pet hao yan ma la'la' gi me'nan Santa Maria.
(You suffered and were flayed in front of the Virgin Mary.)

7. Rai i taotao ni i ma puno' pot i tinailayen-ñiha.
(King of the people who was killed on account of their evil.)

8. Tumunok hao Putgatorio homhom na fansinapitan.
(You descended into Purgatory, a dark place of suffering.)

9. Mañe'lu-ho tayuyute, tayuyute siha gi Misa.
(My brethren pray, pray for them at Mass.)

10. Bithen del Karmen ma åsi'e', gai mina'åse' nu siha.
(Virgin of Carmel forgive, have mercy on them.)

Very often the techa (prayer leader) or the singers will begin again at Verse 1 and end with the refrain.

SINGULAR VERSION

When sung or recited for one deceased person, siha (them) is changed to gue ' or guiya (him or her).

The possessive suffix - ñiha (their) is changed to - ña (his or her).

1. Ma asi'e', ma asi'e', ma asi'e' gue' Yu'os-ho.
(Forgive, forgive, forgive him/her, my God.)

Refrain : Kristo Jesus-ho, ma asi'e' i anti-ña.
(Christ my Jesus, forgive his/her soul.)

9. Mañe'lu-ho tayuyute, tayuyute gue' gi Misa.
(My brethren pray, pray for him/her at Mass.)

10. Bithen del Karmen ma åsi'e', gai mina'åse' nu guiya.
(Virgin of Carmel forgive, have mercy on him/her.)

The following video shows the change made in the first verse and refrain only. The change to the singular has to be made also in verses 9 and 10.



SPANISH ORIGINAL

The song is based on a Spanish original called the Mozarabic Miserere. "Mozarabic" refers to the Christian Spaniards living under the Muslim government of the Moors (the years 711 till 1492). The Christians in Spain used the Latin language in the liturgy, as all Christians did in the western side of Europe in those days.

"Miserere" is Latin for "have mercy." This song was also a prayer for the dead.

*** Thanks to Lawrence Borja for the accompaniment and for finding the Spanish original.



ANNAI MA PUNO' SI CORPUS

Wednesday, October 24, 2018


It was the first public execution on Guam under the Americans.

Pablo M. Corpus, just 20 years old, was a servant of an American Naval officer stationed on Guam. On December 13, 1915, Corpus fatally shot Dolores Cárdenas de la Cruz, the wife of a Japanese immigrant on Guam, Antonio Takichi Ooka. Corpus then turned the gun on himself, but he survived his self-inflicted wound. He was arrested, brought to court and sentenced to death. This death sentence was appealed, but the appeal was denied. Corpus was hanged on February 4, 1916 - the first execution of a criminal carried out on Guam by the American government.

THE CRIME

On December 13, 1915, Corpus entered the Ooka home in Sumay. It was night, so perhaps Corpus thought he could enter the home undetected, maybe when everyone was asleep. Ooka was a merchant, and Corpus was eventually charged with the crime of theft after this incident, so, conceivably, the impetus for all this tragedy was theft. Without the court records, I do not know if Corpus was after Ooka's merchandise, cash or both.

I can only surmise that Dolores, Ooka's wife, surprised Corpus in the act. Perhaps in a moment of desperation at being caught by surprise, Corpus fired a shot from his gun at Dolores. Realizing that he had shot, and possibly killed, a woman, and would more than likely suffer the worst punishment possible, Corpus turned the gun on himself and fired.

Someone found the two wounded people and called for help. Dolores lingered for a day but then died of her wounds on the 14th. Corpus survived and recuperated from his wounds.

He was arrested and charged with theft and murder.



Sumay

THE TRIAL

There was no trial, per se , since Corpus pleaded guilty. The court records covering the court proceedings would have been most helpful, but they are not included in the 1915 and 1916 court records available.

All we can say is that Corpus was arraigned on January 6, 1916 and plead guilty to both charges. The court sentenced him to death.

THE APPEAL

But an appeal was filed against this sentence on the following grounds :

1. It was claimed that Corpus did not have legal counsel when he entered his guilty plea on January 6. Lacking legal counsel, Corpus may not have known that a guilty plea could have cost him his life.

2. It was claimed that Corpus did not deserve the death penalty due to the circumstances surrounding the shooting of Dolores. No further details are given, but I assume that what is meant is that Corpus did not shoot Dolores with malice of intent. Corpus had entered Ooka's house to steal, not to murder, and that he shot Dolores in a moment of surprise.

3. It was claimed that the court erred in placing the site of execution at Sumay and not in Hagåtña. I am not sure why this was considered a judicial error. Perhaps there was some statute in place (or assumed to still be on the books at the time) mandating all executions be done in the capital city.

There seems to have also been some doubt as to Corpus' age. His defenders thought that he was only 17, and thus not subject to the death penalty.

The appeal was turned down by the court on January 31. I don't know how, but Corpus' age was determined to be 20. The day of execution was set for February 4 at Sumay.

A PETITION

Still, Corpus had his supporters. These were lead by Cándido Agbay Sánchez, a Filipino resident of Guam who occupied various government posts during his lifetime. On February 2, he wrote a petition to the Naval Governor, William Maxwell, asking for the cancellation of the death sentence and instead to sentence Corpus to life imprisonment. Around fifty island residents signed the petition.

The petition reminded Governor Maxwell that five persons, all Chamorro, had been sentenced to death by Guam's courts since the US Navy took control of the island. Not a single one of those five Chamorros was in fact executed. Almost all of the five were not even serving time in jail anymore! Was it fair, so the implied question seemed to ask, for the Filipino Corpus to die, when five Chamorros were similarly sentenced to die but were never in fact executed?

One has to wonder if the issue of race enters in, as the Filipino Sánchez fought to save the life of the Filipino Corpus, who, being young and apparently unmarried, had no familial connections to the local population that may have saved his life. Yet, among those fifty persons who signed the petition asking to save Corpus' life were undoubtedly a good number of Chamorros.

Maxwell turned down the petition. The execution of Pablo Corpus proceeded.



Guam's Governor William J. Maxwell, USN


THE EXECUTION

The night before the execution, on February 3, Corpus was taken to a tent set up for him at the execution site in Sumay. With him was his spiritual counselor, Påle' Román de Vera, a Spanish Capuchin missionary, who was fluent in Tagalog (among many other languages). Someone had cooked dinner for Corpus, and Påle' Román served it to Corpus. Then, Corpus slept soundly in his tent.

At six o'clock on the morning of February 4, almost the whole town of Sumay followed Påle' Román from the church to the execution site. Påle' Román was bringing with him the Blessed Sacrament to give Corpus his last holy communion. I am almost sure, then, that the people had gone to the church earlier that morning for Mass and then followed Påle' Román afterwards.

After receiving his last holy communion, Corpus and Påle' Román spent several hours in prayer. Corpus asked forgiveness of the Governor, from the family of Dolores, the woman he killed, and asked Påle' Román to write to his mother in the Philippines, assuring her that he died in the best spiritual state possible.

At nine o'clock, Corpus ascended the scaffold, accompanied by Påle' Román. He asked to be allowed to speak, and he began in attempted Chamorro but continued in Tagalog.

" Cha'-miyo pinite ako. Ito ang suwerte ng Diyos sa akin. Ipanalangin ninyo ako. Paalam na sa inyong lahat ."

" Don't be sorry for me. This is God's will for me. Pray for me. Farewell to all of you ."

Then his hands were bound and his head covered with a hood. The noose was fitted around his neck. All the while, he was praying along with Påle' Román. Moments before he died, Påle' Román told him, "Pablo, now you know that within a few moments you will be in heaven." Pablo replied, "Yes, Father." "Farewell," said Påle' Román. "Farewell," said Corpus, and the trap was opened and Corpus fell to his death.

His body hung for a little over ten minutes, but it was assumed he has dead, since there was no movement at all of his body, except for the natural swinging of the body as it hung suspended over the ground. At 9:22 AM, the medical officer pronounced him dead and at 9:27 AM the rope was cut and the lifeless body of Pablo Corpus was placed in the casket and turned over to his friends for burial.

AN ASIDE : PÅLE' ROMÁN'S REMARK


Påle' Román

Why did Påle' Román tell Corpus that he would be in heaven within a few moments?

Catholics believe that everyone who dies in the state of grace is assured of heaven. Purgatory is a state of final cleansing before one enters the perfect holiness of heaven. But by dying for his crime and sin, and doing so after having confessed his sin and accepting Christ's mercy, Corpus was making atonement for his crime and sin. The innocent life he unjustly took away was being paid for by his own death.

What Påle' Román said cannot be taken as a matter of fact. Only God knows what became of Corpus' soul once he died. But Corpus' repentance, his turning to Christ for mercy and his resignation towards his earthly punishment all point to a firm hope that he was on his way to heaven.


Source : Army and Navy Register , Washington, DC, May 6, 1916, 583-584

"MAN BARÅTO YAN MAN FRESKO"

Tuesday, October 23, 2018


Maria Manibusan Díaz-Igibara from Saipan was interviewed many years ago about life on the island before the war.




She says,

Guaha nu kompañían atkohot, kompañían ais.
(There was a liquor company, an ice company.)

Lao mangaige ha' nai guine Chalan Kanoa todo na mandadanña'.
(But they were just here in Chalan Kanoa where everything came together.)

I gellai i taotao tåno' ha' man manånånom.
(The natives of the land planted the vegetables.)

Man baråto yan man fresko kada dia man lililiko' gi chalan man manbebende.
(They were inexpensive and fresh, every day they would go around the streets selling.)

I Chamorro i man manånånom mai'es. Åntes man mamai'es, man kamumuti,
(The Chamorro were the ones planting corn. Before, people grew corn, sweet potatoes,)

man manånånom suni, todo klåsen tinanom man ma chocho'gue åntes.
(they planted taro, all kinds of plants they did before.)


Tan Maria starts by talking about there being a liquor company and ice company, then switches to  specifying the agricultural role of the Chamorros. She may be contrasting the activities of the Japanese, who focused on sugar plantations, and that of the Chamorros. The Japanese made use of all aspects of sugar and by-products of sugar are alcohol and molasses. Haruji Matsue, the "Sugar King" of Saipan, also built an ice plant.

The Chamorros, on the other hand, kept up their traditional dependence on corn, besides the variety of other crops that sustained them.


FOREIGN CONVICTS 1821

Thursday, October 18, 2018


Nations have often used far-off possessions as a place of exile for criminal and political prisoners. The Marianas were no exception under Spain.

Many times, the convicts sent here were given much freedom. They often lived among the people, finding girlfriends and sometimes wives. A few even ended up working for the very government tasked to detain them.

At other times, they lived under some restrictions and were made to work on public projects. Many times they found it easy to run away into the hills, but in time they'd be caught and they were often found hungry, thankful to be back under custody if at least for a steady meal, simple as they were.

In 1821 we find lists of these presidiarios or prisoners on Guam. The lists do not say they were Filipinos, but the lists do state the place of origin of these prisoners, and the vast majority are clearly from the Philippines. I put a question mark on the few whose home towns are unclear to me.

It is doubtful that the Filipino convicts sent here in 1821 were political prisoners. There were no revolts against the Spanish in the Philippines at that point in time. The last uprising was in 1807 and the next one would not be till 1823. Still, it's entirely possible some or many of these prisoners were indeed political exiles.

This list is interesting because we find some recognizable surnames among the prisoners : Sarmiento, Candaso, Matías. But we can be sure that the Matías on this list has nothing to do with the Leonardo Matías who came to Guam much later than 1821 and married a Tanaka. As for Candaso and Sarmiento, we cannot say one way or the other, for now, if they have any connection with today's families by those names.

The Santiagos of Malesso' and Humåtak do indeed come from a Filipino by the last name Santiago, but his first name was José, not the Mateo in this list.

There is clearly one Mexican prisoner by the name of Esparza. Chamorros would have pronounced that name ESPÅTSA and indeed there is a branch of the Camachos known as the familian Espåtsa . I wonder if there is any connection between them and this Mexican Esparza.

A Mexican prisoner sent to Guam isn't surprising since Mexico was indeed fighting for independence from Spain in 1821, but Guam seems an awfully far place to send a Mexican political exile, especially since the Acapulco galleon ships had stopped coming to Guam by 1815 due to the Mexican war of independence. Maybe Esparza was a Mexican who just happened to be living in the Philippines and was arrested there for something other than rebelling against Spain.


NAME

PLACE OF ORIGIN


LORCAS, José Antonio

Guadalajara (Cebu or Mexico?)


ESTEBAN, José

Guadalajara (Cebu or Mexico?)


URRUTIA, Vicente

Ermita (Manila)


BRIONES, Antonio


Tanlag

GUERRERO, Alejandro


Quiapo (Manila)

DURÁN, Francisco

Malabon (Manila)


DURÁN, Pedro

Calumpit (Bulacan)


VIDAL, Juan

Aklan (Panay)


EVANGELISTA, Tomás


Calarcar (Perhaps Carcar in Cebu?)

BELTRÁN, Luís

Aparri (Cagayan)


CANDASO, Teodoro


San Mateo (Rizal)


MALDONADO, Alejandro


Calumpit (Bulacan)

ESPARZA, Juan de Dios

San Luís Potosí (Mexico)


DÍAZ, Pedro


San Luís (Pampanga)

RAFAEL, Lorenzo

Morong (Bataan)


SANTIAGO, Mateo

Malolos (Bulacan)


SARMIENTO, Fulgencio

Tagui (Zambales?)
*or is this really Taguig (Manila)?

MATÍAS , Felipe

Malate (Manila)


NAGUIO, Francisco


Macabebe (Pampanga)

CRUZ, Salvador

Masicog (?)


EGUILUZ, Ángel Domingo

Sampaloc (Manila)




HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Monday, October 15, 2018


In old Chamorro tradition, the photo above would be unthinkable. The belief of the older people was that pregnant woman had to avoid the beach and the ocean.

An mapotge' i palao'an, debe de u suhåye i tasi yan i taotao ni mafåtto ginen i tasi.

If the woman is pregnant, she must avoid the sea and someone coming from the sea.

The issue was not so much the ocean or the sand or the salt water. The issue was the taotaomo'na , the spirits of our ancestors, who were believed by many to venture out to the sea or spend time at beaches, besides dwell in the jungle.

Older people believed, in fact, that these spirits had their own trails from the upper or inland places down to the sea. Since one could never be totally sure all the time when or if a taotaomo'na was in the area, it was best for a pregnant woman to avoid the beach altogether. If she went to the beach, a taotaomo'na might see that she is carrying a child and some harm might come to the baby.

It was also believed that some fishermen were assisted by a taotaomo'na when they fished. Whether the fisherman knew it or not, a taotaomo'na might actually be the reason why he had a good catch. When the fisherman called it a day and headed back inland from the beach, the taotaomo'na could follow him. If the fisherman met a pregnant woman as he returned inland, the pregnant woman and the invisible taotaomo'na might meet up, and harm come to the baby. So, the teaching of the elders was for the pregnant woman to run inside her house and stay there if she saw someone coming inland from the beach or sea.

One of the most tempting times for a pregnant woman to go to the beach was when the whole village or neighborhood would stand on shore as the communal fishing party came back from the day's fishing. Everyone joined in bringing in the catch and the nets, as the fish was also distributed among fishermen, boat owners, the sick and elderly and then the community at large. It was a fun and exciting event, so the pregnant woman was tempted to join the fun, but was warned not to.

This old belief didn't last long among most people. By the 1970s, I was seeing pregnant woman at the beach all the time. Labor Day Picnics at Ipao; birthday and christening barbeques at the beach; oceanside political events; I have seen pregnant Chamorro women at many such occasions for a long time now.

A TAOTAOMO'NA STORY FROM 1919

Thursday, October 11, 2018

ASAN POINT


In 1922,  Asan Point became the location of a Marine Corps camp. Included was a small arms range, which probably was a continuation of a rifle range that apparently was already there in the 1910s.

According to a 1919 news article, an American man was working by himself one day at this rifle range in Asan. No one else was around.

As he worked away, he looked up and saw some 600 yards away a man wearing a cape. The American looked down to resume his work but when he looked up just a few seconds later, the man with a cape had come closer 300 yards in record time!

Looking back down again, he was startled to find, when he looked up again, that the caped man had come right up to him in a matter of seconds. Then, the caped man extended his cape in the form of wings and turned into a bat, flying over the promontory at the end of Asan Point and ventured out of sight.


"HIHOT YAN TOLOS SÅNTOS...."

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

"AROUND THE FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI"
In Spanish


Most people in the old days weren't aware of the date that day. If asked, many people wouldn't be able to answer what day of what month it was. Sometimes not even the year.

They'd have to ask those who had more reason to know the exact time of the year it was.

As farmers and fishermen, there was no practical reason for them to know the day of the month. They did know the day of the week, as Sundays were church days and days of no manual labor. Sundays were also days for the gayera , or cock fight. So, there were reasons to know the day of the week.

But, for most people, May 10 meant as much or as little as June 5. Many people didn't even know their birthday, and didn't celebrate it either. When asked their age, people were notoriously inexact, since many did not know their actual date of birth. They'd have to run and ask the priest to look it up in the baptismal register. Otherwise, most people guessed it. Year to year, they would give census takers or court officials a different age, because they'd even forget what they said the last time they were asked. It makes sense. Why would a farmer or fishermen care how old he was? It made little to no difference in his practical life. There were no forms to fill out; no elections to register for; no retirement plans to qualify for.

A woman testifying in court in 1924 said, when asked the current month, day and year, said, " Today is Wednesday, September 3. I do not remember the present year, as I am busy with my children and never paid attention to the months and year. "

People who were more engaged in government, teaching and business, and those with advanced education, were aware of the day, month and year.

For the rest, if they had to recall an event, they had one means to help them remember the time frame. The church calendar .

Everyone being Catholic, most people were aware of the church calendar and its major feasts. These major feasts were events with a palpable celebration. Christmas meant kissing the niño (infant Jesus). Corpus Christi meant processing from låncho to låncho (outdoor altar).  Palm Sunday meant we got our palm branches blessed and we brought them back home after Mass. The feast of Santa Rosa meant going down to Hågat, a journey of a day and usually an overnight stay at some friend or relative's house in Hågat. Those things we remember.

So, now and then, in Guam's old court records, when Chamorro witnesses were asked when something occurred, sometimes they would answer something like this :

Hihot yan Tolos Såntos. Close to All Saints Day. Or, close to November 1st.

Dos dias despues de Patrosinio. Two days after March 19 (feast of Saint Joseph ).

Diddide' åntes de Damenggon Ramos. A little before Palm Sunday .

Gi gipot Tres Reyes. On the feast of Three Kings. Or, January 6th .

What helped in this was that most church feasts never moved on the calendar. Christmas was always December 25 and Asunción (the Assumption of Mary, Piti's patroness) was always August 15, for example. A few feasts (like Corpus Christi or Ash Wednesday) fell at different times on the calendar., but generally in the same month or neighboring months each year.


In 1909, a witness testified in court that the event happened "one day before the Feast of Santa Rosa in the present year."


In 1910, a witness testified that the event took place after the feast of San José and before the feast of San Dimas

KÅNTA : MUNGNGA YO' MA GUAIYA

Monday, October 8, 2018

Not an old, traditional song but something more recent, written and sung by Candy Taman in the 1980s.




Mungnga yo' ma guaiya pot i guaha iyo-ko Chevy
(Don't love me because I have a Chevy)
sa' un dia u mayulang ya un fañoñotsot siempre nai nene.
(because one day it will break down and you'll surely regret it baby.)
Ti bai ofrese hao oro, diamånte nene
(I won't offer you gold or diamonds baby)
ya ti bai ofrese hao kosas ni ti man kombiene.
(and I won't offer you improper things.)

Annai hu tutuge' i katta hu hahasso hao.
(When I was writing my letter I was thinking of you.)
Dalai yan ti un tungo' na hågo ha' guinaiya-ko.
(My goodness if you don't know that you alone are my love.)
Ti bai ofrese hao oro, diamånte nene
(I won't offer you gold or diamonds baby)
ya ti bai ofrese hao kosas ni ti man kombiene.
(and I won't offer you improper things.)

Nåna atiende, nåna i taotao.
(Mother attend to, mother, the person.)
Nåna, nåna konsidera
(Mother, mother consider)
sa' sumen chago' tano'-ña.
(because his home* is very far away.)

Whatsamata you last night?
You no come see papa.
I think so you no like'a me no more.
You too much like another guy.
Another gal like me too.
She's number one, a good lookin'.
Too much ado ai, ah...away.

Ti bai ofrese hao oro, diamånte nene
(I won't offer you gold or diamonds baby)
ya ti bai ofrese hao kosas ni ti man kombiene.
(and I won't offer you improper things.)

* Literally tåno ' means land but here it means his home, the place where he comes from

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Tuesday, October 2, 2018



Ha tungo' mamide si Yu'us.

God knows how to measure.


In English we say, "God never gives you more than you can handle."

Our Chamorro grandmothers phrased it, "God knows how to measure."

If everyone has a cross to carry and, if no cross is ever too heavy for the person to carry, those crosses have to be measured to fit the shoulder of the person carrying it.

The elders believed that if we carried our crosses with God at our side, those crosses somehow managed to turn out for the best. What seemed to be too heavy for us turned out to be just right. God knows how to measure.

One elderly lady shared her story.

Annai på'go umassagua ham yan i asaguå-ho, sumåga ham gi gima' tatå-ho
(When my husband and I first got married, we lived in my dad's house)

sa' ha erensia yo' ni gimå'-ña ya esta måtai.
(because I inherited it from him and he was already dead.)

Biho na guma'; guma' håyo yan sin.
(It was an old house; a wood and tin house.)

Gi primet åño na sumåga ham guihe, in sedda' na bula chå'ka gi papa' såtge.
(In the first year we lived there, we found a lot of rats under the house.)

Problema sa' ma ngångas i kosas-måme ni in pe'lo guihe,
(It was a problem because they chewed on our things which we put there,)

ma ngångas i alåmlen elektrisidåt....bula peligro yan dåño!
(they gnawed on the electrical wiring....lots of dangers and damage!)

Pues humånao påpa' i asaguå-ho para u dulalak siha
(So my husband went down to chase them away)

yan para u na' gåsgas i papa' såtge ni håfa muna' fanmåfåtto siha guihe.
(and to clean out the under house from what was bringing them there.)

Ya un tungo' håfa? Ha sodda' i asaguå-ho un kaohao lulok
(And you know what? My husband found a metal crate)

ya annai in baba in sedda' na guaha kantidan "silver dollars"
(and when we opened it we found a bunch of silver dollars)

ni man ginen åntes gera. Fana'an iyon bihu-ho siha.
(from before the war. Probably they were my grandfather's.)

Humuyong na bålen tres sientos pesos annai in deposita gi bangko.
(It turned out to be worth $300 when we deposited in the bank.)

Ha tungo' mamide si Yu'us. Pine'lon-måme na problema i cha'ka
(God knows how to measure. We thought the rats were a problem)

lao i cha'ka muna' in sedda' i salåppe'.
(but the rats made us find the money.)

A CHAMORRO NUN IN THE PHILIPPINES

Monday, October 1, 2018

SISTER MARÍA (MARGARITA) FRÁNQUEZ AND BISHOP BAUMGARTNER
1967


The first Catholic sisters on Guam arrived in 1905 from Baltimore, Maryland. But they left Guam in 1908.

It wasn't until 38 years later that another community of Catholic sisters, the Sisters of Mercy, came to Guam, in 1946. Finally, young Chamorro women aspiring to become Catholic sisters could join a community right here on Guam. But before that, they would have to join a convent somewhere else, hundreds and even thousands of miles away, and some did just that.

One of these young Chamorro women, feeling a call to the Catholic sisterhood, was María Pérez Fránquez from Hagåtña. She was born in 1910, the daughter of Vicente Iglesias Fránquez and Rosa Martínez Pérez.



SISTER WITH HER FRÁNQUEZ RELATIVES


Several women her age expressed a desire to the Capuchin priests and bishop on Guam to enter the convent. At the time, in the 1920s and early 1930s, the Spanish Capuchins on Guam were trying hard to get the Navy's permission for the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, a community of sisters, to come to Guam. Time and again, the US Navy denied permission.

But the Capuchins did send these young women from Guam to the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary convent in the Philippines to join there. Maybe, just maybe, the US Navy would allow these sisters to come to Guam one day and there would be Chamorro sisters ready to come back home and help build the Church.

So, María Fránquez went off to the Philippines in 1933 and became Sister Margarita, FMM. Unfortunately, the US Navy never allowed the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary to come to Guam, and Sister Margarita remained in the Philippines till death.

In 1967, the strict rules of the community were relaxed a little and Sister was able to fly back to Guam for the first time since 1933 and visit her family. What a different Guam it must have been to her in 1967. She made several more visits to Guam after that.




Later, when the rules of the Sisters allowed them to return to their baptismal names, Sister became Sister María.

She lived to the ripe old age of 91, spending 67 years in the convent. She passed away in 2001, just six days after her birthday, and is buried in the convent cemetery in Tagaytay in the Philippines. Rest in peace, Sister!



FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' : GAI PILAN

Thursday, September 27, 2018


GAI PILAN


When the moon underwent an eclipse and turned blood red last January 31, a man from Luta told me that the old people have a saying : gai pilan .

The prefix gai means "to have" and when joined to another word it modifies the first vowel in that word if the first vowel is an A, O or U. So when gai is joined to pulan , pulan becomes pilan . Gai pilan .

There are at least three meanings of the word pulan .

The first is the moon. That leads to the next meaning. A month is basically from new moon to new moon, so "month" is pulan . Even in English, the word "month" is connected to the word "moon."

Finally, pulan can also mean "to watch over," as when someone watches over a baby, or guarding a house, or to watch over a sick person. We can only speculate why our ancestors used the word for "moon" for "watch over." Maybe it's because, in the darkness of night, the moon guides our path in the darkness when the moon's light is full.

So, gai pilan can mean....

A woman's menstrual period . Even the English word menstrual is connected to the Latin word for "month" which is mensis .  So when a woman is going through that time of the month ( pulan ), people can say of her gai pilan .

When someone is mentally " off ." All over the world, all across different time periods, people have associated mental illness with the moon. Many people believed in the moon's effect on people's moods, mental states, fertility and so on. The English words lunacy and lunatic come from the Latin word for "moon" or luna . Many mentally ill people were pictured staring or even howling at the moon.

So, when someone is mentally "off," as perceived by others, people can say that the "off" person is gai pilan . Somehow the moon has affected that person's mental state.


PULAN

Pulan is found, in many variations, in dozens of other Austonesian languages, meaning "moon."




ENGLISH

MOON


CHAMORRO

PULAN


INDONESIAN (BAHASA)

BULAN


CEBUANO


BULAN

ILOKANO


BULAN


SUMAY SELLS LAND TO NAVY

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

MAP OF OROTE PENINSULA IN 1914


In 1903, a good number of Sumay landowners sold land to the US Navy.

Sumay had been revived as a village sometime in the 1840s, perhaps even earlier, when whalers decided to anchor in Apra Harbor rather than at the old galleon trade port of Humåtak, which had ceased to be active when the galleons stopped coming to Guam because of Mexican independence from Spain in the 1810s. Even before the end of the galleon trade, Apra Harbor, more than Humåtak, was becoming the favored anchorage.

The Spaniards were well-aware of Apra Harbor's military significance. Forts were built on Orote Peninsula in the 1700s and the most prominent one, Fort Santa Cruz, was built around 1801 right in the harbor itself, on an islet in the shallow part of the harbor.

But the US Navy had bigger and more ambitious plans for Apra Harbor and the land surrounding it. Since Spanish times, the harbor was known as "San Luís de Apra" and even that was often misspelled by the Americans.



NAVY PLANS FOR SUMAY IN 1903

These plans for military expansion in and around Apra Harbor meant the acquisition of land on the Orote Peninsula outside the village of Sumay. Federal money was allocated for the project, as seen in the 1903 newspaper clipping above.

In 1903, the US Navy began buying land just south of Sumay village. The landowners were residents of Sumay and typically sold one to three hectares of land to the Navy. That's a good amount of land, considering that a typical modern house in the urbanized villages of Guam sit on less than an acre of land. One hectare is roughly equal to two and a half acres.

On Orote Peninsula, there were many specific areas with their own names, now long forgotten except for the older, former residents of Sumay who used to own land there and farm there.


MARIANO DUEÑAS ULLOA
One of the Sumay land sellers to the Navy in 1903
Photo courtesy of Sidro Torres

The sellers, arranged by place names, were the following :

IN HALOMÑA (also spelled Jalomña)

Nicolás Cruz Díaz
Gregorio Blas Mendiola
Mariano Dueñas Ulloa

IN BOTADERO

Sebastián Baleto
Guillermo Fejaran Lizama
Martín Taitano Dueñas
Ignacio Mendiola Cruz
José Cruz Quintanilla
Tomás Sablan Camacho

IN LAGOS

Ramón Tello Dueñas
Francisco Guzmán Sablan
Vicente Ulloa Sablan

IN LADERA

José Camacho
Heirs of Félix Díaz Sablan

IN ATOTDAN (also spelled Atordan)

José Camacho
José Lizama Santos
Antonio Santos Dueñas
Carmelo Guzmán Guerrero
Martín Taitano Dueñas
Ignacio Mendiola Cruz
Heirs of José Quintanilla Dueñas
Heirs of Félix Díaz Sablan

FAMAGU'ON CARNATION

Monday, September 24, 2018



A story told to me by a 90-year-old man.


Dies ham na mañe’lo. Guåho mås påtgon na mafañågo yo’ gi 1928 na såkkan.
(We were ten siblings. I am the youngest, born in 1928.)

Lao entre hame i dies, singko man måtai nene yan singko ta’lo
(But among the ten of us, five died as infants and five again)

man maolek mo’na i dumångkulon-måme.

(were fine growing up.)

Ma sangåne si nanan-måme na man måtai i fine’nana singko na famagu’on
(They told our mother than the first five children died)

sa’ pot gai defekto i lechen nanan-måme.
(because our mother's milk was defective.)

Ti nahong sustånsia para u nina’ fan lå’la’ i famagu’on annai mañususu.
(There wasn't enough nutrition to give life to the infants when they were being breastfed.)

Pues hame i uttimo singko na famagu’on ma na’ fan gimen ham Carnation Milk
(So we last five children were given Carnation Milk to drink)

ya ennao muna’ fan lå’la’ ham.
(and that's what made us live.)

BABUI PAT BENÅDO?

Thursday, September 20, 2018


Isabelo Francisco Guevara had a farm up in Ukkudu. In one field he grew suni (taro) and in another he grew kamute (sweet potato).

December, January and February were not good months for his kamute . He noticed how damaged they were, so that he could expect no harvest of sweet potato that year.

Not far from his farm was that of another man, José Iriarte, better known as "Boyok." Boyok raised pigs and Guevara went to court, claiming that Boyok's pigs ran loose and damaged the kamute . Pigs are known for sticking their snouts into field plants and digging up what they think they can eat.

Here's an imaginary court session, based on the court records :

Guevara : Your honor, Boyok's pigs are responsible for these damages to my crops.

Boyok : Your honor, that is impossible because my pigs are always either tied or kept in a pen.

Guevara : Your honor, I ask that you suspend this hearing until we can gather witnesses. Some are sick and the others live far away from the city in their ranches, so we need some time to call them.

Judge : This hearing is in recess until witnesses can be gathered.

Some days later, the court was reconvened and Guevara presented three witnesses, who all testified that they saw Boyok's pigs digging in Guevara's kamute field.

Boyok presented one witness, named Joaquín Cruz.

Cruz : Your honor, one night I was passing through Guevara's fields and saw benådo (deer) digging up the ground in Guevara's kamute field. There are many benådo in the wild and they come out at night.

Guevara : Your honor, I question the impartiality of this witness, as he is related to the accused.

Judge : This hearing is suspended until Joaquín Cruz Pérez and Ramón Borja de León Guerrero, Jueces de Sementeras (Agricultural Field Inspectors) can inspect Guevara's field and give us a report.

Some days later, the two inspectors make their report.

Judge : Let the record show that the field inspectors state that they inspected Guevara's field and have determined that there are signs of both deer and pig disturbance there. They also inspected Boyok's farm and found nine swine. Two were tied and the other seven were inside a pen. The inspectors also state that it is impossible to determine the value of loss in Guevara's field.

The judge made a decision.

Boyok's pigs were responsible for the damage and determined a fine that Boyok had to pay Guevara, to be substituted with other forms of payment in case Boyok did not have the cash.

I suppose the testimony of three witnesses who claimed to see Boyok's pigs in the kamute field swayed the judge.

BILL OF SALE IN 1902

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

A Bill of Sale at a Guam store in 1902


What did mama buy over a hundred years ago?

"Stores" as we know them today did not exist in the Marianas for most of the Spanish period which lasted around 230 years. The missionary priests handed out many things in the beginning, and then the Spanish Governor controlled the sale of imported goods for many years after that.

By the 1800s, though, more foreign ships were making trips to the Marianas for various reasons. Some of them brought things to sell. Towards the end of the 1800s, some individuals sold imported merchandise from their homes. Right as Spanish rule was ending, the Japanese expanded their commercial activity in the Marianas, opening small stores in Guam and Saipan. Under the US Navy, foreign and then Chamorro entrepreneurs established modern stores on Guam. The Northern Marianas became very active in commerce, almost all controlled by the Japanese.

Fabric was one item always in demand in the Marianas. Our islands weren't able to supply the need for fabric. Spanish Governors, at times, even paid the soldiers and government clerks in fabric rather than in money.

In this Bill of Sale at a Japanese-owned store on Guam in 1902, we see the following fabrics being sold to a Chamorro customer :

Caranclan . This fabric was known as gingham in English-speaking places.



Caranclan

Gingham, or caranclan, was popular among the women who made their skirts with caranclan. Look at this photo of a Chamorro woman wearing the mestiza dress using caranclan.




Cambray . Among those who speak English, this fabric is called chambray. This was a thicker fabric, and would be used for trousers, for example.



Cambray

CHAMORRO COVER-UP

Monday, September 17, 2018

I HALOM TÅNO'
The Jungle where the spirits dwell


Manhålom gi halom tåno' si Chåro', Ling yan unos kuåntos na famagu'on
(Charo, Ling and some children went into the jungle)

para u fanmanespia tinanom para åmot.
(looking for some plants for medicine.)

Gotpe ha' do'do' si Chåro' ya magåhet na fotte i pao-ña.
(Suddenly Charo passed gas and the smell was truly strong.)


Ilek-ña si Chåro', "Ling. Seguro na guaha taotaomo'na guine gi uriya."

(Charo said, "Ling. For sure there is a spirit around here.")

Mamaisen si Ling, "Haftaimano tungo'-mo?"

(Ling asked, "How do you know?")

Manoppe si Chåro', "Adda' ti un nginginge' i pao-ña?"
(Charo answered, "Can't you smell its odor?")




Taotao (person/people)

Mo'na (ahead, front)

Taotaomo'na - the people who were here before us, from the past, whose spirits still inhabit the land

JOHN CRISOSTOMO

Thursday, September 13, 2018


Juan Crisostomo left Guam with 13 other young men in 1902 for San Francisco, California.

He was only 17 years old; born around 1884.

According to records upon his arrival, he had no job waiting for him in San Francisco, nor relatives to pick him up. More than likely, the 14 Chamorro men on the journey stuck together, or at least in smaller groups, for a while until they went their separate ways finding work and lodging.

Juan had $10 in his pocket when he landed in San Francisco. In the US, he also went by the name of John.

Unfortunately, Juan was arrested in San Mateo, California (not far from San Francisco) in 1918 and charged with manslaughter. This usually means that someone killed another with either no intention of killing, or in the heat of the moment. It is a less serious offense than murder.

He was found guilty and sentenced to no more than 10 years at San Quentin prison.

He must have gotten sick, as he died in prison in 1921 while still serving his sentence. RIP

CHAMORROS IN THE CIVIL WAR

Wednesday, September 12, 2018


You would never think!

But yes; Chamorros served in the military during the American Civil War (1861 to 1865).

But if you remember that young Chamorro men were leaving Guam as early as the 1820s to sail as crew members on the whaling ships, many (if not most) of them never returning home, it begins to make sense.

The whaling capital of the United States in the early 1800s was New England, the northeastern corner of the country including Massachusetts and the neighboring states. Some Chamorro whaling men took up residence in New England and other Chamorro whaling men would happen to be there for a time, waiting for the next whaling expedition. So, when the Civil War broke out in 1861 and soldiers were needed, there were Chamorro whaling men living on the East Coast who joined the Union forces. Many times these Chamorro recruits were substituting for Americans who wanted to avoid going to war. These Americans would pay their substitutes a handsome fee.

Now, before we get to the names, some things to keep in mind :

1. THE LIST IS NOT COMPLETE

Researchers have come across some records, but not necessarily all records. When new records are found and looked through, we might find new names of recruits from the Marianas.

One thing that makes it a challenge to identify Chamorros in these records is that they sometimes did not say they were from the Marianas (or Ladrones). They sometimes said they were from Spain, since the Marianas were under Spain. A smaller number of people would say they were from the Philippines, since the Marianas were a part of the Philippines while both were under Spain in the 1800s. Thus, a record could show that a person was from "Spain," when, in fact, it is a Chamorro from the Marianas.

Since many Chamorros have Spanish surnames, it's hard to tell if a man listed as being from Spain is actually a Spaniard or a Chamorro with a Spanish name. Since many Filipinos also have Spanish surnames, that makes it all the harder to tell. If a man named Taitano (or another indigenous Chamorro name) is listed as being from Spain or the Philippines, we can be almost certain he is actually a Chamorro who comes from the Marianas which were under Spain (and a province of the Philippines when it was under Spain).

2. THEY ALL JOINED THE UNION NAVY

The names included here all joined the US Navy. This should not be a surprise since almost every Chamorro recruit got to the US in the first place as crew members on the whaling ships. Life on the sea is what they knew. All of these Chamorro recruits enlisted in the Navy at American seaport towns or cities. Again, that's where we could expect lifelong seamen to take up residence. The greatest number signed up in New Bedford, Massachusetts (the whaling capital of the US) with a few joining in Boston. One enlisted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and another in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Since these Chamorro recruits were signing up in the American northeast, they all served in the naval forces of the Union. There may have been a small number of Chamorros who ended up in the South and could have joined the Confederate forces, but until we find documents and records we can't say for now.

3. THEY DON'T ALL SOUND LIKE CHAMORRO NAMES

Except for a few, most of these recruits identified as natives of Guam or the Ladrones (Marianas) have names that don't resemble any Chamorro family names we know of. Some have English names like Brown, Ogden and Rogers. This was because some Chamorro men wanted to avoid the problems that came with having a strange name in their new home. By adopting an English name, rather than keeping Pangelinan or Chargualaf, for example, they could avoid the strange reaction of Americans when they asked their names, and the interminable question how to spell it, when many a Chamorro seaman didn't know the answer himself.

This is also why most of them switched to the English form of their given names. Juan became John; José became Joseph.

Sometimes they kept their Chamorro surnames, but changed them a little to sound more English. A man whose last name was Nicholas could easily have been a San Nicolás, and someone named de la Cruz could simplify it and fit right in by calling himself Cross.

Spelling, also, was not consistent. In the list there is both a Peres and a Pérez. Both names would have been pronounced the same way by a Chamorro in those days.

Now, here are the names :

Jose Aglur , 19 (Aguon? Agulto? Aguilar?)

Thomas Andrews , 22

Francis Antonio , 26

José August - 23, a Navy patient in a Massachusetts Naval Hospital, affected with rubeola

John Brown , 25 - He had the tattoo of a naked female on his right arm.

Joseph Brown , 25

Benjamin Button , 24

Joseph Carter , 23

Leon Cepeda , 21

Joseph Corsman , 22

Joseph Cross , 25 - more than likely de la Cruz

Joseph Cruise , 33 - more than likely de la Cruz

Joseph Cruze , 20 - more than likely de la Cruz

Mariano de la Cruz , 20 - enlisted in New Bedford along with Joseph Garrido from Guam

Mario de la Cruz , 20

Philip de la Cruse , 18 - more than likely de la Cruz

Manuel Dernavie , 24 - a patient in a Navy hospital afflicted with rubeola

John Douty , 22

Alonzo Ernandes , 21 - in some records it is spelled Hernandez. He substituted for Mr Joel Lane from Frankfort, Maine. His face was marked with the effects of small pox. Records said he could read in Spanish. Perhaps he was afflicted in the smallpox epidemic on Guam in 1856. He would have been 13 years old or so.

Joseph Estredo , 20 - enlisted in New Bedford at the same time as John Flores and Benjamin Rosario, also from Guam

John Flores , 16 - the youngest so far!

Joseph Garido , 19 - more than likely Garrido. He was described as being a sail maker.

William Gruse , 24 - possibly Cruz

Antone Henry , 22 - the only one identified as being from Rota. The various tattoos on his body (whales, stars and anchors) are described. Definitely a seaman!

Vincente Leon , 18 - probably de León

John Lucas , 28

Peter Mindola , 23 - probably Mendiola. There is also a Peter Mendola, age 24, listed as a rubeola patient in a Navy hospital in 1863. They are probably the same person.

John C. Nicholas , 21 - could have been San Nicolás

Joseph Nichols , 38 - the oldest so far; also possibly San Nicolás

Henry Ogden , 21. He substituted for a sea captain, William B. Swan of Belfast, Maine

Antonio Peres , 22

Joseph Perez , 28

Marion Perris , 20 - a patient at a Naval Hospital in Virginia; probably Pérez

Andrew Rodgers , 20

Benjamin Rosario , 24




Peter Mindola (Mendiola?) from Guam
Recruitment Record



THE CASE OF PETER SANTOS

Bernard Punzalan at chamorroroots.com came across a Peter Santos from Guam who, unlike everyone else who joined the Navy, enlisted in the US Army. He, too, was a substitute for another man.


AND SO.....

Did any other Chamorros join the US Army besides Peter Santos?

Did any Chamorro soldier or seaman die in battle in the Civil War?

Did any Chamorro serve in the Confederate forces?


MERE OCCUPATION

Thursday, September 6, 2018


In Spanish times, after the end of the wars between the Chamorros and Spaniards, the population of Guam never exceeded 10,000 people. For many years, the population stood at 2000, 4000 or 6000.

You can imagine how much idle land there was, besides silence, with such a small population. Just think of it this way; imagine if Talofofo, which numbers today around 3000 people, was the only village on Guam, and that those 3000 people in Talofofo had the entire island, from Merizo to Yigo, to work and play in!

So one of the common features of island life in those days was the great availability of land for just about anyone. For sure, much land was claimed and legally owned. But much land was also unclaimed and lacked legal owners.

Many land documents indicate land "with no known owner(s)."

But it was also possible to acquire land simply by taking possession of it, without paying a dime. Just by occupying the land somehow, usually by doing some farming on it, you could become the legal owner, as long as no one else contested it.

In the land document above, someone named José finally files a legal claim in court. He describes that he came into ownership of the land " por mera ocupación ," in Spanish, meaning, "by mere occupation." This type of land acquisition is seen over and over again in the land documents of Guam. In time, many of these land owners formalized their ownership of the land.

Here's an example how a document from 1917 shows how land acquired during Spanish times was gotten by the owner simply using it, and no one contesting it. If and availability were really tight, there'd be much more ownership litigation than there was. People did fight over land in those days, and yet we see how easy it was for some people to own land by simply moving in and using it.




"BY MERE OCCUPATION"
this man acquired good farm land in Yigo during Spanish times



Old Guam had much unclaimed, undocumented land

SI PÅLE' HA BENDISE I KABÅYO

Tuesday, September 4, 2018



Gi kareran kabåyo, ha li'e' si José na si Påle' ha bendise si kabåyo numero dos,
(At the horse race, José saw that Father blessed horse number two,)

pues ha aposta si José salape'-ña gi ayo na kabåyo ya magåhet na mangånna!

(so José bet his money on that horse and truly he won!)

Pues ha li'e' si Påle' na ha bendise kabåyo numero sais.
(Then he saw that Father blessed horse number six.)

Ha aposta salape'-ña gi kabåyo numero sais ya mangånna ta'lo!

(He bet his money on horse number six and won again!)

Ha li'e' si Påle' na ha bendise kabåyo numero tres.
(He saw that Father blessed horse number three.)

Ha aposta todo i ginanå-ña na salåppe' gi kabåyo numero tres
(He best all his winnings on horse number three)

lao ai sa' guiya na kabåyo i uttimo gi karera!

(but oh that horse came in last in the race!)

Lalålo' si José pues ha faisen si Påle', "Håfa na un bendise i kabåyo numero tres
(José was angry so he asked Father, "Why did you bless horse number three)

lao guiya uttimo gi karera!"

(but he was last in the race!")

"Lahi-ho," ilek-ña si Påle'. "Ti hu bendise ayo na kabåyo na hu Såntos Oleos!"
("My son," Father said. "I didn't bless that horse; I gave it the Last Rites!")





* Såntos Oleos literally means the "Holy Oils" and it is used in the Last Rites to spiritually prepare a person for death. Of course, it's just a joke. Priests do not give animals the Last Rites.

KÅNTA : NENE ESTA PÅ'GO

Monday, September 3, 2018


Na' masi' na taotao sa' alunån-ña ha' siña ha toktok sa' pot taigue si kerida.

Poor guy; he can only hug his pillow because sweetheart is not there.

This is the Chamorro part of a song that also has a Carolinian part, sung by Dan Laniyo, a Carolinian from Saipan.



LYRICS


Nene esta* på'go i prendå-mo nu guåho
(Baby, up to now your gift to me)

gagaige ha' gi fondon kaohao-ho.
(is at the bottom of my chest.)

Yan i litratu-ta na dos ni hu pega gi liga
(And the  photograph of the two of us which I hung* on the wall)

kada hu atan nai nene ha na' suspiros yo'.
(every time I look at it baby it makes me sigh.)

Kulan mohon magåhet nene na gaige hao gi fi'on-ho
(It's as if you are truly by my side, baby)

sa' esta hu totoktok maolek alunån-ho.
(because I am giving my pillow a good hug.)


NOTES

Esta . The original word is asta , from the Spanish hasta , meaning "until." The older people keep the original word more, while younger people tend to change asta to esta , which creates a bit of a problem because there is already a word esta , meaning "already." Esta guaha finiho "esta!"

Prenda . A gift a lover gives to his or her sweetheart. A word borrowed from Spanish.

Kaohao . This is a chest to place special things. In the old days, almost every home had a kaohao where the woman of the house stored special fabrics, jewelry, important documents, photos and so on.


KAOHAO

Pega . This means "to place something," but I am rendering it "to hang something," as it makes better sense that way in English, although "to hang something" in Chamorro is kana '.

LINAO I MAN RIKO

Thursday, August 30, 2018


It was a Monday morning, the start of the new work week. But the week would not begin in the usual way.

After the rumbling was heard, the ground began to shake. It was September 22, 1902.

Witnesses walking on the perimeter of the Plaza de España said they saw wave after wave wash over the grassy field.

The shaking was so strong that everyone was in a panic.

Because people were already awake, people could find a safe place to ride it out and escape the destruction, which was considerable. Many stone and mortar buildings ( mampostería ) crumbled into dust. The Marine Barracks in Hagåtña collapsed. When the costs were tallied, $23,000 was estimated for the damages to the Naval Station; $22,000 for other public buildings and bridges. The total amount for earthquake damages came to $214,000. Those are in 1902 values, which would equal over $6 million today.

Many of those public buildings were the public schools, and they all closed for awhile. The Protestant Sunday school was used to continue some classes in English for a time.

Sadly, two Chamorros died in the earthquake. There were no other casualties.

People counted around 180 aftershocks in the 24 hours following the earthquake.

Besides this, the island rose by a foot, some say. Some claimed Cabras Island rose by three feet.

One of the important buildings severely damaged by the earthquake was the church in Hagåtña. It would take many years for it to be restored.




The Chamorro people gave the 1902 a curious name. They called it the "rich man's earthquake." Linao i man riko . Why?

In November of 1900 there had been a strong typhoon that hit Guam. It was said to have been the worst typhoon on Guam since 1855. Being a typhoon, the main damage was suffered by the modest homes of the middle and lower economic classes, made of wood, bamboo and thatched roofing. The stronger homes of the higher classes, made of stone and mortar, withstood the strong winds.

But Mother Nature has a way of leveling the playing field. The earthquake of 1902 did little to hurt wooden homes that swayed with the earth's movements. But the earthquake had its impact on the stone and mortar homes of the wealthier families, crumbling into dust. Thus, the people called it i linao i man riko . The rich people's earthquake.



Stone homes in Hagåtña lie in ruins after the 1902 earthquake

MUNGNGA MA UTOT

Tuesday, August 28, 2018


The merry beer-drinking, one-legged pirate above feels no pain, but many an older Chamorro refused to have any part of his or her body amputated or removed by doctors.

Why? One reason was :

"Mungnga ma utot addeng-ho sa' dos mana'i-ho as Yu'us ya dos ta'lo para bai nana'lo an måtai yo'."

"Don't cut my foot off because God gave me two of them and two I will return to Him when I die."

Some would say,

"Kabåles yo' ha fa'tinas si Yu'us, ya kabåles yo' para bai måtai."

"God made me complete, and I will die complete."

This went for anything; fingers and internal organs, as well; even if it meant certain death if the diseased body part were not removed.

The logic, of course, is wanting. Accidents happen, too, and people unintentionally lose a finger or a toe here and there. They won't be condemned by God for that on judgment day. God Himself, in the Old Testament, decreed that the Jews at the time even remove part of the skin of the male organ. Not to mention our ever-falling hair and ever-shedding skin.

But, in the minds of some older people, no body part should ever be intentionally amputated, regardless the medical issue.

SI "FORTUNA"

Monday, August 27, 2018


A court case in 1902 gives us some insight into island life over 100 years ago.

Some people kept dogs and gave them names. And some of these dogs were used to help hunt deer, and perhaps other animals in the wild.

Around 1901, Pedro Torres Hernández asked to borrow a dog owned by Luís Palomo San Nicolás.  The dog was named Fortuna. In Spanish, the word can mean "fortune, luck or success." The court document is in Spanish, so we don't know if the dog had that Spanish name, or if the court document translated the dog's Chamorro name into the Spanish "Fortuna," if it indeed had a Chamorro name, such as Guinaha or Suette.

San Nicolás lent Fortuna to Hernández, on the condition that he return the dog.

A year passed and the dog was not returned. Meanwhile, Hernández had taught Fortuna how to hunt deer.

San Nicolás went to court, asking the court to require Hernández to return the dog. Hernández answered that he was more than willing to return the dog, but that San Nicolás had never asked for it back. Additionally, Hernández asked that San Nicolás pay the court fees since all this could have been avoided had San Nicolás merely asked for he dog back. On top of all that, Hernández asked that San Nicolás pay him six pesos for teaching Fortuna how to hunt!

San Nicolás replied that he in fact did ask for the dog back, when he met Hernández on the road in Apotguan. He also spoke to Marcos de Castro, better known as "Sarmiento," who said that Hernández was selling two dogs, a Fortuna and a Perita. San Nicolás told Castro that Hernández had no right to sell Fortuna as the dog did not belong to him. San Nicolás also said he already paid Hernández six pesos for teaching the dog how to hunt, and that he had witnesses to vouch for this.

Hernández backed down and agreed to return Fortuna to San Nicolás and the case was closed.



KÅNTAN BUTLEA

Thursday, August 23, 2018


This is an example of the kassi (teasing) or butlea (mocking) side of our humor, which goes all the way back to pre-European times. Early visitors to the Marianas describe our ancestors teasing and ridiculing each other in word and song.


Kada hu atan i matå-mo
amariyo kalan mango'.
Ya maolek-ña na un mamatai
ke ni un låla'la' gi tano'.


Every time I look at your face
it's yellow like ginger.
And it's better that you die
than for you to live in this world.









Mango' or Yellow Ginger imparts a yellow tinge (and flavor) to food

"ON MY WAY TO BUY ATULAI"

Tuesday, August 21, 2018


February is usually not the main season for catching atulai (mackerel). July to October are the busier atulai months.

But, in February of 1902, Don Venancio Sablan Roberto was doing a brisk business selling them out of his house in Hagåtña. Roberto was a leading citizen of Guam and most likely had hired fishermen to catch fish for him to sell.

Another well-connected Guam citizen, Don Antonio Martínez Torres, sent one of his muchachos , or domestic boys, to pick up his order of atulai from Roberto. His name was Antonio Martínez Santos, a boy of just 12 years. As he waited at Roberto's, he saw another lad, Joaquín Iriarte Celis. According to Santos, Celis started a fight, which ended with Celis giving Santos a bloody nose.

Since Roberto was attracting customers to buy his atulai , there was no lack of witnesses; others who were there to buy fish. Joaquín Pablo Reyes, Rosa Matanane Taitano and Juana Baza Benavente (Juana'n Emmo') all testified that either they saw Santos with a bloody nose, or that Celis punched Santos.

Celis had a somewhat different story to tell. He said he was at Roberto's waiting to buy his boss some fish, when Santos called out to him, " Hoi ! Kaduko !" ("Hey! Crazy!") Celis said he ignored Santos. But when Santos then said, " Karåho ! Demonio !" ("Damn it! Demon!"), Celis punched Santos.

The court took into consideration that Celis was believed to be only 13 years old. The court ordered a very curious thing. They wanted two school teachers to interview Celis and determine for the court if Celis had acquired "discernment," meaning the ability to distinguish right from wrong, and to make rational decisions.

Two leading teachers, Luís Díaz de Torres and Manuel Rosario Sablan, rendered the following judgment : in the Marianas, the ability to discern is not reached till between fourteen and sixteen years of age.

When Celis' true age of 12 years was verified by his baptismal record, Celis was let off the hook.


OKSO' TIPO' PÅLE'

Monday, August 20, 2018


From many parts on Saipan, one can clearly see its highest point - Mount Takpochao - which rises to 1555 feet. That is around 400 feet higher than Guam's Mount Lamlam.

But surrounding Takpochao are other high points slightly below it. The second highest peak on Saipan is to the west of Takpochao and it rises to 1000 feet. It is called Okso' Tipo' Påle'.

It's an interesting name.

Okso ' is hill or mount.

Tipo ' comes from tupo ' which means a well, as in a water well. When one places the definite article "i," meaning "the," tupo ' becomes i tipo '.

Påle ' means "priest."

So, perhaps, the place was named after a priest who dug a well there. Why a priest would dig a well on a hill 1000 feet high is anybody's guess. Perhaps a priest found a well there. Maybe it was named for a priest for other reasons.


A BATTLE OBJECTIVE

The Americans, when taking over Saipan in 1944, wanted Mount Takpochao very badly. From this high ground, the Americans could do much to take control from the Japanese. But, on the way up to Takpochao, the Americans had to first lay their hands on Tipo' Påle'.



Tipo' Påle' (encircled) was a main objective in the American invasion



American soldiers survey Garapan (right) and the western shore of Saipan from Tipo' Påle'



A similar view today


NOTE

The modern name for Saipan's highest peak is Tapochau (or Tapochao) but the original Chamorro name is Takpochau (or Takpochao).

ÅFOK PARA GUMA'

Thursday, August 16, 2018

WHITE ÅFOK (LIME) MIXED WITH SAND AND WATER
used as mortar in construction projects


Before modern commercial goods were shipped into the Marianas, our people lived mainly off the resources of the land and sea.

In building homes of the modest classes, this meant using bamboo, wood and sturdy palms like åkgak (pandanus) for interior partitions and nipa for roofing.

But for those with the money, houses could be made of stone and mortar. The mortar was a mixture of åfok (powdered limestone rock), sand, water and often some oil, used to bind the stones together once the mortar dried. This type of construction, using stone and mortar, is called mampostería .

In 1902, Manuel Camacho Aflague, the Justice of the Peace in the Guam court, contracted with Félix Palomo de León, better known as Félix Mundo, to provide Aflague with the lime necessary for the building of a new house in Hagåtña. Being a court official, Aflague had the means to build a house of mampostería . Also because he was a court official, it is no surprise that Aflague took Mundo to court when things didn't turn out well.

According to Aflague, the lime that Mundo supplied ran out and the house wasn't finished yet. Aflague asked Mundo to get more lime, but Mundo refused, saying that he had given Aflague enough lime for the house. Aflague had paid for the lime by giving Mundo two karabao , one valued at 70 pesos and the other at 80 pesos. Aflague asked the court to compel Mundo to complete the supply of åfok or pay him in cash the value of the undelivered åfok .

Appearing before a substitute judge, since Aflague would normally hear such cases, Mundo pointed out that he had given Aflague sufficient lime for the house, but that Aflague had diverted some of the lime to the building of an outside toilet at the same site. Mundo pleaded with Aflague to release him from the obligation to supply more lime, since Mundo was a poor man. Aflague agreed and released him from the obligation, provided Mundo pay the cost of the hearing. Mundo complied and the case was closed.

Lesson learned. When building a house (in 1900), make sure to include plans for an outdoor toilet from the beginning of calculations!

SAIPAN STATISTICS IN 1901

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

The German Flag is raised on Saipan in 1899


Germany took control of the Northern Marianas in November of 1899. As colonial administrators, the Germans were noted for record-keeping. One example of this was an annual handbook printed by the German Colonial Office, giving information, details and statistics about all the German colonies. In German, it was called the Deutsches Kolonial-Handbuch.

According the 1901 handbook, which would include data for the prior year of 1900, the ethnic breakdown of Saipan's population at that time was as follows :


CHAMORROS

709


CAROLINIANS

494


MALAYANS

13


JAPANESE

12


FILIPINOS

4


GERMANS

3


SPANIARDS

2


TOTAL

1237




There were only two villages on Saipan at the time, Garapan, the capital, and Tanapag. Their respective populations were :

GARAPAN

1032


TANAPAG

205





SOME OBSERVATIONS....

1. Now we see that the Chamorro population outnumbered the Carolinian. For most of the 1800s, the Carolinians outnumbered the Chamorros. But by the 1880s, the number of Chamorros moving from Guam to Saipan increased, and this number swelled in the early 1900s. Free land in Saipan was part of the attraction, as the Germans tried to entice Guam Chamorros to move to Saipan, which needed a larger population.

2. The "Malayans" were Indonesians recruited by the Dutch and hired out to the Germans to work as policemen. When the Germans first took over the Northern Marianas, they weren't too sure how law-abiding the islanders would be. They used these Indonesians, therefore, as their police force. Very quickly, however, the Germans understood that the Chamorros and Carolinians were peaceable and the Indonesians were sent elsewhere and the local police force was then made up by Chamorros and Carolinians.

3. The dozen Japanese residents were involved in trade and commerce, or worked for those businesses. Some of them already married Chamorro women by then.

4. Just as in Guam, there were always a few Filipinos who had come over during Spanish times when both the Philippines and the Marianas were under Spain. The Marianas, in fact, were a province of the Philippines for a time. Most had married Chamorro women.

5. The resident Germans were the colonial officers and the two Spaniards were Augustinian Recollect priests left-over from the Spanish administration. German Capuchin missionaries would not replace them for a few more years still.


The German Colonial Handbook of 1901

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Monday, August 13, 2018


TI I KATSUNES MUNA' LÅLAHE I TAOTAO, NA POT I FINA'TINÅS-ÑA


It's not the trousers that make the man, but his actions.





A baby in a suit is still a baby.

There is an old saying in many Western languages. "It's not the habit that makes the monk." A habit is the religious garb of a monk. Just because a man wears a monk's habit doesn't make him a good or holy monk who fulfills his obligations.

Likewise, anybody in a uniform or anybody in a grown man's suit doesn't automatically fulfill the role the are dressed to be. Clothing is the outward expression of an inner reality that should be there.

Besides clothing, titles do not guarantee anything. Someone might have a high title, but that is no guarantee about that person's character or performance.

The other side of this coin is that a young teenager, by his deeds, can prove himself to already be a man. Like the teenage boy who amazed the public when he swam to save his drowning brother, or the teenage girl who single handedly saved the house from burning to the ground when no one else was around.

CHUPA PARA I CHAMORRO

Thursday, August 9, 2018

CHAMORRO WOMAN SMOKING A CIGAR
Early 1800s


Our people were really into tobacco in the 1700 and 1800s.

Tobacco was so prized by our people that they were willing to be paid with tobacco. The Spanish government often did just that; pay government workers with tobacco.

Listen to a French visitor in 1828, Jules S.C. Dumont d'Urville, describe his visit to a home in Mongmong,

"Some days later I visited the village of Mongmong.... Some corn, rice and tobacco - the basic crops of the land - were grown there. I went to pay a visit to the highest official in the place, the gobernadorcillo or kind of mayor. I was next presented to his wife, a formidable-looking woman... Without taking her cigar out of her mouth , she replied to the greeting that I had learned earlier. When I said, " Ave María purísima ," the woman mumbled, without lifting her eyes a bit, " Sin pecado concebida ."

The mayor's wife, just like the woman pictured above, had a cigar in her mouth. In describing the women of Hagåtña, Dumont d'Urville said,

"The women wore nothing on their heads or on their feet, it is true, but they were decently clothed in a skirt and a jacket, with cigars in their mouths ...."



SPANISH GOVERNOR'S TOBACCO FIELD IN HAGÅTÑA
Early 1800s

One of the reasons why Chamorros in the old days were so fond of tobacco is because it was successfully and easily grown here.

It was brought to the Marianas during Spanish times, probably very early after the arrival of Sanvitores in 1668. Our tropical climate made it easy for the plant to grow here. Nearly everyone who grew anything grew even a little tobacco. Rose Freycinet, wife of the French explorer, described in 1819 how the spaces in between the houses in Hagåtña were used to grow a little tobacco.

For bigger plantings of tobacco, the American William Safford, living on Guam between 1899 and 1900, said that the best places for growing tobacco were Santa Rosa, Yigo, Fina'guåyok and Matåguak in the north and Yoña in the south.



GUAM TOBACCO PATCH
Early 1900s

Although tobacco took easily to Guam's climate and soil, tobacco was not, in fact, "easy" to grow. Great care had to be taken to grow the seedlings in beds before transferring them to the soil, without damaging the roots. Seedlings had to be planted at the right time of year, August and September. In October and November, the seedlings are transferred to nurseries and then to the fields from December to February.

Now, as the tobacco plants start to grow in the earth, the farmer must weed the area and keep the tobacco leaves free of the sphinx moth whose larvae feeds on the leaves. The tobacco plants can't have too much sun, so coconut palm fronds are stuck in the ground around the tobacco and bent forward to touch each other, forming a protective canopy over the tobacco plants. Side branches are plucked off so that more of the nutrients could go to the better leaves.

When the plant is ready for harvesting, the whole plant is cut as close to the ground as possible and the leaves allowed to wither on the stem. Then the leaves are taken off the stem and hung to dry, usually two or three plants in a bunch. The tobacco is simply rolled, often ten leaves in a roll, called a paliyo , and fastened together by strings made of pineapple ( piña ) or agave fiber ( lirio de palo ).


CHAMORRO BIHA SMOKING A PIPE
Visitors said smoking was bigger among the women more than the men.


Who enjoyed the tobacco? Almost everybody! They rolled it into cigars or chewed it with pugua ' (betel nut), pupulo (pepper leaf) and åfok (lime powder). Safford says that only the higher class women refrained from smoking or chewing tobacco, or at least didn't use tobacco in front of others. So fond were the people of local tobacco that they would buy imported tobacco only if the local supply ran out.

Speaking of the local supply, here's an idea how much tobacco was grown on Guam before the war. In 1919, 81 acres of land were dedicated to tobacco growing. That's not much when you consider that 2,173 acres were used for growing corn in the same year. But tobacco still outranked sugar, to which only 13 acres on island were used for growing. A little over 36,000 pounds of tobacco were harvested on Guam in 1919.


LADY SMOKING IN FRONT OF CHILD
Early 1800s


THE DECLINE OF TOBACCO GROWING

After World War II, as our people switched to a cash economy and agriculture declined, due to the taking of much of the best farm lands for military use, people began to buy imported cigarettes and chewing tobacco from stores.

Still, a few people grow tobacco in small quantities on Guam to this day.



MODERN DAY GUAM-GROWN YOUNG TOBACCO
(courtesy of Raph Unpingco)


CHAMORRO TERMS


TOBACCO = CHUPA

CIGAR = CHIGÅLO

CIGARETTE = SIGARIYO

CHEWING TOBACCO = AMÅSKA

PIPE = CHIGÅNDO




HOME GROWN TOBACCO

TOILET TALK

Tuesday, August 7, 2018


Well, if you really want to know a bit of island life over a hundred years ago, here it is.

The facts of this story come from court records written in 1902.

Before modernization, people "did their business" outside the actual home. Sometimes, there were outhouses on the property. Sometimes, there were public latrines. Some people used orinolas (bed chambers) or other containers and then disposed of the contents in the jungle or into the ocean.

But....in some places, you could relieve yourself outdoors, right onto the land. The problem was, if you did so too close to someone's home, there was bound to be a quarrel.

This is indeed what happened one Saturday in 1902 in the seaside village of Tepungan, located in between Asan and Piti. Some homes there were located not far from the beach, just yards away from the sand. One such home belonged to Vicenta Terlaje Quidachay. She looked out her home to see her neighbor's son, José Megofña Salas, defecating openly in the area between their houses, with his mother Ana Pérez Megofña standing nearby.

Vicenta threw a stone at them and cried out, " Håfa na masisinek gue' guennao ?!?" " Why is he defecating there ?!?"

Defending her son, Ana replied " Ya amåno mås malago'-mo para u masinek ?" " And where else do you want him to defecate ?"

Vicenta replied sharply, " Po'lo ya u masinek gi sasalåguan !" " Let him defecate in hell !"

Now it turned into an ugly verbal tirade of insults.

José then said, " Åsson ya un baba i pachot-mo ya bai cho'gue guennao !" " Lie down and open your mouth and I'll do it there !"

Vicenta retorted, " Cho'gue gi as nanå-mo !" " Do it on your mother !"

Then, another son of Ana, Ignacio, came in from the beach and heard what was going on. He, too, joined the fight, calling Vicenta every cuss word he knew.

Despite the fact that all four of these individuals hurled vulgar insults at each other, it was only Ignacio whom Vicenta took to court. Since he openly admitted he had said those things, the court found Ignacio guilty of verbal abuse and fined him.

HINENGGEN MAN ÅMKO'

Monday, August 6, 2018


Yanggen mañule' hao håfa gi halom tåno' para åmot, hånao ha' tåtte ensegidas para gumå'-mo yan i chinilele'-mo. Cha'-mo sumusugo' pot otro lugåt fine'nana.

If you take whatever from the jungle for medicine, go straight away back to your house with what you took. Don't dare go somewhere else first.


A woman shared with me the story about sending her adult daughter to the jungle to get some herbs for medicine. The lady strictly told her daughter to come right back home after doing so, without making any stops whatsoever.

It must have slipped the daughter's mind because, on the way back home, with the herbs in the front passenger's seat, she decided to stop by a neighborhood store to buy something. When she returned to the car, all the herbs had disappeared. Nothing else in the car was amiss, only the vanished herbs.

"The taotaomo'na didn't allow her to reach home with the herbs, since she made a stop somewhere," the mother told me.

MUMU POT BÅTDEN SIN

Thursday, August 2, 2018

ZINC PAIL


Zinc was all the rage in the Marianas in the late 1800s. Called sin in Chamorro, using the Spanish word for "zinc," " cinc " or " zinc ." It was used for roofing on select government and church buildings, and on the homes of the rare wealthy families. Japanese merchants in the Marianas, on the rise since the 1890s, helped bring in more zinc products. The Hagåtña store keeper Yoshinori Seimiya was one such Japanese supplier of zinc merchandise.

Josefa Torres de Borja bought a zinc pail from Seimiya in the early 1900s. She then gave it to Rita Aguon Watkins, the wife of Calixto (sometimes Calistro) Torres Taitano. One day, Rita left the pail at the hotno (oven) of Justo de León Guerrero at his house in Hagåtña. She intended to get water from Justo's well, but got busy with baking bread. She decided to send one of her children later to get the pail, but they discovered that it was gone.



CALIXTO TAITANO'S SIGNATURE


Rita then saw Catalina Aguon walking with the pail in hand. Catalina was on her way to fetch water at Justo's well. Rita followed and snatched the pail from Catalina, stating that it was hers.

The matter went to court!

Rita presented her witnesses who vouched that the pail belonged to Rita. Catalina also produced her witnesses she hoped would testify that the pail belonged to Catalina. Unfortunately for Catalina, the best her witnesses could say was that the pail looked like one that belonged to Catalina, but could not state that it was the exact pail owned by Catalina.

The court awarded the pail to Rita.

On a side note, when aluminum was introduced to the Marianas, it looked like zinc so Chamorros called aluminum sin , as well.


DRINKING FROM WELLS

A river flowed through Hagåtña, but people didn't drink from it. People did their laundry and other washing in the river. At least they didn't (normally) go to the bathroom in it.

There were at least three different ways to get drinking water. One was to catch rain from the roof tops. One common way to do that was to put big clay pots called tinåha underneath the roof and the rain water would fall into them.

A second way was to transport fresh water from the spring in Didigue or from the river in Fonte. But that necessitated bringing an animal-lead cart.



WASHING CLOTHES IN THE HAGÅTÑA RIVER
Thus, no drinking from it!



The more common way to get drinking water was from wells dug right in your own back yard in Hagåtña. The soil in Hagåtña is made of coral limestone. The rain falls onto this ground and percolates downward till it hits a solid slab of rock and stays there. The problem with well water, though, was that it collected a lot of residue, such as the coral rock but also animal feces, as animals defecated on the same soil. People in the city kept animals around and even underneath their homes. The American Naval Government would in time clamp down on this, issuing regulations but not ridding the city entirely of animals. It couldn't. People depended on the animals for transportation and food.

But due to the brackish quality of the well water, and the animal waste, people often got sick from it. In time, the Naval Government had water piped in from cleaner sources outside the city.

I AMONESTASIONES

Monday, July 30, 2018


Before 1983, it was a universal requirement that Catholic churches announce the foreseen wedding of a bride and groom for three consecutive Sundays (or Holy Days of Obligation) in both the bride's parish and the groom's parish. The reason for this was to discover any legal impediments that would prevent the wedding.

The idea was that a man might still have a wife living somewhere, unbeknownst to the priest. Announcing the intended wedding well in advance should, so the theory went, uncover any hidden prior marriages or whatever else might prevent the wedding. A bride and groom might even be first cousins but unaware of the fact, because one or even both of the two could be illegitimate, only the mother knowing who the biological father was. First cousins can get married, but only with the bishop's permission. Otherwise, the wedding could not proceed.

In the English language, these announcements are called marriage or wedding "banns," from an old English word meaning "proclamation." The names of the brides and grooms were announced at Mass, and anyone who might no a reason or reasons why the couple could not legally get married in Church had to inform the parish priest.




In the Marianas, these announcements were called the amonestasiones , a word borrowed from the Spanish. The word comes from the Latin word for "warn or advise."

Since many people could not read or write, the amonestasiones were read out by the priest during the announcements in church. In time, they became printed in the church bulletin and/or tacked to the bulletin board or doors of the church.

Here is a sample of an actual amonestasiones read out in Chamorro by a Spanish priest in 1925.

Hu na' fan manungo' todos :
(I make it known to everyone :)

na si Antonio Díaz Pérez, sottero, de 24 åños de edåt,
(that Antonio Díaz Pérez, single, aged 24 years,)

låhen Félix yan Josefa, mafañågo giya Agaña (Guam),
(son of Félix and Josefa, born in Agaña (Guam),)

yan si Estella Pangelinan Sablan, sottera, de 17 åños de edåt,
(and Estella Pangelinan Sablan, single, aged 17 years,)

hagan Mariano yan Elisa, mafañågo guine,
(daughter of Mariano and Elisa, born here,)

malago' umassagua, si Yu'us mediånte.
(wish to marry, God willing.)

Pot lo tånto, håye i tumungo' na guaha håf na impedimento,
(Therefore, whoever knows that some impediment exists,)

na pot guiya ti siña u ma selebra este na umakamo',
(by which this union cannot be celebrated,)

u sangåne yo' åntes de i 16 på'go na mes.
(will inform me before the 16th of this month.)

It was signed by Father Dionisio de la Fuente, the Jesuit priest of Garapan, Saipan.

The bride and groom in this case, Antonio and Estella, went on to get married. Antonio passed away in 1969. Estella lived for many more years, passing on in 1993.



Antonio Díaz and Estella Pangelinan Pérez


NOTES

1. The Spanish priest rendered the names of the bride and groom in the Spanish style, which places the person's father's last name first, followed by the mother's. So Antonio Pérez Díaz's father was a Pérez and his mother was a Díaz. On Guam in 1920, the American Naval Government ordered everyone to follow the American custom of placing the father's last name last, so Antonio Pérez Díaz became Antonio Díaz Pérez.

2. Si Yu'us mediånte . This is the Chamorro form of the Spanish phrase " Dios mediante ," literally meaning "by means of God," or "God willing." Man might want something, but if God doesn't want it to happen, it won't.

FAMILY NICKNAMES : BILÅNGGO

Monday, July 30, 2018



In this Spanish document, we see the word "bilangos," the plural of "bilango."


A branch of the Pérez family on Guam is known as the familian Bilånggo .

If you look at the picture above, the encircled word is b ilangos , the plural of bilango , according to the Spanish way of spelling it.

You can see the word again in the picture below. Two words down from bilango is another word - Alguacil , spelled with a Z instead of a C as it is spelled nowadays. Both words - Bilango and Alguacil - meant an officer of the law . A law enforcement agent.



Back in the 1700s, the Spanish Government in the Marianas had a village position called the bilango . He was usually a member of the islands' troops who, by the late 1700s, were the descendants of the Spanish, Latin American and Filipino soldiers brought here earlier, many of whom married Chamorro women.

At the time, each village had a bilango , who was like a sheriff or police officer.

It's possible that an ancestor in this family was a bilango at some point, and he and his descendants were nicknamed Bilånggo .

The title for that position was later changed and the word bilango was completely dropped. But the nickname survived to this day.

Ignacio Cruz Pérez was nicknamed Bilånggo. Ignacio married Rosa Cárdenas.

Their sons were Juan Cárdenas Pérez, who married Carmen Padilla Laguaña; and Jesús Cárdenas Pérez who married María Borja Santos.

Their descendants are still known as familian Bilånggo .




In a 1904 court document, Ignacio Cruz Perez is mentioned being better known as Belango (Bilånggo)


ORIGIN OF THE TERM

The Spaniards who set up the local government here knew the term bilango from the Philippines, where it was used already. So they simply used the same word here for the same village position as was used in the Philippines.

In the Philippines, a local chief's ( datu ) constable, sheriff or law enforcer was called a bilanggo , who often used his own house as a jail. That's why the word bilanggo also came to be known as "to be jailed" - ma bilanggo , or "jailed" - because the bilanggo apprehended you and put you in jail, often the bilanggo's own house. So bilanggo also meant a "prisoner, someone jailed."

So maybe the Chamorro person given the nickname Bilånggo had also been imprisoned, instead of being the law enforcer as was the original meaning of the word. Either way is possible. But if bilånggo had, at one time, meant "prisoner" in Chamorro, as well as in the various Filipino languages, that meaning did not last. In fact, the word bilånggo didn't last at all in Chamorro, except as a family nickname whose meaning also became lost.

Some people, like the author Jean-Paul Potet, speculate that the word bilanggo used in the Philippines actually comes from India, by way of Tamil, one of the many language spoken in India. In Tamil, vilangku means "fetters," or "chains." That, in turn, might come from another Indian language, Malayalam where belunggu or lunggu means "prisoner."



FORGOTTEN CHAMORRO : FAILAYE

Thursday, July 26, 2018


The word is still "in the books," but hardly ever heard in conversations today.

Failaye means "to betray." According to some old dictionaries, it can also mean "cunning, deceit" or a crime done with forethought, as in premeditated murder which would be " failaye pumuno '."

Some of the older dictionaries spell it failahye , with an H. In the photo above, of a document written in 1902, the H is missing, but, in those days, people spelled in a very inconsistent way. Since it's more usual to forget a letter than to put one in that doesn't belong, and since three very old dictionaries (1865, 1918 and 1932) all have the H, I reckon failahye is the more accurate spelling, matching the pronunciation of the word in those days.

Påle' Román (1932) says that failahye can be used to describe interrupted sleep. Hu failahye i maigo'-ho . All those interruptions, waking one up, is a betrayal of the desire to sleep long.

The fafailahye is the traitor and finailahye is the noun form for "treason, betrayal."

Failahye was replaced in conversation by the people themselves with the Spanish loan words traidot (traitor) and traiduti (to betray). Fa'baba is a Chamorro word than can mean "to betray," but it has a wider meaning, including "to fool, trick, cheat, pretend, defraud."

In 1902, there was a man named Antonio Blas who was nicknamed Antonio'n Failaye.


FA'AILA '

Failahye seems very close to the word fa'aila ', which means "to accuse." Later, the word took on more meaning, such as "to report on." I wonder if there is a connection between failahye (to betray) and fa'aila ' (to accuse). Even fa'aila ' has been forgotten, most people saying sokne or akusa for "accuse." Sokne really means more than "to accuse," but that's a topic for a future post.

THE STOLEN MASONIC RING

Tuesday, July 24, 2018


The Masons are a fraternal organization which, to this day, Catholics are forbidden to join.

That didn't stop Masons from coming to Guam, nor Chamorros from joining the Masons in small numbers before the war. Generally, Chamorros who did join the Masons before the war stopped practicing Catholicism.

There may have been Spanish Masons in the Marianas during Spanish times, as well, though there was no lodge in the Marianas until the American Masons opened one on Guam before the war.

But that didn't stop one Catholic Chamorro couple, Vicente Roberto Herrero and his wife, the former Dolores Martínez Pangelinan, from becoming interested in a Masonic ring. Herrero wasn't a Mason, but a ring, especially if it were made of gold, had economic value, and Herrero somehow acquired one. The Herreros ran a store on the ground floor of their Hagåtña house and someone had stolen the ring, among other numerous items, when the store was somehow infiltrated undetected.


IN WALKS DALBY

And then, in 1902, a US Marine stationed on Guam, William Dalby from Indiana, walked into the Herrero store looking to buy handkerchiefs. Dolores studiously observed Dalby's hands on the counter. Dolores called to her husband to come over. Vicente looked at Dalby's hands and saw a Masonic ring on it. "That ring belongs to us," Vicente said.

Dalby replied, "I bought it from another soldier. It's a Masonic ring for the 10th degree in the United States." Herrero answered, "It's for the 13th degree, Spanish Masonic lodge." Well, Dalby said he'd go and get the American Marine he bought it from.

Alvin Acree from Virginia walked in and said that he had bought the ring from a Chamorro. He wasn't totally sure it was a Chamorro, but he thought so. He described the man as being short, of dark color and having hunched shoulders. The man couldn't speak much English; only a few words.

The court summoned José Taitano de León Guerrero, a silversmith, who testified that he had seen the ring in the possession of Herrero since around 1897, as Herrero had brought it to him for an appraisal. Another witness, Nicolasa Cruz Santos, a seamstress who used to work for Herrero, said she, too, had seen the ring in the possession of the Herreros some years back when she was working for them.


JOSÉ BECOMES A SUSPECT

Somehow, perhaps just from the physical description, or maybe because someone informed the authorities, a man named José was identified as a suspect. Because his family is still around, and rather numerous, I'll just keep it at José. That's what happens when the author is local and the island is small and interconnected!

José completely denied having anything to do with the ring. He didn't know who it belonged to nor anything else about it. He did say he was at the barracks (probably the Marine barracks in Hagåtña) and saw a Filipino young man named Jabe (or Tabe or Fabe, the first letter is not clear). Jabe was laughing and José asked why. Jabe said, "I just tricked an American! I told him I'm Chamorro but I am not!" José was certainly insinuating that this Jabe was the real suspect.


A GUAM LINEUP!





But, the authorities created a lineup, the first I've come across in Guam's documentation. Four men were brought into the room and made to stand shoulder to shoulder, their backs against the wall. Besides the suspect José, there was another José, surnamed Cruz, and then a Pedro Mendiola Delgado and a Nicolás Garrido Iriarte. Then, four American Marines who claimed to have been there when the Chamorro man sold the ring to Acree were brought in, one by one so that one man's answer wouldn't influence another. Three of the four identified José as the man they saw selling the ring to Acree. One of the four couldn't identify any of the four men at all in the line-up.

Then the judge did an interesting thing. Out of sight of the four Marines, the judge had José change shirts with Iriarte and changed up the order of the line. Then he brought in the four Marines again, one by one. The same three Marines still identified the suspect José, while the fourth one still couldn't tell which of the four the man was.


ADDICTED TO GAMBLING

So, the charge stuck with José and he eventually paid the price for it. The local officials of Hagåtña were asked to testify as to José's character. They all said he started out with a good reputation. He was known as an industrious man, always working hard at his ranch to feed his family. And then....gambling. Card games, cockfights. He lost a lot of money and sold possessions to cover his debts.


OFISIÅLES ANIGUAK

Monday, July 23, 2018

CHAMORRO OFFICIALS
Early 1800s


From a list of Chamorro government officials in the 1830s, we see the names of the officials for the barrio or district of Aniguak :

IGNACIO SOYOÑA - he was the Gobernadorcillo , meaning "little governor" who acted like a town mayor.

PEDRO TAITAGUE - he was the Teniente , or second-in-command.

DIEGO TAITAGUE - he was the Agricultural Officer, or Juez de Palmas, Sementeras y Animales (Judge of Palms, Fields and Animals).

The neighborhood leaders, or Cabezas de Barangay , were :

PEDRO AFLAGUE
IGNACIO SOYOÑA
LAUREANO TAITAGUE
CLAUDIO MATERNE




MEANINGS ?

Every single Aniguak official has an indigenous Chamorro surname, not a Spanish (Cruz, Santos, Pérez) nor Filipino (Pangelinan, Manibusan) surname. The Hispanic and Filipino settlers lived mainly in the city proper of Hagåtña. The outlying villages of Hagåtña (Aniguak, Mongmong, Sinajaña and others) were almost entirely populated by the more indigenous, less mixed-blood Chamorros.

SOYOÑA more than likely comes from the word sohyo , which means "to encourage, persuade, influence" and the like. Many indigenous names end with the suffix -ña (Mangloña, Megofña, Laguaña) and could mean either "his/her/its" or "more than someone else." Or adding -ña to a word could have a meaning no one knows anymore!

TAITAGUE more than likely comes from the word tahgue , which means "to replace, to take the place of, to succeed someone." Tai means "without." Taitague could mean "lacking a replacement, someone to replace him or her." Many indigenous names begin with the prefix tai (Taitano, Taimanglo, Taitingfong).

AFLAGUE might have something to do with falågue , which means "to run toward or after." The prefix A means "together." Aflague could mean "to run towards each other" or "after each other."

MATERNE is sometimes spelled Matednge and gives us a clue as to its meaning. Totnge means "to light a fire" or "to feed a fire." Matetnge (Materne) could mean "was inflamed" or "ignited."

STOCKTON CHAMORROS

Thursday, July 19, 2018


In 1910, Stockton, California was a growing city of 23,000 people. Just ten years before, the city had 17,000 people, so people were moving to Stockton, were jobs could be found in agriculture, industry and transportation.

Among them were some Chamorros from Guam. There were still commercial ships, some of them whalers though in decreasing number, that passed through Guam in the 1890s, and some Chamorro men joined the crew. From there they landed in Hawaii, the US West Coast and other places.

These four Chamorros appear in the 1910 Census in Stockton, all living together at 242 South San Joaquin Street in a boarding house run by James Hammond :

Ben Santos , 21 years old. He arrived in California in 1898. He worked as a cook in a tamale factory.

Joe Armandola , age 32 years. He arrived in California in 1898. He worked as a tamale maker. I wonder if his surname was really Mendiola.

Bob Santos , 30 years old. He, too, arrived in California in 1898. He was a butcher.

Joe Gros , 25 years old. He arrived in California in 1894. He was a cook on a steamer. If he really was 25 years old in 1910, then it means he arrived in California at age 9 years! Not impossible, but that is awfully young to leave home. But.....people often just guessed their ages and were often notoriously off from their actual ages. Gros is not a surname found on Guam, and could be a shortcut of Guerrero, or a nickname of some other origin.

Chamorros seems to have found jobs as tamale makers. In other records, I found Chamorro tamale makers in San Francisco in the early 1900s. The tamales made were Mexican, using corn husks rather than banana leaves as wrappers, as is done the Chamorro way. Despite this and other differences between Mexican and Chamorro tamales, the basic idea and ingredient (corn meal) were the same.

Chamorro seamen often got new names and went by nicknames, as well, so don't be surprised by names like Armandola and Gros, and they all had nicknames (Ben, Joe, Bob) rather than Vicente, Jose and Roberto.

In 1910, all four Chamorro men were single, but maybe in time some or all of them got married. It's hard to track them down in future censuses because they sometimes changed their names or put down Spain or the Philippines as their home country. This is because the Marianas had been under Spain and had been a province of the Philippines under Spain.

The boarding house they lived in housed around 30 people, men and women, from all over the world. When in close proximity to Mexicans, Chamorros in the US in those days tended to associate and even identify with Mexicans than with other races (or with the Portuguese in Hawaii), because they really did a lot in common at the time.

"BIRD ISLAND" IN CHAMORRO

Tuesday, July 17, 2018


Obviously, it wasn't always called Bird Island.

What did Chamorros call it before the English name became prominent?

Isletan Maigo' Fåhang.





A list of Saipan place names


The fåhang is known in English as a "noddy tern." These birds favor coastal cliffs and small rocks or islets along the shore.



FÅHANG


Isleta means islet, or small island. The word is borrowed from Spanish.

Maigo ' means "sleep" or "asleep" and it probably refers to the fåhang using this rock to rest and sleep at.

Apparently the Japanese, who ruled Saipan from 1914 to 1944, had their own name for the island. Tsukimi , which means "moon viewing."



YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN....

Monday, July 16, 2018


...instead of saying "the funeral," you say, " THE DEAD !"

~ Where are you going?
~ To the dead!




A statesider or some other English-speaking person not used to Chamorro will assume the person is going to a dead person, not a funeral or wake. Of course, there is no funeral or wake without a dead person!

This could be another example of "English the Chamorro way," except that we also say the same thing in Chamorro.


BASED ON CHAMORRO

"I'm going to the dead,"in English, is based, I think, on our Chamorro way of speaking and thinking.

We do say in Chamorro, " Bai hu falak i matai ," which literally means, "I will go to the dead." But what we mean is that we're going to a funeral or wake.

Måtai can be both an adjective (e.g. "The dog is dead.") or a noun (e.g. "Don't disrespect the dead.")

It can also be the verb "to die." Kumekematai i taotao . "The person is dying."

So we say in Chamorro things like,

Håye matai-miyo? Literally, "Who is your dead?" but what we mean is, "Who in your family or party has died?"

Guaha matai-ho agupa' . Literally, "I have a dead tomorrow," but what we mean is, "I have a funeral or wake tomorrow."


THERE ARE OTHER WORDS

Finatai means "death." So we can say, " Asta i finatai-ho ," or "Until my death," but we can also say, " Asta ke måtai yo' ," or "Until I die," or "Until I am dead."

Bela means "wake." It is borrowed from the Spanish word vela , meaning the same. A bela really means an overnight vigil with the dead body, which is why in English it is called a wake, because one stays awake all night. But I do hear some people call the viewing of the deceased during the day a bela .

Entiero means the funeral Mass or ritual. This is also borrowed from Spanish, and the root word here is tierra , meaning "earth." Spanish e ntierro most exactly means "burial," that is, to bury in the earth ( tierra ).

Håfot means "to bury" and hinafot means "burial." Fanhafutan is an indigenous term for cemetery, in addition to the Spanish loan word sementeyo (from cementerio ) or kåmpo sånto ("holy land or field," from campo santo ). Naftan , or "grave," is probably a contraction of fanhafutan .

Responso are the prayers over the deceased's body.

Father Ibáñez in 1865 says that onras also means "funeral," meaning the honors ( onra ) paid to the deceased.

THOSE CHILEAN PESOS

Thursday, July 12, 2018

This Chilean peso was probably used in the Marianas at one time


During the 1800s, various kinds of money from more than one country were used in the Marianas as legal tender. Because of the abundance of silver in the Spanish colonies of Latin America, many coins came from Mexico, Chile and Peru. Then, because of the many whaling ships (and others) who came to the Marianas from England, the U.S., Australia and other places, coins from many parts of the world entered circulation in the Marianas, too.

In 1902, a businessman on Guam named Vicente Roberto Herrero and his wife Dolores Martinez Pangelinan had quite an assortment of those coins, put in an iron box in their general store, located on the ground level of their Hagåtña home. There was coinage from Spain, Chile, Peru, Mexico, England, the United States, Germany (perhaps via the Northern Marianas, in German hands since 1899) and even China.

One day that year, the Herreros discovered that their money was missing. Someone had entered the home during the night or early morning and run off with the money.

It didn't take long, though, before a man was fingered as the primary suspect. Why? He started throwing Chilean pesos around island.

In May of 1900, the American Governor had declared that only the Mexican peso (or its equivalent in U.S. currency) was legal tender on Guam. So, the Chilean peso was put in drawers or boxes, not to be used in commercial buying and selling anymore. Witnesses testified that by 1902 they rarely saw Chilean pesos in circulation on Guam.

So when this man started gambling with Chilean pesos and sending his son to buy groceries at stores with Chilean pesos, people started to notice. The man in question was quite the gambler, showing up at the Santa Rosa fiesta in Hågat to play card games for money, and playing also in other villages and at the cock fight.

It took the court a year, during which time the man in question spent some months in detention, to decide that the evidence against the suspect was weak. He was finally let go.



GAYERA
Cockfight

KÅNTA : AN UN TULAIKA

Tuesday, July 10, 2018


The Cruz Family singers put new lyrics and story to an old melody, Eskatmina Silensio na Puenge . Another song about false love, false expectations, false dreams.




An un tulaika i hinasso-mo
(If you change your mind)
ya åhe' ti para un dingo yo'
(and no, you will not leave me)
nene nå'e 'u mågi ni guinaiya-mo
(baby give me your love)
ya un dalak yo' para iya håme.
(and come with me to our place.)

Hu nå'e hao alahås-mo
(I gave you jewelry)
ai yan salappe'-mo
(and money)
lao ti este ha' siña bai hu cho'guiye hao.
(but these aren't the only things I can do for you.)
Nene nå'e 'u mågi ni guinaiya-mo

(Baby give me your love)
ya un dalak yo' para iya håme.
(and come with me to our place.)

Pues pine'lo-ko na ti dåkon i guinife
(So I thought that dreams don't lie)
sa' tåya' na hu susede taiguine
(because I never went through this)
i para un pångon yo' gi maigo'-ho
(that you would wake me in my sleep)
sa' malago' yo' bai kuentuse.
(because I want to talk.)

Gi annai makmåta hao un oga'an sen tåftaf
(When you woke up one morning very early)
ya hu hahasso i guinifi-ho
(and I remembered my dream)
pues pine'lo-ko na magåhet na gaige
(so I thought that it was true)
si nene nai gi fion-ho.
(that baby was by my side.)

I ha ofrese 'u na palåbras gi kattå-ña
(The words she offered me in her letter)
ha na' sen pinite korason-ho
(really hurt my heart)
sa' ha ofrese 'u na para bai in assagua
(because she proposed that we be married)
lao mandagi eyo na kontråta.
(but it was a false agreement.)

Pues pine'lo-ko na ti dåkon i guinife
(So I thought that dreams don't lie)
sa' tåya' na hu susede taiguine
(because I never went through this)
i para un pångon yo' gi maigo'-ho
(that you would wake me in my sleep)
sa' malago' yo' bai kuentuse.
(because I want to talk.)

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Monday, July 9, 2018


An tumåtånges i patgon
nå'e na'-ña entot tupu.
Yanggen sige ha' de tumånges,
håtsa hulo' ya un na' susu.

(When the child is crying
give him a piece of sugar cane to eat.
If he keeps on crying,
lift him up and breast feed him.)




Now, I could be wrong but I don't think this verse is to be taken literally.

I'm not sure it's good to give an infant a piece of fibrous sugar cane that s/he can choke on! Even with mommy watching, I think it would be a challenge to get a baby to just suck the juice and not swallow the fiber. And chew with what teeth? No; I think the verse is meant solely for entertainment value.

Entot means a cut-off piece, a fragment. It comes from the word utot , which means to cut off.

Tupu (or tupo ) is sugar cane. It is not to be confused with tupu ' ( tupo '), which has a glota at the end, which means a water well.

FAMILIA : GARCÍA

Thursday, July 5, 2018

DEMETRIO LEÓN GUERRERO GARCÍA
1902


The Spanish have a saying.

" Quien nombre no tenía, García se ponía ." " Whoever lacks a name, is given the name García ."

Back in the days when people were beginning to adopt family names or surnames in great numbers, let's say around the year 1400 or so, García was chosen by or given to so many in Spain that García came to be, and still is, the most common surname in Spain. Thus the saying, "If you don't have a surname, we'll call you García."

A million a half people in Spain today have García as a paternal last name. Another million and a half have García as their maternal name. García is so common that almost 80,000 people in Spain are García García, from both mom and dad's sides. The next most common surname (Fernández) doesn't even reach a million.



So, as the Spaniards went out into the world, to their conquests in America, Asia and Africa, the García name went with them. García ranks very high in places like Mexico and Argentina, and it is the most common name among Hispanics in the United States.

Closer to the Marianas, García is in the top ten most common surnames in the Philippines.

But when we come to our own islands, the Marianas, García doesn't make even the top twenty. In 1930, there were just a little less than 60 people on Guam with the surname García, and that includes women who were married to García men. There were more Gumataotaos than Garcías on Guam at the time.


AS FAR BACK AS 1727

And yet, it seems as if the García surname had the possibility of becoming a huge family on Guam, as far back as 1727. In that Census, there is a García family listed in the roll of Spanish soldiers, which meant that the names listed could be Mexican and other Latin American, as well.

The head of that family was Lázaro García, married to Juana de Cárdenas. They had three boys (Feliciano, Ignacio and Dionisio); enough, it seems, to plant the name rather well in these islands. But in the 1758 Census, only Feliciano is still listed among the sons of Lázaro (also named in the 1758 Census) and he is married to a Chamorro, Ignacia Taitiguan.

In 1758, there are new Garcías unseen in the earlier census. Two are Filipino, and one is listed under the Spaniards who could have been a son of Lázaro, but maybe not. There is also an orphaned male with the last name García. The two Filipino Garcías are incidentally married to Chamorro women. All these males with the last name García could have established a large number of García descendants, but by the 1800s, the number of Garcías on Guam remained small.


IN 1897

In what I call "modern Guam," the Guam about which we have much more information and can make clearer connections within families, there seems to have been three main lines of Garcías at the turn of the century in 1900, based on the 1897 Census and birth records from the early 1900s.

Two of those three lines, the García-Lujáns and the García-Manibusans, seem to date back to the Marianas in the early 1800s and could be descendants of the even earlier Garcías of the 1700s, either Spanish or Filipino in origin or both.

García-Rojas

There was an Alberto Rojas García but apparently he had no descendants.

García-Luján

A Francisco Luján García from Hagåtña married Gertrudes Aquino. His nickname was Pikos. Their line continued and they have descendants to this day.

García-Manibusan

A Justo Manibusan García also from Hagåtña married Ángela de la Cruz. One of their sons married Magdalena Pereira Atoigue, and they have descendants. A daughter, Antonia, married Félix Martínez Camacho, and they were the parents of former Governor Carlos García Camacho and the grandparents of former Governor Félix Pérez Camacho.



JUSTO MANIBUSAN GARCÍA
1898

García-León Guerrero

A Santiago García from Pampanga in the Philippines moved to Guam at least by the 1850s and married a Chamorro woman named María de León Guerrero.

Their son Demetrio married Isabel San Nicolás and they have many descendants. Demetrio's signature is seen at the top of this post.

Demetrios' grandson, through his son Antonio who married Ana Cabrera Francisco, was Jesús Francisco Cabrera who was one of the casualties on the US Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.


JESÚS FRANCISCO GARCÍA, USN


A possible son of Santiago and María was Antonio León Guerrero García, and he married Gertrudes Villagómez Cabrera.


EVEN MORE GARCÍAS

Today, there are many more Garcías from many different origins. Filipino Garcías continue with new lines started, such as Jesse García who married Amparo (Paning) Díaz Gumataotao, and Tomás García who married Engracia Palomo, Father Pat García's grandparents. Jesse's brother Bert García has part-Chamorro grandchildren.

Then there are Hispanic Garcías. Juan Sáenz García, from Mexico, was stationed in the military on Guam before the war and married María Garrido Eustaquio. They had children who gave them descendants to this day. In Saipan, Juan García originally from Cuba but then in the U.S. military, married Fermina Sablan Pangelinan, and they had children and now descendants. Not too long ago, Thomas García, whose family hails from Enseñada, Mexico, had a child with Lynn Borja from Guam and another with Persha Mendiola, also from Guam.

And, given, the presence of Chamorros today all over the place, there are bound to be new lines of Chamorro or part-Chamorro Garcías that we're only beginning to know about.

So, while the García name was not as numerous among Chamorros as it was among Spaniards, Hispanics and Filipinos, little by little there are more and more of them as time progresses.

FAKE NEWS OF 1902

Tuesday, July 3, 2018


Yes, fake news is not just a modern phenomenon. It happened on Guam in 1902.

On the 9th of November, in the morning, the Court House in Hagåtña was the recipient of an anonymous letter, delivered by unseen hands.

The letter claimed to be from a fisherman who was casting his talåya at Alupang Island on the night of November 5. He said he saw, in the darkness, a little canoe approach the island, while he stayed quiet and hidden. A man and a woman landed on what little beach the island has. The man told the woman he was going to kill her. The woman asked for pardon. The fisherman author states that he recognized both persons as lovers living in the same house, but unmarried.

The letter goes on to state that the woman was killed and buried at the beach in Alupang.




Well, despite the questionable origin of the letter, the court officials decided they had to act. They formed a group to go out to Alupang and investigate. Those participating were the judge, Pancracio Palting; the island attorney, Tomás Anderson Calvo; the bailiff Lucas Camacho and the American Naval forensic physician, Dr HM Tolfree. Seeing the little island for themselves, they noticed nothing to suggest a murder nor a burial. There was only a little bit of sand that could have been dug up for a grave, the rest of the islet being made of hard coral rock. There was no trace of a freshly dug grave.

Returning to Hagåtña, the court decided to make a public announcement, not specifying a murder, but the receipt of a letter making a serious claim of a crime. The announcement insisted that the author of the anonymous letter make himself known within two days. The two days came and went, and no one showed up claiming to be the author. An announcement was made giving the author another three days. Still, no one showed up.



Alupang (or Alupat) Island today

The court's last move was to call on Pedro María Duarte y Andújar, a Spaniard married to a Chamorro who had been a government official under the Spanish administration and who kept working for the government even under the American flag, to act as a handwriting expert. Duarte was asked to study the writing and suggest a possible author, comparing the writing to the many documents kept in the island's archives.

It took Duarte some days, but he finally wrote a report, stating that he believed the letter was written by a Chamorro, but one with a good knowledge of Spanish. The grammar was basically good but the spelling was not. He suggested that the spelling was bad on purpose, to hide the identity of the author. Based on the handwriting he knew of many local people, he suggested three names as possible author of the anonymous letter.



Part of the Actual Letter written in Spanish
The grammar was OK, the spelling was not


All three people were brought to court for official questioning. All three denied being the author and of having any knowledge whatsoever about it.

The three suspects were let go. It was all a hoax, but one that cost the government a week or more of investigation.

As Duarte said, the perpetrator either wanted to distract the court from actual business, which may have included a case against the author, or to play a humorless joke on the government.



THE BEACH AREA OF ALUPANG
(Youtube : PlanetGuam)

IT HAPPENED AT PITI

Monday, July 2, 2018

The wharf at Punta Piti
Early 1900s


What major, life-changing event in the history of Guam happened at Piti?

Spanish rule over Guam ended at Piti on June 21, 1898 .

Two hundred and thirty years of Spanish rule over Guam came to a screeching halt in a matter of hours that day, and it happened at Piti.

It didn't happen at Hagåtña, the capital city. It didn't happen in Apra Harbor or at Sumay. It happened in Piti. Specifically, not far from the dock that made Punta Piti (Piti Point) important in those days.

Apra Harbor, of course, was where almost all ships anchored when coming to Guam. Sumay was an important village for that reason. One could get on a smaller boat and head into Sumay. But, if one wanted to go to the capital, Hagåtña, people in their smaller boats headed towards Punta Piti. It was faster for them to get a ride into Hagåtña from Piti, rather than take a bull, karabao or horse-driven carriage from Sumay.




So when the American Captain Glass came into Apra Harbor on June 20, 1898 with orders to capture the Spanish officials on Guam, Piti was drawn into historic events.

Glass was in his own ship, the USS Charleston , but he was accompanied by three transport ships. These American ships had been spotted sailing down the western coast of Guam, past Hagåtña, and some Spanish military officers and other private citizens went down to Piti to observe the arrival. In time, they got on boats and went out to meet the Charleston and found out, for the first time, that war existed between the US and Spain. The Spanish officers were ordered to deliver a letter to Spanish Governor Juan Marina, in which the surrender of the island to Captain Glass was demanded. Much later that day, as the day was coming to a close, a letter from Marina arrived, declining the order to come on board the Charleston , and requesting Glass to come ashore to meet Marina.




Spanish Governor of the Marianas Juan Marina y Vega
In 1897 while in Cavite, the Philippines

The following day, on June 21, an American contingent under the command of Lieutenant William Braunersreuther went ashore at Piti. There, Braunersreuther met Governor Marina and gave him thirty minutes to surrender himself to the American forces. Marina was placed under US custody and transported to one of the American ships. The Spanish and Chamorro soldiers were ordered to appear at Piti not later than 4 o'clock that afternoon.

In compliance with this order, the 54 Spanish and 52 Chamorro soldiers gathered at Piti on the afternoon of June 21 and were relieved of their weapons. The Spanish soldiers were transported to the American ships, and the Chamorro soldiers were told to return home to their families. The next day, June 22, the four American ships left Guam with all the Spanish military officers and soldiers to be taken to Manila. Spanish rule over Guam had come to an end on the shores of Piti.

Spanish rule ended over Guam. But Spanish rule would not end in the Northern Marianas till the following year, in 1899, since the US wanted only Guam. Spain held on to the Northern Marianas for another year till Spain sold them to Germany.


WHERE IS THE SPOT TODAY?

If you look at old maps of the dock at Punta Piti, it was located right across Cabras Island, which was separated, at the time, from the main island. This map below is from before World War II.



Here is an even older map, showing Piti's older location.




And here is an even older map, showing the location of the pantalán , or pier, at Punta Piti.




If we look at a modern, aerial view of this same area seen in the two old maps above, here's what we find :



So the older location of Piti, and the location of the dock in which area the surrender of Spanish power to the Americans in 1898 took place, was in the area of Atlantis, in the area circled above.

Here's what the place looks like today.




It was somewhere in this vicinity, near today's Atlantis tourist office in Piti, that Spanish rule over Guam came to an end. One hundred and twenty years ago.



SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Thursday, June 28, 2018


AYO I KUMUEKUENTOS, LALAYO' PAT MALALAGO'


"To the jealous," they say, "nothing is more frightful than laughter."

Your success is someone else's misery. They want what you have, and think that they don't have it.

"Why is he or she happy, and I am not?"

And so they try to subtract from your happiness by talking negatively about you or your success.

And so, the older people said, "The one who talks, is either jealous or wants what you have."

The frustration of the jealous, though, is that many times the happiness someone else has can not be taken away by any means. The jealous ends up feeling alone in a room full of smiles.

SAY IT AGAIN?

Tuesday, June 26, 2018


Yes, even in Chamorro we can be redundant. Saying the same thing twice.

Although it's something we can easily live with, it's good to explain the redundancy, so that people won't make the mistake of thinking they HAVE to write it the way they do, keeping the redundancy.

In Chamorro, we have a marvelous construct to make something a time or a place.

We simply add FAN in front of the word and then add -AN after the word. Doing so make the word a time period or a physical location.

For example, GUPOT or GUPUT means "to feast or party" or the noun "feast or party."

If you add FAN to GUPUT and -AN at the end of it, you get FANGUPUTAN.

That means, "The place of feasting or partying."

FAN/AN can also be used to call a period of time.

UCHAN means "rain" or "to rain." FANUCHÅNAN means "rainy season." The time when there is frequent rain.

Since FAN/AN do the job already, there is no need to add the word SAGAN (place of) when a word already has the FAN/AN prefix and suffix.

You can give the word SAGAN a break. The idea of "place of" is already handled by FAN/-AN.




SOME CHANGES

In Chamorro, when the N is followed by an S or a CH, that combination becomes Ñ.

So, FAN+CHOCHO becomes FAÑOCHO.

In the second picture above, FAN+SETBI becomes FAÑETBI.

In both cases, the -AN becomes a -YAN because it simply sounds better to the Chamorro ear to say FAÑOCHUYAN and FAÑETBIYAN rather than fañochuan or fañetbian.

Setbi , by the way, means "to serve, assist."

If there were a word fansetbisiyan, it would be based on the word setbisi , which I don't think exists in Chamorro. There is the word setbisio ("service") but that would then make it fañetbisiu'an.

DYNAMITING LATTE STONES

Monday, June 25, 2018


In 1919, the Naval Government of Guam was building a new road from Hagåtña to Yoña . As the road crew ascended the hill past the Pågo River, they came upon eight latte stones. Only three of them were still standing erect; five of them lay on the earth. Some of them stood in the way of the planned road. Finding the pillars too heavy to be moved, what do you think they decided to do?

Yes, that's right. Blow them up with dynamite! Five or more centuries old. Just blow them up.

The American foreman, a Mr. Bell, set off the first explosion. Seconds later, his sleeve was ripped by flying pieces of rock.

Bell's Chamorro assistants saw this and told him they'd have no more part in blowing up latte stones. If Bell wanted them removed, he'd have to blow them up himself. Those flying slivers of rock were enough to convince the Chamorro workers that Americans had no guarantee of being immune to the revenge of the spirits. The workers knew that latte stones meant both graves and homes, for traces of both were usually found where latte stones were found. "The owner of this house is angry with us," the Chamorro workers said, "and they will manage to kill us all."

The explosions and road work eventually revealed a gold mine of historic remains. Male and female skeletons in abundance, sling stones, potsherds, a broken pestle, a polishing stone, adzes and scrapers. The bodies had been buried face down, their feet pointing east. The biggest skull had a large rock on top of it. Why was it there?

I don't know what became of the standing latte stones, the bones and the artifacts. I'm not even sure of the exact location of the site. It would sure be nice to have those answers, so we could possibly go back and see how we can undo some of the damage done by dynamite and steamrollers.

Source : The Guam News Letter



SAIPAN : LUISES YAN ESTANISLAOS

Thursday, June 21, 2018

Garapan Church in the 1930s


Before World War II, Spanish Jesuits staffed the Catholic missions of Saipan and Luta.

These Jesuit missionaries established on Saipan two organizations for boys and young men, just as they had been doing for many years in Spain. The aim of these two organizations was the religious formation of the members.

Age divided these two societies.

The Congregation of SAN ESTANISLAO was for boys who had made their First Holy Communion (7 years old) up to around 15 years old. It was named after Saint Stanislaus Kostka, a Polish Jesuit saint who died at the age of 17.

The Congregation of SAN LUIS GONZAGA was for boys older than 15, up until they got married. This group was named after Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, an Italian Jesuit saint who died at the age of 23. These two young, male saints were to be the model for the young males in these societies.

In Spain, members of the two groups were called Luises and Estanislaos . I don't know if they were called this in Saipan; all the members back then are now passed away! But it's possible they were, even if only on occasion by the Spanish priest.

Like any organization, they had their regular meetings and religious functions. In parts of Spain, the Luises met every third Sunday of the month for spiritual reflection and prayer.




These statues of San Luis Gonzaga and San Estanislao in the Mt Carmel Cathedral in Chalan Kanoa, Saipan are echoes of the past. Many people wonder, "Who are these saints and why are they here?" Now they have the answer with this blog post.


ESTABLISHED IN 1932

In April of 1932, the Spanish Jesuits in Saipan established the Congregation of San Luís Gonzaga in Garapan. Though the Chamorros were the majority, the Carolinians were well represented.

In time, every third Sunday of the month, the members attended the same Mass and received Holy Communion as a group. Mass was followed by a spiritual talk given just to the members. Gatherings usually ended with some kind of social time, such as a meal or snacks ( merienda ), once at the home of the Tomokane family.


ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF THE CONGREGATION OF SAN LUIS GONZAGA
April 1932


Juan Matsunaga
Daniel Matsunaga
David Reyes
José Muña
Joaquín Santos
Juan Mendiola
Jesús Dueñas
Jesús Tudela
José Villagómez
Manasés Matsunaga
Gregorio Arriola
Germán de León Guerrero
Tomás Agulto
Vicente Cruz
Godofredo Sánchez
Gregorio Castro
Pedro Camacho
Antonio Reyes
Carlos Torres
Luís Arriola
Efrain Matsunaga
Francisco Sablan
Benedicto Lizama
Vicente Capileo
Luís Santos
Elías Malite
Vidal Selepeo
Francisco Teregeyo
Albert Fitipual
Tomás Igimara
Aniceto Teregeyo
Alejandro Sablan
José Olopai
Tomás Ríos
Antonio Díaz
Vicente Cepeda
Gabriel Boyer
Francisco Borja
Martín Borja
Antonio Cabrera Camacho
Leonardo Cabrera
José Cepeda
Bonifacio Esteves
Vicente Babauta
Luís Santos
Juan Cepeda
Tomás Blas
Antonio Rogolifoi
Jesús Ríos
José de León Guerrero
Joaquín Díaz
Torcuato Borja
Alberto Tenorio
Enrique Lizama
Juan Limes
Gregorio Camacho
Vicente Palacios
Basilio Ogarto
José Fitial



From among these members, the following were office holders :

Jesús Ríos - Prefect
José de León Guerrero - Assistant
Joaquín Díaz - Secretary
Torcuato Borja - Treasurer
Alberto Tenorio - Warden
Enrique Lizama - Instructor

Juan Limes - Councilor
Gregorio Camacho - Councilor
Vicente Palacios - Councilor
Basilio Ogarto - Councilor
José Fitial - Councilor


VICENTE DE BORJA YAN I CHILENO

Tuesday, June 19, 2018


In July of 1902, Vicente Taitano de Borja, a leading citizen of Sumay, took in a Chilean guest named David Soto.

Soto was a member of a sailing crew. There were other sailors from Chile with him on their stopover at Guam. For whatever reason, Borja and Soto became acquainted and Borja welcomed Soto into his home for three days. After weeks or months on the high seas, I'm sure several days of rest and entertainment on land was a welcome relief for Soto.

On the third day, a Sunday morning, at around 6AM, Soto asked Borja if he could borrow his boat. He wanted to go to Punta Piti, the usual place people landed when they wanted to go to Hagåtña, the capital city. Borja lent him the boat.

At 9AM, Soto was joined up now by another Chilean shipmate, one Miguel Mendoza. They left Punta Piti in Borja's boat, headed back to Sumay. Perhaps Soto wanted Mendoza to join him in Sumay for a day of fun or adventure.



Punta Piti (right) and A'papa (Cabras) (left)

Half-way to Sumay, a strong wind knocked the boat over, and both Soto and Mendoza fell into the waters of Apra Harbor. They struggled for two hours, hanging onto the capsized boat. After around 2 hours in this situation, Mendoza dove under the boat, we assume to try and push it back up from underneath. But he never resurfaced. Not long after, Soto managed to get the boat upright, though it was full of water. He got to shore and found a talayero , a man fishing with a talåya net, who took Soto in his small canoe to Piti to report the incident.

Naturally, the government authorities had to keep open the possibility that there was foul play, since they had only Soto's version of events. But the next morning, a government party found Mendoza's lifeless body washed up at Leyang, a location on Cabras Island (called A'papa in Chamorro). An autopsy performed later that day showed that there were no signs on Mendoza's body of a fight or struggle. There were only two superficial wounds, one of his left shoulder and another on his left ear, both easily caused by rubbing against coral rocks in the harbor.

Mendoza's decaying body was quickly buried at Pigo' Cemetery that same afternoon by Padre Palomo.

The only wrinkle in the story is that a third Chilean sailor, Francisco Carceles, was interviewed and said that Soto was a drunkard and a troublemaker, while Mendoza, the dead man, was not a drinker and not a troublemaker. But the physical evidence showed that, in Soto's case, being a drunkard and troublemaker do not necessarily make one a murderer.



Vicente Taitano de Borja

The boat owner, Vicente Taitano de Borja, was also interviewed. The judicial proceedings in those days were done in Spanish, with interpreters provided for those who needed one. Borja didn't need an interpreter; he understood Spanish. He testified that Soto had asked to borrow his boat, and that, up till then, Borja had not gotten his boat back. It was still in the harbor.

I hope he eventually got it back.

RIP Miguel Mendoza. A Chilean's bones reside in Pigo' Cemetery.


VICENTE TAITANO DE BORJA

Born in Hagåtña, a resident of Sumay.

He was the son of Gregorio Guerrero de Borja and Alejandra Luján Taitano.

He was a Cabeza de Barangay (neighborhood leader) in Sumay for a while.

MAULEK-ÑA MA PUNO'

Monday, June 18, 2018

Damage in Hagåtña after the 1940 Typhoon


The worst typhoon to hit Guam since 1900 came to the island on November 3, 1940, just a year before the war. Winds got up to around 150 miles per hour, at a time when most of the island's homes were made of wood, tin or thatched roofs. Damages were estimated at $1.6 million in 1940 values.

The typhoon destroyed so much of the vegetation on the island that the cattle didn't have enough to eat. So, rather than see their cows die a slow death by starvation, many cattle owners butchered their cows and ate the meat.

In 1930, there were around 7000 head of cattle on Guam. Eleven years later, in 1941, there should have been more, but in fact there were only around 6000 head of cattle due to the killing of large numbers of cattle after the 1940 typhoon.




As an aside, notice how the U.S. newspaper makes sure to mention that all the "Americans" were safe and sound. The 20,000 Chamorros of Guam, at the time, were not American.



OFISIÅLES SINAJAÑA

Friday, June 15, 2018


From a list of Chamorro government officials in the 1830s, we find the following officials for Sinajaña.

JUAN GOGO was the "Mayor" or Gobernadorcillo ("little governor").

ANTOLÍN MARCHENA was the second-in-command or Teniente .

JOSÉ TEDTAOTAO was the Agricultural Officer or Juez de Palmas, Sementeras y Animales (Judge of Palms, Fields and Animals).

MARIANO NAPUTI , AGUSTÍN QUIDACHAY and LUÍS ATOIGUE were the neighborhood leaders or Cabezas de Barangay (heads of the barangay ). A barangay was a district or neighborhood.

Antolín Marchena is an interesting name.There is a Spanish last name Marchena as well as a Spanish town named Marchena and, sure enough, a captain named José Marchena is listed in the 1727 Guam Census as being in the Spanish company of soldiers. But this could mean he was from Spain or from Latin America, and even possibly (though less likely) the Philippines. He was married to María Salas. Quite probably it is their son José who appears in the 1758 Guam Census, married to Rosalía Tailaf. That spelling of the last name could be "off," but it seems pretty clear that it's a Chamorro name.

Antolín could be the son or grandson of José and Rosalía. By 1897, there is only one Marchena left on Guam, a woman named Josefa, quite possibly the daughter of Antolín. Josefa is married to Casildo Lajo and they have no children. The Marchena name died out.

As you can see, other than Marchena, all the surnames are Chamorro, as the more mixed Chamorro population (those with foreign blood) lived mainly in Hagåtña and those with less foreign blood (sometimes none at all!) lived in the outlying villages.

CHATFINO' : KARÅHO

Wednesday, June 13, 2018


This is one of those Chamorro words which makes your nåna say, "Heiiiiii!!!!" or may even win you a slap in the face ( patmåda ).

Chatfino ' means "swearing, cursing, cussing, profanity" and the like. Fino ' means "speech" and chat means "defective, imperfect, faulty, flawed" and so on. Chatfino ' literally means "deficient speech."

Karåho is borrowed from the Spanish carajo and, depending on the country, it can be an extremely offensive word, or it can be less so.

In Chamorro, there is no literal meaning for karåho among modern Chamorro speakers. We just know it as an expletive, a word to express anger, whether it be a mild disappointment to a strong opposition.

Some older people think it comes from a mixture of the Spanish word cara (face) and the Chamorro possessive suffix - ho , meaning "my." "My face."

But the word we borrowed is purely Spanish and there are many theories where the word originated. It goes back at least to the 900s AD. Different regions of Spain pronounce the word differently and there is a Portuguese version, too. In many places, the word is used for the male organ.

Whatever the different origins and usage, in most cases, carajo is a taboo word. It shouldn't be said in polite company. Different places in the Spanish-speaking world soften the word to caramba , caray or carrizo .

Many Chamorros shorten karåho to karao . Even karao would have earned you a slap in the face from granny in the old days.

Because it is (traditionally) a very impolite word, many Chamorros also modify it karåmba , karånchot, karambola, kalachucha and other forms.

The fact that the Juan Malimångga comic strip felt free to use it in a newspaper shows that modern generations are not attuned to the gravity this word had for the older generations.

SI TAN ANA'N ANDAUT

Monday, June 11, 2018

Ana Pangelinan Martínez Underwood
in 1938


Ana Pangelinan Martínez, who married the American former Marine James H. Underwood, was one of the most prominent Chamorro women on Guam in the first half of the 20th century.

Her husband was the U.S. Postmaster on Guam for many years, and her brother, Pedro Pangelinan Martínez, was a successful businessman. She lived at the center of Guam's social life, with one foot in the elite Chamorro world and the other foot in the U.S. Navy officers' social circle. She was thus involved in many events and affairs of the island. But she found one of her greatest opportunities to contribute to the community through the Church. She was close to the Spanish Capuchin missionaries and she was in charge of the religious education program at the Hagåtña Cathedral, educating hundreds of children every day after public school got out around lunch time. She was responsible for assigning the teachers to their respective classes.

Thus, Tan Ana was well-known among all classes of people, from her contemporaries down to the little children, since she took a very public role in the Church, to which 98% of the Chamorro people of Guam belonged.

It isn't any surprise, then, that a little children's song was composed which included her name. God knows who wrote the words, but everyone knew Tan Ana and she found a place in the song. As are many children's songs, it's playful.

Keep in mind that most Chamorros in those days pronounced Underwood AN - DA - UT (OOT).



In a court document, James Underwood is referred to as "Santiago Andaut," "Santiago" being "James" in Spanish and "Andaut" the Chamorro way of pronouncing "Underwood."



Dingaling muñeka, bestidu-ña ni asut.
Håye lumaksiye hao? Si Tan Ana'n Andaut!

Dingaling doll, its dress of blue.
Who sewed it for you? Tan Ana'n Underwood!



AYUDA I RED CROSS

Friday, June 8, 2018


Apparently, to raise money for the American Red Cross on Guam in 1917, people could pay to see a movie (or was it a play?) and the proceeds went to that relief agency.

Officially began on Guam in 1916, the Red Cross started here right before America's entry into the First World War in 1917 and some of the first fundraising efforts went to support that cause.

The Chamorro leaflet says the following, keeping the original spelling :


Segundo Viajen Teatro
(Second Trip to the Theater)

pot y mas manmauleg na personaje
(for the best persons)

para y beneficion y Red Cross
(for the benefit of the Red Cross)

Gui Paingen Damengo Dia
(On the night of Sunday day)

26 de Agosto
(26 of August)

Ayuda i Red Cross yan unnamagufjao
(Help the Red Cross and entertain yourself)


al mismo tiempo
(at the same time)


BARATO NA PRECIO :
(CHEAP PRICE :)

Primera Clase 50 Centimos
(First Class 50 cents)

Segunda Clase 25 Centimos
(Second Class 25 cents)

Tiquet para este na teatro umabende guijeja mismo gui guima
(Tickets for this show will be sold right there at the house)

y teatro gui paingen Sabalo yan Damengo.
(of the theater on Saturday and Sunday evening.)



NOTES

1. Chamorro borrows a lot from Spanish, especially when needing terms for things and concepts which were also imported from abroad, such as "theater." There are some Spanish loan words here which could have easily been replaced by indigenous terms, such as taotågue for petsonåhe . Both mean a "class of people," and Chamorro can and does use either term interchangeably. I man maolek na taotågue, or i man maolek na petsonåhe mean the same.

2. Then we see a borrowing from English. We can imagine that tickets were hardly needed, or used, in the Marianas during Spanish times. Our elders did borrow the Spanish word for "ticket," "billete," which would then be spelled in Chamorro biyete . But perhaps the word wasn't used much and so when tickets became more used when the Americans took over Guam, the people picked up the English word "ticket." Still, in this ad, "ticket" is spelled the Spanish way, using a Q instead of a K.

TWO LOVERS POINT? MAYBE NOT

Wednesday, June 6, 2018


A lot of people take for granted that the background scene on the official Guam Seal is Two Lovers Point, or Puntan Dos Amåntes. People look at it and go, "Yeah. Looks like Two Lovers Point." As just one example among many, a recent Fino' Chamorro column in a local newspaper clearly states that the background scene is Puntan Dos Amåntes.

But how do we know for sure it is?

My response is made in this video. But, after the video, I have provided some photos and maps to help explain things.






For handy reference :


THE 1917 DESCRIPTION






THE HAGÅTÑA RIVER BEFORE THE WAR





From 1835, we see that the Hagåtña River broke into two directions. One flowed into the bay to the east, to the east of where the Paseo is today, more or less in the same spot the river empties today. The other flow went west towards Aniguak, emptying into the bay across from where the Corn Building used to be.





The same thing can be seen in this 1922 map above.




In this aerial photograph of Hagåtña during the American bombardment in 1944, we still see the river empty to the east of the channel. After the American return to Guam, the military bulldozed the destroyed city of Hagåtña and pushed the debris out to sea east of the channel, forming the present-day Paseo, in between the channel and the mouth of the river.




As the pre-war pictorial evidence suggests, the eastern mouth of the pre-war river flowed east of the channel and therefore east of the present-day Paseo. From this location, Two Lovers Point cannot be seen.

I FÅTSO NA NÅFTAN

Monday, June 4, 2018




Desde ke un dingu ham

manmamamaisen i famagu'on,

"Malak måno si nåna?"

Ti siña hu oppe siha magåhet

na un traidute yo'.

Ennao mina' mama'tinas yo' estoria

na un susede un desgråsia

ni pumuno' lina'lå'-mo.


Ya hu konne' siha guato gi sementeyo

ya gi un nåftan nai ma tuge' i na'an

un difunta ni pareho na'an-miyo

man mamo'lo siha flores-ñiha.

Milak påpa' lago'-ñiha,

piniten guinaiya ni ti un merese.

Ya gi este fåtso na nåftan

nai ma håfot todo i anyulang

i fåtso na guinaiya-mo.


Ya på'go nai un bira hao mågi,

håfa mohon malago'-mo

na bai sangåne i famagu'on?

Ti siña lumå'la' ta'lo

i esta ma håfot na måtai.


Ever since you left us
the children have been asking,
"Where did mom go?"
I cannot answer them truthfully
that you betrayed me.
That is why I made up a story
that you had an accident
that took away your life.

And I took them there to the cemetery
and at a grave where a name was written
of a dead woman whose name is the same as yours
they put their flowers.
Their tears flowed down,
the pain of love which you don't deserve.
And at this false grave
are buried all the fragments
of your false love.

And now that you have come back,
what do you want
me to tell the children?
A dead person already buried
cannot live again.





SI YU'US UN GINEGGUE RAINA

Thursday, May 31, 2018


Practicing Catholics are very familiar with the Salve Regina prayer by the time they are teenagers, if not earlier. It is one of the most used prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary, besides the Hail Mary.

We do not know for sure how long ago this prayer was translated into Chamorro. We know from early historical accounts that Sanvitores translated many prayers, the catechism and some hymns into Chamorro from the first days of his arrival in 1668. Maybe the Salve Regina was one of them.

Many prayers are set to music, and this is one of them. The melody sung by Chamorros for this prayer is borrowed entirely from a Spanish melody, well-known in traditional, Catholic Spain.


ANTIPHONAL SINGING

I am old enough to have experienced hearing this hymn or prayer sung by entire congregations of Chamorros who sang it from memory.

The real custom and tradition is for the people to sing this antiphonally. That means one side of the church will sing one line, then the next line is sung by the opposite side. Usually our churches have just two sets of pews (benches), left and right with a middle aisle separating them.

I would get goose bumps listening to our older people sing this back in the 1960s and 70s. I didn't understand the words back then, but it still made a deep impression on me.


THE RECORDING

The Chamorro version is followed first by a literal English translation, then by the traditional English wording.

Numerous language notes follow at the end of this post.





Si Yu'us un gineggue Raina yan Nånan mina'åse', (1)
(God defend you Queen and Mother of Mercy,)
(Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy,)

lina'la', minames yan ninanggan-måme.
(our life, sweetness and hope.)
(our life, our sweetness and our hope.)

Hågo in a'agang ni man ma destilådon famagu'on Eba.
(You do we call, the exiled children of Eve.)
(To thee do we cry poor banished children of Eve.)

Hågo in tatanga, man u'ugong yan manåtånges ham
(You do we desire, groaning and weeping)
(To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping)

guine gi sagan lågo. (2)
(here in the place towards the sea.)
(in this valley of tears.)

Gusse' nai pues Saina abogådan-måme
(Quickly then Lady our advocate)
(Turn then most gracious advocate)

leklek mågi ennao i man yoåse' fanatan-mo
(turn here that merciful look of yours)
(thine eyes of mercy toward us)

ya despues de este i man ma destilådon-måme
(and after this our exile)
(and after this our exile)

na' li'e' ham nu i matunan finañagu-mo as Jesukristo. (3)
(make us see your blessed child Jesus.)
(show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus.)

Asaina sen yoåse'! Asaina Yiniusan! Asaina mames na siempre Bithen Maria! (4)
(Most merciful Lady! Godly Lady! Sweet and ever Virgin Lady Mary!)
(O clement! O loving! O sweet Virgin Mary!)

Tayuyute ham Sånta Nånan Yu'us para in merese kumonsige i prinemeten
(Pray for us Holy Mother of God that we may merit to obtain the promises)
(Pray for us O Holy Mother of God that we may be made worthy of the promises)

i Saina-ta as Jesukristo. Amén. Jesús. (5)
(of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Jesus.)
(of Christ. Amen.)


NOTES


(1) Un gineggue . Goggue means "to defend, protect." The prayer means, "May God defend you Mary." This translation comes from a double meaning in the original Latin. In Latin, the prayers says "Salve Regina." The Latin word salve can mean two things. First, it comes from the word salus which means "safety, salvation, well being." This is where one can get the meaning "defend, protect." But salve was also used by the Romans as a greeting when meeting each other. It makes sense that a nice way to greet someone is to wish them well, to wish them safety and well being. It is in this sense that Latin uses salve to say "hail" as in "Hail holy queen" as a greeting or salutation. It doesn't literally mean that we wish that God saves Mary, for He has already from the first moment of her conception.

(2) Sagan lågo . In Chamorro, lågo always means "in the direction of the sea." It makes sense, then, that lågo can also mean a place far away, separated from us here in our homeland. Thus, a place of exile, far from us and separated from us by the vast ocean, can be sagan lågo .

(3) Finañago . Fañågo means "to give birth to," so finañågo (noun form) literally means "that which was birthed," that is, a child.

(4) Yiniusan . This means "divine," "godly" or "godlike." It comes from the word Yu'us or "God." The original Latin of this prayer says pia , which can mean many things! It can mean "dutiful, conscientious, faithful, respectful, righteous, good, upright." We get the English word "pious" from it. In a religious sense, "pious" can mean many things, as well! It can mean "godly, holy, saintly, devout, reverent." The English version calls Mary "loving" in the sense that the pious loves God.

(5) Jesús . An old Spanish custom to sometimes add the name of Jesus at the end of a prayer. Perhaps it comes from a strong devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. It isn't done in English-speaking Catholic cultures.



ORIGINAL SPANISH MELODY





SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Tuesday, May 29, 2018


MAMA' I HAGGAN
(To make oneself a turtle)


Like many other cultures around us, many Chamorros in the old days hid behind a wall of shyness and passivity.

They might be starving, but if you offer them food or drink, they will turn you down two or three times before they accept. And, if you stop offering after only the first or second invitation, they will sit there for an hour looking amorously at the food or drink but never touch it and depart starving still.

This trait is still alive and well among many of our people to this day, although it is disappearing among many others.

Some of the most difficult things to ask a Chamorro is "What do you want? Which do you like? Would you like some?" The answer is often, "Whatever." Very helpful! Not!

So, in the olden days, people would say " Mama' i haggan !" "You're being the turtle!"

You pretend not to want something but you really do. You're just hiding your true desires, like a turtle hides in its shell.

This did not refer only to food, but to anything a person might really want, but pretended not to.

HAGGAN = turtle

MAN (verb marker) + FA ' (to make) = MAMA '

FINE'NENA MÅTAI

Monday, May 28, 2018

+JESUS ROSA MARIANO


As far as I can tell from the records, the first Chamorro casualty in the Vietnam War was the late Jesús Rosa Mariano, who was a Specialist Four in the US Army.

He was just 20 years old when he died.

Jesús was born on Guam in 1945, the son of Vicente Fejerang Mariano and the former Águeda de la Rosa. They lived in Mangilao.




In July of 1965 his tour of duty in Vietnam started. On September 27 of the same year, he was killed in action. His body was recovered and he is now buried at Veterans Cemetery in Guam.

Two more Guam men died in Vietnam in 1965, the first year of Guam casualties. But Mariano was the first.

Rest in peace. May all of our Guam and CNMI casualties in all wars rest in peace.





HU NONE HAO MARIA

Thursday, May 24, 2018



This Chamorro hymn to Mary speaks about the beauty of Mary. It is primarily a spiritual beauty, that came about through God's doing, God's grace, while Mary, as a free human being, cooperated, accepted and followed through with that grace.




Hu none hao Maria, saina-ho yan Jesus; (1)
(I greet you Mary, my mother and mother of Jesus;)
gef pulan yo' gi tano', yan gi me'nan Yu'us.
(watch over me well on earth and before God.)

Tai tituka na rosa, paopao yan gef pågo, (2)
(Rose without thorn, fragrant and most beautiful),
tåya' tinifok Yu'us, gåtbo-ña ke hågo. (3)
(there is no work of God more beautiful than you.)
Gi ginegue-mo Nåna, hu po'lo yo' på'go
(Into your care, Mother, I place myself today)
sa' gi kanai-mo siha ti ya-ho chumågo'. (4)
(because I do not like to stray far from your hands.)

I rosa yan i lirio, gef gåtbo yan paopao, (5)
(The rose and lily, are very beautiful and fragrant,)
masamai na Raina-ho, ti u ha ige hao. (6)
(my beautiful Queen, they will not outdo you.)
I gaige giya hågo, magåhet na åtdao.
(He who is with you is the true sun.)
Ya guiya muna' gåtbo yan nina' paopao hao.
(And it is He who made you beautiful and fragrant.)

O påharos chatanmak, an oga'an tåftaf, (7)
(O birds of the dawn, when it is early in the morning,)
katiye si Maria, bonito yan åpmam.
(cry out to Mary, beautifully and prolonged.)
Ya hamyo bo'bo' hånom, kantåye ekahat
(And you springs of water, sing smoothly)
i Be'bo' Paraiso, Nanå-ta tai mancha. (8)
(the the Font of Paradise, our sinless Mother.)


NOTES

1. None . This is an old term, now mostly forgotten. It doesn't even appear in the most recent Chamorro dictionary. Even if you ask older people who can sing this hymn from memory, most won't be able to tell you what the word means. It means "to salute, to greet."

Saina is also used, which generally means anyone superior to you. In this case, it means "mother." Mary is our mother in a spiritual way, and Christ's mother both spiritually and also physically, or biologically.

2. På'go . Another old term that most have forgotten. The usual meaning of the word is "today" or "now."  But the word can also mean "beautiful." A recreated traditional Chamorro village center in Inalåhan is called Gef Pa'go. Although few older people understand the word to mean "beautiful," all Chamorro speakers understand the word chatpa'go , which literally means "defectively or imperfectly beautiful," and from there we get the definition "ugly."

The song also says that Mary is a "rose without thorn." This is a reference to Mary's sinlessness. All of us, no matter how admirable we are, some for their physical beauty, others for their intelligence, still others for this or that talent, we are roses with thorns. We have our admirable traits (rose), but also our painful defects (thorns). Not so with Mary, who was free from sin (thorns) from the first moment of her human existence or conception.

3. Tinifok . From the word tufok which means "to weave." Tinifok is the product, the woven item. The hymn uses tinifok as a metaphor for Mary, whose Immaculate Conception is the work of God.

4. Chumågo '. Chågo ' means "far" and chumågo ' is the verb form which means "to go far from," or "to stray away from."

5. Gef pågo . In the original hymn, as published by Påle' Román, the phrase is, " lu gåtbo yan paopao ." Lu means "even though," as in "despite the fact that." As an example, " Metgot lu dikkike' ." "He is strong even though he is small." So the phrase really means "Even though the rose and the lily are beautiful and fragrant, they will not outdo you in beauty or fragrance, my beautiful Queen." Due to the fact that lu is hardly ever used nowadays, the choir decided to change the word lu to gef , which alters the original meaning. Lu isn't included in the most recent Chamorro dictionary.

6. Masamai . An old word meaning "beautiful." Again, this word does not appear in the latest Chamorro dictionary. Many Chamorro speakers do not know the word.

7. Påharos . Most Chamorro speakers use the word paluma for "bird." But older speakers were also familiar with another Spanish-borrowed term for "bird" which is påharo or påharos .

8. Tai mancha . Måncha (borrowed from the Spanish language) literally means "stain," but theologically is can also mean "sin." Sin is like a stain on the soul.


ORIGINAL HYMN

The Chamorro hymn is based on a Basque original entitled Ama Maite Maria , meaning "Lovable Mother Mary."

The Basques are a race of people, with their own language and culture, who live in Spain and France. Påle' Román, a Spanish Capuchin missionary who lived on Guam from 1915 till 1941, was Basque and translated some Basque hymns into Chamorro.

I cannot find an audio recording of it, but here is the music of the Basque original, which matches the music of the Chamorro hymn.


*Thanks to Lawrence Borja for finding the Basque original

AN GUAHA MÅTAI

Tuesday, May 22, 2018


Outdoor light on in broad daylight


An guaha måtai gi halom familia, na' fan mañila' todo i kandet sanhiyong.

(When there is a death in the family, turn on all the outdoor lights.)


Some families practice the tradition that when someone living in that home passes away, they turn on all the outdoor lights from the moment of death until after the burial.

Even during the daytime, the outdoor lights are kept on. Some families keep all the inside lights on, too, even at night when everyone wants to sleep.

It's a way of telling others in the neighborhood or passing by that there's a death in that household. Seeing all those lights lit up all day and all night draws attention and alerts everyone seeing it.

In fact, one could make a joke if you see a home with the outdoor lights accidentally left on in broad daylight by asking, " Kao guaha måtai - miyo ?" "Do you have a death (in the family)?" Just know in advance, though, that, depending on the sense of humor of the people involved, a family could be offended by such a remark if, in fact, there were no death.

AN EARLY DIVORCE : DIVISION OF PROPERTY

Monday, May 21, 2018


Under Spain, married people in the Marianas could not divorce.

In practice, some husbands and wives physically separated, some even taking on a new partner. But none of this was legal. There was no legal effect, and there were spiritual penalties imposed by the Church, in such cases.

In the first year of American rule on Guam, however, a tiny number of couples were already filing for divorce. By 1901, the Naval Governor confirmed these early divorces through an Executive Order. Though legal now, divorces remained rare in Guam until the modern era.

In 1902, a couple in Sumay divorced. The court awarded the woman custody of the two children born of the marriage, and the following goods which the couple had accrued during their marriage :

One spotted cow
One large frying pan ( carajay )
One large clay jar ( tinaja )
One small clay jar ( tinaja )
One mirror
Two glass jars
One sewing machine
One flag
One processional image
Two statues (San José and La Dolorosa)
One urn
Two blankets
One metate
One small pot
One rosary
One carriage
One young cow
Two young pigs
One coconut grove in As Esteban (located in Hågat)

The court ordered that the man bring these items (except for the coconut grove, obviously!) to an in-between, Ignacio Mendiola Cruz, better known as Ignacio'n Tu'an, who lived in Sumay. From Ton Ignacio, the woman would retrieve these items. The woman also had moved to Hågat, probably to live with relatives.



Various tinåha

The tinåha (from Spanish tinaja ) was a clay or earthenware jar, found in every Chamorro home. Large ones were put underneath the roof of the house to catch rain water ( hånom sinaga ).



Metåte

A metåte was an indispensable part of a Chamorro kitchen back when our people are corn-based food on a daily basis. On the metåte , dried and cured corn was ground into a flour to make titiyas (tortilla) and other staple foods. The oblong stone used to crush the corn is called the måno (Spanish, for "hand"). The metåte was carefully treasured in the home, as they were not easy to replace if they accidentally cracked. Mothers passed them down to their daughters as if they were bequeathing gold jewelry to them!


ALL FOR THE LOVE OF RITA. OR MAYBE TUBA?

Friday, May 18, 2018
Portrait by Paul Jacoulet


Well, there are two versions of the story. It's up to you which one to believe!

Strange things happen at night. Even in the small, sleepy village of Asan in 1902.

Pedro Evaristo Salas, from Aniguak, was spending the night at his friend's house in Asan, a young man of 28 years named Francisco Taitano Taijito.

Just past midnight, Francisco and Pedro were awakened by a man calling out, " Hombre ! Hombre !" "Man! Man!"

The two of them getting up and going outside to see what was up, they found an American Marine Private named Nelson Tracey standing there.

"Are you the brother of Rita?" Tracey asked Taijito. "No," Taijito responded.

Tracey turned to Salas and asked, "Is he the brother of Rita?" "No," Salas replied.

At that, so testified Taijito and Salas, Tracey took out his revolver and pointed it at Taijito's chest. He forced the two men to accompany him to Salas' house in Aniguak, at which point Tracey grabbed Salas by the collar, asking for a fight. Salas declined and, when Tracey wasn't looking, Salas quietly entered his home and evaded further involvement. That left Taijito alone with Tracey, who forced Taijito to go with him to Rita's house to call for her. Finding no one at Rita's house, Tracey let Taijito go and they went their separate ways.

It would have ended there, except that Taijito and Salas then filed a complaint in court against Tracey, accusing him of threatening them.

When questioned in court, Tracey had a different story to tell. He says that he was out for a walk in Asan that night, where he lived. He saw a young man in the street and he asked him if he knew where he could get some tuba. The young man said he'd go look, and Tracey gave him a peso. The young man said he'd be back in 10 minutes. When 30 minutes went by with no tuba or young man in sight, Tracey went looking for him. He found someone resembling the young man walking, and he asked him if he found tuba. The person said "no." Tracey asked him if he was the person he gave a peso to. Again the person said "no." Where could he find the man, then, Tracey asked.

That's when this young man went to the home of a woman named Rosa, which happened to be Taijito's house, and called out " Hombre !" When Taijito and Salas exited the house and met Tracey on the road, Tracey asked him if he was Rosa's brother. Taijito said he was not the brother of Rita, nor of María, but he was the brother of Rosa, although all three women were sisters.

Tracey felt he was being played around with and put his hand on Taijito's shoulder, asking for the tuba. At some point his revolver fell from his jacket to the ground and he picked it up, but at no time did he threaten anyone with it. Then, a village official, Carlos Maañao Tydingco, came on the scene, at which point Taijito went away.

Tydingco was also questioned and said that he saw none of this happen at all!

So it became the word of two against one, with no independent witnesses to corroborate either side's stories.

So we will never know. Was the American Marine Nelson Tracey looking for Rita that night? Or for tuba instead? Was it for love, or for liquor?




Tracey's name on a list of Marines stationed on Guam in 1901

TÅYA' NA MÅFÅTTO GI ORA

Tuesday, May 15, 2018



Some people call it "Chamorro Time." Others call it "Island Time."

It's the notion that many people don't show up on time for things here in our islands. Mind you, even Filipinos talk about "Filipino Time" and Mexican Americans talk about "Mexican Time."

This one lady told me the story of her mother, who was always on "Chamorro Time."


Fuera de i Misa, tåya' na måfåtto si nanå-ho gi ora.
(Besides Mass, my mother never came on time.)

Yanggen guaha lisåyon måtai, pat gupot pat ma gradua i famagu'on,
(If there was a rosary for the dead, or party or graduation of the kids,)

todo i tiempo atrasåsao si nanå-ho måtto.
(my mother always arrived late.)

Ha na' fan gof mamåhlao ham,
(She made us very ashamed,)

sa' hame kumokonne' gue' para masea håfa na okasion,
(besides we were the ones taking her to whatever occasion,)

sa' ti mañuñugon si nanan-måme,
(because our mother didn't drive,)

lao tåya' tumungo' na guiya ha' muna' fan atrasao ham man måtto.
(but no one knew that it was she who was making us arrive late.)

Annai esta gof malångo si nanan-måme,
(When our mother was already very sick,)

ya gaige gi espitåt, ya esta båba i korason-ña yan chatsaga hinagong-ña,
(and was at the hospital, and her heart was bad and she had trouble breathing,)

ha atan ham todos ya ilek-ña, "Bai hu måtai lamo'na."
(she looked at all of us and said, "Tonight I will die.")

Ilek-ña i che'lu-ho mås påtgon,
(My youngest sister said,)

"Nang, ti para un måtai lamo'na. Tåya' na måfåtto hao gi ora."
("Mom, you won't die tonight. You never come on time.")

Ya magåhet na måtai si nanan-måme gi sigiente dia gi talo'åne.
(And it was true that our mother died the next day at noon.)




OFISIÅLES ASAN

Monday, May 14, 2018


From a list of Chamorro government officials in the 1830s, we find these names for the village of Asan.

CLEMENTE MEGOFÑA was the village mayor, or Gobernadorcillo ("little governor). His name appears as a village official over many years.

MIGUEL MEGOFÑA was the second-in-command, or Teniente . I haven't found yet any indication how and if Miguel and Clemente were related.

CENÉN MEGOFÑA was the Agricultural Officer, or Juez de Palmas, Sementeras y Animales . Cenés is the Spanish name of a lesser-known saint. Again, I have no idea how he is related to the other Megofñas.

FRANCISCO NAMAULEG , MARIANO TERLAJE and IGNACIO TAITANO were the neighborhood leaders of Cabezas de Barangay .

The Megofña name comes from the word magof (happy) and when a Megofña from Asan moved to Saipan, the name was spelled Magofña there, as it remains today. In some Guam lists, too, from many years ago, the name is spelled Magofña.

Mariano Terlaje's last name was actually spelled TARLAGI in this document, and shows that the TER in Terlaje or the TED in Tedtaotao is actually TAT, a shortcut of TÅYA' meaning "none, lacking."

In Spanish, a G before an E or an I has the sound of H.

As you can see, all the Asan officials in this list from the 1830s have indigenous Chamorro surnames, not Spanish ones like Pérez, Flores or Cruz. Besides Megofña and Terlaje, we have Namauleg ("make good, correct, repair") and Taitano ("no land").

We have an abundance of written evidence that shows that the Spanish, Mexican, Latin American and Filipino soldiers settled in Hagåtña while the outlying villages in central and southern Guam (the north lacked any villages for 200 years) remained the centers of the indigenous people. In time, both groups would mix to create the society our grandparents came from.

A TWIST ON "UNCLE SAM"

Wednesday, May 9, 2018


In 1947, the Decca record label issued a single entitled "My Dearest Uncle Sam," sung by the Andrews Sisters.

The song was based on the Guam, wartime song "Uncle Sam," sung by Chamorros as an underground resistance song against the Japanese.

Guam was inundated with American military personnel and others right after the American return in July of 1944 all the way to the end of 1945. Tens and tens of thousands of Americans passed through Guam in those two years. It's not surprising that the Uncle Sam tune got to the ears of Alex Kramer and Joan Whitney, a married couple who also co-wrote songs. One can only suspect that someone passing through Guam during the final period of World War II heard the tune and passed it to someone who passed it to someone who.....

Kramer and Whitney borrowed the Guam melody (attributed to Pedro Taitingfong Rosario, "Pete Seboyas") but changed the substance of the wartime Chamorro original. The record even stated that the song was "Based on an Island of Guam Native Song." But the new version portrayed an island girl in love with all things American - the men, chocolates, spam and jam. The romantic attraction American men held over island women is underlined. There are two verses where that is emphasized.




The original song was all about the Japanese Occupation and the hope that the US would come back to liberate the island from the Japanese.

Eighth of December, 1941
People went crazy right here on Guam.

Our lives are in danger, you better come
and kill all the Japanese, right here on Guam.

Now compare with the lyrics of the American version :


LYRICS


On far Pacific island by a mango tree
lonely maid is cryin', lookin' out to sea.

Refrain : Oh Mister Sam, Sam, my dearest Uncle Sam
won't you please come back to Guam.

One year ago September that's when it began
from a boat there landed a big American.

She learned to love his chocolates, she learned to love his spam,
she learned to spread her pancake with huckleberry jam.

He was very handsome but one thing she liked best,
fascinating picture tattooed on his chest.

She wanted education, he taught her ABC's
but she kept asking questions about the birds and bees.

She started to imagine that he was here to stay
but man in Washington he say come right away.


According to another source, there is this additional verse, not heard on the recording above :

He taught her how to say, "Ah loves you honey chile;"
also dance to record boogie woogie style.


"UNCLE SAHM"

Notice the way the Andrews Sisters pronounce the A in a lot of the words, as well as the O in words like "education" and "questions," modified to sound like the A in Guam.




Thanks to Sean Rodriguez

I PROMESAN TAN GUADALUPE

Monday, May 7, 2018


Guadalupe Cruz Díaz of Sumay, then Santa Rita, was a devout Catholic.

Born in 1914, she lived a long life, dying in 2007 a month shy of her 93rd birthday.

She never married but was a loving sister and aunt in the family. She went to Mass daily, and lead prayers and devotions in Chamorro.

In the late 1970s, Santa Rita's pastor, Father Ferdinand Stippich, was moved to Saint Fidelis Friary in Agaña Heights where he could get the attention and help he needed in his old age. He was stationed in Santa Rita from the 1950s till the 1970s, and wanted to leave Santa Rita only in a "wooden box," as he used to say. He was so attached to the village.

Tan Guadalupe made a promesa (promise). Once a week she would be driven by a family member to the Friary and clean Father Ferdinand's room. She would sweep and dust and put a few things in order.


Father Ferdinand

When I first started living in the Friary in the early 1980s, I was surprised to see a little old lady walking down the hallway to the priest's rooms in the middle of the morning, around 9 or 10AM. I think I would see her carrying a broom and dust pan, and maybe some rags. She'd only be there for about an hour, and then I wouldn't see her anymore. Someone then told me that she was an old parishioner of Santa Rita who had made that promise to do something for Father Ferdinand.

Later, in the 1990s, when I was already a priest, I would cover Santa Rita parish, sometimes for 2 months in the summer, while the pastor went home to the mainland to visit his family. There I would see Tan Guadalupe at daily Mass and see her pray and lead prayers, too. Rest in peace, Tan Guadalupe.



Tan Guadalupe's signature on one of the many Chamorro novena books she owned



THE NORTHERN ISLANDS 1967

Thursday, May 3, 2018

Preparing for the Field Trip to the Northern Islands in 1967
L-R Pilot Emmet Kay, Father Arnold of Saipan, Father Sylvan
who made the trip north


After World War II, when the northern islands were more or less depopulated, small numbers of Chamorros and Carolinians from Saipan gradually moved north to Pagan, Agrigan and the other northern islands.

By the 1960s, the numbers were bigger. Since they were all Catholic, a priest missionary from Saipan would periodically go up to these islands to say Mass for them and perform other religious duties. The Trust Territory Government, aware that the islanders were Catholic, provided the ship transportation for the priest, alongside the government workers also making the trip.

Here's a report on those islands made by one of the missionaries who made the trip there in 1967.


ANATÅHAN




Population in 1966 : 43
Population in 1967 : 18

Mainly Carolinian.

That's a reduction of 25 people in one year!

Industry : Copra

Landing : open sea on rocks along the beach and only good in fair weather.

No springs or natural water. Only rain water can be collected.


SARIGAN


Population in 1966 : 15
Population in 1967 : 3. All males. Chamorros.

Industry : Copra and pigs.

Landing : Poor. Only possible in good weather.

The population dropped in 1967 to just three males because the community leader was treating the people like slaves, and stealing from them, according to Father Sylvan.



To go from the ship to land, one had to use a smaller boat and hopefully manage to jump on the rocks and not land in the sea!



ALAMÅGAN

Population in 1966 : 48
Population in 1967 : 19

Mainly Chamorros.

Industry : Copra, pigs, some cattle. Over 60 pigs exported when ship came the last time. Has large citrus supply, but little is exported.

Landing : can be made at two villages, Perdido and Songsong, but only by jumping from vessel to the rocks. Guaranteed wet landing! Unsafe to do so in bad weather.


PÅGAN


Pågan was the only northern island with an airstrip.


Population in 1966 : 89
Population in 1967 : 53

Mix of Chamorros and Carolinians. Even a Palauan here and there.

Industry : Has the greatest potential of all the northern islands, but, so far, money to be made is mainly from collecting brass shells from Japanese war remains in caves.

Only northern island with a dock for small boats.

Only northern island with an airstrip.

Only island with roads good enough for cars to use.

Pågan has two lakes and a natural hot spring.

The island could easily support 1000 people if developed.

But both volcanoes are active.



Catholic Chapel
Possibly on Pågan


AGRIGAN


Population in 1966 : 153
Population in 1967 : 100

Mainly Carolinian.

Most devout Catholic population.

Landing : One good beach possible to land in almost any weather.

Industry : Copra.



AGRIGAN SCHOOL
1962

I GAPET

Tuesday, May 1, 2018


So how do you climb the pugua ' tree when you have no ladder?

You make a gapet !

Betel nut trees ( pugua ') have thin trunks that grow straight up and are slippery. Many times lumut (moss) also grows on the trunks to make them even more slippery.

But the gapet is made with fibrous material, like the bark of a pågo tree or rope. Putting your feet inside the gapet while you straddle the trunk as you climb up keeps you from sliding down the trunk.

Here's one man showing how. His name is Miguel (Mike) San Nicolas, father of the Guam senator of the same name. Even modern, factory-made material can be used as a gapet , as this video shows.



Courtesy of Senator Michael San Nicolas


The gapet was used to climb coconut trees, too, as when collecting coconuts or checking on/taking down the tuba containers that hung there.



This gapet is made from the bark of the pågo tree that usually grows by the shore or river banks


Just make sure that the gapet has a secure, tight knot so that it doesn't come loose while climbing and down you go!



Thanks to Lorenzo Reyes

SI ANAN McKAY

Monday, April 30, 2018

Ana in 1918

Ana McKay was born Ana Martínez Pangelinan on January 3, 1868 in Hagåtña, Guam. Her parents were Vicente Luján Pangelinan and Antonia Cárdenas Martínez.

Apparently she had no brothers, but she had two sisters who married prominent Chamorro men.

Her sister Dolores married Vicente Roberto Herrero, the grandson of the former Spanish Governor of Guam, José Ganga Herrero. Vicente farmed and also engaged in commercial business.

Her other sister Rosa married Juan Crisóstomo Martínez, who was also a prominent farmer and trader. Juan's son Pedro became one of the wealthiest Chamorro men on Guam before the war, and his daughter Ana married James Underwood. His other son Vicente also engaged in business. A daughter Concepción married Hiram Elliott.

Ana remained single for a very long time. It wasn't until the American period, when she was in her 30s, that she married. She married an American named Edward McKay. The couple had some financial means. They hired a domestic staffer ( muchacha , for women helpers, in Chamorro), a woman from Yap named Josefa and nicknamed Josefa'n Gupalao. Gupalao is the Chamorro word for islanders from Palau, Yap and the rest of the Carolines. Later, Ana traveled throughout Asia.



Ana's General Merchandise Store


Ana ran a general merchandise store in Hagåtña, near the Plaza de España. She traveled to Manila, and other places, on occasion to purchase items for her store.  Apparently, she was plagued with debtors, people who didn't pay their bills. This was a common occurrence on Guam, right up until just several decades ago. Many a Chamorro store went out of business because Chamorro store owners were hesitant to decline customers who bought on credit, but who never paid back their debt.

In one month's time, from June to July in 1917, she took twenty - nine people to court for non-payment of debts. In one month! She certainly gave the court enough to do that month.

Her debtors taken to court in that period were : José de León (Ila), Vicente Siguenza, Vicente Castro (Payesyes), Lorenzo Aguon (Cristina), Gabina Cruz, Ignacio Camacho (Aragon), Josefa Camacho (Måtot), Ana Sablan (Ana'n Felix), Rosa Castro (Payesyes), Luís Terlaje, Santiago Agualo, Vicente Sablan (Berela), Ignacio Agualo, Vicente Flores (Kabesa), Ignacio Santos (Lencho), Antonia Santos, Juana'n Buche, Filomena Rosario (Lo'lo'), María Rivera (Agaga'), Francisca Javier (Morere), Francisco Javier (Morere), Joaquina'n Carmelo, Pedro LG Perez (Korincho), Vicente Ignacio (Paeng), Mariana Concepcion (Emo), Joaquin Cruz (Le), Ana Aguon (Makaka'), Felipe Cruz Perez (Manga), and Juan "Yoe," a nickname.

Most of the debts were under $20.

Ana disappears from the Guam records by the 1920s. It seems she and her husband Edward never had children.

ÅLAN M­ÅNNOK

Thursday, April 26, 2018


Hens have a natural instinct to lay their eggs in a safe place and they like to do it privately.

In olden times, besides other places where hens laid eggs, our ranchers sometimes made baskets just for the hens to lay their eggs. They were called ålan månnok . Åla means "basket," and månnok means "chicken."

You can see in the pic above that the basket is open wide enough for the hen to go inside and lay her eggs cozily.

Kids used to say this verse in the old days :

Punidera, punidera! Falak guato gi alå-mo!
(Hen, hen! Go over to your basket!)

Ennao guiya i hilitai, ya u tinicho' i chadå'-mo!
(There's the iguana, and it will devour your eggs!)




The hilitai (iguana) is a lizard that loves to eat chicken eggs, as well as the chickens! And many other things besides.

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Tuesday, April 24, 2018




CHA'-MO FAÑALULUDA NI TI TIHONG-MO

Don't salute with a hat not your own.


That is the literal meaning, but the saying means something else.

Don't take credit for someone else's doing. You're the one greeting someone with a hat, but the hat doesn't belong to you.

Here's a scenario :

~ José, kao un li'e' si Tomás?
~ José, have you seen Tomás?

~ Åhe' adei Kiko', ti hu li'e'.
~ Nope, Kiko, I haven't seen him.

~ Kao siña un nå'e gue' ni este na balutan mångga?
~ Can you give him this bunch of mangoes?

~ Hunggan!
~ Yes!

Moments later, José sees Tomás, taking with him the mangoes from Kiko'.

~ Tomás! Chule' este na balutan mångga ni hu tifi'e' hao!
~ Tomás! Take these mangoes which I picked for you!

SI PALTING

Monday, April 23, 2018


Perhaps the newspaper statement was melodramatic. It was a time of many earthquakes on Guam, but none as strong, it said, as the appointment of a "Filipino rebel" to one of the highest government positions of the American Naval government of Guam.

That "Filipino rebel" was Pancracio Rábago Palting and, in 1903, a man who, just a few years before, fought to end American rule in one place, was appointed by Americans to occupy a high government position in another place!

Palting was an insurrecto (insurgent) who rose up against Spanish and American control over the Philippines. Captured by the Americans, he was exiled to Guam in 1901, along with other Filipino nationalists, one of the more famous being Apolinario Mabini. These Filipino political exiles were camped at Asan Point, known as the Presidio in Spanish times.

But what was supposed to be punishment turned out to be a kind of reward! Palting was appointed by Guam's Naval Governor William Sewell in 1903 to serve as a judge of the Court of First Instance. Only the Governor himself was a higher authority than this court.

But, I suppose Sewell could have argued, he needed capable men to hear and judge cases and Palting was educated. He spoke excellent Spanish, still the normal language of the court in 1903. An American Naval officer served as judge at times, too, and so did several Chamorros who could read and write Spanish. Interpreters were available for witnesses who could only testify in English or Chamorro.

Meanwhile, Palting was improving his English as fast as he could and, in time, was able to speak decent, legalese English. One observer remarked that legal English was all he really ended up being able to speak. Casual, informal English was not his strong suit, according to the writer.

Palting had already served as clerk ( escribano , in Spanish) of the court in 1902 after he was pardoned by US President Teddy Roosevelt. Nearly all of the Filipino prisoners on Guam returned to the Philippines, but Palting was among the few who decided to make Guam their home and Sewell thought he could use Palting's skills.



Palting when he was the clerk of the court in 1902


Still, some took exception to Palting's appointment because of his recent revolutionary past. But the newspaper article doesn't specify who didn't appreciate Palting's appointment. Was it a few Americans, who held it against Palting that he had fought against the US just a few years before? Was it a few Chamorro government officials, who thought that their loyalty to the US made them the justifiable choice for high jobs, as opposed to a rebel? Or could critics of Palting be found among both peoples?

Whatever outcry this newspaper article indicated, it didn't amount to much because Palting stayed in his job for a while. He married a Guam girl of Filipino ancestry, Concepción Gozum Dungca, and when she died he married her sister, Soledad Gozum Dungca. After leaving the bench, Palting worked as an attorney on Guam. After the war, the Palting family became active residents of Tamuning. One of his sons, Paul, was elected to Guam Legislature. One of the streets in Tamuning is named after Pancracio, though the first name is misspelled.



Another street sign that needs correcting. His name was Pancracio.



* Palting was the son of Francisco Palting and Martina Rábago, both from the Philippines.

** Concepción and Soledad, Palting's wives, were the daughters of two Filipinos who settled on Guam - Justo Bautista Dungca and Marcela Gozum, sometimes spelled Goson or Gozon.

O SEÑORA NÅNAN-MÅME

Sunday, April 22, 2018


Today is the third Sunday after Easter.

Starting in 1835, that meant that today was the ninth and final day of the Nobenan Promesa , a novena prayed by the people of Hagåtña and its surrounding villages, asking the Blessed Mother for protection against earthquakes, which had been terrifying the island in the years before 1835. The documents authorizing this novena specifically call on Mary in her Immaculate Conception and it was the novena to the Immaculate Conception that was prayed during the Nobenan Promesa .

The hymn included here below is strongly associated with that nobena . It was also sung in the Cathedral, at least since after the war, after the Saturday morning Mass, traditionally celebrated in honor of Mary.

No one knows for a fact when and where this hymn comes from, or who composed it. It appear in Påle' Román's pre-war Lepblon Kånta so it must go back at least to the 1920s if not earlier. I have always heard, since the 1980s, from older people, that it supposedly goes back to Spanish times, but we have no hard evidence for that.

If it does go back to the 1800s, there are clues in the hymn itself that seem to jive well with that.

First, the hymn portrays a clear link between Guam itself and Our Lady. She is called the må'gas (head/ruler) and raina (queen) of Guåhan (Guam). The refrain underlines the love the Chamorros have for her. The people calling out to her are the natives of this land ( taotao håya ). The concerns expressed are island-wide concerns : earthquake, tidal wave, typhoon, famine and so on. Finally, there is a verse, not included in this recording, describing the finding of Mary's image in the waters between Dåno' (Cocos Island) and Malesso', the image which became Our Lady of Camarin (Sånta Maria'n Kamalen) and venerated in the Hagåtña church.

It seems pretty clear to me that this hymn was written for the Chamorro people, expressing their love for Mary and asking her protection from natural disasters. That fits very well with the Nobenan Promesa's whole intent.



LYRICS

O Señora Nånan-måme, Må'gas yan Rainan Guåhan,
(O Lady, Our Mother, Ruler and Queen of Guam,)
talak papa' giya hame ya magof pumulan ham.
(look down to us and happily watch over us.)
I taotao guine tåya' otro fanlihengan-ñiha.
(The people here have no other shelter.)

I Chamorro, O Maria, siempre hao un guinaiya!
(The Chamorros, Oh Mary, will always love you!)

Tungo' na sen ti yan-måme i mañuha as Jesus,
(Know that we truly do not like to stray away from Jesus,)
sa' gos metton giya hame hinengge as Yu'us.
(because we are very attached to faith in God.)
Na' måfnas nai Maguaiya i tinaihinenggen-ñiha.
(Erase then, Beloved, their lack of faith.)

Chomma' Nånan mina'åse' i pakyo yan i niñalang,
(Prevent, Mother of Mercy, typhoon and hunger,)
i linao, i napon tåse, yan todo i na' mahalang.
(earthquakes, the waves of the sea and all sorrow.)
Pulan i taotao håya yan i guinahå-ña siha.
(Watch over the native people and all they possess.)





"Third Sunday of Easter (Promesa)"


The Nobenan Promesa ended on this Sunday. Taken from the Debosionårio, a Chamorro prayer book of standard devotions, written by Påle' Román de Vera, Capuchin missionary.

CHAMORRO OFFICIALS PETITION

Thursday, April 19, 2018


When the island of Guam rocked with violent earthquakes in April of 1825, and more earthquakes came again in April and May of 1834, civic leaders in the capital city of Hagåtña, and the leaders of the five satellite villages of Aniguak, Sinajaña, Asan, Tepungan and Mongmong, met and voted to observe every year a novena to the Immaculate Conception of Mary, asking for deliverance from future earthquakes.

The expenses of this annual observance were voluntarily shouldered by these officials.

The petition was endorsed by the Spanish Governor of the Marianas and, as a final step, granted approval by the Bishop of Cebu, under which the Marianas came.

Some of the Spanish terms seen below will be explained at the end of this post.

The local government officials, almost all Chamorros, who signed the petition in 1834 were :


Lucas de Castro - Gobernadorcillo of Hagåtña

Justo de la Cruz - head of the 4th Company of Urbanos, Justice of the Peace

José de Torres - Interim Sergeant Major, head of soldiers, active and retired

Pedro Pangelinan - head of the barrio of San Ignacio

Faustino de Borja - head of the barrio of Santa Cruz

Nicolás de León Guerrero - head of the barrio of San Nicolás

José Fernández de Cárdenas - head of the barrios of San Ramón and San Antonio

Francisco Crisóstomo - head of the Artillery Company

Pedro Guerrero - head of the 1st Company of Urbanos

Emeterio Pangelinan - head of the 2nd Company of Urbanos

Antonio de la Cruz - head of the 3rd Company of Urbanos

Javier de Salas - officer

José Tainatongo - officer

Miguel de la Cruz - officer

Nicolás Cepeda - officer

Diego Taitague - Gobernadorcillo of Aniguak

Clemente Megofña - Gobernadorcillo of Asan

Andrés Chargualaf - Gobernadorcillo of Tepungan

José Tedtaotao - Gobernadorcillo of Sinajaña

Juan Asuda - Gobernadorcillo of Mongmong


TERMS

Gobernadorcillo - This literally means "little Governor" and it meant the head of a town or village.

Urbanos - The Compañía de Urbanos was a kind of military unit that acted as policemen as well.

Barrio - A district within a town. At this time, there were five barrios of Hagåtña : San Ignacio, Santa Cruz, San Nicolás, San Ramón and San Antonio.


NAMES

Tainatongo . We think of Malesso' when we hear this name but it originally came from the Hagåtña area. Then Tainatongos moved down to Malesso' in the last half of the 1800s and established that branch there.

Asuda . Might be the Chamorro word asodda ' (to find each other) but this is just a guess.

Megofña . In this list, Clemente's last name is actually spelled Magofña, the way the Saipan branch of this family spells it.

Notice that the gentlemen from Hagåtña have Spanish and Filipino surnames. Pangelinan, for example, goes back to a soldier or soldiers from Pampanga in the Philippines named Pangelinan who moved here. The officials from the outlying villages have Chamorro surnames like Tedtaotao. The Spanish, Mexican and Filipino soldiers in the early 1700s lived in Hagåtña and many married Chamorro women, giving birth to a mixed-blood Chamorro people. People living in the outlying villages had less contact with foreigners.

PATRICIDE IN LITEKYAN

Tuesday, April 17, 2018


A man killed his father in Litekyan in 1905. When you read the story, you'll see how utterly senseless the killing was.

Litekyan is the Chamorro name for the northernmost point of Guam. The Spaniards spelled it Retillan or Retidian and the Americans favored the spelling Ritidian.

Patricide is the killing of one's own father. Sometimes the word parricide is used for the same thing.

Since the murder occurred just 113 years ago, and descendants are sure to still be around, I won't mention last names for the people directly involved in the murder.


AN UNFORTUNATE AFTERNOON

Around 5 o'clock one Saturday afternoon in July of 1905, a grandfather from Hagåtña arrived at his son's ranch house in Litekyan. According to one grandchild, the old man started joking around with two of his grandsons when the father of the boys came in and said, "Instead of joking with them, you should beat them." Another grandchild said that the grandfather arrived and saw that the grandchildren were crying because they hadn't gotten their share of watermelon which the father was slicing.

In any event, provocative words were exchanged between the old man and his son, the father of the kids, and the old man picked up a long piece of wood as if to hit his son on the back. One grandchild said he actually did. The son walked out of the ranch house, towards the beach, with the old man following, clutching the knife which, apparently, the son left on the table.

At the beach, the son asked his father what he intended to do with the knife. "Kill you," replied the old man. At that, the son knocked his father to the ground, grabbed the knife from him and began to stab him multiple times. Some of the grandchildren ran to call neighbors to intervene. But when people began to arrive, it was too late. The old man lay lifeless on the sand, face up. His son was straddled on top of him, still holding the bloodied knife. One of the adult men who came on the scene forcefully took the knife out of the murderer's hand.





ENTER THE LAW

Someone must have gone to Hagåtña in the dark of night to report the murder because, early the next day, the Commissioner of Hagåtña, Lorenzo Lizama Fránquez, gathered a group of men to follow him up to Litekyan to investigate. The Island Attorney, who prosecuted cases, Tomás Anderson Calvo, was one of them. The court alguacil , or marshall, Lucas Pangelinan Camacho, also went along, as well as guards named Enrique Taijeron, Vicente Mendiola, Manuel Taitingfong and Félix Benavente.

They found the body of the old man still lying on the beach, in the initial stages of decomposition. There was no blood surrounding the corpse, since at high tide the sea water came in and washed it away. The men observed stab wounds on the face, neck, chest, abdomen and back of the victim.

The murderer, the victim's son, was waiting for the officials in a neighbor's house. He did not resist arrest and quickly confessed to being the perpetrator. The body of the victim, the arrested suspect and the knife he used to kill his father were all taken down to Hagåtña.

The court documents seem to be incomplete, as I found no verdict and no sentencing.

Whatever may have been the legal punishment, both the guilty and the innocent suffered the loss of a father and grandfather, and the remorse of being responsible for that loss.



LITEKYAN

ANNAI MA BININUYE SI CHIGET

Monday, April 16, 2018

"DO NOT EAT ME!"
Puffer Fish or Butete


Antonio Dueñas de la Cruz of Hågat was better known as "Chiget." Chiget , in Chamorro, means to pinch in or press in on two sides, as when using a clothes pin to hang the laundry, or when a car runs over you.

On March 19, 1902, on the feast of Saint Joseph, Chiget ate the wrong thing.

Chiget was at his ranch in Talaifak, in the area of the old Spanish bridge. His wife María Álvarez Charfauros was not there; she was at Mass for the feast day. Someone had caught butete , or puffer fish, of which there are more than one kind. But they are dangerously poisonous. People had warned Chiget not to eat it, but he went ahead and cooked it. I have been told by experienced fishermen that there is a way to remove the poison and eat the butete safely, but it has to be done right. Perhaps Chiget messed up trying to do so! He served some to two of his children, but they ate just a small amount. His brother-in-law Félix Taitague Babauta, married to his sister Soledad, also ate some but, again, a small amount.

After stuffing himself with butete , Chiget went to sleep. He woke up in miserable pain, located in his abdomen. He was in such pain that he could not talk to the people trying to see what was wrong. Félix Babauta also felt pain, in his stomach and hands, but in time the pain went away. The two children did not get sick. Finally, Chiget died that same afternoon. RIP

Due to the unusual circumstances of his death, the government formally investigated the event, and we still have the court documents in Spanish that concluded that Chiget died from eating poisonous fish.

It's a good thing that Félix Taitague Babauta, the brother-in-law, did not die or else there would be no Sa'i family in Saipan today. Félix, very soon after, moved himself and his family to Saipan where they became known as the Sa'i family with many descendants, including a former Governor of the CNMI!

CEBU APPROVES : NOBENAN PROMESA

Thursday, April 12, 2018

HAGÅTÑA CHURCH
in the early 1800s

In 1825 and again in 1834 the island of Guam experienced a series of strong earthquakes. It must have been quite strong and quite frightening because the leading citizens of Hagåtña, with the Spanish Governor's endorsement, made a promise to celebrate every year a novena of Solemn Masses, with a sermon and procession on the last day.

This meant nine straight days of sung Mass. On the ninth and final day, the priest had to preach a sermon and then the people of Hagåtña would march and pray in procession through the streets of the city. These things involved some cost, such as paying the priest his stipend, buying candles and so on. The city government and leading citizens thought this novena so important that they promised to shoulder those costs themselves. Not only were the people living in the city proper involved, but also those of the surrounding villages ( pueblos inmediatos ) such as Aniguak, Mongmong, Sinajaña, Asan and Tepungan.

This novena was called by the people the nobenan promesa , the "novena of the promise" and its opening day was the Saturday before the 2nd Sunday after Easter and it ended on the 3rd Sunday of Easter every year. In one year, in 1900, it was not celebrated because the American Naval Governor at the time was very much opposed to the Spanish and Catholic elements of Guam life and he did not allow Catholic processions in the public streets. This is why, the people said, there was a devastating typhoon in November of that year, as God's punishment for breaking the promise. Today this nobena is kept by a handful of older people.


In the Chamorro Debosionårio or Prayer Book, the 3rd Sunday of Easter is shown as the Sunday of the Promesa, when the Nobenan Promesa ended


To add even greater weight to the seriousness of this promise, the approval of the highest church authority over the Marianas at the time, the Bishop of Cebu in the Philippines, was sought. The document from the Bishop of Cebu granting this approval still exists. Here is the text in English and then the original Spanish :




We, Sir Friar Santos Gómez Marañón of the Sacred Order of Saint Augustine, by the grace of God and of the Holy Apostolic See, bishop of the diocese of Cebu, of the Council of His Majesty, etc etc.

In view of the request which the Reverend Father Parish Priest of San Ignacio of Agaña Friar Bernardo Esteves del Rosario has made to us in a letter of June 6, 1834 that we deign to approve the vow and promise, which according to the accompanying testimony signed by the current Governor Sir Francisco Villalobos, the principal mayors and the other residents of that city and surrounding villages made to celebrate yearly at their cost and responsibility a novena of Solemn Masses with sermon and procession on the last day in honor of the Most Pure Conception of the Most Holy Mary, Patroness of those islands, that through the powerful intercession of the mother of God they reach the Divine Mercy to become free in the future from the terrible and repeated earthquakes which they suffered on April 14, 1825 and for a space of some consecutive days and which they resumed to experience on April 10 and May 4, 1834 and taking note that the mentioned individuals voluntarily oblige themselves to contribute to the necessary expenses for said solemn event each year, we come to accede to the petition and request of the mentioned Parish Priest, approving the vow made by the principal mayors and residents of San Ignacio of Agaña and its surrounding villages and declaring as their Patroness for the earthquakes the Most Pure Conception of the Most Holy Mary and to concede in what pertains to us that they may celebrate yearly the novena of Solemn Masses with sermon and procession on the last day under the formalities and conditions which they have spontaneously obligated themselves to as a perpetual witness of their vow the Lord Governor with the Reverend Father Parish Priest have signed on May 4 of the same year 1834. And for the greater spiritual benefit of all the faithful residents of that city and its surrounding villages to concede forty days of indulgences for every Mass heard in that novena, another forty days for the sermon and another forty for the procession. Given in our episcopal palace in the City of Cebu, signed by Us, and authenticated by our secretary signed below on February 10 in the year 1835.

Friar Santos, Bishop

Esteban Meneses, Secretary


SPANISH ORIGINAL

Nos, Don Fray Santos Gómez Marañón del Sagrado Orden de San Agustín, por la gracia de Dios y de la Santa Sede Apostólica, obispo de la diócesis de Cebú, del Consejo de Su Majestad, etc etc.

En vista de la solicitud que el Reverendo Padre Cura Pårroco de San Ignacio de Agaña Fray Bernardo Esteves del Rosario nos ha hecho en carta de seis de junio de mil ochocientos treinta y cuatro para que nos dignasemos aprobar el voto y promesa que según el testimonio que acompaña firmado por el actual Gobernador Don Francisco Villalobos, hicieron los gobernadorcillos principales y demás moradores de aquella ciudad y pueblos inmediatos de celebrar anualmente a su costa y mención un novenario de Misas Solemnes con sermón y procesión al último día en honor de la Purísima Concepción de María Santísima, Patrona de aquellas islas, que mediante la poderosa intercesión de la madre de Dios alcanzen de la Divina Misericordia el que sean libres en lo sucesivo de los terribles y repetidos terremotos que sufrieron el día catorce de abril de mil ochocientos veinticinco y por espacio de algunos días consecutivos y que se volvieron a experimentar el diez de abril y el cuatro de mayo de mil ochocientos treinta y cuatro y en atención a que voluntariamente se obligan los expresados individuos a contribuir con los gastos necesarios para dicha función solemne en cada año, venimos en acceder a la petición y súplica del expresado Cura Párroco aprobando el voto que hicieron los gobernadorcillos principales y moradores de San Ignacio de Agaña y sus pueblos inmediatos y declarando por su Patrona por los terremotos la Purísima Concepción de María Santísima y concedernos por lo que toca a nuestra para el que puedan celebrar anualmente el novenario de Misas Solemnes con sermón y procesión al último día bajo las formalidades y condiciones a que se ha obligado expontaneamente cuando para testimonio perpetuo de su voto lo firmaron con el Señor Gobernador y con el Reverendo Padre Cura Párroco en cuatro de mayo del mismo año de mil ochocientos treinta y cuatro. Y para mayor provecho espiritual de todos los fieles moradores de dicha ciudad y sus pueblos inmediatos concedernos cuarenta días de indulgencias por cada Misa que oyeren del dicho novenario, otros cuarenta días por el sermón, y otros cuarenta por la procesión. Dadas en nuestro palacio episcopal de la Ciudad de Cebú, firmadas de Nos, y refrendadas por nuestro infrascrito secretario a diez de febrero de mil ochocientos treinta y cinco años.

Fray Santos, obispo

Esteban Meneses, secretario



Santos Gómez Marañón, OSA
Bishop of Cebu who granted permission for the Nobenan Promesa in Hagåtña


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)


"NOBENAN PROMESA"

En 1825 y nuevamente en 1834, la isla de Guam experimentó una serie de fuertes terremotos. Debió ser bastante fuerte y bastante aterrador porque los principales ciudadanos de Agaña, con el respaldo del Gobernador español, hicieron la promesa de celebrar cada año una novena de Misas Solemnes, con sermón y procesión el último día.

Esto significó nueve días seguidos de Misa cantada. El noveno y último día, el sacerdote tenía que predicar un sermón y luego el pueblo de Agaña marchaba y oraba en procesión por las calles de la ciudad. Estas cosas implicaban algún costo, como pagarle al sacerdote su estipendio, comprar velas, etc. El gobierno de la ciudad y los principales ciudadanos consideraron que esta novena era tan importante que prometieron asumir ellos mismos esos costos. No sólo estuvieron involucradas las personas que vivían en la ciudad propiamente dicha, sino también las de los pueblos inmediatos como Aniguak, Mongmong, Sinajaña, Asan y Tepungan.

Esta novena fue llamada por el pueblo "nobenan promesa", la "novena de la promesa" y su día de apertura era el sábado anterior al segundo domingo después de Pascua y finalizaba el tercer domingo de Pascua de cada año. Un año, en 1900, no se celebró porque el gobernador naval estadounidense de la época se oponía mucho a los elementos hispanos y católicos de la vida de Guam y no permitía procesiones católicas en las calles públicas. Por eso, decía la gente, hubo un tifón devastador en noviembre de ese año, como castigo de Dios por romper la promesa. Hoy en día esta "nobena" se conserva en manos de un puñado de personas mayores.

Para añadir aún más peso a la seriedad de esta promesa, se buscó la aprobación de la máxima autoridad eclesiástica sobre las Islas Marianas en ese momento, el obispo de Cebú en Filipinas. El documento del obispo de Cebú que concede esta aprobación todavía existe. Aquí está el texto original en español:

"Nos, Don Fray Santos Gómez Marañón del Sagrado Orden de San Agustín, por la gracia de Dios y de la Santa Sede Apostólica, obispo de la diócesis de Cebú, del Consejo de Su Majestad, etc.

En vista de la solicitud que el Reverendo Padre Cura Párroco de San Ignacio de Agaña, Fray Bernardo Esteves del Rosario nos ha hecho en carta de seis de junio de mil ochocientos treinta y cuatro para que nos dignásemos aprobar el voto y promesa que según el testimonio que acompaña firmado por el actual Gobernador Don Francisco Villalobos, hicieron los gobernadorcillos principales y demás moradores de aquella ciudad y pueblos inmediatos de celebrar anualmente a su costa y mención un novenario de Misas Solemnes con sermón y procesión al último día en honor de la Purísima Concepción de María Santísima, Patrona de aquellas islas, que mediante la poderosa intercesión de la Madre de Dios alcancen de la Divina Misericordia el que sean libres en lo sucesivo de los terribles y repetidos terremotos que sufrieron el día catorce de abril de mil ochocientos veinticinco y por espacio de algunos días consecutivos y que se volvieron a experimentar el diez de abril y el cuatro de mayo de mil ochocientos treinta y cuatro y en atención a que voluntariamente se obligan los expresados individuos a contribuir con los gastos necesarios para dicha función solemne en cada año, venimos en acceder a la petición y súplica del expresado Cura Párroco aprobando el voto que hicieron los gobernadorcillos principales y moradores de San Ignacio de Agaña y sus pueblos inmediatos y declarando por su Patrona por los terremotos la Purísima Concepción de María Santísima y concedernos por lo que toca a nuestra parte el que puedan celebrar anualmente el novenario de Misas Solemnes con sermón y procesión al último día bajo las formalidades y condiciones a que se ha obligado espontáneamente cuando para testimonio perpetuo de su voto lo firmaron con el Señor Gobernador y con el Reverendo Padre Cura Párroco en cuatro de mayo del mismo año de mil ochocientos treinta y cuatro. Y para mayor provecho espiritual de todos los fieles moradores de dicha ciudad y sus pueblos inmediatos concedernos cuarenta días de indulgencias por cada Misa que oyeren del dicho novenario, otros cuarenta días por el sermón, y otros cuarenta por la procesión. Dadas en nuestro palacio episcopal de la Ciudad de Cebú, firmadas de Nos, y refrendadas por nuestro infrascrito secretario a diez de febrero de mil ochocientos treinta y cinco años.

Fray Santos, obispo

Esteban Meneses, secretario".

KÅRA PAT KRUS

Tuesday, April 10, 2018


In today's society, where English predominates, we say "heads or tails" when flipping coins to make a decision.

But our mañaina were greatly influenced by Spanish. In Spanish, coins in the distant past usually had the head of a reigning monarch or some other government official on one side. On the reverse side, there was often a cross.

In Spanish, the head side was called cara , meaning "face." The other side, with the cross, was called cruz , meaning "cross."

So, in the past, when our people tossed coins, they'd ask " kåra pat krus ?" "Face or cross?"

One lady told me the following story from her childhood :

Annai på'go sumotterita yo', guaha låhe, besinon-måme,
(When I just became a teenager, there was a boy, our neighbor,)

ni ha duduse yo' kada biråda.
(who flirted with me every moment.)

Un dia, ha faisen yo', "Kao siña hao hu chiko?"
(One day, he asked me, "Can I kiss you?")

Naturåt na ti konfotme yo', ya hu sangåne na mungnga yo'.
(Naturally I wasn't willing, and I told him I didn't want to.)

Pues ilek-ña, "Maila' ya ta yotte sensiyo! Yanggen kåra, siña hu chiko hao.
(Then he said, "Let's toss a coin! If it's heads, I can kiss you.)

Yanggen krus, ti bai chiko hao."
(If it's tails, I won't kiss you.")

Ilek-ho, "Maolek." Pues ha yotte i sensiyo ya humuyong kåra.
(I said, "Good." Then he tossed the coin and it came out heads.)

Hu estira i kanai-ho ya ilek-ho, "Chiko i kanai-ho."
(I stretched out my hand and said, "Kiss my hand.")

Lalålo' i taotao ya ilek-ña, "I fasu-mo para bai chiko!"
(The guy got mad and said, "It's your cheek I'm going to kiss!")

Ilek-ho, "Ilek-ta na yanggen kåra, siña un chiko yo'
(I said, "We said if it's heads you can kiss me)

"lao tåya' na ilek-ta måno guato!"
("but we never said where!")

CHAMORRO COMFORT WOMEN : TWO STORIES

Monday, April 9, 2018


It's a side of the Japanese Occupation (1941-1944) that gets talked about very rarely. The main reason is because those involved in the story don't want to talk about it. Part of that comes from shame. Part of it comes from the difficulty of thinking and talking about a horrible experience.

Two stories, however, brief as they are, came to me from family members recently. Due to the fact that other family members would likely get upset if identities became known, I won't include names. But my informants believe that, even if in general terms, the story should get out. Some Chamorro women were forced to give sexual services to the Japanese.

Before I share these two stories, let me briefly mention that there were several types of sexual workers during the Japanese Occupation on Guam. First, the Japanese brought in mainly Korean "comfort women." These Korean women catered to the average Japanese soldier.

Second, the Chamorro women who were known to cater to American sailors and Marines before the war (known as "Monday Ladies" because they visited the doctor on Mondays), were rounded up and expected to cater to Japanese officers now.

Third, some Chamorro women who never engaged in such activities in their life, but whom the Japanese thought to be desirable, were forced to become sex workers. The more attractive women, usually in their late teens and early 20s, were especially sought after by the high-ranking Japanese officers.

We know that at least one local Japanese, meaning a Japanese resident of the island long before the war, was tasked by the Japanese military to obtain some pretty Chamorro ladies for this purpose. In order to avoid such work, we hear stories of young Chamorro women making themselves dirty or pretending to be sick with tuberculosis.

LADY ONE , as I shall call her, was an innocent woman in her early 20s minding her own business when the Japanese forced her to become a comfort woman. If she had refused, she could have been killed or the Japanese could have made life unbearable for her family. After the war, she married but she was never able to become pregnant. The two and a half years she was sexually abused by Japanese soldiers was enough to mess with her reproductive system.

I knew this woman, growing up as a teenager. I saw her at Mass every day. Only now do I know this story from her life.

LADY TWO was also forced into giving sexual service to Japanese soldiers and lower-ranking officers. The experience was so bad that, as soon as the Americans returned, she married an American GI and left the island for good, moving to the US mainland with her military husband.

When her mother passed away many years later, she wondered if she could really return to the island to attend her mother's funeral. The thought of seeing the island once again, even with all the monumental changes in island terrain and landscape, filled her with horror. Memories of her time as a comfort woman would flood back, she thought. She got a plane ticket. She made it to the gate at the terminal. But she just could not get on the plane. She never made it to her mother's funeral on Guam.

FAMILY NICKNAMES : TALO'

Thursday, April 5, 2018

IGNACIO'N TALO'
Ignacio Mendiola Cruz


Talo ' in Chamorro means "middle." Gaige gi talo' . It's in the middle.

So the family story is that there were three Josés in this branch of the Cruz family. They were all, somehow closely related.

Since all three were named José Cruz (or de la Cruz, at the time), they called the oldest one José'n Dångkulo ("Big José"). In time, people pronounced it Ångkulo and this family is still called this.

The youngest of the three was called José'n Dikkike' ("Small José").

And the one in the middle, José Candelaria Cruz, was called José'n Talo'. "José in the middle."

He married Dolores Pangelinan Mendiola. Their son was Ignacio Mendiola Cruz, pictured above. Ignacio married Angelina Rosario and raised a family. We all called her Tan Angelina'n Talo'.



MEMBERS OF THE TALO' CLAN
Children of Ignacio and Angelina Rosario Cruz
(Pedro, Teresita, Catalina and Bea)

RAMÓN MESA

Tuesday, April 3, 2018


Apparently, one of Hawaii's oldest residents in 1923 was a Chamorro man named Ramón Mesa. People thought he was at least 100 years old, if not older.

As was usual in those days, his name was spelled in a variety of ways, like Raymond Messa. When Chamorros moved to English-speaking places, they often changed their Spanish first names to the English equivalent. As for the spelling of the last name, that was at the mercy of the official's whim. Sometimes the Chamorro changed his last name, as well.

According to the Hawaii newspapers, Mesa was born on Guam and had moved to Hawaii around the year 1863.

In 1905, the Honolulu City Directory listed Ramón as a laborer.




In his later years, Mesa lived in a shack on Houghtailing Street in Kalihi. Towards the end of his life, he depended on the kindness of people to meet his physical needs. Evidently, Ramón never married nor had children. Evidently, people around him checked on him every day to see if he was alright or if he needed anything.

At ten o'clock in the morning, on the day he was discovered dead, someone brought him food and reported that Ramón seemed to be doing fine. But a little past 6 o'clock in the evening, a motorcycle policeman dropped in to see how Ramón was doing and found him dead, by his bedside in an "attitude of prayer." It was December 17, 1923. He was later buried at Maluhia Cemetery, just in his neighborhood.

U såga gi minahgong . Rest in peace.






1335 Houghtailing Street today, not far from the Bishop Museum
This may not be where 1335 was in 1923, but maybe it was

WHEN YOU LOOSE A TOOTH

Monday, April 2, 2018


Here's a custom some people practiced in the old days.

This was told to me by older people from Malesso'.

When a child loses a tooth, he or she is told to throw the tooth on the thatched roof, or go up there and hide the tooth in between the leaves.

The rat would come along and find the tooth, and bring back to the child a gold one!

The child was taught to call to the rat in a sing-song way, saying

Chule' este i nifen-ho måfte',
ya un nå'e yo' nifen-ho oro!

Take this broken tooth of mine,
and give me a gold tooth!


Even when roofs switched to tin or tile, some children still threw the tooth on the roof.


~ Jennifer Peralta , informant go - between

A SHIPWRECK IN HAGÅTÑA BAY

Tuesday, March 27, 2018


The next time I look out at Hagåtña Bay, I'll remember that a New Zealand ship struck its reef and sank there.

In 1856, the barque Invincible , under the command of a Captain Brier (some accounts say Brice), left New Zealand and was heading for Manila. But before leaving, Brier agreed with the captain of another ship, the Vixen , to meet at Guam and then the two of them sail together for Manila.

Brier first spotted Rota on January 5, then sailed down the western coast of Guam, looking for whatever sign he could find of a port or the Vixen . He then spotted Hagåtña and a ship at bay there. Brier wondered if this ship was the Vixen . He also supposed it was the famous Apra Harbor he had heard about Guam, but it seemed too small and too constricted to be the big, wide harbor he had heard of.

Brier later said the strong current and winds more or less forced him to take the narrow channel that passed through the bay's reef. towards the basin where the schooner he had seen earlier was at rest. A strong current pushed the Invincible onto the reef, but within half an hour, Brier got the ship off the rocks and into the basin. The schooner he had seen was not the Vixen but rather the Spanish schooner Secreto .

Then came aboard the island's official pilot, John Anderson, who was responsible for greeting every arriving ship and supervising its anchoring in Guam's waters. Anderson told Brier he was in the wrong harbor. Brier asked Anderson why hadn't he come aboard sooner, while the ship was still outside the reef. Anderson gave no answer.

When ashore, Brier says he was told by island residents that they had been urging Anderson to go out sooner, and were willing to go out themselves to help guide the ship, but the law of the land forbade anyone doing so before the pilot. Brier's next step was to wait until the waters were calmer and try to get the Invincible past the reef back onto the high seas without incident.

In the meantime, circumstances tried Brier's patience. Anderson took sick, and the other interpreter available left much to be desired. The Spanish Governor, Pablo Pérez, spoke no English and Brier spoke no Spanish. Other men considered skilled in piloting ships were brought into discussions. One suggested one plan, another proposed a different plan altogether, resulting in a stalemate. Most were agreed that they had to wait for Anderson to recuperate and handle the job.

Finally, after several days, the morning dawned a clear, calm day. The plan was to have seven boats accompany the ship past the reef, to guide it away from dangerous rocks. But only four boats appeared. Still, they headed out. Unfortunately, the ship hit the reef on one side. The boats guiding the ship got into trouble; the ropes they used to pull the ship in one direction got tangled on the rocks. Then the current and the wind picked up, pushing the ship in this or that direction. The ship was now damaged and it seemed would be lost. Just then, the pilot Anderson in his boat and a second boat, the two best boats in Brier's opinion, came out to help. Brier said that had Anderson and these two boats done that from the beginning, the ship probably would have made it past the reef safely.

Seeing that the ship would more than likely be lost, Brier now focused on saving his cargo and things of value from the ship. But he could get no help from Governor Pérez, who was more interested in making money off of Brier's troubles. Brier was finally able to get physical help from island residents, some of them European settlers, by agreeing to pay them for their services. After all these hurdles, Brier was successful in saving much from the damaged ship.

Brier still had to contend with Governor Pérez who presented all kinds of financial difficulties. But, in order to get off the island, Brier paid Pérez what he wanted. The sale of the salvaged goods of the ship at auction raised the money. Brier and the crew members left Guam on other ships.

In some newspapers, someone got the blame for all this and it wasn't the ship's Captain Brier. Instead, the island's official pilot, John Anderson, was blamed by these newspapers for not doing what he could for the ship. Even the American honorary consul on Guam at the time wrote to that effect. This John Anderson was almost certainly the same John Anderson who had settled on Guam in 1819 and started a family with his Chamorro wife, Josefa de la Cruz. We don't know Anderson's side of the story.

AYUNAT

Monday, March 26, 2018

ATULE
(A vegetarian broth made of corn)


During Spanish times, Catholic regulations about fasting were different from today's church laws. Fasting was a major reduction in food intake. Abstinence was a different matter, although sometimes a certain day might involve both fasting and abstinence. Abstinence meant giving up eating meat.

Here is what one priest explained to his people, in Chamorro, in 1873.


Para u fan gef ayunat i kilisyåno, gin oga'an, onsa i media na nengkanno'
(For the Christian to fast well, in the morning, an ounce and a half of food)

ni i tai iyo sustånsian gå'ga'; pot ehemplo :
(which has no animal substance; for example :)

chokolåte (1), chå, kafe, un tasitan atule, un pedasiton titiyas,
(chocolate, tea, coffee, a small cup of atule, a small piece of titiyas,)

pat kuatkiera ha' otro na nengkanno', yagin tai iyo sustånsian gå'ga'.
(or whatever other foods, if there is no animal substance.)

Gi talo'åne siña u kånno' todo i ha nesesita i estomagu-ña;
(At noon he may eat all his stomach needs;)

ya siña u gisan mantika, achok ha' guihan.
(and he can fry in fat, even if it's fish.)

Gin håye, ni i umayuyunat, tåya' guihan, siña an malago', u kånno' kåtne,
(Whoever fasts, if he lacks fish, may, if he wants, can eat meat,)

lao mungnga muna' dadanña' gigo gi un sentåda ha' kåtne yan guihan (2),
(but do not mix in the same meal meat and fish,)

sa' atotta yan må'gas na isao.
(because it is forbidden and it is a great sin.)


NOTES

(1) Chokolåte . Learned from the Spanish, chocolate was drunk. Chocolate was melted and sugar often added, as well as spices, depending on personal taste and availability.

(2) The old rule was, on fast days, meat and fish could not be eaten at the same meal when fasting. It had to be one or the other.

(3) Atotta . It means "forbidden." It is a word that people eventually stopped using.

FINO' GUAM

Friday, March 23, 2018


Someone needs a haircut!


When I lived in Saipan for three years, I found out that they don't use the word kotchi' , a word used on Guam to describe when someone's hair is too long and in need of a haircut.

I don't find the word kotchi' in Ibáñez's dictionary of 1865, nor in von Preissig's 1918 dictionary. But it appears in Påle' Román's 1932 dictionary.

There he says that kotchi' means "long hair."

But, does that apply to women as well as men, or even animals?

But the only times I've heard kotchi' used in conversation is when people imply that a man's hair is too long (when is a woman's hair ever too long?) and that he needs to go to a barber. So, it could be that the meaning has changed over time. Perhaps its meaning has gotten more specific. Not just long hair, but hair long enough that it needs to be cut.

Whatever the case, everyone I know from Saipan says they don't use the word. I suppose the same is true for Tinian and Luta, but let me know if that's not the case.


BY THE WAY

There is another word, very close in sound to kotchi ', but means something completely different. Koche . It comes from the Spanish word coche , and it means a "coach" as in the passenger's seating on a wagon. Since the invention of the automobile the word also means "a car."

SAN JOSÉ PATRONON-MÅME

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

FR. JESÚS BAZA DUEÑAS
former Pastor of Inalåhan


The parish of Saint Joseph in Inalåhan had no shortage of Chamorro hymns to their patron saint. But its first Chamorro pastor, Father Jesús Baza Dueñas added one more to the repertoire. Dueñas was assigned to Inalåhan by Spanish Bishop Olano in 1940.

Bill Paulino, church organist who plays in this video, was told by an older parishioner, a contemporary of Fr Dueñas, that the lyrics were composed by the priest.

Frank Cruz, organist at the Hagåtña Cathedral, also credited the hymn to Fr Dueñas.

Because this hymn was composed just before the war, it is not found in Påle' Román's Lepblon Kånta (Church Hymnal) which was published several years before this hymn came about.





LYRICS

San José patronon-måme, goggue i famagu'on-mo.
(Saint Joseph, our patron, defend your children.)
Atan ya un chachalåne i umå'ågang na'ån-mo.
(Watch and guide those who call on your name.)

1. S an José i finatai-mo u na' metgot i anti-ho.
(Saint Joseph, your death will strengthen my soul.)
Ya hu måtai gi kanai-mo yan i gråsian i Lahi-mo.
(And I will die in your hands and in the grace of your Son.)
Cha'-mo Saina didingu yo' siha gi chinatsaga-ko.
(Don't leave me Father among my troubles.)
I aniti dulalak gue' chågogo' giya guåho.
(Chase away the devil far from my soul.)

2. Gi oran i finatai-ho, yo'ase' un atan yo'.
(At the hour of my death, look at me kindly.)
Ya un nå'e yo' grasiå-mo ya hu måtai måhgogong.
(And give me your grace and I will die peacefully.)
Chåhlao Saina i anti-ho gåsgagas gi me'nå-mo.
(Receive, Father, my soul in purity before you.)
Ya entrega i Lahi-mo gi tronu-ña tagåhlo.
(And give it to your Son at His throne on high.)


NOTE

The devotion to Saint Joseph looks at more than one attribute of the saint. This hymn focuses on one of them, that Saint Joseph is the patron of a happy death. The lyrics of this hymn always revolve around that theme.

Saint Joseph is the patron of a happy death because, according to tradition, he died with Jesus and Mary at his bedside. What better kind of death can a Christian hope for than to die with Jesus and Mary, and now Joseph, close at hand.

It's interesting that this hymn about a happy death was composed by a priest who met an untimely and undeserved death at the hands of the Japanese during the war. But Dueñas was at peace with his expected execution. He told Joaquin Limitaco, present at a house where Dueñas was held in custody and beaten up, that God would be his deliverer, for he had done nothing wrong.




THE DEATH OF SAINT JOSEPH
Model for all Christian deaths

OFISIÅLES LUTA

Tuesday, March 20, 2018



From a list of Chamorro government officials in the 1830s. On the island of Luta :

Mayor : Angel Taiquinene

Vice Mayor : Ignacio Hocog

Agricultural Officer : Pedro Songsong

Neighborhood Leaders : Angel Taiquinene, Borja Taimañao, Mariano Matantaotao, Luís Songsong


NOTES

1. The "Mayor" was called, in Spanish, the Gobernadorcillo , meaning "little Governor."

2. The "Vice Mayor" was called, in Spanish, the Teniente , related to the word lieutenant, as in Lieutenant Governor.

3. The "Agricultural Officer" was called, in Spanish, the Juez de Palmas , Sementeras y Animales , or the Judge of Palms, Fields and Animals.

4. The "Neighborhood Leaders" were called, in Spanish, the Cabezas de Barangay , or Heads of the Barangay. Barangay meant a neighborhood or a district.

5. The man named Borja Taimañao had, as a first or personal name, Borja, which isn't surprising since the patron of Luta's church was San Francisco de Borja.


GET THE CHILDREN

Monday, March 19, 2018


Price of a Movie Ticket : An old stone

A Chamorro boy trades artifact for movie ticket

A museum in Hawaii wanted to collect pre-Spanish stone tools, implements and weapons on Guam. It was 1925, and the Bishop Museum of Honolulu was on Guam to expand their collection. But how to get as many objects as possible, in a limited amount of time?

The adults wouldn't go near anything associated with the island's pre-colonial past. They had been brought up all their life to avoid physical contact with anything connected with the ancient people, for fear of punishment.

So, the museum resorted to the children. In exchange for free entrance to Hagåtña's movie theater, children had to go in search of pre-contact adzes, blades, chisels, sling stones, sinkers; whatever they could find!

Apparently, the children eagerly complied. Off they went along the beach or into the jungle where their parents dreaded to go. Watching cowboys and train wrecks was worth the risk of upsetting the taotaomo'na (ancestor spirits). The children just had to present the ticket vendor at the theater with these artifacts in order to gain free admission. The museum reimbursed the theater.




PISTOL PACKIN' MAMA

Thursday, March 15, 2018



These two are as yet unidentified
BUT THEY REMIND ME OF LUISA AND FELICIANO


After August of 1944, it was now the Japanese who had to fear for their lives. The tables had been turned.

That month, organized Japanese resistance to the incoming American forces had ceased, but hundreds of Japanese soldiers fled into the jungle to escape capture. These fugitives were still armed and dangerous. They were also desperate, coming out at night to grab food wherever they could find it, including people's homes and ranches. If you happened to be there at the same time, you could catch one of the few remaining Japanese bullets.

So the US military organized both soldiers and deputized civilians to patrol the island's interior, forcing the hiding Japanese into the open. But there also happened to be at least one Chamorro lady joining the effort, and she had every personal reason to chase Japanese. Her name was Luisa Baza Santos of Malesso'.

Just as the Americans were bombing the island in preparation for the invasion, the Japanese rounded up Chamorros in Malesso', including Luisa, her sister María Baza and her mother Rosa Baza. The Japanese told them they were being lead to a "place of safety." The Japanese instead put them with other Chamorro civilians in a cave at Tinta and threw in grenades. One Ramón Garrido dropped down near Luisa, hit with fragments. The Japanese cut his head off as he lay there groaning. Manuel Charfauros, the school principal, was hit with a sword. The Japanese thought he was dead, but he wasn't. When the Japanese left, he left Tinta cave injured but alive.

It started to rain and the Japanese left. Luisa's sister told her that their mother had not survived and that they should leave. Luisa's sister did not make it. She, too, died.

Luisa's foot had been wounded by an exploding grenade. Tomás Cruz had pulled her out of the pile of dead bodies, and then Luisa herself crawled out. She made it up a hill and lay there in exhaustion, hoping to remain undiscovered by wandering Japanese. She was there for five days.

Luisa was married, and had a husband named Feliciano. He, too, had been rounded up by the Japanese and put in a camp with other Chamorro men, their hands tied behind their backs for 48 hours. But his group was eventually told to go hunt for food, and Feliciano took advantage of this and ran away. In time, he climbed a hill and heard crying. It was his wife Luisa!




Some time after, both Feliciano and Luisa worked as clerks in a military camp. But Feliciano also hunted for Japanese stragglers. He had killed nine so far, putting a notch on his rifle for each one killed. But Luisa was willing to hunt for stragglers, too, and started practicing on a rifle. Due to the dangers of roaming Japanese soldiers, she never left the safety of the community without her carbine hanging over her shoulder.

Feliciano called her his "Pistol Packin' Mama."



A newspaper depiction of Luisa taking shooting lessons from husband Feliciano

THE MOLE OF ASIA

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

THE MALL (MOLE) OF ASIA


Different languages have, or lack, different sounds.

Many Chamorros traditionally have had trouble with the English AW sound, as in the word "awe."

Usually, English speakers pronounce words and names like Paul , call , small , tall with the AW sound.

But many Chamorros pronounce those words and names with the O sound, as in pole , cole , smole and tole .

Listen....




So, while others go to the Mall of Asia when in Manila, we go to the Mole of Asia.

Listen....





I BIHU

Monday, March 12, 2018


Here's an older Chamorro folk belief we rarely ever hear about today. But, apparently, according to an edition of the Guam News Letter printed in 1918, many Chamorros of old believed in the existence of "spectral dogs" which sported flashing, flaming eyes. Chamorros called them bihu , which means "old." Perhaps these spooky dogs lived long ago and now appear and disappear as ghosts.

The bihu can be found at night digging up the earth with their paws, looking for the bones of dead men.

If a bihu sneaks up behind you and you turn around to look at him, he will jump way above your head and disappear into thin air.

"LEPERS" IN TOMHOM

Thursday, March 8, 2018



Ipao Leper Colony

"Leper" and "leprosy" are the traditional words for a disease which in the last 100 year or so has also become known as Hansen's Disease, after a Norwegian physician who studied the disease. Some find the older terms offensive, so I have put "leper" in quotation marks in the title of this post.

Secondly, many other skin conditions and diseases have been misidentified in the past as leprosy, and this certainly did happen in the Marianas in the past. At times, people just assumed a disease was leprosy, or classified all skin diseases or ulcers as "leprosy," even when they were not, so I put "leper" in quotation marks for that reason as well.

Since the disease can be spread person to person, isolation was a key method of handling cases of leprosy. The Spaniards did this by opening leper colonies or residences in various place, such as Pågo, Adilok (Adelup) and Asan Point.


A Leper Colony used to front this beach at Ipao

When the Spanish Government on Guam came to an end in 1898, the leprosy patients were let loose and returned to live with their families or on their own. In the first year of American "rule," there was no clear and stable American government to decide what to do with these lepers. That wouldn't happen until the second American Naval Governor arrived.

In the meantime, a passing American Naval officer recommended that these lepers, living among the general population, be sent to Molokai, where a famous leper colony was run and attended to at one time by Saint Damien. It never happened.



As often happened in the past, and as would be repeated in the future, some families were horrified at the thought of losing their family member sick with leprosy. So many of them hid them inside their homes, rather than let them be discovered and taken away.


GOVERNOR SCHROEDER CHOOSES TOMHOM

But the second American Naval Governor of Guam, Seaton Schroeder, resolved to open up yet another leper colony on the island, this time at a new location. Again, the idea was to stop the spread of the disease by separating those with leprosy from everybody else. Early in 1902, the government had discovered four individuals with leprosy. Schroeder ordered a thorough search of the island, as families tended to hide their relatives struck with the disease. That search revealed several more cases. That's when Schroeder decided to open a new leper colony.




The old leper facility at Asan Point had been destroyed and the site was used for the Filipino political prisoners, such as Mabini. So, a new site for a leper colony had to be found. Ipao Beach in Tomhom (Tumon) was selected. Thirty acres (some accounts say 29) were required and funds from Washington DC were requested to pay back the original landowners. Schroeder sought, and obtained, the support of Padre Palomo. Schroeder was hoping Palomo could find Catholic sister nurses to come to Guam and attend to the lepers. This never came about.

By the summer of 1902, news reports around the US were talking about the new leper colony at Ipao. The first houses were of thatched roof. On the premises were a hospital, a mess hall, kitchen chapel. There was a residence for the superintendent and two watchmen.



Site of the Leper Colony

A 1905 newspaper article describes the Ipao Leper Colony as looking like a typical Chamorro village, only cleaner! That year, there were 24 leprosy patients at Ipao.



Leprosy Patients at Ipao


TRANSFER TO CULION

In 1912, the Naval Government decided to move the leprosy patients at Ipao to Culion, an island in the Philippines which was the location of a large leprosarium, or hospital for lepers.




The leper colony at Ipao was not dismantled immediately. It was used again briefly in the 1920s for new cases of leprosy, and the facility was used also for female and juvenile offenders for a time before the war. But after the war there was no trace left of the leper colony. The disease had all but disappeared on Guam by then.



Location of the Ipao Leper Colony on today's map



In 1906, Acting Governor McNamee ordered that Juan be permanently confined in the

TUMON LEPER COLONY

ACHUGAO SAIPAN, ACHUGAO GUAM

Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Aqua Resort in Saipan is located in Achugao


Despite being 135 miles apart, both Guam and Saipan have places with identical names. One of them is Achugao.

There is an Achugao, Saipan and an Achugao, Guam.



Achugao, Saipan
"Unai" means "Sand" and refers to a beach


Achugao in Saipan is a small coastal area in between Tanapag and San Roque villages. There are maybe a dozen homes in Achugao.

Achugao in Guam is another story. It is so isolated that hardly anyone on Guam knows that it even exists. Achugao in Guam is located just south of Fakpi Point, south of Hågat and north of Humåtak.

Some people in Saipan can say they live in Achugao, but nobody on Guam lives in Achugao.



Achugao, Guam


WHAT IS "ACHUGAO?"


Does Achugao have a meaning?

What is certain is that achugao is a Chamorro word and it identifies a plant.

Exactly what plant is the question.

The 1918 von Preissig Chamorro dictionary doesn't have achugao listed.

Neither does Påle' Román's 1932 Chamorro dictionary, but it does have achugan and says that achugan is a plant, or a willow, like a rattan vine, and Achugao in Saipan is indeed a low-lying marshy area where reed-like plants dominate.

Safford's book about the plants of Guam, printed in 1905, also lists achugan , which is a "coarse swamp grass" that only karabao will eat. There may not be any connection at all between achugan and achugao , but clearer evidence would be nice to have one way or the other.

Topping's 1975 Chamorro dictionary does not list achugao . Nor does Francisco Valenzuela Cruz's 1967 dictionary.

It is Katherine Aguon's 2009 dictionary that says that achugao can be a "large onion," or a "perennial swamp grass that produces an edible bulb," or "a mangrove grass." And, Achugao in Saipan is a swampy, marshy area.

But another source, which includes a listing of Saipan place names, says that achugao is the Chamorro name for gleichenia , the scientific name for a kind of fern.

Safford's bookmentioned earlier, " The Useful Plants of the Island of Guam " lists gleichenia dichotoma , and says they are ferns which grow in the grassy uplands. But Safford doesn't say that these are called achugao in Chamorro, In fact, he says they are called mana .

So, we are left with a confusing assortment of different definitions. I have asked a number of older people from Saipan if they knew what achugao meant, and they didn't.



ACHUGAO, GUAM

CHORISOS CHAMORRO

Monday, March 5, 2018


Perhaps you've tried Katson's chorisos Chamorro .

Crumbly, red, spicy. At one time it was such a best seller that the family went into business making and selling it, with USDA approval!

Nowadays it is no longer sold commercially but different people make their own chorisos Chamorro for domestic use.

How did the Katsons start it all up?

Vicente Calvo Aflague, of the Katson branch of Aflagues, was actually a jeweler by trade and profession. His work adorned the ears, necks, wrists and fingers of many a lady on Guam, as well as men.

But he also raised pigs at his ranch in Dededo. With all that pork available, Vicente wondered how to make good use of the meat. He and his wife, the former Ruth Lujan Tydingco, decided to make sausage, or chorisos , with the pork. At first, these sausages were not encased like link sausages. They were loose and crumbly. Everybody fell in love with it.

Vicente and Ruth used parts of the pork best suited for sausage. The butt, belly and thighs. In Chamorro, the posuelo (the front chest area) and the pietna (legs or thighs) were used. To give it some fat, the skin ( lassas ) was added to the mixture in due proportion. This was all ground in a molino (grinder), hand-driven at first and then they switched to an electric one when the business took off.

Essential to the recipe are garlic (in generous amounts), white vinegar, achiote (the seeds, not the powder from a package), paprika, salt, black pepper and as much, or as little, chili pepper (the donne ' såli kind) to suit one's taste. Chicken can also be used to make chorisos Chamorro .

When the family was still running the business, they supplied Payless and other local stores with it, and even the military commissaries, both Navy and Air Force. Casings were ordered from the US and some of the sausages were made into links. Many people, however, still preferred the loose kind which was pan fried, cooked with vegetables or eggs, or added to fried rice. It could also be found on the menus of some local restaurants.

You can find on the internet a few recipes for chorisos Chamorro and some people do make their own. But it all started after the war with Ton Vicente'n Katson and his wife Ruth.



Katson's Chicken Chorisos Chamorro

A WEDDING, AND A FUNERAL, IN HAGÅTÑA

Thursday, March 1, 2018


The unhappy life of Samuel Stratton Foster.


This American merchant and adventurer found himself on Guam in the late 1800s, as did many other Americans and Europeans. Our small island of just 8000 or so inhabitants became home to a good number of immigrants of all nationalities.

Foster was someone always on the move. Born in New Jersey, he moved to California by 1849, in the first years of that state's incorporation into the United States. That was the year of the great California Gold Rush. Using California as his home base, he eventually did business in Tahiti and Samoa.

In time he got connected with the Capelle trading company in the Marshall Islands and went to Guam in 1880 as an agent to get some commercial activity going on in Pagan and Agrigan. But he seems to have brought his daughter Jennie along with him, along with her love interest, who happened to be a fellow agent with the Capelle company. His name was Charles H. Ingalls, an American from Boston.

On January 9, 1880, Ingalls and Jennie, Foster's daughter, were married at the Dulce Nombre de Maria Church in Hagåtña by Father Francisco Resano, the Spanish priest. Ingalls was 40 years old; Jennie a mere 19.

Witnesses to the marriage included the Englishman Henry Millinchamp and his Chamorro wife Emilia Castro Anderson. Other witnesses were Mariano de Castro, a government clerk, and Salvador Luján, patriarch of the Åtdot clan which today runs the Lujan Towing company in Aniguak.

A joyful occasion; except that 1880 would also be the year that the bride's father, Samuel Foster, passed away, again on Guam. He died in Hagåtña on November 20th of that year.

In the Spanish records, Foster's last will is found. Its paragraphs reveal a broken man, who both owed money and was owed money, and a man who had severed relationships with his wife and some of his children. As he writes, he had left country, family and friends.

But he hadn't lost everything. He still had Jennie, his loyal daughter, whom, he says, followed him in his "exile." He also found a friend in the first Chamorro priest, Påle' José Palomo, whom Foster made executor of his will. Foster even suggested in his will that, if necessary, Palomo use the Church as a shield against the Spanish government if the civil authorities attempted to grab the assets of the Capelle Company on Guam.



Foster's friend Påle' José Palomo
a friend to many Americans

The Spanish records show that Palomo spoke excellent English. In fact, it was Palomo who translated Foster's will written in English into Spanish for the Spanish Governor to read.

When the Americans took over Guam in 1898 and collided with the Spanish missionaries, some of the Spanish friars wrote that Palomo quietly supported the end of the Spanish regime and the start of the American one. "He was always friendly with the Americans," they said.

Palomo learned to speak English because he was, first of all, very bright, speaking more than one language, and because there were so many British and American seamen and merchants visiting Guam, some of them staying for life, that it was easy to pick up English from them if one wanted to.

"JOIN THE NAVY"

Tuesday, February 27, 2018


In the late 1930s, many young Chamorro men on Guam were joining the Navy. All they were allowed to do was work as mess attendants, and a few other things related to the galley and other chores.

A famous expression was "Join the Navy and see the world."

On Guam, there was a little twist to this saying :

"Join the Navy and see the world.
What did I see? A kitan girl."

Kitan , in Chamorro, means cross-eyed.





Chamorro Navy Recruits in the 1930s

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Monday, February 26, 2018


Ti siña ma gåpot i dakngas.

(You cannot pull the hair of the bald.)


The man was bitterly resentful and jealous of the other man's popularity and talents. Slowly, beginning with just one or two people, then gradually speaking to as many as would listen to him, the man began to throw mud on his rival.

Eventually he was brazen enough to stand up in front of the audience and mock and insult the other man. All to no effect. When he was finished, the man he was trying to bring down replied,

"Tåya' problema entre hita na dos. Todo i defekto-ko ni un såsångan, guåho fine'nena hu atmite."
("There is no problem between us two. All my defects you speak of, I am the first to admit.")

The audience burst into enthusiastic applause, and the jealous man took his seat in humiliation.

An older man in the audience turned to another and said, " Ti siña ma gåpot i dakngas ."

You cannot humiliate the humble, just as one cannot steal from someone who has nothing. You cannot kill the dead. You cannot pull the hair of a bald man.

If you try to humiliate the humble, you yourself will become humiliated by those standing by watching.

KÅNTA : TRISTE NA MOVIE

Friday, February 23, 2018


In October of 1961, Sue Thompson's single Sad Movies Make Me Cry reached the number 5 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

A Chamorro version was made and Larry Saralu recorded it.




LYRICS


Ilek-ña para u facho'cho' ya humånao yo' para i movie.
(S/he said s/he was going to work and I went to the movies.)
Matå'chong yo' gi siya pues ma puno' i kandet.
(I sat in the seat and then they turned off the lights.)
Ya åntes ha' de u ma tutuhon i litråto
(And just before they started the picture)
hu li'e' mismo i atungo'-ho yan asaguå-ho.
(I saw the very one I knew and my wife/husband.)

Eståba yo' guihe lao ti ma repåra
(I was there but they didn't notice)
ya matå'chong i dos gi me'nå-ho na siya.
(and the two sat in the seats in front of me.)
Na umachiko i dos ai iho måtai yo'.
(When the two kissed each other I died, son.)
Gi durånten man boniton litråto na tumånges yo'.
(During nice movies I cried.)

O triste na movie muna' kåti yo'.
(Oh a sad movie made me cry.)

Kahulo' yo' ya må'pos yo' para iya håme.
(I got up and left for our place.)
Ha faisen yo' si nåna lao sen ti hu sangåne.
(Mother asked me but I said nothing.)
Hu bira i rason-ho ya sige de hu dagi.
(I changed my reason and continued to lie.)
Ilek-ho triste na movie muna' kåti yo'.
(I said sad movies made me cry.)


NOTE

Tånges is crying in the sense of tears flowing from the eyes. Kåti is the audible kind of crying and can also mean any audible scream, as in to honk a car's horn, or the cries of birds.



ORIGINAL




HAUNTED BY CAROLINIANS?

Wednesday, February 21, 2018


This office building, which sits right on Marine Corps Drive in Tamuning, not far from the shore, used to house the Pacific Financial Company, now known as the Personal Finance Center. At one time, I believe, the Hakubotan store was located there. Now, as seems obvious, the building serves as the headquarters for the Tenorio-Ada campaign.

I recently talked to an older gentleman whose responsibility it was, back in the 1970s and 80s, to secure the building at night. He told me he'd go in at night long after the offices and store were closed, look around to make sure everything was OK and lock up again. On a few occasions, he said, he'd hear the voices of women and children, as if they were chasing each other in fun. They were pleasant voices, happy words mixed with laughter and giggles. He knew the language wasn't Chamorro, as he speaks Chamorro. And he said it sounded like a "Micronesian" language.

The man also knew, since his family has owned the land for many years, that this area of Tamuning was the site of the old Carolinian village on Guam in the 1800s. He thinks the voices he heard were of these Carolinian residents who used to live around this location, whose bodies were buried here.

If you don't believe in life after death, or the existence of the soul, you'd probably say it was all his imagination, or that, unbeknownst to him, there were living people talking about in the area. It's also possible that Chamorro graves exist below the surface of this ground. The language they spoke didn't have the vocabulary borrowed from Spanish that we have had for over 300 years. Besides that, languages just change on their own, dropping some words, creating new words, modifying pronunciation and so on. If we could hear the Chamorro spoken 800 years ago, chances are we'd find it somewhat familiar but also somewhat different from what we hear today.




The Spaniards called this Carolinian village María Cristina , after the Spanish queen. Colloquially, the Carolinian settlement was called Tamuning (spelled in various ways). This American map above in the early 1900s shows the location. If you look closely, the Carolinian village was located along the shore just where it turns north, in the direction of Alupang (or Alupat) island. This is precisely where the Pacific Financial building is located.



The location of the building, and possibly the old Carolinian village

In 1901, the American Governor, Seaton Schroeder, deported all the Tamuning Carolinians to Saipan (athough later censuses on Guam reveal the presence of a tiny number of Carolinians living in Hagåtña after 1901).

But, lest we forget, for most of the 1800s, Carolinians were born, lived, died and were buried on Guam, right up to 1901.

Maybe some of those sandy graves give up their ghosts once in a while!

Perhaps members of the Tenorio-Ada campaign can tell us later if they hear the voices of Carolinian women and children, like those pictured below, playing chase at 2AM.



Carolinians of Tamuning

THE REOPENING OF PÅGAN AIRSTRIP

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

The people of Pågan welcome visitors to the reopening of their airstrip in 1967


Of all the islands north of Saipan, perhaps none has been given more attention in recent history than Pågan, with Agrigan coming in a close second.

The island is exquisitely beautiful, it is the largest of the northern islands and it is blessed with much agricultural and fishing potential. Since Spanish times, into the German and Japanese periods, many people have eyed Pågan as a place to make money or simply to live in a tropical paradise.

Except for, of course, those two volcanoes which wake up now and then!


THE JAPANESE AIRSTRIP

The Japanese were the first to lay out an airstrip, beginning in 1935. Around 200 Japanese and 400 Chamorros and Carolinians worked on the project, which involved very strenuous work since the ground was quite hard. When it was finished, the airstrip was not laid over with asphalt. The terrain was smoothed over in order for planes to land, but it was covered in grass.


Pågan Airstrip during World War II


The Japanese knew that war would be coming and the airstrip would be a good military asset. In 1937, the Japanese war preparation effort went into full gear and the Japanese began building a hangar adequate to house ten fighter planes, air raid shelters, pill boxes, anti-aircraft gun placements and four barracks for the eventual 2150 members of the Imperial Japanese Navy garrison stationed there.

In June of 1944, the Americans began bombing Pågan. The Japanese had launched a few air strikes from Pågan aimed at American targets in the southern islands, so the Americans knew they had to take the Pågan airstrip out of business. By August 15, after the Japanese Government in Tokyo surrendered, the Americans began dropping leaflets on Pågan announcing the war's end. By September 3, the Japanese forces on Pågan (short on food by then) peacefully gave themselves up to the American ship that came to accept their surrender.



The Japanese airstrip taking a beating from American bombs in 1944


The airstrip, already partly damaged with bomb craters, was left to decay.

The Japanese left but the Chamorros and Carolinians stayed, their numbers slowly increasing over time. But the only way to get to or leave Pågan by then was by boat.


A TYPHOON INSPIRES AN IDEA


In 1965, Typhoon Carmen blew over Pågan.

The Trust Territory Government knew it needed to bring material relief to the people of Pågan. They did it by boat. But the idea came to the government to explore the possibility of rehabilitating the old Japanese airstrip and resume air transportation to the island.

The District Legislature in Saipan appropriated $7000 and Frank Kaipat was appointed project manager by the District Administrator, Peter Coleman. Some 30 residents of Pågan, and a few Peace Corps volunteers, were involved in smoothing out the airstrip once again. The work began in August of 1966.

The Peace Corps volunteers, by the way, gave the idea of reopening the air strip a push by way of the reopening of Pagan's school. Prior to that, school children in the northern islands were sent to Saipan for schooling, away from their parents. The parents had had enough of that and the Peace Corps volunteers also moved to have schools in the northern islands reopen. All the more reason, then, to have a functional airstrip in Pagan.

Six months later, in February of 1967, Emmet Kay, owner of Micronesian Airlines and pilot of his own plane, the Spirit of Faith , landed in Pågan, the first plane to do so since the war. It was an initial visit, and Emmet flew back to Saipan a child in need of medical care.



FIRST PLANE LANDING ON PAGAN SINCE WW2
(L-R) Peter Coleman, Fr Arnold Bendowske, Emmet Kay



On April 3, 1967, the formal opening of the Pågan airstrip was celebrated. Once again, Emmet Kay flew his plane up. On-board were government representatives from Saipan. The people of Pågan, around 80 all told, came out to welcome the plane and the visitors. Father Arnold of Saipan was on-hand to bless the airstrip.



The airstrip in 1970


Micronesian Airlines started flying regularly to Pågan from Saipan, at first usually once a week. In 1980, the Federal Aviation Administration filed its last report on Pågan airstrip. According to this report, there were two runways on Pågan made of turf and gravel, about 1500 feet long.

There were, on average, 20 flights to Pågan each month, or around 240 a year in those days.

But then, in 1981, Pågan's volcano exploded violently. It continued to erupt every few years for a long time. The residents were evacuated to Saipan since then. Although a few people live on Pågan today, sometimes just for a limited period, the airstrip is used only rarely for brief visits. Most people who travel to Pågan today do so by boat. Mother Nature is reclaiming the airstrip, and it will have to be cleared and smoothed out once again if it is to be used in the future.



Pågan Airstrip

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Friday, February 16, 2018
Paul Jacoulet


I guinaiya maila' ya ta manifiesta,
lao i linachi maila' ya ta dispensa.
Sa' todo man eskuela,
lao ti todo man malåte'.

Come let us show forth love,
but let us forgive mistakes.
Because all go to school,
but not all are intelligent.


~ Leila Camacho


AUDIO



I AYUNAT ÅNTES NA TIEMPO

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Eskabeche
( guampedia . com )

From a sermon written in 1873

The Chamorro here reflects the language of that period, which differs slightly from ours today.

I ayunat, famagu'on-ho, i chinemma' i palo na nengkanno',
(Fasting, my children, is the prohibition of some food,)

yan uno' ha' na chinecho. (1)
(and only one meal.)

An ta tataitai i istorian i man mo'na na mangilisyåno,
(When we read the history of the first Christians,)

ta lili'e' na ayo siha, ni i mangefmanhongge na taotao,
(we see that those who really believed,)

man ayuyunat duroro, mañocho un biåhe ha' kada ha'åne,
(fasted severely, they are just once each day,)

ya i nengkanno'-ñiñiha håf na ågon yan hånom na maisa,
(and their food was whatever bread and water alone,)

ya asta guaha palo lokkue', na tåt nai man mañåggue håfa gi dos,
(and there were even some who never trembled at two,)

tres i asta un semåna entero (2), ya guaha palo na såntos,
(three and up to a whole week, and there are other saints,)

ni i ha kåkånno' i kumomotgan na maisa gi todo i tiempon Kuaresma,
(who ate only Holy Communion for the entire time of Lent,)

lao ti håf na nengkanno'.
(but no other food.)

I mañaina-ta gi hinengge ha na' fan mamåhlao hit, an ta kompåpåra (3)
(Our forefathers in faith make us ashamed, if we compare)

i ayunat-ñiha yan i ayunåt-ta på'go na tiempo.
(their fasting and our fasting nowadays.)

Hu tutungo' na hita mås man dafe' ke siha,
(I know that we are weaker than they,)

ya muna' ennao i Sånta Mådre Iglesia manånågo'
(and because of that Holy Mother Church orders)

ya ha enkåtga hit i sumen suåbe na ayunat.
(and obligates us with the gentlest of fasts.)



NOTES

(1) Chinecho . This comes from the root word chocho , which means to eat. The -in infix makes the verb a noun, meaning "a meal." But today this is rarely heard.  The more usual word for "meal" nowadays is sentåda .

(2) I believe he means there were some who weren't afraid to fast two, three days up to a whole week.

(3) Kompåra . Nowadays, many say akompåra , which also means "to compare."


AUDIO


CHAMORROS MINING MERCURY

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

The mine is now a ghost town

It was the second busiest mercury mine in America. Mercury is very important in separating gold from whatever else from the earth mixed with the gold while it was still buried in the earth. When gold was discovered in California, mercury became a very important commodity.

The New Idria mercury mine was located near the small town of Panoche in San Benito County, California, southeast of Salinas.




In 1900, two, possibly three, Chamorros worked there.

One was a miner. Félix Castro , aged 33 years old, was described as being able to read, write and speak English. He had moved to the U.S. in 1890. He was single in 1900.

The second worked at the mine but as a furnace man. Manuel de León , aged 35. He, too, could read, write and speak English. The record says he immigrated to the U.S. in 1879, which would make him a mere 13 years old. Not impossible, but unusually young, unless the age and dates are just guesses, as they often were. The record days that Manuel was married, but his wife does not appear with him in the record, so we don't know who she was.

There was also a José Salas , aged 30. He was identified as coming from the Philippines, but the Marianas had been a province of the Philippines for a while under Spain, so some Chamorros were identified as being from the Philippines. Later prison records reveal that a Joe Salas, convicted for forgery, was from Guam and had been a miner in San Benito.



Location of the Mine

LACE CURTAIN CHAMORROS

Monday, February 12, 2018

Home of a Manakkilo' in Hagåtña
Early 1900s

In almost every human community, there are always the haves and the have-nots.

Long before the arrival of the Spanish, our ancient society was divided into three classes, as well. The lowest class, the mangachang , had fewer rights and fewer material goods.

Under Spain, how could an ambitious Chamorro advance?

Since there were very few opportunities to make money in trade and commerce, the best way to an improved economic life was the government and the salaries it paid. Government jobs were few. Teachers made a little money, and there weren't many teaching positions available. Soldiers made a handful of money, often paid in goods rather than cash. The better salaries were in clerking for the court and other government offices. This required a very good knowledge of the Spanish language. It was from government positions that some families then ventured into commerce and trade, limited as they were at the time.

These elite families took on more of a Spanish flavor, as well, having a good grasp of Spanish language and manners. The people called them the manakkilo ', the high ones, from the word takkilo ' (high).

An American writer in 1902 who visited Guam that year describes visiting the home of one of these elite Chamorros.

"They live in houses built of coral stone, having the necessities and a few of the luxuries of life. A prosperous merchant of Agana is educating his son in Manila, and his home is very inviting; stone steps leading from the hot, dusty street into a large, cool hall, paved with colored tiles, in which stand a long, cane-seated sofa and several chairs. At the end and to the right of the hall, broad stairs lead to the rooms above which are spacious and airy. Lace curtains before the windows, easy chairs, a piano, many ornaments and pictures and the highly-polished floor betoken his comfortable circumstances."

"Houses built of coral stone" means mampostería , a mixture of stone and mortar. "Highly-polished floors" probably meant wooden floors made with ifit wood, which were polished using coconut husks.



Chamorro ladies of the elite class

MARKING LAND BOUNDARIES

Friday, February 9, 2018

MARKED WITH AN "H"


With a population of less than 10,000 in the entire island most of the time in the 17 and 1800s, Guam had a lot of empty, unused land. Sometimes people just used idle land without knowing who was the owner. At times, after a long period of unchallenged and uninterrupted use, people formally claimed ownership of land based on prior usage alone - and got it! In the Spanish land documents, they said they acquired the land por mera ocupación - by merely occupying the land.

But one way many people marked out their land boundaries was by etching letters into the trunks of trees on the property.

A stone land marker was called a mohón , borrowed from the Spanish word mojón , meaning the same thing.

But many people found it easier to just take a chisel ( so'so ') and hammer ( mattiyo ), or whatever tools they had, and mark the trunks of trees with letters.




In this court document, someone seeking official recognition of his ownership uses ifil trees marked A and B to serve as mohón or land boundary markers.

They could then say that their land started at this tree marked A, then going east to tree marked B, then north to tree marked C, then going west to tree marked D and finally going south back to tree marked A.




HOMEMADE LAND MAP FROM 1902


The boundaries of the above land map, written in Spanish, are marked with trees which are themselves marked with letters.

On the top left, a coconut tree ( coco ) marked with a B.

On the top right, a cotton tree ( algodón ) marked with a V.

On the bottom left, another cotton tree marked with a D.

On the bottom right, yet a third cotton tree marked an S.

KÅNTA : I FLECHAN YU'US

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

This song compares the love God has for us to an arrow that penetrates our hearts deeply.




Chorus :
I flechan Yu'us ha tokcha' hit;
(The arrow of God has pierced us;)
i korason-ña ha guaiya hit.
(His heart loves us.)

1. Håfa Jesus-ho i malago'-mo gi dinilok-mo nu i taotao?
(What, my Jesus, do you desire from your piercing of the people?)
Yanggen i sensen pat i anti-ña, Yu'us Lahi-ña chuli'e' hao!
(If it's the flesh or its soul, God the Son, take it for Yourself!)

2. Guåho magåhet lånsan Longinos, kalåktos, inos, flumecha hao.
(I am truly the lance of Longinus, sharp and easily inserted, which pierced You.)
Tåya' dumulok i korason-mo na i patgon-mo ni guåho ha'.
(Nothing pierced your heart but your child which I am.)

3. Sahguan guinaiya, figan na hotno, i korason-mo, mames Jesus.
(Vessel of love, fiery furnace, is your heart, sweet Jesus.)
Tåya' taiguennao na ginefli'e' ha na' ma li'e' na si Yu'us.
(None has shown that kind of love except God.)



NOTES


In verse 1 , we consider that the love that God has for us pierces our hearts and makes us love Him back. The love we have for God shows in our willingness to surrender to Him everything we have and are, both body (flesh) and soul.

In verse 2 , we consider that we, too, have pierced God's heart but in a painful way by our sins which offend Him. We are like the spear of the Roman soldier Longinus who, in order to make sure Jesus was dead, pierced His side when He was hanging on the cross. The song uses the word flecha, which means "arrow," as a verb : to shoot an arrow at Jesus. And, to consider that we who pierce God are the children He created. Such ingratitude!

In verse 3 , we consider that the love of God is mighty like a blazing furnace. No one can say he or she loves us as much as God because, being Almighty God, He lowers Himself to become a victim for our sins and thus save us by His sacrifice. Just as a fire destroys, God's love allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross in order to prove to us His immense love.



LONGINUS
was the Roman soldier who pierced Jesus' side with a lance

LOST SURNAMES : QUITONGUICO

Wednesday, February 7, 2018


When some of us first got to know the future Father Patrick Garcia, we learned that his middle names were Kenny and Quitonguico.

We had never heard the name Quitonguico before and wondered what it was and where it came from. In time, I learned that it was a Chamorro name and that it belonged to Fr. Pat's grandmother.

The surname disappeared, for various reasons. Fr. Pat was the last one to have it included in his full name.


INALÅHAN

The Quitonguico name goes back to the early 1800s, if not earlier.

In 1823, a Juan Quitonguico was born, but died in infancy.

A José Quitonguico of Inalåhan lived long enough to marry one Marta Chargualaf. They had two sons.

Marcos married Petra Quichocho and ended up living in Malesso'. His son Pedro died before getting married, and his only other son, Juan, married but had no children.



Pedro Quitonguico's signature in 1901

So that left it to José and Marta's only remaining son, Félix, to continue the family name. Félix, staying in Inalåhan, married Agustina Taimanglo. They had several children, including sons, but only one daughter, Amparo, seems to have had children.

Amparo was single at the time so those children would have carried the Quitonguico name, and they did, for a while at least. But, one by one, the children adopted other surnames, keeping Quitonguico as a middle name in some cases.

Amparo had a daughter Engracia, who eventually added Palomo as her surname. She then married a Garcia and her grandson, the future Father Patrick, was given the middle name Quitonguico to honor that heritage.


WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

That, I'm afraid, is unknown for sure. We can theorize that the Qui in the name is Ke, meaning "to attempt to." It is found in other Chamorro surnames like Quitugua and Quichocho. But that is only an assumption.

But the -tonguico part of it is a mystery. It is possible that tongui is tongge , which is a shortening of tunokgue , which means "to come down to someone or something." The -co could be -ko, the possessive suffix meaning "my." Putting it all together, Quitonguico could be ke+tongge+ko. "My would-be coming down" or something close to that.

It's just a guess, but a good guess might get us closer to the bulls eye.


I TRES PATÅS-ÑA NA MÅNNOK

Tuesday, February 6, 2018


Humånao un maestron UOG para un låncho sa' ha hungok
(A UOG teacher went to a ranch because he heard)

na guaha lanchero ni mamomoksai meggai na månnok ni tres påtas-ñiha.
(that there was a rancher who was raising many three-legged chickens.)

Ha faisen i lanchero, "Håfa na tres påtas-ñiha i ga'-mo månnok siha?"
(He asked the rancher, "Why do your chickens have three feet?")

Manoppe i lanchero, "Ke sa' ya-ho chumocho påtas månnok, i asaguå-ho ya-ña lokkue'
(The rancher answered, "Well I like to eat chicken feet, my wife also likes)

chumocho påtas månnok yan kontodo i lahen-måme ya-ña chumocho påtas månnok.
(to eat chicken feet and our son as well likes to eat chicken feet.)

Pues hu eyak håfa taimano siña ma tulaika i iyon-ñiha DNA
(So I learned how to change their DNA)

kosa ke u guaha tres påtas-ñiha kada ma pulakis i chada'."
(so that they would have three feet each time the egg is hatched.")

"O," ilek-ña i maestro, "ya kao månnge' i tres patås-ña na månnok?"
("Oh," the teacher said, "and is a three-legged chicken delicious?")

"Ti hu tungo', señot," ilek-ña i lanchero. "Mampos chaddek malågo ya ti siña hu gacha'."
("I don't know, sir," said the rancher. "It runs too fast and I can't catch it.")



HIDDEN HUMÅTAK

Monday, February 5, 2018

HUM­ÅTAK'S HIDDEN SPANISH BRIDGE


In a number of places on Guam, you and I can drive right by and not realize that you just passed physical remains of our island's history.

Such is the case with a Spanish bridge in Humåtak that lies hidden underneath modern concrete and asphalt.

FROM HÅGAT TO HUMÅTAK



The yellow line from Hågat to Humåtak

During the 1700s, Humåtak was the place to be. That's where most of the ships anchored when they came to Guam. For that reason, the Spanish Governor moved down to Humåtak whenever the yearly Acapulco galleon pulled in, or if another ship happened to stop by. Granted, this wasn't very often. There were years that not even the Acapulco galleon made a stop. But, in the 1700s, if there was any maritime action, it was mainly to be seen in Humåtak. This meant the arrival of new people and new merchandise; supplies for the church and the government.

For this reason, a road from Hågat to Humåtak was laid out, following the rugged western coast of the island. In many places, bridges had to be built to cross streams and rivers. That's why we find bridges still in existence in places like Talaifak and Sella (Sehya). That's where the coastal road from Hågat to Humåtak went through.



Why is there a bridge in Sella, where nobody lives?
Getting to Humåtak was the point.


NOT MUCH CHOICE

When the road finally got down to Humåtak, it had to cross a stream at the northern part of the village. So the Spaniards built a bridge. The bridge is still in existence, but you wouldn't know it unless someone told you, or if you happened to get down from your car and started snooping.

When a modern bridge was to be built, the planners probably thought they didn't have much of a choice but to build right over the old bridge. The stream isn't that wide, so they just poured concrete over the old bridge, then laid the asphalt and widened the road a bit. Between the coast and the hills, there isn't much land to maneuver with.



Modern concrete on top of old Spanish-period mampostería

During Spanish times, people frequently built using mampostería , a mixture of stone and mortar (for example, wet sand with lime). Coral rocks from the seashore were often used and you can see the identifying grooves of the coral.


Coral Rock



Cut Stone was also used




The stream isn't very wide; in the dry season there isn't even any water.

JOAQUINA'S BAD NIGHT

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Old Hagåtña


We all have our low moments and Joaquina's was one night in September of 1902. That's when she allowed herself to drink too much. That she remembered. What she didn't remember, so she claimed, was the ruckus she caused that night.

Around 830 one Sunday night, a woman screaming obscenities could be heard in the streets of Hagåtña.

" Puñetera ! Karåho ! Demonio !" Very dirty words in Chamorro.

Not only were these words echoed in the neighborhood, the shouting woman was doing it in front of the Protestant chapel, right when the Protestants were conducting Sunday night services!

Security officials were alerted. Pedro Mendiola Delgado and Mariano de los Reyes came on the scene and saw Joaquina in the middle of the street, shouting these profanities. The two officers moved her along and told her to be quiet. She acquiesced for the moment.

But Joaquina was just biding her time. She took her intoxicated noise down to Calle Numancia, a street right in the middle of San Ignacio barrio , the heart of the capital city. Today, it would be just west of the Agaña Post Office.



Location of Calle Numancia in San Ignacio, Hagåtña

In Calle Numancia, Joaquina walked up to Filomena's house and pounded on the door.

" Puñetera ! Puta ! Kochina !" More foul words.

" Huyong ya este ha' mågi na hu yamak hao ya un tungo' håye yo' !"

" Come out and right here I will break you and you'll know who I am !"

Filomena was in bed. It was around 9PM now. She had no idea who was making all the noise. She opened her window and saw that it was Joaquina. She could tell that Joaquina was drunk. Filomena closed the window and went back to bed, even though Joaquina started yelling all over again.

José Cruz Fejarang and José Castro Aflague were also awakened by the noise and went to see what was going on.

In time, Joaquina was taken to court. The officials called in various witnesses. This story is taken from those court records.

One witness was José Blas Pangelinan, a carpenter whose house faced the Protestant house chapel. When asked what he knew of the incident, he said all he knew was that Joaquina was shouting obscenities in the street, but he didn't know to whom Joaquina was directing her attacks because he was in the habit of closing up his house as soon as the Protestants started their services!

Joaquina told the court that all she could remember was that she got drunk. What she did in her inebriated state, she had no recollection of. If she did those things she was being accused of, she begged the mercy of the court, as she had no intention of doing them.

The court levied a fine on her, or prison days if she had no money.


B#B# ANDAUT

Tuesday, January 30, 2018
saipantry.blogspot.com


CHAYOTE

Around 1904, James H. Underwood, an American resident of Guam, married to a Chamorro woman and eventually US Postmaster of Guam, came across an article in the Sunset Magazine about a vegetable that attracted his attention.




It was called chayote, a native of Mexico that spread elsewhere in time. In the Sunset article, a lady in Los Angeles was growing them in her backyard, and a photo of the vegetable was included.

Underwood wrote to the lady, asking if she'd mail him chayote seeds in exchange for seeds from Guam plants. She said yes. This episode was written up in the Guam Recorder in 1936.


HOW TO EAT?

There are numerous ways to eat it. Treat it like squash, or zucchini or cucumber. Sauté it, pan fry it, use it in soup. Whatever way suits you. Some eat in raw as long as it's pickled. It doesn't need even need to be peeled.


THE GUAM CHAMORRO NAME FOR IT

This is where it gets interesting.

Once the seeds got to Underwood, I assume he grew them or gave them to someone to grow and from there it spread among the people.



JAMES H. UNDERWOOD

Lacking a Chamorro name for it, the people soon invented one. We have no idea who started it. But it became the accepted local name for chayote.

Since it includes a sensitive word, I will not spell it out completely. The lady in the video says it, so you'll know it from her.

Many Chamorros in those days found it easier to pronounce Underwood as Andaut. That is, AN - DA - UT (OOT).


AN MALOFFAN I LIKAO

Monday, January 29, 2018


An maloffan i likao, songge i danges ya un pega gi bentåna.

(When the procession passes, light the candle and put it on the window.)


I thought the custom had totally disappeared, but here it is 2018 and I saw one house in Mongmong continue it. We were passing this home in procession and I spied a lit candle on a table in the carport.

In the old days, people would light a stick candle, less frequently a jar candle since they were not as available back then, and put it on the window sill facing the road where the procession would pass. Back in the 1980s, I still saw it done here and there, especially in the south.

It was a way of the residents showing respect for the religious image that was passing the home, either on a karosa pulled by people or on an åndas carried on the shoulders. This way the home could ask for a blessing from that saint or the Lord.

Sometimes it was because an elderly or sick person in the home couldn't leave the home to attend the church function. At other times, even if the whole family was going to attend the Mass at church, they would leave a lit candle anyway at the window or wherever convenient and safe, as a way of inviting a blessing on the home. In modern times, some families turn on the outdoor lights, too, as a way of giving respect to the passing image.





If there were someone elderly or sick inside the home, they would try to situate themselves by the window or door so they could see the passing image, make the sign of the cross and say some prayers while the image was passing, unless of course they were unable to rise from bed, unconscious or in a very bad state. Then a caregiver in the family was the one who did that for him or herself, and on behalf of the sick or elderly family member.

Lighting candles by the window was a custom in other parts of the world, continued to this day in some places. There were different reasons for this, including the passing of processions.

MA ARESTA SI "JOE SALAS"

Thursday, January 25, 2018


Joe Salas was born on Guam around 1871. He was probably named José at birth.

The 1900 census identifies a José Salas working at the Panoche mine in San Benito, born around 1870 or 71, from the Philippines. Since the Marianas had been a province of the Philippines under Spain, many people from Guam were identified as coming from the Philippines. This could very well be the Joe Salas seen in the photo above.

In 1911, he was sentenced to three years in prison for forgery and was sent to San Quentin State Prison. His prison documents state he was from Guam, but furnish no other details about his family background.

He must have been a good boy at San Quentin because he was discharged a year early, in 1913.

KÅNTA : BUENAS KORASON-HO

Tuesday, January 23, 2018


BUENAS KORASON-HO
kinanta as (sung by) Arnold Kaipat






Buenas korason-ho.
(Hello my heart.)
Bai hu nangga hao
(I will wait for you)
sa' hågo ha' guinaiya-ko
(because you alone are my love)
todo i tiempo.
(at all times.)

Buenas noches mañaina-ho. (1)
(Good evening my elders.)
Oppe yo' pot kilisyåno. (2)
(Answer me because I am a Christian.)
Måtto yo' bai fan nå'e notisia
(I have come to give notice)
na manguaiya 'u nu hagå-mo.
(that I love your daughter.)

Esta nene mås de dies åños
(It's been more than ten years baby)
de hu nanangga akseptå-mo.
(that I have waited for your acceptance.)
Håfa nene nai desision-mo?
(What is your decision, baby?)
Sa' guåho esta yo' prepåra.
(Because I am already prepared.)

I kattå-mo ni un hanågue yo'.
(Your letter which you sent me.)
I fitmå-mo i labios-mo.
(Your signature with your lips.)
Lao bai sångan nene gi taiguine.
(But I will say it baby like this.)
Hågo ha' gi korason-ho.
(You alone are in my heart.)


NOTES

(1) Buenas noches mañaina-ho . In the old days, a young man could never deal with the girl one-on-one. He always had to gain her parents' approval. So a young man would act his best, come around the house a lot, rake the yard, pick up trash, help with whatever projects needed to be done, in order to win the parents' good graces.

(2) Oppe yo' pot kilisyåno . Religion was very much present in the minds of many people back then. They were aware of their Christian duties. The young man is saying, "Answer me, because I am a Christian," or he could mean, "Answer me, because you are Christians and it's the Christian thing to do, the charitable thing to do, to answer me."

I KABAYERO AS "UNCLE REY"

Monday, January 22, 2018

IGNACIO MENDIOLA REYES
(1923 ~ 2018)


Kabayero , at its basic, means someone honorable, respectable, noble.

It implies a man of virtue, fairness, wisdom.

It is borrowed from the Spanish word caballero , from caballo or "horse." A caballero is a horseman, a knight and all the virtues that were traditionally ascribed to knights.

A kabayero may not have wealth. He may not occupy powerful political office. He may not even speak much in public. But when he speaks, people listen. His wisdom and moral rectitude command respect and wield influence.

Kabayero is how I would describe Uncle Rey, whose formal name was Ignacio Mendiola Reyes. He was born in Malesso' in 1923, the son of a Malesso' father and a mother from Sumay. I guess the "Rey" came from his last name Reyes, which in English sounds like "RAY - JESS." Some people spell it "Uncle Ray" but his funeral announcement spells it "Rey."

He was called "Uncle" because he and his wife, the former Rosa T. Aguigui, didn't have children of their own. But they were like uncle and aunt, and even grandpa and grandma, to many people, starting with their nieces and nephews and their children, but also to many people who were not related by blood.



Uncle Rey and Rosa with Father Lee

Uncle Rey was a gentle, soft-spoken man who was always in a pleasant, calm mood. I would visit him from time to time and ask him sensitive questions about the war. He would listen (he was very good at that), and before he would respond, he would sit back and think for a moment. He thought before he spoke, weighing his words. His answers were always honest but also worded very carefully, so that he was never unfair in his description of events or people. He was what we call mehnalom in Chamorro. It means someone reflective, a thinker. That word comes from mi (meaning "abundant") and hinalom (meaning "interior"). He had an abundance of interior thinking and reflection.

He was elected Mayor of Malesso' from 1952 to 1956, was a school teacher and then a truant officer. He was married to the former Rosa Tyquiengco Aguigui (Auntie Chai), the first woman on Guam  elected to public office (the consultative Guam Congress) in 1946. Together they were a couple dedicated to all their nephews and nieces and their children.


On their wedding day


Fishing was Uncle Rey's great love and he did it often. He was also an active member of San Dimas parish in Malesso', serving on many church committees throughout the years and singing in the San Dimas Mens Choir.



An expert fisherman

One man from Malesso' described him as makalamya . Makalamya means someone active and industrious, but also in an effective way. Someone who knows how to get things done or find people who know how to get the job done.

If you ask me what makes me proud about our Chamorro people and culture, it's people like Uncle Rey and Auntie Chai that make me proud. Good people.

Deskånsa gi minahgong , Uncle Rey . Un merese i deskånson i man fiet. (Rest in peace, Uncle Rey. You deserve the rest of the faithful.)



Uncle Rey and Auntie Chai

P­ATTERA SIN LISENSIA

Thursday, January 18, 2018

MIDWIVES IN TRAINING
1901


Women skilled in assisting other women giving birth are called pattera (midwife) in Chamorro, a word borrowed from the Spanish partera , meaning the same thing. Parto in Spanish means "labor" as in birthing.

In 1900, the US Naval Government mandated, with General Order No. 28, the licensing of Guam's pattera . They were told to report to the Naval Hospital in Hagåtña to undergo an elementary course, free of charge. They would then be given licenses, again free of charge. Only those licensed could practice midwifery.

One of the reasons stated for this training and licensing was to reduce the "present deplorable rate of mortality among mothers and infants."

Well, one lady claiming to be a pattera never got around to getting a license. And, to make matters worse, the mother she assisted in childbirth died while giving birth to the baby.

Late in the night of April 3, 1901, María, a woman just 22 years old from Sinajaña, sent word to a woman named Joaquina that she was feeling labor pains. Joaquina told the family there was no need to call for a pattera . She claimed that she herself could do the job. Poor María, however, died after giving birth, and it was reported to the government that she had been assisted in her labor pains by Joaquina, who lacked a license.

The court ordered Joaquina to pay a heavy fine. But, having no earthly goods, Joaquina was unable to pay the fine. So the court ordered that Joaquina spend 7 days in jail.


THE BIGGER PICTURE

I know no further details about Joaquina and her role as a pattera , whether she had been a genuine pattera or not.

But, while we're on the subject, it's good to know that many of our people in those early days of American rule preferred to keep distance from American medical services. If they could take care of it at home, with traditional åmot (medicine) or practices, our grandparents generally would do that instead of going to an American doctor, especially if the sickness were common and simple to treat.

So when Chamorro midwives came under Navy training, many people had a hard time accepting that. Even the Chamorro lady already a pattera , or wanting to become one, often hesitated to enroll in the Navy's midwife training program or come under Navy supervision.

The Navy had hoped that the midwives under their supervision would help bring more Chamorros to the Navy's hospital. But this didn't have the level of success the Navy wanted for many years.

A CHAMORRO KING IN AUSTRALIA

Tuesday, January 16, 2018


The document above tells you that a Joseph King was born in the Ladrone Islands, also known as the Marianas. He was born around 1828 and moved to Sydney, Australia in 1855 while serving on the ship named the City of Sydney . He was naturalized a British subject in 1865.

As we know, "King" is not a surname found in the Marianas during the Spanish era. It is not native Chamorro, nor Spanish nor Filipino, so we must assume that Joseph dropped his original surname and adopted "King." This was often the case with the Chamorro seamen who left the Marianas for good. Sometimes a more Anglo surname was easier for others to pronounce. Sometimes the Chamorro seaman wanted to hide his origins, for different reasons. Some, for example, did not want to be discovered and be sent back to the Marianas. Sometimes ship captains, immigration officers or just others in general gave the overseas Chamorro seaman a new name and it stuck.

So what was Joseph's original surname? Unfortunately, we have no clue from the documents that we have.

One could suppose that maybe his original surname was Reyes (or de los Reyes), since Reyes means "kings" and Joseph changed his name to King. Reyes has been a family name in the Marianas for a very long time. But this is just a wild guess and we have something nowadays that helps us a bit when documents may be lacking. It's called DNA and through DNA testing, some of the Australian descendants of Joseph King have connected with Chamorro relatives using the same DNA tests. None of them are Reyes. So, the search continues!

Joseph married in Australia; a lady named Elizabeth Jane Edwards. He has descendants in Australia to this day, actively pursuing his history. Joseph passed away in Australia on April 11, 1893. RIP

~ with the help of Pamela Johnson, Joseph's descendant

* We know there is a King family in Tinian, with Luta (Rota) roots but that is a whole different story with a completely different beginning from the story we're dealing with concerning Joseph King.

CHORISOS ESPAÑOT

Monday, January 15, 2018

What do many Chamorros living in the mainland ask us to send them? Chorisos Españot .

Strongly-flavored and fatty, chorisos españot can be really addicting.

And, for Chamorros, there is only one kind of chorisos españot . It has to be the "El Rey" brand, in its distinctive olive green can (or plastic bag, nowadays) and gold lettering.

Where does it come from?

Well, we call them chorisos españot which literally means "Spanish sausages."

But notice that the can (or package) does NOT call them chorisos españot . It doesn't even say Chorizos Españoles, which would be the way to say it in Spanish. In fact, there is no ONE thing in Spain known as "chorizos españoles" because there are dozens and dozens of different kinds of Spanish sausages.

The green can or package doesn't call these chorizos by a certain name. But the original manufacturer of the El Rey variety of chorizos called them chorizo Bilbao (or chorizos de Bilbao ) after the Spanish city of Bilbao. There may be chorizos made in Bilbao, but it's not exactly what you find inside the El Rey can of chorizo .

The original manufacturer, named Genato, enjoyed much success with his brand of chorizo and chorizo Bilbao became well-loved in many a Filipino kitchen. It was Genato who thought up the brand name, the design of the can and the tweaking of the flavor, which includes generous portions of paprika.

I wonder if our Genato of the Chorizo is the same Vicente Genato of the Genato Commercial Corporation in Manila which produced Royal brand foods. The Royal brand of chorizo bears striking similarities with the El Rey brand. The Royal brand chorizos were encased in lard ( manteca ) inside the can. Vicente Genato had a store on the Escolta, a premier shopping street in the Binondo district of old Manila.



At some point, Genato's El Rey brand of chorizos were being manufactured in the U.S. Several different American companies have manufactured the El Rey brand.



Chorisos Españot being sold in Hawaii for $5.29 a can in 1960.


But I believe Guam didn't need to wait for chorisos to be made in the US in order to enjoy them. Guam merchants always did business in Manila before the war, and I wouldn't be surprised if they imported El Rey chorisos españot since then. Someone on Guam called them "Spanish sausages," or "chorisos españot," maybe because the cans had Spanish writing on them.



They come in plastic bags now


FRIED RICE WITH CHORISOS ESPAÑOT


annieschamorrokitchen.com


THE BIG QUESTION

So, if chorisos españot is made in the US, why do our stateside friends and relatives ask us on Guam to send it to them there?

I suppose because it is easier and faster for us to find El Rey chorisos españot at Payless down the street than for them to hunt high and low in Orange County. They may be made in the US but they aren't sold down the street everywhere in the US.

This is one of the few quirks of life where people on Guam need to send to the mainland something made in the mainland.

"GRAN PUÑETERO!"

Thursday, January 11, 2018


TORO
( Bull )

Puñetero in Spanish means someone annoying, bothersome; a pain in the neck. Be careful; in some Spanish-speaking countries, the word is stronger than that and can be very offensive. In Chamorro, it can also be considered an insult, depending on the tone of voice.

This story is taken from Guam's court records in 1902. Except for the line " Gran puñetero !" and what follows, the words are not quotes from the testimonies but the information is taken from the court documents.

Guåho si Mariano Perez Tenorio yan estague i estorian-måme yan si Vicente'n Kinto.
(I am Mariano Perez Tenorio and here is my story with Vicente'n Kinto.)

Un oga'an, humånao yo' para bai konne' i ga'-ho toro para i låncho giya Yigo.
(One morning, I went to take my bull to the ranch in Yigo.)

Annai hu atan i trongko annai hu godde i toro, taigue i toro.
(When I looked at the tree where I tied the bull, the bull was gone.)

Kada dia hu aligao i ga'-ho toro lao humåhnanao ha' ti hu sodda'.
(Every day I searched for my bull, but I didn't find it.)

Gi mina' kuåttro dias, hu sodda' i ga'-ho toro na ma gogodde
(On the fourth day I found my bull tied)

gi et mismo trongko annai eståba åntes de malingo.
(on the same tree where it was before it went missing.)

I besinan-måme as Maria'n Fernandez sumangåne yo' na era si
(Our neighbor Maria'n Fernandez told me that it was)

Vicente'n Kinto ni kumonne' i ga'-ho toro.
(Vicente'n Kinto who took my bull.)

Poko dias despues, umasodda' ham yan si Vicente gi chalan giya Ungåguan.
(A few days after, Vicente and I met on the road in Ungaguan.)

Hu faisen si Vicente kao magåhet na guiya kumonne' i ga'-ho toro
(I asked Vicente if it was true that he took my bull)

ya ha oppe yo', "Gran puñetero! Yagin låhe hao, tunok gi ga'-mo guaka
(and he answered me, "What a pain! If you are a man, get down from your cow)

ya bai puno' hao ensegidas!" Ya ha laknos i machete-ña ni ha kana' gi sinturon-ña.
(and I will kill you right now!" And he took out his machete hanging on his belt.)

Hu desatiende este na sinangån-ña ya må'pos ha' yo' para i siudå.
(I ignored what he said and I went to the city.)

Sigiente dia kumeha yo' gi tribunåt ya despues de ma imbestiga este na kausa,
(The next day I complained at the court and after investigating this case,)

ma pongle si Vicente singko dias gi kalaboso.
(they put Vicente in the jail for five days.)

AUDIO




NOTES

Humåhnanao . This means "it kept on." The man looked, but the situation continued that he couldn't find his bull.

Poko dias . A Spanish derivative rarely ever heard today. It comes from the Spanish pocas días , meaning "a few days."

Yagin . An older form of yanggen , which means "if."


UNGÅGUAN

Ungåguan is a place in Barrigada which was one of the prime farming areas on island. It is located right below what we now call Barrigada Heights, to the south of it.



Map from the early 1900s

You can see that the trail leads from Hagåtña through Toto to Ungåguan.

Here's where Ungåguan is on a modern map of the area :



I PAPALOTE

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Camp Asan is a popular place for kite flying due to the absence of trees and poles


The early months of the year bring to our islands strong trade winds. Not only do they make life more comfortable with the soothing breezes and less sticky humidity, the trade winds also make for great kite flying.



JANUARY WINDS


We're not totally certain where and when kites were invented.

Some think it was in China. At least that's where the oldest written records of kite making are found. China also had great materials ideal for kite flying. Light-weight paper and silk fabric, and bamboo for the frame.

But it's also possible that kites originated in island Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia). There is an old kite-flying tradition in Polynesia as well. How all of these traditions are connected (or not) is not certain.

And so we have to allow for the possibility that our ancestors flew kites. They aren't mentioned in the early European descriptions of our ancestors' life and activities, but that doesn't mean they weren't around. It just means that our ancestors' kites weren't included in these descriptions, if they existed at all.


PAPALOTE

Chamorro has two words for "kite," and maybe they describe two different kinds of kites.

PAPALOTE is borrowed from the Mexican variety of Spanish. In Spain itself, the usual words for kite are cometa (comet), or cometa de papel (paper comet), and cachirulo . But in Mexico, the usual word is papalote . In some regions of Mexico, they may have another word for kite, too.

Our use of a Mexican term suggests again the great Mexican influence on Chamorro language and culture, due to the Mexican lay missionaries and soldiers brought to the Marianas in the late 1600s and early 1700s, and which is seen in other vocabulary and in our food (corn, achote, tortillas).

Papalote comes from the Nahuatl word papalotl , which means "butterfly." Nahuatl was the language spoken by a large group of indigenous, Native Americans who lived in Mexico (and other countries). Other Native American peoples, with other languages, also lived in Mexico before the Spanish arrival. Many of these languages are still spoken, including Nahuatl.

When Chamorros do DNA tests and Native American shows up in their genes, this is why!

It could be that, if kite flying was not done in our islands before European contact, then it was brought over from Mexico, and so the Mexican word was adopted. All one needed to make a kite could be found in our islands. Paper might be harder to come by, but kites can be made using wide leaves, such as lemmai (breadfruit). String was made from different fibers. Sticky rice acts as a glue. We have no lack of sticks.


MÅRU

The second word in Chamorro is måru .

It's a wonderful mystery where that word comes from. Isn't it nice that we cannot answer all questions? Life's more interesting that way. I cannot seem to find a connection between that word and Spanish, a Filipino language, Japanese and so on.

Påle' Román, the Spanish Capuchin missionary who mastered the Chamorro language, says that papalote maro means a kite without a tail.

Others say måru means a box kite.

I think, over time, måru came to mean any kite at all, at least with some people.



No tail? Papalote maro.

Furthermore, Påle' Román says that maro or marro refers to the ancient clothing of the pre-Spanish Chamorro people. That's all he says about the word. What he says begs more questions than answers them. The word may refer to ancient Chamorro clothing, but is it a Chamorro word or a borrowed word? He doesn't say. What clothing? As far as we know, our ancestors wore very little. They wore some things; hats, little aprons, grass skirts, battle vests, lots of jewelry and other things. But in this tropical heat and humidity, it isn't surprising that they didn't cover their entire bodies. So what exactly were these "ancient clothing" called maro ?

Does the kite called måro and the ancient clothing called maro have any connection? Who knows?


PAPALOTE KORASON



If the kite has a tail, Påle' Román says the Chamorros call that papalote korason . "Heart kite." Why? He doesn't say.


HOMEMADE PAPALOTE



In the 1960s, I remember we'd get copies of the Guam Daily News , light weight sticks, scotch tape, glue or even sticky rice, and string, and make our own kites to fly. They didn't cost any money. We used what was lying around the house.


GUAM MUSEUM



The Guam Museum is taking advantage of the season's breezy winds to conduct a kite-making activity for their Ha'ånen Familia series. You can see the information in this poster.

IT'S ALWAYS "TECHA"

Monday, January 8, 2018

Even he is a techa .


Yesterday a young man lead ( tucha ) the nobena prayers. He was our techa .

Some people mistakenly think that he should be called a techo . After all, he's a male and should be called a techo , so they think.

It's like the word sottero , or "bachelor." That's for a male. A single woman, however, is a sottera .

See? O for male, A for female.

So here's what people think :

"THE RULE"

IF MALE


---O

IF FEMALE


---A



This O for male, A for female rule is used in the Spanish language, from which Chamorro borrowed many words.


But what people may not understand is that this rule is not UNIVERSALLY applied even in Spanish. That is to say, it is not used in EVERY case.





RULE NOT ALWAYS FOLLOWED IN SPANISH



A male Communist is a Comunista .

A female Communist is a Comunista .


A male idiot is an idiota .


A female idiot is an idiota .

A male psychiatrist is a psiquiatra .


A female psychiatrist is a psiquiatra .


In Chamorro, we use the O for male, A for female rule in SOME Spanish words :




SPANISH RULE

SOMETIMES used in Chamorro
when using SOME Spanish words


BONITO

(Attractive, pretty, nice, beautiful)


An attractive male is BONITO


A pretty lady is BONITA

PÍCARO (Chamorro PÍKARO )
(Rascal, scoundrel, trickster, mischievous, sneaky)


A mischievous male is PÍKARO


A mischievous lady is PÍKARA

MAESTRO

(Teacher)


A male teacher is MAESTRO


A female teacher is MAESTRA


But there are times when, even when the word is Spanish, we do NOT apply the Spanish rule in Chamorro. In many cases, Chamorro ends the word in O for BOTH male or female.




SPANISH RULE

NOT USED
when using SOME Spanish words


BARATO (Chamorro BARÅTO )
(Cheap, inexpensive)


A male bull that sells for $1 is BARÅTO


A female cow that sells for $1 is also BARÅTO



TRANQUILO (Chamorro TRANGKILO )
(Peaceful, calm, serene, quiet)


A calm male is TRANGKILO


A calm lady is also TRANGKILO

ÚLTIMO (Chamorro UTTIMO )
(Last, final)


The last male to arrive is the UTTIMO


The last lady to arrive is also the UTTIMO


And when it comes to truly Chamorro words, we do not use the O/A rule AT ALL .


CHAMORRO WORDS

Do NOT distinguish male or female gender


SAINA

(Elder, superior, lord)


A male is a SAINA , not a SAINO



BÅBA

( Bad )


A bad man is BÅBA , not BÅBO



DINGA

( Twin )


A male twin is a DINGA , not a DINGO




TECHA is a truly Chamorro word. It is NOT borrowed from Spanish. Therefore, the O/A rule does not apply at all to this word.

Techa comes from the Chamorro word tucha , which means "to lead a public prayer."

The person who tucha is i titicha , which then gets shortened to techa .

We see this in other Chamorro words like pekno '. That comes from the Chamorro word puno ', or "to kill." Someone murderous is i pipino ', which becomes shortened as pekno '.

So, when you look at a male who is leading public prayer and you are tempted to call him a techo , just ask yourself : Is techa a Spanish word? Or is it truly a Chamorro word? Once you remember that it is a truly Chamorro word, coming from the Chamorro word tucha , then you'll decide not to apply a Spanish rule to techa ; a rule that isn't even applied in Spanish in every single case.

Would you call your father a SAINO? Would you call a tall man LOKKO'? I didn't think so.


BY THE WAY....

There IS a Chamorro word techo , and it's borrowed from Spanish. It means "roof" or "ceiling." It's rarely used, though, since we have a Chamorro word for roof, åtof . The usual word for "ceiling" in Chamorro is kísame , which is borrowed from the Spanish word " zaquizamí " which means "attic."


KÅNTA : O MI KERIDA

Thursday, January 4, 2018


Señora Teresita Flores, a Chamorro language teacher at the University of Guam, heard this song from her grandfather.




It's a flirting song and it definitely goes back to the early 1900s if not earlier. It includes a good deal of Spanish phrases. O mi kerida (oh mi querida), kerida mi amor (querida mi amor), kerida de mi korason (querida de mi corazón) are all taken exactly from the Spanish.


O mi kerida sangåne yo' på'go.
(Oh my darling tell me now.)
O mi kerida sa' guaha lugåt-mo.
(Oh my darling because you have the chance.)
Sangåne yo' på'go håfa malago'-mo.
(Tell me now what is it you want.)
Kao håfa na disposision.
(What is your will.)
O kerida mi amor
(Oh darling of my love)
kerida sen mames na nene hao.
(darling sweet baby you are.)
Chiku, chiku nene åmbre nene åmbre chiku pot fabot.
(Kiss, kiss baby, come on, baby, come on kiss please.)
Sa' estague' na bai apåtta yo'
(Because here I am going to depart)
ya bai hu dingu hao gi fi'on-mo.
(and I will leave your side.)
Adios adios kerida de mi adios
(Farewell farewell darling of my farewell)
kerida de mi korason.
(darling of my heart.)



Was the young man leaving Guam? Is that why he is coaxing her to give him a kiss, since he is leaving the island and will see her no more? Is he leaving in the US Navy? If this song is much older, is he leaving on a whaling ship?

By identifying the melody, which seems adopted from elsewhere, we can get a better idea how old this song is.



NOTES

Kerida . From the Spanish, meaning "loved one" in the feminine gender.

Lugåt . Literally means a physical "place," but can also mean time, opportunity or occasion. This is why, when we ask if someone can do something, we add, " An guaha lugåt - mo ." "If you have the chance, opportunity, time."

Disposision . Several meanings are possible, including "will," as in a person's desire.

Åmbre . From the Spanish word hombre , meaning "man." It can be used, as in English, to express a wish. "Stop it, man!" "Båsta, åmbre!"



SI VICENTE'N KARABAO

Wednesday, January 3, 2018



He was as big and as strong as a karabao .

And so Vicente was known as Vicente'n Karabao.

He stood at six feet, two inches and weighed 210 pounds, a lot of it muscle.

The short life of Vicente (he died in his early 40s) embodies much of what was characteristic of pre-Spanish Chamorro male prowess. Physical stature, strength, pride and competition are all found in his story; the same traits that were said of our ancestors before the Europeans came.

His name was Vicente Acfalle Champaco, but he really was Vicente Champaco Acfalle. He was born in 1902 when Chamorros still kept the Spanish system of using the father's surname first, followed by the mother's. But there is another story why he was known as Champaco, and not Acfalle. He was such a champion in anything physical that the American nickname "champ" stood for both Champaco and being a champion.

He made such an impression on the American Navy on Guam that he was written up in the Guam Recorder , the monthly news magazine printed on island by the Navy. Some of the information in this post is taken from that article.


CHINESE-CHAMORRO

His Champaco side was Chinese. His grandfather was a pure Chinese man named Gregorio (or Hilario and even Mariano) Champaco (or Cham  Puaco, and sometimes Chua Puaco), who came to Guam and eventually settled in Malesso', marrying a lady named María Tedpahogo Eguiguan. Their daughter Asunción (sometimes misidentified in documents as Concepción) married Macario Babauta Acfalle, the son of Eugenio Acfalle and Margarita Babauta. Except for Champaco, those are all indigenous Chamorro names. The Chamorro ran strong in Vicente!


WORKED FOR THE NAVY



Vicente started working for the Navy so his work took him up to Sumay and Piti, where the Navy had facilities.

He was so strong, it was said, that Vicente picked up barrels of water or what have you and easily tossed them onto the ships.

It was said that Vicente could easily dive to 120 feet below water and stay down for three minutes. Recreational divers usually don't go below 130 feet, and that's with an oxygen tank! He'd sometimes come back up with a fish in both hands. Once, it is said, he grabbed a fish out of a shark's mouth and kicked the shark in the nose. Hungry for lobster? It was said Vicente knew some deep-water holes where he could dive and fetch lobster.

A team of diving experts from off-island came to Guam once to teach locals how to dive. After seeing Vicente display his diving prowess, the off-island experts walked away humbled.

Our ancestors were said to be equally at home in the sea as on land. Our people could dive into deep water and stay down for long periods.


CHAMORRO COMPETITION

European visitors to the Marianas described our ancestors as being competitive in nature. There were always contests between people. They would challenge each other to show their physical strength or even debate each other publicly to see who could outwit the others.

These contests could be between close relatives, even between fathers and sons! In more than one story, chiefs grew angry when their little sons uprooted coconut trees with their bare hands, to the point of wanting to kill the son!

And so it happened with Vicente'n Karabao and his cousin, a man named Juan Champaco. Juan's son Jesus tells the story :



Vicente and his cousin Juan were helping to roof a house when Vicente challenged Juan to wrestle. "Get down and I'll test you, since you say you're so strong. But no one is stronger than me. I'm the strongest in Malesso'." Juan indeed was also strong. He only needed to shake a coconut tree to make a coconut fall down if he needed one.

Juan tried to dissuade Vicente from wrestling but Vicente wouldn't take no for an answer, so they wrestled and, in the middle of it, Vicente fell. Well, that angered Vicente to no end so Vicente swore that he would kill Juan and his whole family. Juan took his family to hide in the boonies for about a week, while his brother and the aunt tried to talk Vicente out of killing Juan and Juan's family.

Finally, it was at a cockfight that Juan saw Vicente there, and Juan told Vicente, "Let's stop fighting and reconcile. Here, give me your rooster and I'll enter him in the fight," and Vicente gave Juan the rooster because Juan was good at cockfighting and sure enough the rooster won and peace was restored between the cousins Vicente and Juan.


DEATH AT TINTA

In July of 1944, the Japanese in Malesso' knew that their time was up. The island was completely surrounded by American ships which were bombing the Japanese defenses on the island almost to oblivion.

Fearing that Malesso' people would somehow come to the aid of the incoming Americans, or that the strong men of the village would overpower and kill the small numbers of Japanese soldiers in Malesso', the Japanese started rounding up the people they feared.

In the first group, the Japanese arrested anyone they feared politically. Community leaders, teachers and anyone with a connection with the U.S. military were targeted. This meant Vicente'n Karabao, who had been working for many years for the U.S. Navy.

On July 15, with the rest of his group, he was put in Tinta Cave where the Japanese threw in hand grenades and bayoneted to death anyone they thought had survived the blasts. Vicente died there, leaving behind a wife, the former Ana Espinosa, and his children.

His name appears on the Memorial which stands in front of Malesso' Church. RIP



POLICE BLOTTER 1823

Thursday, December 28, 2017

A document from 1823 by Spanish Governor of the Marianas, José Ganga Herrero, lists everyone in the Marianas who had been, or still were, under some form of legal punishment for various crimes, some crimes as early as 1807. These would include Chamorros and foreigners alike. The names, and their crimes, were :

1. Miguel Bamba . Theft..

2. Tomás Evangelista . Theft.

3. Juan Esparza . Drunkenness and having broken a bar in the barracks. He was exiled to Tinian.

4. Juan Coronela . Theft.

5. Rafael Lugay . Bad conduct.

6. José Taitano . Murder of Angela Sarmiento.

7. Ignacio Martínez . Insubordination. Exiled to Luta.

8. Benito Lajo . For hanging his wife. Exiled to Tinian.

9. Juan Delgado . Disobedience. Exiled to Tinian.

10. Juan de Salas . Separating himself from his wife. Exiled to Tinian.

11. Andrés Atoigue . Theft and escape. Exiled to Tinian.

12. Justo Taisigno . Theft and escape. Exiled to Tinian.

13. José Taisague . Theft and escape. Exiled to Tinian.

14. Juan José Manibusan . For having beaten his wife with a cane. Exiled to Tinian.

15. Paulino Quitano . Escaping to the mountains.

16. Desiderio Charsagua . Theft and escape.

17. José Quioja . Theft.

18. Felipe Charsagua . Theft.

19. José de León Guerrero de la Cruz . Theft in the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán in Hagåtña.

20. Ignacio Bay . Theft in the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán in Hagåtña.

21. Juan Asuda . Theft.

22. Ildefonso Asuda . Theft.

23. Manuel de San Nicolás . Theft.

24. Blas de Salas . Theft.

25. José Quitano . Theft.

There was also another case pending, that of Cenobio Saguanamnam , accused of murdering his wife.

MA BIBA I NIÑO

Tuesday, December 26, 2017


It is a custom in some families that at a Christmas party, someone older, usually a male, will throw up a handful of coins and yell " Biba i Niño Jesus !" "Long live the Baby Jesus!"

As the coins come falling down and rolling everywhere on the floor, the young people run scrambling to pick up as many coins as they can.

KÅNTA : FAN MAGOF SA' NOCHEBUENA

Monday, December 25, 2017


There is more than one way to say "Merry Christmas" and this song has almost all of them!

The song is a Chamorro version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."




LYRICS

Fan magof sa' Nochebuena, fan magof sa' Nochebuena, fan magof sa' Nochebuena!
(Rejoice because it's Christmas.....)
Mafañågo si Jesus!
(Jesus is born!)
Ta plånta i buñuelos dågo, ta plånta i buñuelos dågo, ta plånta i buñuelos dågo,
(We'll serve the yam fritters....)
ta selebra på'go!
(we'll celebrate now!)

Felis Påsgua! Felis Nabidåt!
(Merry Christmas!)
Felis Nochebuena yan Åño Nuebo!
(Merry Christmas and New Year!)

In nå'e hamyo minagof på'go.
(We give you happiness now.)
Felis Nochebuena yan Åño Nuebo!
(Merry Christmas and New Year!)

I BOREGO'

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Chamorro school children in costume
1930s


Dr. Larry Cunningham recently shared with me that, over the years, he has been told by more than a few older people that some people used to observe an interesting Christmas custom on Guam called borego '. I had heard the word before, but with a different meaning. More on that later on. But the borego ' that Cunningham's informants described was something else.

On Christmas day, or maybe the night before, you would dress up in interesting and creative costumes and joke around in public. A photo from the Fritz collection in Luta in the early 1900s talks about Chamorro men dressed up for a "Christmas game," quite possibly the borego '.



Chamorro men dressed up for a "Christmas game." Luta, early 1900s
Fritz Collection


All kinds of tomfoolery was acted out and tolerated during the borego '. Some people walked on stilts, some acted like buffoons, some cross-dressed. They would paint their faces or use homemade masks. Making my own inquiries, an older lady told me her brother used to walk around in a mestiza , the traditional Chamorro dress for women, to celebrate New Year's. No one was punished for any of these deviations from the social norm. Cunningham thinks this was a way of safely releasing inner tensions under a socially repressive colonial regime; a "safety valve" of sorts.

Some participants in the borego ' would go house to house, entertaining the neighborhood. Homes would welcome them and give them treats, especially buñuelos dågo (yam fritters), typical for the season.

Social rules were suspended, to an extent, during a borego ', because men who had fathered children illegitimately were able to see their sons and daughters if they were dressed up in costume for the borego '. In many families, these fathers would have been chased away if they came looking to visit their children. But, if they came in costume in the borego ', even though they were recognizable for who they really were, the families tolerated their coming to the house with the other costumed men.

Some of Cunningham's informants remember dressing up for the borego ' as late as the 1950s, but by the 1960s, it seems to have died out. One source told Cunningham that, since the Chamorros were made American citizens in 1950, there was both a measure of self-government now and a desire to become more American in customs.

A lady writes about her memories of the borego ' during the 1960s :

"Santa Rita guys did this around Christmas time when I was a kid, all the way to when I was about 13-14 years old. They wore gunny sacks with holes made for the eyes & mouth, and they wore tattered and torn pants. It was suspenseful sitting outside in our swing set and waiting for them in groups, coming from the bottom of the hill. As they got closer, it was hilarious to see us screaming, running inside and peering at them through the glass louvers. Nana would give them buñelos dago, soda and candy."


LATER MEANINGS OF THE WORD

Although the custom of dressing up in the borego ' has died, the word itself has not completely disappeared, though many Chamorro speakers are not familiar with it. The word itself has taken on several meanings, but it is easy to see how they all spring from the original meaning, connected to wearing costumes.

MASK . Some Chamorro speakers today understand the word borego ' to mean "wearing a mask" or "costumed make-up."

SCARY FACE . Since some of those masks or costumes were scary, weird or grotesque, some Chamorro speakers interprey borego ' as a "scary face."

CLOWN . Again, because of the costume.

DISGUISE . Someone masked is usually unrecognizable, so someone in disguise.

UNKEMPT . Disheveled. When a person just wakes up and isn't groomed yet. When a lady hasn't put on her make-up. When someone has been doing yard work or been in the jungle and perhaps has smudges on the face. All of these can be an example of looking borego '. Again, since some masks or costumes were scary, borego ' became applied to messy looking faces.



"Fa'gåsi matå-mo! Paine gapotilu-mo! Kalan hao borego'!"
("Wash your face! Comb your hair! You're like a borego'!")


SAIPAN'S BOREGO'

In Saipan, the borego ' means a Christmas play. One sees the connection, again, with the older meaning : dressing up in costume. In a Christmas play, characters dress up as St Joseph, the Blessed Mother, shepherds, the Three Kings and so on.


Singing at a Borego', or Christmas Play, in Saipan in 1992


In the Marianas, priests and teachers put on plays all throughout the year. Here is a news excerpt about a Christmas play performed on Guam in 1910 :



SPANISH ROOTS

The word borego ' is borrowed from the Spanish word borrego . In Spanish, a borrego is a lamb or a yearling sheep.

In time, borrego became a slang word for someone easily fooled or tricked, since sheep are seen as docile and easily led by their shepherds. People who are naive or dimwitted, who are easy victims of a prank or a hoax, are sometimes called borrego .



DECEMBER 28 - HOLY INNOCENTS

Now we come to December 28, the feast of the Holy Innocents, in Spanish, los Santos Inocentes . The Innocents were the baby boys killed by King Herod in and around Bethlehem.

But, in Spanish, inocente can also mean naive, simpleminded or gullible. So, on December 28, in many parts of the Spanish-speaking world, people dress up in different kinds of costume to have fun and play pranks on people, to celebrate the ease with which many people become victims of pranks and tricks.

I believe it is from this Spanish custom, dressing up in costume on December 28, that the borego ' finds its origins. It was a way of poking fun at people for being like obedient sheep - borrego - and playing tricks on them. To get away with those tricks, and to have fun, people dressed in costume. And from there, all the later meanings of the word borego ' took shape.

There may also be an ancient connection with the Roman feast of Saturnalia, which ran from December 17 to December 23. That feast took on a carnival-like atmosphere, with masters switching places with slaves and all kinds of overturning of social norms, much like the borego '. Of course, if there is indeed such a link between the Roman Saturnalia and the Chamorro borego ', it is first by way of Spain. And here I think the link with the feast of the Inocentes also plays a part.



December 28 in Spain




December 28 in Mexico

THE PINCHING TECHA

Wednesday, December 20, 2017


Two, three or even more songs are sung during the Nobenan Niño (Christmas novena) which takes place in the homes nine ( nuebe - NOBEna ) days or nights before Christmas, or sometime after Christmas, depending on the family.

These songs are a very important part of the experience. The melodies put us in a Christmas mood, even if we don't all understand the words.

The techa , who leads the nobena , often observed the children very closely.  Usually a woman, she expected all the kids to join in singing the songs, at least the chorus or refrain of every song. If she saw that you were not singing, she'd give you a pinch if she were close enough to you. Otherwise, she'd stare you down or maybe mouth the word " kånta " or "sing!" It wasn't good enough for you to just physically be there; you had to participate and pray the nobena at least by singing its songs.

Another reason why the techa wanted all the kids to sing was so that the whole neighborhood would know there was a nobena going on at that house. Kids sing loudly, if they know the song. What better advertisement!?! This way, everyone would know that there was a nobena at that house and all were welcome to come to the house and join in.


HOUSECLEANING : A CHRISTMAS TRADITION

Tuesday, December 19, 2017


An old Chamorro Christmas tradition was to clean the house, from top to bottom, a few days before the start of the Nobenan Niño (Christmas novena).

For nine days or nights, your living room would be full of people attending the nobena . In those days, family, friends and neighbors would come. No invitations were really needed. If neighbors heard Christmas hymns being sung at your house, they would just wander over there and enter. Families wanted that to happen, and thus they would encourage people to sing loudly, to let the whole neighborhood know that the house was having a nobena .

Children, especially, loved to attend the nobena . When children heard the nobena songs being sung, they would drop their sticks and balls in the streets where they were playing and run to the house having the nobena . The children all piled into the front of the belén (nativity scene), right on the floor.

I remember at our house all these kids my age, that I never knew existed, showing up in our living room for the nobena ! I never saw them before on our street. But no one was turned away. Everyone was welcome to attend the nobena . The treats passed out after the nobena were another draw, but that is a subject for another post.

Because all these people would be showing up at the house, the house was cleaned before the start of the nobena . Of particular concern was the cleanliness of the floor, since the children would be sitting and kneeling on it. Many floors were made of wood, sometimes ifit wood, which were termite-resistent. Polishing the wooden floors was a top priority and it was done the old-fashioned way, using a dried, cut coconut husk. The fibers of the husk allowed a nice shine on the wood. One could use modern, store-bought polish with the coconut husk, or one could use old-fashioned coconut oil as the polishing agent. Just put your strongest foot on the husk and dance away!



From Mother Nature - a coconut husk floor brush




Put on your favorite dance record and work away!

CHAMORRO CHRISTMAS TREE

Monday, December 18, 2017

Long before we saw Douglas firs.....


The Christmas Tree is an American custom, itself borrowed from Germany. During Spanish times in the Marianas, there was no Christmas Tree.

When the United States took over Guam, the American Naval community wanted to have an American Christmas in Hagåtña, where the highest levels among them lived, at least as much as possible.

As early as 1907, according to former Governor Dorn, the American Governor did something for the Hagåtña school children. After 1907, year after year, the children would gather at the Plaza de España and the Governor, with his wife, and other Naval officers and their wives, with some teachers, would pass out candy and toys, which were ordered and shipped in from the U.S. mainland, the Philippines or Japan.


TRONGKON GÅGO TO THE RESCUE

For trees, the Americans had to improvise. The trongkon gågo , also known as the ironwood or Australian pine tree, was used as a substitute for the true pine and fir trees grown in North America. Though called Australian pine, it is not a pine tree but rather a she-oak. Its leaves are drooping needles that resemble horse hair or a horse tail.

Slowly, a few Chamorros adopted the American custom, modified in that the local trongkon gågo was used. This was an interesting choice since, at least by the 1930s, there were trees on Guam which looked more like pine trees, as seen in this photo of the Hagåtña Cathedral taken before the war. These were Norfolk pines, which aren't real pine trees either, but they sure looked it!




But these trees were not plentiful on Guam and, if cut down, it would take years to replace them. The trongkon gågo , on the other hand, grew in many places where, if one were cut down, hardly anyone would notice!


FINALLY, IN 1924



Then, in 1924, an American fir tree was shipped to Guam by Hans Hornbostel, a former serviceman who had lived on Guam and who was then traveling between Guam and Hawaii while working for the Bishop Museum, collecting Guam artifacts for that institution. The tree was put in cold storage for the trip. It is not known if more firs were sent to Guam for subsequent Christmases but, whatever the case, the trongkon gågo remained Guam's primary Christmas Tree for the moment.

In the Northern Marianas, which did not have American influence until after the war, Christmas Trees did not become common until much later.

When Chamorros decorated the trongkon gågo , they used whatever mother nature or their home closets provided. Store-bought decorations were limited, by each year one could add something new and, in time, a family could amass a little collection of Christmas ornaments. Otherwise, you used whatever you could easily find - even stringing popcorn, as seen in the picture above.

The one drawback of the trongkon gågo was that it quickly browned. Within a few days, its needles would drop to the floor and eventually the branches would be bare.

Judging from the smile of Julie Manley Villagomez, the young lady in the picture above, people were still happy with their trongkon gågo Christmas Tree, until the arrival of American trees became more available.


GÅGO.....NOT GAGO'

Gågo can easily be mispronounced as gago '. That changes the meaning of the word entirely.

Gago ' means "lazy." Without the lonnat above the A, as in Å, a flat A is pronounced, like in the English word "fat." With the lonnat , it becomes an open A, like in the English word "father."

Also, in gago ' there is a glottal stop at the end. In gågo , there is no glottal stop at all.





A POEM TO THE TRONGKON GÅGO




Utot i tronkon gagu,
(Cut down the gagu tree,)
chule' guatu gi gima';
(take it over to the house;)
po'lo gi fi'on i bentana,
(put it next to the window,)
pues na'ye ni kampana.
(then put on bells.)

Na'ye ni estreyas,
(Place stars,)
kana' diferentes kulot bola;
(hang balls of different colors;)
godde i paketi siha,
(tie the packages,)
pues agang i mambiha.
(then call the older ladies.)

I mambiha mambuñelos,
(The old ladies make buñuelos,)
para todu i bisita;
(for all the visitors;)
ma totche gi anibat,
(they dip it in the syrup,)
pues ma kana' i katupat.
(then they hang the rice pouch.)

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO'

Thursday, December 14, 2017


På'go manana, ma papadda' i titiyas.

(The sun just rose, they're making titiyas.)


Manana means "clear" as in "visible." When the sun comes up and the sunlight makes everything around us visible and clear, it is manana . På'go means "now." På'go manana , it is just now clear and visible.

Padda ' is to slap with the open palm. When making titiyas , in order to form the flat pancake, one pats the titiyas back and forth with the two palms of the hands. This thins and stretches out the titiyas . Padda '.

Older Chamorros used figurative speech to talk about socially embarrassing topics like sex.

When two people who should not be doing it, are known to be engaged in such intimate activity, trying not to be caught, hiding perhaps behind a shack or in the woods, some people could say, " På'go manana, ma papadda' i titiyas ."

Why?

In the old days, titiyas was the staple carbohydrate people ate, not rice. Corn was much more abundant and grown by almost every family. Rice was harder to grow and fewer people grew it. So every house had corn titiyas , nearly all the time. Rice, less so.

As soon as the family cook was awake in the morning, she or he would make the titiyas dough and padda ' the titiyas right before putting it on the iron, so when the rest of the family is awake there is something to eat. People wake up hungry. They're in a hurry to eat something. The sun just came up ( på'go manana ) and already they are making titiyas ( ma papadda' i titiyas ).

This haste to eat something, pushed by physical desire to fill the stomach, is being paralleled to sexual urges which two people are impatient to satisfy, even to the point of hiding behind a shack or in the woods, where there is a high chance of being caught.

KÅNTA : BIRA HAO MÅGI

Wednesday, December 13, 2017


One of Larry Saralu's very popular Chamorro remakes if of the Everly Brother's hit song Walk Right Back . The Chamorro title is Bira Hao Mågi , meaning "Turn Back Here."




LYRICS

Malago' yo' na un sangåne 'u
(I want you to tell me)
håfa na un dingo yo'.
(why did you leave me.)
Mampos yo' na sen triste.
(I am exceedingly very sad.)

Malago' yo' na un tungo'
(I want you to know)
na desde ke humånao hao
(that ever since you left)
i korason-ho esta kumåkåti.
(my heart is already crying.)

Atan ha' nene i bidå-ña
(Look baby what)
i guinaiya na esta
(love has done that already)
ha sosongge i korason-ho.
(it is burning my heart.)

Ai bira hao mågi kerida nene,
(Oh turn back here darling baby,)
chulili'e' yo' mågi nu i guinaiya-mo
(bring to me here your love)
ai sa' mampos yo' mahålang kada dia.
(oh I am exceedingly missing you each day.)

Now compare with the original English lyrics :

I want you to tell me why you walked out on me

I'm so lonesome every day.


I want you to know that since you walked out on me

Nothin' seems to be the same old way.


Think about the love that burns within my heart for you.

The good times we had before you went away, oh me.

Walk right back to me this minute.

Bring your love to me, don't send it.

I'm so lonesome every day.


I want you to tell me why you walked out on me.

I'm so lonesome every day.


I want you to know that since you walked out on me.


Nothin' seems to be the same old way.



CHALÅN-TA : HESLER

Monday, December 11, 2017

H­ÅYE SI HESLER?


He was Navy surgeon Frederick Alexander Hesler. Born in Chicago in 1861, he was the son of a famous photographer named Alexander Hesler. His father's photographs of Abraham Lincoln became very famous. Frederick entered the US Navy in 1884.

In August of 1900 he was assigned to Guam and arrived sometime thereafter.

He served on Guam, as a Navy doctor, for a very short time. By 1902, he was re-assigned to Cavite in the Philippines. Because of some health concerns, he was ordered to Yokohama Hospital in Japan in early 1903 but died at sea on March 11, 1903 due to heart failure.

Not long after Hesler left Guam, a street was named after him by the Naval Government. It's interesting that a man who spent less than two years on Guam would have a street named after him, but perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he was an early medical officer on the island in the American administration, at a time when the Naval Government gave a lot of emphasis to health care among the people. Perhaps he assisted in the founding of Guam's first hospital. Maybe it was because he died soon after leaving Guam that the Navy wanted to honor him for his brief but important work on Guam.

The map below is from the year 1915 and already there was a Hesler Street.




HESLER'S WORDS LIVE AFTER HIM

Although Hesler died in 1903, a report he wrote just before he died continued to be quoted after his death. In this report, made to the Secretary of the Navy, Hesler stated that living for a year or more in a Pacific or Asian military base had adverse effects, physically and mentally, on many American officers.



Hesler's statement was used in the defense of an assistant Navy paymaster who had been dismissed due to irregularities in his performance. The paymaster, Phillip W. Delano, spent several years in the Philippines and China in the early 1900s, as well as on the USS Brutus when it was based on Guam for a while. He claimed that serving in Pacific and Asian duty stations had those adverse effects on him, as Hesler's report stated.

SETMON PARA ATBIENTO

Sunday, December 10, 2017

ADVENT


På'go na tiempon Atbiento, ta prepåran mamaisa hit para i finåtton-ña i Niño
(In this time of Advent, we are preparing ourselves for the coming of the Child)

gi ha'ånen mafañagu-ña. Lao magåhet lokkue' na gi kada Misa måfåtto mågi
(on the day of His birth. But it is also true that in every Mass our Lord comes here)

i Saina-ta, ya debe de ta prepåran maisa hit kada Misa para i finatton-ña.
(and we should prepare ourselves at every Mass for His coming.)

Kada ta hasso i Sånta Misa, debe de u ta hasso dos na sinisede : i Uttimo na Sena,
(Each time we think of Holy Mass, we should think of two events : the Last Supper,)

yan i finatai i Saina gi kilu'us. Finene'na, kada Sånta Misa otro na Uttimo na Sena.
(and the death of the Lord on the cross. First, each Holy Mass is another Last Supper.)

Ta hahasso na åntes de u måtai i Saina, ha na' huyong i Sånta Misa gi Uttimo na Sena.
(We remember that before the Lord died, He established the Holy Mass at the Last Supper.)

Ha tungo' esta i Saina na para u dingo i tano', lao malago' gue' lokkue' sumåga gi tano'
(The Lord already knew He was to leave the earth, but He also wanted to remain on earth)

komo nengkanno' para i man disipulu-ña. Ennao mina' ha na' huyong i Sånta Eukaristia
(as food for His disciples. That is why He established the Holy Eucharist)

gi Uttimo na Sena. Nengkanno' para i ånte i Sånta Komunion. Ya ti ta agradese i nengkanno'
(at the Last Supper. Holy Communion is food for the soul. And we don't appreciate food)

yanggen ti man ñålang hit. Solo yanggen man ñålang hit nai siña ta agradese i nengkanno'.
(if we're not hungry. Only when we're hungry can we appreciate food.)

Pareho ha' yan i yiniusan na nengkanno'. Ti mangokomotgan hit sa' pot esta man håspok hit.
(It's the same with divine food. We don't receive communion because we're already full.)

­
Åhe' ti pot esta man bråbo hit. Åhe' ti pot man metgot hit. En lugåt, mangokomotgan hit
(Not because we're already healthy. Not because we're already strong. Instead, we receive communion)

sa' man yayas hit ginen i problema siha ni ta fåfåna guine gi tano';
(because we're tired from the problems we face here on earth;)

sa' pot man ñålang hit para i kinensuelon Yu'us.
(because we hunger for God's consolation.)

Lao hahasso na i man måtai ti siña mañocho. I man yayas yan i man malångo,
(But remember that the dead cannot eat. The tired and sick,)

hunggan siña mañocho. Lao i man måtai åhe'. I man måtai ha nesesita nuebo na lina'la'.
(they can eat. But the dead cannot. The dead need new life.)

Gi halom i kosas espirituåt, yanggen umisao hao makkat, måtai i inagofli'e'-miyo
(In spiritual things, if you sin mortally, the friendship between you and God dies)

yan si Yu'us, ya ti siña un kånno' i linangitan na pån.
(and you cannot eat the heavenly bread.)

Un nesesita nuebo na lina'la' ni måfåtto ginen i Sakramenton Konfesion, annai ma funas
(You need new life which comes in the Sacrament of Confession, where your sins)

i isao-mo siha. Meggai na biåhe, man maleffa hit ni este na obligasion na,
(are erased. Many times, we forget about this obligation,)

yanggen guaha makkat isao-ta, debe de u ta fangonfesat åntes de u ta fangomotgan.
(that if he have mortal sin, we need to confess before receiving Holy Communion.)

Ya debe de u ta repåra lokkue' na i makkat na isao åhe' ti i mamuno' ha',
(And we ought to remember also that mortal sin is not just murder,)

o sino i mañåkke ha'. Håfa ñahlalang gi lini'e'-ta siña makkat para si Yu'us.
(or stealing. What is innocent in our eyes may be grievous for God.)

Yanggen ti humosme yo' Misa an Damenggo pot gago' ha', makkat na isao para si Yu'us.
(If I don't attend Sunday Mass just because of laziness, that is mortal sin for God.)

Ta komprende ha' yanggen malångo i taotao, lao otro kosa i gago' na taotao
(We understand if the person is sick, but the lazy person is a different thing)

pat ñaba' i debosion-ña. Ginen i dikkike' na problema nai humuyong i dangkulo na problema.
(or that his devotion is weak. From small problems come bigger ones.)

Guaha remedio para todo isao, era i sinetsot-ta yan i Sakramenton Konfesion.
(There is a remedy for all sin, which is our repentance and the Sacrament of Confession.)

Este na Sakramento ha nånå'e hit ta'lo ni nuebo na lina'la'; i matai na ånte ma na' lå'la' ta'lo.
(This Sacrament gives us new life again; the dead soul is made alive again.)

Despues, ha nesesita nengkanno' i ånte para u mås metgot ya u mås homlo',
(Later, the soul needs food to become stronger and healthier,)

Ennao mina' mangokomotgan hit. I Sånta Komunion åhe' ti para i man prefekto,
(That is why we receive Communion. Holy Communion is not for the perfect,)

sa' solo gi langet nai man gaige i prefekto.
(because only in heaven are the perfect.)

En lugåt, i Sånta Komunion para todos hit ni man ñålang yan man yayas.
(Instead, Holy Communion is for all of us who are hungry and tired.)

Hamyo ni mañaina ni man mamadedese pot famagu'on-miyo, ya en siente na kalan
(You parents, who suffer on account of your children, and feel as if)

man desganao hamyo man man nanangga, kånno' i Tataotao Jesukristo,
(you are giving up hoping, eat the Body of Jesus Christ,)

guiya ni ha sungon todo i linachen i man disipulu-ña yan i taotao siha
(He who endured the mistakes of His disciples and the people)

lao tåya' na desganao. Hamyo na taotao ni man pininiti pot i manailaye
(but who never gave up. You who are pained by the bad deeds)

na kostumbren otro taotao, kånno' i Tataotao Jesukristo, guiya ni ha padese
(of others, eat the Body of Jesus Christ, who suffered)

i chinatli'e i taotao siha, lao tåya' na ha chatlie' tåtte i taotao.
(the hatred of the people, but who never hated others back.)

Todos hit man kinembibida para ta resibe minetgot yan minesngon para i lina'lå'-ta
(All of us are invited to receive strength and perseverance for our lives)

gi Sånta Komunion. Maila' ya ta hahasso este, ya ta prepåran maisa hit,
(in Holy Communion. Let us think of these things, and prepare ourselves,)

åhe' ti para i finåtton i Niño ha' un biåhe gi sakkan,
(not only for the arrival of the Child once a year,)

lao todo i tiempo para i finåtton i Saina gi kada Misa.
(but always for the coming of the Lord at every Mass.)

MA KASTIGA I DAKON

Thursday, December 7, 2017

"Pika! Pika! Pika!"


The things our parents got away with which now could get them in legal trouble.

In some families, if a child was caught telling a lie, the punishment could be being forced to chew on fiery hot donne ' or chili peppers.

A man tells this story which happened in the 1950s :

Annai påpåtgon yo', gof ya-ho man ngångas "bubble gum."
(When I was a child, I really liked to chew bubble gum.)

Lao si nanå-ho ti malago' ha nå'e yo' salåppe' para bai famåhan gi tenda.
(But my mother didn't want to give me money for me to buy at the store.)

Un dia, mañåkke yo' "bubble gum" gi tenda ya maleffa na eståba si nanå-ho gi kusina
(One day, I stole bubble gum at the store and forgot that my mom was in the kitchen)

annai hu tutuhon man ngångas "bubble gum."
(when I started to chew bubble gum.)

"Måno na mañule' hao salåppe' para un famåhan 'bubble gum?'" ha faisen yo' si nanå-ho.
("Where did you get money to buy bubble gum?" my mom asked me.)

Hu dagi ya hu sangåne na si bihå-ho munå'e' yo' ni salåppe'.
(I lied to her and told her that my grandmother gave me the money.)

Lame' sa' si nanå-ho ha ågang si bihå-ho gi telefon para u faisen kao ha nå'e yo' salåppe'.
(Boy my mom called by grandma on the phone to ask her if she gave me money.)

Annai sinangåne as bihå-ho na åhe',
(When my grandma told her no,)

ha afuetsas yo' si nanå-ho para bai fan ngångas donne'.
(my mom forced me to chew chili peppers.)

Gi tutuhon libiåno hu sungon lao annai esta singko pat sais na donne' ni hu ngångas,
(In the beginning it was easy for me to stand but when it was already five or six peppers I chewed,)

esta ti siña hu sungon ya hu tutuhon tumånges.
(I couldn't take it already and I started to cry.)

Milalak påpa' i lago'-ho!
(My tears flowed down!)

Annai hu faisen si nanå-ho håfa na ha kastiga yo' taiguennao, ilek-ña si nanå-ho,
(When I asked my mom why did she punish me that way, she said,)

"Umisao hao yan i pachot-mo man dagi, pues i pachot-mo lokkue' siempre ma kastiga."
("You sinned with your mouth by lying, so your mouth will also surely be punished.")







REUSABLE COFFIN

Tuesday, December 5, 2017


According to an American visitor to Guam in 1902, the church in Hagåtña had reusable coffins. A small room to the side of the main body of the church served as a store room for one common coffin, available for reuse by each new funeral.

If you wanted one, and could afford one, you could also be buried in your own coffin. We have documented evidence at the time that shows that individual coffins were also made to order.

Otherwise, the dead were wrapped only in cloth; white for infants and black for adults. Then the cadaver was placed in the common casket only as a means of carrying the body to Pigo' cemetery for burial just in the sheet, usually in the same grave as another family member.


WHITE AND BLACK

White was the color of baptized infants who had died because they died sinless. Being baptized, they were washed clean of Original Sin. Being infants (or less than 7 years of age) they were incapable of committing mortal sin. Thus they died sinless and destined for heaven. According to another source, musical bands would play joyful music while accompanying the caskets of dead infants to the cemetery; joyful because these dead children were destined for heaven.

People who died older than seven years of age could very well have died in the state of Sanctifying Grace. But chances were that they would spend some time in Purgatory. The sorrows of Purgatory, and man's uncertainty where the soul of the older person is at this moment, made black a suitable color for mourning the deaths of people older than infants.

FIRST REACTIONS TO ICE

Monday, December 4, 2017

Hagåtña Ice Plant built by the Navy


According to one American visitor, the local people were not too happy with the building of Guam's first ice plant. They blamed it for making the capital city cooler than normal.

The Spaniards on Guam got along fine without ice, but one of the first things the new American administration did was open an ice plant, in October of 1900, just a year after the first Naval Governor had arrived.

But some of the citizens of Hagåtña, so the story goes, noticed that the weather got a bit cooler since the ice plant opened. Apparently that wasn't a good thing, and people started to complain that, if the climate continued this way, they'd have to leave Hagåtña, which they dreaded to do.

I am reminded by this how we traditionally fear the nighttime cool air ( sereno ) and that our old custom was to handle all sickness by closing all the windows and cutting off all ventilation in the patient's room.

Well, our mañaina got over this disdain for the ice plant quick enough because Ton Pedro'n Martinez opened his own commercial ice plant in 1921 and stayed in that business a long, long time.


OTHER REACTIONS



Since the people had never seen ice before, there were bound to be some humorous reactions.

A 200 pound block of ice was cut into smaller pieces to hand out to the Chamorro laborers working at the plant. When each was handed their piece, many of them dropped them, claiming that the ice was "burning" their palms.

Others left their pieces to the side for later, and when they returned to look for their piece, it had disappeared. They didn't understand that the ice melted. Instead, they accused coworkers of stealing their piece.

FAMILY NICKNAMES : MÅNNOK

Friday, December 1, 2017

MÅNNOK


Santos (originally de los Santos ) is one of the most widespread surnames among Chamorros on Guam. And so there are numerous Santos families with different nicknames.

One of the branches of the Santos name is the familian Månnok . Månnok means "chicken" in Chamorro.

According to more than one older members of the family, a male ancestor (great-grandfather for some of my informants) raised a lot of chickens, so many chickens that people started calling him Månnok.

Other than family oral tradition, we don't know exactly why this family is better-known-as the Månnok family. It goes back to Spanish times when most cultural things weren't documented.

Two brothers are documented as being members of the Månnok family.


Félix

Félix Camacho de los Santos was officially named "better-known-as" Månnok in a court document in 1901.




In the document above, Félix de los Santos is alias (@ ) Manoc, or Månnok.


Romualdo

Another Camacho Santos of the same period is Romualdo Camacho de los Santos. He seems to be Félix's brother. Romualdo's mother's name was Micaela Camacho, but I haven't come across his father's name.

Romualdo married Ana Guzmán Untalán, the daughter of Marcos Untalán, a Filipino settler on Guam, and his Chamorro wife Joaquina Guzmán.

Romualdo and Ana's sons were Manuel, Vicente, Antonio and Marcos. Their daughters were Nicolasa, Trinidad, Maria and Ana.

Many of Romualdo's descendants lived in Talofofo since the early 1900s and many of the Månnok family are still in Talofofo to this day.

José

There was also a José Camacho Santos, probably brother to Félix and Romualdo. He was married and lived in Sumay. He also went by the nickname Månnok.



a 1905 court case involved José Camacho Santos, better known as Månnok


THE WORD "MÅNNOK"

According to the early Europeans who wrote descriptions of the Marianas, there were no chickens here until the Europeans colonized the islands. Usually, then, we should have a Spanish word for "chicken." If the animal, or flower or what-have-you, is imported, then there ought not to be an indigenous or native word for it. The Marianas didn't have deer, so our word for deer is borrowed from Spanish, " benådo ." Kabåyo (horse), chiba (goat) and karabao (carabao) were all imported and are thus called in Chamorro by words with foreign origins.

But månnok is not the Spanish word for "chicken." It's not a Spanish word for anything at all. But månnok is related to similar words in other Austronesian languages, similar in sound and meaning. Manok is Tagalog for "chicken," as it is in Visayan and some other Filipino languages. In Indonesia, the Karo Batak people say manok for "chicken," and in a few other Austronesian languages it is the same.

I have a theory about månnok but I will save it for another post in the future!

FIRST AMERICAN BORN ON GUAM

Thursday, November 30, 2017
San Francisco Chronicle , June 19, 1903

Spanish rule over Guam effectively ended on June 21, 1898 when Spanish Governor Marina, and all the other Spanish officers and troops, were put on board American ships and taken to Manila. The American flag now flew over Guam.

Many babies were born on Guam for the rest of the year 1898. Many more were born in 1899, 1900 all the way up to 1903. But none of them were American.

No, the first American baby born on Guam didn't appear until March 23, 1903. It was a baby girl, the daughter of Lieutenant and Mrs. Eugene Ryan of the US Navy, occupying the position of island paymaster.

Why weren't all those babies born in 1900 and 1902 with names like Pérez and Taitano and Borja and Sablan considered American babies? Because the Chamorros of Guam just happened to be living on an island owned by the United States, but not an integral part of the United States. United States citizenship wouldn't be granted until 1950 and, even now, Guam remains an unincorporated territory of the United States. Unincorporated. Not an integral part of the United States.

The little girl, names Eugenia Louise Elizabeth Ryan, happened to have Catholic parents and she was baptized at the Hagåtña Church (it wasn't a cathedral yet) on Easter Sunday, with none other than the American Governor, William Sewell, taking the part of godfather while the godmother was the wife of a Navy doctor.

Her birth was hailed as a historic event, not only by the military community but also by some of the Chamorro upper class who gave their share of christening gifts to the infant.


A PRECAUTION

Lieutenant Ryan's baby girl was perhaps the first child born on Guam to American parents that the US Navy knew of at the time, but it is altogether possible that a child was born on Guam to American parents long before 1903. It's just that the US Navy didn't know about it since it happened during Spanish times, and as the child and parents eventually left Guam.

Guam was constantly being visited by American whaling ships (and those of other countries as well). Although it wasn't often that women were on board, it did happen at times that whaling captains had their wives along. We cannot rule out the possibility that an American couple came to Guam just as the wife was about to give birth and did give birth to an American baby on Guam during Spanish times. We do know of one case where a British mother, married to a British man, gave birth to a girl either on Guam or on the high seas heading towards Guam during Spanish times.


A WHALER WHO CAME BACK

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

John Manibusan and Family
Liverpool, England
1891 British Census

Not all the Chamorro men who left Guam and the other Mariana islands on the whaling ships left for good. Some came back. One of them was Juan P. Manibusan.

According to Juan's marriage record, he was born in 1866. But, in those days, people were often unsure of their ages and birth days, so we have to keep an open mind about the question of his age.

He ended up in Liverpool, England at least by the 1880s. Liverpool was a great seaport at the time, sometimes called "the New York of England." It was home to the Cunard and White Star shipping line, and the home port of such historic ships as the Titanic , the Lusitania and the Queen Mary . Huge amounts of cargo came through the port as well as thousands of immigrants from all over the world. I'm not surprised that a Chamorro seaman of the 1800s found himself in Liverpool.



The great port City of Liverpool


Because of poverty and the famine in Ireland, which began in 1845, thousands of Irish, mostly Catholic, moved to Liverpool for work. Among them was a young lady from Kilkenny, Ireland named Mary McKenna Drennan. Juan met her, the two fell in love and were married in Liverpool in 1889. While some of their children died in infancy or childhood, at least four children lived to adulthood : Anthony, John, Joseph and Maria. These Chamorro-Irish children were all born in England.

In Liverpool, Juan ran a tobacco shop and a boarding house where he provided lodging to sailors. In the 1891 British Census, Juan rented out lodging to a Filipino sailor named Chris Puto Labiron and his much younger British wife and step children. In Juan's neighborhood, in fact, there were no less than 4 or 5 Filipinos living there.



The star marks Upper Frederick Street, home of the Manibusans in 1891

In 1891, the Manibusans were living on Upper Frederick Street in the Pitt Street Ward district of the city. This area was close to the docks, so it's no surprise that Juan rented out lodgings to seamen.

It is said that at the end of World War I, he brought his wife and the two youngest children to Guam for good. The two older boys, Anthony and John, joined the British Navy and in time settled in the U.S.

Juan the seaman became the opposite when he returned home to Guam. He farmed the land! He is not listed in the 1930 Guam Census so he must have passed away between 1920, when he is listed, and 1930. Mary appears in the 1930 Guam Census as a 61-year-old widow, and in the 1940 Guam Census, as well. It is said she died right after the war in 1945.

Descendants of Juan and Mary Drennan Manibusan live to this day in Guam and the United States mainland.



Liverpool, England
Canning Dock, not far from Juan's residence



*** The assistance of Juan's descendant, Jamie Bolton-Ronacher, is gratefully acknowledged.

KÅNTA : 727 JET

Monday, November 27, 2017


Back in the day when Air Micronesia, a subsidiary of Continental Airlines, existed, travel between Saipan and Guam was usually done on a 727 jet plane. The trip took a mere 20 minutes from take-off to touch-down. Those days are now gone as we squeeze into a smaller propeller plane for a 40 minute flight.

A man loses the love of his life to the 727 jet, taking her to God-knows-where, but far from the shores of Saipan and the man who loves her.




Esta para un hånao gi 727 jet.
(You are ready to leave on a 727 jet.)
Mampos yo' triste yan mahålang
(I am really sad and dejected)
pot i para un dingo yo' nene.
(that you're about to leave me baby.)

Pues hanao ha' kerida
(So just leave darling)
lao cha'-mo maleleffa
(but don't forget)
na gaige ha' yo' nai guine
(that I am just here)
na hu nanangga hao kerida nene.
(waiting for you darling baby.)

Gi annai kumikilolok i ruedan 727 jet
(When the wheels of the 727 jet were turning)
duro lokkue' i lago'-ho
(my tears also)
de milalak påpa' gi faso-ho.
(really fell down on my face.)



NOTES

Mahålang . The root word is hålang , and describes a weakening of spiritual energy and power. So it can apply to fear, nostalgia, yearning for what is absent, discouragement.

Kilolok . To revolve, to make circular turns.

Milak . Flowing liquid.

I BRUHA

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

NEVER SEEN, BUT SOMETIMES FELT


It's interesting how even scary folklore changes over time.

For example, I came across a duendes story from 1852 that differs, in some detail, from our duendes stories today. I'll add that link at the end of this post.

Now I've come across a story about a bruha from 1902.

The word bruha is borrowed from the Spanish word bruja , which means "witch." Most of us, raised in the American culture, think of pointy hats and pointy noses. Wizard of Oz and Snow White sort of things.

We don't hear the word bruha much anymore, or about their alleged existence. As a kid I heard older people say the word bruha only rarely. Maybe once every few years. But the word does appear in older Chamorro dictionaries (Ibáñez 1865 and von Preissig 1918).

This story comes from an American reporter in 1902 who heard it on Guam. That's not directly from the local source, so take it for what it's worth.

"The bruja is never seen, but commits awful atrocities on people and property. One evening a man was eating his supper when he heard the peculiar click, click which indicated the presence of the bruja . In a sudden fit of bravery he invited the unseen to partake of food, adding that he was not afraid, when without a moment's warning the candle was extinguished, dishes broken and the man himself attacked until his face was covered with blood and his hair lay in tufts about the room. This was the work of the witch, itself frightened away at last by the terrified man's prayer to the saints, ' Jesús , María , José ,' from whom protection was asked. Suffice it to say that that man never again invited the bruja to lunch."

Just like us to call out " Jesús, María, José " when in a jam!



A duendes story from 1852 :

http://paleric.blogspot.com/2017/02/a-duendes-story-from-1852.html

AT BREAK OF WAR : CHAMORROS ON CANTON ISLAND

Monday, November 20, 2017

Pan Am 1941 route map showing Canton Island


Canton Island in 1941 was a tiny, barren atoll of sand and rocks, with no native population. But it made a convenient spot where Pan American Airline's clipper planes could stop for refueling on their way from Hawaii to New Zealand.

Pan Am also had a station on Guam, and it was from Guam that Pan Am recruited workers to staff various positions on Canton Island.

That's how these Chamorro Pan Am workers got stuck on a remote atoll, far from home, when World War II broke out on December 7, 1941.



From the list of Chamorro Pan Am employees working at Canton Island in 1941

When war broke out and disrupted normal travel and communications, and with the Japanese at the outer fringes of that Pacific area, the residents of Canton Island abandoned the island. The Chamorro workers were first taken to Pago Pago in American Samoa, not too far from Canton Island. From American Samoa, they went by ship to Honolulu in January of 1942.

The Chamorro workers were (name, age, occupation, home village) :

ANDERSON, Jose (24, waiter, Sumay)
BORJA, Antonio (21, launderer, Sumay)
CARBULLIDO, Albert (23, clerk, Agat)
CHARFAUROS, Ignacio (23, mess boy, Agat)
CONCEPCION, Juan (23, waiter, Sumay)
CRUZ, Ignacio (31, cook, Sumay)
CRUZ, Vicente (25, assistant cook, Agana)
DE LEON, Jose (46, aircraft mechanic, Agana)
DUEÑAS, Ramon (47, carpenter, Sumay)
GARRIDO, Anselmo (27, aircraft mechanic, Sumay)
GUERRERO, Jose (27, cook, Agana)
GUERRERO, Magno (18, messboy, Agana)
MAFNAS, Antonio (23, waiter, Agana)
MATAGULAY, Juan (41, aircraft mechanic, Garapan, Saipan)
MATERNE, Domingo (23, laundryman, Agana)
MESA, Felix (24, utility man, Agat)
PEREZ, Vicente (20, waiter, Agana)
QUITUGUA, Enrique (30, cook, Asan)
RIVERA, Vicente (22, waiter, Agana)
SALAS, Juan (33, cook, Agana)
VALENZUELA, Francisco (27, mess boy, Agana)
WON PAT, Vicente (23, bar keeper, Sumay)

The large number of Sumay men is not surprising, given that the Pan Am base and hotel site were located in Sumay before the war.



JOSÉ PANGELINAN DE LEÓN IN 1960
One of the Chamorro Pan Am employees on Canton Island in 1941




CANTON ISLAND



PAN AM'S CANTON BASE BEFORE THE WAR

TA ASODDA' GI GIMA'YU'US

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Santa Ana (Saint Anne), mother of Mary and grandmother of Jesus


In the old days, most parents and grandparents were very strict with their adolescent children, especially the girls. Their every movement was monitored and who they kept company with was duly noted. Even at dances, older sisters or cousins or aunts went to chaperone the activities. This meant that young people in love found it a challenge to find time to chat with each other.

One opportunity was Sunday Mass. Since almost everyone was Catholic and went to Mass on Sundays, there was a good chance you could see your sweetheart there. One young man thought he could take advantage of Mass and spend a few moments chatting with his girlfriend. But even in church there are challenges to be met.


Era 1956 na såkkan ya sen umaguaiya si Francisco yan si Luisa.
(It was the year 1956 and Francisco and Luisa were so in love.)

Lao pot i mampos estrikto todo i mañainan-ñiha, ti siña i dos umali'e'
(But because all their parents and elders were so strict, the two couldn't see each other)

solo an umeskuela i dos ya para un råtoto ha'.
(except when they were both in school and only for a brief moment.)

Sinangåne si Luisa as Francisco un dia gi eskuela,
(Francisco told Luisa one day in school,)

"Gi Damenggo, ta asodda' gi Misa."
("On Sunday, we'll meet at Mass.")

"Lao mångge?" mamaisen si Luisa.
("But where?" Luisa asked.)

"Tohge gi fi'on i mañåntos gi pettan san me'na," ilek-ña si Francisco.
"Stand by the statues of the saints at the front door," Francisco said.

Ya magåhet na ayo na Damenggo eståba si Francisco
(And sure enough that Sunday Francisco)

na ha nanangga si Luisa gi fi'on i mañåntos gi pettan san me'na.
(was waiting for Luisa beside the saints at the front door.)

En fin måtto si Luisa lao ti magof matå-ña.
(At last Luisa came but her face wasn't happy.)

"Håfa, kerida, na ti mamagof posision-mo?" mamaisen si Francisco.
("Why, sweetheart, is your expression not happy?" Francisco asked.)

"Francisco. Atan hulo' ya un li'e' håye na såntos un ayek para un fi'une," ilek-ña si Luisa.
("Francisco. Look up and see which saint you chose to be next to," Luisa said.)

Tumalak hilo' si Francisco ya ha repåra na tumotohge gue' gi fi'on Santa Ana.
(Francisco looked up and saw that he was standing next to Saint Anne.)

"Ai lokkue'. Sa' kontodo gi halom guma'yu'us ha pupulan hit si Nanan Biha," ilek-ña si Francisco.
"Oh dear. Even in church grandmother is watching us," Francisco said.)

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Monday, November 13, 2017

THE EVILDOER'S DEATH


You can't totally get away with it.

That seems to be the message of this bit of wisdom from the elders.

The inner ugliness of an evil person will somehow manifest itself outwardly in the body of that evil person when he or she dies.

Thus, even if an evil person who did much harm in life got away with it, the punishment will come when the dead body of the evil person becomes so ugly that the person suffers an ignoble death.

Here's how one older lady explained it :

I taotao gi durånten lina'lå'-ña yanggen mampos bula tinailaye bidå-ña,
(The person who during his life if he has done a great deal of evil,)

tåt komo mampos båba i pachot-ña,
(such as having a very bad mouth,)

sesso de muna' mumu taotao,
(who stirs up fights between people,)

gi oran finatai-ña siempre u guaha ma susede.
(at the hour of his death something surely will happen.)

Siña ha' ma baba i pachot-ña, ma laknos i hila'-ña
(It's possible his mouth will open, his tongue come out)

ya ti siña ma na' halom.
(and it can't be put back in.)

Horror! But this is the punishment.

Even though evil people often get away with it in this life, still, at death, you can't get away with it completely.

THE 1944 MILITARY RACE RIOT

Wednesday, November 8, 2017


It was only the second mass trial of black military servicemen in the U.S. during World War 2.

Some forty-five black service men were convicted and given different sentences for a "riot" on Guam involving white Marines. The troubles included some deaths, and also, according to many reports, Chamorro women who were pursued by both white and black military men.

Reflecting the general tenor of the country at the time, the U.S. military was a segregated one in World War 2. Black servicemen were grouped together in their own companies and quarters, separate from the whites, and even had their own line for meals in the canteen. Black nurses treated black patients in military hospitals.


INCREASING RACIAL TENSION IN THE MILITARY ON GUAM


Black Marines in Saipan 1944

On Guam in 1944, four companies working in the Marine supply depot were comprised entirely of blacks.

For some time, white Marines targeted these black Marines, yelling racial slurs, throwing at them empty bottles, rocks and even hand grenades and smoke bombs on a few occasions. One of these smoke bombs thrown by a white Marine landed in the fuel dump, where black Marines were working with dangerous amounts of octane gas. An explosion, putting the black men at the risk of their lives, was gratefully avoided.

Complaints by the black Marines fell on deaf ears with the higher command. This only increased the sense of frustration and helplessness among the black men, convincing them that they had to take matters into their own hands. As one black Marine said about doing military service on Guam, he might as well be in a "town in the deep South," since he found the same racial discrimination in both circumstances.

Part of the tension involved competition over the Chamorro women these military men met. Besides a general kind of competition for these women's attention, there seems to have been a few cases of specific rivalry between a black and a white service man over a specific Chamorro lady.

The military commander (and civil governor) of Guam, Major General Henry Larsen, was warned that trouble was brewing among his own service men. Larsen preached reconciliation and unity, but his words came too late. In December of 1944, verbal assaults and bottle throwing turned more violent. Shots were fired and men, both black and white, were killed.

More than once, black Marines left their camps in the Hågat-Sumay area and went up to Hagåtña, only to engage in fights with white Marines. White Marines in jeeps drove by the black camps, firing shots. The last time, early in the pre-dawn hours on December 26, a caravan of black Marines, armed with weapons taken without permission, heading towards Hagåtña hoping to get back at the white Marines, was stopped on the road by a military barricade. The black men were arrested.


THE STORY WAS BLOCKED BY THE NAVY

During World War 2, news reports were heavily censored by the government in the interest of national defense. After all, you don't want the enemy to get tipped off about America's military situation by reading the morning newspaper. The Navy therefore blocked the release of news reports about the racial riots among the military on Guam. It would be bad for military morale and bad for the image of the U.S. in the world.

Except that.....Walter White was in the picture.


Walter White

Walter White was the Executive Secretary, at the time, of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the NAACP, the nation's influential advocacy group for black Americans. White happened to be on Guam in December of 1944 right when the racial troubles blew up.

He served as counsel to the black Marines arrested on Guam. He would make sure that their case would receive the attention and fairness that he believed they had a right to.

The forty-some black Marines tried and convicted for things such as rioting and the abuse of military property (like the guns they took) got dishonorable discharge and prison terms as high as four years down to four months. The fewer white men facing charges got considerably lighter sentences, as low as 20 days' confinement which was then written off.

As soon as the news blackout was lifted in July of 1945, White made sure that the story of the convicted black Marines made national news. He also put pressure on the Navy to reopen the case and look at significant factors that were not considered at the trial, such as the intimidation given the black Marines by the white ones, and the non-action of the military commanders to diffuse racial tensions by taking seriously the complaints of the black Marines.




In 1946, the Navy released from prison those black Marines still serving time for the Guam "riots."

MELCHERS AND GUAM

Tuesday, November 7, 2017


The 19th century saw a lot more contact between the Marianas and the rest of the world than had been previously seen.

The British and American whaling ships were a constant source of news, activity and opportunity for our little island for much of the 1800s. Businesses associated with the whaling enterprise then came into contact with Guam and the Marianas.

Case in point, the Melchers Company in Honolulu.

The Honolulu trading company was a branch of the original Melchers Company established in Bremen in modern-day Germany. The founder of that company had three sons and one of them, Gustav by name, founded the Hawaii branch in 1852 along with a partner named Gustav Reiners.




As many whaling ships either came from Honolulu or were on their way to Honolulu before or after touching at Guam, Honolulu became a conduit of merchandise and information for Guam. Thus, it's no surprise that the Melchers Company had some kind of relationship with the Spanish Governor of the Marianas. The Company urged whaling captains to call on the Company before they sailed for Guam. Perhaps the whaling captain could bring some supplies, merchandise or news to the Governor. One Spanish governor used the services of Melchers when the Governor wanted to return deposits made to the Spanish government in the Marianas to whaling captains based in Hawaii.

When a Hawaiian commercial ship, the Pfeil , was condemned at Guam because of serious damage, it was put up for sale and Melchers bought it.

Another Guam connection with Melchers was Richard Millinchamp, an Englishman who had previously settled in the Bonin Islands but who later definitively moved to Guam and stayed. He also had prior connections in Hawaii and legally appointed Melchers to represent Millinchamp's interests in Hawaii.


Richard Millinchamp's signature

The contact between Guam and Melchers did not last long. Melchers was bought out by someone else and, as the whaling business subsided, the connection between Guam and Hawaii cooled down as well.



The Melchers Building, built in 1854 on Merchant Street, is the oldest commercial building in Honolulu.

KÅNTAN GUMA'YU'US : MAMES JESUS

Sunday, November 5, 2017


It was a Spanish hymn translated into two different Chamorro versions, one in Saipan and one in Guam.

This recording is of the song sung in Saipan.





1. Mames Jesus man hongge yo' sen metton
(Sweet Jesus I believe very firmly)

na Hågo ha' i Sånta Komunion.
(that You Yourself are Holy Communion.)

Maila' pues ya un na' chocho i anti-ho
(Come then and feed my soul)

ya un na' såntos i korason-ho, ya un na' såntos i korason-ho.
(and make my heart holy.)

2. Mañotsot yo' nu todo i isao-ho
(I repent of all my sins)

båsta yo' umisao yan umaguaguat.
(I am done sinning and rebelling.)

Ya bai sen osge i tinago'-mo
(And I will truly obey your commands)

ya bai hu sen guaiya Hao Asaina, ya bai hu sen guaiya Hao Asaina.
(and truly love you Lord.)


WHY TWO CHAMORRO VERSIONS?

My suspicion is that there is a Saipan and a Guam version because the original Spanish hymn, on which both Chamorro versions are based, didn't become known until after the split between American Guam and the German Northern Marianas in 1898. Prior to 1898, all the Marianas were one political unit and would have a shared musical tradition. But, after 1898, the two parts of the Marianas were served by different missionaries who started new musical traditions within their own island group.

While the two Chamorro versions are worded differently, they share a common origin, the Spanish hymn, and so are both the same in that they are both songs for Holy Communion, focusing on the reality that the Host is the true Body of Jesus, and the consecrated wine has become the true Blood of Jesus.


THE SPANISH ORIGINAL



The Spanish hymn is quite well-known among traditional Catholic circles in the Spanish-speaking world. Prior to Vatican II and the outpouring of new church songs following a different style, this Spanish hymn, Oh Buen Jesús , was very common in church.

Many sites that include this hymn say that the author is unknown, but one site says the composer was one "H. León" but nothing more. I have not found any information who this person was. The H can stand for Hermano , or Brother, meaning a religious brother, and León (Leo) is his first name.

The first verse in Spanish says :

Oh Good Jesus, I firmly believe that for my benefit You are on the altar;
that you give Your Body and Blood together
to the faithful soul in a heavenly meal.


THE GUAM VERSION

A Spanish missionary on Guam (probably Påle' Román de Vera) translated the Spanish original differently from whoever translated it in Saipan.

On Guam the hymn is entitled Guåho Jesús .

The first verse goes like this :

Guåho Jesús hu hongge na magåhet
(Jesus, I believe it is true)

na gaige Hao guennao gi sagå-mo.
(that You are there is your place.)

Ume'etnon yan i man yiniusan
(Joined together with the divine)

na tataotao, ånte yan hagå'-mo, na tataotao ånte yan hagå'-mo.
(body, soul and blood.)

PARA LAI-HO

Thursday, November 2, 2017


I was on a plane to Saipan and overheard the conversation of two people sitting in my row. It's a very small, cramped plane!

I heard them use a phrase of which I knew the literal meaning, but also knew that they were saying something hidden to me.

" Para lahi - ho ," said the man. As is often done, he shortened it to, "Para lai-ho."

Literally, it means "To be my son." But I tried to figure out what was the hidden meaning. Was he going to adopt someone? He seemed somewhat too elderly to adopt a little boy!

Minutes later, the lady he was speaking to said, " Para hagå - ho ." She, too, shortened it to "Para hagao."

So, of course, as soon as I got the chance, I asked some older people what they meant.

When one of your children is getting married, their spouse-to-be becomes, after the wedding, your son or daughter.

Technically, they become your yetno or yetna ; son or daughter-in-law. Those are terms borrowed from Spanish.

But, as these folks did, one can also say they become your son or daughter. Period.

I think this gives some insight into the way traditional Chamorros view family relations. There is much more blending of family relations than in modern culture. You can imagine my shock when, thirty years ago, I heard people call their father or mother-in-law by their first names, instead of "mom, pop, nang or tang," as I normally hear.

MATAGOLAI

Tuesday, October 31, 2017


When a Chamorro speaker first hears about the last name Matagolai, they find it curious because the name happens to resemble two Chamorro words : måta (eyes/face) and gollai (vegetables). If taken as a Chamorro name, Matagolai means "vegetable face or eyes." The area around the eyes is called måta .

But Matagolai is not a Chamorro name. It just happens to resemble Chamorro words. Coincidences happen, believe it or not.

The first documented Matagolai we have is a female baptized Rita Matagolai, in Saipan, in 1857.  Her first name Rita comes from her Chamorro godmother, Rita de Torres. Her last name Matagolay (so it was spelled in those days) is her biological mother's one and only name, thus showing that her mother was an unbaptized Carolinian. Carolinians, like the Chamorros before they were baptized, had only one name, their given name. No last names existed in those days.

Then, in 1877, there is a newborn girl baptized in Saipan named Francisca Matagolay. Her mother is named Francisca Matagolay as well, and she is described as a native of Elato, in the Carolines.

In 1891, a Gerónima Matagolay married a Chamorro named Nicolás Ada. Gerónima's father's one and only name is Matagolay, meaning he is not baptized, and he is listed as a native of Satawal, in the Carolines.

And then in 1897 there is a Manuel Cruz Matagolay who is baptized in Saipan, the son of Vicente Matagolay, a native of Onoun, in the Carolines. The mother is Chamorro, a Carmen Cruz from Sumay, Guam.

By 1930, a Juan Cruz Matagulay, born in Saipan, was living on Guam, married to a Chamorro named Carmen Santos. Juan was almost certainly the son of Vicente of Onoun and Carmen of Sumay.

It seems that the Saipan branch spells it Matagolai, while the Guam branch (which originated in Saipan) spells it Matagulay.

So, the documents show three different Matagolay, all with Caroline Island origins in Onoun, Elato and Satawal. Although the Matagolai intermarried with Chamorros and became part of the Chamorro community, the family's earliest roots are Carolinian and their name is Carolinian as well.



Three islands in the Carolines with Matagolai connections



ANOTHER COINCIDENCE


I came across another non-Chamorro surname that has a Chamorro meaning.

In the Philippines, there is a last name Matanguihan .

In Chamorro, this means "fish face" or "fish eyes." Måta (face/eyes) and guihan (fish). It can also mean someone who really likes fish, or craves fish, just as we say " matan salåppe '" for someone who always thinks of money or is desirous of money.




OVER A MILLION VISITS

Saturday, October 28, 2017

October 27, 2017


This blog started on March 19, 2011 with a post about the San José fiesta in Inalåhan.

As of October 27, 2017 the blog has been visited over one million times in those six and a half years.

Si Yu'us ma'åse ' and thanks to all readers and followers!


WHAT ARE THEY READING?

Here are the five top posts read by the most visitors :



WHERE ARE THEY VISITING FROM?



ANNAI BUMULÅCHO SI SCAGGS

Friday, October 27, 2017

June 8, 1901
Hagåtña

Between 130 and 2 o'clock in the morning on June 8, 1901, the peaceful sleep of Dolores Blas, and her mother Teresa Espinosa Blas, was interrupted by the sound of their dog barking. The dog was inside the house where they were sleeping. The front door of the house had been closed, but it was not barricaded by a bar or some other object. In walked an American man, later identified as John W. Scaggs.

Scaggs entered their bedroom and proceeded to lie down next to Dolores, on her bed. He had in his hand a revolver, pointed at her. When Scaggs lied down, Dolores immediately got up to put on clothes in order to exit the house. She noticed Scaggs was quite drunk, and was able to grab the revolver from his hands. She hid the revolver and left the house with her mother Teresa. They went in haste to Sergeant Nicholas Kelley, who called on two more guards. They all returned to Dolores' house. While the two women waited outside, Kelley and his guards went in to find Scaggs sleeping on Dolores' bed. They got him up and escorted him to jail.

Scaggs was brought before judge Luís Díaz Torres. Scaggs testified that all he remembers about that night was going to the home of Sergeant Kelley and leaving quite drunk. He doesn't remember what he did afterwards. He was sorry if he misbehaved in anyway; it was never his intention to do so, but he got quite drunk. Asked why he carried a revolver, he said it was only for his own protection. He lived in Asan, and was going to walk home alone at night, so the revolver was for security.

The court put a lot of attention on the fact that Scaggs carried a revolver without a license. Scaggs responded that he had had a license for it when he worked for the US Navy the year before in the Philippines, and thought that license applied on Guam as well. He also claimed that an old American law said that anyone carrying at least $100 in coins or bills could carry a gun without a license (for protection). Scaggs was carrying $340 in his pocket that night. Quite a sum in those days!

Torres issued the following sentence. Scaggs was to be fined and his revolver sold in public auction, the money gained thereby covering the court expenses. At the auction there was only one bidder, William W. Rowley, who naturally won. Rowley worked for the Navy and many years later printed the Guam Recorder for the Navy.

Scaggs was 37 years old at the time, and an Alabama native. He worked on Guam for the US Navy as stable foreman, in charge of the Navy's horses and vehicles. Records show he was back in the Philippines a few years later, still working for the US Navy.



From a 1901 list of US Navy employees on Guam

FAMILY NICKNAMES : ORONG

Thursday, October 26, 2017


So this came as a surprise to me, but I heard it from an older member of the family as well as younger members.

A branch of the Quintanilla family in Hågat is known as the Orong family.

The story is that the patriarch of this family was a carpentry supervisor. It had to have been during the early American administration for the explanation to work, since it is based on English.

When he would go around and inspect the work of the carpenters, I assume on military projects, he would tell them, "All wrong, all wrong, all wrong," when he disapproved of their work.

"All wrong" became Orong in Chamorro.

The workers said, "This guy always says 'all wrong,'" and they started calling him Orong.

ANNAI INAKA' SI CHONG AS SIMONA

Wednesday, October 25, 2017


Santa Cruz, Hagåtña
1901

Humånao si Chong para i gima' che'lu-ña as Dolores
(Chong went to her sister Dolores' house)

sa' para u fan lupok hånom gi tipo' na eståba guihe.
(to fetch water from the well that was there.)

Gigon måtto gue’ gi as Dolores, ha li'e' na eståba si Simona,
(When she got to Dolores', she saw that Simona was there,)

na man lulupok hånom lokkue’.
(fetching water as well.)

Ilek-ña si Simona gi as Chong, "Maolek sa' esta hit umali'e'."
(Simona said to Chong, "Good because we already see each other.")

Man oppe si Chong, "Ya håfa?"
(Chong answered, "And what?")

Ilek-ña si Simona, "Esta hao maleffa håfa hu sangåne hao gi halacha?"
(Simona said, "You already forgot what I told you a few days ago?")

"Hekkua'," ilek-ña si Chong. "Gaige ha' yo' guine på'go pot para bai fan lupok. Tåya' mås."
("I don't know," Chong said. "I am here only to fetch water. Nothing else.")

Lalålo' si Simona ya gotpe ha fåom si Chong ya ma tututhon i dos umagalute.
(Simona became angry and suddenly attacked Chong and the two began to fight.)

"Hu puno' hao, hu puno' hao!" sige de umessalao si Simona.
("I'll kill you, I'll kill you!" Simona kept shouting.)

Dångkulo-ña si Simona ya ha palopo si Chong ya ha ke ñukut gue'
(Simona was bigger and got on top of Chong and tried to strangle her)

ya despues ha åkka' i kannai Chong.
(and afterward bit Chong's arm.)

Pot i buruka, guaha siha na besino manhuyong ya ma sepåra i dos palao'an
(Due to the noise, there were some neighbors who came out and separated the two women)

annai ma li'e' na mumumu.
(when they saw them fighting.)

Despues, ma kotte si Simona ya ma pongle gue' gi kalaboso para trenta dias.
(Later, Simona was taken to court and was put in jail for thirty days.)

I Señot Hues ha otden lokkue' si Simona para u apåse i mediko nu i gåston
(The judge also ordered Simona to pay the doctor the cost)

i ma åmten i chetnudan Chong ni tinaka’ dies dias para u mågong.
(of treating Chong's wound which took ten days to heal.)

Lao håfa gi magåhet i tutuhon-ña i inadisguston-ñiha i dos?
(But what was really the start of the trouble with these two?)

Ti ha sångan i dokumenton i kotte.
(The court documents don't say.)

Lao debe de u guaha rason håfa na umachatli'e' i dos.
(But there must be a reason why they hated each other.)


NOTES

Tupo '. Water well. Many homes in Hagåtña did have wells right on the property since Spanish times. That was their source of drinking and cooking water. Although there was a river flowing through Hagåtña closer to the shore, the city residents didn't drink that water. That water was used for laundry and other purposes. Even the well water was deemed unsuitable by the Americans, who then started piping in water from other sources (like Matan Hånom or Agaña Springs). Water from the city wells was usually brackish.

Simona and Chong . The story is from an actual court case. Although most court cases involved extensive questioning getting to the bottom of a story, this one oddly did not. It never asked why there was bad blood between these two women in the first place or, at least, it wasn't recorded.





ROSKETE

Tuesday, October 17, 2017



All over the Hispanic world, there are different kinds of rosquete .

The root word is rosco. A rosco can mean a bread roll, a biscuit, a cookie....and many other similar things.

In the Spanish city of Cádiz, in the south of that country, they make a rosquete that looks like our own Chamorro version, but it is made with some ingredients not found in our own.



A kind of Spanish rosquete


So when Spaniards or Latin Americans brought the basic idea for rosquete to the Marianas, our people had to use ingredients that were available to them.

The Chamorro roskete is made of : flour, corn starch (a lot of it), sugar, butter, eggs and salt. Modern recipes add baking powder and vanilla extract (some use lemon extract), which I am pretty sure were not available in the Marianas 200 years ago. Even butter may not have been quite readily available in our islands 100 years ago or more. Some other shortening must have been used.

The Chamorro roskete is dry and crumbly. That is due to the large amounts of corn starch in the recipe. Because they are so dry and crumbly, mailing roskete to your loved ones off-island is an exercise in hope or optimism. They often become pulverized in the mail. Your loved ones in the States will receive roskete powder by the time it gets to them.

The traditional form of the roskete is to form loops with the rolled out dough. Many people today simply make medallions of the dough. Less work.

Personally, I prefer the "figure eight" traditional form of roskete . Because they are so dry, it is better to eat in smaller doses.

When a roskete is excellent, it has flavor. Am not sure if it is the vanilla extract or the eggs that impart that flavor. I know a lady who makes excellent roskete and claims it's because of her "secret ingredient." I have a suspicion it's Crisco.

But then there is roskete that has little to no flavor. It can become a mouthful of dry, sweet cookie crumbles in the mouth, best dissolved by a gulp of hot coffee.

Here's a video (in two parts, actually) showing how to make roskete according to one person's recipe :





And a link to another recipe for roskete :

http://www.annieschamorrokitchen.com/rosketti/


CHAMORRO TAMALES MAKER

Monday, October 16, 2017



MEXICAN TAMALES

Hinckley Alley was only a small, narrow street in the heart of San Francisco, straddling the area in between North Beach, dominated by Italian immigrants, and Chinatown.

It was a rough neighborhood, where saloon fights and petty crime were not unusual. People lived poorly, often in unhealthy environments.

There were people from all over the world living on Hinckley Alley, but in the area around house Number 17, there was a high concentration of Mexican Americans. And one Chamorro. Bonifacio de los Reyes .

Bonifacio was born around 1857 in the Marianas. In 1881, at the age of 24 or so, he arrived in the U.S.  He probably served on a whaling ship or some other vessel. Several years after arriving in the U.S., he married a Mexican American woman named Dominga. Everyone in house Number 17 (besides Bonifacio) was either born in Mexico or had family origins in Mexico. Besides Bonifacio and Dominga, there were the Mexican de la Rosa and Lopez families in the same house.

Many Chamorros who moved to the U.S. or Hawaii (an independent kingdom before 1893) married Hispanic or Portuguese women. The Chamorro language and culture being heavily influenced by Spain, that should be no surprise. Many Chamorros of the time knew some Spanish.



Working Class neighborhood of old San Francisco


Mexican tamales making was a specialty of Hinckley Alley. They fed the Mexican residents of the neighborhood, and anyone else interested in them. Bonifacio, married to a Hispanic wife, and knowing the Chamorro version of tamales , learned to make Mexican tamales and that became his source of income.


In the 1900 Census, Bonifacio and a housemate are described as " talmale ( tamale )" makers

Sad to say, a local newspaper considered Hinckley Alley's tamales to be unsanitary.  The whole neighborhood was considered a filthy ghetto. Who knows what the real deal with the tamales was? The neighborhood buyers didn't think so, or else the tamales business would have dried up. I'd venture to say that the tamales sold at Hinckley Alley would not meet today's kitchen standards, but for the most part people back then living in the neighborhood had no problem with it.



The unfavorable report of Hinckley Alley tamales in the San Francisco Chronicle of 1892




Hinckley Alley was renamed Fresno Street after the great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906.

I don't know what became of Bonifacio. He and Dominga apparently never had children.

BURIED TREASURE FROM PERU

Friday, October 13, 2017


Peru was a great find for the Spanish colonizers. In Peru, the Spaniards found gold and silver, increasing the wealth of the Spanish Empire. Besides Mexico, Peru became an anchor of the Spanish Empire in the New World. From Peru, the arms of the Spanish realm spread out even to Guam. Peruvians were sent to the Marianas, including the famous Governor, Damián de Esplaña.

But things changed in the early 1800s. Starting in 1818, war to liberate Peru from Spanish rule broke out, ending in 1824 with the independence of the country. Political instability ensued, with one party fighting the others for political control. To raise money, the government in power at the time levied heavy taxes on the moneyed classes.



PERU

In order to protect their wealth, a group of rich Peruvians decided to gather their money, jewels and other valuables and hide them in a remote island of the Marianas. According to one account, $20 million in cash, jewels and artifacts was amassed. The rich Peruvians hired a schooner to take their fortune for hiding in the Marianas and had a banquet the night before the schooner was to sail.

One thing spoiled the plan. A British officer named Roberts discovered what was going on. He rounded up a group of cut throats and boarded the schooner while the dinner was going on elsewhere. It happened that the schooner's officers were also at the dinner, leaving behind a skeleton crew on board the schooner. Thus it was easier for Roberts and his brigands to seize control of the gold-laden vessel. Roberts stuck to the original Peruvian plan. He set sail for the Marianas.

Upon reaching the islands, he confided in two mates, Williams and George, and they buried the treasure in copper boxes under a volcanic rock on one of the Mariana islands. On top of the rock grew three coconut trees - a good landmark. Then they set sail for Hawaii, an independent kingdom at the time.

On the way to Hawaii, the crew members, who did not know what Roberts buried in the Marianas, found out and started to demand a share in the wealth. Roberts then set fire to the schooner and fled in one of the boats with his two associates, Williams and George, and a Peruvian cabin boy. Still on the way to Hawaii, George started to argue with Roberts, so the group used an oar to hit him on the head and throw him overboard. Roberts, Williams and the cabin boy made it to Hawaii, claiming that they had survived a ship wreck. Once in Honolulu, Roberts sent the cabin boy back to Peru. Now, only Roberts and Williams knew the location of the buried treasure.




Roberts then hired another schooner, the Swallow , to take him and Williams back to the Marianas to retrieve the buried treasure. On the way, the captain of the Swallow started to get suspicious of Roberts, especially when Williams disappeared. Roberts claimed that Williams fell overboard into the sea. The captain searched Williams' belongings and found a map of an island indicating buried treasure, but the name of the island was not identified. When the Marianas were in sight, the Swallow met up with another ship, whose captain was a friend of the Swallow's captain. The two captains discussed what to do about Roberts and the hidden treasure.

They offered Roberts two choices. Either help the two captains find the treasure, and be given a small share in it, or be turned over to the Spanish authorities in Guam. Roberts agreed to help find the treasure. But when Roberts was going down the ladder from the ship to the small boat below, which already carried the two captains, instead of getting into the boat, Roberts pushed it away with his foot and jumped into the ocean, from which he never came up. It was suspected that Roberts had filled his pockets and weighed himself down in order to commit suicide, rather than give up the details of the treasure's location.

The captains had their maps and notes left behind by Williams, but in spite of all their digging they never found the treasure. These maps and notes were then turned over to the Spanish government on Guam.

Enter another British captain, named Johnson. Being on Guam many years later, he learned about Roberts and the hidden treasure. He, too, got the bug to find it and hired a small ship and crew, relying on the treasure's location he learned from Williams' notes kept by the Spanish government on Guam. But, on the morning he was supposed to leave Guam and go north to search for the treasure, he discovered that the ship had gone. He suspected that the mate and the crew decided to go hunt for the treasure themselves and leave Johnson out of it.

This story, taken from a newspaper article in 1888 using Johnson as a source, differs in many details from Georg Fritz's account twenty years later of buried treasure in Pagan, which suggests that the two stories are of two separate events.

Unless Johnson's runaway crew found the treasure, there may just be millions of dollars' worth of buried treasure in one of the Mariana islands north of Guam. Which island is anybody's guess. Take your pick. And shovel. And go digging.




Where, oh where, is the buried treasure?

KÅNTA : UN DAGI YO'

Tuesday, October 10, 2017


In modern times, young people meet at the mall or the movie theater and many other places. In the old days, when there were no malls or movie theaters, you met your sweetheart outside her house, if her family allowed even that!

Grandma was sure to be peeking behind the window curtain while you and your sweetheart were talking.

In this song, the poor guy shows up but the girl is a no-show.

Sung by Sonny Flores and Joe Norita of Saipan.




LYRICS

Gi pupuengen Såbalo
(On Saturday evening)
sinireno yo'.
(I was in the coolness of dusk.)
Ya tåya' bali-ña
(And it was worthless)
kontratå-ta na dos.
(what the two of us agreed.)

Si Yu'us ma'åse' nene
(Thank you baby)
pot un dagi yo'.
(for lying to me.)
Na para ta asodda'
(That we would meet each other)
gi hiyong gimå'-mo.
(outside your house.)


NOTE

Sereno . Borrowed from the Spanish language. In Chamorro (and Spanish) it means the night hours, either after sunset or right before sunrise and all hours in between.

The root word, sereno , means "serene, peaceful, quiet." In the old days, things quieted down at night. So sereno came to stand for the nighttime hours. Even a night watchman was called a sereno . Since dew forms in the night, even the dew was called sereno .

Chamorros traditionally have an aversion to the sereno . To be caught outside, especially without the head covered, in the sereno was to invite sickness.

TESTAMENTO GI 1924

Monday, October 9, 2017


Excerpts from a last will and testament (testamento) written in 1924 by a man from Inalåhan.

The man's orthography is heavily influenced by Spanish. There is no use of K, for example, and J is used for the H sound, as in Spanish, as in Sinajaña and Inarajan. I have taken the liberty to write it here in a more modern orthography. I am leaving out the last names, to respect the family's privacy.


Todos i lumi'e' este na påppet debe de u ma tungo'
(All who read this document should know)
na guåho Joaquin ____, taotao Inalåhan, Guam, 59 åños sakkån-ho,
(that I am Joaquin ___, from Inarajan, Guam, 59 years of age,)
kasao gi segundo asaguå-ho as María _____,
(married to my second wife María ____,)
ya kabåles todo i hinasso-ko ya guaha kapasidåt-ho
(and I am sane in mind and have the capacity)
para hu fa'tinas este på'go na påppet.
(to make this document now.)
Hu fa'tinas este na testamento ya pot ginagao-ho
(I make this testament and at my request)
hu na' tuge' si José ____ gi me'nå-ho yan i direksion-ho
(I have made José ____ write it before me and at my direction)
hu na' tuge' este siha mo'na na sinangån-ho :
(to write henceforth my statements :)

Fine'nana : Hu deklåra na i relihion-ho Katoliko Apostoliko Romåno
(First : I declare that my religion is Catholic, Apostolic, Roman)
desde i ninalå'-ho asta i finatai-ho.
(from my birth till my death.)

Segundo : Hu deklåra na i fine'nana asaguå-ho si Victorina ____
(Second : I declare that my first wife was Victorina _____)
ya guaha uno hagan-måme, na'ån-ña si Fabia _____ ya umassagua
(and we had one daughter named Fabia, married)
yan si Santiago _____ ya ayo na hagan-måme måtai
(to Santiago _____ and our daughter died)
ya guaha uno lahen-ñiha na'ån-ña si Jesús ____
(and they had one son named Jesús ____)
ya solo gue' na eredero.
(and he alone is an heir.)

Tetsero : Hu deklåra na på'go umassagua yo' gi segundo
(Third : I declare that I am now married a second time)
yan si María _____ ya tåya' ni uno påtgon-måme.
(with María _____ and we no child at all.)

He goes on in his testament to distribute different properties that he owns, all in the Inalåhan area, to his different heirs, and appoints one of them to execute his will.

I KANDET YU'US

Thursday, October 5, 2017



An old custom from Spanish times was to keep a light on all day and all night before the images of saints and our Lord.

Although there were more lights or candles lit before these images during prayers, those were blown out when the prayers were done. That one, special light that was never allowed to burn out without being immediately replaced was called the kåndet Yu'us , the light of God.

No matter what, the kåndet Yu'us was kept burning. If the oil was running low, it was refilled. If the wick ( mecha ) was about to born out, it was replaced. If the candle was near its end, a new candle was lit.

Here is how one lady explained it :



Gi gima'-måme nai, todo i tiempo guaha kåndet
(In our house, there is always a light)
pues an maleffa 'u, guaha na maleffa 'u nai, ni kandet,
(so if I forget, at times I forget about the light,)
man dåkdak gi petta ya ma ågang na'ån-ho.
(there is a knock on the door and my name is called.)
Pues ilek-ho gi as asaguå-ho, "Maleffa hao adei ti un po'lo i kandet."
(So I tell my husband, "You forgot to place the light.")
"Oh yeah."
Pues un biåhe lokkue' maleffa, kontodo guiya,
(So one time he forgot, even him,)
somebody knocked on the door,
ya ma ågang na'ån-ña.
(and they called his name.)
Pues på'go nai tåya' nu man maleffa ham ni kandet.
(So now we never forget about the light.)
Always. Uno para si San Antonio, uno para i ånimas,
(Always. There is one for Saint Anthony, one for the Poor Souls,)
an uno para si Santa Maria.
(and one for Blessed Mary.)
Ya i kostumbre-ta ni ngai'an para u måtai i kandet
(And out custom is never to let the light die)
ya ti ma songge ta'lo. Nuebo.
(and not light it again. A new one.)
Todo i tiempo ennaogue' mafanague-ko ni nanå-ho biha
(All the time, that's what my grandmother taught me)
sa' ma poksai biha 'u nai.
(because I was raised by a grandmother.)
Eyo na kalan biha diddide' i kostumbre-ko.
(That's why my customs are a bit like a grandmother's.)

Notice she said that there was knock on the door, and a voice calling out her name, if she (or her husband) forget to keep the flame burning. These are actions of the Poor Souls, or angels or the saints, reminding the people in the home to keep the flame alive.

There were some families who discontinued the custom due to one thing : fire.

One elderly lady told me that, before the war, they used an oil lamp for their kåndet Yu'us , and a rat came along and played with the wick and took it out of the lamp and it lit the cloth draping the altar and caused a fire in the house. After that, they no longer kept the kåndet Yu'us lit all the time. It was lit only for prayers when the family could keep an eye on the flame.

FARMER INCOME IN 1901

Tuesday, October 3, 2017


I came across a record of a farmer's sales to a local merchant on Guam in the year 1901.

What were some common items farmers sold to merchants to be sold in stores, and what prices did they fetch?

The farmer and his brother, first of all, were paid for their labor. One peso for the farmer and a little more, a peso and 50 céntimos, for the brother, perhaps for working longer hours.

Copra was a high-value commodity for most of that period. The farmer received 7 pesos and 20 céntimos for 240 pounds of copra (dried coconut meat). The Japanese bought plenty of copra, which was used mainly for the oil extracted from the dried meat. That oil was used in soap, shampoo, cosmetics and many other things.

The farmer also sold ten pounds of meat , two pesos worth. Three hundred pounds of actual coconuts brought in 9 pesos and 75 céntimos. Lastly, half a barrel of honey sold for 5 pesos. So here we have evidence that some farmers kept honey bees on Guam at the time.

This farmer made 26 pesos and 45 céntimos. That was not a bad sum in those days. You could buy a modest house of wood and thatched roofing for that amount.

FRANCISCO BALLESTA : KATPINTERON ATAUT

Monday, October 2, 2017


Hagåtña
1901

Francisco Banig Ballesta was a carpenter in Hagåtña. Originally from Laguna in the Philippines, Ballesta was settled in Guam where he remained a bachelor.

One thing that kept carpenters in business was death. Funerals needed caskets, ataút in Chamorro. Since there were no morgues in those days, nor refrigeration, corpses decayed rapidly in our hot and humid conditions. Burial happened within 24 hours, usually. If someone died in the late afternoon or evening, the sound of the hammer knocking on wood could be heard in the night.

María's granddaughter passed away; the daughter of her son Vicente. She took it upon herself to find a carpenter to make a casket. She chose Ballesta. The agreement was for five pesos . The casket was made; the granddaughter was buried.

But three months later, Ballesta wasn't happy. He claimed that María had not paid one s éntimo of the five peso debt. Tired of asking her, he filed a complaint in court for the five pesos .

María appeared in court and explained that, in the last three months since the funeral, she had given Ballesta suni (taro) worth 5 reåt (a Spanish coin, worth less than a peso ); a chicken worth 1 reåt ; and 12 reåt in coins, amounting to 2 pesos and 25 séntimos . Taking this into account, María stated that her debt to Ballesta now stood at 2 pesos and 75 séntimos , which she was willing to pay.

Ballesta said, "OK," and court was adjourned.

Ballesta, by the way, died in  Sumay in 1922 at the age of 106 years old! Well, that depends if there was solid documentation about his birth and people weren't going just by what he claimed.



On the left, a Spanish reåt coin

In those days, people paid debts with money, if they had it, or with chickens, eggs, vegetables....

FAMILY NICKNAMES : ATKAIDE

Thursday, September 28, 2017


"Alcaide de la Cárcel"
"Prison Warden"
Guam Court Document in 1901


A branch of the Camacho family on Guam is known as the familian Atkaide .

What does Atkaide mean?

It's the Chamorro version of the Spanish word alcaide , seen in the Guam court document above. An alcaide was a prison warden; the man in charge of a jail or prison. Guam had a jail in Spanish times, located in Hagåtña. It was called the Cárcel Pública in Spanish, or kalaboso in Chamorro (borrowed from the Spanish word calabozo ). By the late 1800s, the jail was located at the courthouse or tribunåt in Hagåtña.

How did a person named Camacho get the nickname Atkaide?

Benigno Pangelinan Camacho, married to Magdalena Quintanilla Palomo, was a member of the local militia. When he retired from that, he was made the alcaide of the local jail in Hagåtña. This information is taken from the Guam Recorder , a monthly news journal published on Guam before the war :

"(Benigno) was a sergeant in the local company of artillery, who upon retirement from military service, was appointed warden of the civil jail at Agana, which post he occupied for some years under the Spanish administration." ( Guam Recorder , March 1937)

So, having the job of alcaide , it isn't any wonder that he was soon known himself as Benigno'n Atkaide , and the name passed down to his son, Vicente Palomo Camacho. Vicente was educated at the highest school available in the Marianas at the time, the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán in Hagåtña. There he learned Spanish, enabling him to work for the Spanish government as a clerk in the local court. Then he clerked for the Registrar of Lands, who, under the first American administration, was William E. Safford, who helped Vicente learn English.



Judge Vicente Palomo Camacho, "Atkaide"

Vicente then became a kind of attorney for clients living in the outlying villages, then Deputy Island Attorney then Judge. In 1935, he retired from government service and concentrated on farming, having two ranches, one in Barrigada and one in Mangilao by the old Price Road. His retirement was cut short when the Americans returned after World War II, as he was appointed back to the bench. He finally retired for good in 1947.



A street in Leyang, Barrigada named after the Atkaide family




Apartments named with a more exact spelling of the family nickname

ESTORIAN I ÑAMO

Tuesday, September 26, 2017


Sen umaguaiya i un låhe yan i nobiå-ña ya umassagua i dos.
(A man and his girlfriend were so in love and they got married.)

Kada dia, ma umenta i minagof-ñiha pot i umagofli'e' i dos.
(Each day, their happiness increased because of their mutual love.)

Lao måtto i pininite annai gotpe ha' måtai i palao'an.
(But sorrow came when the woman suddenly died.)

Ti siña ma konsuela i lahe ni piniti-ña.
(You couldn't console the man of his pain.)

Duro gue' tumånges, ha'åne yan puenge.
(He cried and cried, day and night.)

En fin, ha konne' i matai na asaguå-ña
(In the end, he took his dead wife)

para u ma håfot gi tasi.
(to be buried in the sea.)

Mientras humahånao gi tasi gi halom boti-ña,
(While he went to the sea in his boat,)

måtto i taotaomo'na ya ha sangåne i lahe,
(the spirit of an ancestor came and told the man,)

"Siña hu na' lå'la' ta'lo i asaguå-mo,
("I can bring your wife back to life again,)

lao hu nesesita atfilet piao."
(but I need a bamboo pin.")

I lahe ha nå'e i taotaomo'na nu i atfilet piao
(The man gave the spirit a bamboo pin)

ya i taotaomo'na ha dulok i damagås-ña i lahe
(and the spirit pricked the thumb of the man)

ya ha na' tuhu i hagå'-ña gi labios-ña i palao'an
(and let his blood drip onto the lips of the lady)

ya magåhet na lumå'la' ta'lo i palao'an!
(and truly the lady came back to life again!)

Ma bira siha tåtte gi tano' ya todo maolek.
(They went back to land and all was well.)

Lao un dia, ha sodda' i lahe na guaha atungo'-ña otro na låhe i asaguå-na.
(But, one day, the man saw that his wife had another male friend.)

Gi lalalo'-ña, ha puno' ma se'se' i asaguå-ña annai eståba na umo'omak gi saddok,
(In his anger, he stabbed his wife to death while she bathed in the river,)

ya i haga' i palao'an ni ma chuda' gi saddok mama' chåda' ñåmo.
(and the blood that spread through the river became the eggs of mosquitoes.)

Ennao mina' man man å'aka' i ñamo siha.
(That is why mosquitoes bite.)

Ma espipia nahong na kantida håga' kosa ke u lå'la' ta'lo i palao'an.
(They are looking for a sufficient amount of blood to bring the lady back to life again.)




HA HUCHOM I CHALAN

Monday, September 25, 2017

The man blocked the road with tree trunks

Poddong Lisong
1901

Imagine your surprise when you are heading to your ranch, where you have been farming for years, and suddenly you find that the trail has been blocked by tree trunks that weren't there the day before.

Far from a storm felling these trees, your neighbor purposely cut the trees and blocked the road.

This is what happened in 1901 at a place called Poddong Lisong, in the central part of Guam in the low-lying, swampy area between Sinajaña and Toto .




All of central Guam had ranches, mainly owned by people living in Hagåtña. When they found that the trail leading to their ranches was blocked, they also discovered that a land owner in the area named José was responsible for it.

José had a field in the area and he wanted the road closed. He claimed that the original road through the area, with public access, was around 120 feet away. The road he closed, he claimed, was private and not open to the public.

Four land owners who needed that road open took the matter to court. They called five senior citizens who knew the area well. One of the witnesses, Catalino de Borja, was 71 years old and said that since he was a young man, he knew no other trail going through the area except the one closed by José. Other witnesses saying the same thing were Vicente Roberto Herrero, Lorenzo Torres Aguon, José Castro Mendiola and Salvador Díaz Luján, the grandfather of Monsignor Oscar Luján Calvo.

Well, the court believed these old gentlemen and José was ordered to reopen the trail.


The Name Poddong Lisong


According to the 1901 court documents, the place is called Poddong Lisong. Poddong means "to fall" or "fallen," and lusong is a "stone mortar." The name could thus mean "Fallen Mortar," or refer to a place that descends down to an area where there used to be a lusong . It really is all guess work. For the names of many places in our islands, neither oral tradition nor written documentation explain why a place is so named.



Food, herbs and medicine could be ground up in a lusong.


In Chamorro, initial vowels ( like the U in lusong ) can easily change ( to an I as in lisong ), depending on the usage or on who is saying the word. Thus, later maps call the place Peddong Lisong and Poddong Lusong.



"Peddong Lisong"




"Poddong Lusong" on the Sinajaña village sign

NOBENA GI FINO' ESPAÑOT

Thursday, September 21, 2017



Here it is, 118 years after the Spanish left Saipan in 1899, and this Chamorro family still prays this nobena to the Santa Cruz (Holy Cross) in Spanish. Even the singing is in Spanish.






While it is true that Spain left Saipan politically in 1899, and left Guam politically a year earlier in 1898, the clergy in both places remained Spanish for another 40 years or so.

In Guam, the last Spanish priest left in September of 1941, just three months before the war, and the bishop remained Spanish until 1945.

In Saipan, the last Spanish priest left in 1947. In addition to Spanish priests, Saipan had Spanish sisters, the Mercedarians, since 1928. These sisters had influence over the women of Saipan, and women generally have more of a role to play in keeping religious customs alive in the home. The people leading this Spanish nobena in this video in Saipan today are the women.

Spanish was used as an official language of government on Guam even in the early days of the American administration. It was in 1905 that Governor Dyer ordered the switch entirely to English. But, even in to the 1920s, performances staged by Chamorros included Spanish songs and dances. Chamorros clung to Spanish in prayers and hymns for many years after and, although in smaller numbers now, up to this day.

MILÅGRON I TAI TATA

Wednesday, September 20, 2017


Gof chachathinasso un nåna sa' pot kada oga'an mumuta' i hagå-ña achok ha' ti kalentutura pat sinago. Ha konne' i hagå-ña para i mediko ya ma eksamina i me'me'-ña i sotterita. Sinangåne i nana nu i mediko, "Ma potge' i hagå-mo." Ilek-ña i nana, "Ti siña, Señot. Todo i tiempo humahame na dos ya tåya' na ha dingu i gima' guiguiya ha' na maisa, tåya' nobio måfåtto gi gima', tåya' na kumuentos gue' gi telefon yan låhe." An monhåyan ha sångan este i nana, tumohge i mediko gi me'nan i bentåna ya sige de tumalak hiyong. "Håfa, Señot, un a'atan guihe huyong?" mamaisen i nana. Ilek-ña i mediko, "Hu nanangga i Tres Reyes."

MILÅGRON I ORINOLA

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Mañugon i dos Etmåna para Inalåhan lao ti ma repåra na esta kumekehokkok i gasolina gi karetan-ñiha. Sen matai karetan-ñiha giya Yoña ya ma espia si Påle' Alvin para u ayuda siha. Ilek-ña si Påle', "Siña hamyo en fañopchop gasolina ginen i karetå-ho, lao tåya' båtde pat låta para u sinahguan i gasolina, solo guaha este na orinola." Pues magåhet na mañopchop gasolina i dos Etmåna pues ma chule' i orinola ni bula gasolina ya ma nå'ye gi kareta ni eståba gi kanton chålan. Guaha taotao maloloffan ya ha li'e' na ma nåna'ye gasolina ginen orinola ya ilek-ña i taotao ni dos Etmåna, "Magåhet, Sister, na todo klåsen milågro si Yu'us  siña ha cho'gue."

KÅNTA : SATMONETE

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Talayero

According to Candy Taman himself who told me, this was the first song Candy wrote in Chamorro. The tune he adopted from songs he heard from Chamorro singers who had lived in Yap and who had returned to the Marianas after World War II.

The song is full of sarcasm and humor. I'll explain in the notes below.




Uriyan tåno', hålom tåsi

(At land's end, in the ocean)
annai hu plånta i gigao-ho.

(where I set my fish net.)
Puro ha' sesyon yan satmonete

(It was all rabbitfish and goatfish)
ya sen dimålas sa' gai hiting.

(and what misfortune as there were bigeye scad.)

Aga' manila yan papåya

(Manila bananas and papaya)
ayo tengguång-ho gi mattingan.

(was my food at the reef.)
Ya låstima i dångkulon talåya

(What a waste was the large net)
sa' todo tinitek nu i guihan.

(because it was torn by the fish.)

I un lancheru mås gef saga

(The rancher is the richest of all)
sa' abundånsia tinanom-ña.

(because his planting is abundant.)
Ya i bulachero et mås dimålas

(And the drunkard is the most unfortunate)
sa' tåya' para kinano'-ña.

(for he has nothing to eat.)

Chinachak tuba na sen mames,

(Very sweet coconut toddy cuttings,)
kinemman kangkung ni bibisbis.

(Sizzling, pan-fried kangkung)
Tamåles chotda para agon-ña,

(Banana tamales as a staple,)
linemmok lemmai na mahange.

(fermented, pounded breadfruit.)

Macheten doffe', galon tuba.

(A dull machete, a gallon of coconut toddy.)
Båtden abono chinile'-ña.

(He brought a bucket of fertilizer.)
Tåya' produkto gi lanchon-ñiha,

(Their ranch had no produce,)
meggai tinanom marihuåna.

(it had a lot of marijuana plants.)

Verse 1 talks about a fisherman using a gigao , a fish trap made of netting. Sarcastically, he says that it turned out to be a bad catch because it included hiting , which was actually a prized fish among the people.

Verse 2 continues the fisherman theme and says that the fish net tore apart because of the abundance of fish caught, recalling a biblical image!

Verse 3 compares the life of a farmer who grows what he eats, and the drunkard who is so drunk that he cannot work and make money or grow food, and thus has nothing to eat.

Verse 4 talks about food, such as tuba , a mild liquor made from coconut sap by cutting certain branches, and kangkung which sizzles in the pan. Older dictionaries spell the word besbes but here they say bisbis . Candy Taman is part Chamorro (Babauta) and part Carolinian (Taman) so he then sings about a Chamorro food ( tamåles chotda , banana cooked in a banana leaf wrapping) and then a Carolinian food ( linemmok lemmai ), which is breadfruit pounded and allowed to ferment.

Verse 5 pokes fun at marijuana growers, who could care less about running a farm for food. They could care less that the machete is not sharp. They make more money growing and selling marijuana, so no food is grown on their farm.

A MARSHALLESE COMPANY ON GUAM

Monday, September 18, 2017

Map showing the commercial activity of Capelle & Ingalls in the Marshalls


Adolf Capelle was a German gentleman who combined a businessman's ambition with a yearning for travel. Micronesia, mostly unknown to the Western world in the 1800s, proved an exotic and enticing destination. Off he went to the Marshall Islands to work for a German company doing business there. When that company folded up, Capelle started his own business, with various partners. One partner was the Portuguese Anton Jose de Brum and another was the American Charles H Ingalls.

At the top right of the picture above, you can see a German map of coconut plantations in the Marshalls run by Capelle and his partner Ingalls.



Adolf Capelle

The company didn't confine its activity to the Marshalls. It branched out to several places, and the company even tried to get something going in the Spanish Marianas.

In 1880, Ingalls was in Guam and won a contract from the Spanish government to build a warehouse, or almacén , at Punta Piti (in the vicinity of the current Cabras power plant).

Maybe that Piti project was just a way in since, not long after, Ingalls got Spanish permission to exploit Pagan and Agrigan's coconut tree resources to make money from copra.  Hired for the Pagan job in 1880 were the following men from Guam :

Ramón Gumataotao, José Fejarang, Ignacio de la Cruz, José Pereda, Francisco de la Cruz, Vicente Lizama, Ramon Wisle (Wesley), José Pangelinan, Mariano Pangelinan, José Aguon, Juan Roberto, José Tenorio, José de Salas, Pedro de los Reyes, José de los Santos, Vicente Mendiola (but he signed his name "Flores"), Ignacio de la Rosa, Antonio de San Nicolás, Enrique Carolino and Pedro de los Santos.

Enrique Carolino sounds like the name of a Carolinian named Enrique.

Gregorio Pérez, probably the founder of the Goyo clan, which would make him Gregorio Cruz Pérez, was to be the head of this crew. Félix Montufar Roberto was appointed alcalde , or mayor, of Pagan for the duration of the Capelle settlement. I am not sure if these men ever did get to Pagan. The license was only to last a year, anyway.

Not long after, another agent for Capelle, one SS Foster, with Alexander Milne, came to Guam to get government permission to exploit, once again for copra, the island of Agrigan. I am not sure if that project ever actually happened.

The Capelle Company's presence in the Marianas was very brief; more like poking their noses in the area to see what could happen. The answer was nothing much. Their success lay in the Marshalls and other areas close by.




Charles H. Ingalls' signature
on the 1880 Punta Piti contract

DALAI SI COE

Thursday, September 14, 2017

William Pritchard Coe


William Pritchard Coe was a half-American, half-Samoan businessman adventurer who, for whatever reason, moved to Guam right after the American capture of the island. For two weeks, he served as Governor of Guam when a passing Naval officer dismissed the Governor at the time and appointed Coe instead. But Captain Richard P. Leary was just two weeks away from Guam and, when he arrived, Leary took over the government.

Coe remained on Guam and was captain of the port of San Luis de Apra for part of his time on island. As captain of the port, Coe was in charge of the comings and goings of boats and ships in and out of Apra.

On October 24, 1900, Coe saw a boat leave Cabras Island, headed for Piti. In those days, Piti was the actual point of disembarkation for people arriving at Apra. Thus, there was a pier built at Punta Piti (Piti Point), more or less opposite the Cabras Power Plant today.



Cabras Island and Punta Piti in the 1800s
"Pantalán" means "pier"

When the boat landed at Punta Piti, Coe observed three men, namely Joaquín Martínez of Hagåtña, José Martínez and José Finoña, both of Piti. Their boat was laden with lemmai (breadfruit). Coe asked the men if they were aware that the lemmai was government property, since all of Cabras was government property. The men replied that they had the Governor's permission to harvest at Cabras.

Coe filed a formal complaint with the government, anyway.


William Coe's signature in 1900

The island court sat on this issue for over a year! Finally, the government tossed out the complaint because no crime had been committed. According to Philippine forestry law, still in force on Guam since most of the Spanish-era laws had not been abrogated yet by the US Naval Government, people could freely make use of whatever grew on government land.

Coe left Guam for good around this time, and may have even been gone by the time the court issued this final decision.


Lemmai
( Breadfruit )


CABRAS? OR APAPA?


The original Chamorro name for the island is Apapa .

Cabras is the name Spaniards gave it, and the name means "goats." I suppose goats were raised there at one time. The last name Cabrera comes from cabra . It means "goatherd," a tender of goats just as "shepherd" is a tender of sheep.

Nowadays, no one calls it Apapa and fewer still even know the name. Most people don't even call it an island anymore!

I MA TÅLA' NA PÅTGON

Tuesday, September 12, 2017


This Chamorro expression is one more proof that language is not just a matter of vocabulary and grammar. There are modes of expression that go beyond ordinary logic.

Ma tåla' na påtgon means that a certain child is outgoing, speaks up, expresses his or her personality. He or she is the opposite of the shy child who is rarely seen and never heard. The underlying belief is that the ma tåla' na påtgon has confidence in him or herself, while the yomåhlao (shy) child has a lack of confidence and thus dislikes being seen or heard.

The curious thing is the use of the word tåla' . To tåla' means to dry in the sun. Your wet clothes are ma tåla' , either hung on the clothes line or spread out over bushes. Salted meat is dried, or ma tåla' , in order to preserve it for future use.

So, how is an outgoing child ma tåla' ? Is he hung on the clothes line?

So I asked Påle' Jose this question.




So, just as our wet clothes or salted meat are exposed in the sunshine, seen and visible to all the world, in the same way, the ma tåla' na påtgon is not hidden. He or she is exposed, seen and visible to the whole world.

In fact, one of the older Chamorro dictionaries (1918) says that tåla ' means to "expose or lay out." It doesn't state that tåla ' specifically means to "dry out," as in clothing or food. But, if one exposes wet clothes and food to the sun and air, they will dry out. So, perhaps, the most basic meaning of tåla ' is simply to expose or lay out.

Ma tåla' na påtgon . It's a mental image that came to the minds of our Chamorro mañaina and came into the language.

RIGHT MAN IN RIGHT PLACE

Monday, September 11, 2017

VICTORIANO JOANINO
Clerk of the Guam Court
1900-1902


My great grandfather Victoriano Joanino was clerk of the Guam Court in the first years of the American Naval Government. He was thus involved in many of the comings and goings of Guam society in those days, including the criminal!

In those days before typewriters and tape recorders, everything documented in court was done by hand, and Victoriano wrote thousands of pages of court records, from transcripts of testimonies to certificates to legal forms.

One such court case put him in the right place at the right time, at least for one suspect.

A man farming in Piti, Antonio de la Cruz, came home one day to find that his wooden chest ( kaohao ) was broken into. He had spent the night prior to this at his mother-in-law's, together with his wife, and no one was in his own house the night the chest was broken into.

Missing from the chest was 19 pesos , a good sum of money in those days. Then he discovered that a good quantity of pugas (raw, harvested rice) was also missing.

Investigating the surroundings, he noticed footprints of at least two people outside the house, and the prints of a karabao . He followed these prints and they lead him to the house of one Vicente the Tagålo (Tagalog). Antonio believed he had found his suspect.




This Vicente was Vicente Mejos Gonzales, a Filipino from the town of Bangar in the province of La Union, in the Ilocano-speaking region of the Philippines. For Chamorros, all Filipinos are Tagålo (Tagalog), even if that person is Visayan, Ilocano or what have you. Gonzales was, in fact, far from being Tagalog, but his own neighbor, Antonio Cruz, called him Vicente the Tagålo. In the court record seen above he is named "Vicente de tal @ tagalo." "De tal" means "so and so" and @ stands for "alias," or "also known as." Since the court had only Antonio Cruz's information thus far, no one knew Vicente's full name yet, so he was called Vicente the Tagalog.

Government investigators went out to Antonio's ranch house in the Sasa' area of Piti, a good place for growing rice in its swampy terrain. They looked over the ranch house and took measurements of the footprints. Then they went to look for Vicente the Tagålo.

When they found him, they encountered a slight difficulty. Vicente was not Tagalog at all but rather Ilocano. He had married a Chamorro-Chinese mestiza, Maria Mafnas Champaco. Being unschooled, Vicente could not speak either Spanish nor Tagalog, and his Chamorro was very basic. If he had to testify, he could do it in only one language - Ilocano. Where would they find an Ilocano speaker who also spoke excellent Spanish?

Well, it just so happened that the court secretary, Victoriano Joanino, was Ilocano. Although the court clerk or secretary shouldn't act as interpreter, Victoriano had no choice but to translate for Vicente, suspected now of being the robber.

When all was said and done, no charges were brought against Vicente Gonzales. The court determined that there just was not enough evidence to point fingers at anybody, and the robber was never identified.

All of which made very happy one Vicente the-not-so Tagålo.

But I wonder what poor Vicente would have done if Victoriano Joanino had not been the court clerk that day when he was called before the judge. How would he have given his side of the story? My great grandfather was in the right place at the right time to act as Ilocano interpreter for Vicente.



The Sasa' area south of Piti where Antonio had his ranch house

KABESAN I MAN CHINO

Thursday, September 7, 2017


Chinese laborers started settling on Guam in larger than usual numbers around the year 1858. That year alone saw the arrival of Chinese men named Unpingco, Losongco, Tyquiengco and perhaps that same year, or maybe soon after, Limtiaco.

By the 1880s, there were between 15 and 20 Chinese men living on Guam, maybe a third of them married to Chamorro women and baptized into the Catholic religion.

In a document from the year 1884, Rosauro Unpingco is described as the "current head of the Chinese residents in this island." " Cabeza actual de los chinos residentes en esta isla. "

The Spanish colonial government system including neighborhood heads called cabezas de barangay . A barangay was a neighborhood, and its head was the cabeza (Spanish for "head").

As far as I know, there never was a formal office for a cabeza for the Chinese residents of Guam. At least I've never seen such a title on any official list of titles or positions in the island government during Spanish times.

So, I suspect that Rosauro's title was an informal, unofficial but practical one. He would act as the liaison between the Spanish government (its Spanish officials and Chamorro clerks) and the dozen or so Chinese residents on Guam. He would relay to the Chinese community any news, announcements or requests from the Spanish government, among other duties. His position would have been appointed, not elected (there were no elected offices in the Marianas at all under the Spanish).



Rosauro's signature


Once again, don't be too concerned about the way Rosauro's last name is spelled. Here it is Ung Pinco. "Ung" would have been his Chinese last name. It is often rendered Ng today in his variety of Chinese (Fujian). In the Spanish records, Unpingco is spelled in three or four different ways.

KÅNTA : MAMAISA HA'

Tuesday, September 5, 2017


A song of lost love, sung by Larry Saralu



LYRICS

An ti siña mohon humita kerida
(If we cannot be together, darling)
i tataotao-ho ti maolek siniente-ña;
(my body doesn't feel well;)
ya ti siña hu sungon kerida
(and I cannot bear, darling)
na bai hu mamaisa ha'.
(to be alone.)

Annai un chiko yo' tumånges yo'
(When you kissed me I cried)
sa' ti hu hongge na para un dingo yo'.
(because I couldn't believe you would leave me.)
Ya ti siña hu sungon kerida
(And I cannot bear, darling)
na bai hu mamaisa ha'.
(to be alone.)

Åpmam tiempo de humihita.
(We were together for a long time.)
På'go para un apåtta hao.
(Now you're going to go on your own.)
Nene hu guaiya hao.
(Baby I love you.)
Ti hu sungon man meggai åpmam na tiempo
(I cannot endure many long periods of time)
sa' tåya' mås kerida ke hågo.
(because there's no one more than you.)
Ya ti siña hu sungon kerida
(And I cannot bear, darling)
na bai hu mamaisa ha'.
(to be alone.)

NOTES

Maisa . To be one alone, as in " Guiya na maisa ," "Him alone/only." Some think it is related to the Ilocano word maysa , meaning the numeral "one." Then, there might be a connection with the Filipino word isa , also meaning "one," found in many local languages in the Philippines.

Bai hu mamaisa ha' has a stronger feeling than just "to be alone." It has the sense in a constant condition of being utterly alone; to be left alone, by oneself, in this world.

Apåtta . To be apart, to be separated from, to be far off.



MURDER IN SAN RAMÓN

Monday, September 4, 2017

Poor Vicente never made it up this hill. He was shot and killed around this spot.

NOTE . This is a historical account of a murder on Guam in 1900. The investigation records are still intact. But I am not including last names for the simple reason that 117 years ago is not that long a time. Relatives of the murderer, the suspected accomplice and the victim are still with us.


Vicente was, from all accounts, a nice guy. Sociable, affable and friendly. Except for a few landowners in Talofofo who differed with him about exact land boundaries, he got on well with everyone and even those neighboring ranchers didn't hate Vicente. It was just the normal squabbling about how far your goat could eat the grass that was routinely found among people in those days.

Vicente's real problem was his wife Rosa. Lots of people in Hagåtña believed that she was unfaithful, carrying on with a certain Juan. Her boyfriend Juan was a single man, and ten or so years younger than her. She made all kinds of excuses never to follow her husband Vicente from Hagåtña, where they lived, to their ranch in Talofofo. One day she would say she was not feeling well; the next day it was because she had too much to do in the Hagåtña home. So, off Vicente would go to the ranch in Talofofo, and Juan the boyfriend would spend time with Rosa in the house while Vicente was gone. Juan made himself at home, going into any room he cared to enter.

Tongues wagged all over Hagåtña. It didn't help that Rosa's own cook swore that she caught Juan and Rosa in physical contact in the bodega or basement. Some of her own children also stated that they believed their mother and Juan had something going on.

Matters turned worse when Vicente himself walked in on his wife and Juan, a kompådre to them by the way, in each other's arms.  A day or so later, Vicente confided to a few people that he was resolved to bring Rosa down to Talofofo to live there for a few years, to keep her away from Juan. Perhaps that's when Juan got the notion to kill Vicente, to put an end to the plan to keep Juan and Rosa apart.



A witness actually called Juan and Rosa achagma (achakma), the Chamorro word for illicit lovers


In the early hours of May 16, 1900, between 2 and 3 in the morning, Vicente and his wife Rosa readied some of their animals and bags and left their house in Hagåtña to go to Talofofo. Another Vicente, a house boy, went with them. Though it was in the dark of night, the moon was out and its light brightened the path of the travelers. They entered San Ramón barrio and were just passing the last house on that road, which leads up the hill to Sinajaña.

Just before the road rose towards Sinajaña, Rosa asked to stop. She needed to urinate. In the meantime, Vicente decided to have a smoke. He lit a match to light his piece of tobacco and out of nowhere shots were fired. Vicente was hit three times in the back. A bullet entered his chest, damaging some vital organs and arteries. He fell on his face, then turned to lie face up, and died.

Rosa cried for help, bent down to examine her husband's body, and saw that he was already dead. She departed to inform the authorities at the government offices in the Palåsyo (palace).



The testimony says Vicente was shot in a spot just before the road rises up the hill


Vicente's body was taken to his home and laid out. People remarked that Rosa did not seem to be grieving. Then there was the matter of the house clock; some noticed that it was two hours ahead of time! Someone had pushed the time forward. Vicente never left Hagåtña for Talofofo so early in the morning before. Why now? Rosa said they left that early at her request, in order to travel while it was still dark and cool. Did Rosa push the clock two hours ahead in order to make Vicente rush, thinking that they had less time in the dark than in reality? The real time was 2AM; their house clock said 4AM. Dawn was coming; hurry!

Strange, too, that they should travel in the darkness while Juan, Rosa's lover, was on guard duty at the Palåsyo . An American military man says he saw Juan leave his post in those dark hours, and then there was the sound of gun fire. Half an hour later, Juan re-appeared at his post. When some American military men examined Juan's gun later, they stated that the gun had been fired within the last 48 hours.


Map of Hagåtña a few years after the murder, showing the barrio of San Ramón
and the pre-war road leading up to Sinajaña


Juan was detained, but let go because of insufficient evidence. But people observed that Juan stayed away from Rosa from then on. Both sides of the family, Rosa's and Juan's, strongly advised them to keep apart. People were pointing fingers mainly at Juan, but also at Rosa, as being responsible for the death of Vicente.

Then a strong typhoon in November of 1900 brought Juan and the widow Rosa together again. Juan went to go see how Rosa fared the storm. In no time Rosa was pregnant, with Juan's child.

The authorities never let all of this pass, however, and by April of 1901, both Juan and Rosa were held in custody, while the government investigated further. Juan and Rosa denied any participation whatsoever in the murder of Vicente, but, on April 4, Juan broke down and confessed to being the murderer of Vicente.

Juan blamed it all on the rage he felt when he happened to see Vicente and Rosa in physical intimacy in the privacy of their bedroom. This rage, Juan said, clouded his mind and he resolved to kill his lover's husband. Passing their house the night of the murder and seeing the light on and the door opened, Juan stopped by and learned from Rosa that they were about to leave for Talofofo. Juan went to get his gun and hid in the bushes in San Ramón by the road that leads to Sinajaña. He shot Vicente when he saw the match light.

Juan was eventually condemned to death. Rosa was set free. Juan's legal counsel appealed the sentence. Under Spanish law, a death sentence on Guam was appealed to the higher court in Manila. But that court was no longer in existence under the new American judicial system in the Philippines. Guam was lost somewhere in legal limbo. The United States Congress had not yet instituted a clear court system for Guam. Without a higher court to appeal to, the Navy in Washington told the Governor of Guam that the best thing to do was cancel the death sentence for Juan. It was reduced to a life sentence and, in time, Juan was pardoned.


Modern map of Hagåtña showing the general area of the murder

ESTORIAN MSGR ANTONELLI

Thursday, August 31, 2017

Msgr. Louis Antonelli
Påle' Luta since 1973

For some time now, Luta (Rota) has had two parishes - San Francisco de Borja, the original in Songsong - and San Isidro, the new one, in Sinapalo.

Various priests have come and gone since Luta opened a second parish.

But, if you ask most people in Luta, there is only one " Påle ' Luta ," the one who's been there for forty-four years! Monsignor Louis Antonelli. For most of those 44 years, he was the one and only priest on Luta and he got to know everyone on the island, and everyone knew, and knows, him.

Ten years ago, I sat down with him and had a conversation that I made notes of. Here are some things I learned :

~ The first place (outside of Guam) he asked to be assigned to was Alamagan. But the diocese didn't send resident priests to the northern islands. Priests from Saipan would alternate going up to all the inhabited northern islands every three months or so on a government vessel.

~ There was a man in Luta who had been an interpreter in Guam during the war. Apparently he had made some enemies on Guam, and would have been killed if he set foot back on Guam. Antonelli prepared the man for death when his health deteriorated.

~ Antonelli's first experience of Luta was during summers in the 1950s. Since he was a school teacher (at Fr Dueñas), summers were when he could cover a parish while the pastor took a break. In the 1950s, Capuchin Father Cornelius Murphy was pastor of Luta. He lived very poorly. The konbento (rectory) had no electricity yet. Antonelli used a kerosene lamp at night. Father Cornelius also ate very poorly. On one day, Father Cornelius would have spam for lunch and canned corned beef for dinner. The following day he would have canned corned beef for lunch and spam for dinner. Antonelli got sick of canned meats because of this.



Father Cornelius in front of the old konbento in Luta
1950s

~ Marcelino Mangloña was Father Cornelius' house boy ( låhen Påle '). Marcelino would ring the church bell 70 times every morning at 5AM to get people up for Mass.

~ Daily life in Luta in the 1970s. People went to Mass early in the morning then went to their ranches to farm. During the day, no one was at home except the very old. The children were at school and the adults were at their ranches.

ESCAPE TO THE BONINS

Tuesday, August 29, 2017


Pedro came home one night, to find his house locked and his wife, Ana, refusing to open the door.

It was Guam in the year 1872.

As Pedro became agitated, demanding that Ana open, a man named Félix jumped out a window. Ana then opened the door, to a screaming Pedro repeatedly shouting, "Where was that man!" " Måno eståba ayo na taotao !" Pedro was screaming so loud that neighbors started to gather outside Pedro's house. The five small children born to the marriage were standing around Pedro, crying their eyes out.

Such a public scandal ensued that the matter was brought before the island government.

It seems many people knew that Ana was carrying on with Félix. Some testified that Félix had claimed to some that he was planning to take off with Ana on his boat and move to the Bonin Islands, in Spanish and Chamorro, the Boninas .




The Bonin Islands were, by the time Félix and Ana were carrying on, under Japanese control. But, prior to that, the deserted island was settled by a mixture of British, American and other European men, along with islanders, male and female, from Hawaii and elsewhere. There was even one Chamorro lady, María de los Santos, married to the American settler Nathaniel Savory. There had been periodic contact between the Bonin Island settlers and the Marianas, and people in the Marianas knew of the existence of these islands to the north. One former Bonin Island resident, Richard Millinchamp, with his son Henry, left the Bonins and settled on Guam.

Félix never got to accomplish his dream. The law found out and forced an end to the illicit relationship he had with a married woman. Pedro and Ana stayed married till death.

NOTE : Although I know, from the documents, the last names of all involved, I am leaving them out. The descendants of these people are alive and well down the street from us. History is not confined to the past. Past events touch us even today.

FAMILIA : ALDAN

Monday, August 28, 2017

Signature of Family Founder Lucio Aldan
in 1881 when he was still living on Guam

The Aldan family is a well-known family in Saipan which originated in Guam. For a time before the war, there were some living in Yap, as well. Now, the Chamorro Aldans can be found all around the Marianas and the U.S. mainland.

The family founder was a Filipino named Lucio Santos Aldan, the son of Tomás and Ana. Lucio was born in Imus, in the Province of Cavite, very close to the capital city of Manila. Tomás, therefore, was Tagalog-speaking. Spanish records indicate that he was a carpenter by trade.

Aldan, by the way, is not a surname found in Spain. But there are Aldans in the Philippines and is probably a Filipino name.

At some point before the 1860s, he moved to Guam. There he met his future wife, the Chamorro María Rivera de León, the daughter of Juan and Rosa, all from Hagåtña.

Their first children (Ana, Tomás, Juan, Antonio, Rita and Manuel) were born on Guam but sometime in the mid 1880s (1884-1886) he moved with his family to Garapan, Saipan where he stayed till he died in 1896. He lived for a very short time in Tinian, as well, during his Saipan years. In Saipan, a son Vicente was born. In Tinian, a daughter Francisca, the last of the eight children, was born.

The five sons, of course, were mainly responsible for the spread of the Aldan name as they married and had numerous children.

Tomás married Encarnación Cruz Concepción.

Juan married Nicolasa Cruz de León Guerrero.

Antonio married twice. First with Soledad Aurora Fausto and, after her death, with Maria Muña Charfauros.

Vicente also married twice. The first time with Antonia Díaz Castro and, after her death, with María Tenorio de la Cruz.

Manuel married twice, as well. First with Nicolasa Camacho Manibusan and, after her death, with Rufina Hernández.

Among the three daughters, Ana married Luís Luján de la Cruz, Rita married Antonio Esteves and Francisca apparently never married.


ANOTHER ALDAN?

The Saipan records also show that there was a man named Pedro Magofña Aldan, born in Guam around 1874. Was this an error made by a priest or secretary? Was his "Aldan" name really something else? Lucio was already married to María de León long before 1874, so who was this other Aldan married to a Magofña (unless it really wasn't an Aldan, only a mistake made by the record keeper). Pedro appears in the marriage records as having married on Saipan in 1917. His bride was Natividad Cabrera San Nicolás. No children apparently issued from this union.


ALDAN, NOT ADÁN

Some people who speak good Chamorro know that the Chamorro (Spanish) name for Adam (as in Adam and Eve) is Adán. It sounds awfully close to Aldan, because in traditional Chamorro the L in Aldan is changed to a T. At - dan. And some people wonder, humorously, if the First Man Created was from the Aldan family.

No. The answer is no. It's just that the two names are just one letter apart and sound very similar. But the two names are totally unrelated.

Listen to the slight difference in the way they both sound :



WE REGRET TO INTERRUPT....

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

SANTA ROSA DE AGAT


One of the earliest Spanish military commanders in the Marianas was from Peru. His name was Damián de Esplana. He was on Guam by 1674 and took up military leadership that same year, and later became actual Governor of the Marianas from 1683 to 1686 and once again from 1689 to 1694.

Esplana, being a Peruvian Spaniard, was naturally very proud of his saintly compatriot, Rosa de Lima. She was the first saint born in the Americas, the New World. A Dominican tertiary, Rosa de Lima lived a life of extraordinary prayer and penance, and her fame spread throughout the New World as well as Europe. She was canonized a saint in 1671, just three years before Esplana came to the Marianas.

The devotion Esplana had for Santa Rosa was noted by the missionaries in their records. A girls school in Hagåtña, founded in 1674, was named in honor of Santa Rosa. More than likely the same year, a church in Tepungan (in Piti) was built and named Santa Rosa to honor Esplana's devotion to her. It was the first church in the Marianas named for Santa Rosa. For some unknown reason, the patroness of Tepungan (Piti) was later changed to Our Lady of the Assumption.

In 1680, a church in Hågat was built and also named Santa Rosa. Years later, we see evidence that the patroness of the Agat church was Our Lady of Mount Carmel, but the Spanish had this custom of often having multiple patron saints. One for the village itself, and another for the parish church. We see this in the capital city of Hagåtña, where the patron of the city is San Ignacio de Loyola, and the patroness of the church is Dulce Nombre de María.

Esplana may not have had anything directly to do with the naming of Hågat's church as Santa Rosa, but he wasn't totally unconnected with it. He was an important figure in the struggling Spanish colony, and the missionaries knew about the special place Santa Rosa had in Esplana's heart.


THE FIESTA OF 1899


Capt. Richard P. Leary, USN
First American Naval Governor of Guam

On August 7, 1899, the first American Naval Governor of Guam appointed by the US President, Captain Richard P. Leary, arrived at Apra Harbor. Leary was very critical of the Catholic Church on Guam. He had a low opinion of the Spanish missionaries and in short order expelled them all from the island. He also opposed the role of the Church in public life on Guam, and banned religious instruction and the hanging of crucifixes and religious pictures in the schools.

He also put his attention on banning the public observance of the church fiestas on Guam. He issued this ban just a few days before the fiesta of Santa Rosa in Hågat. Maybe he had heard talk about the upcoming fiesta; how people took off from work in order to prepare for the fiesta by erecting the åtkos (street arches) and cooking the food and organizing the entertainment (such as cockfighting, or gayera ) that usually accompanied such celebrations. Well, Leary wasn't going to have any of that and issued Executive Order No. 4 stating, " Public celebrations of feast days of the patrons saints of villages, etc. will not be permitted. The church and its members may celebrate their religious feast days within the walls of the church. ..." Keep it inside the walls of the church, he said. No processions with the statue, no arches on the public streets. A copy of the Order was sent to the gobernadorcillo (like a mayor) of Hågat the day before the fiesta, which was celebrated on August 30th in those days.

It was a very different, then, if not dull, Santa Rosa fiesta in Hågat that year. The fiesta of 1900 went back to normal, as Leary was no longer Governor of Guam.

Needless to say, Leary was not a very popular governor on Guam, and some of his decrees were later rescinded by subsequent governors.

Leary's orders banning the public celebration of fiestas was a wake-up call to the Chamorros of Guam that a new way of life had entered. Though short-lived, the fiesta ban was only one of many changes the American administration ushered in, much of them to last to this day. For many decades, Guam Chamorros lived with the tension created between two hundred years of Catholic, Spanish colonization and the new American style. We see this tension even today.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

SANTA ROSA DE LIMA

Uno de los primeros comandantes militares españoles en las Islas Marianas procedía de Perú. Su nombre era Damián de Esplana. Estuvo en Guam en 1674 y asumió el liderazgo militar ese mismo año, y luego se convirtió en gobernador real de las Marianas de 1683 a 1686 y una vez más de 1689 a 1694.

Esplana, siendo un español peruano, estaba naturalmente muy orgulloso de su santa compatriota, Rosa de Lima. Fue la primera santa nacida en las Américas, el Nuevo Mundo. Rosa de Lima, terciaria dominica, vivió una vida de extraordinaria oración y penitencia, y su fama se extendió por todo el Nuevo Mundo y también por Europa. Fue canonizada como santa en 1671, solo tres años antes de que Esplana llegara a las Marianas.

La devoción que Esplana tenía por Santa Rosa fue anotada por los misioneros en sus registros. Una escuela de niñas en Agaña, fundada en 1674, recibió su nombre en honor a Santa Rosa. Muy probablemente el mismo año, se construyó una iglesia en Tepungan (en Piti) y se llamó Santa Rosa en honor a la devoción de Esplana por ella. Fue la primera iglesia en las Marianas que lleva el nombre de Santa Rosa. Por alguna razón desconocida, la patrona de Tepungan (Piti) fue luego cambiada a Nuestra Señora de la Asunción.

En 1680, se construyó una iglesia en Agat y también se llamó Santa Rosa. Años más tarde, vemos evidencia de que la patrona de la iglesia de Agat era Nuestra Señora del Monte Carmelo, pero los españoles tenían esa costumbre de nombrar a menudo múltiples santos patronos. Uno para el propio pueblo, y otro para la iglesia parroquial. Vemos esto en la ciudad capital de Agaña, donde el patrón de la ciudad es San Ignacio de Loyola, y la patrona de la iglesia es Dulce Nombre de María.

Puede que Esplana no haya tenido nada que ver directamente con el nombre de la iglesia de Agat como Santa Rosa, pero él no era totalmente ajeno a ello. Era una figura importante entre la colonia española en apuros, y los misioneros sabían del lugar especial que tenía Santa Rosa en el corazón de Esplana.

El 7 de agosto de 1899, el primer Gobernador Naval Americano de Guam, el Capitán Richard P. Leary, nombrado por el Presidente de los Estados Unidos, llegó al puerto de San Luis de Apra.

Leary era muy crítico con la Iglesia Católica en Guam. Tenía una opinión desfavorable de los misioneros españoles y en breve los expulsó de la isla. También se opuso al papel de la Iglesia en la vida pública en Guam, y prohibió la instrucción católica, así como colgar crucifijos e imágenes religiosas en las escuelas.

Puso su atención en la prohibición de la observancia pública de las fiestas de las iglesias. Él emitió esta prohibición apenas algunos días antes de la fiesta de Santa Rosa de Lima en Agat. Tal vez había oído hablar de esa fiesta. Los chamorros saldrían del trabajo para prepararse levantando los åtkos (arcos), cocinando y organizando el entretenimiento (como las peleas de gallos -gayera-) que solía acompañar a tales celebraciones. Leary no iba a tolerar nada de eso y emitió la Orden Ejecutiva Nº 4 en la que se decía:

"Las celebraciones públicas de las fiestas patronales de los pueblos, no serán permitidas. Los días de fiesta se celebrarán por dentro de los muros de la iglesia".

No habría procesiones con imágenes religiosas, ni arcos en las calles públicas. Una copia de la Orden fue enviada al gobernadorcillo (alcalde) de Agat el día antes de la fiesta de Santa Rosa de Lima, que se celebraba el 30 de agosto en aquellas fechas. Fue muy diferente, si no aburrida, la fiesta de Santa Rosa en Agat aquel año.

En 1900, la fiesta volvió a la normalidad, ya que Leary no sería gobernador de la isla. Sobra decir que Leary no fue un gobernador muy popular en Guam, y algunos de sus decretos fueron posteriormente rescindidos por los gobernadores subsecuentes.

Las órdenes de Leary de prohibir la celebración pública de las fiestas eran una llamada de atención a los chamorros de que habían iniciado un nuevo estilo de vida. Aunque duró poco, la prohibición de la fiesta fue sólo uno de los muchos cambios que la administración estadounidense introdujo, muchos de ellos continúan hasta el día de hoy.

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Tuesday, August 22, 2017


This Chamorrita verse gives new meaning to the Bee Gee's hit song "How Deep is Your Love." According to the man, he would dive to the bottom of the sea for his sweetheart.




Candy Taman sings the verse for us.

Yanggen lulok bai hu hulok,
(If it is iron I will break it,)

an kadena bai desåse.
(if it is a chain I will undo it.)

Bai atotga bumusero
(I will dare to be a diver)

yanggen gaige hao fondon tåse.
(if you're at the bottom of the sea.)

The verse points to a man's natural desire to prove himself worthy of the lady's love, and to his great strength and determination.


NOTES

Desåse . Many Chamorros pronounce this dechåse . It comes from the Spanish word deshacer . "Des" is a negation, like our English "dis" (dislocate, disregard). "Hacer" means "to do, to make." Deshacer means "to undo, unmake." If you build a temporary wooden platform ( palapåla ) for a party, after the party you desåse it; you break it up and put away the parts.

Atotga . Taken from the Spanish otorgar , "to consent, to give." Chamorro took the meaning of this word further to mean to be courageous enough to consent or agree to dare, to chance and to risk.

Busero . Borrowed from the Spanish buzo meaning "diver."

Fondo . Borrowed also from the Spanish word meaning "bottom, depths, end, back, bottom." We get the English words "profound," "foundation" and "fundamental" from the Latin root word fundus meaning "bottom." The word fund , as in a bank account, is also connected to this, because, as they say, money is the bottom line, and fondo in Chamorro can also mean a bank account.

PURO HA' HÅFKAO

Monday, August 21, 2017


Cultural stereotypes often fail when we meet exceptions to the rule, but it does seem that there are some traits which are strong among certain groups of people. We could say, for example, that respect for elders is one of many Chamorro traits, keeping in mind there are exceptions to that rule here and there!

Many people, over the years, have made the observation that it's very hard at times to pin down a Chamorro on what s/he thinks, wants, likes and knows. Outsiders are not the only ones who have made this comment; some Chamorros themselves have said this, as well.

Perhaps it comes from our hesitation to be assertive or to disagree or differ from the person we are speaking with.

A Chamorro writer, John Del Rosario, talks about this trait among many Chamorros. He uses the word håfkao to describe it. Håfkao refers to something uncertain or doubtful. The word could come from "håfa kao" or "what" plus the question marker "kao." Or it could come from "håfa hao," literally "what" and "you" but perhaps meaning "what have you," again, pointing to something uncertain or undetermined.

The writer imagines a court scene where this trait comes into play. I have taken the liberty to base the following on his imaginary scenario :

Guaha taotao ilek-ña na i Chamorro et mås båba na testigo gi kotte.
(There is someone who says that the Chamorro is the worst witness in court.)

Sa' håfa? Sa' pot ma u'udai i lenguahi-ta gi palåbras "fana'an, kåsi, buente."
(Why? Because our language rides on the word, "perhaps, almost, maybe."

Adeset, puro ha' håfkao i Chamorro (ilek-ña este na taotao).
(That is to say, it's all uncertain with Chamorros (says this person).)

Pot ehemplo, ma faisen un testigun Chamorro gi kotte,
(For example, a Chamorro witness was asked in court,)

"Håf kulot chininå-ña i mamuno' annai humuyong ginen i gima'? Kao asut pat betde?"
("What was the killer's shirt color when he exited the house? Blue or green?")

Manoppe i testigo, "Fana'an asut. Åhe', betde. Kåsi todo i dos!"

(The witness answered, "Perhaps blue. No, green. Almost both!")

Håfa opinion-mo? Kao konfotme hao na taiguine kostumbre-ta an manguentos hit?
(What's your opinion? Do you agree that this is how we are when we speak?)

INDIAN TEEN WANTS TO STAY

Friday, August 18, 2017

An Indian Teen of the 1800s

The whaling ships and others who visited Guam in the 1800s brought people here from all corners of the world.

Take, for example, a 16-year-old man named Sheg Apdug . He was from Calcutta (modern-day Kolkata) and was brought to Guam on George H. Johnston's schooner, the Ana , in 1865. Johnston was married to Ana Olivares Calvo, of the Calvo clan that settled in the Marianas. More than likely, Johnston recruited Sheg to work on his schooner out of Hong Kong, which Johnston would visit once in a while. Sheg was Christian, by the way; a Protestant. It could be that he was taken in by Christian sponsors, or a church, in India or Hong Kong. He wasn't educated in a Christian school, though, because at age 16 he still wasn't able to sign his name.

José Aguon Herrero was his sponsor on Guam. I am not sure whatever became of Sheg. If he stayed, married and had children, we should see some evidence of that in the records, but we don't. It could be he eventually left Guam. As easily as many came, many left.

Sheg wasn't the first Indian who lived on Guam or the Marianas.

In 1638, the Spanish galleon the Concepción sank off the southern coast of Saipan. A Lorenzo Malabar was a survivor who remained in the Marianas all the way till the arrival of Sanvtores in 1668. As a layman, he joined Sanvitores' missionary crew. Malabar isn't his family name. It describes him as coming from the region of Malabar in India. Located in southwestern India, Malabar had many Christians.

CAROLINIAN GODCHILD, CHAMORRO GODPARENT

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

SAIPAN
Chamorro man on right with Carolinian men, early 1900s
NMC Archives


As the island had been depopulated of its native Chamorros by the 1740s, when the Spanish authorities moved the Saipan Chamorros down to Guam, where they mixed and became indistinguishable from the Guam Chamorros, the Spanish government allowed Carolinians to settle in Saipan in the early 1800s. The generally accepted date is around 1815.

That was only the beginning. People from islands such as Satawal, Woleai, Eauripik and many others continued to move to Saipan for the rest of the century into the early 1900s.

By the 1850s, the Spanish officials in Guam wanted to bring the Carolinians more and more into the cultural and religious environment the Spaniards had established on Guam and Rota. So the Spaniards sent a Chamorro teacher from Guam to Saipan; they organized the Carolinians into a community with their own leaders holding Spanish colonial titles; they sent a priest to establish a church on Saipan.

There were no forced conversions at the point of a spear or gun barrel. But the resident priest, and the handful of Chamorro settlers, did encourage the Carolinians to consider baptism, especially for their children if there was danger of death. In time, the children were regularly brought to the priest for baptism, even when the parents remained unbaptized!

Who, then, were to be the godparents of these Carolinian children (and adults, too!). In the 1850s and 60s, it was the Chamorros from Guam and Luta who moved to Saipan who acted as godparents for the Carolinians. This shows that the two groups did interact with each other and formed some bonds. For most of the 1800s, the Carolinians were the majority group in Saipan, until the late 1800s and early 1900s when both a higher Chamorro birthrate and increased movement of Guam Chamorros to Saipan between 1890 and 1914 pushed the Chamorro population higher than the Carolinian.

Here are some early Carolinian baptisms, with the names of their Chamorro godparents :


YEAR
CAROLINIAN TO BE BAPTIZED
CHAMORRO GODPARENT
1857

Mónica Mangud
Mónica Pangelinan
1857

Mariano Metao
Mariano Arriola
1860

Pedro Failimas, 14 years old
Mariano Paulino, alcalde (mayor) of Saipan*
1865
Gregorio Rangamar, infant
Father from Satawal
Mother from Elato
Gregorio Perez, of Agaña
1865
Carmen Parong, infant
Father from Olou
Mother from Satawal
Carmen de los Santos, of Agaña
1872
Antonio Kileleman
Parents from Satawal
Antonio de Torres, of Agaña
1874

Benigno Kaipat, infant
Rodrigo de Castro, of Agaña
1875

Ana Pialur, infant
Ana de los Reyes, of Agaña
1876

Dolores Olopai, 8 months old
Dolores Lizama
1876
Ana Selepeo, 4 years old
Maria Mangloña, of Rota

1876
Jose Laniyo, 3 years old

Eugenio Cepeda
1877
Basilio Rapugao, adult, in danger of death
Basilio Gogue, of Agaña



SOME NOTES


* Mariano Paulino was not Chamorro. The founder of the Paulino clan of Guam, he was a Filipino who married a Chamorro, Maria Borja Aguon.

"MISS GUAM 1830"

Monday, August 14, 2017

Juliana's signature in 1864


I say that in jest, of course, as there were no beauty contests on Guam in 1830.

But it does suggest that Juliana Aguon was a beautiful woman, who captured the hearts of four Spaniards, more or less one right after the other!

Some suggest that she was born in 1805. If that is not the exact year, then it is close enough. Juliana's "busy" years being pursued by Spaniards (or did she also pursue them?) seem to begin around 1825 when she would have been 20 years old or so.

An early suitor was no less than the Spanish Governor of the Marianas, José Ganga Herrero , who arrived on Guam in 1823. Apparently he already had a wife, but that didn't stop him and Juliana from having two sons. Perhaps he didn't bring his wife with him to Guam. In any case, the Governor legally recognized them as his sons, so they carried the Herrero surname. Although the Governor left Guam (amid a lot of controversy with his own Spanish government), his sons remained on Guam with Juliana and the family was later involved in government and commerce.

Another suitor was no less than a Spanish priest , who arrived on Guam in 1829. He eventually became the priest of Hagåtña. He had a daughter with Juliana named Dolores. The priest couldn't legally recognize her, so Dolores remained Dolores Aguon. Dolores eventually married Manuel Flores and their descendants are the Kabesa Flores clan. And I always noticed how many of the Kabesas have Spanish features! The priest died on Guam in 1843. The Kabesas have always been prominent on Guam in all aspects of public life.

Finally, Juliana got married. Her husband was the Spaniard Luís Portusach . They had a son Joaquín, and from him came the Portusach family of Guam, perpetuated by his sons José and Francisco. This family, too, was always involved in government and commerce.

We may as well go for a fourth! After Portusach died, Juliana married another Spaniard, Francisco Salar and had a daughter named Rita with him, so the Salar last name eventually disappeared in the Marianas when Rita got married.

So there you have it. At least four Spaniards became the fathers of Juliana's children. I would think that had Guam a beauty contest in 1830, Juliana would have been one of the prime candidates for that crown.

NOTE : When Juliana signed her name in 1864, even though she had been married to Portusach and then to Salar, she followed the Spanish custom whereby married women retained their birth names and did not take on their husband's surname.

"EL GUACHINANGO"

Thursday, August 10, 2017



It isn't a surprise that José de la Cruz had a nickname. Names as common as his almost required a nickname, to help people distinguish WHICH of the many José de la Cruzes you were talking about.

What's surprising is that this José de la Cruz had a Mexican nickname.

In the 1832 document, this person's identity is, "José de la Cruz, alias 'el Guachinango.'"

Having an ear for regionalisms, I suspected it was Mexican. And sure enough, there is a town in the State of Jalisco in Mexico called Guachinango.




To make matters more interesting (or more complicated), guachinango can also mean a kind of fish (red snapper). In Cuban and Puerto Rican dialect, it can mean a clever person, a joker or a flatterer.

So why does this Chamorro guy have a nickname like this?

Well let's not assume he was Chamorro. In 1832, there very well could have been a Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican or just about any Latin American person living on Guam. But even if he were Chamorro, Mexican influence made a mark on the Chamorro language and culture in the 1700s. The Acapulco Galleons were passing through Guam until the time during Mexico's war for independence in 1815, not too long from 1832, the date of this document.

In some parts of the Philippines, gwatsinanggo means "shrewd" or "cunning," among other things, which follows one of the meanings of the word for in the Caribbean. The fact that the word made it even as far west as the Philippines makes it more credible that the word spread to the Marianas.

The fact is that our islands were always getting visitors from east and west and being influenced by them. Why José was called "El Guachinango" will remain a mystery.

GARAPAN STREET NAMES 1923

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Garapan in German Times (1899 - 1914)


Garapan was the only village in Saipan from the start of the resettlement by Carolinians sometime around 1815, until the founding of a second village, Tanapag, between 1879 and 1889. Still, Garapan remained the larger of the two villages and the seat of the island government.

By the time the Germans came in 1899, Garapan numbered close to 3000 people. The Chamorros and the Carolinians lived in separate sections. The Carolinians lived in the southern part of town.

Two partial church records indicate the names of some of the streets in Garapan. There may have been more streets named on a second or third list which have been lost, so we cannot say these were the only street names. But at least we know some.

The first record was made just at the end of German times (1914) and was written by a German priest. The second record was made in the early years of the Spanish Jesuit administration of the church, but it shows a continuity with the German records. There is no big change in names. The interesting thing is that, in 1923, the Japanese were already ruling Saipan and had their own street names. The street right along the beach was called Kaigan Dori in Japanese (Seacoast Street). But the priests continued to use the older, non-Japanese names for the streets, at least in these early years.



CHALAN PADRE (PÅLE') FRANCISCO
(Father Francisco Street)

This Father Francisco was Father Francisco Resano, the last Augustinian Recollect priest of Garapan, who departed Saipan in 1907 when the German Capuchin priests took over. Father Resano was also the last Augustinian Recollect priest of Hagåtña and left Guam only because the American Naval Governor Richard P. Leary expelled the Spanish Recollect priests from Guam in 1899. Resano left Guam and moved to Saipan.




Father Francisco Resano appears in the middle of this picture, in between two German Capuchins, and some Saipan residents at the sides, at the front door of Garapan's church in 1907.



CHALAN ESPAÑOL
(Spanish Street)

The Spaniards left the Marianas in 1899, but a street named after them maintained their memory, at least for a few more years.



CHALAN MACABEBE
(Macabebe Street)

This is an interesting one because it is named for a group of people the Saipanese were glad to get rid of! In early 1899, around 700 Filipino soldiers and their families from Macabebe, a town in the Philippines, arrived in Saipan. These soldiers were on the Spanish side of the war against both Americans and Filipino nationalists. Seeing how the war was ending with a Spanish defeat, these Filipinos who fought for Spain decided to escape for Saipan, still under Spanish control. The people of Saipan now had to house and feed 700 extra people and it wasn't easy. The military commander of the Macabebes was bossy and made the Saipan people obey his orders. When the Germans took over Saipan towards the end of 1899, the Saipan people rejoiced in seeing the Macabebes leave island. And yet there was a street named after them.



Macabebe soldiers on the ship taking them away from Saipan in 1899



CHALAN CASCAJO
(Gravel Street)

None of the streets were paved, in the modern sense, but not all, apparently, were covered with gravel.



CHALAN BODEG
(Bodeg Street)

"Bodeg" was the nickname given to a branch of the Ada family. Originally from Guam, the family moved to Saipan but, in time, some moved back to Guam and the Bodeg family can be found in both islands. True enough, the head of the Bodeg family, Pedro Pangelinan Ada, and his wife María Martínez, lived on Bodeg Street. Pedro had a large, two-storey mampostería (stone and mortar) house with a metal roof on this street.


A list of people living on Bodeg Street includes Pedro Ada and his wife María



CHALAN GALLEGO
(Gallego Street)

Although the German priest spelled it Callego, I am pretty sure he meant Gallego, as there is no word or name Callego in Chamorro or Spanish. But there is both a word and a name Gallego in Spanish and Chamorro. In Spanish, gallego means a person from Galicia, a province in Spain. In Chamorro, Gayego is the nickname of one branch of the Díaz family, found in Saipan but also elsewhere.



CHALAN CAROLINOS
(Carolinian Street)

The German priest wrote this in German, and it means "Carolinian Street." The "Carolinians" are those islanders from many different islands in Micronesia such as Elato, Satawal, Lamotrek and Eauripik among many others. They began living in Saipan around the year 1815. For many years they were the majority race until the Chamorro population increased and became the majority.



Carolinian men of Saipan




CHALAN LAOLAO
(Laolao Street)

Another name given in German. Laolao is the name of the largest bay in Saipan, and it lies on the eastern part of the island. Many Westerners called it Magicienne Bay, after a British ship which anchored there in 1858. The area was heavily populated during the pre-contact time and there are remains of pre-contact villages there.


Laolao Bay




This is just to show that there were people not living on a street but rather on the beach or coast. Their houses were described as being on the oriyan tåsi (along the sea).

THE FILIPINA MESTIZAS

Monday, August 7, 2017

Filipina Mestizas

The 9000 or so people who made up the Marianas in the late 1800s were an interesting mix. In the rural villages and in Luta, the majority of the people had roots closer to the pre-contact race. In Hagåtña and Saipan, the mixed blood, or mestizo , dominated : a mix of the the original pre-contact race, Spaniards, Mexicans, Filipinos, Chinese, Anglo-Americans and smaller numbers of Portuguese, French, Dutch and others.

Not to be excluded from this melting pot of races was the mixed-blood, higher class Filipinas. There were at least two of them who lived in the Marianas in the second half of the 19th century.

Doña Regina Sigüenza y Soto was from Manila, the daughter of Don Agustín Sigüenza and Doña Silvia Soto. She was married to Don Vicente Calvo y Olivares, of the Calvo clan that eventually became part of the Chamorro community. Don Vicente was born in Manila of a Spanish father and mestiza mother. As his father, Don Félix, had a government position on Guam, Don Vicente lived on Guam also, but the Manila connection was never lost or weakened. The Calvos were constantly going back and forth between Guam and Manila.

As the Calvos were government officials and entrepreneurs, and very Spanish, they would have married within their class and milieu. Regina was almost certainly of a somewhat elevated class. We know from existing documents that she had her own financial affairs to attend to in Manila, separate from whatever her Calvo husband had. She filed to have someone in Manila represent her interests there, since she lived on Guam.


Regina Siguenza's signature
The Spanish custom is for married women to keep their family names

More than likely she would have had an education and was conversant in Spanish. Her racial lines are not precisely known, but her Spanish surnames and the fact that Spaniards and mestizos tended to marry women with at least some Spanish blood point in that direction.

As a widow, Doña Regina befriended William Safford, the Secretary to Guam's first American Naval Governor. The educated and erudite Safford spoke excellent Spanish. One can sense that Regina looked forward to her chats with him. She made sure to send him little treats, like jam, now and then.

The second Filipina (more than likely a mestiza) was Doña Elena Chabran . She was married to another Calvo, by the name of Bonifacio. He was a retired captain in the Spanish military. After Bonifacio died, Elena remained in the Marianas, marrying Don Juan de León Guerrero, who is described in records as a platero (silversmith) of Hagåtña. But he eventually moved to Saipan and became the Alcalde (mayor). Many of Doña Elena's descendants live in Saipan to this day.

I still need to get clear information on this, but family tradition also says that Elena also married Manuel Sablan Calvo, patriarch of the Yigo Calvos.



Elena Chabran's signature

ADIÓS LEOCADIA

Thursday, August 3, 2017


A CHAMORRO GIRL


Today we say "Adiós," "Farewell" to Leocadia, a Chamorro girl, who left Guam at age 11 and never came back. In her own words before she died many years later, she became a woman without a country.

The American and British whalers who stopped on Guam in the 1800s often found many young Chamorro men very willing to join the crew. But, in one case, it was a young Chamorro girl that an American captain wanted.

Leonard Gifford was the captain of the whaling ship Hope . In 1862, the Hope sailed into Apra Harbor and stayed for some length of time. Gifford was accompanied by his wife Lucy Ann, who had given birth twice while on the voyage, sadly losing both children in infancy. By the time Gifford came to Guam in 1862, there was a young daughter Ella in tow.

While on Guam, Gifford made acquaintance with a Joaquín Iglesias of Hågat. Joaquín had a daughter aged 11 years by the name of Leocadia. We don't know if Iglesias made the offer first, or if Gifford made the request first, but the result was that Iglesias agreed to let Leocadia take up residence with Gifford wherever he may be, whether on Guam or elsewhere, to serve the Gifford family.  This isn't a surprise, since Gifford had a wife who was either pregnant or having just given birth. She needed help. The legal contract between Iglesias and Gifford stipulated four years of service, after which time Gifford was responsible for bringing Leocadia back to Guam.

Gifford was obliged to feed and clothe Leocadia, to treat her well and not prevent her from fulfilling the duties of her Catholic religion.



CONTRACT FOR LEOCADIA'S HELP
Leonard Gifford (left)
Joaquín Iglesias (right)


It seems that Gifford went off for a while, leaving Lucy Ann and Ella on Guam in the meantime. A Sydney newspaper reports that Gifford brought 1000 coconuts to sell in Australia. A son was born to him on Guam in November of 1863, and he was named Leonard Stanhope Gifford. His place of birth is indicated in this 1865 Massachusetts State Census. He is the 2nd name from the bottom.


1865 Massachusetts State Census


What happened to Leocadia?

When Gifford and family left Guam after his son was born, it seems Gifford took Leocadia with him.

The same 1865 Massachusetts Census which lists Gifford, his wife Lucy, daughter Ella and son Leonard includes a 13-year-old girl from Guam. Her name is listed as Gorza, which isn't Leocadia. But Gorza could be what Gifford called Leocadia. Nicknames were often used, especially when two cultures and two languages were involved. Gorza's age matches Leocadia's, and, as the story unfolds, you will see that indeed Gorza was Leocadia.

Imagine. A Chamorro teenage girl living in Massachusetts at the end of the American Civil War.

Gifford died and Leocadia left the company of the family. What she did next remains a mystery, and she herself was a mystery to herself and to many. She left Guam at such a young age, and became a woman in a foreign land. Her mental ties to Guam grew thin and fragile. She even claimed she had been born on the high seas, rather than on Guam.

According to Leocadia, her father wanted her to be born on Guam under the Spanish flag. Her mother wanted her to be born in Japan. The claim is incredible for more than one reason. First, what Chamorro mother in 1852, when Leocadia was born, wanted to give birth in Japan? Would she all of a sudden be able to converse with a Japanese midwife? Assuming Leocadia's mother was not Chamorro, how did a non-Chamorro woman become Joaquín's wife? How would a Chamorro mother get to Japan, to a country closed to foreigners until 1854? The story creates all sorts of problems to solve, and I haven't spelled out all of them. But, to allow Leocadia's story to continue, we tolerate it for the moment.

The disappointment felt by the mother that her daughter was not born in Japan proved to be the breaking point between mother and father, according to Leocadia. No wonder Leocadia stated at times that she was born in Japan, and at other times born on Guam (besides the high seas, her story changes). And if mother and father did separate (divorce was impossible in those days), one can begin to see why her father Joaquín might have sent her off to work for the Giffords. Had the mother disappeared, leaving Joaquín with a daughter to raise by himself? What happened to aunties and godmothers? Again, a story that leads to more questions.

But, if any of this be true, one can only wonder if Leocadia felt abandoned by her mother and then her father. No wonder, perhaps, she never returned to Guam, besides the difficulty of doing so in those days.

In Massachusetts, Leocadia often went by the nickname Leo. She never married, but her life continued to be one of service, just as she began at age 11 to work for the Giffords, assisting the pregnant Lucy. She worked over the many years as a housekeeper and nurse, and was actually a registered nurse in Springfield, Massachusetts as early as 1891.

Later on in life she met an older man named Edward Hamilton Young from Springfield, Massachusetts who was childless and whose wife had passed away. Young was a successful and well-known traveling salesman, so he was often away. Leocadia became his housekeeper.

Young had no children of his own but he and his late wife raised nieces and nephews as their own and, even late in life, Young adopted a teenage boy. The boy was sickly and died a young man. I wouldn't be surprised if Young hired Leocadia not only to keep house but to attend to the adopted son's welfare.

Young died in 1907 and in his will left Leocadia quite a fortune. In addition to $2000, which today is worth more than $55,000, Young bequeathed to Leocadia his household furniture and clothes.

But Leocadia was to follow her patron Edward Young to the grave not long after. She passed away three years later, in 1910, in Hartford, Connecticut of kidney disease.


WOMAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY



Leocadia's last wishes were to be cremated, an indication that she had long lost her Catholic identity, since cremation was not allowed by the Church in those days. She wanted her ashes scattered by the winds, and her undertaker did just that on a bridge in Springfield over the Connecticut River.

There was great symbolism in this final act.

She considered herself a woman without a country. And, as she had, in her mind, come from the waters, in death her ashes would return to the waters, albeit of the Connecticut River, to flow where they will. A woman without past roots nor a single trajectory forward. Her ashes, like her life, were to be blown here and there as the winds were to decide.

The noble thing about Leocadia is that, despite all the sorrow she faced in life, she was a giver to the end. Starting at the age of 11, she became the assistant of a young mother with more children on the way. She then became a nurse, housekeeper and was even called a healer. A lesson for all of us to follow. U såga gi minahgong . Rest in peace.

ANUNSION ENTIERO

Tuesday, August 1, 2017


Rosemond of KKMP radio station in Saipan does a great service announcing funeral arrangements in Chamorro.

I asked her to let me record her doing one and, since we needed a name of a deceased person, I had her use my late brother's name.

The script can be used by any funeral. Just the names, dates and places need to be changed. Here is the recording followed by the script.




Para u ma na' fan manungo' i familia, i man parientes yan man atungo'

(name of the survivor) na måtai i (relationship/spouse/child/etc) as (name of deceased)

gi (day of the week) na ha'åne, (month) dia (day), (year).

I difunto/a as (name of deceased) låhen/hagan (name of parents, better-known-as if applicable).

I Misan Intension ma ofrerese kada dia/pupuenge gi oran a la/las (time)

gi gima'yu'us (name of church) ya tinattitiye nu i Såntos Lisåyo.

I malaknos-ña yan i ma entieru-ña i difunto/a para i (day of week) na ha'åne,

(month), dia (day), (year).

Para ma esgaihon i tataotao i difunto/a ginen i (name of funeral home) gi oran a la/las (time)

gi ega'an/talo'åne/despues de talo'åne, ya para ma konne' guato para i gima'yu'us (name of church).

I Misan Entiero Kilisyåno para i oran a la/las (time) gi ega'an/talo'åne/despues de talo'åne

ya u tinattiye ni mahafot-ña gi sementeyon (name of cemetery).

I finatton-miyo yan i tinayuyot-miyo ma sen agradese.

Si Yu'us ma'åse' ginen i familia.


NOTES

1. Rosemond pronounces Jude as Hoo - day as is said in Saipan. Remember that traditionally, in Chamorro, the J is sounded like an H, as in Jose, Juan and Joaquin.

2. Anunsio is the noun (announcement) and anunsia is the verb (to announce). Notisia can also be used but it specifically means "news."

3. Malaknos . Laknos means "to take out" or "bring forth," "put out." In terms of death, it means the time when the casket of the deceased leaves the mortuary.

4. Entiero means funeral service, usually a Mass.

"DESDE SAIPAN ASTA PÅGAN"

Monday, July 31, 2017

ALAMÅGAN
mentioned in this song

The Chamorrita is a style of singing in the Chamorro culture consisting of four lines. These verses were supposed to be composed extemporaneously, "in the moment," with one person answering back the first verse sung by another and continuing this "verse and response" interplay, competing, as it were, who could outwit the other.

In time, certain verses became well-known and standard, repeated in many singing sessions all from memory, such as most of the verses in this recording.

This recording was made of a group of singers in Saipan who had connections with the Northern Islands like Pågan, Agrigan and Alamågan. They add a verse mentioning two of the Northern Islands.





LYRICS

1. Buenas noches Ton Saina-ho.
(Good evening, my elder.)

Oppe yo' pot kilisyåno.
(Answer me because I am a Christian.)

"Håfa, iho, malago'-mo?"
("What is it you want, son?")

I tinalo na hagå-mo.
(Your middle daughter.)

2. I tinalo na hagå-ho
(My middle daughter)

esta guaha seguru-ña.
(already has someone sure.)

Ya ti ya-ña ma atborota
(And she doesn't like to be bothered)

sa' malilinek ilu-ña.
(because she has a headache.)

3. Ya hu faisen gi besino
(And I asked the neighbor)

håfa åmot malinek ulo.
(what is the medicine for headaches.)

Ya manoppe i besino
(And the neighbor answered)

na ma chiko ma na' duro.
(to kiss her vigorously.)

4. Desde Saipan asta Pågan
(From Saipan to Pågan)

Pågan asta Alamågan,
(from Pågan to Alamågan,)

ti manli'e' yo' gåtbon flores,
(I didn't see pretty flowers,)

solamente as Pakåkang.
(only the Pakåkang.)

5. Ai nåna atende
(Oh mother attend to)

Ai nåna i taotao.
(Oh mother, the person.)

Ai nåna, nåna konsidera
(Oh mother, mother consider)

sa' sumen chago' tano'-ña.
(that his land is far away.)



NOTES

Ton Saina - ho . "Ton" is the general title of respect for older males or males with a higher status than the speaker. "Saina" means an elder, not necessarily due to age but also due to status or ranking within the family. Because the singer addresses the person with the male title of respect, asking for a daughter's hand, we know that this is a man seeking permission from a father to court his daughter.

Oppe yo ' pot kilisyåno . "Kilisyåno" literally means "Christian," but Chamorros used it to refer to persons in general, since everyone was a baptized Christian in those days. The term implies a certain dignity, since the person is not just a mere human being but a baptized one, meaning he or she is an adopted child of the one true God. Thus, having this kind of dignity, he or she has certain rights and privileges. "Answer me," the man says, "because I have certain rights and privileges due to my Christian status. You, the father, are a Christian, and so am I. So let us treat each other as brother Christians."

Seguru - ña . "Seguro" means "sure" or "certain." The young lady already has a man she is sure of courting and perhaps marrying.

Malinek ulo . This headache was certainly an excuse for dismissing the suitor, and he knows it, because, with some sarcasm, he asks a neighbor what is the cure for headaches, and the answer (sarcastically) is vigorous kissing.

Pakåkang . This is the nickname for a family in Saipan named Cruz whose members also lived in the Northern Islands. This line may be a loving tease of that family. The singer traveled to three islands and didn't see any pretty flowers, only a member or members of the Pakåkang family!

Ai nåna . This verse speaks of the hospitality and compassion found among many Chamorros for strangers and travelers. The singer asks the mother to attend to the needs of the person, because he is far from home.


"LEGEND" IN CHAMORRO

Thursday, July 27, 2017



How do you say "legend" in Chamorro?

Well, if you go to the spot where the legend of the Two Lovers supposedly happened, the people behind this marker state that "legend" in Chamorro is lihende . The marker announces " I Lihenden i Dos Umaguaiya ." "The Legend of the Two Lovers."




No less than the Chamorro language people at the Department of Education, and esteemed Chamorro language teacher, the late Tona Castro, also use the word lihende for "legend." Here we see the "Legend of the Ifil Tree." " I Lihenden i Trongkon Ifit ."

I wondered about the history of this word lihende . Can we find it in the pre-war Chamorro literature?

Apparently we can't.

Looking as far back as Ibáñez's 1865 Spanish-Chamorro dictionary, words used to denote a legend or myth would be fábula (fable) or kuentos tumåtnon . Tåtnon means "to entertain, to please" as in with some diversion. Kuentos means "speech," so kuentos tumåtnon means a story meant to entertain. The story isn't literally true. Its value is in its pleasant diversion.

A myth or legend can also be something instructive or educational, so the word ehemplo (example) can also be used.

A legend is a tale, so even estoria (story) can be used to denote a legend.

Valenzuela's 1967 dictionary even includes imbensión (invention) to point out the fictional character of myths and legends.

All these terms ( fábula or fábulas , ehemplo , estoria , kuentos tumåtnon ) can be found in Chamorro dictionaries prior to 1970.

Then comes lihende . It appears after 1970. Probably, I suspect, from Chamorro language teachers. How did they come about this word?

Well, it's no surprise to notice that lihende looks very much like the English word "legend."

Just change the G to an H, as we do with the English word "gigantic" which becomes Chamorro higånte (borrowed from the Spanish). Then add a vowel, in this case an -E, to the end of an English word which ends with a consonant, and it becomes Chamorro, right?

The morphing of the English word "legend" to a Chamorro-sounding word lihende looks like this :


LEGEND ---- > LEGEND+ E -----> LEGENDE

LEGENDE ----> LE H ENDE ------> L I HENDE


What I'd really like to know is why the people who came up with lihende thought it was necessary, or desirable, to come up with a new word for "legend," when there were several options historically available.

Languages all over the world are always in a state of flux. Old words drop out of usage, and new ones are added. The difference today is that we can almost point to an actual person and time when new words are added whereas, in the past, much of that was never documented in any way. They remain mysteries.


ESTORIAN REINHOLD MANGLOÑA

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Street scene in Luta during Japanese times


Reinhold Atalig Mangloña, as his first name suggests, was born in Luta (Rota) when there was still a German priest there. He was baptized Reinhold, a German name, but Chamorros also Hispanicized it to Rainaldo.

But the Japanese had just come to the Northern Marianas and the Japanese language and culture were about to influence the Chamorros of Luta and Saipan in a very big way.

Reinhold went to school and learned the following story from his Japanese teacher, a woman. It was shared with me by his son Richie Mangloña and the text is Richie's own spelling and wording. The English translation is mine.

The moral of the story : respect the elderly as sources of wisdom.


Gi tiempon antigo giya Hapon, eståba ti man ma gef polu' i manåmko'-ñiha
(In ancient times in Japan, they did not really consider their elderly)

komu man gai båli osino man malåte'.
(as having any worth or else as being intelligent.)

I manaotao Hapones sesso man ma fa'tinåsi kuåtto i manåmko'-ñiha
(Japanese people often made rooms for their elderly)

gi santåtten guma' pat gi la chågu' ginen i gima'-ñiha
(in the rear of the house or farther away from their houses)

putno u fan ma atendin maolek sa' ma po'lu na esta meggai-ña
(so as not to attend to them well because they considered that they were more)

estotbun-ñiñiha ki todu i prubechu.
(of a bother rather than a benefit.)

Pues guaha un familia mañåsaga Hokkaido'.
(So there was a family living in Hokkaido.)

I tåta as Mitsuro, i nåna as Mikki, i hagan-ñiha as Eiko yan si nånan-biha as Mio.
(Mitsuro was the father, Mikki the mother, Eiko their daughter and Mio the grandmother.)

Ma na' såsaga si nånan-biha gi dikiki' na kuåtto gi tatten-guma'.
(They housed grandmother in a small room behind the house.)

Un dia sigi umesalao i taotao i Impiradot na para u guaha kumpitensia
(One day the Emperor's people kept shouting that there was to be a contest)

para todu i famagu'on eskuela ya i håyi gumånna
(for all the school children and whoever won)

para u ma nå'i dångkulu na premiun salåpe'!
(would be given a large prize of money!)

Magahet si Mitsuro sumen popble ya ha tåtanga na puedde u gånna
(Truly Mitsuro was very poor and he wished that perhaps)

i hagå-ña i premiu komu ha na' saonao gi kumpitensia!
(his daughter would win the prize if he made her participate in the contest!)

Infin humalom i påtgon Mitsuro gi kumpitensia ya man ma na'i hafa para u ma cho'gue.
(At last Mitsuro's child entered the contest and they were given what they were to do.)

I kuestion nai man ma presenta i famagu'on ilek-ña, "Haftaimanu nai siña
(The question which was presented to the children said, "How can

en na'halom i hilun man laksi gi esti i gai maddok na alamli nai
(you put the sewing thread into the hole of this wire which)

ma chaflilik gi todu direksion ya para un na'huyong gi otro banda?"
(twists in all directions so that you make it come out on the other side?")

Ha chagi i påtgon todu i tiningo'-ña lao ti siña ha na' adotgan
(The child tried with all her knowledge but could not run through)

i hilu ginen i un måddok esta i otro.
(the thread from one hole to the other.)

Ni si Mitsuro yan i asagua-ña ti ma tungo' taimanu para u ma cho'gue este na chagi.
(Not even Mitsura and his wife knew how to do this attempt.)

Esta ma po'lu na imposipble esti para u ma cho'gue ya man triste i familia
(They already figured that this was impossible to do and the family was sad)

sa' ma hasso na ti siña ma gånna i premiu.
(because they thought that they couldn't win the prize.)

Pues annai man matata'chong gi kusina mañochocho un oga'an, ha lipåra si Eiko
(So when they sat down eating in the kitchen one morning, Eiko noticed)

na man guaguasan si nånan biha gi hiyong i kuatto-ña gi lachago' na distansia.
(that grandmother was trimming outside her room at a far distance.)

Ilek-ña, "Nangga ya bai faisen si nanan-biha kao ha tungo' taimanu nai siña
(She said, "Wait and I will ask grandmother if she knows how it is possible)

ta na' adotgan esti i hilu guini na alamli".
(for us to push the thread through the wire.")

Man oppe ha' si Mitsuro, "Esta ennao i biha maleffa, hafa gue' ennao tiningo'-ña!".
(Mitsuro answered, "The old lady already forgot that, what does she know about that!")

Ti man osgi si Eiko, ha bisita guato si bihå-ña ya ha faisen. Ilek-ña si Mio,
(Eiko didn't obey, she visited her grandmother and asked her. Mio said,)

"Ai iha na linibiåno ennao i finaisesen-mu. Fan aligao oddot agaga' ya
("Oh daughter what you are asking is so easy. Look for red ants and)

un godde i tataotao-ña nai hilun man laksi.
(tie its body with the sewing thread.)

Na' hålom gi halom i måddok pues po'luyi asukat i otro banda
(Put it through the hole then put sugar for it on the other side)

sa' siempre ha tatiyi i pao asukat ya humuyong gi otro bånda!"
(because for sure it will follow the smell of sugar and go out the other side!")

Ha cho'gue si Eiko i tinago' i biha ya magahet macho'cho'!
(Eiko did grandmother's instruction and it truly worked!)

Ha håla magahet i oddot i hilu ginen i un båndan i alamli esta i otro banda!
(The ant really pulled the thread from one side of the wire to the other side!)

Sumen magof si Eiko!
(Eiko was really happy!)

Måtto i ha'ane para u ma presenta i famagu'on håfa ineppen-ñiha guato gi Impiradot!
(The day came for the children to present their answer to the Emperor!)

Meggai chumagi man man na'i ineppe lao ti kumfotmi i Imperadot.
(Many tried to give an answer but the Emperor didn't agree.)

Annai måtto tarea-ña si Eiko, ha fa'nu'i i Imperadot taimanu ma cho'gue-ña.
(When it came to Eiko's turn, she showed the Emperor how it is done.)

Mampos manman i Imperadot ya ha faisen i påtgon.,
(The Emperor was really amazed and asked the child,)

"Kao hagu ha' esti humasso para un cho'gue pat ma ayuda hao?"
("Was it only you who thought of doing this or were you helped?")

Ti yaña si Eiko mandagi pues ilek-ña, "Ahe', si bihå-hu yu' fuma'nå'gue!".
(Eiko didn't like to lie so she said, "No, my grandmother taught me!")

Annai ha tungo' i Imperadot na ayu i un biha sumåtba i finaisen-ña na kuestion,
(When the Emperor knew that it was one old lady who solved the question he asked,)

ha rialisa na lachi eyu na hinengge i para u fan ma chachanda i manåmko'!
(he realized that it was wrong thinking to be rejecting the elderly!)

Ginen eyu na tiempo, ha otdin na debi todu i manåmko' Hapon
(From that time, he ordered that all the elderly of Japan)

ufan ma atiendin maolek ya u fan ma setbi komu siha kumåkatga i ancho na kinimprendi.
(were to be attended to and served well as being the ones who carried broad understanding.)

Magof si Eiko' annai man siha yan si Nånan-biha ta'lo gi halom guma'
(Eiko was happy when she was together again with grandmother in the house)

ya kada dia ha atendi komu guiya i tesorun i familia!
(and she took care of her as being the treasure of the family!)



Reinhold Atalig Mangloña
1917 ~ 2002


NOTE

Hapon/Hapones are the older Chamorro words for "Japan" and "Japanese," borrowed from Spanish. More recently, especially among Chamorros from Guam, American influence has brought into the language the word Chapanis for "Japanese."


THE VILLAGE THAT MOVED

Monday, July 24, 2017


A village picked itself up and moved down the road.

What we call Agat today was not the original location of that village, called Hågat in Chamorro.

Why the change? World War II


THE ORIGINAL LOCATION




In this pre-war map, you can see that Agat was located north of the present location of the village. A good landmark to orientate yourself is Ga'an Point, where there are Japanese guns located to this day. Ga'an Point is where the present village of Agat is located. In the higher circle, you can see the original village of Agat, with its several streets. The area which later became New Agat was once farmland.


Here is another map, based on pre-war information, showing the original location of the village. South of the old village, there is nothing but farmland and jungle.


THE U.S. INVASION

But the war was to change all of that. In July of 1944, the Americans returned to invade the island and take it back from the Japanese. Two beaches were chosen to land the American invading forces : Asan and Agat. This meant the destruction of the two villages. American planes bombed Agat to smithereens in order to weaken the Japanese defensive forces entrenched in the village and its beaches.



This map shows the invasion point for the U.S. forces in Agat. The village is clearly in the way of the incoming American troops. The village church and its homes were all destroyed or damaged by American pre-invasion bombing.


Another view of the American invasion. The original village is just to the left of this map outlining the invasion. The new village lies in the center of this map, at Ga'an Point.


"NEW" AGAT

When the battle was over and the Americans had to care for the civilian population, it was decided to relocate the people down the road from the original village. The Americans did the same with the people of Sumay, relocating them a few miles east of the village. But this new village for the Sumay residents was not called New Sumay. It was called Santa Rita, the name of that location since before the war.

But in Agat's case, the Americans called the new location of the village "New Agat." The name "New Agat" persisted even into the 1960s.

The area where the current village is located covers places with different names. By the shoreline is Ga'an, which is also the name of the point. As the terrain then rises gently up to Mount Alifan, the inner part of present-day Agat was called Alifan. In the first map posted above, you can see the names of the other sites in the area.


In this map right after the war, you can see the village is now called "New Agat" and it is located down the road from the original location.



"New Agat" right after the war, with temporary housing structures built for the people.



A government record of planned sewage lines after the war talks about connecting the lines to "New Agat."



Even into the 1960s, as seen in this 1963 economic report, the government talked about "New Agat." The name "New Agat" disappeared from ordinary conversation by the 1970s. "New Agat" just became "Agat" or "Hågat."


SO WHAT REMAINS OF "OLD" AGAT?

The boundaries of Old Agat were the Ñåmo River to the north, and the old cemetery to the south. This area, once abandoned right after the war, became repopulated slowly over time, as this current map shows. The old cemetery is still in existence, and indicated the southern end of the old village of Agat before the war. A good landmark for old Agat is the 76 gas station, which older people say was the location of the pre-war church.





Photo by Frankie Casil
The 76 Gas Station is approximately where the pre-war church used to stand.



The old Agat Cemetery, which can be missed by passersby, is the southern border of the old village.


Looking at a modern map, showing the relation between the old village and the new

LOST SURNAMES : WILSON

Thursday, July 20, 2017

José Díaz Wilson
(spelled Willson)

In the 1800s, there was a Wilson family in the Marianas.

James (in Spanish, Santiago) Wilson arrived in Guam around 1826, according to an 1831 document listing the names of foreigners living on the island.

Other records suggest that his full name was Robert James Wilson.

His main occupation, it seems, the whole time he lived on Guam was pilot at the port. This means he directed to shore the boats that would pick up passengers from the larger ships anchoring at Apra.

He seems to have married twice and had nine children from both wives combined, but we're not entirely sure about all their names.

But one of the older children seems to have been a María Materne Wilson, born around 1827 and a 70-year-old widow by the time she is listed in the 1897 Census. Her deceased husband was Juan Taitano Díaz, who was dead already by 1866. In 1897 she is living with two grandchildren. Her maternal surname Materne suggests that James Wilson's first wife was a Materne.



1866 document stating that María Wilson was the widow of Juan Díaz


There seems to have also been a Juana Wilson, deceased by the 1897 Census but the first wife of Francisco Pangelinan, aged 76 years, listed in the 1897 Census.

Juana Wilson and Francisco Pangelinan could be the parents of one José Wilson Pangelinan, born around 1878 who moved to Saipan. He married twice. His first wife was Dolores San Nicolás Sablan and his second wife was María Cabrera San Nicolás. He was better known as Jose'n Obo.




This Juana Wilson, married to a Francisco Pangelinan, might explain why there is also mention of a man named Lorenzo Wilson Pangelinan, He is absent from the 1897 Census but there does appear there a widow named Valeria de la Cruz, who had been married to a Lorenzo Wilson Pangelinan, dead by 1897.

We are more certain about James' children from his second wife, Rufina Palomo Díaz.

One was a daughter named Eduviges , who married Antonio Pangelinan Martínez. Many of their children married into socially prominent families. Antonia married into the Goyo clan (José Flores Pérez); Emilia married the American William Notley; Josefa married Julián Pérez Sáiz; Joaquín married Rita Anderson Millinchamp; and Ángel married Emilia Roberto Kamminga.

Another daughter, María , married into the Siket family of Castros. Her husband was Ezequiel León Guerrero Castro. From the Chamorro pronunciation of Ezequiel (E - se - kiet) is derived the family nickname Siket.



FRANCISCO CASTRO WILSON
Son of Ezequiel Castro and Maria Wilson
He signed his name in the Spanish style, with the father's surname first


Thus it seems that James had two daughters named María; one from the first wife and the other from the second wife.

James had one son whose name appears frequently in the old documents. His name was José , and he followed in his father's footsteps and worked as a pilot at the port. In those days, the boat carrying passengers from the ships would land at the pier in Piti, which was part of the village of Tepungan. José was civic head of Tepungan a few years, too.

Here is a reference to José Wilson and his son from an author who wrote about arriving at Apra harbor in 1895:

" About sunset on Christmas eve, we sight the high table lands of Guam....and finally drop anchor at Fort (San) Luis de Apra. As there was nothing to be gained by going on shore long after dark, we deferred our landing till next morning. About nine o'clock a boat comes off, manned by a crew of natives, under the command of the son of Joe Wilson, the pilot ." (1)

It's interesting that the American author calls José by an American nickname - Joe. With all those British and American whalers visiting Guam in the 1800s, it wouldn't surprise me if José, half-white himself, was called Joe by the British and Americans.

José married Encarnación de San Nicolás and, after she died, he married Tomasa Castro Castro but Wilson's last will states that he no children with either wife. He did have one daughter out of wedlock, but whom he did publicly acknowledge. Her name was María San Nicolás Wilson, who married Antonio Flores San Nicolás. Wilson's will mentions a brother named Antonio Díaz. Since Antonio is not a Wilson, I imagine he is a brother of Wilson only on his mother's side.

Since José had no sons, the Wilson name eventually disappeared.

Guam Court documents show that José Wilson was called on at times to act as court interpreter in English, for the benefit of witnesses who couldn't speak Spanish and of the court officials who couldn't understand English. Wilson must have learned English from his father, but it's also possible that he spent some time on the British and/or American whaling ships that touched on Guam in those days.



José Díaz Wilson again, as court interpreter of English


(1) Christian, FW. The Caroline Islands (1899)

KÅNTAN ISLAN PÅGAN

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

A View of Pågan

It is rare that I come across a song written about one of the northern islands, but I caught something on Facebook. It was a home recording of Tomasa Taman Ada, also known as Tan Båcha', singing about missing the island of Pågan. Tan Båcha' was born in Agrigan but spent part of her childhood on Pågan. Pågan was evacuated in 1981 when its northern volcano erupted but, since then, small groups of people have gone back and forth to Pågan and some live there to this day. Against vocal opposition from the local community, the U.S. military hopes to use Pågan for live-fire shooting practices.

In this homemade video, Tan Båcha' is asked by her daughter to sing the song. Without prior rehearsing, she needed some help in remembering some of the lines.



Later, I made the following recording of the song with the help of two talented musicians, Tony Treltas and John Perez.



LYRICS

I langet yan i chinago'-ña, hongga ha' hulo' i piniti-ho.
(Heaven and its distance, my sorrow is heard above.)

Kulan ha' mo'n para bai hu måtai, ya u dingo yo' i anti-ho.
(It's as if I am going to die, and my soul depart from me.)


I Faibus yan i chinago'-ña, hongga ha' påpa' i koron man ånghet.
(Faibus and its distance, the choir of angels is heard below.)

Olåra mo'n ya bai hu li'e' i tano'-ho iya Pågan.
(Oh that I would see my land of Pågan.)


NOTES

Chinago '- ña . The sorrow of the singer is due, in part, to the distance that separates her from heaven and from Pågan.

Mo'n . Is a shortening of the word mohon , which indicates something hoped for or possible.

Anti - ho . The song is very theological. In Catholic theology, death is defined as the separation of body and soul. The body dies; the soul does not die. The body dies when the soul leaves it.

Faibus . Is the name of a location on Pågan. It is probably Carolinian in origin. Carolinians (as well as Chamorros) settled on Pågan. There is also a place called Faibus on Tinian, which at one time was settled by Carolinians.


KOREAN CHAMORROS

Monday, July 17, 2017

Korean Peace Memorial
Marpi, Saipan
In memory of the Korean fallen in Saipan in World War II


Long before more recent Chamorro-Korean marriages, a few Chamorros in the Northern Marianas married Koreans in the 1920s and 30s.

Japan invaded Korea in 1910 and colonized it. In 1914, Japan occupied the Northern Marianas and the League of Nations later recognized Japanese rule in the Northern Marianas.

Over time, Japanese, Okinawan and Korean settlers moved to Saipan and vastly outnumbered the Chamorro and Carolinian population. During the war, Koreans in the Imperial Japanese Army were sent to defend the Northern Marianas from the oncoming American invasion.

Serafina King Nabors, a well-known resident of Tinian, is the child of one such Korean-Chamorro marriage. Serafina has served in elected office and has always been active in civic life. Here she tells of her discovery of her Korean paternal roots.




Serafina went to Korea and did some digging and found out that her father's last name was Kim, the most common Korean surname. It wasn't unusual for some last names to be changed by clerks and priests who recorded them. Kim became King.

Her father moved to Luta (Rota), working on a tapioca farm and the sugar cane fields. There he met a Chamorro lady from Saipan, whose mother came from Guam, from the del Rosario family. Serafina is related to the Ngånga' and Seboyas clans.

After the war, the Kings resettled in Tinian. All four main islands of the Marianas are involved in Serafina's family history!

A VISIT TO ABANDONED ALAMÅGAN

Wednesday, July 12, 2017


Although our islands were a bit out of the way, we are so situated and so stretched out north to south that ships were bound to make stops in any one of the Marianas during the 17 and 1800s.

One such visit was made to Alamågan in 1799 by a ship in need of water.

The ship's visit was written up by a certain Captain Bass, who I can only assume was British since he had his story printed in a British magazine.

His ship was on its way to China, traveling in a westerly direction and running low on water. Without a fresh supply of it, they were sure to run out of water before they arrived in China. It was common knowledge among mariners who sailed in this area of the northwest Pacific that any one of the Mariana islands could supply food and water. Some, Bass said, preferred to by-pass the lower and larger islands in order to escape Spanish encounters. The northern islands were largely abandoned at the time and passing ships could enjoy perfect liberty in these islands.

Bass' ship decided to stop at Alamågan, which appeared before them one hazy morning. They found out soon enough that the haze was caused by plumes of smoke billowing out of Alamågan's volcano, active at the time. While on land, Bass got somewhat close to the volcano and heard rumbling deep from the earth.



Alamågan's crater, dormant at the time the photo was taken

Water was unfortunately not found so the men collected as many coconuts as possible, which were plentiful by the shore.

One lemmai tree (breadfruit) was found and some bananas, but also papaya, which came to the Marianas from abroad, so they must have passed through Guam before being brought up to the northern islands. The crew also feed themselves with the pånglao (land crabs) that were abundant and also some birds. But there was no sign of the Hawaiian pig and some chickens that were left on Alamågan by an earlier visiting British ship.

Alamågan would be settled then abandoned numerous times, under Spanish, German, Japanese and Trust Territory times, right up to Commonwealth times, all depending on the mood of the volcano.

A CHAMORRO IN NEW ORLEANS

Tuesday, July 11, 2017


MANUEL SAN NICOLÁS

In 1919, we find a Chamorro man living in New Orleans, Louisiana.

His name was Manuel San Nicolás, born in Hagåtña in 1878, the son of Mariano. The name of his mother is not stated.

In the 1897 Guam Census, when Manuel was already absent, there are three Mariano San Nicolases. One is too young to be his father. Mariano Luján San Nicolás is even younger than Manuel, so we have to exclude him. Another Mariano San Nicolás is aged 46 and still a bachelor, so we also need to exclude him as a possible father of Manuel.

That leaves Mariano San Nicolas aged 61, married to María Sablan, aged 54, so they are old enough to be Mariano's parents. But we have to also allow for the possibility that Manuel's father Mariano didn't live till 1897 when the Census was taken, and it could be a deceased Mariano whom we don't know about who is Manuel's father.

In 1893, Manuel came to the United States. More than likely, he joined the crew of a whaler or some commercial vessel stopping by Guam. That would have made him 15 years old, not unusual at that time period.

In the U.S., Manuel worked in various jobs,

Manuel is found in the 1920 US Census named "Manuel Nicolas." It's not unusual for names to change slightly, and sometimes completely, in documents of those days, especially with non-Anglo names. But we know from documents that Manuel lived at 1215 Royal Street in the year 1919, and the 1920 Census entry is for the residents at 1215 Royal Street.

The Census says that Manuel is from the Philippines, but we know that many Chamorros listed Spain or the Philippines as their place of origin in those days because the Marianas were not well-known by others back then, and because the Marianas were a province of the Philippines which was under Spain in the 1800s.

According to this Census, Manuel was married to a woman from New Orleans named Louise, who is of Portuguese and Mexican descent. Other records show that her maiden name was Laurence (sometimes spelled Lawrence) and that they had married in 1905. They had four children by 1920 :a daughter Manuella, aged 13, and two sons, Manuel, aged 4, and Peter, less than a year old.

Manuel and Louise reappear in the 1930 Census in New Orleans, still on Royal Street but now at house number 2237. Their older children, Manuella, Manuel and Peter are not living with them anymore but they have the following children living with them : Thomas (13), Raymond (6), Rita (3) and Calvin (4). If Thomas is truly 13 years old, he should have been listed in the 1920 Census, and maybe he is, but named Manuel. If people had two given names, records sometimes use the 1st and at other times the 2nd given name, which explains the discrepancy. In 1930, Manuella would have been 23 years old by then and possibly married. Peter could have died in infancy. Many did in those days.

Interestingly, the 1930 Census says that Manuel was from the Philippines but all the children's entries state that their father Manuel is from Guam! So much for human record keeping.




One of Manuel's seasonal jobs was to go to Cuba and work for the Hershey company. Needing a better source of sugar for his candies, Mr. Hershey bought acres and acres of sugar cane fields in Cuba in 1916. Manuel would go there to work as Centrifugal Foreman at the mill.



The Hershey Mill in Cuba at the time Manuel would have worked there

Another time, we find a document showing that Manuel went to Veracruz, Mexico on account of work. It seems the 15-year-old sailing boy never lost his love of travel.

What became of Manuel's Chamorro children? One of them, Raymond, moved to Kentucky where he died in 1984.



Despite numerous records simplifying San Nicolas to just Nicolas, Raymond signed his name using the full name San Nicolas

It would take some research to find out where Manuel's descendants are today and if they have any inkling of their Guam and Chamorro roots.

PARA MÅNO HAO, NÅNA?

Thursday, July 6, 2017


There are many beliefs held by many Chamorros about what transpires among those about to die. For example, it is said that the dying see their dead relatives in the room, as if the dead relatives are beckoning their family member to join them in the afterlife.

But here is one story I was recently told about a dying woman which points to another kind of experience. Did this grandmother have an out-of-body experience, visiting grandchildren, thousands of miles away, to say goodbye before she passed away?


Diddide' åntes de u måtai si nånan-måme, annai esta kumåkama
(A little before our mother died, when she was already bed-ridden)

ya ti siña gue' kahulo' ginen i kattre-ña, mangågao si nånan-måme paopao
(and couldn't get up from her bed, our mother asked for perfume)

sa' para u palai gue' paopao malago'-ña.
(because she wanted to put some on her.)

Si nånan-måme tåya' na ha dingu i gima' sin ha nå'ye gue' paopao,
(Our mother never left the house without putting on perfume,)

masea yanggen para i tenda ha' para u hanaogue.
(even if she was just going to the store.)

Man manman ham ni mañe'lo sa' mangågao paopao ya ti siña kahulo'!
(We siblings were surprised because she asked for perfume and couldn't get up!)

In faisen gue', "Nang? Para måno hao na para un nå'ye hao paopao?"
(We asked her, "Mom? Where are you going that you're going to put on perfume?")

Chumålek sanhalom ha' i amko' lao tåya' håfa ilek-ña.
(She just smiled and said nothing.)

Ha huchom matå-ña ya kalan ha tutuhon maigo' lao in li'e' na guaha ha hahasso,
(She closed her eyes and it was as if she started to sleep, but we could see she was thinking about something)

lao umachigo' matå-ña. Despues, guaha entre i mañe'lo ilek-ñiha
(though her eyes were closed. Later, some among the siblings said)

na mangågao paopao si nånan-måme sa' para u bisita i famagu'on famagu'on-ña
(that she asked for perfume because she was going to visit her grandchildren)

ni mañåsaga Amerika ya ti siña man måtto Guam
(who were living in America and couldn't come to Guam)

para u atende i bihan-ñiha ni esta kumekematai.
(to attend to their dying grandmother.)

FAIFAI? OR FAFAI?

Tuesday, July 4, 2017


There is a beach just south of Two Lovers Point that is very popular with people seeking the sun, sand and surf.

Now if we could only figure out its name!

It is called both Faifai and Fafai, depending on who you talk to or what map you consult.

I have looked through several pre-war maps of Guam, and they all say Fafai.



This map above is from 1901. It spells Fafai with a Y; Fafay.



This map is from 1914.


This map is from 1941.


Finally, this map is from 1954.


There may be old maps that say Faifai, but, so far, I haven't found them.

It is also true that spelling mistakes were made in older maps. But, in time, most of these were corrected. In the case of Fafai, all the maps spell it Fafai (or Fafay) but never Faifai.

From Peter Onedera's book, compiling the place names of Guam, we find this :




The National Register of Historic Places also lists the beach as Fafai.

Finally, the area was called Fafai (of Fafae) in Spanish land records such as this, from 1902 :




But, the name Faifai has recently become equal to if not ahead of Fafai in popular speech.




I haven't found a meaning, either, for fafai nor of faifai .


UPDATE

Some reader feedback says that the name of the place is pronounced Fafa'i. In other words, three syllables. Fa - fa - i.

This would suggest a connection with få'i , which means "rice seedlings" at the planting stage. There are several speculations why this coastal area would be so named.

SAIPAN'S JUAN BLANCO

Monday, July 3, 2017
(Family Photo)
Juan Blas Blanco


He was perhaps Japan's greatest success in its effort to form some people from Saipan in the Japanese mold.

He was sent to Japan to be educated there, and was even given a Japanese name. Kamiyama Seiichi. His Japanese language skills were superb, as were his knowledge of Japanese customs and the Japanese mindset. He lived with Japanese host families, one of them getting so close to him that he considered them his Japanese "father and mother." Some noted that his Japanese accent was a proper Tokyo one.

FAMILY BACKGROUND

Juan was born in Saipan in 1923. His parents, like so many Saipan families, were originally from Guam.

His father was Juan Taitano Blanco, the son of Domingo de León Guerrero Blanco from Hågat and his wife Juana Manahane Taitano. They moved to Saipan at the end of the 19th century.


(Family Photo)
Domingo de León Guerrero Blanco, seated, and his wife Juana Manahane Taitano
Juan Taitano Blanco is the tall man standing. The two ladies are his sisters and the young ones are their children.

His mother was the former Antonia Blas, from Hagåtña.

(Family Photo)
Juan's parents : Juan Taitano Blanco and Antonia Blas


SELECTED BY THE JAPANESE

In 1934, twenty years after the Japanese took over the Northern Marianas, four representatives from Japanese universities paid a visit to Saipan's schools.  These representatives believed that a few Saipan students should be sent to Japan to continue their education. Juan was class president in the third grade, and was selected.

He was first sent to a school in Tokyo and then to another school in Shimizu City in Shizuoka Prefecture. As already mentioned, he stayed with Japanese host families. In Shimizu City, he had the good fortune of having his older sister living with him as she was studying midwifery in the same city.


Juan Blanco stands in class in Japan
1930s

Juan's time in Japan had a big effect on him. His experience was generally a positive one. Most of his teachers were good to him and, as mentioned earlier, he got on so well with one hosting couple that they became surrogate parents to him.

RETURN TO SAIPAN

But Juan's father started to get concerned about his son being in faraway Japan when signs of international war loomed on the horizon. Japan was already engaged in full warfare in China. What would happen if war broke out between Japan and America? How could his family keep in contact with Juan if war in the Pacific made such communication difficult, if not impossible. Juan's father thus decided to bring Juan back to Saipan.

With his mainland Japanese education, Juan wouldn't have profited much being enrolled in the school for Chamorros and Carolinians. He was allowed the rare privilege of entering a school in Saipan normally reserved for Japanese students alone. Eventually he became the only Chamorro graduate of the Saipan Industrial School.

After graduating, there were two possible job opportunities. One was to work for the Japanese military on Saipan, and the other was to work for the largest commercial interest in Saipan at the time, the sugar company or the Nanyo Kohatsu Kabushiki Kaisha or NKK for short. It was here that Japan's racial divide showed. The military would have paid him lower wages for being non-Japanese. The NKK was willing to pay him the same wages as a Japanese in the position he was to fill. Juan opted therefore to work for the sugar company.

AFTER THE WAR

Juan was picked up by the Americans and put in the same stockade with the Japanese, not believing he was Chamorro! After two weeks, with the help of an American officer who spoke good Japanese, he was able to convince them that he was Chamorro and he was transferred to the Chamorro camp.

Juan did many and sundry things after the war, and all pretty successfully. He worked for the U.S. military, served in the Saipan Municipal Council and other political offices, was first branch manager of the Bank of America in Saipan, and was involved in other business ventures which brought him also to Guam at times, where he had many friends.


HIS ASSESSMENT OF LIFE UNDER THE JAPANESE AND THE AMERICANS

According to one of Juan's sons, Juan had one misgiving about life under Japanese rule in those days. No islander was ever supposed to excel over a Japanese in anything. When Juan rose to the top of the class or made it to the honor roll, the parents of a Japanese or Okinawan classmate complained, and Juan was deprived of his honors. If Juan beat a Japanese or Okinawan classmate in wrestling, there would be trouble.

"At least the Americans made us citizens," Juan's son said, quoting his deceased dad.

Still, it could not be denied that all his Japanese experience, much of it very positive, left a permanent mark on him. He kept in contact with numerous Japanese friends and was present at many Japanese events held in Saipan.


(Family Photo)

Juan Blanco
before his passing in 2014


* A note of thanks to Juan's sons John and Harry for information and photos

CAPTAIN OF THE HEAD

Thursday, June 29, 2017


Just two days after swearing in as US Navy mess attendants, the newest bunch of Chamorro recruits assembled that morning on the deck of the USS Barnes in Apra Harbor to receive their first assignments. It was early 1940.

The American officer looked at one of them and said, "You are now the Captain of the Head."

The other Chamorro men kept quiet, of course, but they were stunned. How could this Chamorro guy be promoted to captain in just two days, and the head of something? Maybe this guy was smarter than they first thought.

A few days later they finally understood when they saw this "captain" cleaning toilets on the ship.

Only then did they learn that "head" was Navy slang for the toilet.

THOSE THREE VOTES

Tuesday, June 27, 2017


What we call our village mayors today were our village commissioners in the 1950s and 60s.

In one of those village elections for commissioner in the late 1950s, a candidate in a southern village won by only three votes.

The daughter of the winning candidate tells me the story :


Påle', ginen Commissioner si tatå-ho.
(Father, my father was once a Commissioner.)

I fine'nana na biåhe na mangånna, tres ha' na boto muna' fangånna si tatå-ho.
(The first time he won, just three votes made my father win.)

Ilek-ña i kontrariu-ña despues de ma deklåra na si tatå-ho mangånna,
(His opponent said, after my dad was declared the winner,)

"Hu tungo' håye siha i tres na boto ni muna' fangånna hao!
("I know who those three votes were which made you win!)

I dos techan guma'yu'us yan si nanå-mo!"
(The two church prayer leaders and your mother!")

Maolek ha' nai na ga' guma'yu'us si bihå-ho
(Good that my grandmother was a church-goer)

ya ha kombensi i dos techa para u ma bota si tatå-ho!
(and she convinced those two prayer leaders to vote for my dad!)


NOTES

Ga'. This prefix means "fond of, liking." Ga ' kumuentos is someone who likes to talk. Ga ' salåppe ' is someone who likes money (avaricious). Ga ' guma'yu'us is someone who likes church or religious events and things. A "churchy" type.

Techa . Prayer Leader. Usually a female, but can also be a male, in which case he is still the techa , not a techo . Techa is not borrowed from Spanish, which observes gender (masculine -o and feminine -a). Techa comes from the Chamorro verb tucha , which means to lead public prayers. The Chamorro language does not observe gender. A tall person is lokka ', whether male or female. It isn't lokko ' for a man and lokka ' for a woman. There is no gender in the Chamorro language.

The techa is the one who leads the public recitation of the rosary before Mass every day at church. She also leads in novenas and other devotions at church. A techa also leads in prayers done at home. One becomes a techa simply by being recognized by others as being capable of leading the prayers. There are techa who lead prayers occasionally, such as for home devotions or a funeral now and then. And then there are techa who are "parish techa " who lead prayers on a daily basis at church. These parish techa are their own category and are considered something like "super Catholics" since they practically live in church.

It is this kind of techa who were credited with the victory of this political candidate! :)




The Power of the Techa

FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO GUAM IN 1894

Monday, June 26, 2017





Frederick Vehling was something of a showman.

An immigrant from Germany to the U.S., he got some attention sailing his schooner, the Kussiloff , unaided, from Kodiak in Alaska to San Francisco. Then he decided to pursue an even more difficult long voyage, from San Francisco to Guam.

This time he brought along his whole family; a wife and seven children, including two boys, aged 14 and 12. And one black man, as well.

He also brought along items for trade once he arrived at Guam : two cases of clay pipes, one coil of rope, 24 pounds of tobacco, 5 barrels of flour and many other things.

He set sail from San Francisco on May 5, 1894. He made a brief stop at Honolulu after sailing for 28 days.

Vehling had been to Guam long before, during his seaman days, and dreamed of returning to settle on Guam permanently and grow coffee.

He was in Guam by the end of July or early August. The story of his voyage to Guam was carried in many newspapers all over the United States.

Despite a warm reception by the Spanish Governor, it seems Vehling did not stay long on Guam. He was never heard of again.



Honolulu Star-Bulletin
November 5, 1894

KÅNTA : MUNGNGA MA NA' LÅSTIMA

Thursday, June 22, 2017


This song was recorded by Sonny Flores and Joe Norita of Saipan back in the 1980s.

It's a love song, as many Chamorro songs are, with that familiar touch of male insecurity! He promises her true and undying love; he is not totally sure where her heart stands.





LYRICS


Mamaisen yo' keridå-hu nene
kao magåhet na manguaiya hao nu guåho.
(I asked, my beloved baby,
if it is true that you love me.)

Mungnga ma na' låstima i lago'-mo
sa' i tiempo-ko para hågo todo i ora.
(Don't waste your tears,
because my time for you is always.)

Bai hu sungon nene i kontråta,
puede ti manguaiya hao otro mås ke guåho.
(I will endure, baby, the agreement,
hopefully you don't love another more than me.)


NOTES

Kerida . This is borrowed from the Spanish querida , from the verb querer (to love, to wish) and it means "beloved" but can also mean "darling, sweetheart" and every romantic epithet you can think of.

Tiempo - ko . Literally "my time" but he means that he is available to meet her needs at all times.

Todo i ora . Literally means "at all hours" but he means "always, at any and all times."

Sungon . It literally means "to endure" but here he means he will endure any hardship, make any sacrifice, to keep the understanding between him and her that they are a couple.

Kontråta . It sounds like "contract" and it can mean that, but also "agreement, understanding, plan."


MA BIBA I NUEBO MATAKPÅNGE

Tuesday, June 20, 2017


Many families on Guam practice the following custom after a baby is baptized.

When the baptism is over and the baptismal party leaves the church and goes to the house where the christening party will be celebrated, the patlino (godfather) gathers in front of the people, with the children usually standing or squatting right in front of him, and yells out " Biba !" three times in honor of the newly-baptized baby. The people reply with their own " Biba !" each time the patlino yells " Biba !"

Then, the patlino breaks open rolls of quarters and scatters them all over the place. As much as $20 worth of quarters are thrown out, but the amount is up to the patlino .

Anyone can pick up the quarters, but it's usually the children who do. They can keep whatever they catch.

This custom is simply a way that the family and guests can express joy that a baby in the family has been baptized into God's Church.

Here is how Cathy Ogo explains the custom in Chamorro :




One person from Saipan told me that this isn't done on that island. That usually means it isn't done on Tinian or Luta either. But, if someone can share if this custom is practiced on these other islands, please leave a comment.


A godfather about to throw out the quarters at a christening party.



Younger and older picking up the quarters.

FIRST CNMI LEGISLATURE

Monday, June 19, 2017

The CNMI's first Senators are sworn into office, January 1978

When the Northern Mariana Islands were made a Commonwealth of the United States in 1977, a bicameral (two house) legislature was created. The House was made up of representatives based on population. Thus, Saipan got the bulk of representatives while Tinian and Luta got one representative each. The House would be headed by a Speaker.

The Senate, on the other hand, gave each of the three main islands (Saipan, Tinian and Luta) three senators each. The islands north of Saipan (Pagan, Alamagan, etc.) would be included under Saipan. The Senate would be headed by a Senate President.

The first elections for the new CNMI government, executive and legislative branches, were held in December of 1977.

In those days, there was a Democratic Party in the CNMI, but not a Republican Party yet. The alternative party then was the Territorial Party. The Territorials proved victorious in the legislative race of 1977, while the Democratic candidates won the Governor and Lieutenant Governor positions.

HOUSE

Territorial (8)
Oscar Rasa (Speaker) - Saipan
Pedro Nakatsukasa - Saipan
Alonso Igisomar - Saipan
Miguel Kileleman - Saipan
Jose Lifoifoi - Saipan
Felicidad Ogumoro - Saipan
Placido Tagabuel - Saipan
Misael Ogo - Luta

Democrat (6)
Manases Borja - Saipan
Antonio Guerrero - Saipan
Jesus Guerrero - Saipan
Jesus Sonoda - Saipan
Joaquin Villanueva - Saipan
Serafina King - Tinian

SENATE

Territorial (5)
Lorenzo Guerrero (President) - Saipan
Pedro Tenorio - Saipan
Julian Calvo - Luta
Joseph Inos - Luta
Benjamin Manglona - Luta

Democrat (4)
Serafin de la Cruz - Tinian
Hilario Diaz - Tinian
John Hofschneider - Tinian
Herman Guerrero - Saipan


NOTES

CORPUS CHRISTI IN 1915

Sunday, June 18, 2017

CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION
Hagåtña in the 1920s

Our mañaina really did it up in the past when it came to religious celebrations.

A news article in the Guam News Letter from June, 1915 talks about the Corpus Christi procession that year.

"The feast of Corpus Christi was celebrated on June 6, 1915 by a solemn procession which was attended by a very large number of people. The Blessed Sacrament was borne by His Lordship the Right Reverend Bishop of Guam, preceded by (the) volunteer Band, who played hymns which were sung by all the people. The houses on both sides of the streets through which the procession passed were adorned with embroideries and colored curtains; and lighted candles were placed in the windows and on the varandahs."

"Along the route of the procession, there were erected four pretty little chapels, constructed of bamboo and palms, and adorned with flowers and religious images. At each of these chapels, the Bishop stopped and the people knelt down while the Blessed Sacrament was incensed."

"The good order of the procession and the fervor with which the Church Hymns were sung, were especially noticeable. This was a source of pleasure and satisfaction to the Very Rev. Bishop, who after the procession expressed his appreciation of this religious enthusiasm."



Pre-War Lånchon Kotpus


Some things to take note of....
Our mañaina really had faith back then and knew how to express it. Puts us to shame.

DEATH BY TUBERO

Thursday, June 15, 2017

Tubero, or tuba seller


In 1807, Elías Topasña was killed. He was stabbed by a tubero named Francisco Quitaoji.

A tubero is a maker and/or seller of tuba , an alcoholic drink made from coconut sap.

On October 5th, the body of a dead man was discovered in the Fuña area of Hågat. There was a stab wound below the left nipple. The blade went into the body in the direction of the heart. The body was soon identified as that of Elías Topasña, a bilånggo of Hågat. A bilånggo was a peace officer or constable.

A search party was organized, looking for the knife. It was found by Javier Quidagua and Domingo Laguaña on the roadside. Two knife experts, Mariano Luján and Vicente Muña, studied both the knife and the wound and declared that the knife was the instrument of death.

The next step was identifying the owner of the knife. Very quickly, fingers were pointed at a certain Francisco Quitaoji, also of the Fuña area of Hågat. The knife was used by Quitaoji for cutting tuba.

When questioned, Quitaoji admitted he had stabbed Topasña during a struggle when Topasña met Quitaoji on the road and attempted to confront Quitaoji with a garrote . A garrote was a strangling device, often made of cord or rope. This is where Chamorro gets the word galute .

Despite his apparent justification based on self-defense, Quitaoji was found guilty and imprisoned at the jail in Hagåtña.

Prior to this incident, Quitaoji had been punished by the government for having fled to the mountains.





WHERE WAS (IS) FUÑA?


The location of a place in the Hågat area called Fuña is a mystery to me, so far. The reason for this is because I have yet to find a map showing us where a village called Fuña lies.

There are old maps which show an ISLAND named Fuña (the map above is from 1752(, but the old accounts seem pretty clear there was also a place on Guam itself called Fuña. Could it be that the area on shore facing Fuña Island was also called Fuña?

A village by that name is mentioned as far back as 1682, the year García's book on Sanvitores was published, just ten years after Sanvitores' death. The vague descriptions of Fuña point to an area north of Humåtak and south of Hagåtña, on the western side of the island, but nothing more precise can be ascertained.


FUÑA, FU'UÑA AND FOUHA

To make things even more mysterious, there are those who say Fuña is really Fu'uña, the female who, with her brother Puntan, created the world. She threw her body to the earth and it became a rock, and some believe that this rock is Fouha Rock, just north of Humåtak. Because of the conflation of Fu'uña and Fouha Rock, some people think Fuña or Fu'uña is Fouha Rock. But the old maps tell a different story.




This list of Guam place names used by the US Navy in 1946 shows this belief that Funna (Fu'uña) is the same place as Fouha Point.

Here is Fouha Rock, far from the scene of Topasña's murder in Fuña, under the jurisdiction of Hågat. Hågat village officials were involved in handling Topasña's murder, whereas Fouha Rock was, and is, under Humåtak's jurisdiction.

It also seems inconceivable that all these Hågat people involved in the murder walked all the way down to a place just north of Humåtak to enact a murder.

Topasña is thought of as primarily a Humåtak name, but the documents are clear that Elías Topasña was born in Hågat. Three hundred years ago, Chamorro surnames we think are limited to one village were found in more places all around the islands.




Fuña Rock, or Island, over by Hågat, looks very much in the same location of Turtle Rock. But that is a topic for another discussion.

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Monday, June 12, 2017


Mappot ma pångon i kadu' mamaigo'.

It's difficult to wake up someone pretending to be asleep.


I kadu' mamaigo' ti siña ma pångon sa' åhe' ti mamaigo'. Esta makmåta.
(The person pretending to sleep cannot be awoken because he isn't asleep. He is already awake.)

Some people choose to be ignorant. There is no educating them. Their ears and minds are closed by choice.

They are like those who pretend to be asleep. They cannot be awakened, because they already are. They are just pretending to be asleep. By their own choice, they can go on and on and on as if they were asleep.

A SQUABBLE OVER SANVITORES' SHRINE

Friday, June 9, 2017


Pablo Pérez was the Spanish Governor of the Marianas for a little less than seven years, from 1848 till 1855. He was a controversial figure, often at odds with the Spanish missionary priests in the Marianas.

In 1854, for example, Pérez took issue with Father Vicente Acosta. Acosta has erected a chapel at the beach in Tomhom (Tumon) where tradition says Father Sanvitores was martyred in 1672. The location was pointed out by some very old people who kept the memory of the site as they had learned from their parents.

The shrine had an altar, a large cross and a painting of Sanvitores.

Acosta then sang Mass at the chapel on May 3, 1854. Two principal ladies involved in this Mass were Matilde de Campos and her sister Luisa. Matilde had a strong devotion to Sanvitores and Father Acosta asked her to take care of decorating the altar. Her sister Luisa assisted her.

The Governor was very displeased with the priest's actions. Pérez maintained that Acosta needed the Governor's permission to build a chapel. He also took issue with the priest's omission of not even informing the Governor of the chapel nor of the Mass.

Pérez started official proceedings against Acosta, gathering oral testimony from witnesses. He sent all of these to the higher authority in Manila, which received these reports in early 1855.

The reports went nowhere as Manila had decided it was time for Pérez to be replaced as Governor of the Marianas. In May of 1855, a new Governor arrived on Guam and Pérez was put on board to leave island.


Acosta and Pérez
No love lost between them

CHOPCHOP UNAI

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

TAGA BEACH
My favorite beach in all the Marianas


I came across a Chamorro phrase the other day that I never heard of before.

Chopchop unai.

When I first saw it, I already knew what both words meant separately. But I didn't know what those two words were doing together.

Chopchop means "to suck, to absorb." As when you suck on an orange, or when the sponge sucks up (absorbs) whatever liquid has spilled.

Unai means "sand."

So I learned that chopchop unai means "beach."

Some say chopchop i inai . And if one started by saying "the beach" then it would be " i chepchop i inai " or " i chepchop unai ."

I wonder how our ancestors came up with this phrase. A beach is covered in sand. Is it chopchop unai because it's as if the land soaked up ( chopchop ) the sand ( unai ).

What other reason might there be?


A reader mentioned that it can be observed at times that the water filters through the sand. It is as if the sand is sucking up or absorbing the water. Thus, the name.


The more common way of saying "beach" in Chamorro is kånton tåsi , meaning "sea side."

Some readers say that chopchop unai refers specifically to the area where the sea water reaches the sand, not the dry sand area.

You see how language is not just a long list of words for this or that. It shows the way a group of people (who speak that language) see the world.

Just make sure that you don't say the Chamorro word chopchop the same way you say the English word "chop." The Chamorro O is different at times from the English O, which has more than one sound. Have a listen :



TRINCHERA

Monday, June 5, 2017


The area we call nowadays "East Agaña" obviously wasn't always called that.

Believe it or not, there was a time when English was not spoken on Guam! 😊

When I asked an old auntie of mine (born in 1900) what that area was called before the war, she said "Trinchera." I immediately thought of the word "trench," and "trinchera" is, in fact, a Spanish word meaning "trench" or "ditch."




I was actually driving this aunt of mine through the area, so I knew she understood precisely what area I was referring to.

Father Ibáñez, in his chronicle dated 1872, says Trinchera is the place east of Hagåtña.

I wondered why people, perhaps beginning with the Spaniards, would give this stretch of narrow land between the ocean and the cliffs such a name. Were there trenches in this area at one time?

I thought the name Trinchera was lost to modern generations but the name is still used by some. For example, the beach in Trinchera is called by some maps "Trinchera Beach."



The building where Crust Pizzeria is located is called Trinchera Plaza, after the name of the area.



HOW IT GOT TO BE CALLED TRINCHERA

I just came across something that might explain why this area was called Trinchera.

The Jesuit Father Francisco García, in his book about Sanvitores and the early Jesuit missionaries, written just ten years after the death of Sanvitores, based on missionary letters and reports, while many of the missionaries were still alive, speaks about trenches ( trinchera ) and a wall built by the Chamorro enemies of the missionaries.

García says that the opponents did this about half a mile from Hagåtña on roads leading to the villages, in order to prevent the missionaries from traveling to the villages. García doesn't say in what direction from Hagåtña this was, but his description of the area gives us clues. He says that the Chamorros dug these trenches and built the wall across the trail, taking advantage of the tight space between the ocean and the cliffs. This description fits well with East Agaña.

From García's own words,

"The indios....built a wall and trench (trinchera) on the beach to block the way to their villages. The wall was made of coral and rocks from the sea, where it was protected by a rocky hillside, at a distance of an eighth of a league from Agadña." "Indio" is a word that Spaniards used back then to describe natives of the American and Asian/Pacific island places they went to.








I can just imagine a trench (trinchera) and a wall across this narrow stretch of land between the water and the cliff



The cliffs of Trinchera (East Agaña) match the description of the terrain in García's book



This land document in 1901 shows the name of the place, Trinchera, then describes that the property registered here is bordered on the east by the trinchera (or ditch), on the west by the owner's other property, on the north by the ocean and on the south by the cliff. A perfect description of Trinchera or East Agaña.

I CHALÅN-TA SIHA

Thursday, June 1, 2017


In the village of Santa Rita lies a street named after the late Blas dela Cruz.

Most people are surprised that a man's first name is Blas, since Blas is a well-known family surname in the Marianas. But what is known in the Marianas as a last name is actually a first name. "Blas" is the Spanish version of the name Blaise. There was a saint by that name, and that is how his name got spread all over the Christian world. The saint was Armenian, and his Armenian name was Vlasi. Vlasi became Greek Vlasios and then Latin Blasius. After that, Latin Blasius became Spanish Blas.

Just as first names like Francisco, Pablo, Ignacio and Jesús became family, or last, names, so did Blas.

The Blas we are concerned with, for whom this street is named, was born in Hågat in 1895, the son of Antonio Hocog de la Cruz and Ana Aquiningoc.

Somehow, he enlisted in the US Navy and served during World War I, something that was not done by many Chamorro men at the time. While he was in the service, in California, he was naturalized a US citizen in 1919. Thus, Blas could claim, with only a tiny handful of other Chamorros, that he was made a US citizen long before the Organic Act made all the other Guam Chamorros US citizens in 1950.



Blas de la Cruz's headstone, along with his wife, at Agat Cemetery. It proudly states that he served in the US Navy in World War I.



Blas de la Cruz's petition for US Naturalization, showing his nationality as "Guam."

Blas was still in the US Navy as the new decade dawned in 1920. He is missing from the Guam Census in 1920. He is also seen on a list of servicemen sailing on the USS Logan with Guam as its destination in 1921. At some point in the 1920s, Blas left the Navy and settled in Sumay, marrying a lady living in Hågat, Natividad Barcinas Reyes, around 1923 or so. Blas and Natividad had four children, two sons and two daughters. When Sumay was closed and the residents transferred by the Navy to Santa Rita, Blas and family moved with the others to the new village. Since his house was on this street, the street was named in time after him.

One thing that Blas did, when he returned to Guam in the early 1920s, was he kept the original Spanish version of his last name de la Cruz. Almost all other de la Cruzes on Guam dropped the "de la" and became known simply as Cruz.



Blas dela Cruz, and wife Natividad


On a personal note, I met Blas once or twice at Guam Memorial Hospital in the 1980s. I was visiting the sick and walked into his room and saw him in bed as a patient with his daughter Ana attending at his side.

He passed away in 1987. RIP

BIRA I PLATU-MO

Tuesday, May 30, 2017


Bira i platu-mo yanggen guaha taotao gi lamasa na kahulo' ya må'pos.

Turn your plate if someone at table gets up and leaves.


This folk belief isn't held by everyone. In fact, from asking around, I'd say it is practiced by only a certain number of people. Most of the people I talked to don't practice it. Some have heard of the belief, and many haven't heard of it at all until I asked them. And these were older people.

The idea is that, by turning one's plate, the person leaving will make it safely to his or her destination. As soon as the person leaves the table, give your plate a rotation. A full one; 360 degrees. It will prevent the person leaving getting into an accident or meeting some other misfortune.

I suppose that turning the plate plays out, with action, the hope that the person leaving returns, re-turns, safe and sound. So, turn the plate! We act out in deed what we hope for.




The practice raised my suspicions and I inquired among my Filipino friends and, yes indeed, this belief is also found among them, though not all practice it.

They call it "ikot plato," the turning of a plate. They also do it for the same reason; the protection of the one leaving.

The majority of the older people I talked to had heard that some people do this, but they didn't. Nor had their parents and grandparents, so we're already going into the 1890s if we're talking about an 80-year-old's grandparents.

And, yet, there are some who say that their grandparents did practice this, and that takes us back to the 1890s as well.


LABORERS FOR AGRIGAN....

Monday, May 29, 2017

AGRIGAN
(photo courtesy of Angelo Villagomez)


... or Pagan . Not the picture. But the place of work. The picture is definitely Agrigan.

An Englishman named H.T. Williams tried to make money here in the Marianas in the 1880s. He was up in Saipan in 1885 seeking money-making opportunities and one way to make money in those days was through the sale of copra, the dried meat of the coconut. The oil extracted from the dried meat could be used in a variety of products that needed a dose of oil in them. Think of soap, for example.

Copra production was found everywhere in the Marianas but the boon to doing it in the northern islands, like Agrigan or Pagan, was that there were no property owners! It was all government-owned, and an entrepreneur only had to secure approval from the Spanish government to lease the entire island. Williams was not the only one to seek his fortune in northern islands copra.

Williams recruited forty Carolinians living in Saipan to work on the coconut plantations in Agrigan or Pagan that year. The contract stated that the work period would not exceed fifteen months. The men were to be paid three pesos per month, with a six peso advance. Williams was to provide for their daily meals and to transport them back to Saipan within that fifteen month period.

Why Carolinians? There were indeed Chamorros living on Saipan in 1885 but, at that time, the Carolinian community was still the majority of the Saipan residents. Saipan had zero human residents from around 1740 on, thanks to the Spanish policy of relocating everyone north of Luta to Guam or Luta. It was just the birds and animals on Saipan for the next seventy years or so.

Around 1815, Carolinians were allowed by the Spanish government to settle on empty Saipan, and the Chamorros (mostly from Guam, a few from Luta) followed behind them in very small numbers. The Chamorro population began to soar by the end of the 1800s and by the early 1900s the Chamorros became the majority of the Saipan population.

But, in 1885, it was still a Carolinian majority and they were available for hire. The Chamorro settlers were busy tending their own farms; too busy to be hired in big numbers to help other ventures. The Carolinians at that time did not farm in the same way the Chamorros did, with their almost 200 years of Spanish experience with the plow and hoe. The Carolinians fished and planted in the old, island way; yam and taro. Other foods, like breadfruit, didn't even planting. Just pick them off the tree when edible. Less time was needed for these, compared to western farming, and so there were Carolinian men available for hire.


Carolinian Men of Saipan
Early 1900s

We have the names of the Carolinian men hired by Williams in 1885. Many of the family names are still around on Saipan to this day. I am listing them here in the way their names are spelled in the document. Keep in mind that the spelling comes from Spaniards (and Chamorros) who heard the Carolinian names with their Spanish and Chamorro ears. Thus, the spelling. I am also putting the more modern way of spelling these names.

Included in the list is one man from Satawal, spelled Sataguat, which would be the Chamorro way of pronouncing Satawal. Satawal is one of the many islands where the Carolinians of Saipan originated. In other words, this man from Satawal was from the same ethnic group as the Saipan Carolinians. But he is not baptized; otherwise, he would have had a Christian first name, as all the others do.

Mariano Matagolay (Matagolai)
Pedro Caipat (Kaipat)
Gregorio Rangamar
Vicente Faibar
José Faibar
Juan Ulaitiman (Olaitiman)
Timoteo Ruiliang
José Parong
Juan Rapugao
Miguel Rogolifoy (Rogolifoi)
Demetrio Olorit
Vicente Taroligay
Matías Rapaito
Uguleal de Sataguat (Uguleak of Satawal, an island in Yap State)
Romualdo Taralimang
Antonio Angailen
Simón Ulaitiman (Olaitiman)
Andrés Robopes (Rogopes)
Romualdo Ylisua (Lisua)
Lucas Itauer
Carlos Ruabutac
José Maifes
Ygnacio Capileo (Kapileo) (Ygnacio is now spelled Ignacio)
Francisco Angailen
Juan Angailen
Vicente Railog
Juan Leangarang
Macario Robopes (Rogopes)
Matías Faibar
Ramón Faay
Guillermo Satur
Juan Rabauliman
Mariano Ygubor (Igibor)
Ramón Ysarobong
Juan Faay
Félix Saralu
Sebastián Mangud
Vicente Saralu
Domingo Robopes (Rogopes)
Vicente Taman

Matagolai is a name many people think is Chamorro, since it's a coincidence that it seems to be made up of two Chamorro words : måta (face/eyes) and gollai (vegetables). But an older Carolinian told me in the 1990s the way it is pronounced in Carolinian, and documents show that the first Matagolai recorded was a Carolinian.

Some of the more familiar last names to me here are Rabauliman , Olaitiman , Satur , Rogopes , Taman (Candy, the singer), Kaipat , Rogolifoi , Rangamar , Kapileo , Lisua , among the others. Saralu calls to mind the Saralu singers. Malua Peter, a well-known lady in Saipan, is from the Angailen clan. There is an area on Saipan called As Rapugao , after the family. A lady from the Parong family married into the Chamorro Sablans, which gave birth to one of Saipan's mayors after the war, Elías Parong Sablan.

If there are other names that are spelled differently today, leave a comment.

What we have is a document spelling out the contract between Williams and these hired men. Whether they actually did go to Agrigan and completed their work is not known (yet).




When the contract needed to be signed, the names of the Carolinian men were all written down by the Chamorro clerk. But the Carolinian men could not sign their name; they had not been taught to read or write, since they lived the traditional, island ways from before the Europeans' arrival. Even up to American times, a good number of Chamorros, especially the women, could not sign their names as well.

So, instead, they made a cross with the pen on their names, which the clerk pointed to. Some people think this is where the last name "de la Cruz" comes from, which means "of the Cross." This may have been true in some cases, but not in every case, and, I suspect, not in the majority of cases. If that were really the case, then all these Carolinian men would have then become known as "de la Cruz" since none of them could sign their names, but only draw a cross next to their names.

COPRA !


KÅNTA : TUHU I LAGO'-HO

Thursday, May 25, 2017

This song was, so I am told, originally a Chuukese song written by a prolific composer by the name of Nichon, who was born blind. The song talks about him being born with a disability.

Later, a man from Saipan named Alfonso Saures translated it into Chamorro for a little girl in Saipan, who was his neighbor, who also had a disability.




LYRICS

Tuhu i lago'-ho kada hu konsidera todo este siha i hu padedese.
(My tears fall every time I think about all these things that I suffer.)

1. Ai na nina'masi' yo' na finañågo, inutit yo' na påtgon i mafañago'-ho.
(Oh pitiable I was when I was born, from my birth I was a disabled child.)

2. Olaria mohon ya bai hu gefsaga, sa' gaige yo' på'go gaige gi chatsaga.
(Oh if only I would be rich, because now I am in hardship.)


NOTE


Olaria is one version of the word ohalá .

Ohalá comes from the Spanish word ojalá , which means, more or less, "God willing." It comes from the Arabic word for God, Allah. The Muslim Moors ruled over much of Spain for hundreds of years till 1492. All those 700 years or so of Moorish presence in Spain left many marks, including on the Spanish language and, from Spanish, on Chamorro!

Originally, Chamorros said ohalá , just as is said in Spanish. But, over time, many Chamorros started pronouncing it olåra , and adding the word mohon which is a Chamorro word meaning "if only."

Other Chamorros changed it to ola mohon , and, as this singer renders it, olaria mohon , and many speakers shorten mohon to mon .

Despite all these different versions, Chamorro speakers understand what is meant by all of them.



SÅBANAS Å'PAKA'

Tuesday, May 23, 2017


Såbanas å'paka ' or balutan å'paka '.

Either term is used by some older people to describe a sheet or ball of mist rolling or floating in the distance.

Å'paka ' means "white."

Såbanas means "sheet."

Balutan means "a bundle" or "a bale." It can also mean food that is packaged, but not only that. Many different things, besides food, that are bundled up, packaged or gathered together can be balutan .

When people saw a mist in the distance, in the old days, the elders would tell everyone to make the Sign of the Cross.


MY OWN EXPERIENCE

I have never seen a ghost or a spirit. Nor have I heard voices of a ghost or a spirit.

I have even spent the night in allegedly haunted places. But I have never seen or heard a ghost. I joke that the ghosts don't like me. I feel discriminated! Kidding.

But, many years ago, I did see a very unusual mist. Not only I, but two other friends saw it, too. Here's what happened :

It was during the summer of 1982 or 1983. I was 20 or 21 years old. Two of my friends, around the same age, picked me up one night. We didn't know what to do so we decided to just drive down South. In those days, driving South was a big deal.

I was sitting in the back while the driver and my other friend sat in front. At one point, as we were going up the hills just after you pass Agat, I leaned forward and rested my elbows on the back of the driver's and passenger's seats so I could listen more closely to and talk with the two up front.

In those days, more than now, with the old, two-lane road, there were a lot of dips and crests. You really went up and down on that old road, especially on that stretch by Mount Lamlam.

Just as we reached the top of a crest, and were about to go down into a dip, right after we passed Mount Lamlam to our left, our conversation stopped but I was still leaning forward. There was complete silence. Not even the radio was on.

As we were on the crest, we could see the high ground of the next crest. Just as our car was turning down into the dip, I saw a hazy, whitish reflection on the road on the little hill just before us. It was not blowing; it was stable. But it shimmered. There was a slight vibration or movement to it. And it seemed to have a defined, rectangular form. At first I thought our headlights were beaming onto the side of a cow stuck in the middle of the road. I thought it had better move or else we would crash into it.

Then, all of a sudden, the entire mist, as a single body, swooshed ever so gracefully to the right, going into a thickly wooded valley. It moved as if it were the body of a cow, except that I didn't see any legs, tail or head. Plus the fact that I could see through the mist and see the asphalt road behind it. It couldn't have been a cow, or any animal for that matter. It was a mist, a såbanas å'paka ' or balutan å'paka ', except that it behaved very strangely. Stable, yet shimmering. When it swooshed to the side, it didn't have an awkward start. It moved like an animal moves when it makes up its mind to get out of the way of a car, except that this mist moved faster than any cow could. The mist seemed, for lack of a better word, "alive." It didn't evaporate; we didn't drive into it. It swooshed gracefully out of the way, to the right.

I kept silence, thinking I was the only one who it. But my inner reaction was just too strong that it had to come out. And so did the other two, because all three of us at the same exact time, just seconds after seeing this mist, blurted out, "Did you see that?" And we all described what we saw, and we all saw the same thing.

The next day, I shared this experience with someone and he said that there are many trails in the country side of the island used by the ancient spirits. Perhaps, he suggested, the mist was one manifestation of these spirits, as a trail could have gone from the mountains, across the road, into the valley and down to the sea.

I have no idea what I saw and what caused it, and I won't draw any conclusions. For all I know, it has a perfectly natural explanation. It is a lost moment, which I cannot retrieve and put under a microscope for analysis. All I have is a memory of something very startling and puzzling.



The road heading south to Humåtak, just past Mount Lamlam

THE NARRUHNS AND GUAM

Monday, May 22, 2017

FEDERICO NARRUHN
Born on Guam in 1885?


Mention the name Narruhn to a Chamorro and s/he probably will give you a blank stare.

But the Narruhns are a well-known family whose branches extend to the Marshalls, Samoa, the U.S. mainland, Pohnpei and Chuuk, and other places besides.

Apparently, though, there is a small and brief Guam connection, too, with this family.

Frederick Carl Narruhn was a German who immigrated to the United States in the 1870s. In 1879, he enlisted in the US Navy. He eventually became a US citizen.

After the Navy, he bought a schooner, called the Neptune , and sailed the Pacific. He went many places. In Samoa, he fell in love with a New Zealand lady and married. But, off he went again to other lands, his wife in tow. By 1882, Narruhn had made Pohnpei his base of operations, doing business selling merchandise and transporting goods and passengers from here to there. It's not surprising that he would have gone to Guam on occasion. It is documented that several Western businessmen and settlers traveled from the Caroline Islands to Guam in the late 1800s. By 1886, the Carolines were under Spanish control, just as the Marianas had been far earlier in time. There was money to be made on Guam, too!

It seems the Narruhns were in Guam in 1885, just in time for Mrs. Katherine Narruhn to give birth to a son, named Frederick, after his father. According to several documents, this Frederick states Guam as his place of birth.

It is not certain how long the Narruhns stayed on Guam after baby Frederick's birth. But, according to Frederick (junior) himself, by 1894 he was living in Manila, where his father had sent him to get an education.

While in Manila, with its strong layer of Spanish culture, Frederick became more known as Federico. He married a pretty Filipino Spaniard, Concepción Matti, the daughter of two Spaniards living in the Philippines.



Federico and Concepción Narruhn in Manila

In time, both of them moved to California, where they died in the 1960s and 70s.

On a ship's passenger list in 1919, Federico's place of birth is listed as Guam, MI (Mariana Islands).




On a passport application form, Federico states his place of birth as Guam.




As I mentioned, the Narruhns can be found all over the Pacific, from east to west. At times this meant that the family separated and didn't see each other for decades and decades! This happened between Federico and his brother Robert. Quite by chance, though, they met each other again in California in their senior years.


Today, there are Narruhns living on Guam, coming from various places in the Federated States of Micronesia and beyond. I wonder if they are aware that a senior member of their clan was actually born on Guam during the Spanish period.

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS

Thursday, May 18, 2017
© Annieschamorrokitchen.com

Mungnga ma fa' champulådo i atulen teok.


Don't make a mess of things, in other words!

Atule is a porridge made of ground corn, water and coconut milk.

Teok means "thick" as in a thick consistency. Coffee, blood and soup can all be teok .

Champulådo is another kind of porridge, made of rice, condensed milk, chocolate and sugar.

If you meant to make atule , and it ends up being champulådo , something went wrong.





AN OLD DEVOTION : I SÅNTOS KILU'US

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

A Chamorro Woman kneeling before the Cross
Early 1800s


From the very beginning, the Catholic missionaries promoted the veneration of the Christian Cross among the Chamorros. The early Spanish missionaries called the Cross the båbao Yu'us in Chamorro, meaning the "emblem, standard or banner" of God.

The missionaries planted a Cross in the villages they entered. They raised a Cross on the places where missionaries were killed or were buried. And they planted crosses along the roads going through the land, especially the interior of the island, because the Chamorros were so fearful of the aniti or spirits. The missionaries taught them that the Cross of Christ would protect them. The missionaries were not totally successful! To this day, many Chamorros are fearful of the jungle and interior of the island.

Before long, large crosses were placed all over the island. A whole section of Hagåtña was named Santa Cruz, which means "Holy Cross" in Spanish. In Chamorro, "Holy Cross" is translated to "Såntos Kilu'us." When people would pass a Cross on the roadside, they would take off their hat, bow or pay some sign of respect. More devout souls would kneel and pray before them.



The Santa Cruz at Atantåno'

The oldest Santa Cruz (Holy Cross) that remains intact to this day is at Atantåno', a low-lying and swampy area just before the main gate at Naval Station, before one makes the left turn to continue driving to Hågat or Santa Rita. The cross was possibly erected in 1785; the same time the road that ran in front of it was built. If not, then it was erected in the 1800s when, it seems, a commemorative marker was placed in this spot. The area was used for the production of coconuts (copra) and rice.


MAY 3 - GUPOT I SÅNTOS KILU'US

During the Spanish colonial period, May 3rd was the Feast of the Finding of the True Cross. That feast commemorated the discovery of the true cross on which Christ died by the Empress Helena.

Many Chamorro families made this feast their family promesa , promising to observe and celebrate this feast every year with a novena and a feast on the ninth or last day. Up to now, there are families that continue to observe this family promesa or devotion.

A few families are so devoted to this promesa that they have built small chapels to the Santa Cruz as permanent structures, usually on the side of a road. They are usually simple, but are cleaned up and decorated before the start of the novena.

Here are some photos of just some of the private, family-owned Santa Cruz chapels found on Guam.



INALÅHAN



YOÑA



ORDOT



PARISH CROSSES


Besides family-owned, private chapels of the Holy Cross, some churches erected large crosses in front of the parish church.

In this picture, we see, on the left, one such large cross in front of the pre-war Sumay Church. In the picture on the right, a modern cross sits across the street from Humåtak Church. This cross was built by the late Jesus "Pat" Quinata at the direction of Påle' Eric in 1997.




THE QUEEN OF ANATAHAN

Monday, May 15, 2017

KAZUKO HIGA


It is a story full of intrigue and scandal. It was made into a movie. But hardly anyone remembers it.

Thirty Japanese men or so, stranded on a tiny volcanic island in fighting a war that was over, struggled in deathly competition over the one and only woman left on the island. She was called the Queen Bee, with the men willing to fight and kill over her.

Prior to all this, the island of Anatahan had been used by the Japanese before the war for copra production. Some forty Chamorros and Carolinians worked the copra farms on Anatahan under Japanese supervisors. Eventually, the islanders left Anatahan and only the Japanese remained.

One of the few Japanese who remained on Anatahan was a woman of Okinawan background, Kazuko Higa, married to a man named Shoichi Higa. Concerned about his sister who was living in Saipan, where the war would bring all its death and destruction, Shoichi left Kazuko on Anatahan while he went to Saipan to check on his sister. He never came back. Kazuko then came under the roof of another man named Higa, with the given name of Kikuichiro.

The Japanese population of Anatahan increased dramatically in June of 1944 when a convoy of Japanese ships was attacked by American planes. As the ships sank, the 30 Japanese crewmen swam to safety at Anatahan.

As the only woman on the island, surrounded by thirty-some men, trouble was bound to happen.

First off, her romantic partner Kikuichiro was shot and killed by Gensaburo Yoshino in 1946. Yoshino in turn was stabbed to death by Morio Chiba. Chiba then died naturally. In order to prevent more fighting over her, she "married" a few more men. One of them, Riichiro Yanagibashi, "drowned" in the ocean (but who really knows if that was truly accidental?). In all, around 11 men died on Anatahan throughout those years. Some were accidental and some were murdered. Feuding was not just over Kazuko, but also over who would be the leader of the small colony.

By 1950, the talk was that the men were done competing over Kazuko. If she were eliminated, they thought, the men would spare each other! When Kazuko found out that her life was in danger, she fled into hiding and in time flagged a passing American ship to rescue her. Another account says a Japanese working for the US government went to Anatahan and convinced Higa to surrender.



Kazuko after her rescue

The man 2nd from the left is Gregorio Sasamoto, a Japanese resident of Saipan married to a Chamorro, Genara Aguon. I know his son very well.


The Japanese men, however, refused to give themselves up, thinking that American claims that the war was over were just lies. Slowly, a few of the men changed their minds and thought of surrendering, but a hard-core patriot dominated them and threatened to kill any man who thought about surrendering to the Americans.

But on June 30, 1951, the remaining 19 Japanese men finally called it quits. When the Americans dropped letters from the men's own family members urging them to surrender since the war was over, the Japanese men then believed. They waved white flags upon seeing American planes after that. The Americans sent boats up to Anatahan to pick up the Japanese men. World War II finally ended for them, six years after the fact!

It is said that, in time, Kazuko made it back to Okinawa, where she ran into her first husband, quite by chance. They became husband and wife again. Life has a way of bringing things full circle.



ANATAHAN



Surrender of the 19 Japanese stragglers on Anatahan in 1951



One last gesture for Anatahan


The portrayal of Kazuko's saga on Anatahan, with its mixture of sexual intrigue and murder, was ripe for the marketing of books and movies on the subject.



French version of von Sternberg's movie. The French title says,
"FEVER OVER ANATAHAN"



A book on Anatahan and the drama over Kazuko





ASTUMBO

Thursday, May 11, 2017


Astumbo is a pretty recognizable place name on Guam. Astumbo is a neighborhood within the municipality of Dededo, situated in between Ukkudu to the south and Gugågon to the north.



ASTUMBO TODAY

But how did this area get to be called Astumbo?


AS

One clue is immediately seen in the beginning of the name. The syllable AS is a Chamorro word more or less meaning "at" when used in place names.

There are many places on Guam whose names begin with AS . It often means "at so-and-so's place."

As Lukas, a place in Talofofo, was probably an area where a man named Lucas (Luke) lived.

In Saipan, there is a place called As Palomo, probably where someone named Palomo lived.

In Luta, there is the famous latte stone quarry called As Nieves, probably where a woman named Nieves once lived.

So there is a good possibility that Astumbo means As Tumbo. "At Tumbo's place."


WHO WAS TUMBO?

According to older people who lived in this area before the war, or who at least had ranches in this area and spent some time during the week here before the war, there was a man named Tun Ramón living in this area. His full name was Ramón Camacho.

As is often the case, he was more often called by his nickname, which was Tun Bo.

Chamorros usually take the last syllable of someone's name and create the nickname from that. The nickname CHU comes from the last syllable of the name Jesús. SUS become CHU.

In this case, the MON in Ramón was changed to BO.

Here is a possible way how that came about :



One elderly lady told me that in her father's ranch area, the neighbors were a Cruz family (better known as the Achigo' family), the Arteros and Ramón Camacho, better known as Tun Bo.

Her father would sometimes send her on an errand to Tun Ramón's ranch telling her, " Hånao para as Tun Bo ." " Go to Tun Bo's place ."


NOT FOUND IN PRE-WAR MAPS

If Tun Bo was living before the war, then it seems that the area could not have been called Astumbo back in Spanish times or in the early American period. Perhaps the name Astumbo came about just prior to the war and certainly after it.

One indication of this is the absence of the name Astumbo in pre-war maps.


In this 1944 map, based on pre-war information, there is no place called Astumbo in the area now called Astumbo. In the top right corner of the map is a place called Gugågon. Just below that area should be Astumbo, but it is not indicated. Instead, there is a place called Taguac (Tåguak), perhaps the older or original name of what is now called Astumbo.

In the Navy's list of place names of Guam, compiled right after the war, there is no listing for Astumbo.




In the coming months, when possible, I will continue searching for this Ramón Camacho who supposedly lived in the area and is the Tun Bo in the name Astumbo. If any readers can provide any clues or information, please do leave a message in the comments section at the bottom of this post.

WHAT IS "INAFA'MAOLEK?"

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

The conflict resolution and mediation group Inafa'maolek captures the original meaning of the word


Here is another example of how language changes over time.

In every language, the meaning of words changes as new generations add to the possible meanings of a given word.

In Chamorro, take, for example, the word AFA'MAOLEK .

Many people today define afa'maolek (or its noun form, inafa'maolek ) as cooperation, mutual assistance, reciprocity, interdependence.

But, as the video below shows, the older meaning was : reconciliation . Two former adversaries make peace. That is inafa'maolek , in its original meaning.

The term can be broken down into parts. The foundation of the word is maolek , which means "good."

The prefix fa ' means "to make." Fa'maolek means "to make good."

The prefix a means "together" or "between two subjects." Afa'maolek means "to make good together" or "between each other."

The assumption here is that there had been something "bad." A disagreement, a fight, some injury or injustice. Hence the prefix "to make." Something had to be done to make peace, to make good, because prior to the fa ' maolek something had been bad. It's bad, so make it good!

Let's listen to these older women, all in their 70s and 80s, point this out. In the traditional and older understanding of the word, inafa'maolek presumes that enmity or hostility needs to be "made good."





1st lady : She says that it means to make good what was once "broken" ( ma yamak ) between two people.

2nd lady : She mentions that the two parties had been fighting. Ginen mumu ,

3rd lady : She uses a word hardly known anymore - plaito . It means "argument, discord, controversy" and the like. From the Spanish word pleito which means the same.

4th lady : She speaks in English and defines it as "making peace."

5th lady : Once again, having had a fight is mentioned.


THE MODERN, EXPANDED MEANING



MOVING BEYOND THE ORIGINAL MEANING


When two people make peace, then they start to help each other. So people started defining inafa'maolek as all those other things that result from peace making : mutual assistance, reciprocity, interdependence and so on.

But the original meaning always includes a prior state of enmity between two parties, which they then repaired ( fa ' maolek ).

In fact, whenever someone uses fa ' maolek with their car, for example, the listener always takes it to mean that the car was repaired. Or, with a sick person, fina ' maolek means the person was healed. The presumption is that prior to the fa ' maolek , there was a negative condition. A car was broken, a person was sick.

Once again the foundation of the word : It's bad, sick, broken, at war! Make it good! Fa ' maolek !

BY MOON AND TIDE

Monday, May 8, 2017


In olden times, our mañaina did certain things according to the phase of the moon or the rise and fall of the ocean tide.

PLANTING TUBERS

When planting tubers like dågo (yam) or kamute (sweet potato), the old people believed that if you planted when the tide was low and the moon was full, you would get a lot of tubers at harvest time, but their size would be small.

If you planted them when the tide was high and the moon was full, you wouldn't get a huge number at harvest time, but they would be larger in size than average.

CUTTING TIMBER

Old people would cut wood for homes or for tools, cut bamboo or coconut leaves for thatching when it was low tide and during the first quarter of the moon. They believed the wood was drier in these times and would thus last longer.

If you cut them when the tide was high and the moon was full, the wood would be wet and decay faster and get infested with insects.

CASTRATING ANIMALS

Our mañaina believed that blood would flow less, when castrating animals, if it were low tide and the moon dark or in the last days of its final quarter. If a person accidentally cut himself, blood would also flow less in these times.

MAKING COCONUT OIL

Our older people would make coconut oil when it was high tide, believing that one produced more oil during that time than at low tide. The coconut meat would be squeezed to get the juices out, then the drippings would be boiled and the oil would rise to the top of the pot, where it would be skimmed off.

ESTORIAN DON LUÍS

Saturday, May 6, 2017



Si Don Luís guiya i Chamorro na eskribienten i Españot na Maga'låhe gi 1850
(Don Luís was the Chamorro clerk of the Spanish Governor in the 1850s)

siha na såkkan ya kalan listo gue' na klåsen taotao.
(and he was somewhat cunning.)

Ha ågang i sisugon as Båttolo ni mangongonne' taotao desde Hagåtña asta Sumay
(He hailed the driver Båttolo who took people from Hagåtña to Sumay)

gi sahyån-ña  såhyan koche. Långa' si Båttolo mient ras kalåktos si Don Luís.
(in his covered horse buggy. Båttolo was dim-witted as much as Don Luís was sharp.)

Gina'chunge si Don Luís ni ayudånten-ña as Vicente.
(Don Luís was accompanied by his aide, Vicente.)

Mientras matåtå'chong i dos gi halom koche, ma repåra na kiekieto i koche.
(While the two were sitting in the buggy, they realized that the buggy wasn't moving.)

"Oi," umessalao si Don Luís, "håfa na ti man håhånao hit?"
("Hey," cried Don Luís, "why aren't we going?")

Manoppe si Båttolo, "Guaha kåmpo para dos ta'lo mås na pasahero.
(Båttolo answered, "There is room for two more passengers.

Ti bai hånao asta ke guaha dos mås ta'lo."
(I won't go until we have two more.")

Si Don Luís, ni kolot åttilong tuhong-ña, ha faisen si Vicente, ni kolot betde tuhong-ña,
(Don Luís, who wore a black hat, asked Vicente, who wore a green hat)

kao siña ma atulaika i tihong-ñiha. Pues tumunok si Don Luís
(if they could switch hats. Then Don Luís got down)

ya ha fa' nuebo na pasahero gue'
(and pretended to be a new passenger)

ya ha apåse ta'lo si Båttolo ni dos reåt na åpas pasåhe ya humålom ta'lo gi koche.
(and paid Båttolo the two reales fare again and got back in the buggy.)

Dos minutos despues, tumunok ta'lo si Don Luís på'go na biåhe sin tuhong
(Two minutes later, Don Luís got down again this time without a hat)

ya ha fa' nuebo na pasahero gue' ya manapåse ta'lo dos reåt ya humålom ta'lo gi koche.
(and pretended to be a new passenger and paid two reales again and got back in the buggy.)

På'go nai guaha "kuåttro" na pasahero, må'pos i koche para Sumay.
(Now with "four" passengers, the buggy left for Sumay.)

LOST SURNAMES : PACHECO

Thursday, May 4, 2017


There used to be a family on Guam called the Pachecos.

As far back as 1727, there was a Filipino soldier on Guam, very likely from Pampanga, named Pedro Pacheco. He was part of the Pampanga regiment, but it is also possible that he came from another part of the Philippines.

In 1727, he was still unmarried. But, in the 1758 Census, he had been married and was now a widower, with possibly nine children.

Five of those nine children were still unmarried in 1758 and living with Pedro. They were Francisco, Alejandro, Miguel, Domingo and María.

His married children were :

Lorenzo, who married María Charsaga, a Chamorro name.

Then there were three married daughters. Ignacia, who married the Filipino Pedro de Herrera; Bárbara, married to a man from Pago named Simon Taichigo; and María Agustina, who was widowed in 1758, having been married to a man named Cruz.

There was another Francisco Pacheco living in Humåtak, whose mother was María Taitingo. What relation he had, if any, with Pedro Pacheco of Hagåtña, is unknown at this time.

There was also a man named Pedro Pacheco from Pago, but whose parents seem to have been "pure" Chamorros, Carlos Lalalo and Juana Taasi. It was sometimes the case that a baby received, not only a Spanish first name, but also a Spanish surname as well.

Given that the older Pedro from Hagåtña we first mentioned had five sons, you would think that the Pacheco name would continue up to the present. But it didn't.

By 1897, there was only one person on Guam having the last name Pacheco.

Her name was Cipriana Pacheco, and she was married to José Finoña. Thus, the Pacheco name was to last just one more generation, as the maternal last name of her children, who all carried Finoña as the paternal last name. The Finoña would survive, but the Pacheco would not.

In fact, the Finoñas who are descendants of Cipriana Pacheco are the Familian Englis today.

Many years ago, I did the family tree of an elderly lady from the Familian Englis, and when I explained that her great grandmother was named Cipriana Pacheco, she said she had never heard the last name Pacheco before.

ORIGIN OF PACHECO

Scholars believe that the last name Pacheco started in Portugal and then some Pachecos moved to Spain, where it is found today, especially in the south and in the parts closest to Portugal. They are not sure what the name means or how it started.

HUMÅTAK'S HIDDEN CEMETERY

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Humåtak's Hidden Protestant Cemetery
located in West Ginahit, Humåtak


As far as most people are concerned, Humåtak has but one, solitary cemetery. You make a right turn immediately after the big, towered bridge, leaving Route 1 and entering the West Ginahit area and take the road all the way in and there you will find the Catholic cemetery at the dead end. No pun intended.

And most people would not be surprised that Humåtak (so it seems) has but one cemetery. The village is one of Guam's smallest, so one cemetery should suffice. And, no surprise, it's the parish or Catholic cemetery, since everyone in Humåtak is Catholic. Right?

Wrong.

Today, of course, many Chamorros are no longer Catholic but even in the 1930s, not everyone in Humåtak was Catholic.

There was one Baptist family there.

The head of the family was Juan Aguon Quinata, the son of Faustino Mendiola Quinata and Clara Infaña Aguon. He was born in Humåtak in 1883 and then married a Sumay woman, Elocracia Guzmán Dueñas. Her first name has been spelled in a variety of ways! Her headstone spells it Elocracia. One census spells it Elogracia. And the oldest census she is in, the 1897 one, renders her name Lucrecia. She was the daughter of José Quintanilla Dueñas and María Santos Guzmán.

The couple became Baptist. Till his death, Juan read a Spanish Bible every day and lead family prayers at night.

As Baptists, none of them could be buried in the Catholic cemetery in Humåtak, the only one existing in the 1930s. So when Juan's daughter Guadalupe died in 1934, land for a non-Catholic cemetery had to be found. I am not sure how this piece of land became the Protestant (or, at least, non-Catholic) cemetery. I'd have to research at Land Management who is the owner and who were the owners in the past. I wouldn't be surprised if this land was Juan's to begin with, but that's just a guess.

Either by design or by coincidence, the Protestant Cemetery is just a few yards away from the Catholic one. It is so small; the headstones so darkened with the passage of time and the effects of the weather, that it is easy to miss when driving by.



Guadalupe's grave

Of the headstones that still exist, the oldest belongs to Juan's daughter Guadalupe, who was born on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12th in 1909. I have a suspicion, then, that Juan was still Catholic in 1909 since he named his daughter after the saint on whose feast the daughter was born. Our Lady of Guadalupe also happens to be the patroness of Sumay, the village where Elocracia came from.

Guadalupe had married Francisco T. Manalisay, a school teacher, but unfortunately she died a young woman, being only 24 years old at the time of death.

Sadly, just the following year, Juan's wife Elocracia also died, at the relatively young age of 55. Hers is the second oldest headstone in the cemetery.



Elocracia's weather-beaten headstone.
You can just barely make out the writing.

After the war, many of Juan's family became Seventh Day Adventists, but Juan remained a Baptist and played the organ at the Talofofo General Baptist Church. When he died in 1958 he was buried in this small cemetery along with his wife and daughter.



Juan's headstone is in better condition.

There is, finally, the grave of a stateside woman, Mary Violet Cathey (maiden name Bridges), born in Missouri. She died in Guam in 1966 and is buried in Humåtak. I do not know her story, nor her connection to the Quinatas, if any in fact exists.



For all we know, there may other graves in this cemetery, but the headstones are missing.


EARLY AMERICAN SHIP IN TINIAN

Monday, May 1, 2017


In October of 1799, the whaling ship Barclay set out from New Bedford, Massachusetts in search of seal skins. Griffin Barney was in command of the ship. After many months of travel and seal catching in various places in the Atlantic, they headed up the Pacific to Hawaii and from there to China.

But on the way to China the Barclay made a stop at Tinian in the fall of 1800. Perhaps the first visit to Tinian, and indeed perhaps the entire Marianas, by an American ship. The American ship the Lydia would not come to Guam until 1802.

The reports of the Barclay about Tinian state that the island was uninhabited, except by "immense droves of white cattle." The men of the ship helped themselves to abundant supplies of lemons and red peppers.

Interestingly, nothing is said about the House of Taga. Perhaps the men didn't find it or, perhaps finding it, didn't know what it was, there being no one on Tinian at the time to tell them. But I tend to think that, had they seen those tall pillars, they would have simply reported seeing them, even without knowing what they were.



The House of Taga did not make it in the story but Tinian cattle did.

THE FORGOTTEN TAOTAOMO'NA

Thursday, April 27, 2017


For any years I had read about how some taotaomo'na (manifestations of the ancient spirits) appeared with gaping holes on the sides of their torso, but only recently did I come across a pre-war story giving one of them a name.

Masongsong Kalaguåk - ña .

Apparently, in pre-war days, everyone knew him by that name.

Songsong can mean "village" but it can also mean "to stuff, to fill in a hole."

Kalaguak means the left and right sides of the torso, from the rib cage down to the waist.

So Masongsong Kalaguåk - ña means "stuffed his side."

According to the description, this taotaomo'na had a gaping hole on his side and he stuffed it with banana leaves or coconut husks. Then he covered the entire hole with a banana leaf.

All the children of Guam knew him by name because mothers and grandmothers would warn them that Masongsong Kalaguåk-ña went after misbehaving kids and put them in his hole and covered the hole with the banana leaf and went back to the jungle with the child.

Perhaps some families kept the memory of his name but, after asking around, no one I asked had ever heard of the name Masongsong Kalaguåk-ña. More people had heard that some taotaomo'na had holes on their sides, stuffed with leaves. Fewer people told me they knew about one who stole bad children by putting them in the hole. But no one that I talked to knew his name.


ESTORIAN MAFA'ÑAGUE

Tuesday, April 25, 2017


An elderly woman shares with me how her deceased husband (she thinks) was showing her signs that he was still around, at least for a while.

It's important to understand a few details before proceeding.

Her husband died young, just in his early 30s. He was not sick. He died of a work-related injury.

Annai måtai i asaguå-ho, lamme' maolek na bidå-ña, (1)
(When my husband died, boy did he do good,)

åmbre sa' hoben ha' annai måtai.
(well you see he was young when he died.)

Ayo na ilek-ña i man åmko' na eyi i ti malångo' na finatai. Bråbo nai.
(The older people talked about someone dying who was not sick. He was healthy.)

I asaguå-ho annai måtai, si nanå-ho ha nå'e yo' uno gi mane'lu-ho palao'an para u ayuyuda yo'
(When my husband died, my mother gave me one of my sisters to be helping me) (2)

sa' i famagu'on; kuåttro famagu'on-måme yan i asaguå-ho.
(because of the children; my husband and I had four children.)

Pues todo i dumalalak yo', i man sobrinå-ho yan i man primå-ho,
(So everyone who accompanied me, my nieces and cousins,)

gi gima' annai på'go måtai,
(in the house when he just died,)

ma siesiente sa', annai mamokkat gi tatten guma' ni cha'guan.
(were feeling his presence, when he walked behind the house on the grass,)

sa' fihu eyi a las dos gi chatanmak annai tåya', pues på'go komo ha hungok  i ga'-måme ga'lågo
(because he often did that at two in the morning when all was quiet, if he heard our dog)

na duru humaohao. Pues mamokkat gi cha'guan gi san tatte. (3)
(keep barking. Then he would walk on the grass in the back.)

Pues guaha guå'ot hulo' gi galeria pues in hingok ha' på'go i patås-ña.
(Then there were steps going up to the porch and we would hear his feet.)

Pues eyi i che'lu-ho, sa' hilo' tåpbla na mamaigo' pues hame yan i famagu'on gi kåttre.
(Then my sister, because she was sleeping on the floor while me and the kids were on the bed.)

Pues sige ha' på'go eyi i sabanas, ilek-ña, "Maria, Maria, eyigue' ta'lo." (4)
(Then the sheets, she said, "Maria, Maria, there he is again.")

Ya pues in hingok annai mamokkat gue' hålom gi gima', i sapatos-ña.
(And then we hear him when he walks into the house, his shoes.)

Pues eyi i pettan i kuåtto, an un baba chechekchek i kuetdas i petta,
(Then the door to the bedroom, the door springs squeak when you open the door,)

pues in hingok annai ha baba i petta.
(so we heard when he opened the door.)

Ya guaha siya gi halom kuåtto ya un li'e' ha' annai matå'chong gue' gi siya, i minakat-ña. (5)
(And there was a chair inside the bedroom and you see when he sits on the chair, his weight.)

Pues guaha na an chatanmak in hingok i båño, eyi i hanom, na ma bira
(Then at times in the early morning we hear the bathroom, that the water is turned on)

ya duru de palåspas i hanom.
(and the water keeps splashing.)

Pues, ilek-ñiha i man åmko' na sesso man bisita i difunto sa' pot måtai hoben
(So the old people said that my deceased husband kept visiting because he died young)

yan chachathinasso gue' pot hame yan i famagu'on sa' ha dingu ham,
(and he was worried about me and the kids because he left us)

lao hu sangåne gue' gi un puenge,
(but I told him one night,)

"Båsta ham man ma bisita, sa' esta un li'e' na man mamamaolek ha' ham.
("Stop visiting us, because you see that we are well.)

Hånao ya un deskånsa på'go sa' tåya' chinatsagan-måme."
(Go and rest now because we have no troubles.")

Pues pumåra man bisita.
(And he stopped visiting.)


NOTES


(1) She is being sarcastic. Her husband's hauntings were noticeable! If his intention was to be noticed, he succeeded. He did well!

(2) You can see here the family support system at work in Chamorro culture. The widow was young, with four young children to care for. So her other sent one of her other daughters, a younger one who was still single, to help the widow care for the children while the widow found a job and worked during the day. These were the days when most couples had many children, which meant there was no shortage of helpers. Even nieces and cousins would come and stay at the widow's house to help care for the children.

(3) The deceased would get up when he'd hear the dog bark at night, and the sound of his feet brushing against the grass behind the house where the dog was could be heard even after he had died, at the same time of night.

(4) She meant that her sister could feel or see someone pulling the sheets while they were sleeping.

(5) They could see someone's weight push down the cushion on the chair.


TI MAN FÅTTA I GI SENGSONG

Monday, April 24, 2017

Humåtak in olden days


" Gi sengsong " is the name used at one time for everybody who didn't live in Hagåtña.

It literally means "people from the village." Hagåtña was "the city," "the capital."

Songsong means "village," and gi means "from" or "at."

There was a bit of deprecation implied in the term gi sengsong . People from the city were supposed to be "higher;" smarter, more sophisticated, more affluent. The gi sengsong were supposed to be slower, less affluent.

But the one thing the gi sengsong could say about themselves was that they had whatever was needed for life right at their finger tips. From the guålo ' (farm) or tåsi (sea), they had what was needed for food and material.

The gi Hagåtña (people from Hagåtña) also farmed and fished, but their farms or ranches were located farther away from their homes. Many Hagåtña people farmed as far away as Yigo. This meant that a lot of city people had to sleep most of the week at their farms, coming into town only for the weekend. Southern people, though, lived closer to their farms. They didn't need to sleep at the farms since their farms were only a short distance from the village in most cases.

Secondly, many in the higher classes in Hagåtña didn't farm at all, but rather bought what they needed from those who did farm.

By the 1930s, more and more Hagåtña people were relying on store-bought items imported from the U.S., Japan and the Philippines, which meant that if the stores ran out of things, the customer had to wait for the next shipment. The gi sengsong , however, still relied mainly on their own resources, which, in most cases, never ran out.

Thus, an old lady originally from the south said,

Masea pånglao yan gåmson,
ti man fåtta i man gi sengsong.

Even if it's just crab and octopus,
the villagers are never lacking.

IT'S HAPPENED BEFORE : COCONUT PESTS

Friday, April 21, 2017


Ninety years before we on Guam started dealing with the rhino beetle, it was the Coconut Scale.

The Coconut Scale is a tiny insect that damaged our island's coconut trees in 1924. Its scientific name is the Aspidiotus Destructor . The scale feeds off the sap of coconut and other trees, causing damage to and often the death of the tree.

The insect can travel to new lands by wind or on birds. It was suspected that the ones on Guam were carried by birds coming from Saipan, where the scale had already been active for some time.

Upon discovering the presence of the insect, the government started identifying infected trees and then burned them to contain the spread of the insect.  Something worked to eradicate the plague because, before long, the trees bounced back and Guam continued to produce copra (dried coconut meat) for export.

Besides the revenue from copra sales, in those days, the people really relied a lot on the coconut tree for all the benefits it provided. The meat and juice provided food; the fibers made string and rope; the shell was used as cups and ladles. Almost everything from the tree was put to some use, and most people did not have money to buy substitutes in the stores.

Today, we hardly feel the loss of our coconut trees, due to the rhino beetle. We even buy imported coconut juice and imported shredded coconut for food. About the only time we feel the sting of the rhino beetle invasion is when we look for tuba and cannot find it.




Coconuts infected with the Coconut Scale insect

KÅNTA : COMMONWEALTH

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

As in any other language, some Chamorro songs are more than just catchy or moving in sound; they also have a social or political message. Here is one such song, followed below by commentary :




"COMMONWEALTH"
by Tropicsette


Gi durånten i geran dos / i hinalom-ña i Amerikåno,
ha na' tacho' i banderå-ña / sa' ha gånna i Hapones.
Man mafanå'gue i famagu'on / fino' Englis gi eskuela,
ya an ma plånta i amotsa / "scrambled eggs" ginagao-ñiha.

REF : Hafañe'los ta protehe / Islas Marianas
sa' guiya i palåsyo / ma fa'tinas para hita.
Hafañe'los ta protehe / Islas Marianas
masea ta fan US / lao Marianas i tano'-ta.

Man ma emplea i natibo / ma abandona i fangualu'an,
man hotnalero i lancheros / ya man mendioka i bulacheros.
Mampos på'go i suetdo / lao abundånsia nengkanno',
sa' iya Marianas sumen riko / hilo' tåno' yan halom tåsi.

Mit nuebe sientos setentai ocho / gi estorian Marianas
ma establese i Commonwealth / i nuebo na gobietnamiento.
Meggai ginaddon gi entalo' / eksekutibo yan lehislatibo,
taotao Marianas ha' siha / lao maloffan man enemigo.

And now, for your convenience, an interlinear translation :


Gi durånten i geran dos / i hinalom-ña i Amerikåno,
(During World War Two / when the Americans came in,)
ha na' tacho' i banderå-ña / sa' ha gånna i Hapones.
(they raised up their flag / because they beat the Japanese.)
Man mafanå'gue i famagu'on / fino' Englis gi eskuela,
(They taught the children / English in school,)
ya an ma plånta i amotsa / "scrambled eggs" ginagao-ñiha.
(and when breakfast was served / they asked for scrambled eggs.)

REF : Hafañe'los ta protehe / Islas Marianas
(Brethren let's protect / the Mariana Islands)
sa' guiya i palåsyo / ma fa'tinas para hita.
(because it is the palace / made for us.)
Hafañe'los ta protehe / Islas Marianas
(Brethren let's protect / the Mariana Islands)
masea ta fan US / lao Marianas i tano'-ta.
(even if we become the US / but the Marianas is our land.)

Man ma emplea i natibo / ma abandona i fangualu'an,
(They employed the natives / the farms were abandoned,)
man hotnalero i lancheros / ya man mendioka i bulacheros.
(ranchers became day workers / and the drunkards became tapioca.)
Mampos på'go i suetdo / lao abundånsia nengkanno',
(Wages now are high / but there is an abundance of food,)
sa' iya Marianas sumen riko / hilo' tåno' yan halom tåsi.
(because the Marianas is very rich / on the land and in the sea.)

Mit nuebe sientos setentai ocho / gi estorian Marianas
(Nineteen hundred seventy-eight / in the history of the Marianas)
ma establese i Commonwealth / i nuebo na gobietnamiento.
(the Commonwealth was established / the new government.)
Meggai ginaddon gi entalo' / eksekutibo yan lehislatibo,
(Many became trapped within / the executive and legislative,)
taotao Marianas ha' siha / lao maloffan man enemigo.
(they are all people of the Marianas / but extreme enemies.)


NOTES

It is very difficult to understand many things in a language if one goes just by a literal translation. Some things are just understood to native speakers, but these things need to be fleshed out to those who understand the language less or not at all.

The central message of this song is : Becoming Americans does not guarantee a perfect life. It also presents some problems. Be careful!

There is the danger of cultural loss or change . The kids now ask for "scrambled eggs" for breakfast. They are learning English in school, but the implied question is, "Are they forgetting their own language?" People have more jobs now and salaries are good, but people are forgetting how to farm and all this money might be allowing more people to spend on liquor and become alcoholics.

There is an implied critique of prosperity here, too. Mampos på'go i suetdo . How can money ever be mampos ? Mampos means "excessive." Can one have too much money? The song seems to answer in the affirmative. When there is an excess of money, all kinds of vices can take root. Spending on bad things; making money the highest priority, to the point of suing one's own family over money or land (leading to fractured families).

There is the danger that politics will lead to community divisions . Self-government is now in the hands of the local people, but now they have turned against each other over political issues and, perhaps, over power plays. At the time this song was written, there was a huge fight in the CNMI between the first Governor (executive) and the first Speaker of the House (legislative) of the newly-established Commonwealth.

And the song asks the question, in so many words, " Why be so enamored with the U.S. when our islands are already a palace supplying everything we really need?" Happiness, the song argues, between the lines, is already ours. It does not lie somewhere else, in a country far away.

The song also seems to imply, what I think is really what many people think, that we are Americans only to a point. We are our own people. We might be American citizens, but "the Marianas is our country."

More than that, the song says we have to protect ourselves against the very Americans we are becoming part of. The refrain urges the people to "protect the Marianas." Protect the Marianas from whom? From what? Too much American influence at the expense of our culture, language and social unity? The Chamorros of the Northern Marianas had to protect themselves against the Japanese, and now against the Americans as well! Now there are many in the Northern Marianas who feel the need to protect the land against the U.S., specifically the use of some islands for military purposes.



LANGUAGE NOTES

Geran Dos. This literally means "War Two" or "the Second War." For Chamorros, there is really only one gera (war); the one fought between 1941 and 1944 because that war was the only war, in modern times, where Chamorros suffered the effects of war. So Chamorros normally don't say "World War Two" in Chamorro. It's just the gera .

Haponés . Notice how the singers do not say Chapanis. Chamorros from all the Marianas say Chapanis nowadays, but the older Chamorros, mostly all gone now, used to say Haponés, which is the Spanish way of saying "Japanese." But the Spanish influence on our language is disappearing and English influence ("Chapanis" as our version of  "Japanese") has taken over.

Plånta . Literally means "to place on or to set the table." But, originally, it meant "to set up, establish, lay the foundation of." So one can plånta i låso (set the trap) or plånta i tereno (plant the field).

Scrambled Eggs . This is interesting because the "complaint" of the song is that the kids are becoming Americanized, and one example of that is their desire for scrambled eggs. Didn't Chamorros eat scrambled eggs long before the Americans came? Inafliton chåda '? Well, in the mind of the composer of this song, scrambled egg is a symbol of Americanization.

Hotnalero . From the Spanish jornalero , meaning "day laborer." These were people who were hired on a daily basis and paid day to day, as well. The Latin word diurnalis (daily) is the root word for derivatives in many languages such as Spanish jornalero , Italian giorno (day), French jour (day) and English journal (daily newspaper). The song uses hotnalero in the sense of an employee (someone paid by the hour). Before the war, most Chamorros were farmers. Farmers are not employees, nor are the paid by the hour. Farmers work for themselves and live off their produce or the income they get from selling them.

Man mendioka i bulacheros . I will have to ask Candy Taman one day what the real joke is here. Mendioka is tapioca. This is obviously a joke aimed at drunkards ( bulacheros ).

Establese . NOT establisa . Establisa shows that the American influence ("establish") has really made a dent when some people want to find a Chamorro equivalent. Long before the Americans came, the Spaniards made their dent on our language for 200 years. In Spanish, "establish" is establece , or estabese in Chamorro.

Maloffan . Means "to pass" or "to pass by." It can also mean to "go beyond", to be "extreme." Maloffan lalålo ' means "extremely angry." Something has "passed" beyond the normal way of being angry or what have you.

FINO' GUAM, FINO' SAIPAN

Monday, April 17, 2017



What is a "hose" in Chamorro?

It depends.

In Guam, tilipas .

In the CNMI, hos .

Why the difference?

The difference comes from who influenced them first. It is possible that rubber hoses were used on Guam during the late Spanish period. Hoses have been around for a long time, the later ones being made of stitched leather. By the 1870s, hoses were made of rubber. Had they been used in the Marianas then, the Spanish word manguera for "rubber hose" would have also been used by the Chamorros.

But, rubber hoses wouldn't have been used much in the Marianas till the 1900s. By then, Spain was no longer ruling over the Marianas and the Spanish language would now have no strong influence over the Chamorros. Manguera never entered permanently into our Chamorro speech, if at all.

By the time a real system of water pipes was put in place in Guam and Saipan in the early 1900s, the Americans on Guam and the Japanese in Saipan were changing things up for the Chamorro people.


TILIPAS

So, assuming our people had no word for what they probably didn't see or use much, or at all, they had to come up with their own word for the hose once it became a common item.

So some imaginative person on Guam looked at a hose and said, " Kalan tilipas este !" "This looks like intestines!" Well, I don't know that for sure, but that's the word that stuck on Guam, probably because a hose resembles intestines.



Tilipas!

What's interesting is that some of the first hoses in ancient history were indeed made of intestines! Just as they were historically used as casings for sausages, the intestines of animals were cleaned and then used as water channels.

The Chamorro word tilipas comes from the Spanish word tripa , or tripas in the plural. Tripa refers to the innards or guts of an animal, including the intestine. It is related to the English word "tripe."

In older Chamorro, people sometimes had to say " tilipas goma " or "rubber intestines" to differentiate a hose from an animal's intestines. Even more clear, to avoid confusion, was " tilipas goma para hånom ," or "rubber intestine for water."

Today, the context is enough to tell people which tilipas is being used, the hose or the body part.

Ma puno' i babue ya ma laknos i tilipås-ña. They killed the pig and took out its intestines .

Chule' i tilipas ya un rega i tinanom. Get the hose and water the plants.



HOS

Now up in Saipan, the Japanese ruled from 1914 till 1944, and their influence added to the Chamorro language spoken there.

The Japanese had a word for "hose," and, if we were to spell it in Roman letters, it would be spelled h ō su . That word itself comes from the Dutch word hoos , which sounds like our English "hose" and means just that - a hose. The Japanese got the word from the Dutch, who did a lot of trading with the Japanese. There are, in fact, a good number of Dutch words that came into the Japanese language.








KÅNTA : SI YU'OS HA GIGIHA I GALAIDE

Tuesday, April 11, 2017


This song was written by Benjie Santiago and recorded by San Dimas Voices in Faith, under the direction of Vince Reyes.




LYRICS

Refrain : Si Yu'os ha gigiha i galaide.
(God is guiding the boat.)

1. Ha håtsa hulo' i galaide-ho ya hu patcha i kanai-ña;
(He lifted up my boat and I touched His hand;)

ha nå'i yu' ni bendision-ña, ha na' magof yu'.
(He gave me His blessing, He made me happy.)

2. Masea håfa pinadesi-mu, faisen gui', faisen gui';
(Whatever is your suffering, ask Him, ask Him;)

ya siempre ha nå'i hao ni i ineppe.
(and He will surely give you the answer.)

3. Si Yu'os Tåta i guinaiya,
(God the Father is love,)

si Yu'os Tåta i Asaina.
(God the Father is the Lord.)


LUTA ANNAI TÅYA' PÅLE'

Monday, April 10, 2017

The Catholic Church in Luta (Rota) sometime between 1915 and 1920
San Francisco de Borja Church, Songsong

The Catholic mission on Luta, which was made up of one solitary church staffed by one solitary priest, was under the German Capuchins from 1908 until 1919. In fact, Luta had the same priest, a German Capuchin friar, all those years. His name was Father Corbinian. The Chamorros called him Påle' Corbiniano.

For ten years, Påle' Corbiniano loved being on Luta. He made a big impact on the people there. He was the only European on the island for some of the time, and ran the only school. The German Government never opened one on Luta.

When the Japanese took the Northern Marianas over from the Germans in 1914, they let the German Capuchins continue to work in Saipan and Luta (Tinian had no Chamorro population yet) for awhile. But by 1918, when World War I was ended and Japan had the secure possession of the Northern Marianas (as well as the rest of Micronesia, except Guam), the Japanese Government told the German Capuchins they had to leave.

The problem was that the Catholic Church didn't know who to send to Saipan and Luta to replace the departing German Capuchins. Ideally, Japanese priests would have come but Japan had few Japanese priests and what few there existed were needed in Japan.

So when Påle' Corbiniano packed his things to leave Luta for the rest of his life, he needed to appoint someone or some people to have official responsibility to make sure that the church of San Francisco de Borja, any other chapels, the priest's house and all church property were maintained and not totally abandoned. Not only would total abandonment lead to the decay of those buildings, the Japanese government may be tempted to use those buildings (or let others do so) in the absence of the missionaries.

So Påle' Corbiniano appointed a committee of leading Luta men to be responsible for church property until the Vatican finally decided what missionaries would be sent to Saipan and Luta.

The committee members appointed by Påle' Corbiniano were :

Pedro Mangloña
José Taitano
Juan Taisacan
Vicente Mangloña
Francisco Mendiola
Juan Ayuyu
José Atalig
Elías Atalig
Baldomero Mendiola
José Taitano II
José Songsong
Sixto Taimañao
José Mangloña

Interestingly, this group makes 13 members; the 12 Apostles and Jesus! An odd number, so there'd never be a tie if something needed to be voted on.

WHO THEY COULD BE

Since we have the Luta Census of 1897, we can speculate who some of these men are. In 1919, teenagers and young adults wouldn't have been chosen to be on the committee, so the members would appear in the 1897 Census. So it's just a matter of finding the same names in that Census.

There are three problems, though, The three Mangloñas in the committee all have common names (Pedro, Vicente and José) and there are more than one of all three names in the 1897 Census, so it is not clear which one it is, so I will leave these three names alone.

José Borja Atalig, married to María de León Guerrero Taimañao

Elías Masga Atalig, son of Benito Atalig and Brigida Masga. Married Ana Hocog.

Juan Matantaotao Ayuyu. Married to Isabel Atalig Songao.

Baldomero Mangloña Mendiola. Son of Felix Mendiola and Ana Mangloña. Married to Maria Cruz Camacho.

Francisco Mendiola. Son of Felix Mendiola and Ana Mangloña.

Vicente Mangloña. Married to Carmen Taimañao Mendiola.

Sixto Arriola Taimañao. Son of Francisco Taimañao and Maria Arriola.

José Hocog Songsong. Son of Carmelo Songsong and Rita Hocog.

Juan Masaii Taisacan. Married to María Masga. He was the sacristan ( saklestan ). His middle name is spelled in various ways and that family has died out.

José Mangloña Taitano. Son of Pedro Taitano and Joaquina Mangloña. Teacher. Known as "Maestron Taitano."

His son, José Taitano II.


IN THE END


In just two years, in 1921, a Spanish Jesuit priest was allowed by the Japanese Government to live and work in Luta, just as they allowed in Saipan.






100 YEARS AGO : THE CORMORAN

Thursday, April 6, 2017



GUAM'S ROLE IN WORLD WAR ONE

Although the first war between Germany and the United States was fought thousands of miles away in Europe, Guam had a historic role in it. The first shots fired by an American against the Germans in that war were fired on Guam. And, a German ship was scuttled in Apra Harbor, the first German naval loss in the war with America.



The SMS Cormoran


FINDING SHELTER IN GUAM

In 1914, World War One broke out. The United States was not involved in the war yet. But Japan was, and Japan joined the allies in fighting Germany. Germany owned all of Micronesia, except Guam, and the Japanese were out to take Micronesia over from the Germans.

A German ship, the Cormoran , was sailing in our part of the Pacific, trying to avoid meeting up with Japanese ships. But she was running low on coal, the fuel source enabling the ship to sail. Hiding out near Lamotrek in the Carolines, the captain of the Cormoran , Adalbert Zuckschwerdt, sent a small boat to Guam asking for coal. The Americans interned the Germans. The U.S. was not involved in the war and didn't want to give the Japanese a reason to accuse them of aiding the Germans.

When the small boat did not return to the Cormoran , the Cormoran itself sailed for Guam, arriving in December. The Americans refused to give the Germans coal and gave them one day to leave Guam or be interned. When the ship was still in Apra Harbor the next day, the Cormoran was interned. For more than two years, the Cormoran sat idle in Apra Harbor. During that time, the crew generally was able to come ashore and spend time on the island, at designated places and at designated times. Depending on the governor, the Germans actually became part of the social life of Guam, attending dinners and parties. A German crew member and an American nurse actually fell in love and married on Guam.


German crew members of the Cormoran and a Chamorro boy


WAR

By 1917, relations between the U.S. and Germany had gotten so bad that the U.S. was more willing to enter into the war.

On April 7, 1917, the Governor of Guam at the time, Roy Smith, got word from Washington, DC that the U.S. was now at war with Germany. Smith sent a lieutenant to inform Captain Zuckschwerdt of the Cormoran of the fact and that he was being ordered by Smith to turn the ship over to U.S. hands.

Zuckschwerdt refused. As the American party was sailing back to Piti to inform Governor Smith of the German refusal to surrender the ship, the Cormoran exploded. Zuckschwerdt had decided to blow up his own ship rather than let it fall in American hands. A bomb which he had successfully hidden from American inspection (by disassembling it) was used to blow a hole in the hull of the ship. The sick crew members and those who couldn't swim had been let down moments before in the ship's one and only life boat. The rest dove into the water. Seven crew members did not survive.

A U.S. Marine, a Major Ethelbert Talbot, had shot his rifle at the Germans in the midst of all this commotion; the first shot fired by an American at a German target in World War One.


AN UNDERWATER MEMORIAL TO TWO WARS

The Cormoran sank and remains to this day under water in Apra Harbor. Twenty-seven years later, another ship sank in Apra Harbor and came to rest just above the Cormoran . This time it was a Japanese ship, the Tokai Maru , sank by American attack in World War II.

This is another Guam first and only. Only in Apra Harbor can one find a naval casualty of both world wars resting in the same exact location.




A SMALL REMINDER

The German casualties of the Cormoran explosion were buried in the Naval Cemetery in Hagåtña. A marker was made by the Germans themselves, with a German inscription : The dead of the SMS Cormoran . It can still be seen in the Naval Cemetery, 100 years after the event.



YOUR AMERICAN IS SHOWING

Wednesday, April 5, 2017


What is the Chamorro word for "treasurer?"

Languages change because the people who speak languages change.

Today, people are far, far removed from the Spanish influence that molded the generation of our grandparents. English now has a greater opportunity to influence people.

The above example shows the influence of English on modern-day Chamorros. The temptation is to take an English word like "treasurer" and give it a Spanish-sounding end, like ending it with "-årio."

Like kalendårio (calendar), or miyonårio (millionaire) or nesesårio (necessary).

Treasurer + årio = Trisurårio

Treasurer. Trisurårio.

Trisurårio shows the influence of BOTH languages, Spanish (the ending -årio) and English (the word treaurer).

It shows how we turn to Spanish influence when we want to make something English sound Chamorro.


WHAT OUR GRANDPARENTS SAID

But, two generations ago, our mañaina did not have the English language to infuence them. Their outside influence was the Spanish language.

The Spanish word for "treasurer" is TESORERO and this is what our mañaina used for the word "treasurer."

Here are a few examples from early dictionaries :




Von Preissig's 1918 English to Chamorro dictionary gives tesorero as the Chamorro word for "treasurer."



Påle' Román's 1932 Chamorro to Spanish dictionary gives tesorero as the Chamorro word for "treasurer," also.

It comes from the Spanish word for "treasure," which is tesoro . A tesorero is the one in charge of the tesoro .

The word tesorero did not get passed down to modern generations of Chamorro speakers. It wasn't used enough in ordinary, daily speech because only rarely do we ever deal with treasurers. So, tesorero was lost on many Chamorro speakers.

So, when heavily Americanized Chamorro speakers asked themselves the question, "How to say 'treasurer' in Chamorro?" they turned to the English word "treasurer" and tried to make it sound Chamorro by adding the Spanish ending -årio. "Treasurer" became "Trisurårio."


A CHAMORRO WORD FOR TREASURER

Påle Román suggested a possibly purely Chamorro word for "treasurer," not borrowing from Spanish at all.

Mangugu'ot salåppe'.

Gu'ot means "to hold on to." Salåppe ' is "money."

The one who holds on to the money. Treasurer. Mangugu'ot Salåppe' .

It just remains an open question whether salåppe ' is indigenous or whether it was borrowed from Filipino salapi (money). A question for another day.


NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP

Tuesday, April 4, 2017


Someone asked me the other day for the Chamorro version of the bedtime prayer "Now I Lay me down to Sleep."

I told them I had never heard of one because that prayer comes from American custom. Our Chamorro devotions are from the Spanish culture. So, I decided, with help from Påle' José Villagomez who reviewed my translation, to come up with a Chamorro version.


VERSION I

Here is a Chamorro version for the original form of the prayer. First, the original in English, followed by the Chamorro, and audio to help those needing to hear the pronunciation.

"MA MARGARET"

Monday, April 3, 2017


In Guam in the 1930s, modern women went to Margaret's Beauty Shop to have their hair done.

In Chamorro, they were "ma Margaret."


Margaret, on left, and her mother, Agueda Iglesias Johnston

The Margaret in question was Margaret Johnston, the daughter of William and Agueda Johnston. Sometime in the early 1930s, Margaret went off to Manila to take beauty classes at the Aguinaldo Institute of Hair Science, which was part of the huge and posh Aguinaldo Department Store.



The Aguinaldo Department Store in Manila

Then she took more classes at the American School of Beauty Culture and worked as a hair dresser at the Real Art Beauty Shop on Dewey Avenue (now Roxas Boulevard), near the Army and Navy Club.


Dewey Avenue in Manila when Margaret was studying there in the 1930s

Returning to Guam, she opened her beauty shop on July 2, 1934 in the refurbished quarters of the old Scorpion's Club House, west of the Officers' Club in Hagåtña.


SÅTBE JOSÉ PATRIÅTKA

Thursday, March 30, 2017


A short hymn to San José (Saint Joseph)




Såtbe José Patriåtka, magof na' li'e' ham
(Hail Patriarch Joseph, be pleased to show us)

nu i fina' patgon-mo ya u bendise ham.
(your adopted child and He will bless us.)

Hamyo yan si Maria, en tayuyute ham,
(You and Mary, pray for us.)

gågao si Jesukristo na u fa' maulek ham.
(ask Jesus Christ that He make us whole.)

1925 GARDEN CONTEST

Wednesday, March 29, 2017


Guam, like most of the Marianas before World War II, was self-sustaining in food in most things. Once in a blue moon, pests or storms might damage the island's crops and emergency food supplies would have to come from Manila, as did happen during Spanish times.

The Naval Government's policy before the war was to encourage the people to farm and produce more. The government schools could help promote this idea and one way to do it was to have the students from the different schools compete with their agricultural produce.

In 1925, a Garden Competition was held among the schools and these were the results :


BEST ....
WINNER

SCHOOL


SQUASH

Jesus M. Chargualaf

Inalåhan

THREE EGG PLANTS

Martin Barcinas

Malesso'

EGG PLANT

Gregorio Taitague

Inalåhan

CORN

Jose S. Rivera

Hågat

WATERMELON

Jose H. Lujan

Inalåhan

CUCUMBER

Gloria C. Borja

Yoña

KONDOT

Jose Meno

Inalåhan

KW BEANS

Pedro Leon Guerrero

Intermediate (Hagåtña)

CANTALOUPE

Martin Barcinas

Malesso'

LETTUCE

Joaquin San Nicolas

Dorn Hall (Hagåtña)

CHAYOTE

Jose L. Babauta

Talofofo

PUMPKIN

Vicente Baleto

Sumay

RADISHES

Juan Cruz Perez

Bilibic (Hagåtña)

TURNIPS

Jesus Guerrero

Bilibic (Hagåtña)

TOMATOES

Jose Gutierrez

Intermediate (Hagåtña)

PEPPER

Martin Barcinas

Malesso'

MUSTARD

Jesus L. Tenorio

Bilibic (Hagåtña)

COPRA
1st : Joaquin S. Inoue
2nd : Vicente P. Leon Guerrero
Piti
Inalåhan

ATMAGOSO

Juan M. Salas

Hågat



SOME NOTES....


Three Egg Plants . I can only guess that competitors could enter three egg plants to see whose trio was the best.


Kondot . There was no English name for this listed in the original but it can be called the wax gourd in English.


KW Beans . Stood for "Kentucky Wonder." I remember my grandmother (born 1899) using this term for those beans.


Chayote . Better spelled chaiote or chaioti in Chamorro. This was a variety of squash said to have been brought to Guam by James Underwood and given a Chamorro name using his last name!


Atmagoso . Bitter melon.


Villages . Among these 19 categories, Hagåtña schools took six prizes and Inalåhan took five.


Persons . The individual student who took the most prizes was from Malesso', one Martin C. Barcinas.

KÅNTA : SEN MEHNALOM NA ADAHEN

Tuesday, March 28, 2017


Chamorro hymn to San Jose (Saint Joseph)





LYRICS


REFRAIN : Sen mehnalom na adahen / i Såntos na Iglesia
(Most wise guardian / of the Holy Church)
na' mames hao ya un goggue / i gumuguaiya hao siha.
(sweeten your disposition and defend / those who love you.)

San Jose inayek Yu'us / fina' Tatan i Lahi-ña
(Saint Joseph, chosen by God / to be the foster father of His Son)
tayuyute ham sen fehman / på'go guennao gi me'nå-ña.
(pray for us fervently / there now before Him.)

Asaguan i nanan Yu'us / ya man hulat gi me'nå-ña
(Husband of the Mother of God / and powerful before Him)
Na' ma chuda' giya hame / sen misen i grasiå-ña.
(Shower on us / an overflowing of His grace.)

Må'gas i man tåta siha / na' apo' i talanga-mo
(Leader of fathers / bend your ear)
Atan ham ni man man nangga / guennao gi nina' siñå-mo.
(Look at us who are waiting / there for your power.)




NOTES

Mehnalom . Comes from the prefix mi (abundant) and hinalom (inside, interior), To be full of interior wisdom. But many people say and spell it menhalom . This is a common occurrence in many languages; the switching places of letters to make it easier for people to say the word.

Na' mames hao . Literally means "make yourself sweet," but what is meant, of course, is that the person make himself positively disposed towards someone else.

Fina ' Tata . The root is fa ', which means "to make." But fina ' can also mean "provisionally, artificially, imperfectly made." One example, fina ' chalan means a temporary or provisional road. So, fina ' tata means a man "considered, thought to be" a father, but really isn't a biological father of that child. Thus, a foster father. I suppose the sense here is that, he really isn't the father, but we make him to be ( fa ') the father.

Hulat . Means to overcome, to be victorious.

SI BRODIE

Monday, March 27, 2017


When I was young, Brodie meant "retarded."

Today, we don't even use the word "retarded" when referring to people who are less advanced in mental, physical or social development as is usual for their age. For many years now, the word "retarded" is considered offensive and is no longer used.

The reason why Brodie became Guam slang for the cognitively impaired is because a school named Brodie Memorial School was opened on Guam for just such students. If you went to Brodie, in those days, it meant you were a student with special needs.

By around the 1980s, the term Brodie was no longer in use. It died. I am glad it did.

Even the school named Brodie changed and, in 1994, it became a regular Department of Education elementary school as special needs students were placed in their own neighborhood or village schools and no longer at Brodie.

But, who was Brodie? Why was the school named after him?


SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS

By the late 1950s, a married couple who were public school teachers on Guam realized that there were no special services provided for students with special needs. The couple were referred to Cynthia Johnston Torres, a business woman, who might be able to provide a sewing machine, a typewriter and other things needed for students with special needs. Torres was inspired to pursue an education in California as a special education teacher. She later became a principal at Brodie.

Meanwhile, a group of women from Andersen Air Force Base organized to provide an education themselves to students with special needs. A lady named Ruth Paterson was selected to lead the cause. They secured a quonset hut from the government, located on Hospital Road (now Chalan San Antonio) in Tamuning. Since this was a private endeavor, everything had to be donated. The Marianas Association for Retarded Children was born.


The school's original quonset huts, damaged after Typhoon Karen in 1962


ENTER CHIEF BRODIE

Hearing about the need for help to make the quonset hut a suitable building for the school, a Chief Petty Officer of the Navy's Construction Battalion (or Seabees), Clifford Brodie, got in on the action. He, and his Seabee volunteers, donated their time and skill to building the school.

Just as that project was underway, a disaster hit Guam on September 19, 1960. A DC-6 plane carrying military personnel and dependents crashed on Barrigada Hill just after take-off. Eighty passengers and crew died, and fourteen survived.

Chief Brodie and his Seabees went up to the crash site to help with rescue efforts. They didn't give up on the school project either, and went back to building the school after helping with the plane crash rescue.

Perhaps it was all too strenuous for Clifford Brodie. He died in his sleep that night, on September 20, of a heart attack.



Crash Site on Barrigada Hill

When the school was finally finished, it was decided to name the school after Brodie, who had worked so hard to build the school. The school was opened on October 29, 1960.



New Chief Brodie Memorial School 1960s


WHO WAS BRODIE?

Clifford Brodie was born in 1911 in Arkansas. He enlisted in the US Navy in 1943. Prior to this, he had been a carpenter. It's no surprise, then, that he was placed in the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) or Seabees.

After his death, his body was flown to Arkansas for burial at the Fort Smith National Cemetery. He was survived by his wife Muriel and two children.



CPO Clifford Brodie, USN
1911 - 1960


THE REST OF THE STORY

In 1963, Brodie Memorial School became part of the Department of Education. In 1965, the land adjacent John F. Kennedy High School was designated for the school and modern, concrete classrooms were built. In 1971, additional classrooms were built.

In 1994, the philosophy about special needs students had changed. It was now deemed better for them to be integrated in their own neighborhood or village schools. Brodie thus ceased being a special needs school and transitioned into a regular elementary school.

Today, the school enrolls children mainly from the Harmon Industrial Park area, and has the highest per capita number of non-Chamorro students in the public school system. It is a very vibrant, proud school with great spirit. The Seabees continue their long association with the school, whose mascot is the Bees.

I am so glad to know that the school, whose name we once used as kids to tease other people, is named after a wonderful human being who gave of himself to help others. May Chief Brodie Memorial School thrive and shine!





MA SUSEDE UN DIA

Thursday, March 23, 2017


Luta. February 13, 1948

A stateside man by the name of Alvarez was in the mood for some fun while stationed on Luta. But he needed a car. Pretending to be on some official mission, he managed to get the keys of the jeep reserved for the use of Luta's teachers. Then the fun began.

He picked up some booze and a young lady, whose name I will omit in the event that she is still alive, or her family comes after me for telling the story!

Off they went of a joy ride. The "joy" was aided by the ample amounts of liquor that now filled and inebriated said driver Alvarez. The Chamorro lady told police later that Alvarez would even let go of the steering wheel at full speed.

Well, as would happen on Luta in 1948, Alvarez suddenly came upon a bull cart. He had no time to react safely. Swerving in order to miss the bull and cart, Alvarez went off the road and into a ditch head first. The front of the jeep was badly damaged, up to the springs behind the front wheels. The jeep was unable to operate after that.

More than that, the young Chamorro lady went flying into the air when the jeep fell into the ditch. She, too, was badly injured when she came down from the air. Alvarez, it seems, was not seriously hurt.

In time, both jeep and young lady were repaired.

Source : Pregonero

HA NA' GOS PINITE HAO

Wednesday, March 22, 2017


To understand this hymn, we need to be familiar with the Seven Sorrows and Joys of Saint Joseph because the verses of this hymn juxtapose one sorrow of Saint Joseph with the corresponding joy. Our earthly life is a mixture of sorrow and joy! The stories for each sorrow or joy come to us partly from the Bible and partly from ancient tradition.


SORROW

JOY



1. Joseph is distraught when he finds out that the Virgin he is to marry is pregnant and he knows he is not the father.

1. Joseph rejoices when the Angel tells him that the Virgin has conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.

2. Joseph is distraught seeing the Child born in such poverty in a cave and stable for animals.

2. Joseph rejoices when he sees the angels sing the praises of the Infant.

3. Joseph is distraught seeing blood flow from the Child at his circumcision.

3. Joseph rejoices when hearing the name of the Child, Jesus, which means "God saves."

4. Joseph is distraught hearing the prophecy of Simeon about the future suffering of the Child.

4. Joseph rejoices when he hears how the Child will save many souls through His suffering.

5. Joseph is distraught having to take the family and flee to Egypt, a foreign land.

5. Joseph rejoices seeing the false idols of Egypt fall and break in pieces before the Child.

6. Joseph is distraught being told to return home, fearing the anger of King Archelaus.

6. Joseph rejoices when he is warned in a dream and settles in Galilee.

7. Joseph is distraught when Jesus is lost in the temple.

7. Joseph rejoices when Jesus is found in the temple.


Now the hymn....





LYRICS

1. Ha na' gos pinite hao i un li'e' na ma potge' i Bithen ginefli'e';
(It pained you greatly when you saw the beloved Virgin pregnant;)
lao i ñinangon i anghet nu hågo ånte yan korason-mo ha na' magof :
(but the inspiration to you by the angel made you happy in soul and heart :)

Gef adahe, San Jose, i bidå-ho, på'go yan i oran i finatai-ho.
(Watch over my life, Saint Joseph, now and at the hour of my death.)

2. Si Jose tumåtanges kalan tåta annai numiño Yu'us i Saina-ta;
(Saint Joseph wept like a father when God our Lord became a child;)
lao mina'magof nu i anghet siha yan i man mames na tininan-ñiha.
(but he rejoiced at the angels and their sweet praises.)

3. Nina' kasao si Jose nu i haga' ni ma chuda' gi liyan sagan gå'ga';
(Saint Joseph cried at the blood which spilled in the cave and animal shelter;)
lao an ha sångan Jesus i pachot-ña nina' inekte nu i minagof-ña.
(but when his mouth said Jesus he was filled with joy.)

4. Ti sangånon yuhe i pinadese annai si Jesus påtgon ma ofrese;
(That sorrow was unspeakable when the Child Jesus was offered;)
i asaguå-mo as Santa Maria inadotgåne se'se' yan masia.
(your spouse, the Virgin Mary, was pierced with a knife.)

5. Må'pos hao ma dulalak gi tano'-mo ya ma chiget i såntos korason-mo;
(You fled exiled from your land and your holy heart was crushed;
lao meggai guihe gi man gi Ehipto ha guaiya hamyo yan si Jesukristo.
(but many Egyptians loved you and Christ.)

6. Ma sangåne hao Jose gi maigo'-mo na on ta'lo hao guato gi tano'-mo;
(You were told, Joseph, in your sleep to return to your country;)
i na minagof i humuyong ayo annai man måtto i tres giya hamyo.
(what joy came about there when the three arrived there.)

7. Katna måtai hao Jose, Sainan Yu'us, annai ha' man adingo yan si Jesus;
(You almost died, Joseph, parent of God, when you and Jesus parted;)
Jose Patriatka hame un gagågue; yan si Maria hamyo ham in sague.
(Patriarch Joseph, pray for us; you and Mary, protect us.)


NOTES

Gos . Another form of the word gof .

Ñangon . Discreet communication, such as whispering. Thus it can also mean inspiration, such as privately comes to one person.

Okte . To be filled with.

Yuhe . There.

Adotgan . To pierce.

Masia . Mystery word! Not found in any dictionary I can find.

Chiget . Literally means to be pinched in.

On . Another form of the pronoun un .


ORIGINAL

Påle' Román translated this hymn into Chamorro from the original Basque hymn. The Basques are an ethnic group in north-central Spain (and southwest France) with their own language. Påle' Román was Basque.


The original Basque hymn
"Jose Deunaren atsekabe-atsegiñak"


GRATEFUL THANKS to Lawrence Borja for playing the hymn and for background information.

I OTRO NA GÅDAO

Tuesday, March 21, 2017


In Guam history, there are two Gådaos. And both were chiefs. Of the same village.

One we cannot be entirely sure existed (but that doesn't matter to me), and one we can be completely sure existed.

Even if he did not exist, the first Gådao exists in the history of Guam's legends and stories. The story may not be informational about the life of a historical figure, but the story does give us insight into the way our people thought, what they esteemed and how they composed stories.

The second Gådao is the subject of this post. He was nicknamed on account of the first Gådao, known for his physical strength and size.

Joaquin San Nicolas Diego was, like the first Gådao, a son of Inalåhan and eventually its maga'låhe or "chief." In those days, that was called the village Commissioner. Now, we call them Mayors. In olden times, the villages had maga'låhe . The må'gas låhe , or "Great Man or Son." Well, Kin Diego was truly a great son of Inalåhan, or so the people thought, because he was elected numerous times to serve as Commissioner, a total of 28 years , from 1944 until 1972.

Kin was born in the village on May 11, 1914, according to the Social Security Administration. His father, Romualdo Chargualaf Diego, was himself Commissioner of Inalåhan from 1919 till around 1928. Kin's mother was Dolores Leon Guerrero San Nicolas.



Like Father, Like Son
Kin is on the far right, and his father Romualdo is on the far left
A photo of all the Inalåhan Commissioners, past and current

Before he became a political leader, Kin Diego had been a school teacher. According to the 1940 Census, he had completed 9 years of schooling, the maximum possible for students in Kin's day. A high school, guaranteeing 12 years of education, would not open on Guam until the year 1936 when Kin was already in his 20s and teaching elementary school.

Kin taught at Maxwell School (Sumay), Salisbury School (Sinajaña) and Potts School (Inarajan). He was also a member of the pre-war Guam Militia.

While Gådao was teaching, his wife, Rosa Leon Guerrero Diego, was more involved working for a store as well as running her own businesses.

During the war, food production was a high priority, not only for the Chamorros but also for the Japanese who lived off the work of the local farmers. Kin was a kumicho , or team leader in rice production. The couple were successful in hiding enough food from the Japanese that they were able to feed their children as well as help others without being detected.

One thing Kin was not successful in avoiding was being forced by the Japanese to witness the torture and beating of Father Jesús Dueñas in the San Nicolas home in Inalåhan. Kin was one of the men rounded up by the Japanese and compelled to watch.



Kin "Gådao" Diego at a meeting of Guam and Northern Marianas political leaders in the late 1960s
To the left of Kin is Rota civic leader Melchor Mendiola


LONG TENURE AS COMMISSIONER

After the war, Kin turned his attention to politics and became Commissioner of Inalåhan.  In those early years, with the island just recovering from the war, Kin oversaw the building of a slaughterhouse, laundry and toilet facilities for public use, since these were not available in many private homes.

Gådao oversaw a lot of developments in Inalåhan during the 28 years he spent as Commissioner. During that period, modern schools were built, the Southern Health Center was opened, and the Inarajan Pool was developed as a recreational site.

He pushed to make Inalåhan appreciated for its historic significance. He organized many festivals that brought people down to the village from all over the island.

Then, just as today, Malojloj was part of Inalåhan and Gådao helped in the surveying of land in Malojloj for people interested in moving out of Inalåhan into Malojloj. Government land in Malojloj was made available to new homeowners by lottery system.

Gådao was known for his booming voice, when he needed to project. "He had a built-in microphone," someone said, not needing a manufactured one.



GÅDAO ACCOMPANYING A WEDDING PARTY
in Inalåhan right after the war

"Everything was the village," one daughter said of her dad while he was Commissioner. He promoted agriculture, worked to get power, water and telephone service to the village, kept up good relations with the U.S. military who lent a hand now and then, especially after typhoons. He encouraged athletic programs for the young and participated in the launching of Lånchon Antigu, a replica village of olden times, which inspired the present Gef Pa'go Village.

" An påkyo guaha na ti in lili'e' i tatan-måme, " she said. "When there was a typhoon, there were times we didn't see our father." He was supervising the typhoon shelter or typhoon preparations or the clean-up and restoration work afterwards.

When the cemetery proved to be too small for the growing number of burials, Kin Diego donated his own land to expand the present cemetery for the needs of the community.

Due to his long tenure and the respect he gained from the villagers, Gådao had influence over the way voters in Inalåhan swung. In one election, an island-wide candidate who would not have normally done well in Inalåhan, carried the village on election day because Gådao supported that candidate and campaigned for him.



Kin, Rosa and their 12 children


WHY GÅDAO?

According to older people from Inalåhan, Kin was nicknamed Gådao because, like the legendary chief, he was physically big. Tall, big boned and, as we say in Chamorro, loddo ' (big framed). One person remembers how huge his hands were.

But they also remember, as already mentioned, how strong and booming his voice could be.

"Tåya' mås maolek ke guiya yanggen ma nesesita man ma ågang todo i komunidåt para u fan etnon."

"No one was better than him if the whole community was needed to be called to gather together."

And, like the Gådao of old, this more recent Gådao will be remembered and his story recounted many years from now.

He passed away in 1993.


DESERTERS HIDE IN PAGAN AND AGRIGAN

Friday, March 17, 2017
Photo credits : (L) Dave Lotz; (R) Angelo Villagomez

The northern islands in the Northern Marianas have served as convenient hideaways for people for hundreds of years!

As late as 1906, with these islands now under German control, several whaling men trying to escape intolerably harsh conditions on their ship, the Gotama , hid for many months on both Pagan and Agrigan.



It seems that the captain of the Gotama , named James Wing, fancied himself a tough guy, calling himself "Scar Face Jim" and a "Tiger Fighter." Wing was accused even of lacking mercy for sick crew members, dragging one sick teenage crewman out of bed with a rope! Though the ship made $30,000 one season from the whales they caught, the crew members were given $1 each for the entire period they worked. The deserters also claimed that the ship leaked, and that water wet their beds, making even sleep miserable for them. They had had enough.

So when the Gotama stopped at Pagan on April 29, 1906, they planned an escape. One of the deserters, named Gravenport, was taken ashore with Captain Wing, who wanted to deal with the islanders a bit. When he saw the chance, Gravenport ran away and hid in the brush.

Meanwhile, four others, named Halberson, Fowles, McCaffrey and Chambers, swam from the Gotama while Wing was on shore and also hid in the brush. They all waited till the Gotama sailed away. Then they came out and met the islanders.

The islanders, at the time, were both Chamorros and Carolinians, making a living mainly from copra, the dried meat of the coconut, which was then in demand. The five deserters were welcomed by the islanders, who were gracious and hospitable, according to the five. The five men got to working alongside the islanders in all aspects of island life. By the time their clothes had worn out (they had only the clothes they wore when they jumped ship), the five Caucasians were down to loin cloths, like some of the islanders!

When a Japanese schooner came by, the five decided to hitch a ride up to Agrigan, where they continued to live side-by-side with the people living up there. When the schooner came by again, with Japan as its destination, the five deserters left the Marianas for good. From Japan, they returned to San Francisco, California (one actually got off at and remained in Honolulu when the ship made a stop there).



A San Francisco newspaper announces the arrival of the Gotama, under Captain Wing, after a voyage of 29 days from the Okhotsk Sea (Russia, near Japan) in 1906

The really interesting question is : for nine months, these bachelor whaling men lived in Pagan and Agrigan, among Chamorro and Carolinian islanders.

Are there any Chamorros and Carolinians who are descendants of Gravenport, Halberson, Fowles, McCaffrey and Chambers?

MA ÅCHO' I BÅS

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Local dignitaries greet a Japan Air Lines flight to Guam in the early days of tourism
Early 1970s


It isn't a nice anecdote, but it did happened, so am told. And it shows just how hard feelings still were just 30 years after the start of World War II on Guam.

Even the unpleasant truths should not be lost, for they are part of the story of our human experiences, good and bad.

I was speaking on the phone with a woman in her 70s who remembers when the Japanese tour buses started going down South on Guam, touring the island.

"Kao un hongge, Påle', na ma åcho' i bås nai man ma u'udai i Chapanis tourists?"

"Would you believe, Father, that they threw rocks at the Japanese tour bus?"

Mind you, this lady is from the village where it happened, and she saw it.

It wasn't as if the whole village came out in organized fashion to throw rocks. People, perhaps younger guys, randomly threw rocks. If people too young to have even been born before the war did it, it shows how the war stories being told at the kitchen table by the elders affected the younger ones.

The lady told me how the Japanese would confiscate the food of families, or rough up a few villagers, just to intimidate them. Of course, worse things happened (rape, severe beatings and death) but the lady didn't even get into that.

"Nuebo na un chagi humungok este, Påle'?"

"Is this new for you hearing this, Father?"

I told her that I had never heard of Chamorro villagers throwing rocks at Japanese tour buses in the early 70s when tourism went into high gear on Guam.

I am glad we're beyond that now.

LOST SURNAMES : WATKINS

Wednesday, March 15, 2017



Many Anglo-Americans came to Guam in the 1800s, on whaling ships and on other business, as well. Many of them stayed and married Chamorro women. One of them was named Watkins.

The name was spelled in a variety of ways by the Spaniards : Warquin, Walkins, Varquin and a few others.

In an 1831 document (a list of foreigners living in the Marianas), the name Guillermo (William) Watkins appears.

He is listed as being English, having resided on Guam for 7 years. Thus, he would have arrived around 1824. He is married with 2 children, but his wife is not mentioned. He could have had more children after this list was composed.

So, until we find more documents, we cannot say much about the connection of the people named Watkins later in the century and William; whether they are children or grandchildren of William Watkins.

For example, take Juan Pangelinan Watkins. He is listed as being 56 years old in 1897. That would mean he was born around 1841. Knowing how notoriously bad people were in stating their age back then, he could have been older or younger and, in either case, Juan could very well be a son or a grandson of the original Mr. Watkins. In any case, Juan himself did not have any children.



Juan Watkins' signature, spelled Warquin

There was also a Benedicto V. Watkins from Guam who ended up in a sanatorium for tubercular seamen in New Mexico in 1910! According to the 1910 New Mexico census, he was 42 years old in 1910, so born around 1868, so more than likely a grandson of William. He left Guam around 1883 and was a cook on merchant ships. Apparently he, too, had no children. He died in San Francisco and was buried in the Italian cemetery in Colma, California, just south of San Francisco, in 1913.

We also find a mysterious man in California who went by the name Ben Joseph, born on Guam in 1887, but who also went by the name Watkins (spelled in various ways). Some documents state that his father was John Watkins and his mother was María Borja. We do find a Juan Watkins married to a Maria Borja living in Malesso' in 1897. The problem is that they had no children. But there is a young man named Vicente Borja living with them. Ben Joseph is this Vicente Borja, who was being raised by Juan and María, María probably being his Borja relative.

There was also a Joaquin Watkins Luján, who must have been a Watkins on his mother's side. But the Watkins, of course, would be hidden in time and only the Luján name continued among his descendants. We have no information yet who his parents were. Some mention a mother's name, but until I find some documentation I am hesitant to make the claim.

Then we are left with women named Watkins, who marry, and thus the Watkins name disappears in time.

There was a Rosa Watkins, daughter of Dolores Watkins, and Dolores was the daughter of Rita Watkins. Rosa married Miguel Camacho Quintanilla of Sumay.

A María Watkins married Joaquín Dim, and thus we find a lady named Ana Watkins Dim, who stayed in Guam and had a few children out of wedlock, and another lady named Josefa Watkins Dim who married in Luta. In the 1920 Guam Census, the Dim surname had disappeared.

And then there was Rita Aguon Watkins, who married Calistro Torres Taitano. Their granddaughter was Rita Mateo Taitano, who became Sister Roberta of the Mercy Sisters.



Sister Roberta was the granddaughter of Rita Aguon Watkins and a descendant of the British settler William Watkins



The Sister Roberta Center at Mercy Heights Nursery is named after her

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Tuesday, March 14, 2017


Manuel Ibasco Guerrero and his wife, the former Maria Feja

Fa' amigu-mo i besinu-mo, sa' siña na hihot-ña i besino ke ni familiå-mo.

Make friends with your neighbor, because it may be that the neighbor is closer than your family.



When in a jam, we call on family.

But the wisdom of the older people reminded us that, if the house is on fire, and our nearest relative is two miles away, the neighbor takes precedence over family! Suppose we are away from the house when the fire breaks out? The neighbor can see the smoke quicker than our relative living two miles away.

As we are taking things out of the house to save them from burning, or as we are filling buckets of water to put out a small fire, the neighbor can lend a hand quicker than our relative two miles away.

Thus the saying : Make friends with your neighbors, for at times they are closer than the family.


I SAW IT IN ACTION


Manuel Guerrero and his son Vicente, better known as Benny

It must have been the morning of March 9 or just a few days later in 1969. I was just about to turn 7 years old. It was unusual, if not entirely rare, for us to have a visitor at the crack of dawn. But that morning we did.

I remember waking up hearing an unusual voice, and my grandmother and aunties talking in an unusual way, much more than usual.

At the kitchen table was our neighbor, Manuel Guerrero. He was sitting at the head of the table, with his back to the kitchen door which lead across to his house. The sun was just peeking through the purple skies. One still needed the kitchen lights on to see. He had a cup of coffee in his hands which one of the older ladies served him. I am sure they offered him something to eat, but he wasn't eating and you'll understand why in a minute.

Tears were not flowing but his eyes were watery. He spoke gently, and to no one in particular, as if addressing all the three old ladies attending to him; my grandmother and her two spinster sisters. They were all speaking in Chamorro, so I didn't understand a word, but I knew that something bad must've happened, and he was at my house seeking comfort. And comfort was what the old ladies gave him.

I think I remember seeing one of the old ladies put her arms on his shoulders, while standing next to him seated at the table, but I could be wrong. I didn't understand their words, but the sympathy in their voices was undeniable, whatever the language. Eventually, he got up and went back home, but I think he felt a little better.

I was told soon after in English by either my grandma or her sister that his son Benny was just killed in Vietnam. He was only 19 years old.

Army records say that Benny was killed on March 8, 1969. Depending on what time of day that happened, Manuel Guerrero could have been informed as early as March 9 but maybe later. I don't know how he first heard, whether by phone call, telegram or home visit by someone in the military.

Manuel's wife, by the way, was already deceased, having passed away just the year before. So Manuel lost his wife and son within a year's time. They later named a street in Sinajaña after Benny, the street passing in front of Manuel's house and, oddly enough, over the lot that used to be our house.



Cpl Vicente (Benny) Feja Guerrero
1949-1969


The families in our neighborhood were friendly neighbors. All the kids on the same street played together and got in trouble together. Our neighbors would call on grandma or the aunties if we ever got hurt during games. Some of the older ladies in the neighborhood were closer to my grandma and aunties in that they visited more often or sent food over more often (and received as well). We were related to some of them, too. My grandma, who ran a post office, hired some of them and they drove my grandma, who couldn't drive. And am sure a lot more went on between my grandma and aunties and the neighbors than I, at that young age, could notice.

But this story of Manuel coming over to a house of old ladies for a cup of coffee and comfort when he found out his son was killed during military duty made an impression on me in many ways.

It certainly does illustrate the truth of the saying that our neighbors are sometimes able to help us more quickly than family because they live right next door to us, while relatives could be living farther away.


* Thanks to Manuel's daughter Annie for the pictures.

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Monday, March 13, 2017


Maolek-ña un echong na bareta ke un taotao ni malåte' båba.

(Better a crooked crossbar than someone smart in bad things.)


A bareta ( barreta in Spanish) is a crowbar, or a metal rod.

Its usefulness lies in its being straight. A crooked or bent one is less useful.

Yet even that is better than someone who is smart in doing evil things.

Perhaps someone is like a bent crowbar. Defective in some sense. Not someone you want to entrust with a job.

But he or she is better than the intelligent one who uses that intelligence to do evil.

ESKABECHE

Friday, March 10, 2017

Chamorro Eskabeche

I must admit that, when I was a kid, eskabeche was not one of my favorites and I think most kids feel the same. But, as I grew older, I began to appreciate it more, especially for the veggies.

Chamorro Eskabeche is made from ingredients that can be found locally. Our mañaina were making it long before Payless was opened after World War II.

But some of the ingredients, such as the biringhenas (eggplant) and friholes (beans) and even the repoyo (cabbage) had been brought to Guam by the outside settlers, either from Mexico or the Philippines or both. Thus they all have foreign names and eskabeche , as well, is a foreign name.


THE ORIGINAL ESCABECHE

Escabeche started in the Mediterranean countries of Europe where they cooked the protein (fish, fowl, pork and even rabbit) in some acid, usually vinegar, and saffron, which gives it the yellow color.

Spaniards brought this recipe wherever they went, but ingredients had to change, depending on the resources of the country.

Apparently, the Moors who ruled over most of Spain from the year 711AD, gradually beaten back by the Spaniards until 1492, brought the recipe to the Spaniards. The original name was al - sikbaj , which morphed into escabeche when said by Spaniards.


VINEGAR

Wherever the escabeche recipe changed, one thing stayed the same : there was always some vinegar included in the recipe.

In fact, in Spain, one can get a kind of escabeche in a jar, made up entirely of pickled vegetables. Below is an American brand of vegetable escabeche .




And here are examples of escabeche in other countries :




There are many Chamorro recipe resources on the internet. Here's one that cooks eskabeche in a somewhat different way :

http://www.annieschamorrokitchen.com/escabeche/

Enjoy! Especially for Lent!

KÅNTAN GUMA'YU'US : ASAINA TI HU TUNGO'

Friday, March 10, 2017


I wish I knew who was the composer. I heard it was originally sung in Tinian. But the San Dimas Voices in Faith choir (Malesso') recorded it and made it known more widely.





LYRICS

ASAINA TI HU TUNGO'

Asaina ti hu tungo',
håfa bai hu sångan.
Lao hågu ha' solo, solo para guåhu.
Gaige hao gi sanhalom-hu,
Magof yu' bai tungo'
Na patgon-mu yu',  unu gi patgon Yu'us.

Ya bai onra håo,  Yu'us bai onra håo.
Ya bai adora håo, todu i tiempo.
Ya bai onra håo,  Yu'us bai onra håo.
Ya bai adora håo,  para taihinekkok.

English :

Lord I do not know,
what to say.
But you alone, you alone are for me.
You are within me,
I am happy to know
that I am your child, a child of God.

And I will honor you, God, I will honor you.
And I will adore you, at all times.
And I will honor you, God, I will honor you,
And I will adore you, forever.

CHAMORRO PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Thursday, March 9, 2017


An announcement, in Chamorro, dated October 15, 1914. The American government had been in full swing on Guam for just about 15 years.

Let me first write it in more recognizable Chamorro for today's readers (knowing that my orthography differs from the "official") with an English translation underneath each Chamorro line.


ABISO
(Notice)

15 de Oktubre de 1914
(15th of October of 1914)

Ma yåyama ta'lo atension sobre i ora ni ha fiha si Maga'låhe para u arekla siha i asunto.
(Attention is called again concerning the hour established by the Governor for the settlement of matters.)

Achuka ha' i ora desde a las ocho asta a las nuebe gi ega'an monhåyan ha fiha si Maga'låhe
(Although the Governor has already fixed the hours 8 o'clock to 9 o'clock in the morning)

para u fan ali'e' yan u ekkungok i taotao tåno' yan i palo ni mañåsaga guine na isla,
(to meet and to listen to the native people and the others living on this island,)

si Maga'låhe malago' na u ma komprende klåramente na yagin este na ora ti konbeniente
(the Governor wants it to be understood clearly that if this hour is not convenient)

para ayo siha na taotao i man gai asunto yan guiya, siha siña ha li'e' si Maga'låhe
(for those people having matters with him, they can see the Governor)

gi ofisinå-ña masea ha' håf na ora desde a las siette gi ega'an asta a las singko gi pupuenge
(at his office whatever hour from 7 o'clock in the morning till 5 o'clock in the evening)

sin u ha fiha i tiempo yagin presiso i asunton-ñiha.
(without setting the time if their matters are important.)

Yagin ti presiso i asunton-ñiha, ha desesea na u ma sangåne gue' kon tiempo
(If their matters are not urgent, he wishes that he be told promptly)

para mungnga ma interumpe yagin ha tutuhon umekkungok.
(so that he not be interrupted if he has begun listening.)

Si Maga'låhe está dispuesto na u arekla para u ha ali'e' yan masea håye na taotao,
(The Governor is open to arranging to meet with whomever,)

prinsipåtmente i pepble yan i nesesitao, lao malago' gue' na todo asunto
(principally the poor and needy, but he wishes that all matters)

u ma arekla gi ofisinå-ña gi Palåsyo.
(be handled at his office in the Palace.)

Here's the audio if you so desire it.






SOME LANGUAGE NOTES

Yåma . To call, as in to call one's attention. But Påle' Román says it can also mean to straighten, as in to straighten one's arm by stretching it out. It comes from the Spanish llamar , "to call."

In the announcement, it is spelled with a double L (LL) because, in Spanish, LL sounds like Y. But, in Chamorro, there is no Y sound as in yellow or yard. Our Chamorro Y is like a DZ. Yigo and Yoña.

Other examples are Quintanilla, which is a Spanish name. And, sometimes, when the Spaniards spelled the Chamorro DZ sound, they used LL as in Acfalle and Tajalle.

Sobre . "Concerning, about." Borrowed from Spanish. Rarely heard now.

Fiha . "To fix, set, establish." From Spanish fijar , meaning the same. An indigenous equivalent would be po'lo , which can also mean "to establish."

Maga'låhe . I was glad to see this because, although I knew already that this was a title for the Spanish Governor, borrowed from the pre-colonial chiefs, I was always puzzled by the second title of Gobietno . Gobietno is taken from the Spanish gobierno , which means government, not governor. I'll have more to say about that in another post some day.

Asta . From the Spanish hasta , meaning "until." Many Chamorros today have changed it to esta , but older speakers would say asta . Don't forget that the H is silent (unsaid) in Spanish.

Taotao tåno '. Literally "people of the land." This shows that this phrase was in use back then already for "native."

Klåramente . Spanish for "clearly."

Yagin . An older form of the word yanggen .

Ofisina . Most people today use the English rather than the Spanish oficina . They say ofis .

Pupuenge . I note this because I have been told by others that pupuenge cannot start before 6PM, but here in this notice 5PM is already pupuenge .

Interumpe . The Spanish word "interrupt" is interrumpir and is conjugated in the 3rd person singular interrumpe ; in Chamorro, interumpe .

Está dispuesto . This has to be the sentence meant in the notice. If we say that it is the Chamorro word esta , meaning "already," then the phrase makes no sense. "Already disposed" or "already willing" and if that were the case then it would be followed by " para u ma arekla ." I believe the writer used the Spanish phrase " está dispuesto " or "is disposed" or "is willing."

Nesesitao . From the Spanish necesitado , or needy (necessitated). Rarely heard now. In Chamorro, we drop the D in Spanish words ending in -ado. Arreglado (put in order) becomes areklao ; casado (married) becomes kasao ; afamado (famed) becomes afamao .




AN MÅTTO I BISITA

Tuesday, March 7, 2017


Esta guåot para un gatcha'
esta potta para un hålom
esta bångko para un fatå'chong
esta chupa yan mamå'on.


There are stairs for you to step on,
there is a door for you to enter,
there is a bench for you to sit on,
there is tobacco and betel nut and fixings.



So many blog viewers tell me that they wish they could HEAR the words being said so that they can learn how to pronounce them. Let it be said that I try to provide a full-service blog and I will now add a video with audio so you can hear the words. Just click the video right below here.



The early Europeans who saw our ancestors in their culture and personality before Westernization said that they were a lyrical people. They sang, composed poems and debated. This trait carried on into Spanish times, though our ancestors began to adopt outside tunes and melodies. "The Chamorros," one writer said in the 1800s, "sing when they wake up and sing as they go to sleep."

This little verse was said by some when greeting the parents of a young man when they came to speak to the parents of his love interest with a view to inquiring about marriage.

But I suppose it could be used to welcome anyone, because offering mamå'on (betel nut and all the accompanying condiments) was made to anyone, not just the groom's party. Before World War II, at rosary for the deceased, it was mamå'on that was most passed around to those attending. The most that would be served in addition to mamå'on was some sort of bread or rolls. Very light indeed, compared to the huge meals often served in modern times.

In many Austronesian cultures, not to offer mamå'on to guests and visitors was a huge social failure.

The words are telling, giving us clues about life back then.

There are stairs. There are stairs because every house in the Marianas in the old days was raised. The few wealthier people had homes of mampostería (mortar and lime) but, still, the ground floor was a bodega (basement) and there were solid steps leading up to the first floor. This was to keep out animals and muddy water in case of floods.

Most people had more modest homes of wood or thatching. These would be raised on top of pillars ( haligi ). So steps or stairs would be needed to enter the home.

The guest is offered a bench, not a chair. Chairs were perhaps more fancy and benches easier to make.

Chupa , by the way, meant "tobacco." People now think of cigarettes, but there is a word specific to cigarettes, and that is sigariyo , from the Spanish cigarrillo ("little cigar"). The word for cigar is chigålo , from the Spanish cigarro . Of course, all those are forms of smoking tobacco. But the tobacco, when used with betel nut, was chewed.

Tobacco was not grown in the Marianas before the Spaniards came, but, when they introduced it to the Chamorros to grow, the Chamorros went wild for it, especially the women (according to the accounts). European visitors remarks how the women always had a cigar in their mouths.

Chupa most likely comes from the Spanish word chupar , which means "to suck, lick, absorb" and several other things. Well, one does suck on a cigar to inhale.


CHUPA

INAYUDA NI MA BENDISE NA LÅÑA

Friday, March 3, 2017


Candy Taman shares with me how blessed oil helped him with his back pain, as well as his wife's body aches.

This level of Chamorro fluency is fast disappearing. It is effortless, it uses expressions revealing a Chamorro way of looking at things, best learned from interaction with native speakers rather than books, and it does not try to avoid words borrowed from Spanish nor even English.

The English is already there in the video, but I will post several language notes at the bottom of this post.





SOME LANGUAGE NOTES


Inipos . From upos , which means "to pass ahead of" or "beyond." When someone has gone over the limit, or a standard, or normalcy, then he or she is inipos . Candy means that his faith in the Holy Spirit is beyond ordinary faith. It's an expression indicating force or intensity.

Fabula . Pronounced FA - bula. From the Spanish word for "made up story, fable, myth."

Nos pot . Meaning "not because of, not on account of, not so that, not due to." It comes from the Spanish "no es por," meaning "not because of."

Dios te libre . Literally, in Spanish, it means "God free/save you," but Chamorros say it as an expression of surprise, amazement, concern.

I CHALÅN-TA

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Private 1st Class Lucas Herrera Rodriguez

Different villages name their streets for different reasons. In Hågat (Agat), many streets are named are young men of the village who died in the US military while serving in Vietnam.

Guam had a high rate of casualties in Vietnam. A total of 70 men from Guam died in Vietnam, more than Alaska's 57. Hawaii lost 276 of its men to the battle fields of Vietnam, but when you consider that Hawaii's population in 1968 was close to 800,000 compared to Guam's 80,000 you can see how much those 70 Guam deaths were felt here.

We must also remember that these were the days of the draft. If your number came up, you went to war.

Lucas Herrera Rodriguez was one such young man. He was born in 1949 and grew up in the village of Hågat. At the age of 19, he was sent to Vietnam, beginning his tour in August of 1968. He lived less than 2 more months. He was killed on October 8 of the same year by artillery, rocket or mortar in Hau Nghia Province. They were able to recover his body.

How sad to think of a 19-year-old, with his whole future ahead of him, cut down in less than two months, fighting in Vietnam. He could have married and had children, and experience the love and fulfillment of family life. He could have excelled in whatever career or profession he may have eventually had. Had he lived, he would only be 68 years old! Instead, he made the ultimate sacrifice and gave up his life. May God give him eternal life!

It is good that we honor these fallen men and not forget why many of our streets are named after them.



KÅNTA : TILIFON

Tuesday, February 28, 2017


One of my favorite Saipan singers. Such a soothing, male voice from Alfred Saures, who wrote this song.





TILIFON

Kumåti i tilifon uno, dos, tres, kuåttro biåhe.
(The phone rang one, two, three, four times.)

Humallom yo' na taigue hao sa' tåya' man oppe.
(I figured you were gone because no one answered.)

Hu kana' hulo' i tilifon ya tumekkon yo' sen triste.
(I hung up the phone and bowed my head very sadly.)

Ai sa' tuhu påpa' i lago'-ho.
(Oh, my tears flowed down.)



Mantiene i dos påtman kanai-ho nene åntes de un hånao.
(Take hold of both palms of my hand, baby, before you go.)

Hagas mohon un sångan ti bai hu ågang hao guato.
(If only you said something before I wouldn't have called there to you.)

Ai sa' un diroga nene i kontråta.
(Oh, you changed the plan, baby.)

Ai sa' tuhu påpa' i lago'-ho.
(Oh, my tears flowed down.)



Håfa yo' bai cho'gue nene an ti ya-mo yo'?
(What shall I do, baby, if you don't like me?)

Po'lo diahlo ya bai hu sungon i piniti-ho.
(Let me just the same suffer my pain.)

Sa' i piniti-ho nene ti bai maleffa.
(Because I won't forget, baby, my pain.)

Ai sa' tuhu påpa' i lago'-ho.
(Oh, my tears flowed down.)


SOME LANGUAGE NOTES


Kumåti . Really means "to cry out," and dilingding is "to ring." But, when switching to English, it sounds awkward to say that the phone "cried out." In Chamorro, one can also make the car cry out, as in " Hu na' kåti i karetå-ho ," "I made my car cry out," meaning "I honked the horn."

Hallom . Is different from hålom . Hålom is "to enter." Hallom is "to perceive, to figure out, to suspect, to intuit."

Hagas mohon . A beautiful construction. Hagas means "in the past," and mohon means "if only." So hagas mohon means "if only in the past."

Diroga . "To cast aside, make void, change, nullify, cancel." We got it from the Spanish who got it from the Latin which is the root for the English word derogate , "to reduce, lessen, deviate from, depart from" and so on.

Kontråta . Sounds like the English word "contract" and both words are from the same root. Kontråta is a contract, or agreement, or understanding or a plan. In romance, it means the understanding the two lovers had about sharing a future together.

Diahlo . One of those almost untranslated expressionss. It sends the message "No thanks," or "Just the same" or maybe even the kind of "Whatever!" when said in sad resignation.


WERE THE MARIANAS DISCOVERED?

Monday, February 27, 2017



The short answer to the question, "Were the Marianas discovered?" is YES .

BUT ....

....by different people, at different times.

In its basic meaning, to discover ( dis - cover, un - cover ) is to come to know something you didn't know before.

"Discover" does NOT ALWAYS MEAN to be the FIRST person to know something.

We use the word "discover" like this all the time.

"Wow, I just discovered that new yogurt place in Mangilao and it's good!"

"I thought he was my friend until I discovered some things she was telling other people about me."

"Only yesterday I discovered who my biological father is!"

Now, other people had already discovered the new yogurt place; others already discovered that the friend was really a false one; and mama already knew who the biological dad was. And yet, those people can legitimately say that they discovered the new yogurt place, the false friend and the biological dad....for themselves.

So did Magellan discover Guam and the Marianas?

He did. For himself.

But that personal discovery (the personal discovery of the rest of his crew, specifically those who made it back to Spain) had lasting and enormous consequences for us. We were now known and made vulnerable before others.


WHO WAS THE FIRST TO DISCOVER THE MARIANAS?




Chamorro sakman in Anson's time in 1742

We don't know. For all we know, it could have been someone or a few people who intended to go from Taiwan to the Philippines and were blown off course and came here. Stayed a bit and moved on.

A lot of things could have happened, and we'll never know.

What we do know is that, in time, around 3500 or 4000 years ago, human beings started coming to the Marianas and staying. Even 1000 years is a long time and it seems unreasonable to think that only one group of people came over. Chances are that different groups of people came over, spread out over many years, and blending one with the other, formed what we call the Chamorro people. Archaeological evidence suggests that one wave of new settlers came around 1000 years ago, bringing with them the idea and technology of the latte stone.

So, different people, at different times, made their personal discovery of our islands. These ancient peoples had the biggest impact of all, because while Europeans and others had their impact and added their DNA, beliefs and vocabulary, they added these things to a people already here and whose DNA, beliefs and language continue to this day in some form.


ARE WE STILL DISCOVERING TO THIS DAY?

Yes.

My friend Mike has a Chamorro dad, which makes Mike a Chamorro. But Mike grew up in the States, not knowing much about his Chamorro homeland or culture. Last year he came to Guam for what was supposed to be a temporary visit. He is still here almost a year later. Why? Because he is discovering new things about his culture and language for the first time.

Lifelong Guam residents continue to make personal discoveries about their island, history, culture and language. Only recently did they discover that there had been a village at Pago Bay until 1856. Only the other day did they discover that the word mesngon comes from sungon . And only last night over dinner did two people discover that there are no rivers in the north of Guam because of the limestone terrain.

A group of high school students who live in Barrigada went down to Humåtak over the weekend and discovered a village they knew little about and had rarely visited before.

Hopefully, someone who never before cared at all about his or her Chamorro identity, language and culture discovers the importance of these things.

So, yes. People are discovering things all the time. Even old-timers and experts learn new things.


A NEW KIND OF DISCOVERY DAY

So I, for one, don't mind calling it Discovery Day.

Even if we mean it's the day that Magellan discovered, for himself, islands that saved him from starvation. That event had lasting impact on us. We are who we are today, in part, because Magellan's discovery allowed history to continue the way it did.

We could call it Discovery Day as a day to remember when all people discovered our islands for themselves, including our ancestors who came here long before Magellan.

For me, it's Discovery Day because, by recalling our history, and looking at our present situation, people are discovering things about their culture.

So let's keep observing Discovery Day, even if you give it another name, with all these different meanings.

Because a Discovery Day is better than a Recovery Day.

WHITE LADY OF LUTA

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Luta (Rota) has its own version of the White Lady story. Here it is, written by Rich Mangloña. I have kept it as he wrote it, using his orthography. The English translation is mine.



Un tiempo gi manmaloffan, gi un songsong gi islan Luta,
(One time in the past, in a village on the island of Luta)

guaha un sen å'paka' yan bunita na påtgon palao'an mafañågu.
(there was born a very white and beautiful infant girl.)

Mafa'na'an Sosambra nai mañaina-ña.
(She was named Sosambra by her parents.)

Sigi mo'na i tiempo ya mientras mås gai idåt, mås umanåkko' i gapotilu-ña
(As time went on and as she grew older, her hair became longer)

ya mås atanon yan freska fasu-ña.
(and she became more attractive and her face more pleasing.)

Fuera ki i bunita-ña, kalålang yan suåbe lokkue' kumånta kulan un chuchurikan ånde'!
(Besides her beauty, she sang so gracefully like a kalålang bird or showy chuchurika.)

Pues annai echu sumottera, tai parehu buninita-ña giya Luta
(So when she became a young maiden, her beauty was without equal in Luta)

ya taya' na palao'an gi sengsong ti umeggu' yangin mamamaila'
(and not a single woman in the village wouldn't be jealous when she would come)

sa' ma lipåra na i man asagua yan nobiun-ñiha man gof ande'
(because they noticed that their husbands and boyfriends became show-offs)

yangin umuriya este na å'paka' hobensita!
(when this white young lady came around.)

Kada dia ma tågo' si Sosambra as nanå-ña para u hånao ya u krusa i sengsong
(Every day Sosambra was sent by her mother to and go and cross the village)

ya u fan lupok gi tupu' hånom giya Senhanom gi puntan songsong.
(to fetch water from the water well at Senhanom at the end of the village.)

Kada maloffan gi me'nan guma' siha, sigi kumånta mo'na ya i bos-ña tatfoi i kariñosa-ña,
(Every time she passed in front of the houses, she kept singing on and such was the sweetness of her voice)

ni i ga'lågu tampoku ti u fan håohåo!
(that not even the dogs would bark!)

Ma gef tungo' nai lalåhin i sengsong hafa na ora nai malolofan tenga si Sosambra
(The village men knew well what hour Sosambra often passed by)

ya ma nanangga ha' gi halom tano' gi fi'on i tipu' para u ma egga' yangin man lulupok.
(and waited in the jungle beside the well to watch when she would fetch water.)

Uttimo-ña, ti ma sungun esta nai famalao'an i sengsong ya man assoda' ya ma disidi
(In the end, the village women couldn't bear this anymore and they met and decided)

para uma puno' esti na palao'an i muna' fan atburutatao i asagua yan nobiu siha.
(to kill this woman who disturbed the husbands and boyfriends.)

Ma nangga un dia gi lemlem taotao ya ma chonnek i palao'an påpa' gi tipu'.
(They waited one day at twilight and pushed the woman down into the well.)

Sigi man achatgi sa' på'go nai ti u fan ma dingu nai lalahi
(They kept on laughing among themselves because now the men wouldn't leave them)

sa' taigue esta i å'paka' na palao'an.
(because the white lady is now gone.)

Gi sigente dia yan kada dia ma lipara nai famalao'an i sengsong
(The next day and every next day the village women noticed)

na kada måtto ayu na ora annai sesso maloffan i palao'an,
(that each time the hour came when the lady would often pass by)

man impirarao i lalåhin-ñiha ya pues man malingo ha' gi gima'.
(their men would get agitated and they would vanish from their houses.)

Man danña' ta'lo ya disidi para u ma ngelo' håfa bidan-ñiñiha i lalåhi.
(They gathered together again and decided to peep on what the men were doing.)

Annai ma rastreha i chalan, man ma sodda' i lalahi
(When they traced the road, they found the men)

na ma a'atan guato i tipu' ya gaigi un bunitata, å'paka', yan anåkoko' gapotilu-ña na palao'an
(looking at the well where there was a very beautiful, white and long-haired lady)

na ha tata'pang gue' ya sigi kumanta!
(washing herself and singing!)

Man lalangu todu i famalao'an sa' ma tungo' na espiritu ayu i ma li'e'
(The women became faint because they knew that what they were seeing was a spirit)

ya taya' siña esta ma cho'gue sa' ha atgimat esta todu i lalahin i sengsong!
(and that there was nothing else to do because she had bewitched all the village men!)

Alas uttimo ma fa'na'an si Sosambra palao'an man eggu'
(In the end the jealous women changed Sosambra's name)

utimo-ña ma tulaika para PALAO'AN MANEGGU'!
(finally to JEALOUS WOMAN!)

Gi prisente, gaigi esti na tupu' na ma haffot gi fi'on i guma' ridondo gi Songsong Village.
(At the moment, this well is buried next to the Round House in Songsong Village.)

Ma sasangan na yangin lemlem taotao, guaha nai ma li'e' buttun a'paka' na palao'an
(They say that at twilight one can see the figure of a white lady)

na sigi lumikuku guihi na lugåt sa' ha espipiha i tipu'-ña!
(who continuously goes around that area because she is looking for her well!)




The current Guma' Redondo (Round House) in Luta for public gatherings


SOME LANGUAGE NOTES

Atanon . When you add the suffix -on to a word, it means "capable of." Atan means "to look" so someone or something atanon is capable of being looked at, that is, pleasant to look at. Kanu'on means something edible (able for you to kånno '); tufungon means something countable ( tufong ) and so on.

Chuchurika . The more known word for this bird is chichirika , but in every language there are differences, depending on the place.

Echu . Rarely heard nowadays. It comes from the Spanish word hecho , meaning "made." Sometimes you can see on something you buy from a store, Hecho en México. Made in Mexico. In Chamorro, echu means something ready to be, ready to become, just become or has become.

Lipåra . I believe most Chamorro speakers say repåra or ripåra , using the R because the original Spanish word is repara . But many Chamorros don't like the R sound and change it to L.

Krusa . Also rarely heard. Borrowed from Spanish. It means to cross, as in "cross the road."

Tatfoi . Rarely heard and such a pity because it's such a nice word. It means "such that" or "so much so that." It comes from the Spanish tal fué , meaning "it was such that." Tatfoi i minalate'-ña na ni håyeye malago' kumontra gue'. Her intelligence was such that no one wanted to oppose her.

Tampoku ( tampoko ). Another Spanish loan word. It means "not even." Tampoko yo' ti ya-ho hao . Not even I like you.

Lemlem taotao . Means "dusk, twilight, sunset." But the word lemlem itself means "to be surprised or confused at first" by a change in the thing's appearance, as when you don't recognize someone you know at first because he has grown taller since you last saw him.

Rastreha ( rastrea ). From the Spanish. Spanish rastro and Chamorro låstro are the traces or marks left behind, like footprints or stains. Rastrea is to follow signs left by these marks.

Atgimat . To bewitch as in to make someone fall in love with you or someone else. It sounds suspiciously like a Spanish derivative but I have been unable to find the Spanish original.

Lumikuku . Most say lumiliku . Liliku means "to wander about" or "go around."

Eggu '. Eggu ' is not generalized jealousy but specifically the romantic or sexual kind.

KÅNTA : BUENAS NOCHES MARIKITA

Wednesday, February 22, 2017


BUENAS NOCHES MARIKITA is a Johnny Sablan original.

I grew up listening to this song since the early 70s.





1. Buenas noches Marikita / kao siña yo' un na' hålom
(Good evening Marikita / can you let me inside)

ya ta hihita man rega nu / i man fresko siha na hånom.
(and water together  / with fresh water.)

REFRAIN : Kao mungnga hao? Kao mungnga hao? Sa' hunggan yo', nene.
(Will you not? Will you not? Because I am willing, baby.)

2. Ti ya-mo åttilong na taotao / lao gof ya-mo i fanihi
(You don't like dark-skinned people / but you like the fruit bat)

ya hu desesea kerida na / un guaiya yo' taiguine.
(and I desire sweetheart that / you love me in the same way.)

3. Åttilong yo' nai na taotao / åttilong ti ma guaiya
(I am a dark-skinned person / dark-skinned persons aren't loved)

lao gef atan nu i dos matå-mo / sa' un dia un fina' baba.
(but look well at your two eyes / for one day they will deceive you.)

4. Ti pinite yo' as nåna / komo hågo yo' kumonne'
(I won't feel bad for mama / if you are the one to take me)

komo humihita chumochocho / ai masea linemmok donne'.
(if we eat together / oh, even if it's just crushed chili pepper.)

5. I famalau'an ni man dudus / man gof andi' i lalåhe
(The flirtatious women / the show-off guys)

an un pala'i labios-mo libistik / siempre ha' un ma essitane.
(if you smear your lips with lipstick / you will surely be mocked.)

6. Ti guåho na klåsen taotao / para hu tohge gi flores-mo
(I'm not the kind of person / to stand on your flowers)

lao måtto yo' para hu konsuela hao / annai hu hungok i tanges-mo.
(but I came to comfort you / when I heard your weeping.)


WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

This is a wooing song. A man, who seems unlikely to win this girl's heart, is doing his best to convince her to take him as her sweetheart. The refrain shows the difference between the two. He knows who he wants ("Sa' hunggan yo'.) but he is not sure yet where she stands ("Kao mungnga hao?").

In verse 1, he uses the analogy of watering flowers, or plants, which makes them bloom and blossom. He asks her to do the same, with love and romance, to make their feelings grow.

In verse 2, he points out her contradiction. She doesn't like him because his skin is dark, but she loves fruit bat, which is black. If she can love to eat fanihi , why can't she love him, too?

In verse 3, again defending himself against his dark skin, he points out that his color is just skin deep. There is more to a man than the color of his appearance. Those deeper things escape the eyes, and her eyes can deceive ( fina ' baba ) her, thinking that a light skinned man is a good man when in fact he is not, or that a dark skinned man is bad, when in fact he may just be a wonderful person.

In verse 4, he shifts gear and suggests that, if she accepts him, their romance will be wonderful. So wonderful that he will not even pity his mother, who sorrows that she lost her son to such a woman. So wonderful, that even if all they have to eat is crushed chili pepper, it will be great as long as they eat together.

In verse 5, he teases her, maybe to shame her, but not in a horrible way. He warns her in order to shake her up and bring her back to modesty. Lipstick was new and strange to Chamorros when it first came out in general use among the Chamorros. Women painting their lips and faces seemed ridiculous to some, and Chamorros mock what they find ridiculous. Lipstick and make-up were associated with affluent, westernized women, and even with loose women. Since the woman he loves values appearances, to the extent that a dark man won't do for her, he warns her that her made-up appearance, with lipstick, only opens her up to ridicule. Better, he implies, that she not make such a big thing of appearances, hers or his.

In verse 6, an allusion is made to a well-known Chamorrita verse which goes, " Båsta umuriyan guma', sa' un gatcha i tinanom. Yanggen maolek hao na taotao, guaha potta para un hålom ." " Stop coming around, because you're stepping on the plants/flowers. If you're a decent person, there is a door you can enter ."

Romantic liaisons were strictly regulated in traditional Chamorro culture. It wasn't easy for a man to interact with a lady whenever he wanted. So, men were tempted to sneak around the house at night and get as close as possible to the sweetheart's bedroom window. That meant he would often stomp on the plants and flowers around the house. The Chamorrita verse says that if the man is a decent one, he'd have no hesitation approaching the house through the main door, where he would have to pass through mom and dad first.

So the man in this song says he's not an indecent type of fellow to sneak around the house and step on the plants. But, he has heard his darling's tears, so he goes to comfort her. Another reason why she should take him as her sweetheart.



SOME LANGUAGE NOTES


Marikita . Spelled Mariquita if using the Spanish style. It comes from the Spanish way of adding -ita or -illa to feminine names or words to make it more affectionate or to emphasize smallness. Maria is Mary and Mariquita is "little Mary" or "darling Mary."


Lipstick . Chamorros had a hard time with the P, S and T all together so they added an I in between the P and S and said lipistik or libistik. Remember that, in the old days, Chamorros were like Spaniards who had a hard time saying an initial S followed by a consonant. School is es-kool and student is es-tudient. The stick in lipstick becomes istik.


Essitane . To mock or ridicule someone or something. It comes from the word o'sitan or e'sitan, which means to joke. But many Chamorros shorten essitane to estane as you can hear in the song when Johnny sings it.

MANANA SI YU'US

Monday, February 20, 2017

Påle' Román's 1932 Chamorro-Spanish dictionary
" Manana si Yu'us " means "it has already dawned; it is already daytime."


We live in a time now in Chamorro history where there are less and less fluent speakers of Chamorro, and yet there are now greater differences among Chamorro speakers than before, and a bit of confusion and even irritation.

There have always been differences among Chamorro speakers in the past. These differences have occurred between the islands and even between villages. When I was pastor of both Malesso' and Humåtak at the same time, I noticed a few differences in the words and manner of speech used by both villages, and these two villages were just a mile apart!

But these differences of the past were differences between communities.

Now, individuals are taking it upon themselves to introduce innovations and novelties in the language, under the claim of being more proper.

Not everyone agrees.

Some years ago, since around the 1990s, some people stopped saying "Buenas dias" as a morning greeting. From what I heard, they did this to eliminate from the language a Spanish greeting. Before we go any further, I'd like to point out that it may be a Spanish greeting in origin, but we Chamorros already changed it! In Spanish, the phrase is buenos días . Buenos , with an O.

Chamorros don't say buenos días . They say buenas dias , or buenas for short. We changed it. If a Chamorro said "buenas dias" in Madrid, he or she would be corrected.

Second, not everyone agrees that we should eliminate every Spanish-origin word in our language. Those borrowed words did not bother our grandparents 70 years ago and they don't bother a whole bunch of Chamorros to this day. No identity crisis need arise from the borrowing of foreign words, which happens across the globe to nobody's great anxiety.

Third, coming up with an indigenous replacement does not necessarily mean we have revived an ancient usage. I have never seen in the early accounts what our ancestors said to greet each other in the morning. Maybe they didn't even have a specific morning greeting. Not every race or community does.




So, what phrase was chosen by those people wishing to replace the Spanish-origin phrase buenas dias .

They chose manana si Yu'us .

Manana si Yu'us is not a new phrase. Our grandparents and their grandparents have been saying it for at least a couple of centuries, at least since early Christian times when the concept of Yu'us was adopted by Chamorros. Thus, that phrase has had an established meaning for some 200 or more years, held by an entire community and not just individuals. It means "daylight."

The word manana itself means "clear, visible, obvious, evident, certain."

Ti ya-ña yo' si påle' . The priest doesn't like me.
Mananana ha'. That's clear. That's obvious .

Yu'us means God and is the Chamorro pronunciation and form of the Spanish word Dios , meaning God. When Sanvitores translated some prayers into Chamorro, he still used the word Dios even when writing in Chamorro, because, at the time, Chamorro had no word for God (the idea of God in the Judeo-Christian sense did not exist among our ancestors). Sanvitores had no choice but to use the Spanish word Dios . Since Dios was a new word among the Chamorros, it took a while for the people's modification of it to come down in written form.

(As an aside, in the Philippines, the concept of God was named Diyos (sometimes Dios ) in their languages, taken from the Spanish word Dios , and in Chuuk, where American missionaries worked long before Catholic missionaries came, their word for God is Kot , taken from English "God.")

Even the Spanish word adios (farewell) was changed by Chamorros to ayu'us ; further indication that Yu'us comes from the Spanish Dios . Thus, if we dropped buenas dias because we don't like Spanish, then we've got to somehow take care of that Spanish derivative Yu'us , too.

So does manana si Yu'us mean that God is clear? Obvious? Evident? As if God were hidden at night?

I don't think so. That would be bad catechesis.

Instead, I believe the Chamorro sense is that, once it is daylight, the things that God made, creation, is now visible. That's why the man in the video looks around the area he is at and says "while it is daylight, we are in the pasture and the farm working," because God has made daylight reveal the things of earth with which we work.

Perhaps, " manana i nina'huyung Yu'us ," "the things made by God are seen."

This is why older Chamorros chuckle or shake their heads when younger people greet them with manana si Yu'us . That phrase is a statement of fact, not a greeting. It means that daylight has come. One can imagine a younger person meeting an older person, saying :

Younger : Manana si Yu'us. ( It's daylight .)
Older : Mananana ha'. ( That's obvious ).

At a time in our history when we could be uniting more closely as we face linguistic and cultural loss, we are introducing new ways of speaking that create greater divergence among us. By introducing these neologisms, Chamorros are becoming less able to understand each other when we speak to each other.

HAGÅTÑA ELECTIONS OF 1895

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

HAGÅTÑA
Around 1900


In 1895, just three years before the Americans took possession of Guam, the elite of Hagåtña met to cast their consultative votes for the appointment of city officials. The Chamorro elite ( principalía ) meant former and standing city officials, whose vote was merely a recommendation. The Spanish authority made the actual decision, and the priest of the city or village added his voice to the process as well. In a few cases, non-Chamorros were also among the elite as, for example, long-time Filipino residents, especially those married to Chamorros.

The highest office for Hagåtña was the Gobernadorcillo , literally the "little Governor." Other positions were of the teniente (assistant), juez de sementera (superintendent of fields), alguacil (sheriff) and the juez de ganado (superintendent of farm animals), among others. The city was divided into barangays (neighborhoods) and these were headed by a cabeza (head).

The 15 electors were as follows :

Juan de Castro
Manuel Aflague
Remigio Martínez
Justo Dungca
José Wilson
Miguel de Borja
Eulogio de la Cruz
José Laguaña
Juan Santos
Juan Aguon
Juan Torres
José Quenga
Joaquín Pérez
Justo de León Guerrero
Venancio Roberto

Nominated for the position of Gobernadorcillo of Hagåtña were :

Remigio Pangelinan Martínez
Joaquín Cruz Pérez
Justo Sánchez de León Guerrero

In the voting, Martínez received 5 votes, Pérez 4 and de León Guerrero 6, for a total of 15 votes.

So these results were sent to the Spanish Governor.

The report of the parish priest, Father Francisco Resano, also was submitted to the Governor. This is what he had to say about the three candidates. I will not name them, since the descendants of these candidates could very well be alive today.

About one of them, Fr Resano said that he was apathetic, of little activity and lacking any interest or enthusiasm.

About another, Fr Resano said he was somewhat good, but not very good.

About the third and final candidate, Fr Resano said that he had "very beautiful manners" ( de bellísimas costumbre s) but was not a strong character ( de poco carácter ), meaning he was not someone who took command of his responsibilities and duties.

In the end, the Spaniards chose Justo Sánchez de León Guerrero to be Gobernadorcillo of Hagátña.

BEMOANING THE NUPTIALS

Tuesday, February 14, 2017


According to an American missionary writing right after the war, one of the customs some Chamorros observed concerning weddings was the lamenting of the marriage. Rather than parents and other elders in the family rejoicing over the newlyweds, they would weep and bewail the wedding as something horrible!

Other writers have stated that the bride's family generally bewailed the loss of the daughter to the groom's family. The wedding breakfast hosted by the bride's family, for example, was without music, because the bride's family saw nothing joyful about losing their daughter that morning to the groom and his family. The wedding breakfast had a somber tone to it, and was finished as soon as possible. Nobody wanted such a serious and formal meal to be prolonged more than necessary.

But the American missionary adds this. Female relatives on both sides of the family went through the motions of regretting the wedding. It's important to understand that this regret may not have been real; both families may have indeed been very happy over the marriage. But custom dictated that older relatives display some displeasure that their son or daughter was, in some sense, leaving the nest.

It was the custom that neither set of parents attended the actual wedding in church. Godparents and other relatives would attend. So, after the wedding, the couple would go to the bride's parents first and kneel before them. The mother of the bride would begin to cry and wail, " Ai hagå-ho! Gof na' masi' na hagå-ho! " "Oh my daughter! My most pitiable daughter!" The mother would continue to state that the groom would be a bad provider, that he is lazy, that he will be a drinker, that she will have a miserable life with him and so on.

Then the couple would go to the groom's parents' house and the routine would be repeated. This time, the groom's mother would say that her son would never be fed right by the new wife, that his clothes will never be clean or repaired, that the house would always be filthy and so on.

A PERSONAL NOTE

My great grandmother was an only child. She had six children but never married. Elders in my family explained that her parents would never consent to her getting married because, as the one and only child, and especially being a woman, her parents would have lost her to the groom's family, thus leaving mother and father alone with no one to care for them in their old age.

It's not that brides abandoned their parents entirely. But the bride would definitely be unable to give her parents unlimited attention as a married woman, since she now lived with her husband, with her own children to raise. Men had more opportunity and freedom to attend to their parents.

Of course, as in almost all things, not everyone observed this. Not every single Chamorro family lived by one code.

I CHALÅN-TA : PÅLE' EUGENIO STREET

Monday, February 13, 2017


These two streets in Santa Rita are named after two Spanish Capuchin missionaries of the 1930s.

Santa Rita, as you know, was established after World War II for the former residents of Sumay. The people of Sumay had a reputation for being very religious. That trait carried over into post-war Santa Rita and is shown in the way that village named many of its streets after priests.

The first street is named after Påle' Eugenio. Håya is a direction, which many consider the equivalent of "east," but which, in reality, is the direction away from the sea.



Påle' Eugenio de Legaria, OFM Cap

Påle' Eugenio had been the priest of Sumay (and also of Hågat, and sometimes both places at the same time) for a few years in the 1930s. When the Spanish Capuchins were slowly replaced by American Capuchins, on orders of the US Navy in the late 1930s, he left the island.



Påle' Román María de Vera, OFM Cap

The second street is named after Påle' Román María de Vera.

This is interesting because Påle' Román was never the pastor of Sumay. However, he would have been known to the people of Sumay, as he was known by almost everyone on the entire island. He not only would assist now and then in every parish, he was frequently called on to preach at the village fiestas, because he was by far the best speaker of Chamorro among the Spanish missionaries.

Påle' Román just made it his business to go around and be with the people. This was not always on pleasant business! He would sometimes try to woo people back to the Church who had become Protestant. Or, he would try to influence someone not to marry someone from outside the island community. So, he was at times a controversial figure. But, for most people, he was a very influential priest who was consulted by many. He translated numerous religious books into Chamorro that were used by many people. Even though he was never pastor of Sumay, such was his stature that Santa Rita named a street after him. He was one of the last Spanish missionaries to leave Guam, just three months before war broke out in 1941.

KONBENTO

Friday, February 10, 2017


At least one priest is still calling it a konbento , and this is a young priest, at that.

When I was growing up, even the stateside priests called it the konbento .

In Chamorro, the konbento is the priest's house at the parish. Many people now just call it the rectory, and, at the Cathedral, the pastoral center.

In English, there are half a dozen names for the residence of the clergy at a church or parish. In Ireland, one can immediately tell if one is referring to a Protestant church or to a Catholic church simply by how one calls the clergy residence. In Ireland of long ago, one went to a Catholic presbytery and to a Protestant rectory.

The word konbento comes from the Spanish convento . That itself is taken from the Latin conventus , from convenire , to "come together," an "assembly." It was applied to a religious house, where religious persons came to live together under one roof. Monks in their house, priests in theirs, nuns in theirs and so on. This is where we get the English word convent, which in English means a house for women religious (nuns or sisters).

But the Spanish word convento was applied to more than just houses for women religious. A home for friars was also called a convento , as was the priest's house in a parish. This is how konbento entered the Chamorro language, and with only one meaning - the priest's house in a parish - since our islands did not have friaries for men nor convents for women until well into the American era.

Spanish records sometimes called the priest's house the casa parroquial , the parish house. But, among Chamorros, only one word was used for that - the konbento .

When we finally had a friary in our islands as well as sisters' convents, we reverted to the English names for these place (friary, convent), even though, in Spanish, convento can mean a friary or a sisters' convent. Sadly, not in Chamorro. If we said in Chamorro that sister lived in a konbento , people would be scandalized. Our historical lack of friaries and sisters' convents till after the war means that the meaning of konbento was frozen into one meaning alone.



In Spain, this friary can be called a convento. But not in the Marianas.



It's funny how convent and konbento should mean the same thing, but not in Chamorro. A sisters' convent could never be called a konbento in Chamorro.


The Malesso Konbento


In the Marianas, the konbento was not just the house for the priest working in that parish. Of course it was also his office, basically a place to store the sacramental records (baptisms, weddings, etc.). But, as we can see in the picture of the Malesso' Konbento, it had a large bodega or basement, which was used to store supplies but also to shelter families from typhoons. Poor families living in weaker homes found shelter in the bodega at the Malesso' Konbento even as late as Typhoon Karen in 1962.

In some places in the Marianas, the konbento was the only structure in the village built of mampostería (stone and mortar mix) which gave better protection against storms than wooden and thatched structures.

A DUENDES STORY FROM 1852

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

House of Taga in 1818
Jacques Arago, artist


Sometime around 1850 or so, an American sea captain, Alfred K. Fisher, visited Tinian. Not surprisingly, the focus of his subsequent tale, published in American newspapers, was the House of Taga and its mighty latte stones, and the story of its builder, Chief Taga.

But there was also a description of dwarves by one Juan Taitano, a Chamorro of Hagåtña who knew much about Tinian and the story of Taga. Fisher was advised to go and interview Taitano, who shared stories about dwarves on Tinian. These drarves can be none other than the duendes .

But Taitano shared some things about these duendes that differ somewhat from what is said about them today. Keep in mind that Taitano's story is from 1852 and that folklore changes over time in some aspects. Also keep in mind that the story is not directly from Taitano himself, but rather from an American newspaper writer who could be 2 or 3 persons distant from Taitano, the original source. Things can change between the original source and the third person quoting that source!

Benevolent . One of the first differences between our modern idea about the duendes and Taitano's version is that the duendes were kind, rather than mischievous, as we believe them to be today. Rather than kidnap children, the duendes found lost children in the jungle and returned them to the parents.

Secondly, when the duendes saw how the giant spirits (perhaps what we call taotaomo'na today) punished people with sickness, the duendes came day or night to heal the stricken. Indeed, the duendes healed any poor person who was sick, no matter the occasion.

Reclusive . This is not so different from our modern idea of the duendes , but Taitano says that the duendes do not speak at all. This differs from what some older people say about the duendes , whom, they say, have been heard to speak in an unintelligible language.

Descendants of Taga . According to Taitano, the duendes were the children of the daughter of Taga, who had married a giant. Though small, the duendes were powerful.

Eyewitness Description . Taitano claims to have seen a duendes himself. It happened one night when he was sleeping in the jungle. He awoke in the middle of the night to see one dwarf looking intently at him. The duendes had big blue eyes and was staring at Taitano with a mild and gentle look. The duendes vanished quickly, as soon as Taitano awoke and looked at the duendes briefly.

For more about the duendes :

http://paleric.blogspot.com/2011/10/i-duendes.html

HÅFA NA UN CHIKU?

Monday, February 6, 2017


A story from the 1950s

Guaha baila gi pupuenge ya manhånao hame ni man amigan eskuela para in fan baila.
(There was a dance in the evening and us school girlfriends went to dance.)

Man eståba lokkue' i man ma'estra yan man ma'estro na man mamumulan.
(The teachers were also there who were watching over us.)

Magåhet na gof ya-ho este na låhe ya duro ham kumuentos yan chumålek.
(It's true that I really liked this boy and we kept talking and laughing.)

Kalan ti in atiende i baila sa' duro ham kumuentos.
(It's like we didn't pay attention to the dance because we kept on talking.)

Lao mampos ga' kumuentos este na 'boy' ya esta ha na' o'son yo' umekkungok.
(But this boy was way too talkative and he already made me tire of listening.)

Sige sige de ha sångan taiguine an taiguennao.
(He kept saying this and that.)

Esta måtto gi hinaso-ko, "Haftaimano siña hu na' påra gue' kumuentos?"
(It already came to my mind, "How can I stop him from talking?")

Pues hu hålla gue' mågi giya guåho, hu toktok ya hu chiku.
(So I pulled him to me, I hugged him and I kissed him.)

An monhåyan hu chiku, må'pos ha' gue' sa' ti ha hongge håfa bidå-ho!
(After I finished kissing him, he just went away because he couldn't believe what I did.)

Despues, ha lalåtde yo' si nanå-ho sa' sinangåne gue' ni ma'estra håfa bidå-ho.
(Later, my mother scolded me because she was told by a teacher what I had done.)

"Håfa na un chiku?!?"
("Why did you kiss him?!?")

"Mamá, pot para bai na' påkkaka' gue' na hu chiku!"
("Mom, it was to shut him up that I kissed him!")

FEAR OF ELECTRICITY

Tuesday, January 31, 2017


Chester Butler ran one of two movie theaters in Hagåtña before the war. His was called the Gaiety Theater.

Butler, who had married a Chamorro woman (Ignacia Pangelinan Bordallo), had two young Chamorro men run the projector. But all they could do, and wanted to do, was play the movie reels. Anything beyond that, especially if dealing with electricity, was not to their taste.

An American Navy man with the needed skills was hired by Butler to be the sound technician. He would lend a hand in other things when needed.



Gaiety in Hagåtña before the war

For example, one night there was a power overload which blew the main fuse, putting the entire auditorium, which was full of people, in complete darkness. The American man took out his flashlight, replaced the bad fuse and restored power. When the lights came on, not only was the theater empty but the two Chamorro projector boys were standing outside the theater in the middle of the street. They would have nothing to do with restoring power. They were deathly afraid of dealing with electricity.

The Navy man believed that the great fear of many Chamorros of electricity stemmed from the death of a young boy whose kite got stuck in the electrical lines in the early days of the city's power plant. Trying to retrieve his kite, the boy climbed the pole and touched the lines and got knocked down to the ground and died. Word quickly spread that electricity kills, and many Chamorros thereafter kept their distance from handling electrical issues.




The smoke stack of the Hagåtña power plant before the war



THE FIRST CHAMOLINIANS

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Chamorros and Carolinians in Saipan, early 1900s

The photo above, showing Chamorro and Carolinian men of Saipan, reveals the big differences between the two races. The Chamorros had been under European rule for 230 years by the time this photo was taken. The Carolinians, on the other hand, had been under European rule in Saipan for 80 years, and, for much of those years, the European influence over them was negligible. The Spanish Government headquartered in Guam basically left the Carolinian community in Saipan to themselves in the early years. By the 1850s, Guam sent more Chamorros to Saipan as teachers and eventually a resident Spanish priest was also stationed there. Chamorro Padre Palomo also spent some time in Saipan.

By and by, the two races, Carolinian and Chamorro, learned to live together. In fact, a few began marrying someone from the other race. Today, we call people of both Chamorro and Carolinian heritage Chamolinians. The term did not appear until the 1970s in Saipan.

CHAMORRO + CAROLINIAN = CHAMOLINIAN



One thing that helped popularize the term Chamolinian were a few music albums put out by Saipan artists, like Candy Taman and Frank "Bokonggo" Pangelinan. Candy, I know for a fact, is himself part Carolinian (Taman) and Chamorro (Babauta).



Elias Parong Sablan

Another well-known Chamorro-Carolinian mestizo was the former Mayor of Saipan, Elias Parong Sablan. His mother was Carolinian and his father Chamorro.

Which race did these mixed-heritage people identify with? Which language did they speak?

In the old days, the most common answer was both. Most, if not all, spoke both languages and identified with both, though the story changes somewhat case by case.

It is said that if the mother was Carolinian, the child identified more with the Carolinian side and spoke better Carolinian. This is because, in both cultures, it is the mother who is the strongest influence over the child. In Carolinian culture, one's clan identity and even land ownership is carried through the mother. The Carolinian mother will make sure her child grows up with a lot of contact with her (Carolinian) side of the family.The child will still grow up identifying with his Chamorro father, but the "pull" will be strongest with the mother.

BUT WHO WERE THE FIRST?

But who were the first children of Carolinian-Chamorro marriages?

Putting aside the possibility that there were the occasional Carolinian-Chamorro mixes long before records were kept, and putting aside also the mixed Chamorro-Carolinian babies born out of wedlock, we find in the Saipan records the following early Chamorro-Carolinian unions :


FAUSTO

Although we don't hear the name often, there is a Fausto family of the Marianas. Two, it seems.

In the 1897 Guam Census there is a Fausto family of recent origin from the Philippines (recent, meaning arriving from around 1880 onwards) and an older one, already mixed with Chamorro blood by the 1830s. It is this older Fausto family which is involved with our topic.

One Manuel Fausto, born in Hagåtña of an unknown father and a mother named Rosalía Fausto, eventually moved to Saipan by the 1850s. There he married a Carolinian woman who was given the Christian name Maria Aurora. Apparently, she was not given a Spanish surname (as was sometimes done) nor did she carry her original Carolinian name as a surname (as was mostly done). In all the records, she is simply named Maria Aurora. The records say that her family was from Lamotrek.

This Manuel Fausto, though Chamorro, seems to have been an "honorary" Carolinian, almost an integral part of the Carolinian community. He often acted as godfather to many Carolinians being baptized. He taught them, as did his son Mariano Borja Fausto (son of a prior marriage) who taught the Carolinians living in Tamuning. It is almost certain that Manuel Fausto spoke Carolinian or at least had a very good grasp of it. Speaking Chamorro and almost assuredly some Spanish, he would have made an excellent go-between for the Spaniards and Chamorros in their dealings with the Carolinians, who, in the main, could not speak Spanish nor Chamorro. People relied on those who could speak all the main languages to do the interpreting.

It should be noted that sometimes the records spell the name Fajusto, and I have heard older Chamorros in Saipan pronounce the name Fajusto. That is, FA - HUS - TO. But 90% of the time, the records spell it Fausto and most people say FAUS - TO.

Here's the important thing.

Manuel Fausto and his Carolinian wife Maria Aurora had many daughters who married Chamorro men. They married into the Camacho , Arriola , Palacios and Salas families (among others), which are big clans in Saipan. Being that these unions go back to the 1870s, there are a lot of Chamorros in Saipan today who have Carolinian blood in them, thanks to Maria Aurora.





REYES

Here is a very interesting story with a twist.

There are many Reyeses in Saipan whose "Reyes" ancestor was not born a Reyes. He was a Carolinian.

A Carolinian man on Saipan named TAROLIMANG, sometimes also called Igifer, was baptized and given the Christian name Juan (John). From then on, he should have been called Juan Tarolimang, and he was. But then the records changed and start calling him Juan de los Reyes. It couldn't be because it was later admitted that his biological father was someone named Reyes, because the records do tell us the names of his Carolinian and non-Christian parents. So, why did he soon get the last name Reyes?

It's because, in those days, people were very casual about names. And not just in the Marianas.

People easily dropped old names and adopted new ones all the time. My Irish grandfather, for example, in the 1910s, dropped his first name Patrick when he moved to the U.S. That name, he felt, marked him as an Irishman and the Irish were unwelcome by many people in the U.S. in those days, depending on what part of the country you were in. The point is that, in those days, people often changed names quite easily, without a lot of legal procedures. And so it was for Juan Tarolimang. Perhaps in an effort to assimilate more with the Spanish-Chamorro establishment, he took Reyes as a last name. It could be that he had a Chamorro godfather named Reyes, or perhaps a man named Reyes was his benefactor or employer.

So the Carolinian Juan de los Reyes married a Chamorro from Luta (Rota). Her name was Anacleta Matantaotao Orpus. Sometimes spelled Orpos and Oppos. Anacleta was born in Luta and so were her parents. Matantaotao is definitely a Chamorro name, but the jury is still out on Orpus. It could be an old Chamorro name, or it could be from somewhere else. Until we find records to say one way or another, we'll have to leave it at that.

Juan and Anacleta married a long time ago, in 1865 or so. They had many children, all carrying the name Reyes. Some of them married Chamorros and some of them married Carolinians. So, in Saipan, there are many Reyeses who are descendants of a Carolinian named Tarolimang who married the Chamorro Anacleta Matantaotao Orpus.

ESTEVES

We just elected an Esteves to the Guam Legislature, and his roots go back to the Esteves from Saipan, which then spread out over the other islands of the Marianas.

Antonio Esteves was a Carolinian from Satawal, living in Saipan.

Because he is named Antonio, we know that he was eventually baptized Catholic. That's probably when he also acquired the last name Esteves, which is Spanish/Portuguese. Why did a Carolinian get a Spanish/Portuguese name? As mentioned above, people dropped and picked up names very casually in those days. Sometimes, a Carolinian would take on the full name or sometimes just the first or last name of their godfather. Whatever the reason, what we do know is that Antonio Esteves was a Carolinian.

He married a Chamorro lady from Hagåtña, Josefa Campos. Everyone in the Marianas named Esteves (barring recent arrivals who come from a different origin) is a descendant of the Carolinian-Chamorro union of Antonio and Josefa.




SANTA MARIA

Another last name we don't hear about.

But, a Carolinian named Quitipung (spelled various ways at times), from the island of Sooc who then lived in Saipan, was baptized Catholic and married a Chamorro from Luta (Rota) named Maria Hocog Inos. After his baptism and marriage to Maria, he was known as Bernardo de Santa Maria.

The records sometimes say he was from Chuuk, and Sooc could be a shortcut of Pulusuk, an island in Chuuk.

DE LA CRUZ

In 1895, a Chamorro man named Jose Dueñas de la Cruz, from Hagåtña, now living in Saipan, married a Carolinian woman from Saipan named Ana Faibar. Her family was from Satawal.

MATAGOLAY

Many people think Matagolay (Matagolai) is a Chamorro name, but coincidences do exist and it is a coincidence that måta (face/eyes) and gollai (vegetables) are also Chamorro words.

But a Carolinian man from Unoun (today's Ulul?) named Matagolay was baptized and became known as José Matagolay. He married a Chamorro woman, Carmen Cruz from Sumay, living in Saipan. From them, the Matagolay clan was born, being of both Carolinian and Chamorro blood.

SAN NICOLAS

One of the last Chamorro-Carolinian marriages in Saipan in the 1800s involved two people apparently from Guam who had moved to Saipan.

Even the Carolinian wife, Concepción Altariba, was apparently a Guam Carolinian (Tamuning). She married the Chamorro José San Nicolás from Hagåtña and moved to Saipan. Their daughter Rosa, a Chamolinian, married into the Chamorro Manahane family.

Altariba is not a Carolinian or Chamorro name. It is Spanish (spelled also Altarriba) and the name of a few places in Spain. For all we know, she got this name from a Spanish godparent or benefactor.

SABLAN

One of the last Chamorro-Carolinian unions in the 1800s was the marriage between the Chamorro Felix Reyes Sablan and Luisa Malug Parong (sometimes spelled Parung). They got married around the year 1895.

Felix was born in Luta (Rota), but both his parents, Mariano and Maria, were Chamorros from Hagåtña. Mariano was often a government clerk and moved where he was needed, such as Luta and then Saipan.

Luisa's father was from Unani and her mother was from Ilato (Elato) in the Carolines.

From this union came Elias, the future Mayor of Saipan, and his siblings.

Elias was such a prominent figure in civil affairs in Saipan, especially right after World War II when the Americans tried to get Saipan back on its feet after the war. Elias could wield influence over the two Saipan communities, the Chamorro and Carolinian. Who better to unite the two races as mayor than someone whose blood included both races! It could be said that Elias enjoyed even more influence over the Carolinian community because he had also married a Carolinian, Carmen, from the Mangarero family.

OTHERS

Many other Chamorros married Carolinians after 1900, but I have mentioned only the ones I know who married before 1900. Many of these Chamolians from after 1900 are prominent to this day in business, politics and the professions.


CELIS : A SPECIAL CASE

Although neither of these two spouses were Chamorro, their children eventually did marry Chamorros and also became part of the Chamolinian mix.

A Filipino named Agatón Celis moved from Guam to Saipan and married a Carolinian lady named Enriqueta Antonia. Records give two places for her origin. Some say she was from Aurupec (probably today's Eauripik) and some say Lamotrek. Either way, both islands are from the same region of the Carolines.

Enriqueta Antonia is her Christian name, the female forms of the names Enrique (Henry) and Antonio (Anthony). She had a prior Carolinian name that was soon dropped, at least in official records.

So, their children were not Chamolinian but rather Fililinian (Filipino-Carolinian). But some of their children eventually married Chamorros and the grandchildren became Chamolinian (with Filipino, too).

Agatón was in Saipan at least by 1857, the year he married Enriqueta. He was a native of Malate, now a section of Manila, and he had been married before. His first wife had died already when he married Enriqueta.


.....AND BOYER

Harry Boyer, from the United States, made it out to Saipan in the 1880s and met a Carolinian lady by the name of María Taman. Her father was from Oleai and her mother was from Satawal, in the Carolines. They had a son Juan, who was therefore an American-Carolinian mix. Juan married Nieves Fausto Palacios in 1913. Now Nieves herself had Carolinian blood, being the granddaughter of the Carolinian María Aurora, who had married the Chamorro Manuel Fausto. Nieves' mother Tomasa, a Chamolinian, married a Chamorro, Vicente Cruz Palacios, born in Hagåtña, Guam. So, with the Boyers, there are two Carolinian lines : one from María Taman and the other from María Aurora. This was then added to a Chamorro line, the Palacios.




This is a committee formed some time ago to organize an event concerning the renowned Carolinian chief Aghurubw.

But, among these people are some named Deleon Guerrero, Taitano and Barcinas. A clear example of Chamolinian.

RUNAWAY RENAISSANCE

Monday, January 23, 2017


American universities usually have two main semesters, a fall and a spring semester, and the University of Guam follows this system.

If you wanted to translate "fall" and "spring" into Chamorro, you run into a challenge. Our language lacks terms for the SEASONS "fall" and "spring" because we lack those seasons.

But, given the great urge many people have today to promote the language and translate as much as possible into Chamorro, someone, perhaps, went ahead and looked up "spring" in a dictionary, or asked around for the word or maybe already knew of the word. Perhaps it was only for this one class offered above. I am told that others at UOG go with Fanuchånan (Rainy Season) for Fall and Fañomnagan (Sunny Season) for Spring.

What is "spring" in Chamorro?

The next thing someone should have asked is, "What kind of spring are you talking about?"

1. Water . There is, first of all, the water source called a "spring" or "fountain." The Chamorro word for that kind of spring is måtan hånom . Literally it means "face of water" and I can picture that. Just as the eyes ( måta ) cry tears, the earth opens its "eyes" and "cries" water (in a natural spring). There is also the word bo'bo ', but that I believe refers more specifically to any burst of water from the ground, whereas måtan hånom refers to the source of water which becomes a body of water like a pool, lake or stream. Along the shore, one can often see bo'bo ', fresh water leaking up through the sand and running to the sea close by.

2. Season . Second, there is the season after winter called spring. We don't have a Chamorro word for that because we don't have a season after winter, nor do we have a winter. We have twelve months of temperatures changing between 75 and 95 degrees, with many exceptions exceeding 95. If we had to talk about a season called spring, we might say primabera (if we went with the Spanish primavera ) or we might use the English word "spring."  Older Chamorro dictionaries, written by people closer to the period when Spanish greatly influenced Chamorro life, include the word primabera for the season "spring."

3. Action . Then there is the verb "to spring," as in to quickly move or leap up. Chamorro has more than one word to describe that action, but ta'yok is the best word to describe a sudden leaping or springing. "To spring" can also mean to "originate," as "it sprang into being," Dokko ' could be used poetically for that.

4. Object . Then there is the object "spring," as in the springs of a watch or a car. Kuetdas can be used for that (a cord wound up into a spring). Another word for the object "spring" is mueye . Both words are borrowed from Spanish.

So.....

Using måtan hånom ("spring" as in water source or fountain) to describe the season of Spring (which we don't have) would be like using the word Poddong or Tomba for the season of Fall.

If people want to invent new words or give new meanings to old words, no one can stop them. It happens all the time in languages all throughout history. But, given the state of the Chamorro language today, is it in our interest to keep things in constant flux? A Renaissance that has no brakes?

KÅNTA : PAPA' I KANDET

Friday, January 20, 2017


This is a song about a man communicating with his sweetheart by the light of the moon under her bedroom window. It's obviously a scene from our islands long ago when we had homes like that, where a girl's bedroom window was raised on haligi (pillars) or on the bodega (basement). I can think of no better village to represent that kind of old, island living than Inalåhan, which preserves many pre-war homes.

The tune is borrowed from the World War II song "Lili Marlene," popular among both Allied and Axis forces! It was originally a German song and speaks about a young woman under the lantern, she being the love of a lonely soldier in the battle field.

The Chamorro version keeps much of that imagery.





LYRICS

1. Gi papa' i kandet gi kanton guma' annai hu nanangga i guinaiya-ko.
(Under the light by the side of the house where I am waiting for my love.)

Kao ti un hungok nai chumefla yo' gi kanton i bentanå-mo?
(Didn't you hear when I whistled by the edge of your window?)

Sa' hågo ha' guinaiya-ko keridå-ho nene.
(Because you alone are my love, my beloved baby.)


2. Sikiera i anineng-mo kerida korason u fåtto giya guåho ya hu konsuelan maisa yo'.
(Would at least your shadow, beloved sweetheart, come to me so I can comfort myself.)

Papa' i ma'lak i pilan gi kanton i bentanå-mo.
(Under the brightness of the moon at the edge of your window.)

Sa' hågo ha' guinaiya-ko kerida mia korason.
(Because you alone are my love, my beloved sweetheart.)



NOTES

Kånto . A word which means "edge, side, bank." It is borrowed from the Spanish word canto , meaning "edge."

Chefla . To whistle. So as not to get caught by the girl's parents or family, he whistles to signal her that he is waiting just outside her window.

Sikiera . "At least." From the Spanish siquiera , meaning the same.

Kerida mia . Taken exactly from the Spanish "my beloved."

Korason . Means "heart" but is the equivalent of the English term "sweetheart." Sometimes people say " mames korason ," literally meaning "sweet heart."


LILI MARLENE

Here's how the original song sounds like in English



I PÍKARO

Thursday, January 19, 2017


Our mañaina were great believers in corporal punishment, and many still are to this day, though the punishment has become much more mild and today's parents turn a blind eye to so much nowadays.

But what were the normal infractions that would merit corporal punishment?

I recently came across the childhood reminiscences of a man who grew up in a southern village of Guam in the 1930s. Here are some examples from his life :

Skipping school . The man and his siblings, including some cousins living in the same house, lived several miles from the school house. In those days, one walked to school. So, during the rainy season, you ducked under huge trees like the lemmai (breadfruit) tree and tried to stay as dry as possible. Sometimes there was no choice but to get drenched.

One day it was raining so bad that the oldest cousin suggested they skip school that day. But rather than return home, he said they should pretend they had gone to school and play in that isolated area instead. And that they did. They were so contented that their scheme worked that they tried doing it several more times in the weeks that followed, till the school teacher (there was only one, for all grades) paid a visit to the family home to inquire why the kids had missed several days of school.

For that, their backs were whipped and sore for about four days.

Theft . Not far from the village school were some garden patches owned by the neighbors. During recess or right after school, it was usual for the kids to play in the area next to these gardens. One favorite game was hide and seek. Well, how convenient that sugar cane stalks grew in the garden and served as excellent cover while playing hide and seek?

Hiding among the stalks, one boy decided to break off a cane ready for the eating and began tearing off the outer skin with his teeth and started chomping away. Just a few steps away, and hid again by the sugar cane, were watermelons. He took out his pocket knife and started carving away, his mouth dripping with watermelon juice.

He was so proud of his achievement that he told his friends about it and, soon after, the boys devised a way that they could all take turns hiding in the garden patch, helping themselves to the sugar cane and watermelon, while the other boys created a diversion with their loud screaming so that the owners paid no attention.

However, the rascal boys were careless with their leftovers and the owner soon one day discovered watermelon rinds and sugar cane strips which the boys forgot to collect. The owner also saw foot prints left on some vines and grass and put two and two together. The owner waited for the next day and hid among the sugar cane right before school let out. There he caught two boys chomping on sugar cane red handed.

That evening, he was generously whipped by his grandmother to screams of " Taimamahlao ! Aniti !" (Shameless! Devil!)

A few days later, the boy had to go back to the garden patch owner with a big basket of lemons that his grandmother grew as partial repayment of the sugar cane and watermelon eaten illicitly.

Peeping Tom . Near the school was a stream and a wooden bridge that enabled one to pass over the stream. The kids that lived on that side of the village had to cross that wooden bridge no less than twice a day to go to school. The bridge was made of wooden beams about 2 inches apart. Every now and then, the kids would stop in the middle of the bridge and look through those 2 inch gaps to see if the stream had any shrimp or fish to catch.

The boy started to reason to himself, "If one can look down in between those gaps, one can also look up." So he and two other boys would wait under the bridge very quietly and wait for the girls to cross the bridge. All was well till another boy, who had not been included in this conspiracy, tattled on the boys.

This time it was the teacher who executed the punishment. First, she had the three boys stand on one foot for half an hour. Then she made them switch feet. Then she hit their fingers stretched out on their desks with a ruler. Finally, she made them lie on the classroom floor and gave them ten lashes each. She said she would have done worse than that if she could.

Public Nuisance . In the village was a public area where water pipes were available to anyone needing municipal water. Almost no one in those days had piped water inside the home. There were latrine sheds, with men and women latrines separated, and also showers (again separated by gender) and a large sink for anyone needing to do hand-washed laundry.

In the middle of this small complex was a large pole with a single light bulb on top. That light was for the safety and benefit of the people who might use those public water services at night or early morning. This boy noticed that, now and then, the light would die then turn on again on its own. By observing this several nights, he discovered that the light would die every time there was a strong breeze or gust of wind. The bulb is loose in its socket!

One night, for his own merriment, he waited till some people were inside the sheds using the water, and he started to pull on the heavy wire that helped hold the pole in place. Back and forth the pole swung and, of course, the loose light bulb flickered on and off. Other electrical wires feeding power to some homes were connected to the pole, and with every swing these electrical wires would bounce off the tin roofs of those houses, making a racket.

People, especially the women, some with wet hair, came out of the sheds very upset at the noise, disoriented by the flickering light in the darkness. Some people in the homes came out shouting "What's going on!" The boy fled.

But someone must've recognized him because, the following morning, a messenger went to his house several miles outside the village, requesting that the boy report to the village commissioner's house at 7 o'clock that evening. The commissioner had him lie on his stomach on a bench. His buttocks received six lashes, with a warning that if he ever did that or anything similar again, he'd receive twelve next time.

CANNIBAL TOWN

Wednesday, January 18, 2017


For a little more than three years, Guam was home to 28 or so prisoners of war from German New Guinea. Not surprisingly, accounts of that time tell us how fascinated and entertained the Chamorro people were with these men from such an exotic place. Their physical appearance, clothing and rumored cannibalism fed the imagination of our people, always in the mood for something new and different.

The idea that they were man-eaters apparently came from one (or more) of the New Guineans. We can't discount the possibility that whoever said that said it in jest, having fun scaring the Chamorros. But we can't exclude the possibility either that some of the New Guinean POWs had practiced cannibalism at one time, since cannibalism was not unknown in their part of the world.

When a camp was set up on Guam for New Guinea POWS, it was nicknamed "Cannibal Town." Americans would have probably coined that name and used it, rather than Chamorros, who wouldn't have had that kind of grasp or use of English that early in the century.


WHERE WAS GERMAN NEW GUINEA?



Just north of Australia and not too far south of Micronesia lies the island of New Guinea. At the time period we are talking about (around 1915), the island was divided between the Dutch who ran the western side of the island; the British, who ran the southeastern portion; and the Germans who owned the northeastern part of the island.

In addition, the Germans ruled over many islands to the east of New Guinea, then called the Bismarck Islands, and today called New Britain. They also owned the island of Bougainville, which is part of the Solomons.

Written accounts of the time have conflicting information about where specifically these New Guinean men came from and how they became connected with the ship. It is possible that they didn't come from just one area of German New Guinea. I'll send the list of their names to someone from Papua New Guinea or New Britain and see if we can tell, just from the names, where these men were likely from.

The New Guineans were part of the crew of the German ship the SMS Cormoran which hid in Apra Harbor in 1915, fleeing the Japanese with whom they were at war. In 1917, the US declared war on Germany and the Germans scuttled their own ship. Most of the crew survived and were made prisoners of war. The New Guineans were employed by the US Navy on various public works projects.

In 1919, with the war over, the New Guineans were sent back home, though one of them reportedly died on Guam before war's end and could have taken up residence with a Chamorro woman. Whether they had a kid or more is anybody's guess at this point.



From the Guam Recorder in 1925




For more : http://www.guampedia.com/sms-cormoran-ii-non-german-crew-members/

ENLISTING IN THE NAVY

Friday, January 13, 2017

Chamorro Naval mess attendants undergoing training on the USS Barnes


Sometime in the late 1930s, the US Navy allowed the enlistment of younger Chamorro men from Guam into the Navy but only as mess attendants. These men were basically waiters, especially for the officers at meals.

If you were accepted as a Navy mess attendant from Guam, you were trained on the USS Robert L. Barnes , a Navy oil tanker that sat in Apra Harbor since 1920. For twenty-one years the Barnes was a floating oil barrel for the US Navy, leaving Guam only once in a blue moon. Sometimes the ship would stay anchored at Apra for four or five years without ever leaving the island. When Chamorros were allowed to enlist as mess attendants, the ship was then also used for their training.

But how did one get accepted into the US Navy as a mess attendant?

According to the recollections of one Chamorro man from Sumay who did pass the test in 1940 :

1. Mental Exam - this seems to have been the easy part. The examiners didn't focus a lot on this. It consisted in part of fill-in-the-blank questions. It tested for basic comprehension.

2. Physical Exam - this was performed by the Navy doctor. It was basic. Blood pressure, eyesight, hearing, weight, height, physical disabilities and the like.

This is where quite a number of young men were turned away. A crooked finger, a limp, high or low blood pressure, flat feet and you were told to go home and forget the Navy.

3. Dental Exam - another risky test for the men. Any cavities meant a delay in enlistment. The men were told to find a civilian dentist and get any dental work done and then come back.

4. Police Clearance - to make sure you had never been to jail.

5. Bank Clearance - the Navy didn't want anyone running away from debt.

If one passed all this, he was accepted. In 1941, the US Navy was admitting as many as 15 Chamorro men a month until war broke out in December.

Many of these Chamorro mess attendants were already away from Guam when the war began on December 8, 1941. Many of them never returned to Guam to live.




The USS Barnes lying in Apra Harbor with Orote Point visible in the back

CHAMORROS PRAYING IN SPANISH

Wednesday, January 11, 2017


Some in the Artero clan have revived an old family devotion and are continuing it in the Spanish language.

As most people know, the family patriarch was a Spaniard named Pascual Sáez Artero, who was from the town of Mojácar in the province of Almería in Andalucía in southern Spain. He was born there in 1875, joined the Spanish military, was stationed on Yap where he met his Chamorro wife and then moved to Guam at the turn of the century. He died on Guam in 1956.

His children, half Spanish and half Chamorro, spoke both Spanish and Chamorro fluently, and on top of that, English as well.

Their mother was Asunción (or Ascensión) Martínez Cruz. Most sources state her first name as Asunción, but some of the older ones in the family say that her name was Ascensión.

In any case, she came down with some skin condition that even affected her hair and she could find no relief from medical treatment. She began a novena to the Santo Niño de Cebú, using a prayer book written in Spanish. After completing this novena, her condition improved and the problem eventually disappeared entirely. She made it her promesa (promise) to observe this novena every year in January.

Now that her grand children and great grand children are observing it, they decided to say it in Spanish, just as Asunción (Ascensión) began it many years ago (if not even 100 years ago!).




Long after the Spanish flag was no longer flying over the Marianas, many Chamorros continued to pray in Spanish and, now, the Artero family does the same.




Asunción (Ascensión) Martínez Cruz (circled above), wife of Pascual Artero

NOVENA REZADA EN ESPAÑOL POR CHAMORROS

Wednesday, January 11, 2017


Acabo de asistir a una novena rezada en Guam en español.

La familia que la rezó son descendientes de un andaluz de Mojácar, Almería llamado Pascual Artero Sáez (1875 ~ 1956).

Aunque la familia ya es de la tercera generación y no hablan castellano para nada, insisten que la novena se reze en castellano porque su abuela la inició en castellano hace muchos años. Por cierto, la rezan con acento chamorro (guameño) pero toda en castellano incluso los cantos al terminar la novena.






Don Pascual Artero Sáez, su mujer Ascensión Cruz e hijos

ESTORIAN TON FRANK

Tuesday, January 10, 2017



Åntes de gera, annai hohoben ha' yo' trabia,
(Before the war, when I was still young)

humånao hame yan un primu-ho para in e'fanihi giya Fadi'an na lugåt.
(one of my cousins and I went in search of fruit bat at Fadi'an.)

Era despues de talo'åne ya ti in repåra i ora na esta para u homhom.
(It was after noontime and we didn't realize the time that it would soon be dark.)

Magåhet na esta atrasao para in bira ham tåtte gi chalan para i lancho.
(Truly it was already late for us to go back to the road going to the ranch.)

Guihe na lugåt, meggai liyang.
(In that area, there are a lot of caves.)

Pues humålom ham gi uno ya sumåga ham para in maigo' guihe asta ke manana.
(So we entered one and stayed to sleep there till the daylight.)

Lao tatalo'puenge, makmåta ham sa' guaha buruka!
(But in the middle of the night, we woke up because there was a noise!)

Guaha kumalalamten gi hiyong i liyang!
(Something was moving around outside the cave!)

Ti in tingo' kao gå'ga' pat taotao!
(We didn't know if it were an animal or person!)

Sen ma'åñao ham ya in hatme mås i fondon i liyang sa' ti gef dångkulo.
(We were really afraid and we went further into the back of the cave as it wasn't very big.)

Pumåra i buruka lao sa' pot gualåfon na puenge, in li'e' dos na dångkulon påtas
(The noise stopped, but because that night was a full moon, we saw two huge feet)

na tumotohge gi pachot i liyang!
(standing at the mouth of the cave!)

Ti in tingo' kao påtas gå'ga' pat iyon taotao,
(We didn't know if they were animal feet or belonging to a man,)

lao dångkulo yan loddo', kulan mohon trongkon håyo.
(but they were big and thick, as if they were tree trunks.)

Esta hu gogo'te maolek i macheti-ho!
(I was already holding tightly onto my machete!)

Lao ti åpmam må'pos i dos påtas sin håfa.
(But soon the two feet left without anything more.)

Maigo' ham na dos ta'lo, lao bai sangåne hao na ti gos maolek i maigo'-måme.
(The two of us slept again, but I will tell you that we didn't sleep very well.)






NOTES

* If this is a taotaomo'na story, then the large feet and legs would fit into the typical description of taotaomo'na . At other times, taotaomo'na are described as sometimes being headless, or having huge, gaping holes in their abdomen or side, sometimes stuffed with leaves. But big is almost always descriptive of taotaomo'na . A taotaomo'na is a spirit manifestation of a pre-Spanish ancestor.

* The northeast coast of Guam, where Fadi'an is, once housed many fanihi or fruit bat. Many of the last fanihi surviving on Guam today are in the northernmost corner of the eastern coast, by Pati Point.

* The northeast coast also has few beaches and is known to have many caves in the coral cliffs that make up most of the coast. To this day, few people venture to that part of the island compared to the rest of Guam.

FULL CIRCLE

Monday, January 9, 2017


My dramatization of a story taken from the annals of history.

A Spanish galleon stopped by Guam, as they often did, needing fresh water and food. On board was a young, teenage boy who was part of the crew. As the galleon had departed Acapulco, this young man was probably Mexican himself.

Enticed by the island's vegetation and scenery, after having seen nothing but blue ocean for many weeks, he walked off on his own into the brush, leaving the main party. Perhaps he could find some bananas to eat.



He stopped dead in his tracks when, all of a sudden, a young, teenage Chamorro male appeared before him. This Chamorro boy was naked, but also unarmed, which put the young Mexican a little at ease. Calming him even more, the Chamorro boy smiled and came up to the Mexican, putting his hand on his chest in a gesture of friendliness.

As if suggesting that fresh fruits hanging off trees were just a little ways ahead, the Chamorro boy took hold of the Mexican gently by the shoulder, to lead him in the direction of that food. The more they advanced into the foliage, the more the Chamorro boy put his arms around the Mexican. In short time, the Chamorro boy had a tight hold on the Mexican boy's neck. What seemed playful at first started to feel quite uncomfortable for the Mexican, who started to wonder, with a little anxiety, that he was being lead by this Chamorro boy to a bigger gang of Chamorro boys or men, to be killed.

Right at the moment anxiety was going to turn into panic for the Mexican boy, a rustling in the forest was heard. Chamorros? Or Spaniards?

Four or five armed men from the galleon, holding their arquebuses, appeared. They took aim at the Chamorro boy, who fled in an instant. The Mexican boy was escorted back to the ship, not without a good deal of scolding. Off to Manila they sailed, where the Mexican was added to the company of lay assistants helping the missionary friars working in Manila.




Two or three years later, another Spanish ship anchored off Guam in search of provisions. This time, the Spanish captain decided to kidnap one Chamorro youth and bring him to Manila, where he would be educated and baptized. In time, the captain reasoned, if and when Spain colonized these Ladrone islands, the captured Chamorro boy can return as a Christian, Spanish-speaking man and help with the colonization.

And so they did. A Chamorro youth, aged 16 or 17, was captured and taken aboard. He made it to Manila, where he was placed in a convent of friars. The Chamorro boy noticed other young men living in the friary, assisting in the work of the church. There was one Mexican youth who got his attention. Yes! After a little time observing, the Chamorro boy remembered that this was the Mexican boy he tried to kidnap, and the Mexican boy finally remembered this Chamorro boy as the one who tried to kidnap him!

The Chamorro boy admitted that his intention was to kill the Mexican boy. The Spanish chronicler adds, and to eat the Mexican boy and use his bodily remains for whatever he could make out of them. True? Or the exaggerations of a story-teller? Said in jest by the Chamorro boy just to scare the Mexican? Who knows?



EVOLVING CUSTOMS

Saturday, January 7, 2017


At a funeral on Saipan recently, I saw something that I had never seen before.

Mind you, I have been going to funerals on Saipan since the 1980s. I served as a priest there for three years from 1991 till 1994 and presided at many funerals. And I have continued going to funerals on Saipan ever since. And I had never seen this done before.

The pall bearers, all males, took off their white button-down shirts and buried them in the grave with the casket of the deceased. Here is the video :




After the services, I quietly asked around the origin of this.

People told me that it is a Carolinian custom. The deceased and her entire family are Chamorro, but this village is next to another village with a large Carolinian community. Even on the entire island of Saipan, many Chamorros live in close quarters with the Carolinian community, and the Carolinians have influenced the whole island in many ways.

But keep in mind that a hundred years ago or so, not even the Carolinians wore shirts. So, if this is a Carolinian custom, it is a new one.

Culture is always in a state of change. Some of the old things die, and some new things are begun.

Different cultures exist side-by-side and will influence each other.

I began to wonder where this custom originated in the minds of the people. I believe we can see clues by observing funerals of Chamorros and Carolinians alike.

Our people are, by nature, very tactile with their loved ones. We love to hold, and smell, and kiss and hug babies. It's only when a child nears his or her teens that the physical affection tapers down, but does not entirely disappear in some cases.

With our dead, Chamorros and Carolinians do not have a "hands off" attitude towards the dead, unlike other cultures where touching the bodies of the dead is avoided. We touch the bodies of our dead, kiss them, photograph them. The Carolinians go even further, placing the body on the floor, with the close relatives sitting all around the body crying, praying, singing and touching. We even speak to the dead bodies as if the deceased were still alive.

I think this is the point. We want to keep some physical contact between us and our deceased as much as possible.

This means we tie our black ribbons around the casket just before it descends into the grave. It means we place a flower stem on the casket, too. It means we touch the casket one last time as it falls deeper into the grave. In some cases, our people have been known to want to jump into the grave with the casket. True!

So I think that this burying of the shirt is one more way the pall bearers can say that they are somehow with the deceased in the grave. Although one can no longer see or touch the deceased, that shirt is in the same grave. It is a point of contact between the living and the dead. Those pall bearers only wore that shirt for one reason - because they were pall bearers at that funeral.

Closeness to the dead. It's a Chamorro (and Carolinian) thing. Look at pre-colonial accounts of our ancestors. You'll see the same thing, but just expressed differently.

Thus we can say that, while the act of burying the white shirt is new and borrowed, the underlying value (closeness to the dead) goes back hundreds if not thousands of years.

Some things change, some things stay the same.

LUGÅT : TRES REYES

Friday, January 6, 2017


That there is an area of Yoña called Tres Reyes, we can firmly say.

But there's not much more we can say about it!

Even maps indicating its location do not jive with the common understanding of the older generation.

The name itself, Tres Reyes, means "Three Kings." These are the Wise Men, or Magi, talked about in the Bible, in the Gospel of Matthew, who were from the East (probably Persia) and who visited the child Jesus, bringing him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Their feast is January 6.


LOCATION

One map of Yoña, made after the war, shows that Tres Reyes is located just south of Yoña proper and south of MU Lujan School.




The difficulty here is that residents of Yoña today do not consider this area circled above to be Tres Reyes. They call it Camp Witek.

The older people of Yoña I have talked to consider Tres Reyes to be further inland from the main road, as indicated in the satellite photo of Yoña seen at the top of this post.


WHY TRES REYES?



According to some people living in the area called Tres Reyes, the name comes from the three hills that are seen in that area. One of the older women of the area took me outside her home in Tres Reyes to show me two of the three hills. One of them is pictured above.


A MYSTERY

Why, then, does a Guam map show Tres Reyes to be located in an area that today's residents say is not called Tres Reyes? None of the pre-war maps I have found so far mention Tres Reyes.

Could it be that Tres Reyes once included the area now known as Camp Witek? And, over time, people stopped regarding that area as part of Tres Reyes?

Or did the map makers make a mistake when they called that area Tres Reyes?

One final note. On the village marker, which includes the names of the various districts within the municipality, Tres Reyes is not mentioned at all.



No Tres Reyes


The Three Kings had a star to help them find their destination.

We might need a star to help us find the historic area called Tres Reyes.

LUGÅT : BELEN

Thursday, January 5, 2017


We don't need to fly to Israel anymore.

Kidding. But there is a place in Inalåhan called Belen.

Belen is Spanish for Bethlehem.

The original name of the area is Se'se', and that old name is retained for a part of the area. But the lower part, closer to the main road, is called Belen and the street name leading to that area is called Belen Avenue.




The back story is that this name is relatively new. It was only after World War II that someone decided to start calling this area Belen. If you look at any pre-war map of Guam, you won't find any place called Belen.

Juan Meno Paulino moved to this area from the main village with his parents and siblings after the war. He was young and fun-loving. It was Christmas time and he saw all the trees and bushes in the area and suggested to his father that they call the area Belen, after the manger scenes which people did not build just for the inside of the home, but many times also the outside of the home on the lawn.

These outdoor belens were often huge, needing leaves and wood from the surrounding jungle.

So they did in fact build an outdoor belen in, well, Belen. They prayed the nobena there and on the final day they had a big feast.

Here is Juan's brother Bill telling the story in Chamorro :




Life is never at a standstill; we are in constant motion.

So it is with culture. What we think is an old name for a place may well be something new.



The road leading up to Belen



You can see in this map from 1913 that the area was called Se'se'.
The name Belen came later. I added it to this map.

TAN MARIA'N MISEN

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

María Borja Cruz
"Tan Maria'n Misen"


She's an older lady I remember well from Yoña.

I am from Sinajaña, but I went to Saint Francis School in Yoña for six years and I went to the parish church many times, since its pastors have all been Capuchins like me.

Besides that, my aunt who raised me worked for Urban Renewal and had an office in Yoña for some years. After school, I would go to her office till it was time to go home in Sinajaña and we would often go to Tan Maria's house where her sister Gloria Cruz Mesa ran a bakery. What memories of freshly baked Chamorro bread rolls! But that has to be a post on its own!

Tan Maria was a familiar face in church. In the old days, she would start walking to church at 5AM to tucha or start the public recitation of the rosary and other devotions.

Her family were deeply rooted in Yoña, living there since before the war. Her father, Santiago L.G. Cruz, was from the huge Tanaguan clan. Her mother was the former Josefa Borja. Maria was one of the older of many children, born in 1906.

For whatever reason, she was nicknamed Tan Maria'n Misen. Misen in Chamorro means an abundance of liquid, such as water, tears and milk. But so far no one seems sure about the reason for the nickname.

One theory is that the Cruz family owned a lot of land in an area of Yoña called As Misen. Thus, Tan Maria and her family may have been called the Misen family because they were the Cruzes from As Misen.

Tan Maria never married but stayed at home as the cook and housekeeper. She also raised ( poksai ) some nieces. Besides the home, Tan Maria could be found next at church, always dressed in a mestisa , never in modern dress.

I remember her as being a quiet, gentle lady leading prayers from her pew. Informants tell me she was indeed patient and gentle. If she was hurt or offended, she'd keep quiet about it.

She passed away in 1995. U såga gi minahgong .

GI HOMHOM NA SÅGA

Thursday, December 29, 2016


GI HOMHOM NA SÅGA is not one of the better-known Christmas carols, and, as far as I know, it is only sung on Guam. That could be because it is a fairly recent carol, composed in Chamorro by Påle' Román on Guam in the 1920s or 30s. In those days, Guam and Saipan were politically separated and the missions in both places were run by different priests. Travel and communication between Guam and Saipan were severely limited in the mid 1930s due to political tension.

The original melody is from a Spanish carol,apparently composed by Rafael Villaseca.

Here is a recording, featuring the Johnny Sablan singers :





Gi homhom na såga gi fi'on i ga'ga'
(In a dark place by the animals)

nai gaige i Kristo i Rai Israet.
(is Christ the King of Israel.)

Fan måtto pastores, tifi'e' gue' flores
(Come, shepherds, pick flowers for him)

adora si Yu'us gi liyang Belen.
(adore God in the cave of Bethlehem.)

Chorus : Jesus linangitan, Pastot Israet, Rai-måme yan Saina, Yu'us Emanuel.
(Heavenly Jesus, Shepherd of Israel, our King and Lord, God Emmanuel.)

Dimuye i Niño yan fa' Yu'os-miyo
(Kneel before the Child and make Him your God)

taiguihe i Bithen yan si San Jose.
(just as the Virgin and Saint Joseph have.)

Taotao i annok-ña lao i sanhalom-ña
(His appearance is human but what lies within)

magåhet na Yu'us, Yu'os-miyo gue'.
(is the true God, He is your God.)


NOTES

Fa' Yu'os-miyo . Literally this means "make Him your God" but the meaning is for us to accept Him as our God, because we cannot make God God. He already is God, whether we accept Him or not.

Taotao i annok-ña . We cannot say that Jesus was human in appearance only (and not truly a man), and this is not what the carol intends to say. Rather, the divinity of Jesus is hidden by His outward appearance as a normal human being. But Jesus is both truly God and truly man at the same time. He was truly human and ate food, slept and bled; but with His human body He walked on water and calmed a storm with His human voice.

O PÅTGON BELEN

Thursday, December 22, 2016


O PÅTGON BELEN is a Chamorro Christmas carol or hymn.

Depending on the island, village and even sometimes family, you might here little differences here and there in the song.




Refrain : O påtgon Belen, in na'e hao dias,
sa' hågo si Jesus, yan i Mesias.

(O Child of Bethlehem, we greet you,
for you are Jesus and the Messiah.)

1. I gai langet yan tåno' dumikkike' gue'; i tehnen i langet lumadafe gue'.
(He who owns both heaven and earth becomes small; the upholder of heaven becomes weaker..)

2. Måtfit yan flores rosa i dos fasu-ña; ma guaiya ma atan i atadok-ña.
(His two cheeks are ivory and roses; they love to look at His eyes.)

3. Hinilat ginefli'e' nu i taotao-ña; kumasao chumålek gi fanagong-ña.
(Overcome with love for His people; He cries smiling in His shelter.)



NOTES

Dias . Literally, it means "days." " In na'e hao dias " literally means "we give you days." But if one remembers that the morning greeting is " buenas dias " ("good days") then one can see that "to give days" means "to greet, to congratulate, to wish well" and so on.

Fanagong . An old word no longer heard. It literally means a "shelter" from wind or rain, and in this context means the crib or manger.


LUTA PASSENGERS

Friday, December 16, 2016

Guma' Redondo, Chalan Kanoa, Saipan
1950s

Måtso dia 21 gi 1947 na såkkan.
(March 21, 1947)

Chalan Kanoa, Saipan.

Gi a las 7 gi painge i Atkåtde ha anunsia gi åtta bos na 50 na pasaheros man måfåtto ginen Luta.
(At 7 o'clock last night the Chief Commissioner announced loudly that 50 passengers were arriving from Rota.)

Gi halom 5 minutos despues de i anunsio, kåsi 1000 na taotao man etnon gi Gima' Redondo
(Within 5 minutes after the announcement, around 1000 people gathered at the Round House)

para u fan ali'e' yan i pasaheros.
(to meet the passengers.)

Siha man mannangga kåsi 2 oras, ya annai måtto i bås siha, man parientes yan atungo' siha
(They waited around 2 hours, and when the buses came, relatives and friends)

man agu'ot kånnai, man aatoktok yan man aachiko unos yan otros
(grasped hands, were hugging and kissing each other one and all)

na'manman yan na'magof na okasion annai i man amigo yan man parientes
(a wonderful and joyful occasion where friends and relatives)

ti man ali'e' meggai na såkkan siha.
(hadn't seen each other for many years.)


BACKGROUND TO THIS STORY

Luta was isolated and cut off from the rest of the world from June of 1944 until September of 1945. For more than a year, even though Saipan, Tinian and Guam were in US hands, Luta was by-passed by the American military. The US felt that it could ignore Luta for now and focus on continuing the advance towards Japan and end the war as quickly as possible. The Japanese military left on Luta, for the time being, were powerless to stand in the way of the US assault on Japan.

Even when the Americans got around to landing on Luta in September of 1945, to inform the Japanese there that the war was over, travel and communication between Luta and the rest of the Marianas were limited.

I personally knew a Saipan family that was living in Luta during the war to work for the Japanese agricultural companies. When the Americans by-passed Luta, this family was stranded on Luta. Like everyone else on that island, Japanese and Chamorro, food was scarce and they suffered.

So this landing in March of 1947 of friends and relatives from Luta was indeed a joyful event. The 50 passengers were probably a mixed group. Some were Saipan Chamorros who were either in Luta permanently or who were trying to get back to Saipan. Some were Luta Chamorros needing to visit Saipan for various reasons or who had family in Saipan.


LANGUAGE & OTHER NOTES

ATKÅTDE . The civilian head of the Saipan community at the time was called the Chief Commissioner. But in Chamorro this title was Atkåtde , from the Spanish word alcalde , which means "mayor." In Luta, they soften the word and say atkåde .

ÅTTA BOS . From the Spanish phrase alta voz , meaning "high" or "loud voice." When someone says something in alta voz , it can even mean screaming. Here, it seems the meaning is that the Chief Commissioner went around shouting to the homes that the passengers were arriving.

ONE THOUSAND PEOPLE . For an island that had a population of nearly 5000 people, that's a significant percentage of the whole community.
,
GUMA ' REDONDO . Literally "round house," it was a kiosk (and was also called kiosko ) in the middle of Chalan Kanoa which was used as a gathering place for the people. Usually, in Chamorro, "round" is aredondo . It no longer exists in Chalan Kanoa.

BÅS . The Japanese adopted the English word bus so the Saipan Chamorros were already familiar with the word basu in Japanese. The Luta passengers probably landed at the dock by Puerto Rico, just north of Garapan and needed to board buses to take them down to Chalan Kanoa several miles away.

( Pregonero , March 25, 1947)

I NIÑO MAFAÑÅGO

Wednesday, December 14, 2016


I only got to know this Chamorro Christmas carol through the Hofschneider brothers, Jude and Julian, from Tinian. They learned it from their mother. But no one knows the origin of the carol; who wrote the lyrics nor who composed the music or from where the melody was perhaps borrowed.

The Hofschneider and Untalan (their mother) families were in Yap before the war, so perhaps it was composed there.




1. I niño mafañågo guihe na puenge
(The Child Jesus was born that night)

gi halom liyang gi sagan gå'ga' siha.
(inside a cave in a shelter for animals.)

Un påtgon mafañågo guine na puenge
(A child is born this night)

todos hit ta fan man adora.
(let us all adore.)

Chorus : Må'gas na påtgon i niño as Jesus
(The Child Jesus is a great child)

i rai i man rai siha.
(the King of kings.)

Popble na påtgon i niño as Jesus
(The Child Jesus is a poor child)

komo i magåhet na låhen Yu'us.
(as the true Son of God.)

2. I ma'lak estreyas ayogue na annok
(The bright stars appear there)

para i attat guato gi i liyång-ña.
(towards the altar there in His cave.)

Ta onra yan ta tuna i lahen Yu'us
(Let us honor and praise the Son of God)

sa' guiya i lahen Yu'os-ta.
(because He is the Son of our God.)


SI KUROKAWA

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

"KUROKAWA"


Hagåtña. 1930s

Annai på'go manhålom i Hapones* giya Guam
(When the Japanese first came to Guam**)

ma sodda' na siña si tatå-ho fumino' Hapones.
(they discovered that my father could speak Japanese.)

Ti gef mefno'*** gue' gi fino' Hapones lao
(he wasn't very fluent in the Japanese language but)

hunggan maolek gue' fumino' Hapones.
(yes he was good in speaking Japanese.)

Kontodo i intetprete na Chamorro ni ginen Saipan
(even the Chamorro interpreter from Saipan)

ilek-ña as tatå-ho na maolek gue' gi fino' Hapones.
(told my father that he was good in the Japanese language.)

Taiguine estoriå-ña si tatå-ho.
(My dad's story goes like this.)

Popble familiå-na. Bula famagu'on. Ocho siha na mañe'lo.
(His family was poor. There were many children. There were eight siblings.)

Un dia, ilek-ña si tatan-ñiha, "Annai esta un kumple dosse åños,
(One day, their father said, "When you reach 12 years,

debe de un fanaligao che'cho'-mo."
(you should look for work.")

Pues pot i esta ha kumple dosse åños años-ña si tatå-ho,
(So, because my dad already reached the age of 12 years,)

ha a'atan maolek esta måno nai siña gue' mañodda' che'cho'-ña.
(he already looked well where he could find a job.)

Guaha un Hapones, na'ån-ña si Kurokawa, na såstre.
(There was a Japanese, his name was Kurokawa, who has a tailor.)

Ma bababa ha' i gimå'-ña ya ha fåfåna' i chalan
(His house was open and it faced the street)

nai matå'chong si Kurokawa gi tatten i måkinan manlåkse.
(where Kurokawa sat behind the sewing machine.)

Pues katna kada dia tumotohge si tatå-ho guihe gi me'nan potta
(So almost every day my dad would stand there in front of the door)

ya sige ha' adumiddide' ha håtme i gima' Kurokawa ya umimbilikero gue'.
(and little by little he entered Kurokawa's house and nosily looked around.)

Ilek-ña si Kurokawa, "Håfa na sesso hao mågi para un atan todo håfa bidådå-ho?"
( Kurokawa said, "Why do you come here often to look at everything I am doing?")

Pues sinangåne as tatå-ho na ume'eche'cho'.****
(So my dad told him he was looking for work.)

Konfotme si Kurokawa fumanå'gue si tatå-ho manlåkse.
(Kurokawa was willing to teach my dad how to sew.)

Lao, fuera de ennao, ha hokka' si tatå-ho i fino' Hapones
(But, besides that, my dad picked up the Japanese language)

sa', masea siña si Kurokawa fumino' Chamorro,
(because, even though Kurokawa could speak Chamorro,)

lao ya-ña lokkue' kumuentos gi lengguahi-ña.
(but he also liked to speak in his own language.)







Genro Kurokawa's entry in the 1930 Guam Census
( It is mistakenly spelled Kurokaw)





The same 1930 Census showing Kurokawa to be from Japan and a tailor



NOTES


* Hapones - this is the older Chamorro way of saying "Japanese," borrowed from the Spanish word japonés . Modern Chamorros say chapanis , a form of the English word "Japanese."

** She means when the Japanese troops first entered Guam, not when the first Japanese at all came to Guam. That happened long before the war when Japanese agricultural workers came to Guam in the 1800s and later Japanese settlers moved to Guam permanently.

*** Mefno '. It means "eloquent," but also "fluent." It comes from the Chamorro prefix mi (meaning "abundant") and fino ' (meaning "word" or "speech"). Mi+fino' becomes mefno'.

**** Eche'cho '. The Chamorro prefix e means "in search of." Esalappe ' means "in search of money." Eche'cho ' means "in search of work.."



Kurokawa's ad in the Guam Recorder in 1925

CHAMORROS ON THE HENDERSON

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Jose Mesa Cruz, circled, aboard the USS Henderson in 1943 during WW2
There are other Chamorro Navy men in this group photo
(Picture courtesy of Jose Mesa Cruz)


Even before I knew much about Guam history, I already heard the name the USS Henderson from my older relatives talking at the dinner table when I was a kid.

It was the name of a ship and it visited Guam a lot. That's as far as I could gather at the time.

The Henderson was indeed a US Navy ship launched in 1916 to transport Marines wherever needed. In the 1920s and 30s, she sailed all over the Pacific, making stops in Japan, China, the Philippines, Guam, Hawaii and a few other places.




Since there were no private companies providing transportation to and from Guam for civilian passengers, the US Navy allowed civilians who could pay their way to sail on Navy ships, and the Henderson was one of them. Chamorros would take the Henderson to Manila, Honolulu, Shanghai and Tokyo, among other ports.

One of her most famous passengers was L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology, who spent some of his childhood on Guam in the late 1920s because of his father's work on the island.


CHAMORRO MESS ATTENDANTS

In the late 1930s, the US Navy allowed the recruitment of Chamorro men as mess attendants. A maximum number of recruits was set at 700 men. Just before war broke out in December of 1941, this cap was almost reached as the number of Chamorro mess attendants was well into the 600s.

One Chamorro mess attendant on the Henderson was Fructuoso San Miguel Aflague, better known by his boxing nickname Rocky.



Boxing bouts between the Henderson men, including the Chamorro Rocky Aflague
Matt1c means "Mess attendant 1st class"


The Henderson had just left Pearl Harbor when it was bombed by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. For the rest of the war, the Henderson transported troops all over the Pacific and then served as a hospital ship towards the very end of the war. Many Chamorro men served on the Henderson during this time. Many never returned to live on Guam but settled elsewhere instead.

"THE GUAM CONFERENCE"

Monday, December 5, 2016

South Vietnamese Pres Thieu, US Pres Johnson, South Vietnamese Prime Minister Ky
At the Guam International Airport, March 20, 1967


It didn't do much good, and has become a forgotten footnote in many history books, but Guam was the scene of a high-powered meeting between the United States President and the leadership of South Vietnam.

It was the height of the war in Vietnam and summits between both the American and South Vietnamese leadership had occurred before. This was to be third such summit and Guam was chosen as the venue, partly because it was a safe and convenient location not far from Vietnam, and because Guam was a showcase of American overseas military power, close to the scene in Asia.

Some scholars believe that the meeting did not result in any major benefits in either securing victory for the anti-communist South or ending the war. The war dragged on and was eventually lost in 1975 by the South Vietnamese government and its increasingly-withdrawing American backers. These scholars say that the "Guam Conference" was hastily put together and was short on specific plans.




For the Chamorros and other residents of Guam, the Guam Conference was a rare opportunity to see and even touch a U.S. President. People lined the sides of Marine (Corps) Drive to see the presidential motorcade and went up to the airport, as well. Some of those at the airport got to shake hands with LBJ.

The Vietnam War was not just some war "far away" for many Guam families. They had sons and daughters in the U.S. military. Many Guam soldiers died in Vietnam.




Reflecting the kind of US patriotism seen among Chamorros in those days, perhaps because so many of our sons were fighting in Vietnam, a Chamorro man held up a sign at the airport when LBJ arrived advocating the bombing of Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam, and other important cities. Since his family is still around and I am not sure how they would feel about it, I have covered the man's name.

ESTORIAN PING CRUZ

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Jose Mesa Cruz
grandson of José Sisto


He is 94 years old as of 2016 and he is cheerful, healthy and full of life. He was born in Hagåtña in 1922 but left Guam for good in 1940 when he joined the US Navy. In those days, Chamorro men who joined the US Navy could only serve as mess hall attendants. Other Chamorros teasingly called them marinon mantekiya , or "butter sailors" because, unlike the others, these Chamorro Navy men could buy butter at the Navy commissary.




His ship was out of Pearl Harbor for two days already, en route to San Francisco, when the Japanese bombed the American ships in Hawaii. His older brother Henry was on the USS Arizona and survived the bombing. Ping saw action in the South Pacific and then later settled in Southern California where he still lives today, surrounded by his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

As a youth in Guam, Ping attended the Guam Institute, the only private school on Guam in the 1920s and 30s. He remember the owner and principal, Nieves M. Flores, and his two sons Alejo and Sabino.

His father owned a bar and a pool hall on Hagåtña's main street.


JOSÉ SISTO

Between June 22, 1898 and August 1, 1899, Guam was in a chaotic political situation. The Americans had removed the Spanish Government from Guam, but did not install a clear, stable American Government until the arrival of the first US Governor appointed by the US President, in August of 1899.

One claimant to authority over Guam was a man named Jose Sisto, whose full name was Jose Sisto Rodrigo Vallabriga. He had been the island treasurer, officially the Administrator of the Department of the "Hacienda Pública," or "Public Works." Unlike the other Spanish government officials, the US Navy did not remove Sisto and take him to Manila. Thus, Sisto claimed, he was still a government official and the highest one remaining, ensuring him, in his mind, control over the government.




Sisto was opposed by Padre Palomo, Francisco Portusach and other Chamorro leaders. They accused him of emptying the island treasury by paying himself his salary in advance. When stronger American control came to Guam, Sisto resigned office, was ordered to repay the island treasury and left for Manila.

All of this is well-known in the history books.

What wasn't well-known is that Sisto fathered children while he was on Guam. According to family lore, Rosa Cruz was a domestic worker at the Governor's Palåsyo , or palace. She became romantically involved with Sisto and became the mother of two sons of Sisto, Juan and Jose, who carried their mother's maiden name of Cruz. Juan and Jose were twins, so their descendants were known as the Dinga ("twins") family. Rosa later married into the Gåbit (Pereda) family and became known as Rosa'n Gåbit.

Jose, son of Sisto, married Andrea Mesa. In the picture below, Jose (son of Sisto), Andrea, Jose (or Ping) and his older brother Henry are identified.



( Courtesy of Carmelita Edwards)


WHO WAS JOSÉ SISTO?

Most of the literature in English speaks of José Sisto as a "Filipino Spaniard." That's not an exact phrase and can mean more than one thing. Was he a Spaniard who just happened to be born and raised in the Philippines? Or was he of mixed blood, Spanish and Filipino? In the 1800s, "Filipino" when said by Spaniards meant a Spaniard born in the Philippines.

But Sisto was brother to Francisco Sisto, a lifelong government official in Madrid. His family tree is documented, and that's how we know that José Sisto was a Spaniard. The Sisto family was a Målaga family of good social standing.

If the Americans deported all the Spanish government officials, that is, government officials who were Spanish by race and birth, why then did they leave José Sisto behind on Guam? The only possible explanation is that he was totally a civilian, not a member in any way of the Spanish military. Everyone else taken away was a member of the Spanish military, including the medical doctor because he was an actual member of the military. But Spanish civilians, like the Recollect priests, for example, were allowed to remain, as were the few Spaniards (Bordallo, Muñoz) married to Chamorro women.






THE NAKED FUTURE GOVERNOR

Wednesday, November 30, 2016


A retired Navy man who was stationed on Guam in the 1930s recalls how many pre-school Chamorro children went around completely or partially naked. By the time a child was maybe 5 or 6, then he or she was usually covered.

Behind his Navy installation in the outskirts of Hagåtña was the simple home of a Chamorro family. The area was mostly jungle brush and a few, small garden patches; ample play ground for the large brood of children in the family.

One of the younger boys in the family often played in the yard without pants and, on occasion, without a shirt.

Years later, he was told by a former Navy colleague that the naked little boy became none other than the Governor of Guam. The Navy man remembers the family name, and, indeed, this family did produce one of Guam's elected governors!

It was just the politician's way of showing that, even from childhood, he had nothing to hide.

PUDOS

Tuesday, November 29, 2016



Language is so interesting. One word can have more than one meaning.

Take for example the Chamorro word pudos .

With the definite article, pudos becomes i pidos .

Pudos literally means the interior of the anus.  It is the rectum or anal canal. The exterior or the buttocks is the dågan .

We rarely ever hear people say the word pudos because almost everyone uses the word dågan instead.

I remember one older lady, who barely spoke English, talking about a lady she didn't get along with, and she asked me rhetorically,

"Dalai, håfa malago'-ña? Para bai nginge' i pidos-ña?"
("My goodness, what does she want? For me to smell her...?")

Not a pleasant thought. But she said it, and used that word.


THE SECOND MEANING


But pudos can have a second, and seemingly unrelated, meaning.

It can refer to someone being overly attached to someone else, who always has to follow or be with someone else. From there, the word came to also mean a tag along.

"Kalan hao pudos nanå-mo!"
"You're always following your mother!"

Well I think this phrase above gives us a clue why pudos can mean either the rectum itself or someone who always has to follow someone else.

One can never move from here to there without also bringing along one's pudos .

It is invariably attached to you.


HÅYE NA'ÅN-ÑA SI YU'US

Friday, November 25, 2016

Hu hungok este ginen as Peter J. Santos, sa' ha na' tungo' yo' si Jeremy Cruz


Un puengen Damenggo ha faisen yo' si bihu-ho kao humånao yo' para Eskuelan Påle' guihe na oga'an, oga'an Damenggo.
(One Sunday night my grandfather asked me if I went to catechism that morning, Sunday morning.)

Ilek-ña, "Ilek-ho na ti humånao hao."
(He said, "I say you didn't go.")

Hu oppe gue' tåtte, "Hunggan, Pop, humånao yo' para i Eskuelan Påle' på'go na oga'an."
(I replied back to him, "Yes, Pop, I went to catechism this morning.)

Pues ha faisen yo', "Pues håye na'ån-ña si Yu'us?"
(Then he asked me, "So what is God's name?")

"Yu'us nai, Pop."
("God, Pop.")

"Åhe'. Yu'us gue' lao håye na'ån-ña?"
("No. He is God, but what's His name?")

Ilek-ho, "Jesukristo."
(I said, "Jesus Christ.")

Ilek-ña, "Åhe'. Lahi-ña ayo. Lao håye na'ån-ña si Yu'us?"
(He said, "No. That's His Son. But what's God's name?")

Ilek-ho, "Hekkua', Pop, ti hu tungo'."
(I said, "Beats me, Pop, I don't know.")

Ilek-ña, "Annok nai na ti humånao hao para Eskuelan Påle."
(He said, "It shows that you didn't go to catechism.")

"Sa' yanggen humånao hao ya un atituye si Påle', siempre un tungo' håye na'ån-ña si Yu'us."
("Because if you went and paid attention to Father, you would surely know what's God's name.")

Ilek-ho, "OK, Pop. Pues håye na'ån-ña si Yu'us?"
(I said, "OK, Pop. So what's God's name?")

"Howard."
("Howard.")

Ilek-ho, "Howard? Haftaimano na Howard na'ån-ña?"
(I said, "Howard? How is Howard His name?")

Ilek-ña, "Ekkungok ha' si Påle'. Kada manaitai, ilek-ña, "Our Father who art in heaven, Howard be thy name."
(He said, "Just listen to Father. Every time he prays, he says, "Our Father who art in heaven. Howard be thy name.")


Eskuelan Påle' is known as Doktrina (or Lottrina) in the Northern Marianas


THE NEIGHBORHOOD HAS EYES

Thursday, November 24, 2016


A story from the 1960s.


Annai kinse åños ha' yo', humame yan un amigu-ho ya malago' ham chumupa.
(When I was just 15 years old, I was with a friend and we wanted to smoke.)

Primet biåhe yo' para bai chagi chumupa.
(It was the first time for me to try to smoke.)

Lao måno nai siña ham chumupa sin ma gacha'?
(But where could we smoke without getting caught?)

Eståba nuebo na guma' påddet ni katna ha' kabåles ma håtsa-ña
(There was a new concrete house that almost completed)

lao trabia ti ma sagågåye.
(but was still not lived in.)

Era guennao kåsi gi a las kuåttro ya in pe'lo na maolek ennao na ora
(It was around 4 o'clock and we believed that was a good time)

sa' tåya' esta eskuela lao trabia ti man måfåtto i taotao siha ginen i che'cho'.
(because school was already out but the people from work hadn't come around yet.)

Humålom ham gi gima' ya matå'chong ham gi satge pot no in ma li'e'.
(We entered the house and sat down on the floor so as not to be seen.)

In sengge i chipa. Fana'an dos pat tres biåhe hu chagi lao sen ti ya-ho. Pues in dingu i lugåt.
(We lit the cigarette. Maybe 2 or 3 times I tried it but really didn't like it. Then we left the place.)

Lamme' sa' pine'lo-ko na tåya' ham lumi'e' lao ayo na Damenggo despues,
(Man, I thought no one saw us but that Sunday afterwards,)

matåtå'chong ha' yo' gi gima'yu'us ya hu li'e na på'go humåhålom si Påle'.
(I was just sitting down in church and I saw Father just coming in.)

Lamme' sa' ha fatoigue yo' si Påle' ya ha faisen yo',
(Oh boy, because Father came to me and asked me,)

"Håfa este hu hungok na inespipia hao ni polisia?"
("What is this I heard that the police are looking for you?")

Pues hu admite gi as Påle' na hunggan in hatme i gima' lao solo para in chagi chumupa.
(So I admitted to Father that indeed we went into the house but only to try smoking.)

Humuyong na guaha besino lumi'e' ham humålom ya pine'lo-ña i besino
(It turned out that there was a neighbor who saw us enter and she thought)

na para in fañåkke pat guaha para in yamak pot minagof-måme ha'
(we were going to steal or break something out of fun)

ya ha ågang i polisia.
(and she called the police.)

Lao atrasao guato i polisia ya esta må'pos ham åntes de måtto.
(But the police were late to go there and we were gone before they came.)


NOTES

These teenagers thought no one was around. They looked at the school across the street and school was out. Students, faculty and staff were gone.

They looked around the neighborhood and no one was around. Working husbands and wives were not back from work yet.

They went into a concrete house nearly built and thought they had found a safe place to smoke. They sat on the floor to avoid being seen through the windows.

But someone saw. It's what she did next that was interesting.

Thinking that theft or vandalism were involved, she called the police. People from other cultures would have done the same.

But then she called the parish priest! That's not something often done elsewhere, and it wasn't done all the time in Chamorro culture in the past, but the fact that she did it in Guam in the 1960s shows something about the thinking of the time. Why didn't she just call the parents?

Then the priest. He waits till Sunday when he knows he will see the boy at Mass. He walks up to the boy sitting in his pew and asks him to explain himself. The priest was satisfied with the boy's explanation and didn't take it further with the boy's parents. The boy was very thankful for that!

In those days, people knew whose kid you were. And they got involved when they saw kids misbehave.

I ANDE' NA NOBIO

Wednesday, November 23, 2016


A story from the 1950s. The names have been changed.

Si Terry'n che'lu-ho gos bonita yan meggai nobiu-ña.
(My sister Terry was very beautiful and she had many boyfriends.)

Guaha uno ni na'ån-ña si Frankie ya gos ande'.
(There was one named Frankie and he was a showoff.)

Hekkua' måno na ha sodda' lao un dia kada biråda maloloffan si Frankie gi me'nan gima'-måme
(I don't know where he found them but one day Frankie was always passing in front of our house)

lao kada biåhe na maloffan ti parehu karetå-ña.
(but each time he passed his car was different.)

Ti ya-ña si nanan-måme na u atungo' si Terry yan si Frankie
(Our mother didn't want Terry and Frankie to know each other)

sa' gai patgon....ha na' mapotge' un palao'an giya Hågat....
(because he had a child...he made a lady in Agat pregnant....)

ya ilek-ña si nanå-ho na an siña ha cho'gue un biåhe,
(and my mom said that if he can do it one time,)

siña ha cho'gue ta'lo an esta umassagua hamyo.
(he can do it again when you two are married.)

Pues ti sinedi si Terry as nåna para u a'sodda' yan si Frankie
(So mom didn't allow Terry to meet Frankie)

lao lini'e' gue' ni muchåchan-måme ni ilek-ña,
(but he was seen by our maid who said,"

"Terry! Eyigue'!" Pues in baba in kuttinan i bentåna
("Terry! There he is!" So we opened the window curtain)

ya kada maloffan si Frankie, otro ta'lo karetå-ña.
(and each time Frankie passed, he had a different car.)

Ti magof si nanan-måme ya ilek-ña,
(Our mom wasn't happy and said,)

"Terry, måno na mañañakke karetå-ña si Frankie?"
("Terry, where is Frankie stealing his cars?")


CHA'-MO MAMAMAISEN

Tuesday, November 22, 2016



(A story from the 1930s. The names have been changed to protect the guilty and the innocent.)

Many times in the old days, when a man and woman had a child out of wedlock, the secret was often safely guarded. Many children went to their graves never knowing who their biological father was. But, once in a while, there were clues. One of them was the following. When your family always included another family in enjoying good things from the farm or sea, and there was no obvious reason why this should be, one could always wonder if there was some prior romance involved. In those days, one could only wonder, because you were quickly shut down if you dared to ask.

Un tungo' si bihu-ho as Jose? Annai sottetero ha' trabia si bihu-ho,
(You know my grandfather Jose? When my grandfather was still single,)

guaha patgon-ña påtgon sanhiyong ginen as Ana.
(he had a child out of wedlock with Ana.)

Lao hame ni famagu'on, tåya' håfa in tingo' pot este.
(But we kids didn't know anything about this.)

Despues, umassagua si Jose yan si bihå-ho as Dolores. Si Ana, tåya' na umassagua.
(Later, Jose married my grandmother Dolores. Ana never married.)

Lao kada mamuno' gå'ga' gi lanchon-måme,
(But whenever he killed an animal in our ranch,)

siempre ha tågo' yo' si bihu-ho para in na'e si Tan Ana pietnan kåtne pat håfa.
(my grandfather would surely tell me to give Tan Ana a leg of meat or something.)

Ha na' manman yo' sa' tåya' na man a'bisita ham yan si Tan Ana, solo an guaha
(It surprised me because we never visited Tan Ana, only when)

ma puno' gå'ga' ya ma tågo' uno gi famagu'on para u nå'e si Tan Ana.
(an animal was killed and one of the kids was sent to give Tan Ana.)

Pues hu faisen si bihu-ho, "Håfa tåta na ta nånå'e håfa hit na komo pumarientes hit?"
(So I asked my grandfather, "Why, grandpa, do we give whatever as if we were relatives?")

Ilek-ña, "Ti guailaye un kuentos pat un famaisen. Cho'gue ha' håfa ma tåtågo' hao.
(He said, "It isn't necessary for you to talk or ask. Just do what you're told to do.

Imbilikera!"
(Nosey!")


THE POPE, CHRIST THE KING AND GARAPAN

Sunday, November 20, 2016


Take a good look at the picture above. That's the seal of the parish of Garapan in Saipan during Spanish times. This stamp is on a document from the late 1800s.

It says "Parish of San Isidro of Garapan." It doesn't say "Church of." The Spaniards had a custom of sometimes (not always) having one patron for the parish or town, and another patron of the church building.

That's why Hågat has two fiestas; Mt Carmel is patroness of the church building and Santa Rosa is patroness of the village. In Malesso', San Dimas is patron of the village and Our Lady of the Rosary is patroness of the church building. It's all but forgotten now but, in Hagåtña, Dulce Nombre de Maria is patroness of the church building and San Ignacio is patron of the city.

In Saipan, there was, for the longest time, only one town or village and that was Garapan. Tanapag was not settled as a village until the Carolinians from Tinian moved to Saipan around 1887 or so. Thus, from 1815, when human settlement of Saipan resumed, there was only one village on Saipan. The Spanish missionaries made San Isidro patron of Garapan and, since it was for many years the only village on island, San Isidro was also considered patron of the whole island. But, at least by 1865, the church building itself acquired its own patroness, Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

So why is Garapan known today as the parish of Kristo Rai, or Christ the King?




This is where knowledge of world events in 1925 help us answer that question.

Pius XI was the Pope at the time and he was seeing the world of his childhood quickly fall apart. World War I was over and the world would never be the same. By 1918, the German Kaiser was no more. The Russian Czar was no more. The Austrian Emperor was no more. Kings were losing their thrones left and right!

In the place of kings, some countries became democratic, but this was not a fruitful solution in all cases. In some of these democratic countries, economic crises lead to political chaos, with governments changing every 2 or 3 years in some cases.

In some countries, some were successful in installing dictatorships, as the communists did in Russia and the fascists in Italy. These dictatorships were outright atheist or, at least, unfriendly towards religion.

THERE IS ONE KING LEFT



So Pope Pius XI created a new feast for the church calendar in 1925, the feast of Christ the King. It was his way of reminding everyone, at a time people were getting rid of kings, that there was one King they could not get rid of.

Christ the King became a rallying cry in the defense of the Church. In Mexico, where the government was anti-Catholic, "¡Viva Cristo Rey!" or "Long live Christ the King!" became the slogan of the Catholic forces and the last words, many times, of Catholics shot dead by the Mexican military.


A JAPANESE GOVERNMENT IN SAIPAN

In Saipan, as well as the entire Northern Marianas, a new government ruled over the Catholic Chamorros and Carolinians since 1914. The new rulers were not Christian. In the beginning, the Japanese government respected the Catholic missionaries in Saipan and Luta and allowed them to work unimpeded. The Japanese even allowed Spanish sisters, the Mercedarians, to begin work in Saipan in 1928, something not even the Christian American government would allow down in Guam.

But the Spanish Jesuits, who were in charge of the Catholic mission in the Northern Marianas, were ever so careful. They knew that there were always threats to the Catholic identity of the local people, whether those threats were manifest or not. The mere fact that the government was not Catholic and represented a world so vastly different from western Christianity was enough to cause the Spanish missionaries concern.

Well, the feast of Christ the King was a good way to reinforce the idea in the Catholic people of Saipan that they had only one true King, Christ the King, and not the Emperor of Japan.

Although the church in Garapan continued to be called Mount Carmel before the war, the devotion to Kristo Rai was strong there, promoted by the Spanish Jesuits in the 1930s, such that some older people remember the church being called Kristo Rai.

This need to reinforce among the Chamorros and Carolinians of Saipan that Christ was their true king, and not the Japanese Emperor, was expressed in the Chamorro hymn to Christ the King.


"NO OTHER MASTER...."

In the Chamorro hymn, composed in the 1920s to go along with the new feast, the message is clear. The people have but one, supreme allegiance and it is to Christ the King.

Here are a few lines that show it.

Siempre gi tano'-måme hågo un fan månda
(Always in our land You will rule)

Mungnga umotro dueño, mungnga mungnga!
(Don't fall under another owner/ruler/master, no no!)

SIYAN GAI KANAI

Friday, November 18, 2016

Rev. & Mrs. Joaquin Flores Sablan sitting on comfy siyan gai kanai.
1930s


Long before the Europeans, our ancestors sat down. But not necessarily on chairs.

Tå'chong is the Chamorro word for "seat." We can sit on many things. The ground, a rock, a tree stump. Those can all be tå'chong .

When we sit, we make something our tå'chong , so "to sit" is fatå'chong . Fa ' (to make) and tå'chong (seat). To make something a seat!

But the piece of furniture we call a "chair" probably did not exist here until the Europeans brought them to, or made them on, our islands. And thus our word for "chair" is borrowed from the Spanish word for "chair" - silla , which becomes our Chamorro siya .

Once again we see a link to the Latin language of Rome, because Spanish silla comes from Latin sedes or sedis by way of Italian sedia . Think of the word sedentary. Someone who sits down all day long is a sedentary person. From sedes/sedis , Latin for "chair."

Well, an arm chair is a chair that has arms. So, for us, it's a siyan gai kanai .

Kånnai is the hand but also the whole arm. The word gai ("has") changes the pronunciation of kånnai . The stress is on gai , the å becomes an a and the extended N in kånnai is eliminated.

As an aside, the first ordained Chamorro Baptist minister, Joaquin Flores Sablan, is sitting next to a Spanish Capuchin friar, at this public event. The friar could be Påle' Gil but that pith helmet makes him harder to identify.

In any event, you can bet that the minister and the priest weren't saying much to each other. That was the way it was back then.

RAT CATCHERS

Thursday, November 17, 2016


Måtso dia 19 gi 1947 na såkkan.
(March 19, 1947)

Chalan Kanoa, Saipan.

I famagu'on i Chalan Kanoa School ma na' fan etnon gi plåsa gi despues de talo'ånen Bietnes
(The children of Chalan Kanoa School were gathered in the park Friday afternoon)

ya despues de kaddada' na seremonias, fuera de salåppe' ni ginen i Pacific Coast Club,
(and after brief ceremonies, besides money from the Pacific Coast Club,)

pot medio de i Komandånten i Isla para i man ma konne' chå'ka
(through the Island Commander for the catching of rats)

gi durånte i acha ikak mangonne' chå'ka,
(during the rat catching competition.)

man ma nå'e i famagu'on nu i mås man mi kinenne' chå'ka.
(children with the most rats caught were rewarded.)

Tåya' espesiåt na premio para i famagu'on ni man mangonne' chå'ka
(There was no special prize for the children who caught rats)

lao man ma nå'e salåppe' ya nina' man sen magof.
(but they were given money and they were made very happy.)

Un totåt de 3990 na chå'ka siha man ma konne' nu i famagu'on durånte i Nobiembre yan Disiembre,
(A total of 3990 rats were caught by the children during November and December)

i patgon ni mås meggai kinene'-ña si Ramón Muña ni ha konne' 364,
(the child who had the biggest catch was Ramón Muña who caught 364,)

ya ma nå'e espesiåt premio un bola, un panak yan $7.28.
(and he was given a special prize of a ball, a bat and $7.28.)


( Pregonero , March 25 1947)


LANGUAGE NOTE

Acha ikak . Competition. Ikkak is to do something ahead of someone else; to beat someone to it. Acha is the prefix meaning "the same" or "equally." Acha ikak is to try and beat each other. When acha is added before ikkak , ikkak no longer has that sustained K sound so I remove the second K. Just my preference. The stress, by the way, is on the second syllable in the prefix acha , so it sounds like a - CHA . This is where an acute accent ( ' ) over the A would be good, to show that stress. Achá . But, these are things we still need to sort out.

TINAKTAK

Wednesday, November 16, 2016


If you want an example of our changing Chamorro culture that you can sink your teeth into, one of them is tinaktak .

For the traditionalist, tinaktak is a dish made of beef, coconut milk, green beans, cherry tomatoes, onions, garlic, salt and pepper. That's the bottom line, though some add a little this or that, like eggplant or lemon juice.

None of those "bottom line" things except the coconut milk and salt would have been available to our ancestors who lived before the Spaniards came. Even the Chamorro words we have for the remaining ingredients are taken from the Spanish : kåtnen guaka , friholes , tomåtes , seboyas , åhos and pimienta .

But, safe to say, tinaktak has been around for a long time and part of our culinary culture for a couple hundred years or more.

The theory is that the name of this dish comes from the sound made when the beef was pounded on by a knife. Tak tak tak !

But there is a word taktak , and another form of it, talaktak , which means the sound of a bang or clap, as when something falls to the floor. That would correspond to the sound of a knife hitting a piece of beef lying on a cutting board or table.

So, tak tak tak went the cook until the meat was broken down into crumbly bits, like the ground beef you buy to make burgers or meat loaf.

Since our people didn't slaughter cattle a whole lot but rather for special occasions, tinaktak would not be a frequent meal served on a weekly basis.


THE EVER-CHANGING RECIPE

Nowadays, you can have tinaktak without the taktak .

There are cooks who do not pound the beef but slice it instead. Everything else in the recipe remains the same, but you bite into beef strips instead of ground beef.

Some people also use ground chicken or ground turkey. Salmon. Tofu. Octopus. Fake beef (vegan). I can't wait to see what else they will make tinaktak with.


www.marga.org

Tofu Tinaktak
with Sriracha sauce by the way


You don't even need to eat tinaktak with rice anymore. You can now have a Tinaktak Burger .


www.theboyandthebaker.com

People will be experimenting with new and creative ways to make tinaktak .

So, with all these changes, can you call anything tinaktak ? How much change is needed so that it's no longer tinaktak ? How does tinaktak remain tinaktak ?

I suppose most people would agree that as long as the protein source is (1) ground or at least in small, bit-sized pieces, and (2) it is cooked in coconut milk, it qualifies as some version of tinaktak .

Even with the Tinaktak Burger, the meat is cooked in coconut milk but the liquid is cooked down till nearly gone.




CHAMORRO WAR BRIDES

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Chamorro ladies with American military men at a social gathering right after the war

A "war bride" was, in its most general meaning, a woman who married a man while he was still in active service in wartime.

The term is more often applied specifically to foreign women who married American servicemen during or right after a war.

To the extent that Chamorro women were not American citizens right after the American return to Guam in 1944, it might be argued that these Chamorro ladies were "foreign" to the American men, just as much as the American men were "foreign" to the Chamorro ladies!

In any case, I'll use the term "war bride" in its broadest meaning.

One American missionary, writing about life right after the war, said that so many Chamorro ladies were marrying American soldiers and, were so in a hurry to do it, that they didn't bother to see the priest. They went straight to a civil official and, ten minutes later, they were married. No mamaisen saina (the old ritual of asking for the lady's hand), no fandånggo or komplimento , no religious observance at all, not even the belo or wedding veil covering both bride and groom. In particularly devout families, these civil weddings were often attended by the bare minimum of family members, since in very Catholic families marriage outside of church was a source of family shame.

Even among the not-so devout, the absence of all the usual wedding customs was a cause for sadness, or at least disappointment. Someone remarked how these quick weddings with American servicemen lacked the usual and drawn-out festivities and joy. The Chamorro brides were often shipped off-island with their military husbands as quickly as they were married, as soon as the groom received new marching orders in many cases. Many of these brides never came back to Guam.

One American missionary said that, if the first Chamorro-American couple who married civilly right after the war took off after the ceremony in a jeep and crashed and got injured or died, that would have put a complete halt on all future civil weddings involving a Chamorro bride. It's not that the missionary wished this would happen. He meant that some people in those days saw random events as evidence of cause-and-effect. The other Chamorro brides would have been too afraid to follow in the footsteps of the couple who crashed.

I can just hear the dialogue :

~ Un hungok håfa ma susede annai umasaguan kotte si Maria yan eyi Amerikåno?
~ Did you hear what happened when Maria and that American married in court?

~ Aksidente i karetan-ñiha ya måtai i dos.
~ Their car got into an accident and they both died.

To this day I hear some people think this way. They almost drowned on a Tuesday so from then on they never get near a beach on a Tuesday.



PIRATES VISIT GUAM

Saturday, November 12, 2016


Ladrones (thieves; in this case pirates) visit the Ladrones

When the great European nations ended their Wars of Religion by the year 1650, they could turn their energy and attention once again to building up their countries, especially by exploiting their overseas colonies with more vigor. Money was to be made in European colonies in the New World as well as in Asia.

Much of that wealth was transported on ships. Piracy was an important part of the competition between European empires over the wealth of the rest of the world.

Rather than fight another expensive war between states, England, for example, could allow British pirates to raid Spanish ships, bringing that captured wealth into British circulation.

William Ambrosia Cowley was the navigator of one of these British pirate ships, the Nicholas , commanded by John Eaton. Headed for Manila and then China, the Nicholas stopped by Guam in March of 1685. To our good fortune, Cowley wrote about his experiences at Guam.


STILL SEMI-INDEPENDENT

The Guam Cowley saw in 1685 was still not yet totally surrendered to Spanish domination.

The Chamorros these Englishmen met were still, in part, in rebellion against the Spaniards and living life as they knew it before the Spaniards arrived. They walked about completely naked, still used spears and slings as their weapons and still mastered their canoes on the open sea. The lances were tipped with the sharpened bones of the dead.  Even then, the Chamorros prized the iron of the Europeans, bartering for whatever pieces of iron, such as old nails, the British were willing to give up. Amazingly, the Chamorro men were still equally at home in the sea as they were on land. Even with their hands tied behind their backs, the English saw Chamorro men they had captured jump overboard and swim long distances to safety while being shot at.

The Chamorros were treated with suspicion by the pirates. They would approach the British for trade in one instance, then turn and attack the British in the next. The Chamorros also asked the British if they could team up and wage mutual battle against the Spaniards. The pirates turned down the suggestion.


CHANGES CAME FAST

Cowley's account is interesting to me because it confirms some things we otherwise would not be sure of. From his writing, we can see that the Spaniards introduced new foods to our islands rather quickly. By 1685, Guam already had lemons, oranges and hogs, all introduced from abroad.

The Europeans also learned from the people and the environment of the islands they conquered. A Jesuit priest went on board the pirate ship and taught the British how to make coconut milk from squeezing the grated coconut meat after some water had been added.

We also see that the military strength of the Spaniards on Guam in 1685 was just 600 soldiers, a figure that many scholars agree on as the average number.


FOR SOME CHAMORROS, DEATH....

The British buccaneers made out very well for themselves on Guam. They benefited from the island's food and water and from gifts brought to them by the Spanish governor, and from what they traded with the Chamorros.

The Spanish governor, too, received gifts from the British.

Some Chamorros probably got the iron they coveted but not much else. And some Chamorros died, being shot at by the British when they lifted their hands against those pirates. They also failed to get the help they wanted from the British to end Spanish rule in their islands.




From Cowley's book, including his visit to the Ladrones (encircled)

ISTORIAN POLITIKA

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

The 8th Guam Legislature being sworn in
January 1965


Gi 1964 na såkkan, humånao hame yan un amigu-ho para in ekkungok i campaign siha,
(In the year 1964, my friend and I went to listen to the campaigns,)

tånto i Democrat yan i Territorial na pattida.
(both the Democrat and the Territorial parties.)

Gi Democrat na rally, kahulo' un senadot ya duro de ha sångan un Territorial na kandidåto.
(At the Democratic rally, a senator got up and kept talking about a Territorial candidate.)

Ilek-ña, "Mungnga ma bota! Bulachero na taotao! Måtto bulacheru-ña na tolot dia
(He said, "Don't for (for him)! He's a drunkard! His drunkenness is such that all day long)

ti ha tungo' måno i akkague na kanai-ña yan måno i agapa' na kanai-ña!"
(he doesn't know which is his left hand and which is his right hand!"

Duro duro de taiguennao sinangångån-ña, ya mañålek i linahyan.
(He kept talking like that, and the crowd laughed.)

Pues humånao hame para i Territorial na dinanña' gi otro lugåt.
(Then we went to the Territorial gathering in another place.)

Eyi na kandidåto ni ma butlea ni Democrat na senadot,
(That candidate who was mocked by the Democratic senator,)

guiya på'go kahulo' ya duro de ha sångan ayo na Democrat.
(he now got up and kept talking about that Democrat.)

Ilek-ña, "Taimamahlao ayo na Senadot. Adotterio! Na' ma'se' asaguå-ña yan famagu'on-ña!"
(He said, "He is a shameless senator. Adulterer! How pitiable are his wife and children!")

Ya sige de ha sångan i Democrat gi taiguennao na manera.
(And he kept talking about the Democrat in that way.)

Annai todo monhåyan, humånao ham para in sena gi restaurant
(When all was done, we went to eat dinner at a restaurant)

na guaha salón pat sagan gumimen gi un bånda.
(where there was a bar or drinking area on one side.)

Ya håye mohon in sedda' gi sagan gumimen na eyi dos na kandidåto,
(And who do you think we found at the drinking place but those two candidates,)

i Democrat yan i Territorial ni umachatge siha gi meeting!
(the Democrat and the Territorial who ridiculed each other at the meeting!)

Duro i dos gumimen yan chumålek asta ke bumulåcho i dos.
(The two kept drinking and laughing till the two got drunk.)

Katna para bai ågang i ambulance para u konne' i dos tåtte gi gima'-ñiha.
(I was almost going to call an ambulance to take them back to their homes.)





The sense that I got from this story is that, in those days, political campaigns had (as they still do today) an entertainment value. Crowds appreciated humorous attacks from one party for the opposing party. At least many people found them to be humorous.

It seems to imply that some of the attacks were fabrications or at least exaggerations, meant primarily to incite laughter. Such that these two opponents could put it all aside when the rallies were over and get drunk together.

Of course, there were real attacks on each other in those days, too. Some questioned the actual mental state of an opponent. It could get quite dirty, actually, dragging in family members or talking about a candidate's private life.



TÅYA' SAPÅTOS

Monday, November 7, 2016

Life after the Japanese Occupation, needing shoes.


A story told to me by an elderly lady about the value of shoes during the war :

Annai på'go man hålom i Chapanis ya ma håtme Guam,
(When the Japanese first came and entered Guam,)

onse åños ha' yo' edåt-ho.
(I was just eleven years old.)

In chile' todo i siña ya man hånao ham para i lanchon-måme giya Leyang.
(We took all that we could and went to our ranch in Leyang.)

Dos ha' sapatos-ho gi tutuhon. I sapatos-ho ni hu na' sesetbe para i eskuela
(I had only two (pairs of) shoes in the beginning. The shoes I used for school)

yan i zore'-ho, zorin goma.
(and my zori, rubber zori.)

I finene'na problemå-ho hu susede annai diddide' åntes de man måtto ta'lo i Amerikåno.
(My first problem that I experienced was a little before the Americans came back.)

Esta yo' katotse åños ya i patås-ho esta ti siña ha håtme i sapatos-ho sa' dumångkulo yo'
(I was already fourteen years old and my feet couldn't fit my shoes because I had grown.)

Hu sungon ha' i dinikkike' i sapatos-ho para un tiempo lao en fin esta ti siña hu sungon
(I endured the smallness of my shoes for a time but at last I couldn't endure)

i minafñot i sapatos-ho. Puti puti magåhet i patås-ho.
(the tightness of my shoes. My feet were really really hurting.)

Hu nå'e ha' i mås påtgon na che'lu-ho ni sapatos-ho lao tåya' otro para guåho.
(I just gave my youngest sibling my shoes but there were no other (shoes) for me.)

Tåya' nai tienda. Pues i zore'-ho ha' siña hu na' setbe.
(There were no stores, you see. So I could only use my zori.)

Un dia, fana'an Hunio na mes este, uchan na ha'åne ayo, desde i ega'an asta i pupuenge.
(One day, perhaps in the month of June, it was a rainy day from morning till night.)

Ha tågo' yo' si tatå-ho para bai espia si ti'an-måme ni sotteran biha ni eståba na sumåsaga
(My dad told me to check on our auntie who was a spinster who was living)

guiya ha' na maisa gi lancho-ña. Fache' todo i lugåt nai maloffan yo' ya sulon yo' gi fina' hoyo
(by herself at her ranch. It was all muddy where I was going and I slipped in something like a ditch)

sa' duro duro i ichan. Malingo i zore'-ho gi halom fache' ya sige de hu espia lao ti hu sodda'.
(because the rain was so hard. I lost my zori in the mud and I kept looking but could not find it.)

Ai, sa' desde ayo tåya' håfa sapatos-ho. Ti påyon yo' sumin dodoga ya puti ta'lo i patås-ho
(Oh, because from then on I had no shoes at all. I wasn't used to wearing no footwear and my feet hurt again)

kololo'-ña yanggen mi acho' i lugåt pat chålan.
(especially if the place or road was full of rocks.)

Despues, annai man eståba ham Pigo' na "camp," må'pos si tatå-ho ya ha bira gue'
(Later, when we were at Pigo' camp, my dad left and came back)

yan un påt sapåtos para guåho. Ti hu tungo' måno na ha sodda', ya ti hu faisen.
(with a pair of shoes for me. I don't know where he found them, and I didn't ask him.)

Komo gagaige ha' mohon si tatå-ho på'go bai sangåne gue' na hu sen agradese na ha soda'e yo' sapatos-ho.
(If my dad were only here now I would tell him that I really appreciate that he found me shoes.)




THE RUBBER ZORI

Japan's gift to the Chamorros
Good for the tropics, but treacherous in the mud

HINENGGEN MAN ÅMKO'

Friday, November 4, 2016


Not all the old people believe this, but some do.

Do not take the photo of just three people.

Mungnga na tres ha' na taotao gi litråto.

Either one or two, four or more...but never just three.

The belief is that, if just three people appear in the picture, something bad (even death) will happen to someone among the three. Many Asian people believe it will be the one in the middle; he or she will die.

So, people who follow this belief will always call for someone else to join the group to make it four people, or ask one of the three to leave and make it two.

The interesting question is : where did many Chamorros get this idea?

When did Chamorros first get photographed?

The first photographing of Chamorros, as far as we know (see *** note below), started in 1876 with the arrival of the German ship Hertha, whose paymaster, Gustav Riemer, took photos of Guam scenes, including one of a ranch where five or six Chamorros appear. Photos of Chamorros are sparse from that time on until the Americans get to Guam and the Germans to Saipan at the turn of the century.

In the early 1900s, Chamorros were photographed by Americans, Germans and other foreigners to be viewed by foreigners, especially in magazine and newspaper articles. Missionaries also took many photos of Chamorros to be shared with their missionary agencies abroad.

But when did Chamorros start to take pictures of themselves, for their own personal and family use?

We have photos of elite Chamorro families on Guam and Saipan in the early 1900s, taken by American or German photographers, who gave copies to these families. A wedding picture, for example, of Pedro Martinez and his wife, Maria Torres, was taken in the early 1900s. Photos start to abound by the 1920s of affluent Chamorros, traveling to Manila, for example, or of young Chamorro belles all dressed up. Copies of these photos were given to those in the picture, and the ones of Chamorros traveling off-island were taken specifically for the people traveling.

Thomas Mayhew was well-known in pre-war Guam as a photographer, at first working for the Navy and later opening his own studio. By the 1930s, many middle-class Chamorros were getting their picture taken by Mayhew. Saipan Chamorros were also getting personal and family portraits done by Japanese photographers.

So, if many elderly have this belief that three people in a photo is a bad thing, this belief could have only started in the 1900s, possibly as late as the 1920s or 30s when photography became more known among Chamorros. So. Where did they get the idea?

The Japanese

As already mentioned, many Asians had the belief that three people in a photo is a bad thing. One of those Asian countries is Japan. In the early days of photography, the technology of the time allowed the camera to focus only on the person in the middle, with the other two appearing less clear. People believed that the camera stole your soul, so the middle person's soul was grabbed by the camera most of all, the middle person being the clearest in the picture. Thus, the middle person photographed was doomed to die.

With so many Japanese moving to Guam and marrying Chamorro wives in the early 1900s, perhaps some Chamorros got this idea from them. There were also many Japanese marrying Chamorro wives in Saipan, as well.

It's one of those things people didn't document in the past, so we will probably never know for sure where this idea came from. But a few good guesses are helpful, at least to wonder about.

Not all Chamorros believe in this rule against three. Many threesomes have appeared in photos and all of them lived very long lives afterwards! Some Chamorros think it is a sinful superstition. I, too, have chided people who really believe someone will die in a group of three.


???THE FIRST CHAMORROS PHOTOGRAPHED???

***Although the oldest photos of Chamorros that I know of are the Riemer photos of 1876, more than likely there were even older photographs of Chamorros that we just don't know about or which have been lost through time.

Chamorros ended up on whaling ships since the early 1800s and could have been part of a group of whalers photographed on the ship or in places they landed.

Chamorros ended up living elsewhere in the mid 1800s; Hawaii, California, Alaska and other places and could have been photographed there.

A few Chamorros moved to Manila in the mid 1800s, temporarily and permanently as well. They could have been photographed in Manila studios before Riemer's photos were taken.

Besides all that, there could have been foreigners before 1876 who stopped by Guam and the other Mariana islands and took photos.

We just don't know about their existence.

PREGONERO : SAIPAN NEWSPAPER

Thursday, November 3, 2016


How do English-speaking Americans communicate community news to Chamorro-speaking residents of Saipan right after World War II?

A bilingual bulletin.

It was called Pregonero , a Spanish word adopted by Chamorros. It meant a "herald," as in an "announcer," and it also meant the "town crier" who would go up and down the streets reading out loud announcements from the government so all the citizens would be informed.

Based on existing, dated copies, it seems the bulletin started in early 1947, but even possibly late 1946, if we could only find a copy of the first issue to confirm the date. The left column was in English, and the right column was in Chamorro.

The bulletin was put together every month, or every two weeks, by the people who ran Saipan's public school. At the head of that was a Chamorro from Guam, Adrian Cruz Sanchez. Equally fluent in both Chamorro and English, Sanchez, a member of the US Navy at the time, could be tasked to serve as a bridge between the US administration and the Chamorro/Carolinian communities of Saipan.



ADRIAN C. SANCHEZ

Assisting Sanchez was William (Bitlin) Sablan Reyes of Saipan.  Reyes was a prominent community leader in Saipan from after the war till his death. He was always involved in civic and political activities.



Two columns, two languages


It seems that the Pregonero did not last long. We have no copies beyond a few years.

But, the copies we do have remain a good source of some Saipan community news of that short period, plus a nice way to study the Chamorro language.



* Thanks to Greg Sablan of the CNMI Archives for locating copies of Pregonero

I FANDÅNGGO

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Preparing for the evening's fandånggo
Early 1900s


Wedding customs have changed dramatically over the years.

When I was growing up in the 1960s and 70s, a fandånggo was the party or dinner held after a wedding, paid for by the groom and his family, including the godfather of the groom.

Only later did I come to learn that, before the war, the fandånggo was actually held the night before the wedding. What stayed true to custom before and after the war was that it was hosted by the groom's side of the wedding party.

Then I came across the word fandango as a Spanish dance. How did a word meaning a Spanish dance become, among the Chamorros, a word meaning a wedding party?


POSSIBLY AN AFRICAN WORD

Usually we think of Spain influencing its colonies, but at times it is the other way around.

In the case of the fandango , this seems to be the case.

African slaves brought their cultures and languages with them to Latin America. Many of the dances, music, vocabulary and foods of Latin America find their roots in Africa. Scholars think that the word fandango may come from a Bantu language in Africa, possibly Kimbundu in modern-day Angola.

Fandango came to mean a kind of dance, performed in different styles depending on the country in Latin America. From there, the word went to Spain, where it also described certain dances, which again differed from area to area in Spain. The fandango of Huelva, in Andalucía in southern Spain became one of the best known flamenco dances.




But the fandangos of Latin America continued on their own and are still danced there. The Marianas received a lot of influence from Latin America, especially from Mexico, since, in the early period of Spanish colonization, Spain ruled the Marianas via Mexico. Mexican soldiers moved to Guam in good number. But the Philippines also developed their own fandango dances and Filipino influence on the Chamorros increased in the 1800s.

Safford says that, at a Chamorro fandånggo (party), a Spanish fandango (dance) was sometimes danced. Somehow I wonder if Chamorros were actually dancing the very technical Spanish version of the fandango dance. Perhaps it was really a Latin American or Filipino version, called by the same name. It is also possible that Chamorros danced both versions; perhaps a Latin American or Filipino version more, and the Spanish flamenco version less.



A Mexican fandango dance

In any event, I think it is very likely that the pre-wedding nighttime party and dance hosted by the groom was called a fandånggo by our mañaina because a dance called a fandango was performed at these parties. What is less clear is which type of fandango dance it was. I think, in time, no fandango dance was performed at these parties, but other dances, such as the båtso (waltz) and square dancing were, as Safford also states.  Up to now, a small number of people can still dance what is called the båtso and even the chotis , but I have never seen anyone, since the 1970s, dance something called the fandånggo . Yet, the name fandånggo stuck.



A Filipino fandango dance
Pandanggo sa Ilaw


FANDANGGERO

No matter the version, the fandango dances of Spain, Latin America and the Philippines more or less had a feeling of flashiness and liveliness.

Among Chamorros, the word fandanggero (someone who dances the fandånggo ) came to mean someone who is showy, flashy, extravagant, a lover of good times and a spender of money.

In Spanish, the verb fandanguear (to make fandango ) can mean "to live it up," "to go all out" with a party. In some Spanish-speaking places, a fandango can also mean a "wild party."




FANDANGGERO

ISTORIAN MAÑENGGON

Tuesday, October 25, 2016


A family I know (San Nicolás, familian Mahange') own land behind the Mañenggon camp, pictured above. In July of 1944, thousands of Chamorro people were huddled by the Japanese into this valley by the river. For several weeks they lived a precarious life, with death hanging over their heads, in physical and emotional distress, until the Japanese quietly up and left, knowing the Americans were just down the road.

To this day, some of the few survivors still with us have a hard time visiting this place. The memories remain with them as vivid and as upsetting as the time they lived there, more than 70 years ago.

It seems more than memories survive at Mañenggon.

A member of this family that owns land behind the Mañenggon Memorial related to me this story :

One weekend the family spent the day at our ranch in Mañenggon. The river flows past our property and there is a little dam and swimming hole beside our place. So I took the kids there to swim.

I was told by the elders to bring them all back to the ranch house before it got dark.

As I noticed the time, and the setting of the sun, I gathered all the kids together so we could start walking back to the family and our cars.

At that moment, I sensed a strange silence in the air. Then, I started hearing people screaming and crying, and then, the praying of the Rosary in Chamorro, but very fast, as if the person praying was in a panic.

No one but us was around, but I heard all of this.

So I quickly got the kids together and got them walking back. It should have been just a few minutes to walk back, but it seemed like forever, till we reached the others.

CHALÅN-TA : HAGÅMHAM

Monday, October 24, 2016


Two streets in the Marianas are named for the coconut tree's flowering stem which produces the coconut fruit.

The one in Saipan spells it correctly. Hagåmham . The one on Guam forgot to include the initial H. As the language changes here and there for some people, some Chamorros are dropping the H and say agåmham .

Here's how the hagåmham looks like :





BISKUCHON PÅNGLAO

Saturday, October 22, 2016


No Chamorro home was ever without biskuchon pånglao .

It was so-called because of the crab ( pånglao ) that appeared on the wrapping or on the tin can that stored bulk quantities of the biscuit.

Different families ate it in different ways, but nearly every family had them in the cupboard.

Some families ate biskucho every day, while some ate it only rarely.

Some had it for breakfast, especially with coffee. Some would dip the biscuit into the coffee and others would break the biscuit into little pieces and soak them in the coffee. Still others could butter up the biscuit and eat with coffee like one does with toast.

Especially for kids, the biskucho would be broken up and soaked in milk (especially condensed milk;  Carnation) and sugar. Many people call this kåddun biskucho.

Other families would have biskucho mainly for merienda , the late afternoon snack, sometimes with cheese.


After a typhoon....

Finally, some families ate it only after a typhoon. This is where the biskucho came in very handy. It didn't need refrigeration. It could last for years in perfectly fine condition in your pantry, as long as it stayed dry. It was ready to eat. No cooking was needed. It was thus perfect for after a typhoon, when the electricity could be out for weeks, if not months.

The durability of this kind of biscuit made it ideal food for sailors when ships lacked refrigeration. Thus they were called sea biscuits, ship biscuits, Navy biscuits, as well as many other names.

Those tin cans...


A common trait among our people was never to throw things out that can be used later. Such happened with the tin cans of biskucho . Many elders saved them because they were perfect for storage of many things, food or otherwise. I remember them making excellent containers for pån tosta (toasted bread rolls).

Japanese ....

It only takes a few seconds' glance to see that the biskucho eat in the Marianas is Japanese, made by the Kaniya Company of Kofu, Japan.

Guam merchants (many of them Japanese themselves) were importing Japanese goods to Guam since the early part of the 1900s. Up in Saipan, the entire island was run by the Japanese, who transformed the island into an outpost of Japanese culture. The same can be said for Tinian and Luta.

So it is very possible that Japanese biskucho was being sold in our islands since the beginning of the 1900s. In Japan, however, biskucho (known as kanpan in Japanese), did not become well-known until 1937 when Japan's war with China forced the government to promote the sale of kanpan among the people, since the nation had to conserve food for the fighting soldiers. That's when the sale of kanpan hit the roof in Japan, and it became associated with the war effort and the people's participation in it.

Since then, kanpan has become Japan's disaster food. Whenever there is a bad typhoon or earthquake and normal food supplies are strained, relief efforts pass out huge quantities of kanpan to the people.

It was also distributed by the Americans to island people in need for food after the war. That's another way the biskucho became widespread among Pacific islanders.

Disappearing?

The news from Japan, though, is that Kaniya's kanpan , or biskucho , may be a vanishing piece of food history. The tastes of younger Japanese are changing. People in Japan are switching to a new kind of biscuit which started in the 1980s called CalorieMate. Why? It is softer than kanpan . Kaniya is still baking biskucho and we're still buying them in the Marianas, but if sales of Kaniya's hard biscuits fall, the company may stop making them.



Even if every Chamorro in the world continued to buy Kaniya'a biskucho , and I doubt that would ever happen since even many younger Chamorros think that biskucho is man åmko ' food (just for the elderly), would that be enough to save the biscuit from extinction?

The good news is that, even if the biscuit is no longer made, the ones already baked, as long as they stay dry, can last longer than you or I can!

VIDEO

How biskucho is made in Japan.



FÅTTISTA

Friday, October 21, 2016


FÅTTISTA

Absentee, no-show, truant


So now you can use a Chamorro word for the person who is usually a no-show in your life, or in life in general.

I first heard someone use the word fåttista in the early 1990s when she was describing someone who always promised to show up at social events, but most often never did.

The word is Spanish, but isn't used in Spain, according to the Spanish dictionary put out by the most prestigious Spanish language authority, the Royal Spanish Academy ( Real Academia Española ). The word is used in Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras. In those countries, faltista means someone who frequently is absent from school or work.


HOW FAR?

Wednesday, October 19, 2016


If you owned land by the shore, how far into the water did your property go? How far into the ocean did your rights as owner extend?

According to Elias Sablan of Saipan, there was an "unwritten law" among Chamorros that your property rights went as far as the water line in between high and low tides.

I wonder if this was the case in the rest of the Marianas?

LECHE HERE....OR THERE

Tuesday, October 18, 2016


According to an elderly lady who grew up in Hagåtña in the 1930s, there was a store in the capital city near her home which sold fresh milk. Cattle farmers would bring in the milk and the milk was sold in bottles at the store.

Across the milk store was the home of a family where all the adult women living there were large busted. It seemed to be a trait than ran in the family with the women.

The store had a wooden sign shaped like an arrow with the word leche painted on it, pointing down at the store, to show people traveling on that street that milk was sold there.

One day, when the store ran out of milk to sell, they discovered that someone pointed the arrow to the house across the street with the large-breasted women.

* An older woman, reading this post, confirms that near her house in pre-war Hagåtña was a place selling "mechanical milk."

PIAO LÅHE

Sunday, October 16, 2016

PIAO LÅHE

I never knew that bamboo came in two genders, male and female.

At least in Chamorro.

There are countless types of bamboo all over the world, but the Marianas only has one predominant variety, the Babusa vulgaris or "common bamboo," prevalent all over the world.

The thorny bamboo, as seen above, is called the piao låhe in Chamorro, or "male bamboo," on account of the protruding stems. They can also be called piao tituka , or "thorn bamboo."

The smooth bamboo, lacking prickly stems, is called piao palao'an , or "female bamboo, as seen in the picture below :


PIAO PALAO'AN

Both varieties, male and female, are useful and were used by our people, but the male bamboo rises taller (as high as 50 feet) and is harder. The male variety, therefore, was prized for projects needing stronger and more durable material.

THE MANY USES OF BAMBOO

Bamboo can be used in a hundred or more ways.

Beams, frames, floors, walls, partitions, ceilings, doors and windows. Bridges, ladders, fences, furniture, musical instruments, sports equipment, tool handles, fishing poles. Cups and drinking troughs. Our elders collected sap from coconut trees to make tuba into bamboo tubes.

Bamboo thrives in moist areas, such as along river banks. They can grow as rapidly as 3 inches a day, and fresh cut bamboo can take root just by being stuck in the ground.

The one negative thing about bamboo, but it is significant, is that the fallen dead leaves can form a perfect blanket for snakes to nest under. When you reach a grove of bamboo, be very careful!

MALAMÅÑA

Friday, October 14, 2016


In Chamorro, malamåña is worse than taklalo ' (quick-tempered, easily angered, irascible).

Malamåña is to be "fierce, savage, ferocious, harsh, brutal, cruel." I have heard it most associated, by our mañaina , with the Japanese during the war.

It comes from two Spanish words, mala and maña .

Mala means "bad."

Maña , which I recently blogged on, means "skill, aptitude, talent."

The Spanish have a saying, " Más vale maña que fuerza ."

It means that it is better to be sly ( maña ) than to be strong ( fuerza ). Brains over brawn. A guy might try, unsuccessfully, to break down a jammed door. But a clever person can use far less physical force to undo the jam.

To have mala maña (bad skill) means to be deceitful, tricky, cunning.

For whatever reason, some Latino musical groups call themselves Malamaña.

Among Chamorros, mala maña became our word malamåña and somehow we gave it a more intensely negative meaning. Not just "cunning" or "tricky" but downright cruel and ferocious.




BEFORE THERE WERE POLITICIANS

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Saipan community leaders in the 1950s


We can safely say that before there were Chamorro politicians, there were Chamorro community leaders.

That is not to say that individual Chamorro men, and women, did not somehow promote themselves, no matter how gently, to be considered for higher status. But the aggressive campaigning we see today for the people's votes is something new to the Chamorro experience, and goes against the older Chamorro way of doing things.

Before the arrival of the Europeans, our ancestors did not elect their community leaders. Instead, each community recognized those who were already, in some way, leaders. Of course, these leaders had to come from a certain class. The mangachang could never be leaders of the whole community. But men from the other two classes ( achaot and matua ) could. Men could rise to the higher status by proving themselves worthy of it, and men could lose their status in the community by way of failure. It was, in a sense, a meritocracy.

What was most important was that other recognized community leaders supported one of their number to assume primacy. A smaller circle of leaders, then, determined who would rise even higher. This would become a pattern that lasted even into Spanish times.

Under the Spanish, the outward form of government changed and the Chamorros were excluded from real power, but the inner workings of social leadership among the people continued to be a kind of meritocracy. Leaders were acknowledged, not elected. Village officials formed a small cadre of leaders who were easily admitted into, and just as easily released from, this small pool of overseers. A man acknowledged for his intelligence and talent would be coaxed into taking a higher role in the village, acting as a liaison between the villagers and the Spanish authorities. The principalía , or village elite, would vote on a short list of three nominees for village leadership, but the actual appointment would be made by the Spaniards. If a man grew tired of community leadership, he could simply make it known to the others and chances were people would allow him to gracefully exit.




In Guam, separated from the rest of the Marianas by the Americans in 1898, the old Spanish idea of a group of acknowledged local leaders, or principalía , continued for a time. Certain individuals just presented themselves for leadership and were acknowledged by the others as leaders, without a general election in place. To a certain extent, some of them simply claimed leadership, as in the case of the Chamorro junta or executive committee which assumed government control in 1899. Not everyone, though, recognized their authority. Notice, though, that even here Chamorros did not assert themselves politically without the backing of the elite group, continuing the pattern of old.

Eventually, with the American Navy firmly in charge, Chamorros were appointed, then elected, to a Guam Congress who had the power merely to express opinions. But it was at this stage that the scene was being set for future politics. From the 1930s, members of the Guam Congress were elected by the people, and, though there was no massive campaigning as we see today, the island's future politicians were being formed and developed. At this early phase, though, men who showed some leadership made themselves available to the voters, especially when encouraged by others who were recognized as community leaders. That idea of a small group of community leaders carried on into the early American years. "Campaigning" was done on the level of discussions among people. Who was good? Who would look after the local people's interest? Political ads, rallies and meetings were still to come in the future.

In the Northern Marianas, no voice was given to the local people by the Japanese. Appointed, then elected, Chamorro and Carolinian councilors did the bidding of the Japanese government. Under the United Nations trusteeship, the United States was tasked with the job of preparing the local people for self-government. Local leaders, therefore, were asked to step forward and make themselves available for elected office as mayors and council members. Though the Trust Territory government (and even for some time, the US Navy) ran the show, local leaders were sought and groomed. But the older Chamorro principles were still in play. Active self-promotion was frowned upon.

What, then, were those traits that made Chamorro leaders acceptable to the general public? According to an anthropological study of Saipanese community leaders in the 1950s :

1. Passivity . In the sense that he will not promote himself for leadership. Instead, he will let others nominate him and campaign for him among people. Otherwise, if he asserts himself, others will say " Malago' gue' mågas ," "He wants to be the boss." The aspiring leader just acts like one, and let's the others do the promoting. In fact, the prospective leader is already promoting himself by acting like a leader, and not by campaigning to be one. In a sense, if no one was interested in pushing you forward as a leader, there was already an election that way.

2. A good public speaker . This probably goes back to pre-European times when our ancestors enjoyed public debates and admired the eloquent. Our people enjoy hearing good speakers, who argue points well and say things well.

3. Able to take bold stands , especially in defense of the public interest.

4. Good in English . This was necessary because our leaders had to speak to the political masters, the Americans, in their own language. Chamorro leaders who were successful in getting the Americans to see things from the local perspective were greatly esteemed by the local people.

Guam in the 1950s and 60s continued to exhibit, to some degree, the old pattern of the small group of elites picking candidates. From my living sources who were active in politics at the time, the party leaders would meet and discuss who would be interested, who would be available and who would be viable as a candidate for the Legislature. Then these names became the official candidates of the party. It was more or less decided by the elite group themselves.

Today, we have all the marks of a modern, American-style electoral campaign. It's now a whole different ball game. Today we have person seeking the office, rather than the office seeking the person. Now we have people claiming to be leaders, and voters electing them with the hope that they'll prove themselves to be leaders.

At least in the 1950s, 60s and a little into the 70s, party politics changed things even more. Because of party loyalty, many voters cast their ballots for candidates strictly because of party affiliation, and not necessarily on the person's qualities. Strict party loyalty is now largely a thing of the past, and politics has become as individualistic as the rest of society at large.

THE CASE OF THE MISSING DICTIONARY

Tuesday, October 11, 2016


There are at least half a dozen Chamorro dictionaries, both published and unpublished, from before World War II. Some were written by Spaniards, others by Americans, others by Germans and now we have evidence of one put together by a Japanese named D. Kikuchi.

It was published in Japan in 1915, just a year after the Japanese took over the Northern Marianas from the Germans. Kikuchi got to work right away, then, providing the new masters with a guide to Chamorro vocabulary.

It was 64 pages long, and just four by six inches in size. Not very thick of a book, I would say. So it wasn't a very extensive dictionary, but it wasn't just a short word list either.

The dictionary was published by a private commercial company, the Nanyo Boeki Kaisha (South Seas Trading Company) which dominated Saipan during the Japanese era. The NBK leased huge amounts of land and turned them into sugar cane fields. In those early days (1915), the NBK probably had to deal with Chamorros a lot more then than later, when Chamorros became Japanese speaking and a tiny minority in their own land. By 1935, for example, the population of Saipan was 95% non-Chamorro/Carolinian. Japanese, Koreans and Okinawans formed 95% of the island population. A Chamorro dictionary was not of much use by then.

The title of the dictionary was just as is seen at the top. Fino' Japones yan Chamorro . Japonés is the Spanish word for "Japanese," and the J is pronounced like the English H, as in Sinajaña and Joaquín. Chamorros said japonés for "Japanese" in those days. It was only later, under American influence, that Chamorro started to say Chapanis .

The problem is I have never seen a copy of it. I only know it existed because it is mentioned in another book dated 1918.

Perhaps someone in Japan or with Japan connections can search the various leading academic libraries in the government and in the universities of Japan to see if we can find a copy of it.

It is very beneficial to have all the dictionaries that ever existed, even those written out by hand. Sometimes we find an old Chamorro word, no longer used, in just one of six Chamorro dictionaries. If it weren't for that one dictionary that included the word, we would never have known otherwise that the word even existed.

FAMILY NICKNAMES : BERETE

Monday, October 10, 2016

Ana Aquiningoc Sablan (Berete) Iriarte
with her daughter Matilde
and grandchildren Francisco and Catalina


BERETE


A branch of the Sablans are called familian Berete .


CLUES

In my experience, Chamorro nicknames usually come in only two categories : the easily explained and the totally puzzling.

Examples of the easy ones are known Chamorro words like familian Chunge ' (white haired) and familian Gualåfon (full moon). Some nicknames come from the first names of ancestors like familian Kaila (Micaela) and familian Sinda (Reducinda). Once you see the names of ancestors in these families, it isn't hard to see where the nickname comes from.

Still other families have nicknames derived from a surname associated with the family. The familian Kottes are so-known because at one time their middle name was Cortes (Cortes Torres) and another branch of the Torres are called Agilat because their middle name at one time was Aguilar (Aguilar Torres).

Then there are families whose nicknames come from Spanish words. So, if you are familiar with Spanish, you will understand the nickname rather easily. The familian Seboyas are named after onions ( cebolla in Spanish) and the familian Katson are named after trousers ( calzón in Spanish). You need to know some basic rules about how Chamorros modify the original Spanish pronunciation to get this, though.

When a Chamorro family nickname includes a letter that is not favored by the Chamorro language, such as the R in Berete, a good guess is that the name is foreign, that is, not Chamorro in origin. That means there's a good chance the foreign word is Spanish.

Some Spanish words are so obscure, though, that these nicknames take a while to decipher. One such example is Kueto. There is a Spanish last name Cueto, but, as far as we can tell, no Taitano was ever married to someone with the last name Cueto. Then, family oral tradition comes to the rescue, as it did with Kueto, because Carlos Taitano, a Kueto, told me that his family got this nickname because his grandfather liked a Spanish song whose title included the word Cueto. He heard this explanation from his elders.


"BERETE"

Berete is one of these obscure Spanish words. It's not even Castilian (or standard) Spanish. You won't find berete in the Spanish dictionary.

If you exhaust all the Spanish dictionaries and never find the word you think might be Spanish, it sometimes pays to look up the word in dictionaries of other languages spoken in Spain.

One of these other languages is Galician (or Gallego). It is spoken in Galicia, a province in the northwest corner of Spain. Their language is somewhat similar to Portuguese.



This red-colored portion of Spain is called Galicia

In the Galician language, berete is a type of fish. In English, the fish is called a sea robin or gurnard. Here's what it looks like :




Now keep in mind that this is only a guess, but a guess with some backing. Many Chamorros knew many Spanish words, even words that were not common in most of Spain. There were some Spaniards from Galicia who lived on Guam, like some missionary priests. We even got our word for the farmer's hoe, the fusiños , from the Galician language of Spain, not the Spanish (or Castilian) language.

It is entirely possible that some Chamorro was given a nickname based on a Galician word for this fish. Why? That's almost impossible to answer, unless someone in the family heard the story from long ago.

But since we have no solid proof that the Berete family is so-named because of this Galician name for this kind of fish, we have to leave room for other possible explanations.

YOUR AMERICAN IS SHOWING #1

Thursday, October 6, 2016


In this new series called "Your American is showing," I want to point out how our American upbringing has influenced the way we attempt to spell in Chamorro.

Since the majority of Chamorro speakers were never taught to spell in Chamorro, many of them resort to their own mental resources deciding how to use letters to express the sounds in their heads, and those mental resources have been shaped by their use of the English language and spelling.

In other words, they hear Chamorro sounds but associate them with English spelling. Such is the case with the Chamorro word masea , which some spell masaya .




THE WORD ITSELF

Masea in Chamorro means "even though," "although," "even if," "whichever" and similar ideas.

I believe it is a shortening of the Spanish phrase " más que sea ," which is also said in Chamorro mås ke sea. That phrase, in both Spanish and Chamorro, can mean "although" and so on.

Some examples :

Mås ke sea håye. Whosoever.

Mås ke sea håfa. Whatsoever .

Masea ti un guaiya yo', lao hu guaiya hao. Even though you don't love me, but I love you .

Masea håye sinedda'-mo gi chalan, saluda gue' kon respeto. Whoever you meet on the road, greet with respect.

The phrase includes the Spanish subjunctive form of the verb ser (to be). We can translate this as the English "could be" or "might be."

Es posible que sea verdad. It is possible that it may be true .

So, mås ke sea can be translated as "that which can be."


SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Monday, October 3, 2016

"Died by the grace of God and helped by a bad surgeon."


Måña i echura asta la seputtura


The original Spanish wording is " Maña y hechura, hasta la sepultura ."

Literally, it means "Skill and form until the grave."

The intended meaning is that a person is the way he is till death. His way of being, thinking, feeling and acting doesn't change. He will take it to the grave.

Måña is the aptitude of the person, what he or she is naturally good at, or likely to think and do with ease.

Echura is the person's outward form, his or her style of doing things, including attire, speech, demeanor.

When you meet someone after thirty years, and he or she is still the same in specific traits that single him or her out, one can say, " Måña i echura asta la seputtura ."

Or, no matter how you try to change someone's way of thinking or way of behaving without success, one can use this phrase.

That's just the way he or she is and will always be, till the grave.

LOST SURNAMES : PADILLA

Friday, September 30, 2016

Former Mayor Buck Cruz
and a photo of his late father Ramón Padilla Cruz


This series called "Lost Surnames" looks at families who were once here, and are still here in their descendants, but whose names have been lost because no one anymore carries the name as their last name.

One such family are the Padillas.

The name does not appear in the all-important 1727 or 1758 censuses; important because those documents would tell us (for the most part) if the family ancestor was a member of the Spanish regiment of soldiers or of the Pampanga (Philippines) regiment instead.

So we cannot even say where the first Padilla on Guam was from. It's a Spanish name, so he could have been from the Philippines or Latin America, and a smaller chance of being from Spain itself.

From the baptismal records that have survived, it seems that our first Padilla to appear in the Guam records was one Bruno Padilla, who married Nicolasa de la Cruz. The couple seems to have had nothing but daughters, unless sons died in childhood. This explains why the name died out.


Bruno Padilla's signature in 1861

One daughter, Maria, had a daughter, Vicenta, out of wedlock, but Vicenta later married a man from Malesso', Ignacio Pangelinan de la Cruz. These were the parents of Ramón Padilla Cruz, the father of Mayor Buck.

But, eventually, Maria married Juan de León Guerrero Campos and moved to Saipan.

Maria's sister Isabel also moved to Saipan where she married the American William Jones (spelled Johns in the Spanish records). These records state that Isabel was the daughter of Bruno Padilla and a Rita de la Cruz. Could this be the same Nicolasa? Once in a while in these records, the same person is called by two different first names. Or, are Rita and Nicolasa two different people? Possibly sisters? In any case, Bruno Padilla is the father. So Maria and Isabel are, at the very least, half-sisters.

Isabel, by the way, had a prior marriage to Francisco de León Guerrero.

Finally, we have a Joaquina, daughter of Bruno and Nicolasa. She stayed on Guam, married to José Aguon Laguaña. This couple had many children.

So, while Maria , Isabel and Joaquina could not sustain the Padilla last name, the Padilla blood runs in the veins of many Chamorros in Saipan, Guam and wherever else they moved.

LASO' GI'AI

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Has it ever occurred to you that there are no bears on Guam?

So where did Bear Rock get its name? From Americans, who were reminded of a bear from the rock's shape. Although, in 1930 or so, Governor Bradley's daughter took film footage of the rcck and called it "Squirrel Rock." Many people would agree with the Governor's daughter.

In any case, our mañaina never called this rock Bear Rock nor Squirrel Rock. What is the Chamorro name for this rock?

The older people of Inalåhan tell me that it is called Laso ' Gi'ai . Not only is the rock called that; the area around it is also called Laso' Gi'ai.

One old map, from 1915, points to this, although the non-Chamorro mapper did not quite get the spelling right. No surprise there; Europeans and Americans often spelled a Chamorro word or name in the way that sounded right to them. The map erroneously spells it Lasodiac, or Laso' Diac.


From Dept of Parks & Recreation
Courtesy of Joe Garrido

The laso ' part of the name is believed by almost everybody to refer to the phallic shape of the rock. Laso ' is a Chamorro slang word for the male penis. It is believed to be a shortened version of the word balaso ', an elongated outgrowth from the tree that does not form into an actual fruit. It is called the "male flower" of the breadfruit tree. The female flower forms into the edible fruit.




Some Chamorros also refer to the inner core of the breadfruit as the balaso ', because it often forms an elongated part similar to the male flower.

So, the word laso ' was used for some of these rocks that, in some minds, resembled the male organ. Another rock on Guam named this way is Laso' Fuha (Fouha Rock).

guampedia.com

The gi'ai part of the name is more of a mystery. Several people have their own interpretations what the word means. The word is not found in any of the Chamorro dictionaries we have today.

Ben Meno from Inalåhan has an interesting explanation. He says that gi'ai means "visible, seen." When boys would swim in the area of the rock, they would swim in the nude. Thus, their laso ' was gi'ai . Maybe the American should have called it Bare Rock.

Other people might be confusing the word gigao with gi'ai . Gigao is a method of catching fish and shellfish.

Sorry to say, I haven't found yet an iron-clad explanation for the name, though some informants are dead set on the ones they gave me.

Ben had one final comment. Some people call the rock Åcho ' Higånte . This literally means "giant rock." Higånte is from the Spanish word for "giant." Åcho ' is Chamorro for "rock" or "stone." Ben says that older Chamorros called anything really big higånte .

PEACE PRAYER IN CHAMORRO

Monday, September 26, 2016



TINAITAI SAN FRANCISCO PARA U GUAHA PÅS
ni ha pula' gi Fino' Chamorro si Påle' Jose Villagomez, OFM Cap


Asaina, po'lo ya guåho i ramientå-mo para i pås ginen hago.

Gi annai guaha chinatli'e', na' fanåtme yo' ginefli'e'.

Gi annai guaha nina' låmen, na' fanåtme yo' inasi'e'.

Gi annai guaha dinida, na' fanåtme yo' hinengge.

Gi annai guaha desganao, na' fanåtme yo' ninangga.

Gi annai guaha hinemhom, na' fanåtme yo' minanana.

Gi annai guaha triniste, na' fanåtme yo' minagof.

O Yiniusan na amu-ho, cha'-mo kumonsiesiente na ayo ha' bai aligao

i para bai ma konsuela, lao guåho bai fangonsuela;

i para bai ma komprende, lao guåho bai fangomprende;

i para bai ma guaiya, lao guåho bai fanguaiya.

Sa' ginen i gineftao na siña hit man ma geftågue,

ginen i inasi'e na siña hit man ma asi'e',

yan ginen i finatai na siña man mafañågo hit guato gi taihinekkok na lina'la. Amen.


A recording of the Chamorro prayer :




AN ENGLISH VERSION

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to eternal life

HUCHOM I BENTÅNA

Friday, September 23, 2016


The journals of the missionaries are often a great source of information about our people's way of life in the old days.

I was reading the recollections of an American missionary on Guam in the late 1930s and into the late 1940s and early 50s.

He writes about the custom of many Chamorro families of that period to shut the whole house up tightly at night when everybody's about to sleep. Despite the lack of air conditioning or even electric fans (some families had them, many did not), nåna would shut all the doors and windows without even a crack, while the whole family huddled together on the guåfak (woven mat) or mattresses placed right on the floor. So, there was the lack of ventilation and a lot of body heat from the whole family lying next to each other. Of course, as many people claim, the island was less hot in those days, especially at night. People get used to things, especially when it's all they know from childhood up.

People shut their homes tight before bed because they were deathly afraid of the sereno , the moisture that comes with the cooler evening air. The sereno is bad and makes people sick! It is to be avoided at all costs. One should cover his or her head if one has to go out at night or in the early dawn. The house should be shut air-tight before bed time.

This priest had to visit a sick man once, whose condition was blamed on the sereno . The man gradually lost the use of his entire body, starting with his hands, then feet then the rest of his body. Towards the end of his life, he couldn't even swallow solid food. He survived on soft or wet foods until he passed. It sounds as if the man died of Lytico-Bodig (Lou Gehrigs' Disease), but the family blamed the sereno . The man was a night watchman at a lumber yard and fell victim to the sereno .

But the priest remarked that the very safeguard Chamorro families believed in was probably a main reason why tuberculosis (TB) was common. An air-borne disease, TB can be easily transmitted person to person when there is poor ventilation and when people sleep so close to each other.

FAMILIA : DEMAPAN

Thursday, September 22, 2016


When we hear the last name Demapan, we think of Saipan and, indeed, Saipan is where the name is numerous and widespread.

But the Saipan Demapans are descendants of a Demapan born on Guam who moved to Saipan around 1898, just as Guam was taken by the U.S. and Saipan remained Spanish until the following year when the Germans occupied it in 1899.

SAIPAN DEMAPANS

Ramón Demapan, married to Antonia San Nicolás Borja, both of whom were born on Guam, had their first child, María, baptized in Saipan in 1899. They had subsequent children, who are the ancestors of today's Demapans in Saipan.

Ramón was the son of Francisca Demapan, and apparently also the son of a father not married to Francisca. There is only one Francisca Demapan in the 1897 Guam census, and she was aged 44 years in that census and a widow, married to a man named Cruz. Her children with Cruz would have carried the name Cruz. Ramón carried the name Demapan, suggesting that he was Francisca's son out of wedlock. In those days, following Spanish custom, married women kept their maiden names and did not assume their husband's surname.

From Ramón and Antonia came their descendants who, besides being numerous, gave Saipan a good number of government officials and professionals

GUAM DEMAPANS

The håle ' or roots of the Demapans lie in Guam, and as far back as 1727 when they appear in the Guam census of that year.

In that census, there is one male Demapan named Diego, married to Antonia Enríquez. He appears in the list of soldiers from Pampanga in the Philippines. In 1727, his named was spelled Manapang, but he appears in the 1758 Census as Diego Demapan, married to the same Antonia Enríquez. Clerical errors, and a big flexibility in spelling, was common in the past. In fact, the copy of the 1727 Census I have is a modern transcription, and not the original manuscript. So, for all I know, the typist some years ago misread the original manuscript. One day I'll check the original myself and compare. But it is quite clear that the Diego Manapang married to Antonia Enríquez in 1727 is the same Diego Demapan married to Antonia Enríquez in 1758.

As Diego is the only male Demapan on Guam, it could be that all Demapans, those who remained on Guam and Ramón who moved from Guam to Saipan, are descendants of Diego. Diego and Antonia had one son, Francisco Javier, who was still unmarried in 1758 but it is possible that he later married and had children to carry on the Demapan name.

Two other Demapans in the 1758 Census are women who married and whose children carried on their husbands' names. These two women named Demapan could either be sisters of Diego or his daughters.

Whatever the case, the Demapan family on Guam did not grow into a huge clan. Here's what we can decipher about the main lines of the family :

There are two Demapans on Guam in 1897 that seem to be brothers.

Francisco Arceo Demapan (age 56) and Vicente Arceo Demapan (age 52).

The two other Demapans on Guam on Guam in 1897 are around the same age :

Ignacio Demapan (age 52) and Francisca Demapan (age 44), who, as I mentioned above, was possibly Ramón's mother. It is possible, but not certain, that Ignacio and Francisca were siblings of Francisco and Vicente and would therefore be, if this is true, Arceo Demapans. Further research is needed.

Francisco married but had no children.

The Guam Demapans trace their lineage to either Ignacio or Vicente.

THE NAME "DEMAPAN"

According to the 1727 Census, Diego Demapan was a soldier in the Pampanga Infantry. That would most likely make him either a Filipino, or the son of a Filipino. The surname Demapan is not found in Spain. It is more than likely a Filipino name. There are Filipinos with the surname Demapan, as seen below in a list of college graduates in the Philippines.




In the Spanish records of the Marianas, the name is spelled in many ways. Demapan, Dimapan, De Mapan, De Mapang.....and even the rather "off" Manapang of 1727.

The combination "de Mapan" makes me wonder if the name means "of/from Mapan." Many surnames came from just that kind of construction; to be called by your town of origin.

And, lo and behold, there are towns, villages and hamlets in the Philippines called Mapan or Mapang, too many, in fact, to be helpful in pinpointing which town Demapan could be referring to. Oh well. Another unsolved mystery, for now.


KÅNTA : TI ISAO I PEPBLE

Wednesday, September 21, 2016


This song, sung by Primo Marianas from Saipan, takes me back to the late 1970s when my friend, the future Father Patrick Garcia, used to play this album constantly.

It's a song about growing up poor, and reliance on God, the generosity of others and avoiding theft.

Åhe' ti isao este i pepble
(No, poverty isn't a sin)

sa' guaha ha' pat riko pat popble
(because there are either rich or poor)

lao eyu yo' nai na piniti-ña
(but the pain of it)

i sesso yo' ma fa' chalek-ñiha.
(is to often be their laughingstock.)

Lao si Yu'us mås hihot na amigu-ho
(But God is my closest friend)

guiya et mås hu hahasso
(He is the one I think of the most)

sa' guiya ha enkatgao i mañaina-ho
(because He put my parents in charge of me)

bai tayuyute ha' sa' siempre u esgaihon yo'.
(I will pray because He will surely accompany me.)

Tåya' isao-ña este i mangågao
(There is no sin in asking)

an sakke hao ennao mås isao
(to be a thief, that is more a sin)

ya si Yu'us u onra siha i man geftao
(and God will honor the generous)


sa' i pepble man mames nai na taotao.
(because the poor are sweet people.)

AKAGGUE KUMÅNTA

Thursday, September 15, 2016



A few months ago I needed help arranging for a Mass. I asked a lady to help me get a choir.

She said she would be more than happy to find me a choir but, " Mungnga yo' ma faisen para bai kånta ." " Don't ask me to sing ."

I asked, " Sa' håfa ?" " Why not ?"

" Ilek-ña si nanå-ho na akkague yo' kumånta ." " My mom said I sing on the left ."

It was an expression I never heard before, and at first thought maybe it was a personal saying that her mom alone used.

But I asked a few older people and they were familiar with the expression, too.

They said that the right side of anything is considered the correct side. So, to sing on the left is to sing badly or off-key. While the rest of the choir is following the musical road, so to speak, you veer off to the left and sing your own notes.

"Out of tune," by the way, is desentonao , from the Spanish "desentonado," although "desafinado" is the usual word for "out of tune."

AFTER THE ELECTION

Wednesday, September 14, 2016


I was talking with an elderly man the other about the Primary Election results, which weren't so encouraging for a handful of incumbents. Of course, the primary and general elections can produce very different results, so those incumbents are not necessarily out of a job already.

But, it seems that there may be one or two sitting senators who may need to look for employment this coming January.

To which the man said to me, " Kada guaha nuebo na såntos, tåya' esta milagru-ña i hagas ."

" Every time there's a new saint, the old one has no more miracles ."

New saints are appearing in the Church all the time, especially in our modern age. In the past, there might be a new saint every several years. Under Pope St John Paul II alone, 480 were added to the list of saints in 27 years. Unless they are martyrs, miracles need to be attributed to a candidate for sainthood. Thus the focus on the miracles of new saints.

As time goes by, saints who lived over a thousand years ago become more and more forgotten. There are so many old saints that for most Catholics they are names only, and some of them very unusual. About their life, nobody knows, except for a tiny number of people. Thus, the saying goes, the old saints have no more miracles, so to speak. (As Catholics, we know saints are always saints whose prayers are effective, even if few people know about them.)

Now apply this to politics.

A sitting senator has a good deal of power, even if that power is simply to make a phone call and something gets done.

But political office isn't a lifetime position. Politicians get elected, and politicians lose elections.

So, whenever there is a new saint (newly-elected politician), the old one (the losing politician) has no more miracles. There is nothing an ex-senator can do for you ( as a senator).

BIBA I BIBU NA BINIBU

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Along with " Håfa adai ," " Si Yu'us ma'åse '" and a few other expressions, newcomers to the Marianas, before long, hear and wonder about the way we say " Biba !" on many occasions.

Just mention someone's name in a speech, and you might hear someone in the crowd tell, " Biba !"

What does it mean, really, and how is it connected to similar words like bibu and bubu ?


FIRST MEANING

The word biba is taken from the Spanish word viva . The literal and first meaning of viva is "live" in the imperative. It is, in Spanish, the command to live. Live! Don't die!

The implied meaning is "long live." The word "long" is not stated, but the idea is implied. So, whereas in English we would cry out "Long live the King," in Spanish one says " Viva el Rey !"




I wouldn't be surprised if this is how the expression made its way into the Chamorro language, hearing soldiers and guards working for Spain say this salutation now and then. In time, these "Spanish" soldiers and guards were Chamorro soldiers and guards. Of mixed blood, to be sure, but born here and speaking the Chamorro language.

Secondly, Chamorros would have heard the word " Viva !" exclaimed in religious settings. Not during Mass, which was in Latin and celebrated with solemnity, but during a procession, or at the end of a priest's remarks on a feast day.




We do this to this day, as it is custom to abiba the saint three times towards the end of a patronal fiesta. Biba San Jose! Or whatever saint is being honored. Three times.

This is interesting because Saint Joseph is alive and well, and for all eternity, in heaven, yet we are wishing that he live long, as if he could possibly die. But that is just the literal meaning of viva or biba . The expanded meaning of biba is simply an exclamation of love, happiness, appreciation and so on.

This is how, I believe, the term was then applied later in time to anyone and anything we want to honor, or to show appreciation for, or even, in politics, support.

Biba Democrat! Biba Republican! Biba Liberation Day! Biba kumpleåños! Biba retirement! Biba si Magdalena! Biba tax refund ! Whatever and whoever you want.




One way we make this Spanish expression Chamorro is that we do not follow Spanish grammar when using it. Viva is the imperative for one person. In Spanish, when speaking of more than one person, viva becomes vivan . Vivan los pescadores! Long live the fishermen! But, in Chamorro, it is " Biba i man peskadot! "


BIBU? BUBU?

The Chamorro word bibu is related to biba .

Even bibu comes from the Spanish word vivir (to live) and it means "fast, energetic, lively" and so on. A car can be bibu in speed and a party can be bibu , full of life, fun, entertaining.

It is pure coincidence that the Chamorro word bubu (angry) sounds similar to bibu . But there is no historic connection between the two words.  There is no Spanish word bubu nor bubo .

Then there's abubu (balloon), also unconnected with Spanish.

BEN ZAFRA

Wednesday, September 7, 2016


Once a Big Name, Now All but Forgotten


There are some people who had a place in Guam history who have gone and are all but forgotten.

One of these is Ben Zafra. Government worker. Forester for the Naval Government. Chief Commissioner of Guam from 1941 to 1960. Even during the Japanese Occupation.

But if you ask people if they ever heard of Ben Zafra, only the older people will say they have.


Ancestry

Ben was born Vicente Ulloa Zafra, the son of Román Zafra, the son of Dominga Zafra. Román's father is unknown. But we do know that Román was Filipino. He moved to Guam and was military health officer in the Spanish colonial government. He had some bad luck, though, being accused in the 1880s of having abandoned his post and fleeing from arrest. But, he was still living on Guam in 1897 and appears in the census, a free man.

Román's first wife was Chamorro, María Eustaquio. Together, they had a daughter named Angustia. María then passed away and Román married another Chamorro woman, Dolores Rivera Ulloa, the daughter of Manuel Ulloa and Vicenta Rivera. Román and Dolores' one and only child was Vicente.

Both Román and Dolores must have passed away before 1920 (perhaps in the 1918 Spanish influenza epidemic) because Ben and Angustia are found in 1920 living with Eulogio de la Cruz. Cruz was a man of some means, and a Filipino married to a Chamorro. Perhaps Eulogio and his countryman Román Zafra were friends, and when Román died, Eulogio became the guardian of Román's children. Next door to Eulogio, in their own dwelling, were Eulogio's two sons, Francisco and José. It seems certain that Eulogio made sure that Ben learned English and to read and write. He was identified as a messenger at the age of 17 in the 1920 Census.

Early Years

Zafra began working for the Naval Government in 1917 as a messenger boy, then in 1922 as a clerk. Sometime before 1930, Ben was married to Oliva Castro. Their wedding, said one elderly lady who heard it from her mother, was a big event. Their wedding cake was so tall that they couldn't decorate it inside the house. They had to take the cake outside for that. Sadly, after just a few months, Ben and Oliva separated. In Chamorro, " ma na' na'lo si Oliva ." "They returned Oliva to her family." In the 1930 Guam Census, Oliva is listed as divorced, living alone except for a ten-month old baby girl whose last name was Castro, Oliva's maiden name. Apparently the baby was born out of wedlock.

Around 1925, he went to Hong Kong to work for the U.S. Public Health Service. He served one year as a Merchant Marine, then worked for the Texas Oil Company (China), Ltd. In 1934 he moved to Saigon to work for a construction company.

He returned to Guam in 1935 and worked as deputy land judge and assistant chief forester for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.


Chief Commissioner - Even under the Japanese

In 1941, just months before war, Ben was made Chief Commissioner, succeeding Antonio Crisóstomo Suárez who decided to retire. The commissioners were the village mayors, as we call them today. The Chief Commissioner was a liaison between the Naval Government and the village commissioners, but he could also, apparently, make some judicial decisions on minor issues.

When the Japanese occupied Guam, they asked him what his job was under the Americans. "Chief Commissioner," he replied. The Japanese then told him he was still Chief Commissioner whether he liked it or not. He was placed in the Japanese Navy Civilian Administration, called the Minseibu. Its offices were located in the Saint Vincent de Paul Hall adjacent the Hagåtña Cathedral.



The St Vincent de Paul Hall was turned into the headquarters of the Japanese Minseibu


His main job was clerical; a "glorified messenger boy" Zafra called himself. Juan "Buko" Castro, a Saipanese interpreter, would write or speak instructions from the Japanese in Chamorro to Ben, who would then type them out as written notices in Chamorro for the public. They were duplicated on a mimeograph machine. Ben passed out numerous copies to all the district commissioners and posted them on Hagåtña's eight public bulletin boards.

He was also responsible for putting out a daily mimeographed news bulletin called the Omiya Nippō (Guam Daily Report). "Nippō" means "daily report" and "Omiya" literally means "great shrine" but it was the Japanese name for Guam during the war.

The Omiya Nippō was written in English by a Japanese named Ogawa. Ogawa's English was bad at times, turning his sentence into gibberish, but Zafra was not allowed to change a word. The "news" was also pure propaganda; lies in many cases. One time Zafra and his assistant José Roberto counted all the American ships the Japanese news said had sunk, and the amount was more than the number of ships in the world. "It became a joke," Zafra said.

Ben was paid 90 yen a month at first, till his pay was reduced to 75 yen a month. When the Americans started bombing Guam in 1944 and the Minseibu office caught on fire, Ben left Hagåtña and his job at the Minseibu. War's end was only a matter of time.


After the War

After the war, Ben continued as Chief Commissioner of Guam till 1960. He also sat on several government boards (Parole Board, Alcohol Beverage Control Board, Election Commission, etc) and was associate judge of the Court of Appeals before 1950.

Eventually, Ben found himself a second wife, Isabel (Beck) Perez, the daughter of Atanacio Taitano Perez, a prominent Chamorro government official in various capacities almost the entire first decades of the Naval Government period. They raised Beck's nephew, David Taitano Perez, Sr, the son of her sister Maria. The couple moved to California, according to one family member, to be closer to their nephew Daniel Perez Ploke, who was studying there. In 1964, Ben died in Alameda, CA.

Besides all this, Ben was well-known in the Guam community at the time as a sportsman. He was a good baseball player and a boxer. He was a tall man, easily 6 feet or more. He had huge hands. He was also a member of the Young Men's League of Guam, the first Chamorro civic organization.

Hawaii Church Chronicle, November 1959


Ben joined the Episcopalian Church in the 1950s, at Saint John the Divine Church, located at the time in Hagåtña. He is pictured above (left, holding flag) presenting the Guam flag to the church.

As Ben and Beck did not have any children, that family line is no more.

Angustia

Ben's older sister, Angustia, better known as Nenita, who was single most of her life, finally married a Filipino man named Valentin A. Baltazar after the war in her senior years. They lived in Agaña Heights at her house. According to a family member, she could not speak much English and her Filipino husband could not speak Chamorro. So they used a lot of sign language. She died before him, and after her death he brought some family members from the Philippines to Guam. Angustia never had children.

CHETNOT SAN JOSE

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Whereupon Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing publicly to expose her, was minded to put her away privately. (Matthew 1:19)


CHETNOT SAN JOSE
Saint Joseph's Disease

A man from Saipan was telling me the story how his father, in early 1944, was conscripted by the Japanese to join the work crews unloading weapons, ammunition and equipment that were shipped from Japan for the defense of Saipan against the Americans.

Workers were obliged to work round the clock with just a four hour visit to their wives and families.

Around that time, the man's wife found herself pregnant. At first, he thought nothing of it. But during those long hours at the dock, unloading military arsenal, he started to wonder if he had found the time and the energy to father a child. He just couldn't remember, as he would crash to his bed and go out like a light from pure exhaustion when he had his four-hour family visit.

So the man telling me this story said, " Nina'ye ni chetnot San Jose ."

"He came down with Saint Joseph's disease."

Why Saint Joseph?

Saint Joseph faced a similar predicament when he took Mary for a wife but had no relations with her. When she was found to be pregnant, Joseph was totally perplexed. He knew he was not the father, but then who was? Mary was a virtuous woman completely above suspicion. So how then can a righteous woman be pregnant? Thus his decision to end the marriage, which had no yet been completed.

Eventually, an angel informs Joseph that it is the Holy Spirit who enabled Mary to conceive without human participation, and then a relieved Joseph continued with the completion of the wedding.

In the icon (painting) above, a perplexed Saint Joseph sits by himself in a confused and bewildered state, with the devil, disguised as an old shepherd, tempting him to doubt the divinity of the Christ Child. Of course, Joseph resisted this temptation and proved his righteousness.

The man's dad wondered to himself, "Is my wife pregnant with a Japanese soldier's baby?"

The man knew that his wife would not willingly have consorted with a local man, nor with a Japanese soldier or anyone else. But only a Japanese soldier would have had the power to force himself on the woman.

To his relief, when the baby was born, he didn't have a trace of Japanese looks on his infant face. By the time the boy was ten, he looked just like a younger version of his Chamorro father.

He was cured of the Chetnot San Jose .

HOW TO SPELL "ACHAKMA'"

Monday, September 5, 2016


I've seen it spelled achatmat, achatma, chakmak ....

...and many other versions, with or without glotas.

So how does one spell the word? And what is its origin?

Maybe answering the second question will shed light on the first.

The word is made up of two root words.

The first is ACHA. Acha means "equal, the same, similar, also."

Acha baba i dos . The two are equally bad.

Acha amko' hit. We are the same age.

Acha poddong i lepblo yan i båso . The book and the glass fell at the same time.

The KMA' that follows is a contraction (shortening) of the word guma '.

In other words, acha guma ' becomes achakma '.

It means two people living (romantically) in the same house. But they aren't married.

So the older meaning of achakma ' was a concubine, a lover you lived with. Not a lover whom you met every so often on the sly, and who lived apart from you.

We know this from the root word guma '. This kind of lover lived in the same ( acha ) house ( guma ') with you.

Today, achakma ' is more understood as a lover or mistress who is "on the side,"  not one you live with openly. Language is always evolving and changing.

But the older meaning is a man and a woman who skip marriage altogether (whether religious or civil) and live together under the same roof, in the same house ( guma ').





The man and woman here skip over both the Justice of the Peace and the clergy man.


* By the way, many older Chamorros would also use the word konkubino , or concubine, for two people living openly in a romantic partnership without marriage.

CREATING ANEW USING SPANISH

Thursday, September 1, 2016



The men in the picture above are "roofing" a house.

In Chamorro, åtof is roof.

To roof a house is to åfte .

Åfte is a shortening (or contraction) of the word formed by åtof+e . By placing an E at the end of a word, the meaning of the word can now mean "to do that for/to someone or something." So, åtof means "roof" and åfte means "to put a roof on a house."

Now here's where it gets interesting.

We remember that Chamorros borrowed words from Spanish, and that's where we leave it.

But it also happened that Chamorros mixed Chamorro with Spanish and came up with a new word, a blend of both languages. Our ancestors did that with åfte .

They took the Spanish prefix des , which in English is dis .

To disregard, to dislike and to disagree. Those are all the negative sense of those root verbs.

Then they attached Spanish des to Chamorro åfte and came up with desåfte .

It means to "unroof," to take the roof off a house.


ÅFTE : to put a roof on

DESÅFTE : to take a roof off


THE FIRST "MODERN" LEGISLATURE

Wednesday, August 31, 2016


11th Guam Legislature (1970-1972)


Why "modern?"

Many people are not aware that the Guam Legislature, created in 1950 by the Organic Act, underwent some important changes in 1968.

These changes enacted in 1968 were to take effect in the next round of elections in 1970. That year, the 11th Guam Legislature was elected.

The changes included :

1. Giving a title for the members of the Legislature. In the original Organic Act (1950), no title was given. So they were called "congressmen," which in hindsight doesn't quite fit, since there was no longer any Guam Congress, but rather a Guam Legislature. Now, according to the amendments to the Organic Act in 1968, they would be called "senators."



SENATORS WERE CALLED "CONGRESSMEN" BACK THEN


2. Lifting the limitation how often the Guam Legislature could meet. In the original Organic Act, the Legislature could meet for only 60 days in a year (not including emergency, special sessions). This was usually broken down into two, 30-day sessions. This meant that the lawmakers did not meet year-round; it was a part-time legislature. Members had full-time jobs as lawyers, businessmen and what have you. Salaries were low. Staff was small and shared among all 21 members.

With the 1968 changes to go into effect in 1970, the Legislature could meet as often as it desired. This encouraged many senators to become full-time lawmakers with higher salaries. Each senator was given the power to hire staff and a budget to fund that. This is what we mean by a "modern" Legislature.


THE DEMOCRATIC RIFT IN 1970

The gubernatorial campaign of 1970 was an exciting, passionate time; the first time Guam was allowed to elect its own governor, rather than receive a Washington appointee, who were, in the 1950s, all statesiders.

The Democratic Party, the dominant party on Guam, divided along three lines.

The Governor Guerrero Camp

Manuel Guerrero had been the appointed Governor of Guam from 1963 until 1969. He threw his hat in the ring to run for Governor in 1970. Having been Governor for around 6 years, appointing directors and other officials, Guerrero had a following among them. He put up his own candidates for the Guam Legislature in 1970 and the following eight won :

Allen Sekt
Jose Ramirez Dueñas
Adrian Sanchez
Joaquin Perez
William (Bilmar) Flores
Oscar Delfin
Tomas Charfauros

The Ricky Bordallo Camp

The charismatic Bordallo, who served many terms in the Guam Legislature, and who was involved in turning the old Popular Party into the Democratic Party, enjoyed great influence in the Party and also ran for Governor in 1970. He had his own candidates, and the following seven won :

Florencio Ramirez
Frank Lujan
Adrian (Nito) Cristobal
Francisco Santos
Paul Bordallo
Leonard Paulino
James Butler

The Joaquin Arriola Camp

The Speaker of the 10th Guam Legislature, Joaquin Arriola also ran for Governor in 1970 and put up his own candidates for the Legislature under the Democratic banner. Only one won : George Bamba .

The Republican Minority

The Democratic winners from the three camps numbered 15 members, a handsome majority (more than 2/3).

The six minority Republicans were :

Paul Calvo
Ben Ada
Concepcion (Chong) Barrett
Tomas Tanaka, Sr
Pedro Perez, Sr
Tomas Ramirez Santos

FAMILY NICKNAMES : ESPÅTSA

Tuesday, August 30, 2016


A branch of the Camacho family on Guam is called the familian Espåtsa .

You won't normally hear them say it that way. But originally, the nickname was Espåtsa, back when Chamorros had the same trait as the Spaniards in being unable to say an S followed by another consonant without putting a vowel in front of the S.

In other words, in Spanish and in old-style Chamorro pronunciation, you will never find combinations like SB, SP, ST, SM, SN, SG or SK without a vowel (A, E, I, O, U) in front of it.

So Chamorros used to say ESKOOL when saying school; or ESTUDIENT when saying student.

As people got more Americanized, this trait disappeared and the Espåtsa family became known as the Spåtsa family.

Even the spelling shows the strong mark of Americanization.

The nickname begins with Spåt, but we think like Americans and picture the word spot . So, Spotsa, like the street sign picture above.

The trouble is that the Chamorro O always sounds like O as in coat or vote. Ogo, Okada and Toves are examples using the Chamorro O. So Spotsa really ought to be Spåtsa.




This street sign uses the A but without the lonnat (Å) to show that it has the AW sound. It also uses a Z when in Chamorro, we do not have the Z unless it's a foreign proper name like Perez or Lizama. Espåtsa is not a proper name, it is a nickname formed by Chamorrofying the Spanish name.

Well, enough about spelling....

Why does this family have this nickname?

If you're a member of the Espåtsa family and know the reason, please do comment below and let us know. But the few members I have been able to contact do not know the reason.

A CLUE

When I first came across the nickname Espåtsa, in court and/or land records during Spanish times, it was spelled Esparza . This makes sense. Chamorros would have changed the R to a T, and would have pronounced the Z like an S. When older Chamorros say Perez, it sounds like Peres. When older Chamorros say Carlos, it sounds like Kåtlos.

Esparza became Espåtsa.

So Esparza happens to be a Spanish last name!

In fact, here's a pic of Felipe Esparza, a Mexican comedian. I don't know his comedy nor support it. I just use him as an example of how Esparza is a Spanish last name.




OK, so did some Spanish, Latin American or Filipino guy named Esparza come to Guam and got somehow connected with a branch of the Camacho family?

That would seem to be a good possibility.

I haven't come across an Esparza in the Marianas records during Spanish times. But there are all kinds of possibilities. Maybe an Esparza came here for such a short time that his name isn't in the records, but stayed long enough to get connected with the Camachos. Maybe the Camacho went to Manila and got connected somehow with an Esparza. Maybe there is an Esparza in the records but the record got lost, destroyed or we just haven't found it yet. There are so many possibilities, some not even thought of. We know that some Chamorro families got their nickname because someone in the family worked for someone named Logan, for example. So that family became known as the familian Logan . Maybe a Camacho worked for some guy named Esparza.

But how else to explain Espåtsa, especially when the Spanish records call this family by the nickname Esparza?

So the best, I think, we can say for now, unless we get reliable information from the family, is that

1. Espåtsa comes from Esparza
2. Esparza is a Spanish last name
3. The Camachos better-known-as the familian Espåtsa were so named because of some connection to a person named Esparza or some other connection to the name Esparza.


WHICH CAMACHO?

Espåtsa must be one of the oldest family nicknames in Guam because it is not known yet who was the first person to carry the nickname. If the nickname had begun later in time, we would have a greater chance of knowing who was the first person to have the nickname.

In the case of Espåtsa, several Camacho families have been identified with that nickname, and the connections between these different Camachos is not always clear.

For example, a FERMÍN LUJÁN CAMACHO, born around 1849, was identified in court records ad being known as Espåtsa.

Fermín was the son of Luís Palomo Camacho and Juana Luján. These are the same ancestors of the late Governor Carlos García Camacho and his son, the former Governor Felix Pérez Camacho. Fermín was married to Ignacia Acosta Arriola.

Félix San Nicolás Camacho, born around 1877, is also identified as being Espåtsa in court documents. His father was Pedro Camacho, but we don't know yet what connection, if any, Pedro has with Fermín Luján Camacho. Félix married Juana Borja Crisástomo and their son Vicente, who married Josefa Guerrero, have descendants today.

Félix's brother Manuel married Ana Delgado Meno and this branch of the Espåtsas have many descendants to this day.

José Ortiz Camacho, husband of Josefa Baza Deza, was also the son of the same Pedro Camacho, father of Félix San Nicolás Camacho, but with his first wife Joaquina Ortiz. These Camachos became more identified as the familia'n Desa , because the man Camacho married a Deza woman, and as the Deza name was only one family, the nickname Desa was more convenient in singling out this family.

And then we have the Sumay Espåtsa.

Guillermo Sablan Camacho, whose name appears below in a court document in 1912, is nicknamed Esparsa, or Espåtsa. The @ stands for "alias," or "also known as." His son Tomás Taitano Camacho carries on the nickname.

Guillermo was the son of Antonio Camacho and Dolores Sablan, both of Hagåtña. What connection, if any, existed between Antonio and Fermín and Pedro Camacho is still not known, though they were all identified as Espåtsa. Clearly, this nickname goes back to the 1830s or so. One of the oldest family nicknames that has survived till now.



FAMAISEN GI HALOM TÅNO'

Monday, August 29, 2016



Famaisen = to ask

Halom Tåno ' = jungle; inland; literally "inside the land"


Almost three hundred years of Catholicism under Spanish missionaries were unable to completely stamp out the belief that the jungles of our islands are inhabited by spirits. It shouldn't surprise us. It's a trait of human nature found all over the world. Spain itself has its share of scary folklore and allegedly haunted places.

Many Chamorros believe that these spirits inhabiting the jungle can become angry with you and hurt you in some way, mainly by making you sick. Thus, custom says to ask permission when entering the jungle and other natural, uninhabited places of the islands. Taboos include making unnecessary noise, disturbing the natural environment such as tumbling rocks or breaking trees without reason, and going to the bathroom without asking permission.

Tan Maria, in the video below, gives her own description of this custom.







Eyi i hagan i haga...i lahi-ho, an humånao para i lancho
(My daughter's...my son's daughter....when she went to the ranch)

tinago' as nanå-ña na u famamaisen an para u me'me' pat masinek.
(was told by her mother to be asking if she was to urinate or defecate.)

Ilek-ña pa'go eyi i hagan i lahi-ho,
(My son's daughter said,)

"Håfa grandma....ai mom...na para bai famaisen yanggen tåya' taotao?"
("Grandma, I mean mom, why should I ask when there is no one?")

Ilek-ña tåya' nai taotao lao guaha. Famaisen ha'. Gaige ha' gi fi'on-mo.
(She said there is no one but there is. Just ask. He is by your side.)

Sa' guåho tåya' magåhet Påle' ti ma na' malalango yo' ni ennao
(Because as for myself, Father, truly I have never been made sick by that)

sa' måno hinanao-ho todo i tiempo mamamaisen yo' para bai ma asi'e' ya bai...
(because wherever I go, I always ask to be forgiven and...)

sa' åhe' ti para bai pala'cha'...
(because certainly I am not going to be mischievous.)



NOTES

1. Tan Maria is from Luta so she pronounces malångo as malango . The å is absent.

2. Notice how the English words "grandma" and "mom" have entered the speech even of an elderly woman from Luta.

3. Pala'cha ' means to be mischievous, or rascally or to be otherwise disrespectful. She seems to soften the word in her speech and omit the first glottal stop.

CHAMORRO SOLDIERS IN 1795

Thursday, August 25, 2016


By 1795, we had then what we have now.....a new kind of Chamorro race based on the blood lines of those who lived here before European contact, mixed now with the blood of people from Spain, Latin America, the Philippines and a few from other places.

The soldiers of Guam had been formed into two separate companies based on racial lines.

The Spanish Infantry (Infantería Española) included people from Latin America, more than likely from Mexico most of all, but it is not impossible that there were some from other countries of Latin America (we know that Governor Esplaña was from Peru) and perhaps even from Spain itself, though normally the only Spaniards from Spain on Guam in those days were the high officers and the missionary priests.

The Pampanga Infantry (Infantería Pampanga) included Filipinos from Pampanga, a province of the Philippines not far from Manila, having its own language distinct from Tagalog. This group of soldiers could have had some men from other parts of the Philippines as well, but the majority would have been from Pampanga.

In short time (1670s), these foreign men began marrying Chamorro women. Then they started marrying among themselves : Chamorro, Latin American and Filipino blood all mixing together. This happened mainly in Hagåtña, where the soldiers lived, while the outlying villages had but a few soldiers posted there and were populated by Chamorros who more slowly intermarried with foreigners.

In 1795, the soldiers were still classified as belonging either to the Spanish Infantry or the Pampanga Infantry, but they were all, in the main, Chamorros as we understand the term today : the descendants of the pre-contact people, mixed with foreign blood. In fact, you can find some indigenous Chamorro names in this list such as Aguon, Materne and Achuga.

NOTE : I am keeping the spelling of the names as found in the original document, with the modern spelling in parenthesis.


Achuga, Rafael
Acosta, Patricio
Aguirre, José Antonio
Aguon, Víctor
Anungui, Francisco
Arceo, Desiderio
Arceo, Félix
Arceo, Francisco
Arceo, Leopoldo
Basa, Remigio (Baza)
Basa, Victorino (Baza)
Bermejo, José
Borja, Enrique de
Calderón, Pedro
Camacho Francisco
Cárdenas, (first name illegible)
Castro, Ignacio de
Castro, Nicolás de
Cotino, Pedro
Cruz, Felipe de la
Cruz, Félix de la
Cruz, Francisco de la
Cruz, José de la
Cruz, Justo de la
Cruz, Salvador de la
Díaz, Pedro
Dimapan, Ignacio (Demapan)
Dueñas, (first name illegible)
Dueñas, Feliciano
Dueñas, José Romano
Espinosa, Ignacio
Flores, Juan Crisóstomo
Flores, Rosario
Fránquez, Florentino
Fránquez, Rufino
Garrido, José
Garrido, Manuel Tiburcio
Guerrero, Juan de Dios
Guevara, José Andrés
León, Luís de
Lima, Joaquín de
Lizama, José
Lizama, Nicolás
Manibusan, Gregorio
Manibusan, Juan
Manibusan, Martín
Materne, José
Mendiola, Paulino
Mendiola, Tomás
Mendiola, Vicente
Ojeda, Manuel de
Pablo, Juan Regis
Palomo, Antonio
Pangilinan, Gaspar (Pangelinan)
Pascual, Andrés
Pascual, Francisco
Quintanilla, Nicolás de
Ribera, Diego de (Rivera)
Rivera, Marcos de
Rodríguez, José
Rosa, Domingo de la
Rosario, Remigio del
Sánchez, Andrés
San Nicolás, Dámaso de
Santos, Antonio de los
Santos, Mariano de los
Sarmiento, Juan
Sigüenza, Ignacio
Taytano, Juan (Taitano)
Tello Ximenez, Andrés (Jiménez)
Torres, Juan Francisco Regis de
Ulloa, José de
Vega, Antonio de la
Zablan, Augustin Roque (Sablan)
Zepeda, Nicolás (Cepeda)


NOTES ABOUT SOME NAMES

Crisóstomo . In this case, this was not a last name. Crisóstomo is the Spanish form of Chrysostom, the full name of Saint John Chrysostom. That is why this man's name is "Juan Crisóstomo." What was interesting is that, in the list, his name is abbreviated using the Greek form for the first two letters : xptomo.

Tello Ximenez . Tello would be the paternal surname; Ximenez the materanl. In Spanish, X (before a vowel) would have the same sound as a J (before a vowel). Think of México. The Tello surname continued in Guam till the late 1800s into the early 1900s but then died out, being all women.

De . Many of the surnames began with "de," meaning "of," or "del" (of the, masculine) or "de la" (of the, feminine) or "de los" (of the, masculine plural). Most families dropped all of these in order to shorten their names. The de la Rosa family did not drop it.

Pangilinan . In Spanish, a G before an I or an E would sound the same. The G would sound like an H. Pan - hi - li - nan. The name is from Pampanga where there still are many Pangilinans and they spell it this way. In the Marianas, the Chamorro descendants of their Pangilinan/Pangelinan ancestor moved in time to the GE form of Pangelinan.

Augustin . The first name of the only Zablan on the list. In modern Spanish, it is spelled Agustín.

Zablan . In the Spanish spoken in Latin America, the Philippines and the Marianas, the Z sounds like an S in all cases. That is why, in the past, it was sometimes spelled Zablan or Sablan. Both sounded the same.

Basa . See above, about Zablan, that explains why at times it was spelled Basa and at other times Baza.

Zepeda . See above, about Zablan, that explains why at times it was spelled Zepeda and at other times Cepeda.

Regis . Some people might mistake this for Reyes. It is not Reyes. There was a Jesuit saint named John Francis Regis. Since the first missionaries here were Jesuit priests, John Francis Regis (Juan Francisco Regis), or a version thereof, was a name often given to boys.

Taytano . In Spanish, Y and I have the same sound, so at other times it was spelled Taitano, the form which soon became the exclusive way to spell it. This is why at times you see Ynés/Inés, Ypao/Ipao and so on.

Joseph / Josef . The original is the Latin Joseph or Josephus. Later, the Spaniards shortened it to José, dropping the PH or F. I have my suspicions that, even when it was spelled with a PH or F, it was pronounced José by the 1600s.

Dimapan . Later it became spelled Demapan. This Guam family moved to Saipan.

Ribera . In Spanish, the V and B before a vowel sound the same, closer to a B. The Victorino Basa listed above was actually spelled Bicturino but I couldn't bear to repeat that spelling in the list.

Rosario . There is a man named Rosario, which might surprise some people because we take it as a woman's name. People named Rosario are named after Our Lady of the Rosary. The word rosario actually means "rosary" so, although not often, the name is also given to men. Other names considered "female" but which are sometimes given to men are Trinidad (for the Trinity) and Nieves ("snows," in honor of Our Lady of the Snows).

Juan de Dios . Literally, "John of God," was the name of a saint.


NOTES ON SOME PERSONAGES

Augustin Roque Zablan . Sablan, or Zablan, does not appear in the Marianas records till after 1758, so this may have been one of the first Sablans in the Marianas, or the son of one of the first.

Juan Francisco Regis de Torres . Son of a Spaniard (José Miguel de Torres) and Dominga Josefa Espinosa. He married a Chamorro. A very high official in the colonial government.

Manuel Tiburcio Garrido . His name appears in many Marianas documents, having been a government clerk.

Justo de la Cruz . Justo served many years in the Spanish colonial government in a variety of offices.

Dámaso de San Nicolás . This last name does not appear in the Marianas records till after 1758 and, as shown in some baptismal records, was given by some Augustinian Recollect priests (who arrived only in 1769) to some illegitimate children. Saint Nicholas of Tolentine was a patron of these Recollect priests, so it is no surprise they wanted to name some babies after him.


SURNAMES THAT DISAPPEARED

At least among the Chamorro population. There may be families living on Guam now with these last names, due to more recent migration.

Aguirre
Achuga
Anungui
Bermejo
Calderón
Cárdenas
Cotino
Jiménez
Lima, de
Pascual
Tello
Vega, de la













CAMP DEALEY

Wednesday, August 24, 2016


In World War II, no ship sailing the ocean was safe from the attack of a submarine.

Submarines were a huge military asset. The 60 or so submarine crew members could often do more harm and at less cost on the enemy than 1000 men on a battleship. The US had around 288 submarines in the water by the end of the war. Their main mission was to cripple the Japanese war machine. By sinking Japanese ships, supplies and soldiers could not easily get in or out of port.



The USS Kingfish was one such submarine that hung out on Guam during WW2


THE FOUR R'S

Wherever advantageous, the Navy identified certain place in the Pacific where the submarines and their crews could receive the four R's : repair, refit, refuel and rest.

Before Saipan and Guam were in U.S. hands, the U.S. Navy had to use bases in Australia. But by August of 1944, those two islands in the Marianas were now assets of the U.S. From these two islands, American submarines could patrol the waters near Japan in half the time it took to do so from Australia.

In October or November of 1944, the Navy approved the building of a submarine rest camp on Guam. The site chosen was just north of Talofofo, in Ipan by a beach. There, the submarine crew members could rest, relax and recreate in peace and quiet. The camp was built by the crew members of the AS 12 Sperry and christened Camp Dealey.



THE BEACH AT CAMP DEALEY


WHO WAS DEALEY?




Commander Samuel David Dealey was something of a war hero. He was, at least, a submarine war hero. He won fame for sinking so many Japanese destroyers and was known as the "destroyer killer." Unfortunately, he missed one Japanese vessel and didn't notice it was trailing him. The Japanese fired and he and his entire crew of 78 men perished. It was August of 1944.


JAPANESE HOLDOUTS

Camp Dealey was not a perfect paradise. Japanese soldiers who refused to surrender hid in the thickly-wooded areas around Ipan and further inland. Desperate for food, the Japanese would sometimes raid the food pantry at Camp Dealey under the cover of darkness. Once in a while an American would discover the Japanese scavengers and start shooting. A submariner resting at Camp Dealey had as much of a chance of getting killed by one of these trigger happy fellow Americans as by a Japanese armed with a bamboo spear.


LIFE AT CAMP DEALEY

The facilities at the Camp were adequate but not luxurious. There were Quonset huts, tents and small shacks. While at the Camp, you did whatever you wanted. Sleep, write letters, swim, play a game, read. It was a way the submariners kept from losing their sanity, since they spent months underwater many times. Twenty-two cases of beer were dropped off every day at Camp Dealey.

When American Prisoners of War were liberated in various places in Asia, some of them were sent to Camp Dealey on Guam first before heading to the U.S. mainland. Some of the former POWs felt that they needed to gain weight and get back to their former health before they met their families in the States.

When World War II was done, there was no need for the camp and it closed.



Playing tennis at Camp Dealey



CAMP DEALEY TODAY



Today, the Camp Dealey area is back in private hands, mostly Chamorro families, some of them renting out homes in the neighborhood.

Many of the beaches are inaccessible unless the owners let you in.





Almost everything is gone from the old camp, but you can still find a lot of concrete flooring which tells you that a Quonset hut or some other building sat on that spot. Some of the families living there now use these old floors as parking lots or basketball courts now.



Old Guard Post

We pass this many times when we travel south to Talofofo, but many people do not give it a thought, that these posts are relics from Camp Dealey, where the camp guard regulated the traffic in and out of the camp.

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS

Tuesday, August 23, 2016


Ti daddao yo'.

I don't have sharp teeth.


The other day at a party, where seating is informal, a lady wanted to sit at our table with me and another lady.

She asked, " Kao siña yo' matå'chong yan hamyo ?" " May I sit with you all ?"

The lady who was with me replied, " Hunggan. Ti man daddao ham! "

Daddao can mean two things, but they are connected. In fact, I think one comes from the other.

The oldest reference I can find in a dictionary (1918) says that daddao means "sharp, cutting, pointed."

It's obvious how this was then applied to the sharp teeth of a menacing dog or some other threatening animal. This is how other dictionaries then define daddao . "Vicious, cruel, savage."

So, " Ti daddao yo '" is a Chamorro way of saying the English equivalent "I don't bite," as is often said by people inviting others to come closer.

AS PALOMO

Monday, August 22, 2016


Just south of Garapan, and behind Guålo' Rai, as the terrain gently slopes upward towards the Mount Takpochao high ground, is a small area of Saipan called As Palomo.

The prefix "As" can be used as a name or place marker, roughly meaning, at times, "at."  "At my dad's" can be translated "as tatå-ho," for example.

So the place name "As Palomo" more or less means "at Palomo's" or "at Palomo's place." The area, thus, was named after someone with the last name Palomo. But which Palomo?

If we research the Saipan church records, there was no Palomo family that permanently settled the island. There is no Palomo family in Saipan today; at least not among the Chamorros.

But Padre José Palomo y Torres, the first Chamorro priest, did live in Saipan for many years. As a diocesan (or secular) priest, who do not take a vow of poverty, he was able to personally own land and he did, in fact, own land in Saipan as well as other places. When Guam and the Northern Marianas became politically separated, Palomo's land was confiscated by the German government because Palomo was living on Guam and could not develop his Saipan land. The Germans were much against idle land ownership and took it over.

Is it possible that the place is called As Palomo because Padre Palomo owned land there at one time? The best way to get to the bottom of this question is to look at old Saipan land records from the Spanish period, if they still exist, and see if Padre Palomo indeed owned land in the area known as As Palomo.



Don José Bernardo Palomo y Torres

KÅNTA : TRINISTEN PUENGE

Saturday, August 20, 2016


A song of one man's yearning for the woman he loves, sung by the one and only Mike Laguaña, one of the great Chamorro singers.





Ai frineskon månglo' i gumuaife i tataotao-ho.
(What a cool wind blows upon my body)

Ai minaipen somnak i umina i kamå-ho.
(What a hot sun shines on my bed.)

Ai trinisten pulan i umina i kamå-ho.
(What a sad moon shines on my bed.)

Ya ai na trinisten puenge gi annai tåya' ga'chochong-ho.
(And what a sad night it is when I have no companion.)

Sa' ai na trinisten puenge gi annai tåya' ga'chochong-ho.
(Because what a sad night it is when I have no companion.)

Sa' man hula yo' palao'an na hågo ha' guinaiya-ko.
(Because I promise you, woman, that you alone are my love.)

Ya ti un lie yo' palao'an man aligao nai otro.
(And you will never see me, woman, look for another.)

Sa' ai na trinisten puenge gi annai tåya' ga'chochong-ho.
(Because what a sad night it is when I have no companion.)

Sesso tengnga an puenge matå'chong yo' man hahasso.
(Very often at night I sit thinking.)

Ti ha estotba yo' pot i taigue hao,
(You being absent doesn't disturb me,)

ha estotbå-ña yo' nai che'lo:
(it disturbs me more, sister.)

Ti ha estotba yo' pot i taigue hao,
(You being absent doesn't disturb me,)

ha estotbå-ña 'u konsiensiå-ko.
(my conscience disturbs me more.)

Sa' ai na trinisten puenge gi annai tåya' ga'chochong-ho.

(Because what a sad night it is when I have no companion.)

FALSE FRIEND TWINS

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

A "false friend" is a word that looks the same, or similar, in two different languages but means two different things in those two languages.

For example, in Spanish embarazada looks like it means "embarrassed" but in reality it means "pregnant." A false friend indeed, because if you asked a blushing woman in Spain if she is embarazada , you could insult her. You think the word "embarrassed" is your friend, helping you communicate with a Spaniard, when in truth it is betraying you and getting you into trouble. A false friend.

Today we consider two words that are false friends. Almost twins.

Asiste and atiende do not mean what they look like.

Both are words borrowed from the Spanish, so their original meanings come from the Spanish way of defining them.

ASISTE means "to be physically present." In other words, "to attend" in the same sense as saying, "I will attend the program."

Bai hu fan asiste gi progråma . I will attend the program .

Ha tungo' na a las ocho i lisåyo, lao ti man asiste . S/he knew the rosary was at 8 o'clock, but s/he didn't attend.

ATIENDE looks like it should mean "attend" as in to be physically present.

But the original Spanish and Chamorro meaning of atiende is "to attend to" as in "to look after, deal with, help, listen to."

Atiende i che'cho'-mo! Pay attention to your work !

Ti u lache bidå-ña i patgon komo ha atiende i dos saina-ña . The child wouldn't have made a mistake if s/he had only listened to his/her parents.

THE CARTOON ABOVE

This explains the cartoon above.

The doctor is telling the new nurse, "Because you are a new nurse, don't help but come and attend."

The doctor doesn't want a new and inexperienced nurse to be involved in the surgery or procedure, but he wants her to attend and learn from watching the others.

LANGUAGES ALWAYS CHANGE

But languages are always changing and evolving.

Today, and for many years now, the words asiste and atiende have indeed acquired additional meanings.

People (nowadays) do say asiste and mean "assisting, helping."

And people (nowadays) do say atiende and mean "to be physically present."

Kao siña hu asiste hao gi gualo'? May I help you in the farm?

Bai atiende i entiero agupa'. I will attend the funeral tomorrow.

Even in Spanish, asistir can mean the original "to be physically present" but also now "to help."

But, in Spanish, atender still means "to look after, pay attention to" but never "to be physically present."

THE RESULT


Because of these additions to the original meaning, Chamorro speakers and learners have to be careful when using asiste and atiende .

You could be using those words in one way, and the other person is understanding them in another way.

That's why the nurse in the cartoon is befuddled.

The doctor meant, "Don't help, but attend."

She understood, "Don't help, but assist."

Knowledge is power. Know these details and you'll be OK.

But if you use asiste and mean "be physically present," and if you use atiende and mean "to look after, to pay attention to, to heed," then I will know that you know the older meanings our great grandparents understood.

AS TEO

Tuesday, August 16, 2016


On the eastern half of Saipan, around the middle of the island, is an area called As Teo. It is a heavily wooded area sloping from the higher ground of Mount Takpochao down towards the sea. Capitol Hill is to the north of it, and Kagman lies to the south of it.



WHY "AS TEO?"

It has been called As Teo for the longest time. So long ago, in fact, that no one remembers the reason why it is called As Teo. I have never come across anything in writing explaining the name. Maybe it exists somewhere, but I've never seen it. I doubt it exists. People didn't write these things down in the past.

The "As" in the name is Chamorro roughly meaning "at." In many cases, this is followed by a person's name, meaning "at so-and-so's place." On Guam, there are places named As Quiroga, after former governor Jose de Quiroga; As Gådao, named after the legendary chief Gådao; and As Don Lucas, after someone named Lucas of whom we know nothing. On Luta, there is a place called As Nieves, after an unknown woman by the name of Nieves.

But place names beginning with "As" do not always refer to human persons. As Aniti on Guam refers to spirits (aniti); As Måtmos on Luta refers to drowning.

So As Teo could perhaps refer to a person named Teo. If it does, chances are that Teo is a nickname for Mateo, Doroteo or Timoteo or some other male name that ends in Teo. Chamorro nicknames usually consist of the ending of the name, not the beginning. Jesus will become "Chu" in Chamorro, isolating the "sus" in Jesus and turning it into Chu. In English, however, Jesus will become Jess, starting with the beginning of the name.

Even if As Teo is named after a Mateo or some other man with a name that ends in Teo, we will never know anything about him.

If Teo does not refer to a person but rather to a thing, we have no way of knowing, at least as of today, what that thing is. There is no word teo in Chamorro, at least not in the Chamorro we speak today. The closest we get to that is teok (thick liquid), and whereas many people like to see direct connections between similar things, I prefer to refrain from such conclusions till we see evidence. To me, there is no reason why Chamorros would have said teo for teok . We don't see the dropping of final letters in Chamorro words in other instances. Shortening of Chamorro words was achieved by eliminating sounds inside a word, not at the end of them.(1)

MANY CAVES

Long before any human being lived in the Marianas, much of Saipan was underwater where limestone formations were coming together. What we see now at As Teo and in many other places all over the Marianas - limestone caves and cliffs - is what was formed underwater and was later exposed when the land rose above the sea.

These caves were used as shelters during the horrific bombardment of Saipan when the Americans came to take Saipan from the Japanese in June of 1944. Even the Japanese used a large cave in As Teo as a field hospital for their wounded.



THE BORJA FAMILY

Today, people immediately associate the As Teo area with a branch of the Borja clan known as i familian Tuhu . They own a lot of the land in As Teo. The land came into the Tuhu family by way of marriage into the Diaz family who were the original owners. Manuel Mendiola Borja (born on Guam) married Ignacia Sablan Diaz, daughter of Ramon Diaz and Rita Sablan, also originally from Guam.


SANTA LOURDES SHRINE



Some time after the war, as the Tuhu family continued to farm and eventually reside at As Teo, they took advantage of the natural environment and built a shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes in one of the crevices of the limestone cliff on their property.

The Virgin Mary had appeared in 1858 in a niche on the side of a large rock in the small French village called Lourdes.

Lourdes, France

For many decades now, Catholics all over the world try to replicate this original grotto in a variety of styles. Where possible, grottoes are formed from crevices and niches found naturally in the environment, like As Teo.

Besides the good fortune of having crevices in the rock on their property to simulate the Lourdes grotto, the Tuhu family also had the blessing of a well at the same spot. At Lourdes in France, a spring of healing water burst forth at the Virgin's prompting. Indeed, As Teo made an almost perfect site for a Lourdes shrine.


Originally, there was just a well at As Teo. Recently, they have placed a pump there. The Church has made no statement about that water's spiritual significance, or lack thereof. But am sure the visitors find the water refreshing nonetheless. I have never tasted the water and don't intend to until I find out if it's safe to do so.



For many years now, the Santa Lourdes Shrine at As Teo is a crowded place due to the many visitors, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, from all over the Marianas and the world.

CHAMORRO HUMOR

A man in Saipan told me something that only a Chamorro would think of.

As I mentioned, the Borja family who live in As Teo and who run the Shrine are called the Tuhu family. Tuhu ' in Chamorro means "to drip" or "to leak." The motion is downwards. But, as the man said, at Santa Lourdes Shrine, the water comes up from the ground below.

So, he said, the "dripping down" family (Tuhu) runs the shrine where the water springs up.

Ai. Only in Chamorro. Iyon i Tuhu i be'bo'! The spring belongs to the Tuhu!


THE MISSING SISTERS

Sadly, there is a tragic and final note to the story of As Teo.

It was at As Teo that two young sisters, Faloma and Maleina Luhk, went missing in 2011 and to this day have never been found. The sisters left their home in As Teo to catch the school bus, and were never seen again.


We pray that Faloma and Maleina are alive and well and will be found soon.

(1) An example of this kind of shortening a word in Chamorro is måktos . It comes from magutos . Gutos means "to break or snap," as in string or a cord. Instead of saying magutos , we shorten it in the middle of the word and say måktos .

IS TAITINGFONG CHINESE?

Friday, August 12, 2016


A story in the Marianas Variety tells us that police arrested a certain Tai Ting Fong for assault and robbery.

Since there is no Western first name preceding Tai Ting Fong, it's easy to wonder if the person arrested was Chinese, since the Chinese normally have three names. First would come the family name (Tai), then the personal name (Ting) and the generational name (Fong).

You know, like Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.

Someone also commented that he had heard that Taitingfong was actually a Chinese name that had been "Chamorrolized." I prefer the word "Chamorrocized."

So, is the name Taitingfong Chinese or indigenous Chamorro?

PROBABLY NOT CHINESE. WHY?

1. We have lists of Chinese immigrants to the Marianas during the late Spanish period. These lists were taken in the 1870s and after and name all the Chinese who came to the Marianas since the 1850s. They all settled on Guam. Every family on Guam with Chinese origins (Limtiaco, Unpingco, etc) is in these lists, except for the ones that came afterward during the American period (e.g. Won Pat). Yet, there is not a single Taitingfong in these "Chinese lists."

If you say that the first Taitingfong on Guam was a Chinese who came long before the 1850s, that would be pure speculation without documented evidence. You would have to explain how a single Chinese man came to Guam during a period of time that no other Chinese person came to Guam. The Chinese who did come to Guam in the 1850s came in groups from the Philippines, recruited by the government to help boost farming on Guam. A lone Chinese named Taitingfong coming to Guam before the 1850s would be an anomaly that would need explanation as well as verification.

2. The name Taitingfong does appear in lists of people living on Guam in 1843, more than ten years before the Chinese immigrants listed in the Spanish records. Taitingfong is a name that appears in lists of people from the village of Pago, at present-day Pago Bay. This small village was inhabited by "purer" Chamorros, with indigenous names like Mafnas and Atoigue. In the 1897 Guam census, a Josefa Taitingfong, born around 1842, married a man named Agualo, another indigenous name.

As with many names written in the past when people spelled the way they wanted to, Taitingfong in the Spanish records is sometimes spelled Taitinfon.

As the documents show that there were Taitingfongs living on Guam before the Chinese immigration of the 1850s, and that these Taitingfongs either lived in almost exclusively Chamorro villages like Pago, or married others with indigenous Chamorro names, the evidence suggests that the Taitingfongs were also Chamorros living among other "purer" Chamorros. "Purer" meaning less mixed with foreign blood, as suggested by their indigenous surnames and residence in villages far from Hagåtña, location of the greater ethnic mix of Chamorros and Spaniards, Hispanics and Filipinos.

3. The name itself can be understood within the Chamorro language.

We all know that tai means "without, lacking" in Chamorro. There are a number of indigenous Chamorro names that begin with tai : Taitano, Taimanglo and Taijeron to mention just a few.

The "tingfong" looks suspiciously close to tufong , which means "to count." Just as tucha (to lead prayers) morphed into techa (prayer leader) via titucha , tufong could have morphed into tingfong via titufong . One possible meaning, therefore, could be "without a counter," someone who counts.

4. The similarity between Taitingfong and two verified Chinese names, Tyquiengco and Tydingco, is only an apparent similarity, thanks to our Americanized brains.

Modern Chamorros pronounce it TAI-quiengco and TAI-dingco. But this isn't the original pronunciation.

The TY in those two names was pronounced like TEE, not like TAI. TEE-quiengco and TEE-dyngco In fact, older people and even younger people who know their culture still pronounce it like TEE, not like TAI.

Remember that it was Spaniards who first wrote down those Chinese names in a Spanish way. For a Spaniard, TY will never be pronounced TAI. The Y in Spanish sounds like an I. TI-quiengco, TI-dyngco.

Thus, Taitingfong and Tyquiengco are similar only to Americanized minds that think in English.

SO.....

Putting all of this together, I think the evidence all points to a Chamorro classification for the surname Taitingfong.

We are only being fooled by coincidental and apparent similarities if we assert the original hypothesis.

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Thursday, August 11, 2016


Ma susede un desgråsia
as Malilok na lugåt.
Ya ti ilek-ho na ti un måtai,
na un måtai naturåt.

An unfortunate incident occurred
at a place called Malilok.
I never said you would never die,
only that you would die naturally.


This verse comes to us from the island of Luta (Rota).

Puntan Malilok is a place there, on the southeastern shore.

Chamorrita verses, or any poetic verse, are not always meant to be logical. Oftentimes they are meant to be nonsensical, humorous or satirical.

What unfortunate event happened at Malilok? It seems to be connected to someone's death. How was this person's death "natural?" Not murdered, that's for sure. Murder wouldn't be "natural." Did the person simply drop dead? Of a heart attack? Possibly. That would be considered a natural death, but would it be considered unfortunate?

Perhaps an accident killed the person, or a drowning. Something that could have been avoided and was thus unfortunate.

We'll never find out the verified meaning of this verse; the composer is long dead. The humor comes from the singer addressing the dead person posthumously. The dead person was never guaranteed a long life; only that he or she wouldn't die by murder, suicide or war.


NOTE

Desgråsia sounds like "disgrace" but the word is borrowed from the Spanish and it means some misfortune or tragedy. This is the meaning in Chamorro as well.

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS

Wednesday, August 10, 2016


TÅNO' NA DÅKON

A Deceitful World


Tåno '. World.

Dåkon . Liar.

It was brand new. The new wall put up in the house looked perfect. But, within a few days, cracks appeared. Looks can be deceiving.

For the Chamorro, the world is a liar. Tåno' na dåkon .

We think our material possessions are safe and sound, yet they corrode, rust, break or get stolen.

The value of things - gold, gas, stocks - goes up and down. Nothing is stable. Nothing is permanent.

A tree behind the house looks strong and healthy. We wait, and yet it bears no fruit.

The sea looks calm. But lives perish that same "calm" day when an unseen swell tips the boat over.

We swear we saw something. It turns out to be a mirage.

Some people wear the nicest smiles. But that's all it is. Something they wear, and take off.

And the worst lie of all, according to the elders, is to think that this material world is all that exists.

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Monday, August 8, 2016


Tåya' ti månnge' para i ñalang.

Nothing isn't delicious to the hungry.


There are many ways of stating the truism that the truly hungry person appreciates any food at all, despite its taste or lack thereof.

"Hunger is the best sauce," said the Spaniard Cervantes, or rather " El hambre es la mejor salsa ." This saying is also attributed to the Roman writer Cicero.

This meant that hunger would make tasty what otherwise would not be appetizing, just as a sauce does not an otherwise bland dish.

The more common expression in Chamorro is, " Yanggen magåhet na ñålang, siempre ha kånno .'" "If he or she is truly hungry, he or she will surely eat it." Or, this was said in the second person :

~ Nang, ñålang yo'. Håfa na'-ta? ( Mom, I'm hungry. What's there to eat? )
~ Kåddun månnok fresko . ( Fresh chicken stew .)
~ Uy mungnga yo'! Ti ya-ho . ( Not for me! I don't like it .)
~ Yanggen magåhet na ñålang hao, siempre un kånno' ! ( If you were truly hungry, you would certainly eat it! )

Many times children were told to eat what was put before them, or go to bed hungry if they refused. Parents would then grin in triumph when the famished child humbly asked to eat, an hour later, what he had previously refused.

But some mothers also used the phrase above.

~ Nang, matå'pang este na fina'tinås-mo. ( Mom, your dish is bland .)
~ Tåya' ti månnge' para i ñalang . ( Nothing isn't delicious to the hungry .)

Depending on the mother (or granny or auntie), that last statement could be accompanied by a whack with the slipper ( changkletas ) or hand ( patmåda ).


NANÅ-HO SÅNTA MARIA

Thursday, August 4, 2016


Chamorros have traditionally looked to Mary as a protective mother but also as a sorrowful mother who knows our pain (she lost her Son on the cross) and who can thus have the deepest sympathy for us. This song is an example of that Chamorro view of Mary.



1. Nanå-ho Sånta Maria nå'e yo' siningon-ho
( My Mother Mary, give me endurance )

sa' ti hu huhulat sumungon i piniten korason-ho.
( because I am not able to withstand the pain of my heart .)

2. I piniten korason-ho hågo nanå-ho mås tumungo'
( You, my mother, know more than anyone the pain of my heart )

ya an un sotta yo' na måtai, i piniti-ho yo' pumuno'.
( and if you leave me for dead, it is my pain that killed me. )

3. Ai ai puti, puti tåya' familiå-ña
( Oh it hurts, it hurts to have no family )

sa' ni håfa siña bai hu cho'gue pot todo i hu padedese.
( because there is nothing at all I can do about all that I suffer .)

4. Ha na' pinite yo' i mediko sa' ha po'lo yo' gi piti
( The doctor made me suffer because he put me in pain)

ya ni uno gi familia måtto para u fan bisita.
( and not one in the family came to visit .)

5. Singko åños na pinadese gi espitåt i commonwealth
( Five years of suffering in the commonwealth hospital)

ya ni uno gi familia måtto para u fan bisita.
( and not one in the family came to visit .)

6. Puti, puti i tåya' familiå-ña
( It hurts, it hurts to have no family )

sa' ni håfa siña bai hu cho'gue pot todo i hu padedese.
( because there is nothing I can do about all that I suffer .)

7. Hu padese todo klåsen puti, kon todo putin manhasso
( I suffered all kinds of pain, including pain of thought )

sa' hamyo ha' hu hahasso gi todo i manera.
( because I thought of you all alone in all ways .)

8. Ai ai puti, puti tåya' familiå-ña
( Oh it hurts, it hurts not to have a family )

sa' ni håfa siña bai hu cho'gue pot todo i hu padedese.
( because there is nothing at all I can do about all that I suffer .)

GROWING RICE UNDER THE JAPANESE

Monday, August 1, 2016

Japanese officials supervise Chamorros working in the rice paddies


"No army ever marched on an empty stomach," so the saying goes.

Many times, though, the invading army expects the people they subjugate to fill those empty stomachs!

Our ancestors have been planting and eating rice for many centuries, long before the Europeans came. Due to the fact that rice cannot be grown except in wet fields, Guam did not have an abundance of land suited for large rice plantations. Corn, in time, became the main starch for Chamorros, thanks to Mexican influence. Corn can more easily be grown than rice, and rice was saved for special occasions. By the 1930s, more Chamorros were making money and could afford to buy imported rice from Japan. Local rice production was still low and could not supply the island with enough rice.

When the Japanese occupied Guam, they set out to rectify that situation. All that rice they hoped to grow on Guam was primarily for the Japanese military stationed here; then Japanese civilians and, lastly, the Chamorros. Private property was no issue for the Japanese. If they told you your property had to be used for rice cultivation, you had no choice but to allow it.

Prior to the war, only 186 acres of Guam land were used for rice production. The Japanese felt they could increase that to 1960 acres! The best they could do was reach 709 acres, but that was still a significant increase in rice plantings.

This chart shows where the rice was planted, according to acreage.


PITI

161 acres
AGAT

148 "
SUMAY

118 "
MERIZO

105 "
INARAJAN

96 "
ASAN

56 "
UMATAC

25 "
TOTAL ACREAGE RICE PADDIES 1944
709 acres



As you can see, no rice was grown north of Hagåtña. From Tamuning and Mangilao onto the north of Guam, the land was made up mainly of porous limestone, so wetlands were not to be found there. Rain seeped into the white, chalky soil, filling the huge underground lake that provides us water when we can dig wells to fetch it. No rivers can be found in the north of Guam.

The best areas for rice farming were in the south of Guam, where volcanic, red-clay hills descend into well-watered valleys and coastal wetlands, and in low-lying Piti and Asan. Piti, in fact, was highest in the number of acres dedicated to rice farming during the Japanese Occupation.

In this 1944 aerial photo of Piti, one can see the amount of flat land to the rear and west of the village which was cleared and used for farming.




I suspect that most of the rice farming in Piti would have been in Sasa, which is a low-lying, marshy terrain good for rice paddies.




Chamorro men and women were made to work in the rice paddies, in Chamorro called fama'åyan . (Fan+få'i+an). Få'i is the planted rice seedling.

Rice farming under the Japanese, however, was a failure. The Japanese gave up on rice farming by late 1943 and told the Chamorros to plant taro, yams, corn and other foods that proved more successful.

There were several reasons for the horribly low yields of rice at harvest time. The Japanese were unable to bring in enough insecticides to kill bugs like the leafhopper which attacked the rice plantings. Guam also lacked fertilizers and equipment. The Americans kept sinking Japanese ships carrying supplies to Guam, so very little of these made it to the island.

Let's honor the memory of our people who were made to work hard in the fama'åyan and not even for their own benefit.

ISAO I BAILA

Thursday, July 28, 2016

American sailors and Chamorros dance right after the war


Gi despues de gera nai ma susede este.
( This happened after the war .)

Un puenge, kåsi guennao gi oran a las sais, man ma kombida håye malago' para u fan baila
( One night, around 6 o'clock, anyone interested was invited to dance )

yan i sendålon Amerikåno siha.
( with American soldiers .)

Ha sede si tatan-måme para in fan hånao, hame yan i mañe'lu-ho famalao'an,
( Our dad allowed us to go, me and my sisters ,)

lao solo yanggen ha ga'chunge ham si nanan-måme ya guiya u pinilan ham.
( but only if our mother accompanied us and she would chaperone us .)

Man magof ham todos sa' månnge' todo .
( We were happy because everything was enjoyable .)

Pues, måtto un kapitan gi as nanå-ho ya finaisen nu guiya ,
( Then, a captain came to my mother and asked, )

"Señora, maila' ya ta fanu'e este siha haftaimano magåhet ma baila i Lindy Hop."
( Ma'am, let's show these people how the Lindy Hop is really danced .)

Ti malago' si nanå-ho bumaila ya sige ha' mama' eskusu si nanå-ho na ti ha tungo' bumaila
( My mother didn't want to dance and kept making excuses that she didn't know how to dance )

lao sige ha' lokkue' i kapitan ha apreta si nanå-ho.
( but the captain also kept pressuring my mother .)

En fin, kumonsiente si nanå-ho ya ma tutuhon i dos bumaila .
( In the end, my mother agreed and the two started to dance .)

Ai lokkue'. Tåya' dies minutos måtto påpa' si tatan-måme ya ha go'te kannai-ña si nanå-ho
( Oh dear. It wasn't ten minutes and our dad came down and grabbed my mom's hand )

ya ilek-ña, "Nihi! Todos hamyo nihi tåtte gi gima'! Ni håyeye na låhe para un tinektok!"
( and said, "Let's go! All of you let's go back to the house! No man is going to hug you!" )

Pues man hånao ham todos tåtte gi gima'-måme.
( So we all went back to our house .)

Man triste ham sa' pot si nanan-måme ti man baila ham åpmam ayo na puenge.
( We were sad because of our other we didn't dance long that night .)


CULTURAL NOTES

1. This family was of the "respectable" class, very religious and Spanish-influenced. Dancing, in general, was frowned upon as an occasion of sin. The father would not allow his teenage daughters to go to the dance unless the mother was there to keep an eye on them. The fear of dancing came from concern over physical touch. Notice the husband's remark that he would let no man hug his wife, even in dancing with many witnesses present.

2. How did the dad find out about the wife's dancing? Nothing stays a secret very long in our islands. Someone saw the married woman dancing with an American officer and made sure the husband heard about it.

3. The husband's displeasure could be more centered on a fear of being talked about by the community, rather than on any fear of an American officer's contact with his wife. Had the wife danced longer with the officer, and the husband never put a stop to it, people might gossip about the wife and her husband's ignorance of her behavior, or his indifference to it or his inability to correct his wife's behavior.

4. The mother's reaction is also telling. Two cultural factors were in tension within her. First, she instinctively knew she couldn't dance with the officer. That would be against the norm. Yet, there was another cultural norm and that was to please the other, especially an American and more so an American military officer. She had to weigh the two forces within her and the norm to please the other won out, probably because she thought it was a harmless dance, with her daughters present to vouch that it was just a dance and maybe she could do this one dance and be over with it. The trouble was that others were watching, too, and got word back to her husband.



The Lindy Hop



TINIAN'S LAST STRAGGLER

Wednesday, July 27, 2016


JESUS "KUMOI" GUERRERO, PEDRO ATTAO
AND MANUEL "KIYU" VILLAGÓMEZ
escorting a captured Japanese


The changing tides of history.

In the photo above, Saipan Chamorro guards have custody over a Japanese. Six years prior to this, a Japanese would have had the power over the Chamorros.

On February 16, 1953, more than eight years after Tinian's capture by the United States, a Japanese straggler was discovered on that island.

Susumu Murata was not a soldier but rather a civilian employee for the NKK, the largest sugar company in the Marianas. Murata was a long-time resident of the Marianas, having worked for the NKK first on Rota in 1934. But it was on Tinian where Murata found himself running for his life during the American invasion.

Even though he knew from pamphlets dropped by the Americans that the war was over, Murata decided to hide. He built a well-hidden shack near Tinian's lake or hagoi in Chamorro. It is not the best of fresh water but it is potable. Murata was quite resourceful. Besides fishing and bird hunting, he would take from American supplies under the cover of darkness.

Murata's downfall was the vegetable patch he grew not far from his shack. When the little garden was discovered, it was enough to raise suspicions and a security detachment, including Cristino Sablan de la Cruz, went out to investigate. They followed a barely visible trail that lead them to the shack.

De la Cruz yelled for whoever was in the shack to come out with his hands up. It took a few tries but Murata eventually came out. When asked by de la Cruz if anyone else was in the shack, Muarat said no. Still, de la Cruz opened fire and shot up the shack. Murata started to cry. De la Cruz asked why. Murata said that de la Cruz had just shot up his only supply of soy sauce. De la Cruz told him he would find more soy sauce in Saipan.





CRISTINO SABLAN DE LA CRUZ
He captured Murata

KAMPANÅYU? KAMPANÅYA?

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

The Malesso' Bell Tower


Now how does one say "bell tower" in Chamorro?

If you go down to Malesso' and look for the signs at the bell tower, you will become very confused.

You will see it called Kampanåyu , with a U.




And you will also see it spelled Kampanåya , with an A.




Even the village name gets spelled two different ways. With an ending U, or with an ending O.

So which is it?

Well, the word is borrowed from Spanish and the Spanish word for bell tower is campanario . The word for "bell" itself is campana , which we also borrowed in Chamorro - kampåna .

Since the Spanish word campanario involved the Western Y sound in the last two syllables - RIO - the Chamorro is going to have difficulties with that since we don't have that Western Y sound. We change it to our own DZ sound represented by the Western Y letter. Thus, Yigo and Yoña are pronounced Dzigo and Dzoña.

Check out these comparisons :


SPANISH

CHAMORRO

ENGLISH


CAMPANARIO



KAMPANÅYO


BELL TOWER


ROSARIO



LISÅYO


ROSARY




So, kampanåya is a mistake. Kampanåyo is correct.

Someone on the staff didn't know this well enough to realize the mistake.

Funny thing is, the older wooden sign, with the correct spelling, was there and is still there! Nobody noticed.


MALESSU' -VS- MALESSO'

This is part of the U-vs-O debate.

Chamoru? Or Chamorro?

Guåhu? Or guåho?

Since Chamorros are (in the main) used to writing in Chamorro, no system is going to be easily accepted by the great majority of people. An official orthography exists, but the majority of people writing Chamorro do not access it. Many who do have disagreements with the official orthography.

Of the small number of people who write in Chamorro (compared to the vast number of people who hardly ever write in Chamorro), many will write it as they hear it.

And the fact is that some Chamorros favor the U sound when they speak. Listen to them.

But a good number of other people, especially the older ones, favor the O sound when they speak. Listen to them.

I'm in favor of allowing people to spell it as they speak it, for the time being, because I don't think we have arrived yet at a commonly accepted orthography. We have an official one. But not a commonly accepted one yet.

But there is a bigger difference between a U and an A, compared to a U and an O.

Malessu'/Malesso' has a minor difference between them, in my opinion, compared to kampanåyu and kampanåya .

Call a guy fulånu is the same as calling him fulåno .

But call him fulåna and there may be trouble.

FAMILIA : PAULINO

Friday, July 22, 2016

Juan C. and Rosa M. Paulino
Juan is the grandson of Mariano, the founder of the Paulino clan


All the Paulinos of Guam can trace their ancestry to one man named Mariano Baza Paulino.

Mariano was originally from the Philippines and came to Guam around 1840. By the late 1850s he was the alcalde or mayor of Tinian. Tinian did not have a permanent population but was rather a government cattle ranch, staffed by 20 or so Chamorros from Guam who worked there for a couple of years and then were replaced by another round of workers from Guam.

The income from the sale of Tinian beef helped raise funds for government projects like the hospital for lepers (Hansen's Disease) run on Guam.



MARIANO BAZA PAULINO
Signature in 1898


Thanks to baptismal records in Saipan which survive to this day, where Tinian baptisms were recorded, we have documented evidence for Mariano.

Mariano's wife was Maria de Borja Aguon, a Chamorro of Hagåtña.

Some of Mariano and Maria's children were born in Tinian and Saipan.

Eventually, Mariano and family moved back to Guam and settled in Inalåhan. From there, the family grew and spread to the rest of Guam and, now, to the U.S. mainland and perhaps even beyond.

One of Mariano's sons, Vicente, was living in Hagåtña in the 1890s with his wife Fabiana Cepeda, but apparently moved back to Inalåhan some time later.

Mariano and Maria had three sons to carry on the name, and three daughters.

The three sons were Manuel, Vicente and Jose . All those who carry the surname Paulino of the Marianas can trace their ancestry back to one of these three men.



Jesus Paulino on the far right with other Inalåhan parishioners in the early 1970s accepting a donated car for the parish from Ricky Bordallo



Jaime D. Paulino (right) was Mayor of Inalåhan from 1981 to 1989

KARAKOT GI HALOM TÅSI

Tuesday, July 12, 2016



Karakot gi halom tåsi
( Shell inside the sea )

A'anok yan lalamlam ;
( visible and shiny; )

i linamlåm-ña yan i bunitu-ña
( its brightness and beauty )

ti chumilong yan i guinaiya-ko.
( are not equal to my love .)



Ya i napu gi taddong tåsi
( And the waves in the deep sea )

måfåtto yan humåhånao ;
( come and go ;)

taggam, taggam yanggen siña
( block it, block it if you can )

lao adahe hao nu i chaochao.
( but be careful of the turbulence .)

~ Author unknown


NOTES

Karakot . Borrowed from the Spanish caracol , meaning "snail, seashell, conch, shell or cochlea in the ear."

Chilong . To match, balance, make equal. A synonym is the Spanish loan word pareho . Na' chilong i che'cho'-mo yan i apås-mo . Make equal your work and your pay . In other words, work for your pay.

Taggam . To block, stop, confront, repress. It also came to mean "to meet someone arriving," because, in one sense, to meet someone arriving at the airport or dock is to stop their movement traveling. Taggam is also used to describe how the priest meets the casket of the dead when it arrives at the church door for the funeral rites.

ESTORIAN I LEMMAI

Thursday, July 7, 2016


Meggai åños tåtte na tiempo, åntes de i finatton i Españot, måtto gi islå-ta un tiempon ha'ilas.
( At a time many years ago, before the arrival of the Spaniards, a time of drought came to our island .)

Man måtai todo i tinanom siha. Ni un pedåson suni pat dågo pat ni håfafa na klåsen tinekcha siña ma sodda'.
( All the plants died. Not one piece of taro or yam nor any kind of fruit was able to be found .)

Man sen ñalang todo i taotao siha, kololo'-ña i man dikkike' na famagu'on.
( All the people were very hungry, especially the little children. )

Manetnon todo i maga'låhen i san lago na bånda para u ma deside håf para u ma cho'gue .
( All the chiefs of the northern/western* side met to decide what to do .)

Yan taiguennao lokkue' bidan-ñiha i maga'låhen siha gi san haya na bånda gi isla .
( And the chiefs of the southern/eastern side of the island did the same .)

I un gurupu ti ma tungo' håfa para bidan-ñiñiha i otro na gurupu .
( The one group did not know what the other group would be doing .)

Lao todo i dos gurupu ma deside para u tågo' uno na maga'låhe yan dos ga'chong-ña påtgon para u fanhånao para i otro na bånda pot para u tungo' håfa na nengkanno' siña guaha guihe.
( But both groups decided to send one chief and two child companions to go to the other side in order to know what food might be there .)

Ya ennao magåhet ma cho'gue .
( And that is, in fact, what was done .)

Sigiente dia, finakcha'i na uma'sodda' todo i dos na gurupu gi talo' gi isla .
( The following day, it happened that both groups met in the middle of the island .)

Hinengan i dos maga'låhe na pareho ha' intension-ñiha para u ketungo' håfa na nengkanno' siña ha' guaha gi otro bånda ya ma tutuhon i dos kumuentos pot i eskases ni muna' fañachatsaga todo i taotao siha gi isla.
( The two chiefs were surprised that their intentions to try to know what food might there be on the other side were the same, and the two began to converse about the scarcity which was putting all the people of the island in hardship. )

I kuåttro na famagu'on, pot i man yayas yan man ñålang, man åsson gi edda' para u fan maigo' .
( The four children, because they were tired and hungry, lay on the ground to sleep .)

Pot fin, kontodo i dos maga'låhe malingo maigo'-ñiha gi annai esta gespainge.
( At last, even the two chiefs fell asleep when it was already very late in the night .)

Gigon makmåta i dos maga'låhe, ma sodda' na man måtai i kuåttro na famagu'on mina' i niñalang-ñiha ni esta ti siña ma sungon.
( When the two chiefs woke up, they discovered that the four children died of their unbearable hunger .)

Gi trinisten-ñiha, i dos maga'låhe ma håfot i famagu'on ya ma håtsa åcho' latte gi naftan siha.
( In their sadness, the two chiefs buried the children and set up latte stones on the graves .)

Todo i taotao siha tumungo' na este na lugåt nai man ma håfot i kuåttro na famagu'on.
(Everyone knew that this was the place where the four children were buried.)

Åños despues, ma sodda' na kuåttro na trongko man dokko' guihe na lugåt, un trongko kada naftan.
( Years later, they saw that four trees grew in that place, one tree for each grave .)

Tåt nai ma li'e este na klåsen trongko, lao annai ma sotne ya ma kånno i tinekchå-ña, ei na minannge'!
( They had never seen this kind of tree, but when they boiled and ate its fruit, it was delicious! )

Ma ågang "lemmai" ya desde ayo para mo'na, tåya' na man måtai ñålang i taotao gi isla,
( They called it "lemmai," and from that time on, the people of the island never died of hunger ,)

sa' achok ha' påkyo pat ha'ilas i tano', lamita gi sakkan guaguaha ha' lemmai para mantension i linahyan taotao.
( because even if there is typhoon or a drought in the land, half of the year there is still lemmai for the sustenance of the people. )

* san lago and san haya mean two different directions depending on which island (and sometimes village) you live in.

ENGLISH THE CHAMORRO WAY : TAIP

Tuesday, July 5, 2016


Just as we did centuries ago with Spanish, we do with English today.

We borrow the word and change it to fit our grammar and, many times, our pronunciation.

Nice to see also, as in the photo above, we feel free to change the spelling to match the way it really sounds to us.

So English "type" becomes Chamorro taip . Not as in "What's your type?" but rather "Can you type?"

Ti hu tungo' mantaip.
( I don't know how to type .)

This is interesting because, according to the normal rules, N+T becomes a simple N.

Man+tunu (to barbeque) becomes manunu .

Man+tungo' (to know) becomes manungo' .

So man+taip should become manaip . At first it sounds weird, but perhaps if heard often enough it wouldn't sound so strange. And, there are always exceptions to rules, so perhaps it would have remained mantaip .

Håye tumaip este?
( Who typed this? )

How about "typewriter?"

In other languages, the word becomes a compound word meaning "writing machine."

In Spanish, máquina a escribir .

In French, machine à écrire .

In German, Schreibmaschine .

So I suppose, in Chamorro, it could be måkinan månge' .

Måkina = machine (but also engine)

Månge' = to write (man+tuge' becomes månge')

Now månge' looks a whole lot like månnge' ("delicious") so be careful.

If you misplaced a typewiter you really liked, you could say

"Mångge i mannge' na måkinan månge'?"

"Where is the really good (literally, delicious) writing machine?"

We call anything we really like månnge' (delicious).


WARTIME INCARCERATION AT THE HAGÅTÑA JAIL

Friday, July 1, 2016


On December 8, 1941, when Japan attacked Guam from the air, the American Naval Government prepared for the imminent invasion.

Part of the plan was to set free the civilian prisoners serving time in the capital city's jail. That way, they wouldn't all perish at the same time if a Japanese bomb made a direct hit on the jail. In fact, a Japanese bomb did land close enough to the jail to damage a corner of it. But it was quickly repaired.

When the Japanese were securely the masters of the island, Saipan Chamorro interpreters helped round up the prisoners released by the Americans. The Japanese word for "interpreter" is tsuuyaku .

A man named Takeshi Shimada was a police investigator whom Saipan interpreters said was police chief during the Occupation, or at least acted as one. Helping him were fifteen or so Saipan interpreters who did more than translating. They also supplied the muscle in performing police work and in physically punishing civilians under police custody.

Some Guam Chamorro inmates continued to be a source of irritation to the Japanese police.

Juan T. was arrested for stealing a fusiños (hoe) and was thrown into the city jail and beaten.

Jose M., Enrique R. and Jose C. made the daring move to escape from the Hagåtña jail. They claimed hunger drove them to do it. They roamed around looking for food and were finally caught by the Japanese in Ordot. They were taken back to the jail and beaten.

Some inmates were caught playing dice late at night on New Year's Eve and were punished with beatings.

One Saipan police interpreter got drunk and started berating the Guam Chamorro inmates, telling them that they longed for the return of the Americans, but that they would never eat "bacon and ham" again. He then started beating them in his drunken state.

A Guam inmate testified that, during his entire time jailed in Hagåtña, he witnessed around 50 separate beatings of other inmates. Some were serious enough that the victim died as a result of the beating.

In their defense, some Saipan interpreters said that they had to be hard on their fellow Chamorros from Guam because the Japanese were watching. The last thing they wanted was to be accused by the Japanese for being soft on the Guam Chamorros. The Japanese expected total loyalty from the Saipan Chamorros, since they had grown up under the Japanese since 1914. They would have gotten a worse beating from the Japanese, they said, had they not satisfied the Japanese.




PÅLE' DANIET

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Påle' Daniet
( Fr Daniel de Arbácegui, OFM Cap )

It's interesting how a little-known bit of personal history can become a song  sixty or more years later, sung in a different place by people unconnected to the event.

The song deals with a Spanish Capuchin missionary in Yap in the late 1890s and early 1900s. His name was Father Daniel de Arbácegui. In Chamorro, Daniel is pronounced Daniet.

There was a small community of Chamorros living in Yap since Spanish times and they were close to the Spanish missionaries.

A young boy of around 6 years of age lost both parents and was then raised by Påle' Daniet. But then the Germans took over Yap and the Spanish missionaries had to go. At some point, the little boy moved to Saipan, but nothing more for certain is known about him.

The story was kept by Juan Sanchez, a writer, poet and storyteller in Saipan who was very close to the clergy.  Alex Sablan, the composer and singer of the song, learned the story from Sanchez.


JUST IN CASE

There was one other boy in Micronesia raised by the Spanish Capuchins. His name was Miguel de la Concepcion. Was this the boy raised by Påle' Daniet? I have my doubts.

First of all, the boy in the song was from Yap whereas Miguel de la Concepcion was from Ponape. Påle' Daniet, too, was a missionary in Yap and never stayed in Ponape, where Miguel was from. Finally, the boy in the song moved to Saipan, but Miguel moved to Manila where he continued to be raised by the Spanish friars there. But...I think we should leave some room for the possibility that the orphaned boy in question is Miguel de la Concepcion and that, as often happens, the oral information passed from person to person, got some details mixed up.


LYRICS

Sais åños ha' trabia i idåt-ho annai kinenne' as Yu'us i dos saina-ho.
( My age was only still 6 years when God took my two parents .)

Ya si Påle' Daniet pumoksai yo'; dumångkulo yo' gi gima' misionårio.
( And Father Daniel raised me; I grew up in the house of a missionary .)

Hu nånå'e gråsia si Yu'us pot i yino'åse' Påle' Daniet.
( I give thanks to God for the kindness of Father Daniel .)

Guiya kulan tahguen i dos saina-ho. Si Påle' Daniet pumoksai yo'.
( He was like the replacement of my two parents. Father Daniel raised me .)


NOTES

Idåt . Age. From the Spanish edad . Some people spell it and pronounce it edåt .

Yino'åse' . The more usual rendering is yine'ase' .





VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

CANCIÓN A PADRE DANIEL

Es interesante cuando una parte poco conocida de la historia personal de alguien se convierte en una canción sesenta años después o más, cantada en un lugar diferente por personas ajenas al suceso.

La canción trata sobre un misionero capuchino español en la isla de Yap, Carolinas a fines de la década de 1890 y principios de la de 1900. Su nombre era Padre Daniel de Arbácegui. En chamorro, Daniel se pronuncia Daniet.

Había una pequeña comunidad de chamorros de Guam viviendo en la isla de Yap desde la época española y estaban cerca de los misioneros españoles.

Un niño chamorro de unos 6 años perdió a ambos progenitores y fue criado por Påle' Daniet. Pero luego los alemanes tomaron la isla de Yap y los misioneros españoles tuvieron que irse. En algún momento, el pequeño se mudó a Saipán, Marianas.

La historia la guardó Juan Sánchez, un escritor, poeta y cuentacuentos de Saipán muy cercano al clero. Alex Sablan, el compositor y cantante de la canción, aprendió la historia de Juan Sánchez.

POR SI ACASO...

Hubo otro niño en Micronesia criado por los capuchinos españoles. Su nombre era Miguel de la Concepción. ¿Era éste el mismo niño criado por Påle' Daniet? Tengo mis dudas.

En primer lugar, el niño de la canción era de la isla de Yap mientras que Miguel de la Concepción era de la isla de Ponapé, también en Carolinas. Påle' Daniet fue misionero en Yap y nunca se quedó en Ponapé, de donde era Miguel. Finalmente, el niño de la canción se mudó a Saipán, Marianas pero el niño Miguel se mudó a Manila, Filipinas donde los frailes españoles lo criaron. Pero... creo que deberíamos dejar algo de margen a la posibilidad de que el niño huérfano en cuestión sea Miguel de la Concepción y que, como suele pasar, la información oral que se transmite de persona a persona, confunda algunos detalles.

Ésta es la letra de la canción de Alex Sablan basada en la historia de Juan Sánchez:

Sais åños ha' trabia i idåt-ho annai kinenne' as Yu'us i dos saina-ho.
(Seis años era todavía mi edad cuando Dios se llevó a mis dos padres).

Ya si Påle' Daniet pumoksai yo'; dumångkulo yo' gi gima' misionårio.
(Y el Padre Daniel me crió; crecí en la casa de un misionero).

Hu nånå'e gråsia si Yu'us pot i yino'åse' Påle' Daniet.
(Doy gracias a Dios por la bondad del Padre Daniel.)

Guiya kulan tahguen i dos saina-ho. Si Påle' Daniet pumoksai yo'.
(Era como el reemplazo de mis dos padres. El Padre Daniel me crió).


TOMIN

Wednesday, June 29, 2016
TOMIN


When the Japanese occupied Guam, from late 1941 till mid 1944, our people were called by different but similar names by the Japanese.

One word was tomin , which meant "islander" and is made up of two Chinese characters, the first for "island" (to) and the second for "person" (min).

This name was applied to all the native people of the islands in Micronesia.

DOMIN

A second name was a bit different.

The first character is for do, which means "land." The second character is once again "min" for "person."

So domin means "people or person of the land." Just as in taotao tåno' .

But, by the time of the war, domin carried with it a negative flavor. It meant someone uncivilized and barbaric.


DOJIN

Finally, there was dojin . Again we see do for "land" and now "jin" which is similar to "min" and means "person." "Person of the land."

This, too, had a derogatory connotation.

Many Chamorros during the Japanese Occupation knew of these words and knew about the intended put-down.

Even in Saipan, when the war was fully on and was going badly for the Japanese, the Japanese changed their attitude towards the Chamorros in Saipan. They lost trust in them and considered them potential enemies. The Japanese felt that somehow the Saipan Chamorros secretly favored the Americans, perhaps because Chamorros had been somewhat westernized by Spain and shared the same Christian background as the Americans.

So, the Japanese put many restrictions on the Chamorros in Saipan and some ended up on Japanese lists of suspected people. The Carolinians, too, of course, suffered the same restrictions. The harsher the Japanese treated their own Chamorro subjects in Saipan and Luta, the more Chamorro support for Japan eroded.

The Chamorros and Carolinians of Saipan were, also, for the Japanese military, dojin .

The tensions of an impending American invasion, and defeat in war, brought out the underlying truth that there never was an integration of the Saipan/Luta Chamorros into the Japanese community. The Japanese made sure of that by always considering others as non-Japanese, no matter how long these others had been under the Japanese flag or how well these others spoke Japanese and served the Japanese system.

There had always been "race consciousness" and a racial hierarchy with the Japanese, who were at the top of the ladder. These were followed by the Okinawans, then the Koreans, then the Chamorros and Carolinians. Closer to the truth is that the Japanese considered themselves a world apart from everyone else. There was the Japanese, and then there was everyone else.

The same thing can be said about other racial or national groups around the world. American military personnel on Guam had to be reprimanded by their own naval authorities for using racial slurs against Chamorros. There were other signs given by Americans that they and the Chamorros were two different kinds of people. Chamorros, too, can be guilty of looking down on people from other races.

It is human nature to love oneself, and everyone else around us is an extension of the self, to greater and lesser degrees. The closer those others are to the self, the more loved. So, after "me" comes "my family," "my town," "my island/state/province," "my race," "my country," "my region of the world" and finally, "my human race!"

RECRUITING CHAMORRO WHALERS

Tuesday, June 28, 2016


Charles Freeman was the captain of a whaling ship. In 1856 he arrived on Guam and was in search of young Chamorro men to work on his ship catching whales.

By then, the Spanish Government on Guam already had a system in place. The whaling captain would enter into a formal agreement with the Spanish Government for the services of a young Chamorro man.

The agreement included the following terms :

1. The Chamorro recruit was allowed by the Spanish Government to leave the island for eight months to serve on the whaling ship. After that, he had to be returned back to Guam by the captain. (The Spanish Government in the Marianas often expressed how Chamorro young men were so quick to abandon the islands forever, when the islands in fact were low in population. This may have been a way the Government sought to keep these young men from leaving the island permanently. It didn't work.)

2. The Chamorro recruit was paid up front by the captain before leaving island.

3. The captain could not oblige the Chamorro recruit to leave the Catholic religion and had to allow the Chamorro recruit to observe Catholic practices. (Most American and British captains were not Catholic and many of the crew were also not Catholic. This would be the first time Chamorro young men would be exposed to a non-Catholic environment.)

4. The captain had to deposit money with the Spanish Government which he could reclaim once he fulfilled the terms of the contract and returned the Chamorro recruit to Guam.

The interesting thing is that many Chamorro recruits never did come back to Guam. Many whaling ships called on Guam once, never to return again. Many of these Chamorro seamen gladly continued with their work and travels overseas. With neither the captain nor the Chamorro whaler wanting to return, Guam continued to lose many, if not most, of her young whalers. The loss of the deposit was not a big loss perhaps for these captains.

Here's what the contract said involving Captain Freeman and the Spanish Government for the services of one José Quintanilla of Hagåtña :

In the City of Agaña on March 15 of 1856, before Don Felipe de la Corte, Military and Political Governor of these Mariana Islands, and us, Don José de la Cruz and Leocadio Crisóstomo, with the interpreters Don Vicente Deza and José Pérez, appeared Mr. C. Freeman, captain of the English whaling ship Sir Edward Perry , and José Quintanilla, native of this city, a bachelor of 17 years of age, they stated that Mr. Freeman obliges said José Quintanilla to sail on his ship in the class of sailor for a period of eight months during which he must return him to this same island of Guam satisfying him or paying him for his work in one for every 170 of what they may catch while he is on board, not obligating him to follow or adhere to any other religious principle save that of the Catholic, Apostolic, Roman which he professes, allowing him the proper expressions of it. And that on account of his work in what he may earn he gives at this moment the quantity of 13 pesos which José Quintanilla acknowledges as received, obligating himself to sail on said ship for the time mentioned. And for the security of this contract, both parties are obliged with their persons and acquired goods and since Mr. Freeman has specially mortgaged the sum of 80 pesos in currency which he deposits in the hands of the Governor who acknowledges it as received and is obliged to return it as this contract is completed and the mentioned José Quintanilla is presented satisfied of the completion of it, and as he does not know how to sign his name he made a cross at the side of his name, the Governor and Captain and interpreters signing, of which we attest.






A recruitment contract between the Spanish Governor of the Marianas and a whaling captain

PADRE PALOMO'S CHAMORRO CATECHISM

Monday, June 27, 2016


A catechism is a summary of church teaching, traditionally in question-and-answer format.

Blessed Diego Luís de Sanvitores taught the catechism to Chamorros in the Chamorro language, setting it to music, as our people loved to sing.

Sadly, we don't have many copies of the Chamorro writings used by the missionaries 300 years ago. But we do have a catechism in Chamorro composed by the first Chamorro priest, Padre José Palomo (Påle' Engko') written 100 or more years ago.

Palomo was born in 1836 and his parents were born around the beginning of that century, and his grandparents were born in the last decades of the 1700s. When Palomo was a teen, he would have known people born in the 1750s and would have heard the Chamorro that they spoke. So when you see Palomo's Chamorro writing, we most likely have a glimpse into the language that goes back to the mid 1700s, very close to the pre-contact language. One will see very clearly that the Chamorro spoken by Palomo was deep in the indigenous tongue, though Spanish loan words are present. Palomo's catechism uses Chamorro words that today have fell into disuse and he uses words in now-forgotten forms.

When Palomo set out to write a Chamorro catechism, he did the time-efficient thing and decided to translate a Spanish catechism into Chamorro, rather than compose one from scratch. Why reinvent the wheel!

¿ASTETE? O RIPALDA?

In Palomo's day, there were only two widespread Spanish catechisms, known by the last names of the authors : Astete and Ripalda. It was said that these two catechisms were the only truly known and used catechisms in Spain for many years that when two Spaniards met up for the first time, they would ask each other, "Astete? Or Ripalda?"

Palomo chose Astete's catechism. You can see Astete's name on the title page of the Palomo catechism at the top of this post.



A Spanish edition of Astete's catechism


EXAMPLES OF THE CHAMORRO USED IN PALOMO'S CATECHISM


Monhan . An old word, not even appearing in the latest Chamorro dictionary (2009). It is connected to the still-used word monhåyan . They both mean "completed" or "finished."

Yuhe . "That." Today we mostly say " ayo ," which was also used in the past. Uhe is another form of yuhe .

Hulon . "Superior, chief, top, supreme." From the root word hulo' (top, above). Can also mean "judge." I am of the opinion that the last name Taijeron comes from the words tai (without) and hulon (superior) because the Spaniards often used an R in place of our L in words. The tai changes the hulon to hilon, just as the tai changes guma' to gima' (taigima' = homeless).

Ini . "This." Ini was gradually lost and replaced by the Spanish word este .

Ereda . "To inherit." From the Spanish word heredar , "to inherit." Ma ereda yo' ayo na tåno' . I inherited that land . Erensia (also from Spanish) means "inheritance," but inereda can also mean "inheritance."

Atochocho . "To force, coerce." Ma atochocho yo' humalom . I was forced to go in.

Chihet. "To join, adhere, get close to, unite with." Na' chihet hao as Yu'us . Get close to God.

Kaikai . "To move." Ti ha kakaikai yo' . It doesn't move me .

Iseknåne . "To judge wrongly, to damage someone by judging wrongly." Cha'-mo mamaiseknånåne ni håye. Do not judge anyone wrongly.

Kahna . "To cast spells, witchery." From the pre-contact makahna who were intermediaries with the spirits.

Guailaye. "Useful, necessary, helpful." Diddide' guailaye-ña . It has little usefulness . What remains today is the expression "Ti guailaye," or "It isn't necessary."

Pekka'. "Position, charge, responsibility, duty." I man gai pekka'. Those in charge .

Pennga . "Habit, custom, tradition." Båba penngå-ña . He has bad habits . This was gradually replaced by the Spanish word kostumbre .

Chengle. "Detain, capture, imprison, enslave." Ma chengle yo' annai måkpo' i gera. I was detained after the war.

Mansangan . "It is said." From ma+såsångan.

Tuka'. "To poke, as with a thorn." The word "thorn" or tituka ' comes from this. Tuka' can also mean "to incite, to spur to action, to begin something" as when one is poked from idleness and starts to move.

Fa'hiyunge . "To calumniate, to accuse someone falsely." Cha'-mo mamahiyunge. Don't accuse someone falsely.

Muto '. "To resolve, to obligate oneself." Minito' is "resolution, determination." Muto' yo' . I am resolved.

Alle' . "To make a mistake, commit error." Inalle' is "defect, sin, fault, mistake."

Guot . "To maintain, hold on to." Ha guot i kanai-ho . He held onto my hand .

Guahåye . "To provide." From guåha (to have, to exist) and the suffix -e (for someone). Bai na' guahåye hao karetå-mo agupa'. I will provide you with a car tomorrow.

Eppok . "To excite, stimulate, persuade." Ha eppok yo' humånao . He persuaded me to go.

Diles . "To excel, to surpass." Cha'-mo didiles i lai . Do not go beyond the law. Mandiles hao . You shined.

Famaiche'cho' . "Force, effort." Na' famaiche'cho' i ilu-mo umestudia! Force your head to study!

Måsga . "To change for the better, to repent." Ha tutuhon mumåsga . He has started to change for the better. It is a surname in Luta.

Fa'aila'. "To accuse, to report a wrong-doing." Esta ma fa'aila' i sakke. The thief has already been reported.

Seko . "To punch, to beat with the fist." Gi Misa hu seko i haof-ho. I beat my chest at Mass.

Fegge' . "Impression, image or imprint left behind." Guåha feggen måtan taotao gi liga . There is an imprint of a man's face on the wall."

Ingen . "To detest, to abhor, to reject." Hu gof ingen i dinage . I really detest lies.


UNAI CHULU

Friday, June 24, 2016


People lived on this beach perhaps 3500 years ago!

Despite the fact that this beach was the scene of a large American invasion in 1944, greatly disturbing the physical environment, archaeologists were able to dig and search and find evidence of human settlement going as far back as 3500 years.

Unai Chulu is a beach in the northwest corner of Tinian.




The signs of human habitation at this beach, going so far back in time, show that our ancestors lived almost anywhere along the coast where dwellings could be built, even if the beach was a small one and the reef close to shore.

Tinian is a rather flat island. This beach area would have been more exposed to the elements as there are no caves and no high cliffs in this area. The people may have have depended more heavily on the sea for food than in other places in the Marianas where land resources would have been more plentiful.

Chulu is not far from a fresh water lake, which is more like marsh land, called Hagoi, which is the Chamorro word for "lake." But the water, at least now, is brackish, though ancient people could have probably strained or boiled it for drinking purposes. Otherwise, people would have collected rain water as a main source of drinking water.




This pottery sherd was found at the House of Taga, south of Chulu. But a unique and more decorated one was found at Chulu.

A unique find at Chulu was a pottery sherd which was decorated on both sides , including the inner part of the bowl or pot. On both inside and outside walls of the pot, a line of impressed circles filled with lime (åfok) can be seen. These decorated sherds are from the earliest period of human settlement in the Marianas.

Cow bones buried in the soil at Chulu point to the cattle ranches that the Spanish government maintained at Tinian in the 1800s for the benefit of Guam.




This map of the US invasion of Tinian in 1944 shows just how vulnerable Chulu Beach was at that time (White Beach 2).

As the US military always has its eye on northern Tinian for military exercises to this day, let's hope our ancestral cultural treasures do not suffer destruction any more!

HU GOFLI'E HAO JESUS-HO

Thursday, June 23, 2016


1. Hu gofli'e hao Jesus-ho, ya hu na' matuna hao :
( I love you, my Jesus, and I make you praised :)

Chorus : O Korason Jesukristo, magof hu adora hao!
( O Heart of Jesus Christ, happily I adore you! )

2. I sendålo as Longinos guiya bumabaye hit
( The soldier Longinus was he who opened for us )

ni korason Jesukristo i mina' fan såfo' hit;
( the heart of Jesus Christ who saved us ;)

Lao Jesus guåho man ige' sa' hu kekelånsa hao.
( But Jesus I have surpassed him because I have pierced you .)

2. Ya ma baba sen ma baba, a'annok i korason
( And it was opened wide, the heart is visible )

gi kalaguak Jesukristo, kalan guåfe hahanon.
( in the side of Jesus Christ, a burning fire .)

Tåya' tailaye na guåho ni i ti gumuaiya hao .
( There is no sinner but me who does not love you .)


NOTE

Longinos . In tradition, this was the name (Longinus in Latin) of the Roman centurion who pierced the side of Jesus with his lance. Tradition identifies him as the same centurion in Matthew 27:54 who came to believe that Jesus was truly the Son of God. Later he was baptized and left the military. He was later martyred for the faith and is considered a saint.



Saint Longinus

FAMILY NICKNAMES : SAM

Wednesday, June 22, 2016


I ran into former Senator Benigno Manibusan Palomo and I asked him, "How did you get the nickname 'Sam?'"

He answered that it wasn't just his nickname but that of his branch of the Palomos.

He said his great-grandfather had a long white beard that reminded people of Uncle Sam's long white beard. So, he got stuck with the nickname "Sam" and it was passed on to his children and grandchildren.

Benigno's great-grandfather Palomo was Pedro de León Palomo, born around 1835.

The familiar, bearded figure of Uncle Sam that we know today didn't become prominent until the 1870s when newspaper cartoonist Thomas Nast made his depiction popular. In the 1870s, Pedro de León Palomo would have been in his late 30s, early 40s. But how would Chamorros be aware of Uncle Sam way over in the US, when Guam was under Spain?



THOMAS NAST'S "UNCLE SAM" IN 1877


The answer is easy. The American whalers who came to Guam every year, especially in the early months of the year. These whalers were the beginning of Guam's Americanization, even introducing English curse words long before the US took over Guam in 1898.

It's entirely possible that American newspapers and magazines (months old by then) were brought on island by whalers who didn't need them anymore. Some how or other, if the story be true, some Chamorros had seen pictures of Uncle Sam in the 1870s and 1880s when Uncle Sam became a popular figure in the US.

Pedro's son Ignacio Dueñas Palomo is mentioned in court documents in the early 1900s as "Ignacio'n Sam." So there we have historic evidence that the family nickname was indeed Sam, and it was a nickname before the Americans took over Guam. Ignacio'n Sam was Benigno's grandfather. He was born in 1862 or so.



IGNACIO DUEÑAS PALOMO'S SIGNATURE IN 1912
Better known as Ignacio'n Sam




COMMISSIONERS IN 1960

Tuesday, June 21, 2016


In 1960, we had Commissioners, not Mayors.

It was just 16 years after the war and Guam just had 67,000 people in 19 municipalities or villages. Agaña was considered a city and New Agat as well. But that's another story.

Needless to say, everyone knew everyone and village Commissioners, as is still the case in many smaller villages today, were personally known to the majority of village residents.

In those days, your Commissioner wasn't Jesus S. Camacho; he was Chubado' (some say Chibado'). Not Joaquin SN Diego but rather si Gådao.

Here are the winners of the 1960 municipal elections :


The Two Biggies

The two largest villages at the time were Sinajaña and Barrigada. This is reflected in the fact that these two villages had an Assistant Commissioner, which they hold to this day (even though Sinajaña for the longest time now is nowhere near the most populated village on island).

Sinajaña : Luis Camacho Baza

Baza did not have a long term; from 1956-1964. Sinajaña Commissioners tended to have short terms in those days.

Barrigada : Jesus Sablan Camacho (Chubado')

Chibado', on the other hand, was Commissioner for twenty years (1948-1968). In those days, if you were a popular Commissioner, you tended to keep your job for as long as you were interested in running.



Luis Camacho Baza
Sinajaña


Jesus Sablan Camacho (Chubado')
Barrigada


Other long-term Commissioners re-elected in 1960 :

Inarajan : Joaquin SN Diego (Gådao) served from 1944 until 1972

Agaña Heights : Juan L. Pangelinan (Kotla) served from 1956 until 1968

Hagåtña : Juan D. Perez served from 1952 until 1962

Asan : Joaquin S. Santos served from 1956 until 1972

Piti : Vicente A. Limtiaco served from 1956 until 1972

Santa Rita : Joaquin D. Perez served from 1952 until 1968

Yoña : Jose B. Sudo served from 1952 until 1972

Mangilao : Jesus T. Pereira served from 1952 until 1968

Dededo : Vicente SA Benavente served from 1952 until 1976

Merizo : Francisco C. Chargualaf served from 1952 until 1976


Short-term Commissioners :

Tamuning : Higinio San Nicolas served from 1956 until 1964

Chalan Pago/Ordot : Francisco LG Valenzuela served from 1956 until 1964

Agat : Juan LG Leon Guerrero served from 1956 until 1962

Yigo : Jose D. Perez served from 1956 until 1964


Finally, there were three Commissioners elected for the first time in 1960 :

Mongmong/Toto/Maite : Jose C. Farfan, who served from 1960 until 1972

Umatac : Jesus S. Quinata, who served from 1960 until 1968

Talofofo : Juan C. Tenorio, who served from 1960 until 1968


And now the Assistant Commissioners :

Sinajaña : Jacinto B. Calvo

Barrigada : Jose F. Mendiola

Tamuning : Gregorio A. Calvo

Only these three villages had an Assistant Commissioner in 1960 as these were the three most populated villages at the time.

SAINAN-M­ÅME DIOS

Monday, June 20, 2016

The Our Father in Chamorro
according to Sanvitores in 1668


On this Father's Day, someone asked me, "Is tåta a true Chamorro word?"

The inquirer points out that tata is used by many Hispanics clear across the Pacific Ocean in Central and South America.

Among our own Austronesian cousins, who share many words, grammar and other features with us, the word tata is rarely the word for "father." Far more common is ama and tatay . In some Austronesian languages, tatay is the informal way of addressing a father while ama is the formal title for a father.

Given the wide variety of Austronesian words for "father," including ama , sama , tama , baba and dozens of other forms, including the occasional tata , it could be that Chamorro is one of those rare Austronesian languages where tåta is the indigenous word for "father." That Tagalog speakers and other Filipinos use tatay , sometimes as the informal word and sometimes as the actual word for "father," makes one suspect that tata and tatay are two forms of the same word. And, yes, even tata is used by some Filipinos as an informal form of "father."

In Latin America, where tata is often an informal way of addressing a father, people do not speak Austronesian languages. Yet, it shouldn't surprise us that tata is said there, and for two reasons. Firstly, tata is also used by other languages all around the world, besides Austronesia and Latin America. Tata is the informal word for "father" in different languages and dialects in Europe and in Africa, for example.

Secondly, a large number of words for "father" in the different languages across the globe are variations of the a-a form. Dada , baba, papa and tata all follow this.

So it seems that our ancestors could very well have used the word tåta for "father," just as we find it in many languages in every corner of the world.


THE FIRST VERSION OF THE "OUR FATHER"

But then I remembered this. Just to add to the mystery.

When Sanvitores came to Guam in 1668, he obviously needed to teach the people Catholic prayers in their own language. Therefore, as early as 1668, there should have been a Chamorro version of the Our Father, in the Chamorro spoken back then, which would have been free of foreign words except for a few words where the native language may have lacked them. But "father" should not be one of these words, since every one has a father! So....how did Sanvitores translate "Our Father" into Chamorro in 1668? That should clear up, without a doubt, what the certain Chamorro word for "father" is.


OUR SUPERIOR WHO ART IN HEAVEN

I'm afraid Sanvitores' rendering of "Our Father" provokes more questions than provides answers.

As you can see from the picture at the top of this post, Sanvitores' opening words of the "Our Father" are :

SAYNA MAMING DIOS

That should mean "Our Father." Instead it means "Our superior God."

Two words are easily recognizable; the Chamorro Sayna , spelled today as saina . And the Spanish Dios , meaning "God."

Saina can be applied to many people. The fundamental meaning of saina is "superior," someone higher in status than you. It has nothing to do with age. On occasion, a nephew will actually be older in age than his uncle. Still, the 15-year-old uncle is saina to his 16-year-old nephew. "Uncle" trumps age when it comes to status.

A 40-year-old priest will be called saina by an 80-year-old woman. Priesthood trumps age (in traditional Chamorro culture) when it comes to status.

The word maming is m å me (ours, exclusive) if you think about it. Why then did Sanvitores add the ng ? Probably because he learned his rudimentary Chamorro from a shipwrecked Filipino who lived on Guam for seventeen years before he was picked up by a passing Spanish ship and taken back to the Philippines. It is possible that this Filipino retained traits of his native Filipino language and mixed it with his newly acquired (and possibly rough) Chamorro. Sanvitores wrote this version of the Our Father in Chamorro before he even landed on Guam, Sanvitores himself wrote that he had to make corrections in these early writings in Chamorro.


NO "TÅTA?"

So the question is, "Why didn't Sanvitores use tåta when translating 'our father?'"

Even if his Filipino tutor spoke "broken Chamorro," surely the Chamorro word for "father" would be so commonly spoken in ordinary conversation that the Filipino couldn't get that one wrong!

So now we can speculate that perhaps our ancestors did not say tåta for "father," otherwise, why didn't Sanvitores use it?

Check out this other little piece of evidence :




When Sanvitores wanted to translate into Chamorro "Holy Mary, mother of God," he wrote the above words. Most of the words are easily recognizable as the following :

Santa Maria, saina palao'an ni Jesucristong Dios

Holy Mary, woman superior of Jesus Christ God

Once again, some traits more Filipino than Chamorro (at least modern Chamorro) are seen. We don't say ni to mean "of," at least, not any more. But this is exactly what is said in Filipino. And we see once again the - ng ending (in Jesucristo) which isn't done in Chamorro (at least anymore) but which is done in Filipino.

But the main thing to notice here is that Sanvitores translates "mother" as saina palao'an .

This would suggest that "father" is saina låhe , a term which is found, in fact, in the rest of Sanvitores' writing.

So, one theory could be that our ancestors did not say tåta and nåna , but rather saina låhe and saina palao'an . Tåta and nåna could have come into the language later, maybe from Filipino influence ( tatay and nanay ) or Latin American influence.


YES "TÅTA," BUT NOT FOR PRAYER

But here's another theory.

Perhaps our ancestors did say tåta and nåna . Then why didn't Sanvitores use those terms in his Chamorro writing?

It's possible that tåta and nåna were considered too informal, like "daddy" and "mommy." Among Tagalog speakers, one constantly hears tatay and nanay in ordinary speech. But when Filipino people pray the Our Father, they switch to the formal word ama for "father."

Perhaps this is also what happened when Sanvitores wrote his version of the Our Father and his other religious writings. In time, perhaps, the missionaries and people switched to using tåta in prayer when the religion was securely established in our islands.

Tåta is found in Chamorro word lists going back to the early 1800s and for centuries now we've been saying T å tan-m å me , and not Sainan-m å me , when we say "Our Father."

Until we find more Chamorro writing of the time, which is a remote possibility, we can't be certain at all about these questions for the time being.






FÅKKAI, AGAIN

Friday, June 17, 2016


Some time ago I explained how the word fåkkai means "to distribute, pass out, disseminate, divide."

It was not a curse word. Later on it did become a fighting word, as in "I will do you harm" if someone told you, " Bai fåkkai hao! " I reasoned that perhaps the idea came from the original meaning "to divide, break apart." "I will tear you to pieces," comes to mind.

Under American influence, fåkkai received even more negative connotation because of the closeness of sound to an English curse word.

Many people, to this day, are convinced that fåkkai is and can only be a bad word, since the original meaning has been lost to these modern speakers of the language.

However, the literary evidence proves that fåkkai is far from a bad word. It was used in Catholic prayer books and now I have come across it in a Chamorro Catholic catechism.

The title on the page seen above uses the word fåkkai , spelled fakai .

If we remember that one has to divide what one will be distributing, we can see how " Mafakai i Doctrina " means "The Division of the Doctrine," meaning "the Catechism." In other words, the book has to be broken down into parts.




Finakai (I would spell it finakkai ) is the noun form of fåkkai . This would make the verb "to divide" the noun "division."

Finenana na finakai means "the first division," meaning the first section, the first part.

Still, there are many people who for years have only understood the word fåkkai to be a bad word that no amount of historical evidence will ever change their minds about it!

SÅTBE FANLIHENGAN-MÅME

Thursday, June 16, 2016






1. Såtbe fanlihengan-måme, gefsaga yan guaiyayon
( Hail, our shelter, comfortable and lovable )

Bendise ham, Sainan-måme;
bendise ham, bendise ham, bendise ham, Sainan-måme, yo'ase' na Korason!
( Bless us, our Lord, merciful Heart! )

2. Såtbe inangokkon-måme gi mahatot na pasion
( Hail, our hope in the bitter passion )

3. Såtbe i binaban-måme i sume'se' hao halom
( Hail, our opening which pierced you through )

4. Iyo-mo i anten-måme yan todo i korason
( Yours are our souls and all our hearts )


NOTES

To understand this hymn, one must have some understanding of Catholic piety.

The heart of Jesus is seen as the locus of His love for us; divine, human, total and perfect love which sacrifices itself for our salvation.

In that heart we find all safety, protection, comfort (verse 1).

Because that heart was pierced by a soldier's lance, it is open (verse 3). Open so that all its loving and saving contents can spill out over us; open so that we enter in and find shelter there.

Thus the hymn speaks of the Heart of Jesus as our shelter ( fanlihengan ). It is a place of spiritual comfort ( gefsaga ). The Heart of Jesus suffered yet was not destroyed, so we too can go through life's sufferings with Jesus and emerge victorious. Thus His Heart is our hope in times of bitter passion (verse 2).

In response, we give back to Jesus our own souls and hearts (verse 4).





NENEN-MÅME

Wednesday, June 15, 2016


This picture of granddaughter Lauren helping her grandpa Antonio Manalisay with his shoes reminded me of a remark I heard once from a daughter of an elderly woman.

I was visiting a family but had never met some relatives who were also gathered there.

I started conversing with them and was learning their names when it finally came to the elderly woman, sitting in a wheel chair, visibly unable to communicate.

The daughter, in her 50s, told me her name then said, putting her arms around her mother, " Guiya på'go nenen-måme ." " She is now our baby ."

Her remark summarized everything I know about how our people traditionally treat our elders, specifically those elders who are now dependent on the care of family.

I say "traditionally" because care for the elderly has weakened over the past few decades. Part of that is because the traditional family model of having as many children as God gives a couple has also weakened. Huge numbers of couples practice artificial means of birth control. The days of having numerous children are over, for the most part. Couples put the blame on modern economics. But a consequence of smaller families is the dearth of hands to care for each other. Of the three children, in many cases, two live in the mainland. So it falls to one child to care for an elderly parent. In many families, there is no means to place grandma in the one senior care home we have on Guam, and no means to hire care givers who can come to the home.

Traditionally, though, families were large and extended. Even when there were no children due to sterility, the extended family came to the rescue. Sometimes a care giver was not even related by blood. It could be the godchild who came to care for the godparent.

"Our baby" may sound mildly insulting to some, as if it demeans the dignity of the aged adult. The lady who made that remark meant that she gives her aged mother all the care and attention she would give to a newborn, and with all the same pleasure and joy you see a mother give an infant when changing diapers. How often I wished I could hold my nose when a mother was changing diapers! And yet there was mom smiling and cooing with the baby, despite the sights and smells! I could tell from the tone of voice when the lady told me that her mother was now "their baby." Many older people get the physical care they need from others, but not always with the same feeling of joy and pleasure given to babies in need of care.

But the traditional Chamorro feeling towards the incapacitated elderly was just that. He or she is a baby who is loved, cherished and pampered.

" Annai eståba yo' nenen-ñiha, ma gof asiste yo' kon kariño ."
(" When I was their baby, they attended to me well with affection .")

" På'go, siha nenen-måme ya bai cho'gue ha' taiguennao. "
(" Now, they are our babies and I will do likewise .")

Chamorro Psychology 101


I MINAIPEN I FINO'-MO

Tuesday, June 14, 2016




1. Preparao yo' para i che'cho'-ho
( I was ready for my work )

un minakkat na sinisede
( a heavy incident happened )

i minaipen i fino'-mo nene
( the heat of your words baby )

esta ha gacha' yo' mågi.
( has already reached me here .)

2. Gi durånten annai macho'cho' yo'
( While I was working )

hu hungok i dilingding telefon
( I heard the ringing of the telephone )

annai hu håtsa ya hu ekkungok
( when I picked it up and listened )

ai sa' hu hungok i bos-mo!
( oh, I heard your voice! )

3. Ola mohon ya hu tungo' nene
( If only I knew baby )

håye para un minantiene
( who will hold you )

håye mohon un kinenne'
( who perhaps will take you )

ai ya guåho mohon nene.
( oh if only it were me baby .)



TA HASSO NÅYA - 1

Monday, June 13, 2016
People mean well, and using Chamorro more and more in public signs and in print is good. But there are some examples where perhaps we need to double-check our Chamorro grammar and/or usage. In the interest of improving our Chamorro usage, I'd like to offer, from time to time, instances where perhaps we can hasso nåya (think for a while) whether the Chamorro rendition is the best, or not.



Odd-Size Baggage. Nones Mineddong Maleta


We see this sign in the baggage claim area of our Guam airport.

The question is over the use of the word nones . It is pronounced no - nes.

Nones is borrowed from the Spanish word non (singular) or nones (plural). They mean "odd number or odd numbers."

1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 are números nones (odd numbers).

2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 are números pares (even numbers).

Someone at the airport wanted to say "odd-size" in Chamorro and either knew the word nones , or looked up the word "odd" in a Chamorro dictionary or asked someone how to say "odd" in Chamorro.

The trouble is that nones does not refer to anything and everything odd. It refers only to odd numbers.

In English, we can use the one word "odd" and mean different things. "Odd" can mean something strange, unusual, exceptional, rare, irregular, non-standard, abnormal, incidental...and so on!

But "odd numbers" are none of those things. Odd numbers are simply numbers that are not divisible by two.

When it comes to "odd-size luggage," it simply means luggage that goes beyond normal sizes.

So nones (odd numbers) would not be the word to use to describe over-sized luggage.

In fact, nones mineddong means "odd number size." Maybe a 33-inch long suitcase belongs here.


ALTERNATIVES

There are a number of ways we can express in Chamorro the idea of baggage that is bigger than the usual sizes.

La Dangkulo na Maleta - Bigger Baggage

Pinat Dangkulo na Maleta - Overly Large Baggage

Dispareho na Maleta - dispareho can mean "different, dissimilar, unequal"

Diferensiao na Maleta - similar to dispareho

Sasahnge na Maleta - sasahnge can mean "apart, isolated" but it can also mean "different or unusual," as in "not standard."

There are certainly more ways to express this, but one thing is clear. Nones refers to odd numbers, but not to anything and everything odd.

O KORASON MA GUAIYA

Friday, June 10, 2016


This Chamorro hymn to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is not so well-known, at least in Guam. I heard it sung in Saipan, though, and even there not so much.





O KORASON MA GUAIYA


O Korason ma guaiya, man dimo gi me'nå-mo;
( O beloved Heart, we kneel before You ;)
in ya'ho hao Rai-måme, gi langet yan i tano'. (1)
( we call You our King, in heaven and earth .)
Asaina na iyo-mo, i saina yan i patgon;
( Lord, Yours is the parent and child ;)
i guaha yan i taya', todos siha i taotao. (2)
(rich and poor, all the people .)

Hamyo i man gai pinite, fan mamaila' giya guåho;
(You who have sorrow, come to me;)
Esta guine Jesus-måme, ya man magof ham nu hågo.
(Where are here now, our Jesus, and are happy in you.)
Hamyo lokkue' famagu'on, fan la hihot guine sahyao;
(You children also, come closer here quickly;)
konne' ham, u ta fan hita, gi yini'usan na raino.
(Take us, we will be together, in the divine kingdom.)

"Guåho i maolek na Pastot, ya hamo man pineksai-ho." (3)
("I am the Good Shepherd, and you are my flock.")
Yu'us, Pastot yan Rai-måme, na' fañocho ham ni na'-mo.
(Our God, Shepherd and King, feed us with your food.)
Bo'bo' hånom i ha'of-mo, sen mames nu i man må'ho. (4)
(Your heart if a font of water, most sweet to the thirsty.)
Må'ho yo' guennao na gimen, låla'la' na matan hånom.
(I thirst for that drink, the spring of living water.)




NOTES

(1) Yå'ho : some people might interpret this to mean "to wake someone up," and it can be translated that way, but it means "to call" or "to call out," and in that way one can call out to someone to wake them up.

(2) The song refers to the rich as "those having" ( i guaha ) and the poor as "those lacking" ( i taya ').

(3) Jesus is the Shepherd, and His flock of sheep are the ones He raises, shelters, protects, provides for. Poksai means "to raise."

(4) Hå'of literally means "chest" but here it stands for the Heart, which is within the chest.


This hymn is based on the Spanish hymn O Corazón Sagrado ( O Sacred Heart ).



PURO HA' TAGÅLO

Wednesday, June 8, 2016



In the Philippines, there are Tagalogs, Ilocanos, Visayans, Bicolanos, Ilonggos, Kapampangans, Pangasinenses and many, many others.

Not on Guam. Or the Marianas.

Here, they are all Tagålos.

Not even Tagalog. Tagålo.

Not even Filipino. Tagålo.

For some reason, our Chamorro grandparents just put all the different Filipinos together and called them Tagålo. If they were speaking about Filipina women, it was Tagåla.

The members of the Aklan Association of Guam? Puro ha' Tagålo .

Guam Visayas & Mindanao Association? Puro ha' Tagålo .

Federation of Pangasinanses on Guam? Again, puro ha' Tagålo .

In fact, an Ilocano and a Visayan were fighting and a Chamorro stepped in and stopped the fight saying, "Why are you two fighting when you're both Tagålo?"

What's interesting is that the first Filipinos to live on Guam were mainly Kapampangans, from the Province of Pampanga. The people of Pampanga are distinct from the Tagalogs and have their own language. These Kapampangan soldiers married Chamorro wives and help make us who we are today as modern-day Chamorros. Families such as the Pangelinans, Manibusans, Crisostomos and Lizamas can all trace their Guam origins to a Filipino soldier of the Pampanga regiment.

Not Tagålo!

In time, Filipinos who were truly Tagålo (Tagalog) did come to the Marianas and marry Chamorro women, as did other Filipinos who were Ilocano and Visayan and so forth.

But, for our mañaina , they were all Tagålo.

Our elders seem to have done that with our island neighbors to the south, as well.

To them, all those islanders were gupallau .....people from Palau.

Chuukese, Yapese, Ulithians, Satawalese.....it didn't matter.

They were all gupallau ....from Palau.

But that is another story.

ASAINA BABAYE

Saturday, June 4, 2016


Asaina babaye i guinaiya-mo / nu i yiniusan na kalaguak-mo .
( Lord open up your love / from your divine side .)

Guaiya yo' Jesus-ho ni tentago'-mo / ya u ta chasaga gi sanhalom-mo.
( Love me, Jesus, your servant / and let us stay together within you .)

På'go ha' ha sodda' i atadok-ho / ennao i minames na fanatok-ho.
( Only now have my eyes found / there the sweetness of my hiding place .)

Taichii gi tano' i chinatsaga / taihinekkok guennao i ginefsaga.
( Limitless on earth are troubles / endless over there is comfort .)

Ti siña yo' ñålang, ti siña yo' må'ho / sa' si Jesukristo gimen yan na'-ho.
( I cannot hunger, I cannot thirst / because Jesus Christ is my drink and food .)

Gi huisio-mo Saina håye u tacho / yagin un mahettok kalan i acho'.
( In your judgment Lord who can stand / if you become hard like rock .)

U ta hita guine sa' hamlango yo' / gaiase' nu guåho ya na' homlo' yo'.
( Let us be together here because I am sickly / have mercy on me and heal me .)


NOTES

Kalaguak . The word means either side of the upper torso below the collar bone, the left or right sides of the rib cage. When Jesus hung on the cross, a soldier named Longinus thrust a spear between the bones of the rib cage to see if Jesus were still alive. The spear pierced the heart of Jesus and out came blood and water. Jesus was already dead. This piercing of the side (of the heart) is symbolic. It shows how Jesus gave His entire self to mankind to the very last drop of blood and water from his heart. The Heart of Jesus is like an infinite storehouse of love for mankind. Because It was pierced open and can now be accessed, It becomes like a hiding place or a place of refuge for sinners. These idea run through the entire length of this hymn.

Fanatok-ho . Atok means "to hide." Fanatok means "hiding place." The Heart of Jesus is this hiding place, this place of safety for sinners.

Taihinekkok guennao i ginefsaga . In this world of trouble, in the Sacred Heart we find all comfort, spiritual and material resources and everything we need for life and happiness. Chat (defective) and gef (intensifier) added to såga (to stay, pointing to someone's status or condition) mean "poverty, trouble, suffering" or "wealth, ease, happy condition."

Gi huisio-mo. Huisio means "judgment." If the Lord had nothing but justice and no mercy; if He were hard like rock, we would surely be condemned. But because His Heart is merciful, we have hope of forgiveness.

Yagin . Older form of yanggen . Meaning "when, if."

Hamlango . Ha is a prefix that means "often" or "frequently." Hamaleffa means "forgetful." Hamalango means "sickly" and can be shortened to hamlango . We are sickly, not only in body, but also in soul.


ORIGINAL SPANISH HYMN

The Chamorro hymn borrowed the melody from a Spanish hymn composed by Father Nemesio Otaño, a Spanish Jesuit musician and composer of sacred songs.

Here is the original song, "Dueño de mi vida," or "Owner of my life." It, too, contains many of the same ideas or sentiments in the Chamorro version.






Fr. Nemesio Otaño, SJ
Composer



Påle' Román de Vera, OFM Cap
Probably wrote the Chamorro lyrics

CHEW ON THIS

Wednesday, June 1, 2016


What do you do when grandma's teeth won't let her chew her pugua' (betel nut) which she has had in her mouth every day for the last 70 years?

What do you do when the baby's still-developing mouth can't manage the herbal medicine prescribed by the local suruhåna ?

You chew it for them first.

Premastication is as old as the hills. People have been doing it for as far back as we can tell, on ever continent in every race.

Even the birds do it. Mama bird making it easier for baby bird to eat the food she has found.

Besides breaking down the food mass into more manageable sizes for the baby, the salivary enzymes also start the digestive process before the food enters the child's mouth.

Saliva also contains good bacteria which helps the baby develop a robust immune system.

There are, of course, risks. There are also bad bacteria, and also diseases, which can be transferred from one mouth to the other, through saliva.


TWO DIFFERENT WORDS FOR THE SAME THING

Chamorros premasticated when someone in the family needed it done.

Our mañaina developed two different words for it, depending on who was the beneficiary.

When it was grandma, or grandpa, or someone toothless, who needed their mamå'un ( pugua', pupulu amåska and åfok ) pre-chewed for them, it is called ammi .

When it was a baby who needed food or herbal medicine pre-chewed for them, it was called mohmo .


AMMI - MOHMO

TINGO' I DIFERENSIA!

CHAMORRO STOWAWAY

Tuesday, May 31, 2016


Benjamin Lizama Torres (1884-1968)
Chamorro Whaling Crew


We have heard for many years now about the Chamorro boys and men who joined the American and British whaling ships.

But we know the individual stories of very few of them.

Here's one of these precious few stories.

Benjamin was born in Saipan in 1884, according to his wedding certificate. Unfortunately, there is no Benjamin Lizama Torres in the Saipan baptismal records. Perhaps the priest at the time just overlooked recording his baptism. Perhaps the family moved temporarily to Guam and Ben was born there.

However, we do find the baptismal records in Saipan of two of Ben's sisters, and from those records, we see that Ben's father was Joaquin Camacho Torres, born on Guam, and his mother was Dolores Crisostomo Lizama, also born on Guam.

According to the family, Ben had no brothers but he did have five sisters. Evidently, something happened in the family. We're not sure what happened but it is possible that mom, dad or both mom and dad died and Ben was sent to live in different homes, possibly relatives but we're not sure of that.

The young Ben did not like his life situation and got the idea, with a friend in tow, to sneak on board a whaling ship visiting Saipan and leave the island forever. He was 14 or 15 years old.

Hiding on the ship, the two boys were discovered only when it was too late for the ship to turn back to Saipan and return the boys. The captain took Ben under his wing and someone else did the same with the other boy. The captain put Ben to work as an assistant to the ship's cook. Ben would later work as a cook himself.

Eventually the ship stopped at San Francisco, California and Ben quit the whaling ship. He settled in San Francisco, working in different jobs. He married and had children.

Sometime later he moved to Hawaii, where his wife passed away. He found himself a second wife, a woman who had also lost her spouse in death. More children were born from this marriage.

As Chamorros from Guam joined the US Navy and came to Hawaii, Ben opened his home to them, especially for dinner during the holidays. Ben never lost his Chamorro language and spoke Chamorro with the Guam Navy boys. In his last days before he died in 1968, Ben actually lost his English and spoke only in Chamorro, even to his younger children even though they did not understand Chamorro.

Interestingly, two of Ben's daughters married Chamorro Navy men from Guam whom they had met while the men were stationed in Hawaii. One of these Navy men brought his wife, Ben's daughter, to Guam and then to Saipan, where she met her dad's youngest sister.

If anyone from Saipan is a Lizama Torres, descended from Joaquin Camacho Torres and Dolores Lizama Torres, please contact me. You have relatives in the mainland who want to connect with you.

I learned about Ben's story from his son, living now in California.



CHAMORROS CARRY ON TRADITION IN OCEANSIDE

Monday, May 30, 2016


The Chamorros of Southern California, for many years now, have taken the lead in keeping a tradition alive.

This tradition, of building temporary altars for the feast of Corpus Christi, is still observed by Catholics in many places, but it has also fallen into disuse in many other places in the last fifty years.

In the Marianas, these temporary altars are called lånchon Kotpus , and there are usually three of them in each village or parish.

Twenty years ago, a Chamorro woman, Rosario Meno Reyes (Mama Ling), put up her own lånchon Kotpus in her own home. She was friends with a priest at Mission San Luís Rey in Oceanside, California, a certain Father Vince. He heard about it, and he asked Mama Ling to build the låncho at the Old Mission the following year.

Then, other Chamorros joined in and they did it by villages. The Corpus Christi procession to all these låncho built by Chamorros is now a huge event. Some people travel from beyond California to help build their låncho and also to attend the procession.



Mama Ling
( passed away in 2001 )

Mama Ling always reserved a spot for her own personal låncho , which was as far from the mission church as possible, so that there definitely would be a procession of the Blessed Sacrament from the church to her låncho .



Oceanside Corpus Christi Organization



Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Yigo



Saint Jude Parish, Sinajaña





Saint Joseph Parish, Inarajan




Niño Perdido Parish, Asan



Mount Carmel Cathedral, Chalan Kanoa, Saipan



San Juan Bautista Parish, Ordot

BERT UNPINGCO'S FASHION STATEMENT

Friday, May 27, 2016

BERT (AND WIFE VIRGINIA) UNPINGCO
Photo : Victor Consaga


"You are what you wear," goes the familiar expression.

Back in the early 1970s, Guam was full swing into the tourism craze. The Japanese were coming, bringing their money with them. What was once a relatively unknown island was now getting a lot of attention and we were proud. We wanted to show the world who we were.

But that begged the question : who are we?

Not everyone was sure of the answer.

Young people in grass skirts performed the stick dance, and some said, "That's not Chamorro."

Others put on the mestisa dress and sombrero hat to dance the båtso and some said, "That's not Chamorro."

Frank Rabon and others looked at early descriptions of pre-contact dance and created their dance routines and attire based on that, and still some said, "That's not Chamorro."

Bert Unpingco was at the forefront of the tourism promotion movement. As head of the Guam Visitors Bureau, he lived tourism promotion all day long. He pioneered the WAVE initiative (Welcome All Visitors Enthusiastically) and I remember as a school kid being taught to wave to buses of Japanese tourists.

Bert knew, from archival photos, that the Chamorro men 120 years ago wore a very simple loose shirt, usually white, with a straight collar (also called a standing or a band collar) and long sleeves.




The dad in the picture above models that kind of shirt, worn by almost every man, adult or child, in the late 1800s and very early 1900s.

Bert was inspired to create a modern version of this "traditional" male attire, which you can see Bert model in the first picture above. Bert added the Guam seal on his breast pocket. Some of his shirts featured a floral-print collar.

Katherine Aguon included the concept when she collected different designs for Chamorro traditional attire. There were many different ideas for women's wear, and the "Bert Unpingco" shirt was one for the men.

You rarely saw Bert in public wearing anything but the shirt that became identified with him. With him, I say, because his idea never caught on with the general public. Whereas women might wear a kind of mestisa for performances or events, very few men would wear the "Bert Unpingco" shirt as their ordinary dress that day.

Bert, however, was never one to be deterred by public opinion. Bert continued to wear the distinctive shirt till he became too sickly to leave his home.

So I post this as a kind of tribute to Bert's resolve and unflagging enthusiasm, and to document his initiative to revive what was the standard male apparel of our islands in the late 1800s and early 1900s.


FOR THE BIRDS

Thursday, May 26, 2016
CNMI Division of Fish & Wildlife

"We do not understand how that island was able to be inhabited...."

So said Marianas Governor Felipe de la Corte about Guguan in his 1876 book about our islands ( Descriptive and Historical Report of the Mariana Islands ).

Virtually unknown to most Chamorros on Guam, the island receives scant attention from other Chamorros living in the Northern Marianas.

Unlike Pagan, Alamagan, Agrigan and Anatahan, Guguan is one of those northern islands that has not had a stable human population since around the year 1695.




Located 287 miles north of Saipan, the island is tiny. Barely 2 miles long and a mile and half wide.

Unlike most of the northern islands, Guguan is not high. The highest point is only 942 feet, less than Guam's Mount Lamlam which rises to 1332 feet. Both are puny compared to Agrigan's highest point at 3166 feet, the highest in all of Micronesia, let alone the highest in the Marianas.


US Geological Survey

It seems even our pre-Spanish ancestors had little use for Guguan. There are no known latte stones on Guguan and none were noted in past descriptions of the island. No known archaeological artifacts have been discovered, either. All this suggests that, while people certainly did live on Guguan before the Spanish arrival, they were probably not large in number. They would have been forcibly moved to the southern Mariana islands by the Spaniards after 1695. Since then, the island has been uninhabited except for a few short periods involving a few individuals.


A PERFECT REFUGE FOR THE BIRDS

People may not have had much use for Guguan, but the birds certainly did and still do.

Because the island does support adequate vegetation to be a source of food and shelter for the birds; since the island lacks common predators such as snakes, wild pigs, monitor lizards (iguana), goats, dogs and cats, the bird population can thrive very well here. Fruit bats ( fanihi ) also find a comfortable home in the dense tropical forests in some parts of the island.

Rats abound on Guguan but apparently have not harmed the bird or bat population.

The only possible disturbance (besides a typhoon) would be the two volcanoes that are still alive on Guguan. The last known eruption was in 1883, but the volcanoes are not extinct. More eruptions can occur in the future.

FEATHERS

Because of the large bird population, Guguan did attract some attention in the early 1900s. As exotic bird feathers were commercially profitable in the use of women's hats in those days, the German Government ruling over the Northern Marianas allowed a private company, the Pagan Gesellschaft , to send workers (often Japanese) to Guguan to harvest bird feathers. Despite government conditions attempting to limit the harvesting of feathers in order to protect the bird population, a lack of government inspections lead to the decimation of the bird population. In short order, though, the Pagan Gesellschaft cut back on this enterprise, as it proved not to be the gold mine it was hoped to be, and the feather business eventually closed. The bird population recovered.


CNMI Division of Fish & Wildlife
The abundant bird population of Guguan


So, to this day, Guguan is literally for the birds.

The CNMI Constitution forbids the human habitation of Guguan, along with three other islands in the CNMI. The island is dedicated to the preservation and protection of its present natural resources.

PAPA' SÅTGE

Tuesday, May 24, 2016






Papa' såtge . Under the floor.

The first house I ever lived in, from 1962 till 1971, was a wooden, tin-roofed house with a papa' såtge . I remember the cool air breezing through the cracks of the wooden floor.

Almost all houses built in the Marianas in the old days, unless one had a stone house ( mampostería ), were raised houses resting on haligi (pillars), creating an open under-space called the papa' sätge .

There were two main reasons for building raised homes.

1. To keep out unwanted things.

Animals, insects, flood waters!

2. To cool the house.

Air can travel below and around the house.

There is always the temptation to use the papa' såtge as a storage space. In old Hagåtña, far from the ranches where the Hagåtña people grew their food and raised their animals, some families did indeed fence in a hog or two, or chickens, goats and dogs, underneath the house. This practice fell out of favor under the American Navy and their concern for health and hygiene.

After the war, many homes were still built on haligi and the papa' såtge was often used for storing lumber or fishing gear and numerous other things. Concern over thievery was less in those days, but it happened once in a while that a fishing rod might go missing.

In the 1960s, for us kids, the papa' såtge was a place for us to be imbilikero (nosy), wondering what the adults were hiding down there, and to be píkaro (mischievous).

One of my first accidents happened in the papa' såtge . It happened at a neighbor's house where my two older brothers were playing with other guys from the neighborhood. Hiding in the papa' såtge , they made a cannon from bamboo poles ( piao ) and were firing empty soda and beer cans from them! They melted candles for some reason (perhaps to seal up holes?) and I, not wanting to be left out of the fun, went into the papa' såtge uninvited by the older boys. I was about 8. As the papa' såtge was dark, and as the boys were in the deeper part of it, I had a ways to walk, hunched over to avoid hitting the floor above. In my naked foot went (I was wearing zori , the Japanese rubber slipper) into a coffee can of melted wax. I felt my foot burning! As my oldest brother carried me out, the wax began to cool and harden, and I thought the whitish film appearing on my foot was actually my burnt skin breaking off into pieces. In the end, all was well.


PAPA' SÅTGE THROUGH THE AGES




Larger latte stones are believed to have served as pillars where the flooring of the homes of the higher status Chamorros were built.



In Spanish times, many homes were still being built above-ground. You can see what looks like a pig lurking around the papa' såtge here.




All the homes in this pic, it seems, are on haligi and have a papa' såtge during the early American period.




There still are a few homes, here and there on Guam, with a papa' såtge , many of them going back to the 1950s and 60s.

HÅFA MUNA' TÅYA' ATUNGO'-ÑIHA I FANIHI

Monday, May 23, 2016


Åntes na tiempo, annai tåya' trabia taotao mañåsaga gi hilo' tano'-ta,
( In past times, when no humans yet lived on our land ,)

man sen afa'maolek todo i ga'ga' siha gi tano',
( all the animals on earth got along very well ,)

tånto ayo siha i mañåsaga gi tano' yan kontodo i paluma siha ni man gugupu gi aire.
( those who stay on land and the birds as well who are flying in the air .)

Un dia, mampos maipe i ha'åne; i semnak mampos metgot.
( One day, the day was too hot; the sunshine was too strong .)

Pues man gupu i fanihi siha para u fan man espia liheng-ñiha,
( So the fruit bats flew to find their shelter ,)

yan para u eskapåye i minaipen somnak.
( and to escape the heat of the sunshine .)

Ma sodda' dångkulon liyang ya mañåga ha' guihe, man magof yan mangontento .
( They found a huge cave and they stayed there, happy and content .)

Ayo mismo na ha'åne, man asangane i paluma siha.
( That very same day, the birds said to each other. )

"Kao ti en repåra na mås man dichoso hit ke ni pumalo siha na gå'ga'?" mamaisen un paluma.
( "Do you not realize that we are more fortunate than the other animals?" one bird asked. )

"Man masåså'pet siha an mampos somnak i ha'åne, sa' ti siña siha man gupu, ti pareho yan hita."
( "They suffer when the day is too sunny, because they cannot fly, not like us." )

Pues ma tutuhon i paluma siha ma butlea i ga'ga' siha gi tano'.
( So the birds began to ridicule the animals on the land .)

"Man metgot-ña ham ke hamyo na gå'ga' tåno'! Man malate'-ña ham ke hamyo!"
( "We are stronger than you, the animals on land! We are smarter than you!" )

Ya ennao mina' man mumu i paluma siha gi aire yan i ga'ga' siha gi tano'.
(And that is why the birds of the air and the animals on land fought.)

Gi mimun-ñiñiha, man gupu i paluma siha guato gi liyang nai man gaige i fanihi.
( In their fighting, the birds flew to the cave where the fruit bats were .)

"Hoi! Fan huyung hamyo na fanihi ya en ayuda ham man mumu yan i ga'ga' tåno'!"
( "Hey! Come out you fruit bats and help us fight with the animals of the land!" )

Ilek-ñiha i fanihi, "Ai lokkue'! Haftaimano para in fan mumu yan i ga'ga' tåno'?"
( The fruit bats said, "Oh dear! How are we to fight the animals of the land?" )

"In na' gigimen i nenen-måme ni lechen-måme, pareho yan siha."
( "We make our babies drink our milk, the same as them. ")

Pues, gi linalålo'-ñiha nu i fanihi siha, ilek-ñiha i paluma, "Hamyo la'mon," ya man hånao.
( So, in their anger towards the fruit bats, the birds said, "Up to you," and they went .)

Diddide' despues, man finatoigue i fanihi siha nu i ga'ga' tåno' ya man finaisen,
( A little later, the fruit bats were visited by the animals of the land and were asked,)

"Kao man magof hamyo ya ta fan hita man mumu yan i paluma siha?"
( "Would you be willing for us be together and fight the birds? ")

"Ai lokkue'!" ilek-ñiha i fanihi. "Haftaimano para in fan mumu yan i paluma siha,
( "Oh dear," said the fruit bats. "How are we going to fight the birds,)

yanggen man gugupu ham gi aire pareho yan siha?"
( if we fly in the air like they do ?")

Man disgustao i ga'ga' tåno' siha mina' i ineppen-ñiha i fanihi ya ma sangåne i fanihi siha,
( The land animals were displeased because of the fruit bats' reply and they told the bats ,)

"Hamyo la'mon, lao desde på'go para mo'na, tåya' esta entre hamyo yan hame."
(" Up to you, but from now on, there is nothing between you and us .")

Ya desde ayo na ha'åne, tåya' atungo'-ñiha i fanihi.
( And since that day, the fruit bats have no friends .)

Man a'atok gi halom liyang an ha'åne,
( They hide inside caves when it is day ,)

ya man huyung para u fan man espia na'-ñiha solo an puenge.
( and come out to look for their food only when it is night .)




FINO' GUAM, FINO' SAIPAN

Friday, May 20, 2016


In English, we know them as "sea cucumbers."

As a kid, I wondered if they could be eaten like regular cucumbers. I soon found out, when I stepped on one, and got covered in its sticky spaghetti-like innards, that they were nothing like regular cucumbers.

I learned later that they were once prized by many Asians as a source of food and medicine. Europeans and Americans came to our islands collecting (what they called) trepang or bêche-de-mer , to sell in Asian markets.

But what do we call these annoying sea slugs in Chamorro?

It depends.

On Guam, they're called balåti .

In Saipan, babalåti .

Maybe the Saipan Chamorros are on to something. I don't like sea cucumbers, so, yes, they are båba ! Babalåti !

CHAMORRO VOLUNTEERS FOR SPAIN

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Spanish naval ship San Quintín


The year was 1885 and tension between Spain and Germany had already been at the boiling point for about a year.

Both countries were claiming control over the Caroline Islands (Palau, Yap, Chuuk, Ponape, Kosrae). Spain asserted that these islands had been Spanish since the old days of discovery. Germany countered, saying that Spain had ignored them for all those hundreds of years and were therefore "up for grabs."

The conflict was headed for military resolution and Spain began her preparations. Spanish naval ships had to head for Yap, the focus of the controversy.

It seems that Chamorro men were part of the preparations.

Francisco Olive García, the Spanish Governor of the Marianas, relates in his 1887 book on the Marianas ( Islas Marianas : Lijeros Apuntes ),  that he heard good things about the Chamorros who were "volunteers to serve on our war ships in the year 1884."




He might be referring to any one of three Spanish ships that went to Yap in 1885. The Velasco came in February. But that ship was not a war ship and its purpose was to gather information about the island, and then leave.

In August, however, two military ships, the San Quintín and the Carriedo (also known as the Manila ), arrived at Yap with the intention of establishing a Spanish presence there. Two Spanish priests came to build a church there. One of these two priests, Father Aniceto Ibáñez, had previously been the priest of Hagåtña for many years, and was embraced at Yap by some Chamorros who had moved there. Knowing he would be going to an island where some Chamorros already lived, it's plausible that Ibáñez suggested (or at least concurred) that some Chamorro volunteers be part of the expedition to Yap.

I would not be surprised, therefore, if our Chamorro volunteers assisting the Spanish cause in Yap had been on the same ship that brought Ibáñez to Yap, the San Quintín .

In any case, they didn't stay long. The Germans arrived a few days later with their own war ship and the Spaniards departed Yap.

I haven't found any other details about these Chamorro volunteers. How many were there? Did they indeed go to Yap? From Guam or from Manila? How many were they? What were their names? Where did they go when all was done?

All I know, from Olive's remark, is that there were Chamorro volunteers on ships in the service of Spain in 1884.

FINO' TANAPAG

Monday, May 16, 2016


When I moved to Saipan in 1991 to live for three years, I was assigned to the northern-most parish, San Roque.

San Roque is only a mile or two away from the village of Tanapag, and many people now living in San Roque used to live in Tanapag in former times.

Tanapag was originally founded by a group of Carolinian islanders from a different area of the Chuukese region, speaking a different dialect of Carolinian from the kind spoken by Saipan Carolinians who live elsewhere, in Garapan, Chalan Kanoa and Oleai.  Over time, Chamorros also moved to Tanapag and there were many intermarriages between the Carolinians there and the Chamorros.

One of the unique expressions found in Tanapag is the word "Wets!"




One says "Wets!" when one is surprised, or to react with disbelief when someone says something unusual or incredible.

You walk into the kitchen and discover that someone has eaten all the food you put aside for later. "Wets!"

Someone tells you that you're being blamed for something you didn't do. "Wets!"

Someone you never expected to show up walks right into the room. "Wets!"

You think it's just 10AM and you glance at the clock and it's really 11AM. "Wets!"

And numerous other examples abound.

The two villages being so close to each other, and some families having once lived in Tanapag, I heard "Wets!" frequently in San Roque.

Moderns, whose spelling is highly influenced by English, a language they often know better than their native tongue, and who spell more in English than in their own language, often spell it "wettz."


LET THE DEBATES BEGIN




Native speakers are spreading the information that the word has an original meaning, and its meaning makes the word taboo. Traditional culture would prohibit its public use.

It means "semen."

One person says that the original word is "wet," and that, in time, it changed to "wets."

But the meaning, they all say, is "semen," and thus the word was prohibited from public use in the past.

The debate will not be about its original meaning. That seems clear, as told us by native speakers.

The debate will be whether one should refrain from using the word, or if circumstances have changed now and the word has become just an expression, without literal meaning (for the majority of people using the word as an expression).

That, I believe, is where people will differ in opinion.

What is clear, from just listening to people, is that "wets" is used by a whole lot of people who do not intend to mean "semen" when they say it.

CHAMORROS IN SAN FRANCISCO IN 1898

Friday, May 13, 2016


A newspaper in San Francisco, California at the end of 1898 relates the arrival of 414 "more or less desirable" immigrants to the United States.

This was just a few months after the American occupation of Guam, and the Treaty of Paris which made Guam a U.S. possession had not even been signed yet, but that was just a formality by then.

Yet 25 people from Guam are mentioned in this latest batch of immigrants. About 72% of all these immigrants were men, and we can expect that most, if not all, the Guam immigrants were men. It was almost always men who left Guam, usually on whaling ships.

The fact is that young men from Guam had been leaving the island for elsewhere for many, many years already. There were already Chamorro men living in the Bay Area long before 1898.

One sad fact is that the largest number of illiterate immigrants in this group were the ones from Guam; 9 out of the 25, or 36% of the Guam settlers could not read or write, not even in their own language.

GUAM COMBAT PATROL

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Joaquin Aguon and George Flores (himself wounded) visit the wounded Vicente Borja
( MARC photo )


Everyone knows the date July 21, 1944 - the day Guam was freed from Japanese control. But this isn't quite true.

On August 8, the Americans took over Mount Santa Rosa in Yigo from the Japanese. On August 10, the last battle between the Americans and Japanese occurred at Matåguak, also in Yigo. That same day, Lt. Gen. Roy Geiger declared the island secured.

Not really.

Japanese soldiers fled into the jungle and grasslands of Guam, hiding for many months. Still armed, they were dangerous to soldier and civilian alike. Three American Marines were killed by Japanese holdouts on December 8, 1944. And this is just one example of the dangers that still lurked in Guam's hidden terrains from Japanese snipers.

American soldiers were constantly on the move looking for Japanese hideouts, assisted by Chamorro scouts. But something more organized in terms of Chamorro participation was desired.

And so, in November of 1944, the military government on Guam ordered the formation of armed scouts made up of local Chamorro civilians.  One source states that the group was called the Enemy Jap Patrol, but that later they were called the Guam Combat Patrol. An initial fourteen men were recruited and then an additional fourteen men from the police force joined them.

Their job was not merely to respond to reported attacks; their job was to go out in pursuit of the hiding Japanese. When the Japanese were discovered, not all of them welcomed it! Being in the Combat Patrol meant risking your life.

Two members of the Combat Patrol were killed while on patrol. Several members were wounded. In the photo above, we see two of the wounded. George Flores and Vicente Borja were injured when a Japanese threw a grenade at them in the Talofofo area.

The Combat Patrol was disbanded in November of 1948 (other sources give different dates). But in the four years they hunted Japanese in Guam's jungles, the Chamorro scouts killed 117 Japanese holdouts and captured five.


MEMBERS OF THE GUAM COMBAT PATROL

Juan U. Aguon (head)
Joaquin S. Aguon
Vicente L. Borja
Jose S. Bukikosa
Francisco J. Cruz
George G. Flores
Roman N. Ignacio
Antonio P. Manibusan
Agapito S. Perez
Pedro A. Perez
Ignacio R. Rivera
Jose P. Salas
Pedro R. San Nicolas
Jose S. Tenorio
Felix C. Wusstig

POLICE OFFICERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE GUAM COMBAT PATROL

Edward G. Aflague
Joaquin M. Camacho
Felix T. Cruz
Jose D. Cruz
Mariano C. Cruz
Vicente Q. Dueñas
Francisco C. Leon Guerrero
David L. Lujan
Juan L. Lujan
Charles H. McDonald
Antonio C. Perez
Juan A. Quinata
Pedro C. Santos
Henry F. Taitano

NB : There are other individuals who made the claim they served in the Guam Combat Patrol who do not appear in these lists. These men could have been those who served as scouts before the formation of the Combat Patrol (from August to November, 1944) or who served after the original group were recruited.

RIGHT OF WAY

Tuesday, May 10, 2016


San Antonio Bridge (Tollai Åcho)
Hagåtña

We have very few left on the island, but the bridges of Guam built during Spanish times were made for their times, meaning, they were very narrow.

Traffic was light to begin with and the only vehicles were bull (or karabao ) carts. A few elite people, like military officers, might ride a horse.

So when motor cars made their appearance on Guam in the early 1900s, there was trouble when two cars going opposite directions wanted to use the same narrow bridge at the same time.

A rule was agreed on : cars heading towards the center of Hagåtña had the right of way.

Cars leaving the center of Hagåtña had to move to the side and give way to the other one.

Man's laws are never perfect. The question remains : When inside Hagåtña, and two cars want to use the same bridge, like the one above, who goes first?

CHAMORRO DIALOGUE 1886

Monday, May 9, 2016


In 1886, a book was published in Spain entitled "History of the Mariana Islands, the Carolines and Palau" by the former Governor of the Marianas, Luís de Ibáñez.

Towards the end of his book, the author includes a made-up conversation between a recently-arrived Spaniard and a Chamorro boatman. Of course, the dialogue is based on reality. Ships anchored in Apra Harbor but, to get to Hagåtña, you had to pay for a ride on a small boat to Punta Piti (Piti Point) and from there rent a carriage pulled by a horse (fastest), cow (slower) or carabao (slowest).

What's neat about this, though, is that it gives us yet another sample of the way Chamorro was spoken in 1886. It also shows how different the two languages were and are (Chamorro and Spanish) even though Chamorro borrows a lot of words from Spanish. You can compare the two languages in the picture above.

I will add here the Chamorro dialogue, in my own style of spelling, and provide the English translation.

Ei! Taotao lao! Håye gai bote ennao?

Hey there man! Whose boat is that?

Boti-ho, señot.

It's my boat, sir.

Siña yo' hu ma udai guennao gi boti-mo?

Can I ride there in your boat?

Hunggan, señot.

Yes, sir.

Kuånto nai hu apåse hao?

How much shall I pay you?

Kuåttro riåles, señot.

Four reales, sir.

Maulek. Chule' maletå-ho.

Fine. Take my luggage.

Fatå'chong guine, señot.

Sit here, sir.

Hu sodda' nai kabåyo pat koche gi Puntan Piti asta Hagåtña?

Will I find a horse or carriage at Piti Point that goes to Hagåtña?

Hunggan, señot.

Yes, sir.

Kuånto ma apåpåse?

How much is he paid?

Pot i kabåyo, un peso. Pot i koche, bente riåles.

For the horse, one peso. For the carriage, 20 reales.

Kuånto chago'-ña desde Piti asta Hagåtña?

How far is it from Piti to Hagåtña?

Katna dos oras, señot.

Around two hours, sir.

Håye na'ån-ña si Maga'låhe?

What is the name of the Governor?

Si Don Luís Ibáñez, señot.

Sir Luís Ibáñez, sir.

Håfa taimano si Maga'låhe?

How is the Governor?

Maolek ha', señot.

Fine, sir.

Pues hu na' tungo' hao na guiya abok-ho yan parientes-ho.

Well I am letting you know that he is my friend and relative.

Magof yo', señot.

I'm glad, sir.




NOTES

1. Señot . Notice how often the Chamorro ends his sentences calling the Spaniard "sir." When I was small, my grandmother and aunties told me never to answer someone older with a simple "yes" or "no" but to always add "señot" or "señora."

2. Riåles .  This was an old Spanish coin that was later replaced by coins with other names, but in the Marianas the Chamorros continued to call some coins riåles or riåt, right into the early American and German times.



Spanish real

3. Distances were measured by travel time, not by land measurements (miles, kilometers, etc.).

4. Don . This was a respectful way of addressing any man of status. Women of status were called Doña. An English equivalent would be Sir and Madam. Certain Chamorros, especially those who were in government service, were called Don. Even when someone left office, they were still called Don.

5. The question concerning the Governor was a tricky one. The question may have been about the Governor's overall condition (e.g. health). But it could have also been a way of find out the Governor's reputation among the people. Was he popular or not? A decent man, or an ogre? Thus the Chamorro man's safe reply.

6. The remark indicating that the Spaniard is a friend and relative of the Governor was also pregnant with meaning. Did he mean that the Chamorro boatman better treat him well? The Chamorro man's response was also safe. He probably could have cared less who this Spaniard was. Was the Spaniard bluffing, hoping to get better treatment by making such a claim? How close of a relative to the Governor? How close of a friend? Or no friend at all? So the Chamorro boatman safely said, "I am happy for you!"

7. Abok . The Chamorro word for "friend," now almost nearly replaced by the Spanish loan word "amigo" or "amiga." But a few people still use the word abok today.

So, in the end, we see that the Chamorro we speak today was already the form of Chamorro spoken in 1886. A hundred years earlier, the few examples we have of written Chamorro shows how much the language was the same and yet also somewhat different.

FAMILIA : FARFÁN

Sunday, May 8, 2016

José Camacho Farfán
Commissioner of Mongmong-Toto-Maite 1961-1973


FARFÁN

There are not huge numbers of Chamorros with the surname Farfán, but the family has been on Guam since the early 1800s.

The name is absent on the earlier Guam censuses of 1727 and 1758. So the first Farfán to come to Guam must have arrived after 1758.

The name is Spanish, but this does not mean that the first Farfán to come to Guam had to have been a Spaniard from Spain. He could have been that, but he could have also been a Spaniard from Latin America or from the Philippines. It is also possible that he was of mixed blood from Latin America or a Filipino. Until we find more documents, that's as far as we can say.

But in the 1897 Census of Guam, we find people named Farfán who were born in the early 1800s. These must have been the 2nd or even 3rd generations of people named Farfán on Guam. The family was already part of the Chamorro community, therefore, since the early 1800s, regardless what race the first Farfán on Guam was.

1897 Census

In this census, we find three adult Farfáns living together with the family of Vicente de la Cruz and his wife Maria Ignacio de la Cruz. Maria's maiden name was Cruz. Following the Spanish custom, Chamorro women kept their original surnames even when they married.

The Farfáns living with the Cruzes had Cruz as a middle name. My guess is that the Farfáns were nephew and nieces of either Vicente or Maria. Perhaps the Farfáns (who were in their 20s and teens) had lost both mother and father, and moved in with an aunt and/or uncle.

The three are Ana, Vicente and Rita.

Vicente married Joaquina Sablan Camacho (the daughter of Roque Camacho) and these were the parents of Jose (pictured above), the former Commissioner (now called Mayor) of Mongmong-Toto-Maite, Ignacio (who died in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 while serving on the USS Oklahoma ), Jesús and one daughter, Rosa.



VICENTE CRUZ FARFÁN'S SIGNATURE IN 1912


Others...

Besides these three siblings, there is also an old widow, María Farfán, born in the 1830s.

There is finally another woman, Josefa Borja Farfán, born in the 1840s, who married Mariano Palomo Blas.

María and Josefa could have been sisters and, if they were, then María would have been a Borja Farfán.


ORIGIN OF THE NAME





The name is found in Spain, but its meaning has been lost.

Sevilla, in the south of Spain, seems to be the birthplace of the family, but it has since spread to many places. Only 1,300 people in all of Spain has this last name, found mainly in the south and in the capital city of Madrid.




Extension of the name Farfán in Spain. The darker the color, the more numerous the residents having the last name Farfán.


Keep in mind that the Spanish and Chamorro pronunciation of this last name stresses the second (and last) syllable : Far - FAN. Americanized speakers will probably stress the first syllable and say FAR - fan.


MORE ABOUT JOSÉ....

Go to this link at Dr Michael Bevacqua's blog about the writing of former Commissioner José Farfán. The man wrote critical notes about the American administration of Guam right after their return in 1944.

http://minagahet.blogspot.com/2006/08/from-invasion-of-guam-to-liberation-of.html

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO'

Thursday, May 5, 2016

SUETDON TANORES

Altar boy's salary

Meaning nothing or next to nothing


An elderly lady was telling me the following,

Ai Påle'. Annai på'go umassagua i lahi-ho yan i asaguå-ña, hu laknos i salape'-ho, masea suetdon tanores, ya hu hatsåye siha kuåtton-ñiha gi fi'on i gimå'-ho.

Oh Father. When my son first got married to his wife, I took out my money, even though it was very little, and I built their room next to my house.

Tanores , or altar boys, were never really paid a salary. That would have been unthinkable to the Chamorros of yesteryear. It was expected that people would donate cheerfully their time and service to their church.

Priests might give them little trinkets or gifts now and then, as at Christmas time. On rare occasions, a priest might give a tanores a few coins for them to go get some treats at the mom and pop store. But, other than that, tanores were never paid.

Thus the saying, suetdon tanores . No money, or next to nothing.


NOTES

Suetdo . From the Spanish sueldo or "salary."

Tanores . For the origin of this term, go to this link

http://paleric.blogspot.com/2011/07/tanores.html

BABY IN RED

Thursday, April 28, 2016
TI YAN-ÑIHA I MANGANITE I AGAGA' NA KOLOT

Bad spirits do not like the color red.


Our mañaina , since they became Catholics, valued very much the baptism of their children. The infants became children of God as soon as they were baptized, so parents had the children baptized as soon as possible. It was usual for a child born in the morning to be baptized within the day.

But, in the meantime, everyone in the family was afraid that the unbaptized baby was more vulnerable to attacks from evil spirits. The baby may get sick, or a spirit might attach itself to the baby.

It was the belief of many that these bad spirits did not like the color red. This was a folk belief, not the teaching of the religion, and many Chamorros did not hold this belief either.

But many did, and they would either dress the baby in red or had some red material around the baby, to ward off evil spirits.


AND SOME ADULTS, TOO

But apparently some adults hold this belief and believe it applies to them, also.

The other day I was at a service in Mañenggon and noticed more red blouses on women than usual. But it was a woman who made the connection for me when she voluntarily mentioned that she was wearing red so that no spirits would follow her from Mañenggon back to her home.






CHALÅN-TA SIHA : PADRE ANICETO

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Aniceto Street in Hagåtña


A very short side street in the Aniguak district of our capital city of Hagåtña carries the name Aniceto.

Unfortunately, the name is only half-correct.

The actual name is Padre Aniceto Street.

With the passage of time, as street signs get knocked down, as war moves the original location of streets and as new generations lose touch with history, the accurate names of many places become lost.




As one can see from this depiction of the streets of Hagåtña before the war, there was a Padre Aniceto Street (encircled) and it was in the barrio of San Ignacio - the city's heart - rather than in Aniguak.

But when the Americans bombed the city to smithereens in 1944, nearly every street was changed in the aftermath and a new Aniceto Street was paved west of the original location.


WHO WAS PADRE ANICETO?

He was the priest of Hagåtña for many years. His full name was Aniceto Ibáñez and, in his religious order, they added a religious name, as well, and his was del Carmen, after Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

But more than simply being a priest, he was a very influential and powerful priest of Hagåtña.

He had a lot of say in the day to day affairs of the island, not just in religion.

He wrote five books in or about Chamorro, including a dictionary published in 1865.




He learned to speak the language of the Carolinian immigrants who settled on Guam (in Tamuning) as well as the northern Marianas, and was all set to be a missionary in the Carolines in 1885 before Spain made other plans for the mission there.

He first came to Guam in 1852 when there was still a village called Pågo. In fact, he was first stationed in Pågo that year and stayed for two years. Undoubtedly he was immersed in the Chamorro language in Pågo because that village was almost entirely populated by several hundred people with less outside blood, carrying indigenous last names like Atoigue, Mafnas and Quichocho. That village closed down in the 1856 smallpox epidemic and the small group of survivors moved mostly to Hagåtña.

In 1854, he began his long stay in Hagåtña, all the way till 1877 when he left Guam after 25 years! He went first to the Philippines and then to Spain. He returned to Hagåtña in 1887 and spent another five years or so in the one island where he lived most of his life!

He died in Hagåtña in 1892 and was buried in the center of Pigo' Cemetery, next to a popular governor, Vicente Gómez. A huge white marble grave marker made in Manila was placed there (as well as at Gómez's grave) as a tribute to him.

Then, in time, a street in Hagåtña was renamed in his honor and survives to this very day, though the street is now in a different location.




Padre Aniceto Ibáñez del Carmen, OAR

MOVING TO ALAMAGAN IN 1948

Friday, April 22, 2016

ALAMAGAN

The year was 1948 and the war was over. Not only was the war over; the islands were coming back to a state of normalcy and people wanted to get on with their lives.

Prior to the war, civilians, both Chamorro and Carolinian, had been living on the northern islands such as Pagan, Alamagan and Agrigan. War conditions changed that and, right after the war, the islands were empty of people, the Japanese soldiers and civilians having been taken back to Japan. (Japanese holdouts on Anatahan would not surrender to the Americans until 1951!)

In 1947, a small group of Chamorros on Saipan started to organize to petition the government to allow them to move to Alamagan. It is more than likely that at least some of the people in this group had prior experiences living on Alamagan before the war.

Their goal was to farm for a living. Even in the 1800s, the northern islands were wanted by some entrepreneurs for copra farming. But the Chamorros in 1947 did not have those great ambitions. They just wanted to farm for their livelihood, fish and enjoy the peace and quiet of this remote island.

If they hoped to make some cash by selling produce, that was completely dependent on the arrival of the government ship that, in those days, made two trips a year to make sure the people in the northern islands were safe and sound. So, there were no pretensions of getting rich by moving to Alamagan.

In January of 1948, a government ship transported 26 Chamorros from Saipan to Alamagan, with supplies. The leader of the Chamorro community was Jose S. Sablan, who was very much appreciated by the government authorities in Saipan. He was called the "spark plug" who would help the small community achieve success on Alamagan.

The island had enough fresh water in old Japanese cisterns to support those small numbers of settlers. There was a great deal of work to be done; repairing houses and copra sheds left behind, building new dwellings and elementary infrastructure. But the land and sea would amply supply the needs of the new community.

The settlers were :

1. ALDAN, Antonio T.
2. ALDAN, Jose C.
3. ALDAN, Leon A.
4. ALDAN, Lucio C.
5. BERMUDES, Francisco
6. BLAS, Joaquin S.
7. BLAS, Juan S.
8. BLAS, Pedro S.
9. BORJA, Felix de
10. CABRERA, Nicolas T.
11. CASTRO, Santiago V.
12. CRUZ, Joaquin
13. CRUZ, Mariano de la
14. MATAGOLAI, Ignacio
15. MATAGOLAI, Joaquin S.
16. MATAGOLAI, Manuel C.
17. MATAGOLAI, Vicente
18. MENDIOLA, Vicente C.
19. PABLO, Jose T.
20. PANGELINAN, Antonio
21. PANGELINAN, Antonio M.
22. PANGELINAN, Ramon
23. SABLAN, Antonio S.
24. SABLAN, Benigno
25. SABLAN, Jose S.
26. TAITANO, Joaquin R.

As you can see - all males. Their wives and children would be transported to Alamagan a few months later.

The community would be divided into two settlements. One of them would be called Songsong ("village") on the southeast side of the island. The other settlement, Pattico ("my part"), on the southwest. Other sources call this second village Partida or Pattida ("share").

Unfortunately, the Chamorro community on Alamagan did not thrive. By the 1960s, there were less than a dozen homes still on the island. There was an evacuation in 1998 due to volcanic activity; another evacuation in 2009 due to a direct hit by typhoon.

Whenever possible, a handful of men from Saipan always manage to get back to Alamagan (as they often do at other northern islands temporarily abandoned).

Source : Civil Administrator Report, January 20, 1948





Alamagan is more or less dead center in the chain of islands called the Marianas

THE MAN NGINGE' : ¿ESPAÑOL?

Thursday, April 21, 2016
Dolores Navarro San Nicolas (familian Alabådo)
receiving the man nginge' from her son Pedro and his bride

Recently, I noticed a good number of comments on Chamorro culture social media sites stating that the man nginge' is a Spanish custom.

None of the people claiming this provide any historical evidence. How can they? It isn't there.

Consider the following :

1. Early European accounts of our ancestors describe different gestures of respect practiced among our ancestors before Spanish colonization.

Just to cite one early source, the Jesuit Francisco García, writing very early during the first decades of Spanish colonization, whose sources were the letters and reports written by the Spanish missionaries on the ground here in the Marianas.

García says, "They (the Chamorros) practice many courtesies, and an ordinary usage on meeting and passing in front of one another is to say ' ati arinmo ,' which means 'Allow me to kiss your feet.'"

He also says, "To pass the hand over the breast of the person they visit is a great courtesy."

So we notice here no mention of taking someone's hand and "kissing" it with the nose, which is how we have practiced the man nginge' for at least a couple of hundred years, if not longer.

But we do see that our ancestors did have gestures of respect which involve kissing (with the nose?), the feet, the hands and the breast or chest.

Ati arinmo , by the way, is the way a Spaniard spelled what he heard with his Spanish ears. And even this differed from Spaniard to Spaniard, one Spaniard spelling a Chamorro word one way and another Spaniard spelling the same word a slightly different way.

Some suspect, as I do, that arinmo is actually addeng-mo . Addeng is the Chamorro word for foot or feet. (On Guam, this has been replaced by the Spanish loan word påtas , which means the feet or paws of animals.)

2. Spaniards do not have, nor ever had as far as we can tell, the ordinary custom of kissing, much less with the nose, the hand of an elder, authority figure or higher status person.

Bishops and the higher clergy wore rings and it was that which people kissed. The rings were symbolic of the church dignitary's spiritual marriage to his diocese. In certain situations, political or military leaders had their rings, or hands, kissed with the lips as a sign of loyalty by subordinates.

Women, especially of the higher class, would sometimes extend their hand to be kissed. But this was always at the invitation of the woman. In Chamorro culture, the subordinate always makes the first move, reaching for the hand of the saina or superior.

Kissing was done with the lips, and sometimes the lips never even touched the hand. But the kiss was never made with the nose, while Chamorros kiss with the nose.




3. Our close neighbors, the Filipinos, practice a similar custom that is accepted as a pre-Spanish gesture.


The Filipino Mano Po

By "close" I mean we have common racial and linguistic roots and many similar customs and values.

The Filipinos practice their own gesture of respect by taking the hand and placing it on the forehead, rather than on the nose or the mouth.

Early Spanish descriptions of the Filipinos indicate that this was already a custom before Spanish influences took root there.

4. Indonesians and Malays also practice the gesture.

If one argues that the gesture is Spanish in origin, because both the Marianas and the Philippines were colonized by Spain, how then does one account for the fact that the Indonesians and the Malays (not everyone in Malaysia is Malay) also practice it? Neither Indonesia nor Malaysia were ever Spanish colonies.



The Indonesian Salim gesture

Like the Filipinos, Malays and Indonesians take the hand to the forehead, but, according to some writers, the hand is sometimes "kissed" with the nose, but never with the lips, the same way Chamorros avoid using the lips.

5. Borrowed terms do not necessarily mean borrowed actions.

Perhaps some people think the gesture is Spanish-based because the gesture is accompanied by Spanish loan words. When one reverences the hand of a man, one says, " Ñot ," which is short for Spanish " señor, " or "sir." For a woman, " Ñora ," short for " señora " or "madam."

But all that shows is that, at some point, Chamorros adopted some Spanish forms of address.

The Filipinos also borrowed the Spanish word mano , or "hand," and call their form of hand-reverencing the mano po . That phrase is a combination of Spanish mano and Tagalog po , a term of respect.

The Indonesians and Malays call their hand gesture the salim , which might be borrowed from Arabic (Malays and Indonesians are overwhelmingly Muslim). But the gesture itself is not Muslim nor Arab.

My opinion....

Since the Spaniards themselves did not practice it; since it is not practiced in any  former Spanish colonies in Latin America; since the gesture (with minor variations) is practiced by peoples with geographic and cultural affinities (Chamorros, Filipinos, Malays/Indonesians); since the gesture never involves the lips (something more European); since old accounts describe gestures of respect practiced prior to Spanish colonization, I am most comfortable saying

1. The gesture is not Spanish in origin.

2. The roots of the man nginge' lie in our pre-contact indigenous culture because early accounts do speak of other gestures of respect, so at least the roots and the cultural values were already in place before colonization.

3. Since Ñot and Ñora are Spanish loan-words; since the early accounts do not describe the reverencing of hands but rather other gestures of respect; these earlier gestures evolved over time, at least as far as the terms of address are concerned, and perhaps even the manner (from reverencing feet to reverencing hands).

4. It is possible that our ancestors did reverence the hand, even though European writers did not document it. After all, García says the Chamorros of the 1600s practiced "many" courtesies, although he details only three of them.

5. It is possible that, in pre-contact society, reverencing the feet was reserved for special situations and that reverencing the hand was the norm, although the verbal formula "Allow me to kiss your feet" remained. This is similar to the old custom of ending a letter in Spanish with "I kiss your hand" even though that was not meant literally.

Other than that, I think we are on shakier ground drawing other conclusions. Many of my own conclusions are couched in words like "perhaps" or "possibly" because coincidences and similarities alone are not sufficient to prove connections.

Good history involves good evidence. And alas, good evidence is absent more often than not.

MI, MI, MI

Wednesday, April 20, 2016


Many people are familiar with the family name Mesngon. But not everyone knows that the name has an actual meaning. It's an actual Chamorro word.

Mesngon means " durable, lasting, long suffering."

But I bring this up only as an example of a method used in the Chamorro language to create new words.

The method takes the prefix mi and combines it with a noun or verb and creates a new compound word.

Such is the case with mesngon .

It comes from the combination of mi and sungon.

Mi means "abundant." Sungon means "to endure."

Mi + sungon becomes mesngon. Durable, lasting, long suffering.

The mi is changed to a me.

Mesngon gue' na taotao! That person puts up with a lot of things!


OTHER EXAMPLES

Mi + fino' (word). Mefno'. Eloquent, well-spoken, talkative.

Mi + chugo' (juice). Mesgo'. Juicy.

Mi + hinalom (interior). Mehnalom. Profound.*

Mi + håga' (blood). Mehga'. Bloody.

Mi + hånom (water). Mehnom. Watery, humid, wet.

Mi + pulo (hair). Mepplo. Hairy, furry.

One can also use the prefix mi without morphing it into me.

In those cases, the subsequent noun or verb remains the same

Mi + tiningo' (knowledge). Mi tiningo'. Possessing a lot of knowledge.

Mi + tåno' (land). Mi tano'. Possessing a lot of land.

There is a Chamorro church hymn that goes :

Mi pinite hao Maria, sa' sinapet nu i taotao.

You have a lot of sorrow, Mary, because you were afflicted by the people.


NOTE


* Mehnalom

Because it is a common occurrence in many languages for speakers to switch consonants (for them, doing so makes it easier to say the word), many Chamorros say menhalom instead of mehnalom .

Some English examples of consonant switching : aks instead of ask, purty instead of pretty.




AN ATTACHMENT TO SPAIN

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Spanish Missionaries in Saipan in 1929


Unlike the Chamorros on Guam who continued to be exposed to a Western and Christian power (the U.S.) in 1898, the Chamorros of Saipan were governed by a people more foreign to their prior experience - the Japanese. Except for a brief period of 15 years (1899 - 1914) under the Germans, the Saipan and Rota Chamorros had to deal with a new colonial power that was neither Western nor Christian.

I believe this made the Chamorros there cling even more closely to their Spanish missionaries. I was fortunate to know some older people who were teens and even young adults when the Japanese ruled the Northern Marianas and they shared with me how they disliked having to bow every morning to the Emperor who was considered a god by the Japanese. Their Christian faith could not accept that, even though they were compelled to stand in formation at school in the morning and make those bows. It seemed to me that, as soon as they could, they found solace in the company and guidance of the Spanish missionaries, until the Japanese severely curtailed the freedom of those missionaries to be with the Chamorro people.

Like the Chamorros on Guam, the Spaniards all the Chamorros dealt with in the 1900s were no longer political masters. They were now all religious figures, dealing with supernatural hopes and aspirations, and ministering to the souls and bodies of people, keeping alive the Christian way of life, the beloved customs and traditions, that gave many Chamorros comfort for the last 300 years. Yes. The Spanish missionaries in both Guam and the Northern Marianas in the 1920s and 30s were generally loved by the people.

In Saipan, the Japanese allowed the Catholic missionaries something the American authorities in Guam refused to do. The Church in Saipan was able to open a Catholic school for girls, whereas, on Guam, the U.S. Navy did everything to prevent Catholic schools.

In 1929, the Mercedarian Missionaries of Berriz (Berriz is a town in Spain) opened a "colegio," or school, for girls in Saipan. The Japanese government at the time was actually supportive of this endeavor, since the Japanese schools could not accommodate everyone interested in getting an education. The girls' school would focus, anyway, on some academics (the basics) but also on religion, music and domestic skills, as was the custom at the time in female education.

When Mother Margarita Maturana, the Superior in Spain, visited Saipan in 1929, she was welcomed with great emotion by the "such simple and affectionate" (" tan sencilla y cariñosa ") Chamorro people. A delegation of both Chamorro and Carolinian civic leaders came to pay respects to Mother Margarita.

They were the Chamorros Francisco de León Guerrero, José de los Reyes, Luís Tenorio, Mariano Pangelinan, Manuel Pangelinan, Vidal Arriola, Domingo Blanco and Vidal Camacho . Two Carolinian leaders accompanied them : Ignacio Lairopi and Antonio Angailen .

The Chamorros talked of Spain with Mother Margarita; how they valued the customs and traditions given them centuries before by the Spanish missionaries. They shared with Mother how they managed for two years when no Catholic priests were living on Saipan when the Northern Marianas changed from German to Japanese rule. Despite the absence of priests, the people of Saipan went morning and night to the church to say their prayers as a community. A well-educated layman, Gregorio Sablan (Kilili) performed baptisms and kept records and did his best to keep things going.

I can attest that, to this day, there are many people in Saipan who cling to these traditions, although the number gets smaller and smaller with every funeral.


NOTE

From the Spanish original letter of Mother Maturana (beatified in 2006):

Hablan de España, del amor que le tienen y lo mucho que se precian de conservar las antiguas costumbres implantadas por los españoles. Cuentan luego cómo procuraron conservar la fe y la piedad religiosa cuando quedaron sin los misioneros alemanes. Mañana y tarde, a la hora de la Misa y del rosario, se congregaba el pueblo a toque de campana en la iglesia y rezaban las oraciones acostumbradas.

Source : http://comunidad-maturana.blogspot.com

THE EXECUTION OF ANSELMO BENAVENTE

Friday, April 15, 2016

Death by garrote in the Philippines. Something similar happened on Guam in 1863.


In the late morning of April 29, 1862, in the barrio of Sumay, a Chamorro from Hagåtña named Anselmo Benavente took his machete and gave two thrusts of the blade to a Filipino named Cornelio Eustaquio, who died of his wounds.

Anselmo was angry with Eustaquio, who had taken Anselmo to court over an unpaid debt Anselmo owed Eustaquio.

Arrested, tried and found guilty, Anselmo was sentenced to ten years in prison. But he was later given the ultimate punishment - death.

The method of capital punishment commonly used in Spain and her territories in those days was the garrote , which Chamorros pronounce galuti .

Many people today think this method of execution is inhumane, and it was abolished in Spain only in the last several decades. But, back then, the government thought it was a less horrible method of killing than hanging or the firing squad.

The garrote was a strangling device in which a chain, or rope or some other material was placed around the neck of the condemned which was then twisted with a bar or rod, tightening the squeeze on the neck until he or she was strangled to death.

Apparently the garrote was not used much in Guam in 1863 since a professional executioner had to be brought in from Manila to do the job, arriving in September of that year.

It was soon after that Anselmo was informed of his sentence to die by garrote .

For a few days before his execution, Anselmo confessed his sins to the priest of Hagåtña and received holy communion. He admitted his guilt that he had forfeited his life on account of taking away someone else's life.

People remarked how calm and peaceful Anselmo was about his impending execution, becoming upset only when family members came to visit him in his cell. The priest of Hagåtña credited Anselmo's tranquil resignation to the prayers of the innocent children made to pray for his soul before the execution, and to the many Mass intentions offered for him.

On September 30, in the late morning, Anselmo was taken to a small plaza in front of an old fort called San Rafael, which was located north of the Plaza and the church, near the river. Right before he was executed, he asked for the community's forgiveness. Then he was executed

Såga gi minahgong, Ansetmo.

( Source : Chronicle of the Marianas, by Fr Aniceto Ibáñez )

INANGLO'

Thursday, April 14, 2016

When our diet was corn-based before the war, drought would lead to hailas (ha - i -las) or food shortages.


It has been very dry these past few months in our islands.

We expect them to be, as this is the dry season ( fañomnagan ).

But, usually, in April we start to see a change. Chamorro farmers used to be on the look out for the primet ågua de Åbrit (the first water or rain of April). It was critical that farmers plant at the right time, when April showers water the fields. If farmers planted too early, the seeds would die from lack of rain.

But it is now the middle of April and there has been little rain at all. So, this has been an even drier dry season than usual and the cause is attributed to the El Niño weather pattern that comes and goes every two to seven years.

The Chamorro term for drought is inaglo' . It is simply the noun form of the adjective ånglo' , or "dry."

Our islands have experienced very bad periods of inanglo' in the past.

In the early 1790s, the drought in the Marianas was so prolonged that the people were in very desperate conditions. Crops wouldn't grow and one Governor had to buy supplies for the people from the very ship that brought him to Guam.

In March of 1793 (March is one of the driest months in the Marianas), a fire swept through Hagåtña, destroying 31 homes.

When hundreds of Spanish convicts deported to the Marianas arrived in 1875, the islands' food supply was severely depleted by their arrival in addition to the drought that plagued the islands at the time.

Because we import almost all our food nowadays, we do not face the threat of starvation today, even when in a drought, as our ancestors did.

But, our water supply in the north of Guam risks becoming salty as the fresh water levels drop too low in the underground lake that provides us with the water. In the south, dependent on river water, homes will have dry fawcets for periods throughout the day if water rationing is implemented. Grass fires, especially in the south, will increase, promoting soil erosion and threatening wild life, plants, power lines and homes.

Let us all pray that this period of inanglo' comes to an end with the commencement of the rainy season ( fanuchånan ).


ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Tuesday, April 12, 2016


Those three arches in the Plaza de España make quite the scenic spot in our island's capital city.

People often pose for photos right in front of them, especially the newlyweds from Japan.

As you can see from the pic taken in 1916, the arches were actually part of a building, now torn down. That building was called the Almacén. That word meant, at that time and in this context, a warehouse or storehouse. The government's goods coming in from abroad and from Tinian (where there was a government cattle ranch) were stored there.

The three arches were part of the Almacén built in 1799. They are thus 217 years old or so! They have survived time, weather and especially the American bombardment of Hagåtña in 1944.

The arches also survived the replacement in 1886 of the 1799 Almacén with a new one built that year by Spanish Governor Olive. Rather than get rid of the arches with everything else from the 1799 Almacén, he kept the arches and built the new Almacén around the old arches.

Those same arches survived yet another government decision in 1930 to get rid of the 1886 Almacén, since it was considered too dangerous of an old building. Enough earthquakes did enough damage to it that the government feared parts of the Almacén coud fall apart, injuring people. But when the Almacén was torn down, American Governor Bradley decided to keep the arches intact.

I guess people really did (do) like those arches.

The Almacén served more than one purpose; basically whatever the Governor thought any extra space could be used for.

It was used as a hospital and, during the early American period, the second floor as used as a school.

The top of the center arch is decorated by a Spanish seal.

So next time you pass those arches, think of the building that used to stand there for hundreds of years as a warehouse, hospital, school and a few other things.




FINO' GUAM, FINO' SAIPAN

Monday, April 11, 2016


What is the above object called in Chamorro?

Answer : it depends.

In Guam, it is called a lisåyo .

But in Saipan, it is called a misterio .

In Saipan, lisåyo refers to the actual prayer and not the beads used in the prayer.

In Guam, lisåyo refers to both the prayer form and the beads used to pray it.

Misterio means "mystery" or "mysteries" and the rosary is a prayer form that meditates on the mysteries of the life of Christ and the Blessed Mother.

Lisåyo is the Chamorro form of the Spanish word rosario .

Chamorro avoids the R sound and often replaces it with an L.

Chamorro also doesn't have the Western Y sound and replaces it with our own Y sound which sounds like a DZ or DJ. So the RIO in rosario becomes YO.

Why is there this difference between Guam and Saipan?

The people who lived at the time the change occurred are all dead now and cannot answer. They also did not leave any written explanation why there was a change.

The limitations of history.

DESIGNER OF GUAM SEAL

Friday, April 8, 2016


FRANCISCO FEJA FEJA
(1896? ~ 1985)


The Guam Seal that we see all over the island, on flags and government letterheads, is the subject of some controversy.

For years, a stateside woman named Helen Longyear Paul has been credited for the creation of the Guam flag, which includes this seal. Paul was a Navy wife who also taught in Guam's schools and she had entered her design in a flag contest begun by Naval Governor Roy Smith in 1917.

The heart of the debate is whether a Chamorro student in Hagåtña, originally from Humåtak, by the name of Francisco Feja Feja, was the true artist who conceived and sketched the seal. There is a lot of support for this claim since Francisco (Ton Kiko) lived all the way till 1985 and the story was known from him by some people. It's the "official" literature of the past that is silent about Feja, giving all the attention to Helen Paul.

Francisco's daughter, and the late Dr. Bernadita Camacho Dungca, who learned about Feja from her father, who was friends with Feja, did much to spread awareness of Feja's story.

What seems clear is that Feja moved from Humåtak to Hagåtña and his artistic talents were noticed and appreciated by teachers in Hagåtña's schools. The story goes that one day being by the shore, he was moved by the scene depicted by the Seal today, with the lone coconut tree and the river mouth and the coastal background, and he was inspired to draw or paint it.

The story isn't very clear how Feja's design ended up in Helen Paul's hands. Two different stories, totally based on oral tradition, explain how Helen Paul stumbled on Feja, either at the beach or at the Governor's office steps, with his sketch. Feja then gave the sketch to Paul.

Agueda Johnston's explanation doesn't involve Feja at all, but gives credit to Helen Paul as the designer. She says that the sketch then ended up being used in a flag created by the Home Economics class taught by another American woman, Lillian A. Nagel.

In 1917, Governor Roy Smith approved the design of a Guam flag, using this Seal. The blueprint for the design was rediscovered only recently. The blueprint does not state who is the designer of the Seal. Tradition says that there was a felt need for a Guam flag and artists were encouraged to turn in proposed designs. It is believed that Helen Paul's design, possibly based on Feja's sketch, was turned in for consideration.



No designer's name is credited in the 1917 blueprint


In 1930, Governor Bradley made official the 1917 seal as the Seal of Guam and the following year he made the flag using this seal the official flag of Guam.

The fact that the 1917 design was created as a blueprint lends support to the idea that Helen Paul had something to do with the final product. Paul was a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with a BS in Science and having studied architecture there, too. Clearly, the blueprint suggests someone educated in these fields, such as Paul, was involved.





Perhaps the safest thing to say, though, is that both individuals had something to do with the existence of our Guam flag and seal as we have them today.

Feja's design and creation. Paul's blueprint submission.

Had Feja not designed the seal, we might not have the seal and flag we see today. Had Paul not submitted her flag design, which included the seal, in the contest, we might not have the seal and flag that we see today.  As far as I know, we aren't aware of any other flag design submissions in that fateful contest in 1917. History, they say, is written by the winners.




TUN KIKO FEJA ROAD IN PÅGAT



THE FRUSTRATIONS OF HISTORY

Reading up on this topic is an experience of the frustrations and limitations of doing history.

We don't have all the evidence we would like to have, and what we do have doesn't always check out.

Different sources have different years for Feja's birthday. His obituary suggests he was born in 1896, but his name does not appear in the 1897 Guam Census. His Social Security record states he was born in 1899. One later Guam Census has him born around 1899, another Census says around 1897.

The official resolution from the Guam Legislature in 1992 states that Feja went to school around 1910 at the Jose Rizal College in Manila and didn't draw the seal until he returned to Guam. But Jose Rizal College didn't exist until 1919, two years after the Helen Paul submission won the flag contest. In 1919, the College was first called the Far Eastern College School of Accounts, Commerce and Finance and renamed Jose Rizal College in 1922. It rose to University status in 2000.




Not only did the institution not exist until 1919, it was a business school, not offering art classes. So it's a challenge to reconcile these two disparate bits of the story. Perhaps Feja did go to some school in Manila in 1910 or so, but perhaps we haven't got the name of the school just right yet. These, and other examples, serve to remind us about the weakness of human memory and the importance of documents, even though documents themselves are far from totally reliable in all cases.

Rest in peace, Ton Kiko and thanks for the Guam Seal. I wonder what Ton Kiko and Helen might be saying to each other as they watch us on earth struggle with this puzzle.



courtesy of Farron Taijeron
FRANCISCO FEJA'S LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION



BY THE WAY......


I think the Chamorro family nickname is misspelled in the funeral announcement pictured at the top of this article.

I believe it should be Payesyes, and not Jasjesjes.

The payesyes was the small, insect-eating bat that is now extinct on Guam.

KUMAIRE

Thursday, April 7, 2016
Because of Spanish influence, we have a certain kind of human relationship not found in many other Catholic communities.

Among us, the parents and godparents of the same child have a bond among them. They are all co-parents of that child.

In Spanish, the men are compadres . Com (co) and padre (father). Co-fathers.

The women are comadres . Co+madre. Co-mothers.

Many European Catholics, like the Irish or Germans, for example, as far as I know, do not have the idea that the father and godfather of the same child are co-fathers.  Nor that the mother and godmother of the same child are co-mothers. Nor that the two parents and two godparents are all co-parents.

It's an idea that exists among Mediterranean Catholic people like the Spaniards, Italians and Portuguese. The French used to have the idea, too, but that has long since disappeared.

CHAMORRO PRONUNCIATION

A we often do, we take from another language and change its pronunciation to suit our preferences.

What is compadre for the Spanish is kumpaire for us.

Kompaire, kumpairi, kompairi . Individual Chamorros will differ slightly one to the other in pronunciation.

What is comadre for the Spanish is kumaire for us.

MORE CHANGES

But when a Chamorro says "my kumpaire ," the R changes to an L.

Kumpaile-ko .

The same for kumaire .

Kumaile-ko .

SHORT CUTS

The change from R to L is seen also in the shortening of kumaire to målle '.

Målle' is what the two kumaire will use to address each other.

"Håfa målle'!"

Or, målle ' can be used as the subject when preceded by the personal article " si ."

" Estague' mågi si målle'. " " Målle' is coming over here ."

But the word målle ' is not used as a noun in a sentence when preceded by the definite article " i .".

One would not say " i målle-ko " but rather " i kumaile-ko ."

PÅLLE'

I never heard the masculine form pålle' until I was well into adulthood.

Just as kumaire becomes målle ', kumpaire can become pålle' '.

I was already a priest ( påle' ) when I heard people calling someone pålle' , so I thought they were calling me. When I noticed they weren't calling me, I had to figure it out. I then realized that the L in pålle' is extended. The tip of our tongues stay a bit longer on the back side of the upper front teeth a while, as opposed to when we say påle '.

DROPPING THE DR

Chamorros and Filipinos don't have the DR sound naturally occurring in their native languages.

So the inclination among both peoples is to drop the unfamiliar or difficult DR sound.

Filipinos change compadre to kumpare .

And comadre to kumare .

Chamorros change the ADRE to AIRE.

Compadre becomes kumpaire .

And comadre becomes kumaire .

AY, AY, AY

We may have gotten the AY sound in kumpaire and kumaire from Latin America.

In some places in Latin America, compadre evolved into compay and comadre to comay .

There used to be a little verse said long ago among Chamorros that showed that even madre became maire .

The verse uses a naughty word and idea, so I'll have to leave that out. Older Chamorros might be able to discover the full text.

Kumaire, kumaire
pot la ____ su maire.

This is the Chamorro pronunciation of the Spanish

Comadre, comadre
por la ____ su madre.


FINO' I MAN ÅMKO'

Wednesday, April 6, 2016


I learned this way back in the 1980s from an older Chamorro woman, now deceased.

We were talking about someone having just had a baby and she asked if the baby was baptized yet.

I said, " Å he' . No ."

And she said, " Moro trabia ." " She's still a moro ."

It's a term we learned from the Spanish and it means an unbaptized child. To this day, in certain parts of Spain, unbaptized babies are still called moros .

Footnote #2 below from a Spanish book says : moro : child not yet baptized




"Moro" is Spanish for "Moor," the Muslim people of North Africa who invaded Spain in the year 711 and stayed all the way till 1492.

Although "Moro" can also refer to the Muslims of the southern Philippines, the Moors of Africa are what is meant when an unbaptized baby is called moro . It means that the unbaptized baby is of the same spiritual status as an unbaptized, Muslim Moor. In the old days, the Moors (and Jews) living in Spain would have been the only unbaptized people the Spaniards would have known, and of course unbaptized babies of Christian parents. Thus the parallel.

Very few Chamorros today would be aware that our great grandparents sometimes used this term, and most people, I think, would be glad it has been forgotten. But, history is history and I record it here for that purpose.

TININON SAN ANTONIO

Monday, April 4, 2016


Even the more common name of "shingles" isn't known by all. I only heard of it when I was in my 20s when a priest I lived with suffered from it. Growing up as a kid I never heard of shingles.

In Chamorro, shingles is called "tininon San Antonio," or "Saint Anthony's burn."

Shingles is a painful skin rash caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox.

So that explains the tinino part....the burn.

But why San Antonio?

First of all, we're not talking about the Saint Anthony almost everybody knows - the Franciscan Saint Anthony.

No; here we are talking about a different Saint Anthony. The first one, actually, who was a hermit monk in the desert, and is thus called Saint Anthony of the Desert, among his various names.




A legend about Saint Anthony says that he went down to fires of hell to try and rescue souls. Centuries later, people afflicted with shingles prayed for his help, since the fires of hell had no power over him.



A medieval man suffers from tininon San Antonio

CHAMORRO R

Thursday, March 31, 2016


There is an unsettled debate whether the sound made by the letter R belonged to the language of our ancestors before the Europeans came to our islands or not.

In other words, did our ancestors have the R sound in their language?

The doubt comes from the fact that Chamorro as we speak it today (and for some centuries now) lacks words that begin with R. Every Chamorro word that begins with R is a foreign word; mainly Spanish ( riko, rifa, rai, rosåt ) but also Japanese ( rakkio' ) and English ( redio ).

When R appears at the end of a word, the word or name is foreign and we change it to a T. Spanish colar becomes Chamorro kollat (fence).  The Spanish name Javier becomes Habiet in Chamorro.

When R appears inside a word, it changes to either an L or a T. Carlos and Ricardo become Kåtlos and Rikåtdo.

Spanish guitarra becomes Chamorro gitåla (guitar); alambre becomes Chamorro alåmle (wire).

Spanish barba becomes Chamorro båtbas (beard); determina becomes Chamorro detetmina (determine).

BUT THEN.....?

Why does the R sound appear unchanged in a few Chamorro place names and some words?

When our indigenous place names were written by the Spaniards using an R, in almost all cases, the people did not pronounce the R but used an L instead. Inalåhan, not Inarajan. Malesso', not Merizo. The same with Ritidian (Litekyan), Taragui (Talågi).

But then why does everyone, including older people, pronounce Orote with the R? And Urunao with the R? Is it possible that at one time people did say Olote? And Ulunao? When I say Talågi, older Chamorros do not look at me strangely. But when I once experimented saying Ulunao, even the older Chamorros owning land in Urunao looked at me strangely.

Besides place names, the word Chamorro is always pronounced with the R.  Some would argue that the word Chamorro is not indigenous. Thus, R is used and pronounced.

Chamorros did not always replace the Spanish R with a Chamorro L. Riko is always riko ; karera is always karera .

AND YET...

Some Chamorros did have a problem with the R sound even when most over Chamorros did not.

I remember an older lady, now deceased, telling me how some people could not say Santa Cruz, the district of Hagåtña west of San Ignacio district where the Plaza is. Instead, they would say Santa Klus.

Most Chamorros will say, " Ai karåmba !" But I have heard some say, " Ai kalåmba! " And these were older speakers, so you can't say it's just the Americanized young people who are apt to change the way things are traditionally said.

And in the video below, the lady says para using an L instead of the R, two times and once with an R.

So, in summary we can say that, although not in a consistent way, Chamorros have a hard time with the R sound and tend to replace the R on many occasions. The unsolved mystery is whether Chamorros always had this difficulty or did they in fact pronounce the R sound in days past.





FINO' GUAM, FINO' SAIPAN

Tuesday, March 29, 2016



The Chamorro word for "black pepper" is borrowed from the Spanish. In Spanish, it is pimienta .

But Chamorros on Guam say it one way, and those in Saipan another way.

Guam Chamorros say either pimienta , like the Spanish, or simplify it to pimenta .

Saipan Chamorros throw in an L.

They either say plimenta (as Påle' Jose does in the video).

Or they say pilimenta .



ARCHBISHOP FLORES & THE CHAMORRO LANGUAGE

Monday, March 28, 2016

Then-Bishop Felixberto Flores
Early 1970s

Before we end Mes Chamorro (Chamorro Month), I'd like to briefly touch on the Chamorro language advocacy efforts of the religious leader of the Chamorro people, on Guam and even in the Northern Marianas until 1984, the late Archbishop Felixberto Camacho Flores.

Flores took the helm of the Church in all the Marianas just at the time that the Church allowed the use of the vernacular in the Church's liturgy. Although the Church, in its official documents, retained Latin as the liturgical language of the Church, with some use of the vernacular allowed, in practice, Latin was ignored altogether by most bishops and priests.

On Guam, dropping Latin meant the switch almost entirely to English in the liturgy. The techa in the pews still lead the rosary and devotions in Chamorro. On a weekday Mass and at the early Mass on Sunday, the man åmko' continued to sing the traditional Chamorro hymns while the priest said Mass in English.

The story was different in the Northern Marianas where the Chamorro people were still attached to their language. For people born there in the 1920s, 30s and earlier, English was very much a foreign language. The Diocese of Agaña set up a Chamorro Language Liturgical Commission to translate the Mass into Chamorro and Flores, among others, sat on that Commission.

Flores did not like what he was seeing on Guam, though, with the loss of the Chamorro language even in church. Ordained in 1949, he was, for a while, one of only two Chamorro priests, besides Monsignor Oscar Calvo. Even though, in short order, several more Chamorro priests were ordained, Flores was one of the main Chamorro orators and translators. Bishop Baumgartner did not speak any Chamorro at all, and left it to Calvo or Flores, mainly, to address the community in Chamorro.




Not only was Flores eloquent in Chamorro, he was a captivating public speaker.

When Calvo became too sickly to do it, Flores wrote many articles in Chamorro for the church newspaper, the Umatuna si Yuus .



Besides writing articles, Flores translated one of the most popular Christian classics, the Imitation of Christ , into Chamorro. This book, of some 470 pages, was published in 1962 as I Madalalaken i Kristo . The book, written right at the time when the switch to English in nearly everything on Guam was happening in the late 1950s and early 60s, is a testimony of Flores' attachment to his mother tongue.





When Flores became Bishop of Agaña in 1970, he increased his efforts to keep the language from dying in the religious sphere. He said Masses in Chamorro and encouraged it in the parishes. He sometimes preached exclusively in Chamorro and at other times in both Chamorro and English. He made it known that, in more important parish Masses where he was to preside, he wanted the processional hymn to always be Katoliko , and the recessional always to be Atan Jesukristo , two Chamorro hymns.

One of his initiatives was the printing, in 1976, of a thin booklet entitled I Mas Man Impottante na Tinaitai gi Fino Chamorro , the Most Important Prayers in Chamorro . His idea was to pass these booklets out to all the students in Catholic schools and all students in the catechism classes in the parishes and teach the basic prayers in Chamorro to all the children receiving Catholic instruction. " The vast majority of our young Catholics cannot properly recite the very basic prayers in Chamorro ," Flores wrote, " a situation which we would like to do something about ."




In his introduction to this collection of basic Chamorro prayers, Flores said :

" It is a known fact....that much of our Chamorro culture and customs is fastly (sic) disappearing, and while in some cases these are being supplanted by correspondingly good things, it is still nevertheless disheartening to admit that many of them are needlessly vanishing ." He continued, " One area in which we are definitely losing grip of our people, especially the young ones, is the knowledge of our Chamorro language ." Flores was saying that this was the current situation back then in 1976. Imagine the situation today.

The fight goes on today to interest the people in learning their own language, and we experience mixed results today, as Flores did in his day. But his efforts should not be forgotten as we carry on what he also endeavored to do.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

EL ARZOBISPO FELIXBERTO CAMACHO FLORES Y EL IDIOMA CHAMORRO

Antes de terminar el Mes Chamorro, me gustaría hacer referencia brevemente a los esfuerzos en defensa del idioma chamorro del líder religioso, en Guam e incluso en las Islas Marianas del Norte hasta 1984, el difunto arzobispo Felixberto Camacho Flores.

El arzobispo Flores tomó el timón de la Iglesia en todas las Islas Marianas justo en el momento en que la Iglesia permitía el uso de la lengua vernácula en la liturgia. Aunque la Iglesia, en sus documentos oficiales, retuvo el latín, con cierto uso de la lengua vernácula permitido, en la práctica, la mayoría de los obispos y sacerdotes ignoraron por completo el latín.

En Guam, abandonar el latín significó cambiar casi por completo al inglés en la liturgia. Los techas todavía rezaban el rosario y las devociones en el idioma chamorro. En una misa entre semana y en la misa temprana del domingo, los ancianos o man åmko ' continuaban cantando los himnos tradicionales en chamorro mientras el sacerdote celebraba la misa en inglés.

La historia fue diferente en las Marianas del Norte, donde el pueblo chamorro todavía estaba apegado a su idioma. Para las personas nacidas allí en las décadas de 1920, 1930 y antes, el inglés era en gran medida un idioma extranjero. La Diócesis de Agaña creó una Comisión Litúrgica en Idioma Chamorro para traducir la misa al chamorro y el arzobispo Flores, entre otros, formaron parte de esa Comisión.

Sin embargo, al arzobispo Flores no le gustó lo que estaba viendo en Guam, con la pérdida del idioma chamorro incluso en la Iglesia. Ordenado en 1949, fue, por un tiempo, uno de los dos únicos sacerdotes chamorros, además de monseñor Óscar Calvo. Aunque, en poco tiempo, se ordenaron varios sacerdotes chamorros, el arzobispo Flores fue uno de los principales oradores y traductores chamorros. El obispo Baumgartner no hablaba nada de chamorro y dejaba que monseñor Óscar Calvo o el arzobispo Flores, principalmente, se dirigieran a la comunidad isleña en chamorro.

El arzobispo Flores no solo fue elocuente en chamorro, sino que también fue un orador cautivador.

Cuando monseñor Óscar Calvo se puso demasiado enfermo para hacerlo, el arzobispo Flores escribió muchos artículos en chamorro para el periódico de la Iglesia, Umatuna si Yuus .

Además de escribir artículos, el arzobispo Flores tradujo al chamorro uno de los clásicos cristianos más populares, la Imitación de Cristo . Este libro, de unas 470 páginas, se publicó en 1962 como I Madalalaken i Kristo . El libro, escrito justo en el momento en que se estaba produciendo el cambio al inglés en casi todo Guam a fines de la década de 1950 y principios de la de 1960, es un testimonio del apego del arzobispo Flores a su lengua materna.

Cuando el arzobispo Flores se convirtió en obispo de Agaña en 1970, incrementó sus esfuerzos para que la lengua no muriera en el ámbito religioso. Celebraba misas en chamorro y lo fomentaba en las parroquias. A veces predicaba exclusivamente en chamorro y otras veces tanto en chamorro como en inglés. Hizo saber que, en las misas parroquiales más importantes que debía presidir, quería que el himno procesional fuera siempre Katoliko , y el de recesión siempre Atan Jesukristo , dos himnos chamorros.

Una de sus iniciativas fue la impresión, en 1976, de un librito titulado I Mas Man Impottante na Tinaitai gi Fino Chamorro , Los Rezos Más Importantes en el Idioma Chamorro . Su idea era repartir unos cuadernillos a todos los alumnos de las escuelas católicas y a todos los alumnos de las clases de catecismo de las parroquias y enseñar las oraciones básicas en chamorro a todos los niños que recibían instrucción católica. "La gran mayoría de nuestros jóvenes católicos no pueden recitar correctamente las oraciones más básicas en chamorro", escribió el arzobispo Flores, "una situación sobre la que nos gustaría hacer algo".

En su introducción a esta colección de oraciones chamorras básicas, el arzobispo Flores dijo:

"Es un hecho conocido... que gran parte de nuestra cultura y costumbres chamorras están desapareciendo rápidamente, y aunque en algunos casos están siendo suplantadas por cosas positivas, todavía es desalentador admitir que muchas de ellas están desapareciendo innecesariamente". Continuó: "Un área en la que definitivamente estamos perdiendo el control de nuestra gente, especialmente de los jóvenes, es el conocimiento de nuestro idioma chamorro" . El arzobispo Flores decía quésa era la situación en aquel entonces en 1976. Imagínese la situación hoy.

La lucha continúa en nuestros días para interesar a la gente en aprender su propio idioma, y hoy experimentamos resultados combinados, como lo hizo el arzobispo Flores en su día. Pero sus esfuerzos no deben olvidarse mientras continuamos con lo que él también se esforzó por llevar a cabo.

HEARING CONFESSION IN CHAMORRO

Thursday, March 24, 2016


Sadly, one day soon there will be almost no confessions said in Chamorro, as fewer and fewer people speak it. There will still be speakers of Chamorro in years to come, but I think it is safe to say fewer of them will confess in Chamorro, or confess at all in any language.

Having spent three years in Saipan and two years in Malesso' and Humåtak in the 1990s, when there were still many older people who could only confess in Chamorro, and others who just preferred to confess in Chamorro, I had plenty of experience hearing confessions in Chamorro.

As we all should know, a priest can never reveal what he hears in confession. But the general dialogue, before and after the sins are confessed, is known to everyone. And the list of common sins committed by many people are known to all. I, too, have confessed in Chamorro many times when I confessed to an older, Chamorro priest such as Msgr Calvo or Father Ferdinand Pangelinan, Capuchin.

P :  Påle' (priest)
K : I kumokonfesat (the one confessing)

Confession in Chamorro always starts out this way :

P : Åbe Maria purisima. (Hail Mary most pure)
K : Sin pekådo konsebida. (conceived without sin.)

K : Bendise yo' Påle' sa' umisao yo'. Esta treses meses desde i uttimo kumonfesåt-ho (or konfesåt-ho). Estague' i isao-ho siha. (Bless me Father for I have sinned. It has already been three months since I last confessed. Here are my sins.)

Guaha na mañakke yo', dos biåhe. (I have stolen, two times.)

Guaha na hu sångan i na'an Yu'us sin nesesidåt, kuåttro biåhe. (I have said God's name without necessity, four times.)

Guaha na mandagi yo', singko biåhe/ (I have lied, five times.)

Guaha na hu cho'gue i desonesto kontra guåho ha' na maisa, un biåhe. ( I have done unchaste acts against myself alone, one time.)

Guaha na umabali yo', un biåhe. (I have committed fornication/adultery, one time.)

Guaha na chumatfino' yo', dies biåhe. (I have cursed, ten times.)

Guaha na u egga' i ti kombiene ma egga', un biåhe. (I have watched something inappropriate for one to watch, one time.)

Guaha na hu sångan i prohimu-ho, dos biåhe. (I have spoken about/gossiped about my neighbor, two times.)

Hokkok ha' este, Påle', i isao-ho siha. (These are all my sins, Father.)

P : Kao mañotsot hao nu todo i isao-mo siha? (Do you repent of all your sins?)

K : Hunggan, Påle'. (Yes, Father.)

P : Sångan på'go i Fina'tinas Sinetsot. (Say now the Act of Contrition.)

K : Asaina Jesukristo, etc.

P : Ya na' susuha todo i isao-mo siha gi na'an i Tata.... (And I absolve you from all your sins, in the name of the Father....)

P : Sångan tres na Tatan-måme para todo i man malångo. (Say three Our Fathers for all the sick.)

Of course, there will be little differences here and there among penitents and priests, but this would be the general way someone confesses in Chamorro.

The older Chamorro would not move an inch at the end until the priest says again, "Åbe Maria purisima" and the penitent makes the usual response.


VOCABULARY

Desonesto = sounds like it should mean "dishonest," and it can mean that in Spanish, from which we borrowed the word. But in Chamorro it means impure, unchaste, indecent.

Abali = an old Chamorro word for any sexual impropriety.

Sotsot = another old Chamorro word meaning "regret." It is the root for mañotsot (to regret, repent) and sinetsot (regretful sorrow).

FALSE FRIEND (SORTA) : POSISION

Friday, March 18, 2016


A "false friend" is a term used in language studies that refers to a word that means one thing in one language, but something else in a different language.

So the temptation is to think that "rope" in Spanish is "ropa." But Spanish ropa means "clothes."

The Chamorro word posision , borrowed from the Spanish posición is somewhat a false friend, but not entirely.

That is because posision can mean "position," as in a thing or a person's location, job or situation.

Håfa na posision malago'-mo? What position do you want?

That is a perfectly correct Chamorro question to ask someone applying for a job.

But posision can also mean, and very often only means, a thing or a person's physical appearance.

Kalan malångo posision-mo. You look somewhat sick.

Bonito posision-ña! It looks pretty!

So, if you are new to the study of the Chamorro language, be careful. If you hear someone say posision , you may be tempted to think s/he is talking about someone's physical position. That is very well possible, but chances are the topic is a thing or a person's physical appearance.

KOSTUMBREN MAN ÅMKO'

Thursday, March 17, 2016


In Lent of  the old days, one only had to prevent the noise of children playing in the yard or street.

People refrained from hard manual labor during Holy Week ( Semåna Sånta ) so you didn't hear the sound of hammers or sawing.

Few people had radios or record players.

Americans said that Hagåtña was like a ghost town during Holy Week.

Then, after the war, came the television set.

We had only one TV station back then - KUAM. And even that was not for the whole day but just from the late afternoon till midnight. Then came KGTF, the public TV station, but few people watched it anyway.

But our Chamorro grandmothers were so strict that, come Holy Week, the TV and radio were off limits.

They went all out to make sure neither were turned on. They unplugged them and, as far as the TV was concerned, they were not even to be seen. Grandma threw the såbanas (sheet) over the TV to reduce the temptation for anyone to turn it on.

MAÑAGAHA

Friday, March 11, 2016


Mañagaha is a small island, or islet, that sits off Saipan's shore in the lagoon formed by the coral reef on the northwest side of the island. For those readers from Guam, it's Saipan's version of Cocos Island. Tourists go there every day.

But the island was, and still is, culturally significant to many Carolinians who have been living in Saipan since the early 1800s. Tradition says that a Carolinian chief named Aghurubw is buried there. I was able to attend the yearly memorial service for Chief Aghurubw one year in the 1990s.

The other day, while in Saipan, I heard two Chamorros share their theories about the meaning of the name Mañagaha.

Of course, people rarely wrote down the reasons why places have the names they do. In most cases, then, it is sheer speculation to explain what the names of places mean. But, people don't mind doing a whole lot of speculating!

So one man offered this theory.

When the Chamorros from Guam started to move to Saipan, where Carolinians already lived, some Carolinians moved to Mañagaha to live.

When a Spanish officer asked a Chamorro clerk to check on how these Carolinians on the island were doing, he returned saying " Mañåga ha' ." "They are staying."

Then a second Chamorro man offered his own explanation.

When the Carolinians moved to the little island, " Mañåga sa' guaha ." "They stayed because there was." There was what? Enough for them to live off the island.

MACABEBE BIRTHS IN SAIPAN

Thursday, March 10, 2016


These armed Filipino soldiers are from the town of Macabebe in the Province of Pampanga. And soldiers just like these, if not some of these men themselves in this photo, once lived in Saipan for about half a year. Older people in Saipan used to talk about the tiempon Macabebe (the Macabebe times) and how bad it was!

But while the Macabebe soldiers lived in Saipan, with their wives and children, they had other children, born and baptized in Saipan. A list of these Macabebe babies born and baptized in Saipan follows this story.

But first the story. How did these babies of Macabebe parents manage to be born on Saipan in 1899?

THE PHILIPPINE REVOLUTION

Armed struggle broke out in the Philippines in August of 1896 between Philippine independence fighters and the Spaniards. In the town of Macabebe in the province of Pampanga, a Spanish-Filipino mestizo named Eugenio Blanco y Leison eventually organized a group of volunteer fighters to defend the Spanish cause.



Macabebe, circled in yellow, is not far from Manila

These Macabebe volunteers remained loyal to Spain even as the war went badly for Spain. The American entry into the Philippines in the summer of 1898 made Spain's chances of hanging on to the Philippines even worse.  By the end of the year, the Macabebe soldiers were wondering what to do next, since the Philippines seemed sure to fall into either American hands or an independent Philippines.

Blanco and his soldiers, plus wives and children, some 700 people altogether, set sail for Saipan, still in Spanish hands in early 1899. They stayed in Saipan until the Germans came to take over the Northern Marianas in November of 1899. But for those six or seven months in 1899, pregnant Macabebe women gave birth to their children in Saipan. Here is the list, compiled from the Saipan baptism records.

MARTÍNEZ Y NAVARRO, María
Born on May 7, 1899
Daughter of Pedro Martínez and Alejandra Navarro

GARCÍA Y DIZON, María Salomé
Born on June 2, 1899
Daughter of Pedro García and Tomasa Dizon

BAUTISTA E YSI, José
Born on May 29, 1899
Son of Julián Bautista and Máxima Ysi

MANANSALA Y RIVERA, Protasio
Born on June 19, 1899
Son of Víctor Manansala and Feliciana Rivera

SANTOS Y GIMÉNEZ, Juana
Born on June 26, 1899
Daughter of Silvino Santos and María Giménez

IPSI Y PIRÍA, Isabel
Born on July 8, 1899
Daughter of Bonifacio Ipsi and Flora Piría

BAUTISTA Y BERNARTE, Mariano
Born on July 12, 1899
Son of Doroteo Bautista and Clara Bernarte

DE SILVA Y GERMÅN, María Cristina
Born on July 9, 1899
Daughter of Mariano de Silva and Petra Germán

LEONZON Y REYES, Magdalena
Born on August 16, 1899
Daughter of Baldomero Leonzon and Gregoria Reyes

LOBO Y REGALA, José
Born on September 4, 1899
Son of Apolonio Lobo and Marcela Regala

SANTOS Y ESPINO, José
Born on September 20, 1899
Son of Silvino Santos and Sabina Espino

SÅNCHEZ Y SALVADOR, María Consolación
Born on September 28, 1899
Daughter of Baldomero Sánchez and Perpetua Salvador

MASANCAY Y MIRANDA, Fernando
Born on September 28, 1899
Son of Carlos Masancay and Bonifacia Miranda

CALMA Y BENZALI, Catalina María Socorro
Born on November 20, 1899
Daughter of Valeriano Calma and Rosa Benzali

That makes 14 Macabebe babies born and baptized on Saipan; 8 girls and 6 boys.

CHAMORRO GODPARENTS FOR MACABEBE BABY

Interestingly, even though history tells us that there was great tension between the Macabebes and the Saipan Chamorros and Carolinians, we find that one Macabebe baby had Chamorro godparents. José Alig and his sister Lucía Alig were godparents for José Bautista e Ysi.

MACABEBE GODPARENTS FOR CHAMORRO BABIES

Even more interesting to me is that Juan Reyes, a Chamorro, asked Pedro Mansale from Macabebe to be godfather to his son Pedro. Why more interesting? Because there was no shortage of Chamorro candidates to become godfather, but the father chose a Macabebe. So, relations may not have been so strained for everyone, all the time.

Pedro Mansale must have been rather popular because he was godfather a second time for another Chamorro baby, this time José, son of Juan Cabrera.

Adriano Bongay and his wife Francisca Díaz of Macabebe were godparents for the Chamorro baby Adriano, son of Juan Castro.

FILIPINO GODPARENTS FOR CHAMORRO BABIES

The Macabebe contingency under Eugenio Blanco numbered some 700 persons, which undoubtedly included Filipinos from places other than Macabebe who were loyal to Spain. Some of these also acted as godparents for Chamorro babies while they lived in Saipan.

Enrique Montealegre and his wife Felisa Bernardino from Santa Cruz, Zambales were the godparents of the Chamorro Enrique Bernardo Fausto de Salas.



Macabebe and German soldiers present at the ceremony turning over the Saipan government to Germany


KINILIS ÅTDAO

Wednesday, March 9, 2016


Play this video to hear the pronunciation of kinilís åtdao




Today in the western Pacific and in Southeast Asia we will experience a solar eclipse. The moon will block the sun for a little bit. Depending on where you live, the whole sun will be blocked or, just a part of the sun will be blocked.

How does one say "eclipse" in Chamorro?

Kilís in Chamorro means "to eclipse." Kinilís is the noun form.

Kinilís åtdao means " eclipse of the sun."

Note the pronunciation. The stress is on the last syllable. Ki - LIS. Or, ki - ni - LIS.


ORIGIN

We can't be totally sure where kilís comes from.

Is it indigenous? Were our ancestors saying this word long before the Spaniards came?

Why not? Our ancestors saw eclipses, so there is every possibility that they had a word for it.

But the oldest Chamorro dictionaries give us this tantalizing clue.

They say that "eclipse" in Chamorro can also be klis .

Doesn't klis sound suspiciously close to the Spanish word for eclipse, which is "eclipse." Exactly the same spelling as in English, but, in Spanish, it is pronounced e - clip - se. Eh - klip - say.

It is so like Chamorro to shorten words by dropping beginning or ending syllables, or by blending two syllables into one.

So we can't totally exclude the possibility that the Spanish e - clip - se was shortened by Chamorros to klis .

In time, some people could have started saying ki - lis because it was easier to pronounce. We see this in the word kilisyåno , which comes from the Spanish cristiano ("Christian"). It is easier for us when pronouncing words to separate two consonants. We see this also in tulaika , which comes the Spanish trueca ("change"). The TR in trueca became TULaika because Chamorro doesn't favor the R. It tries to change R to L when possible.

But, like many things in the history of languages, we can only guess and have opinions.

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Tuesday, March 8, 2016


The other day it was blisteringly hot.

There was not a cloud in the sky and the sun blazed in all its punishing radiance.

I walked into the living room of a home where a social gathering was taking place, and at the dinner table in the adjacent dining room, three seniors sat in solemn contemplation.

I greeted them and said, " Ei na minaipe na ha'åne !" "My what a hot day!"

And an older lady responded, " Depotsi ha', Påle', sa' på'go na mes nai maså'pet si Jesukristo ."

"It's the way it is, Father, because this is the month when Jesus Christ suffered."

And I said, " Ya ha na' fan masåså'pet hit lokkue' ." "And He is making us suffer, too."

Then she said, " Hunggan. Debi di ta fañaonao gi minasa'pet-ña i Saina. " "Yes. We should participate in the suffering of the Lord."

The man åmko' , steeped in the religion of their parents, interpreted many things in the light of religion, even the weather.

If it is raining, God is blessing us. If there's a typhoon, God is punishing us.

And if it is unbearably hot in March, it's our participation in the suffering of Christ during Lent who suffered this time of the year.



MAGELLAN : WAS IT REALLY HUMÅTAK?

Monday, March 7, 2016

The Naval Governor of Guam at the Magellan Monument in Humåtak, erected in 1926


March 6th is the day in 1521 when Magellan first sighted land after spending a long time at sea, his men sick and starving. He was the first European to travel in the then-unknown Pacific Ocean. He had no maps to tell him where he was nor where he was going in this part of the world.

So when he sighted our islands that day in 1521, neither he nor anyone in his crew could say what islands they saw. They speak of seeing two (sometimes three) islands and that they sailed in between two of them and headed down the western coast of the larger one, which would be Guam.

So the question is : where did Magellan anchor on the western coast of Guam, where he had that brief but violent encounter with our Chamorro ancestors?

Tradition has it that Magellan landed at Humåtak. There is a monument there that states that. This tradition has been unquestioned till modern times. Why has it been questioned?

ARGUMENTS AGAINST

Scholars who doubt that Magellan landed at Humåtak offer the following reasons for their doubt.

1. No one who was actually there at the landing says it was Humåtak. They couldn't have if all they had to rely on were maps. No maps of Guam or the Marianas existed at the time. Someone could have asked the islanders what their village was called, and maybe they did, but it was never recorded, as far as we know.

I think it would have been unlikely that someone from Magellan's crew would have asked the islanders what name their village was. Why bother? It wasn't as if they knew that Spain would come back and claim, much less settle, these islands. They weren't looking for small islands. They were looking for a way to travel from Spain to the Spice Islands in modern-day Indonesia where they could make a lot of money. The Magellan crew didn't even give us a name for the island, much less a name for a village of limited and immediate value to them only and where they fought a battle!

Without a name, it's possible that Magellan landed somewhere else on the western coast of Guam.

2. The first descriptions of the landing do not even say they landed at a bay. Pigafetta's narrative does not mention a bay. He only says that they stopped and that there was a village nearby, where they battled with the islanders who had taken Magellan's skiff. Albo's fewer lines about the stop at Guam also do not mention a bay. If a bay is not clearly described, in order to narrow down our list of possible locations, then it is possible that Magellan stopped anywhere along the coast, bay or not.

3. The distance between the northern tip of Guam (Litekyan), the first place Magellan saw on Guam, and Humåtak is so far (perhaps 6 to 8 hours of further travel by sea) that we can wonder : would it be likely that a captain with starving men add another 6 to 8 hours of travel, rather than stop at the earliest safe place to get water and food? Would they have passed Tomhom (Tumon) and Hagåtña Bays, which were highly populated and where provisions could be obtained? Would they have gone around Orote Point? Would Magellan have by-passed Apra Harbor and Cetti (Jati) Bay? Remember that Magellan had no idea what they would find farther down the coast, as they had no map of Guam or earlier reports of prior European explorers. Magellan was the first. Would he have risked possibly wasting time poking his nose down an unknown coast when northern bays clearly offered him what he needed?

4. Immediate encounter with the Chamorros. Pigafetta's writing suggests that the Chamorros went out to meet the Europeans very quickly, if not immediately. And why not? And wouldn't these quick encounters with the islanders, and perhaps the fruits and fish they may have shown the Europeans entice Magellan to make a quick landing?



The 6 or 8 hour route from the north of Guam to Humåtak by ship in the days of Magellan

ARGUMENTS FOR

1. No reef. While Tomhom and Hagåtña bays did offer Magellan quicker sources of food and water, those bays are fronted by reefs, while Humåtak Bay is free of reefs and makes an excellent port of entry for ships.

2. Later arrivals. Practically every other Spanish ship that came to Guam in the early years after Magellan's arrival make their landing at Humåtak.

3. It's the old tradition, acknowledged by the government and earlier histories.



The people of Humåtak and visitors at Magellan's Monument in the 1920s or 30s

A POSSIBLE ORIGIN OF THE TRADITION

Some scholars suggest that it was the later arrival of other Europeans after Magellan at Humåtak Bay, and the later significant role of Humåtak as the port of call for the Acapulco galleons, and of Humåtak as the Spanish Governor's frequent residence and commercial center of Guam in those days, that created the tradition that Magellan landed here.

MY OPINION

We may never be able to answer the question, with no shadow of doubt, where Magellan made his stop along Guam's western coast in 1521. But, in my opinion, if, at this point, any place will do, then I say let's stick with Humåtak.

Even if we could prove that Magellan landed elsewhere, do we really want yet another festival in crowded Tomhom or Hagåtña? Isn't it a much more pleasant experience to drive through the scenic and bucolic south and enjoy the beauty of Humåtak? We have only two main reasons to visit Humåtak every year - its fiesta - but that's in October, and Discovery Day, or Chamorro Day. Let's keep a reason to visit the village in March, even if we don't like Magellan, or his arrival, wherever it was, or if we change the name of the holiday.

ONSE I GUAKA

Friday, March 4, 2016


A father and his teenage son were at their ranch, tending to their small herd of six cows.

The father turned to his son and said, " Onse i guaka ."

The boy was puzzled. He looked at the cows and counted six, not eleven ( onse ).

The father looked again at the boy and said, " Onse i guaka ."

The boy said, " Lao, t å ta. Hu tufong siha ya å he' ti onse sino sais ha' na guaka ."

"But, dad. I counted them and there aren't eleven but only six cows. "

The boy's confusion can't be pinned on him alone.

The fact is that Chamorro has two different words that sound exactly the same.

Onse is the Chamorro word for the number eleven which we borrowed from Spanish.

But the Spanish word meaning to place a yoke on an animal is uncir , and unce means "s/he places, or you place, a yoke" on an animal. From there, Chamorros borrowed the word as unse .

Chamorros broadened the meaning of the word to also mean to harness an animal or hitch it to a cart or wagon.

But, in time, people altered the sound from unse to onse , making it sound identical to the word for the number eleven.

So that one could also say in Chamorro,


Onse i onse na guaka.
Harness the eleven cows.


FINO' GUAM

Tuesday, March 1, 2016


KOCHE'

Today we feature a Chamorro word used on Guam, but, as far as I can tell, not in the Northern Marianas.

The word koche' means "long hair" according to Påle' Román's 1932 dictionary. Perhaps that's all it meant back then, but today, koche' almost always implies that one's hair is too long and needs to be cut.

As far as I know, koche' applies only to men, since a woman's long hair is seen as a thing of beauty, and not as something needing to be cut because it is unsightly.

Because koche' was in use on Guam as early as the 1930s and probably long before that, and as nearly all Saipan Chamorros trace their ancestry to Guam Chamorros who moved to Saipan between 1860 and 1910, I wouldn't be surprised if koche' was used among Saipan Chamorros many years ago but the use of the word died out, for reasons unknown.

Just as Luta has Chamorro words not used anywhere else but in Luta, if the Luta people do not use koche' , it could be that koche' was always just a Guam term.

Make sure you use that precious glota ( ' ) at the end of koche' . Without it, the word becomes koche , which means "carriage," borrowed from the Spanish word coche . Coche also means "automobile" in Spanish and in Filipino ( kotse ).

I BACHIGO'

Monday, February 29, 2016

BACHIGO' = slanted eyes


So I did an experiment the other day. With the permission of the man who is pictured above, I showed the pic to different people, asking them to guess this man's nationality.

No one said Chamorro as a first guess. The first guess was usually Chinese or Japanese. Vietnamese and Malaysian also came up. Some did say Chamoro, but as a third or fourth guess.

When I told them that this gentleman (at the time a Capuchin friar) was a Chamorro, the usual reply was, "Wow. He's bachigo' ."


POSSIBLE CONNECTION




There is a Chamorro word which is very close in sound and in meaning to bachigo' .

The word is achigo' and it means "to close the eyes."

A poetic way some older people say, "before I die" is " å ntes de u achigo' i mat å -ho ." Literally, "before my eyes close."

P åle' Roman, in his 1932 Chamorro dictionary, seems to suggest that bachigo' comes from ma a'achigo' or something similar.



EARLY EUROPEANS

Chamorros appeared to be bachigo', at least to some early Europeans, that some of them wondered if our ancestors were of Japanese origin. The slanted eyes and the lighter shade of brown skin they claimed Chamorros had lead them to suspect this.

This idea was discarded by Europeans and Americans the more they were exposed to the different races in Asia and the Pacific and learned to make better distinctions.


YES, BUT NOT REALLY

Wednesday, February 24, 2016


In a recent Chamorro word search, the Chamorro word for "door" was rendered petta .

The word is actually potta .

It's the Chamorro version of the Spanish word puerta , meaning "door" or outdoor "gate."

When we add the definite article i , meaning "the," the O in potta changes to E.

Potta , when the word stands alone or without the definite article.

But i petta , with the definite article.

Door. Potta . The door. I petta .

A big door. Un dångkulon potta . Or, un dångkulo na potta

The height of the door. I linekkå'-ña i petta .

This change is vowel is called "vowel fronting."

It is often said that vowel fronting usually does not occur with Spanish loan words.

Thus, bola (ball) is still i bola . Not i bela . Otherwise, you can end up at the baseball game rather than at the wake. Small consolation to the bereaved. Bola is "ball" or "baseball game." Bela means "funeral wake." Both are taken from the Spanish.

I todo ha' ha na' siña (the all-powerful) is still i todo ha' ha na' siña . ( Todo is a Spanish word)

Yet, there are almost always exceptions to every rule.


EXCEPTIONS

A mentioned, potta is a Spanish loan word, yet Chamorros apply vowel fronting to the word.

The following are also Spanish loan words, and vowel fronting occurs here, too.

Hoben. I heben. Young. The young.

Kollat. I kellat. Fence. The fence.

Popble. I pepble . Poor. The poor.

Potbos. I petbos . Dust. The dust.


DROPPING THE DEFINITE ARTICLE

It is understandable why the word search game above gave us petta , instead of potta , for "door."

It is common for many people to drop the definite article with some words.

If you said these two sentences, with or without the definite article in parentheses, no one would look at you twice. Either way is fine in ordinary speech.

(I) Pettan san me'na na gaige. It's at the front door.

Maolek (i) ilu-mo. You have a good head.  ( Ulu is the word for "head")

BUCHI BUCHI AND PÅSTET

Tuesday, February 23, 2016


Buchi buchi ? Or påstet ?

I suppose the best answer is "both."

But what is the question?

For some people, the question is which is which? The general answer I receive from most people is, "If it's fried, it's buchi buchi . If it's baked, it's påstet ." And my sources come from Saipan, as well as Guam.

Then there are the hold-outs who say that both words apply to either. I suppose, then, one could ask for fried påstet or baked påstet . Fried buchi buchi , or baked buchi buchi . I can just see the traditionalists cringe. For them, påstet is always baked and buchi buchi is always fried. Personally, I go along with this distinction of fried-vs-baked. It makes it easier to know which of the two you want.

The filling does not make a difference in the name. The traditional filling on Guam is pumpkin ( kalamasa ), though at times I also see on Guam papaya fillings for påstet . This is the typical filling for Saipan påstet - papaya.

The next endless and, perhaps useless, debate is which of the two is better? While I tend to favor the fried buchi buchi , there are times when I prefer påstet but only when the shell is exquisitely flaky and the filling perfectly flavored.

These foods were introduced to the Marianas in Spanish times as we had no wheat flour, nor pumpkin nor papaya until then.

Påstet is surely the Chamorro rendering of the Spanish word pastel . The word pastel in Spanish can mean many things, all of them a kind of food, of course. In Spain, pastel usually means "cake." But in other Spanish-speaking countries it can mean a filled pastry as we have it, although the filling can include meat. So the idea came from Latin America, I believe, and we simply used the ingredients available to us locally.

Buchi , in Chamorro, can mean a swelling on the body or a bubble on a tire. Perhaps the air pockets formed in the shell of the buchi buchi when it is fried lead to this food's name. Who really knows? The Filipinos have a treat called buchi , but it's a sweet rice ball with a mung bean filling and sesame seeds added to the exterior. I believe that's inspired by the Chinese and the name might be Chinese in origin, as well.

As someone said to me, "Call it what you want. We don't eat the name, we eat the thing itself."

WHO WAS SALISBURY?

Monday, February 22, 2016

A major street in Dededo is named Salisbury Street

If you live in, work in or frequently visit Dededo or Yigo, you will probably be familiar with the name Salisbury. A street in Dededo is named Salisbury and a junction in Yigo is named Salisbury. Route 1 (Marine Corps Drive) runs from the Naval Station in Sumay all the way north to Yigo. When Marine Corps Drive hits Andersen Air Force Base, it meets Route 9 and that meeting of the two highways is called Salisbury Junction.




But why are these roads and places called Salisbury? Are they named for a person? Who?




There was indeed a man on Guam named Salisbury. Commodore George Robert Salisbury was an early Naval Governor of Guam, serving in that position from 1911 till 1912.



Gov. George R. Salisbury, USN
Picture possibly taken on Guam
( Courtesy of Monie Moody )

Salisbury was born in 1855 so he was already in his 50s when he came to Guam. He had created a very successful Navy career, and was called an officer of special merit, very popular with people from all walks of life.

His was an interesting record. From what others have written about his tenure as Governor of Guam, one might think his record was somewhat negative.

For example, he made it less of an obligation for Guam's children to go to school. If a child lived more than 2 miles away from a public school, he or she didn't have to go. Schools didn't go all the way up to the 12th grade in those days and, after the age of 12 years, no child had to go to school at all. Didn't Salisbury believe in giving the children an education? Perhaps he did, but according to Guam's particular circumstances in those days. Many Chamorros themselves thought that only a few years of basic classroom education were needed for a society that was largely made up of farmers and fishermen who didn't need higher schooling. Once a girl reached puberty, many Chamorro parents refused to send her to school. Thus, Salisbury's relaxation of compulsory education was more than likely not decried by the local population. It was also not entirely impossible for those who had the ambition to continue their academic education to attend private classes.

Secondly, it was Governor Salisbury who felt it necessary to send to the Philippines those diagnosed on Guam with Hansen's disease (leprosy). This was an unpopular decision among the patients and their families, though Salisbury was obviously motivated by a desire to keep the disease from spreading on the island. Past governors had complained about the difficulty of isolating patients on Guam.

Yet, a good number of Guam's social elite praised Salisbury and commended him on a job well-done when Salisbury was to leave island for another assignment.


(Courtesy of Monie Moody)

The letter, signed by people such as Vicente Herrero, Henry Millinchamp and Frank Portusach, mentions several accomplishments of Salisbury that may explain his popularity among these civic leaders.*

1. The good state of the island treasury, with income higher than previous years. The financial reports of the island government confirms this. In 1912, a year after Salisbury started as governor, the island government enjoyed a balance of $21,538, which was $3,400 more than what government coffers had the prior fiscal year.

2. Improvements in the island courts due to the appointment of an American (stateside) Island Attorney. I do not know what these men saw as the difficulty of having Chamorro Island Attorneys. Perhaps the prior, Chamorro attorneys were more familiar with the Spanish court system, which was being replaced by an American system. Perhaps, those attorneys being natives of the island, family relations or friendships may have interfered with judicial proceedings.  Unless we find something in writing, one can only speculate why these men felt an American Island Attorney was more helpful to the island courts.

3. Expansion of the island's road system. The island's only monthly publication, the Guam Recorder , reported road improvements month after month during Salisbury's one year as governor. This might explain why a road and a junction were named after him. "Every road on the island has been repaired," claimed the Guam Recorder. And it wasn't just roads. Public buildings, water supply systems....the island government was very busy under Salisbury.


TWO SALISBURY SCHOOLS

At one time on Guam, before the war, there were two schools named after two, different men named Salisbury.

There was a Navy Chaplain named Stanton Salisbury and the public school in Sinaja ñ a was named after him in 1929.

The following year, in 1930, Governor Bradley named the public school in Yigo after former Governor George R. Salisbury.

Thus, during the 1930s until the war broke out in 1941, there were two Salisbury schools on Guam. Chaplain Salisbury School in Sinaja ñ a and G.R. Salisbury School in Yigo.





* I believe this is a copy of the original letter, since the names of the signers are often in error.

WHO'S YOUR NAME?

Friday, February 19, 2016


Not too many years ago, it was a cause for chuckling among younger people to hear an elderly Chamorro matron ask a new face, "Who's your name?"

Many older Chamorros, when switching to English, were still thinking in Chamorro. In Chamorro, we ask a person  "Who is your name?" " H å ye i na' å n-mo ?"

This sounds strange to English speakers from abroad, but it's all a matter of perspective.

The fact is that different languages have different ways of asking for a person's name.

In many European languages, one asks "What do you call yourself?"

In Turkish, there are two different questions regarding someone's name. Asking for someone's first name is expressed differently from asking that same person's last name.

In Chuukese and Saipan Carolinian, one asks "Where is your name?"

For Chamorros, a person's name answers the question WHO ( h å ye ) s/he is.


PERSONS, NOT THINGS


But, for Chamorros, a thing's name answers the question WHAT ( h å fa ) it is.

So, when asking the name of a thing or a place, the question is "What is its name?" " H å fa i na' å n- ñ a ?"

H å fa i na' å n- ñ a este na lug å t? What is the name of this place?

H å fa i na' å n- ñ a ayo na kl å sen h å yo? What is the name of that kind of wood?

VILLAGE POLITICS IN THE 1970s

Wednesday, February 17, 2016


The 1970s ushered in a new era in Guam politics.

Prior to the 1970s, Guam, more or less, was a one-party island : the Democratic Party. The Democrats controlled Guam elections since 1960, and, prior to 1960, its predecessor, the Popular Party, also ruled in Guam politics. Only in 1954 did the Popular Party lose control of the Guam Legislature when enough members broke away to elect a new Speaker and form a new party, and only in 1964 did the Democratic Party actually lose a legislative majority due to a general election.

But by the 1970s, Guam had an elected, Republican Governor. By the 1970s, a small number of Republicans were elected to the Guam Legislature, which had been, election after election, in the 1960s, completely in the hands of the Democrats, winning all 21 seats. In 1974, the Republicans captured the majority in the Legislature. By the 1970s, Guam was truly a two-party island.

Part of the reason for this was the expansion of the Government of Guam in the 1960s which continued under Republican Governor Carlos Camacho's term in the early 70s. Camacho appointed many young college graduates returning to Guam to government positions. Many of these young civil servants, and their families, became Republican supporters.

Another reason for the growth of the Republican Party was the arrival of many Filipino immigrants in the 60s and 70s. When they obtained US citizenship in time, and thus could vote in Guam elections, many of them voted Republican.

How was this new partisan scenario spread out across the island? Were all villages bipartisan now? Or did some villages lean more towards one party over the other?

Based on each village's general voting pattern in legislative and gubernatorial elections in the 1970s, as well as looking at each village's trend in voting for its Commissioner, what we now call the Mayor, we can form a general idea in answer to these questions.

STRONGLY REPUBLICAN

Tamuning . This was historically the Republican bastion on Guam. From the 1970s on, Tamuning has always elected a Republican Commissioner or Mayor. There are some election years where there isn't even a Democratic candidate for those positions. In 1978, Tamuning was the lead village of election District Two, which had seven seats in the Legislature. All seven seats in District Two were won by Republicans.

Aga ñ a. The capital city always elects, election after election, since the 1970s, a Republican mayor and Republican candidates for Governor and the Legislature get high votes in Aga ñ a.

STRONGLY DEMOCRAT

Sinaja ña. This village is so Democrat, it has never elected a Republican Commissioner or Mayor, and many times the Republicans don't even bother presenting a candidate. In legislative and gubernatorial elections, Sinaja ña can usually be counted as a safe Democrat village.

Inarajan . In the 1970s, Democratic candidates for Governor or Senator could count on a lot of votes in this village.

Merizo. Also considered a very safe Democratic stronghold in the 1970s.


MOSTLY DEMOCRAT

Umatac. Talofofo. Chalan Pago-Ordot. Piti. Yo ñ a. Mangilao. Barrigada . These villages, in the 1970s, were still considered Democratic territory, but things were beginning to change. Some of these villages had Republican Commissioners (e.g. Bernardo in Yo ñ a for many terms). Chalan Pago was considered more Democrat while Ordot had significant Republican support. Umatac started to see more Republican votes in the latter 1970s. When Barrigada Heights was opened, Barrigada saw more Republican votes.


MOSTLY REPUBLICAN

Mongmong-Toto-Maite. Aga ñ a Heights. Agat. Santa Rita. Asan-Maina . Again, in some of these villages, there were significant Democratic voters. Asan was considered, in the 70s, more Republican while Maina was more Democrat. Mongmong more Republican and Toto more Democrat (Maite was considered a Republican area). Agat had a visible Filipino minority which boosted Republican support. Santa Rita had Republican mayors (Pete Roberto and Juan Perez, better-known-as Ducket). Aga ñ a Heights leaned more towards the GOP, but for many years, its Commissioner (Frank Portusach) was Democrat.

SWING VILLAGES

Dededo. Yigo. These northernmost villages, at times, could be counted on to lean slightly toward the Republican side in the 1970s, but the Democratic support there was also strong. This can be seen in the 1978 senatorial race, which was done by districting. Dededo and Yigo formed District One, with five seats. In the 1978 election, 3 of those seats went to Republicans (Espaldon, Lamorena, Kasperbauer) and 2 seats went to Democrats (Dick Taitano and Joe T. San Agustin). But, two years later, in 1980, the last time senators were elected by districts, 3 seats in District One went to Democrats, and two went to Republicans.

KÅNTA : RAMON SAN

Monday, February 15, 2016


The Delgado Brothers made famous a song written during the Japanese Occupation called "Ramon San."

The song was composed by a member of a road crew to boost morale and lighten the dreariness of laying out dirt roads for the Japanese during the Occupation. The composer was Vicente San Agustin Benavente, later the Commissioner of Dededo.

The "Ramon" mentioned in the song is supposedly Ramon San Agustin, who was made crew supervisor. That would have made Ramon a relative of the composer, also a San Agustin on his maternal side.

Three other Chamorro men are mentioned, a Sococo, a Chigui ñ a (or Chegui ñ a, the name is spelled both ways) and a Gual å fon (nickname for some of the Chargualaf family). But first names are not mentioned and anyone who might know who they were are now probably dead.

The song is humorous, poking fun at people and circumstances. Humor was a way of coping with the otherwise unpleasant aspects of the work and the even bigger issues surrounding it : the Japanese and all the risks the Chamorro men faced under the Japanese. More than likely, the Chamorro road crew could not, or at least would not, sing this song with a Japanese guard present.





LYRICS

1. Dori koji nani pu / hame taotao i chalan / må'gas-måme si Ramon San;
ya ha laknos i relos / ya ha ågang ham todos / fan macho'cho' sa' esta ora.
Mungnga hit fan / ta fan haggan / sa' u lalålo' si Ramon San.

(Dori koji nani pu / we are the road crew / our boss is Ramon San;
he took out the watch / and called us all / get to work because it's time.
Let's not be / like turtles / because Ramon San will be angry.)

2. Si Sococo segundo-ña / sa' ha dåkngas ilu-ña / ayo mina' må'gas gue';
sa' i fanihi et mås ya-ña / sa' chinechebang hila'-ña / yanggen guaha fahåne gue'.
Ya u kånno' / ayo i pilu / ya u na' do'do' ni diruru.

(Sococo was his second-in-command / because he shaved his head bald / that's what made him a boss; because fruit bat is his favorite / because his tongue gets chipped / if someone buys it for him. And he will eat / the fur / and will pass gas a whole lot.)

3. Kada pa(ra) bai in fan hånao / para iya Machanånao / ma na' meggai na tengguang.
Ma titiyas måno i siña / asta katgådo si Chiguiña / si Gualåfon ichibang.
Guiya sen metgot / lao gof padok / må'gas-måme si Ramon San.

(Each time we will go / over to Machananao / the road food is made in abundance.
As many titiyas as possible is made / until Chiguiña is weighed down / Gualåfon is number one.
He's the very strong one / but also has a large appetite / our boss Ramon San.)

4. Kada esta monhåyan / ayo hulo' i chalan / måtto i diesel ya ha yulang.
Man ma ågang ham ta'lo / pa(ra) bai in na'ye kaskåho / ai Ramon sungon diåhlo.
Ta cho'gue ha' ni diruru / sa' i titiyas u famulu.

(Each time it's finished / the road up there / the diesel comes and breaks.
They call us again / to spread gravel / oh Ramon, just bear with it.
We do the work very energetically / because the titiyas will get moldy.)

5. Para esta tres dias / mahettok i titiyas / si si Ramon de lalålo'.
Ha apreta ham ni diru / sa' i titiyas u famulu / guiya ha' para u tutunu.
Ya (ha) gef ngångas / sa' mahettok / maila' i hanom / sa' ha ñukot yo' / guse' ombre / chule' mågi / i hanom pa(ra) atuli.

(When it was going to be three days already / the titiyas got hard / and Ramon got angry.
He pushed us very hard / because the titiyas would get moldy / he alone would put it on the fire.
And he really chewed it / because it was hard / bring water / because it's choking me / hurry up man / bring here / the water for corn porridge.)

6. Kada pa(ra) bai in fan hånao / para i chago' na lugåt / siempre såbe si "my sweetheart."
Ti hu logra yo' mañiko / ni i pala yan i piko / fåtta neni-ho gi tiempo.
Ya hu toktok ha' / kariño ha' / i alunan / sa' yan måtto yo' ichibang.

(Each time we're going to go / to a distant place / "my sweetheart" will surely know.
I didn't get to enjoy kissing / not even the shovel nor the pick / my baby wasn't there at the time.
And I only hugged / and gave affection / to the pillow / because when I arrive it will be number one.)


THE UNDERLYING MEANINGS

Dori koji nanu pu. This is a Chamorro's way of having fun with the Japanese language. Dori in Japanese means "street." And the song is about a road crew. The rest of this phrase may not be proper Japanese but just the composer's way of repeating or imitating what he heard among the Japanese.

Ramon or Raymond? The man's name was Ramon, but the singers pronounce it Raymond, the same name but the English version. Perhaps this is another way of teasing Ramon, by giving him an American name.

Fan haggan. Haggan is "turtle." It means, "Let's not be as slow as turtles."

Chinechebang hila'-ña. It's a way of poking fun at Sococo's great love for fruit bat, that, in eating it with enthusiasm, his tongue gets chipped (as if that were possible). It's the sarcasm of the statement that matters.

Gualåfon . This is a family nickname for some of the Chargualaf family.

Titiyas . When corn tortilla ( titiyas mai'es ) is a few days old, it will harden. The solution is to wet it with water and then put it on a fire to soften it. If left alone, the titiyas will also start to grow mold. Pulu means animal "hair" or "fur" and mold looks like fur.

Siempre såbe . Borrowed from Spanish. Saber means "to know." Sabe means he or she knows.

Sweetheart . The last verse of the song is a reference to the men's missing their girlfriends or wives. After having not seen their girls for some time, all they have, as it were, to hug and kiss are the handles of their shovels and picks, and they don't even get to enjoy that. They also hug their pillows in lieu of their sweethearts. But, when the men finally get to go home and see their ladies, it will be "number one."


RAYMOND UNDERWOOD?

Yet another oral tradition says that the Ramon of the song is Raymond Underwood, son of James and Ana Martinez Underwood, who was made head of the road crew.


The classic Delgado Brothers recording :




MATUNA HAO, O BITHEN DE LURDES

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Hymn to Our Lady of Lourdes based on a Basque original and put into Chamorro by Påle' Román María de Vera, Capuchin, around 1919.




1. MATUNA HAO, O Bithen de Lurdes
inangokkon i taotao-mo;
i umågang hao guse' un po'lo
gi mames na korason-mo.

Blessed are you, Oh Virgin of Lourdes
the hope of your people;
quickly place those who call to you
into your sweet heart.

Refrain : Tayuyute ham gi me'nan Jesus, i un guaiya na påtgon-mo. Nåna lao, Nåna! Cha'-mo didingo ini i famagu'on-mo.

Pray for us before Jesus, your beloved child. Oh my, Mother! Dare not abandon these your children.

2. Guinaiya i kumonne' hao mågi
gi umisao na tano'-mo;
ya humuyung hao guihe gi Lurdes,
mangasao i atadok-mo.

Love brought you here
to your world which is sinful;
and you appeared there in Lourdes,
your eyes weeping.

3. Ayo as Bernadita Zubiru
i lumi'e i lago'-mo;
ya ha hungok nina' sen pinite
i na' tanges na fino'-mo.

She who was Bernadette Soubirous
who saw your tears;
and heard very sorrowfully
your tearful words.

4. Ilek-mo "Fa'tinas penitensia,
hamyo yan i chataotao-mo;
cha'-mo måmåhgong man sinangåne
nu ini na matago'-mo."

You said, "Do penance,
you and your fellow men;
do not stop telling them
about this task of yours."

5. An måkpo' i tinaitai-mo guihe
ya un atan i fi'on-mo;
un na' milalak gi acho' hånom,
fanhasuyan i lago'-mo.

When your prayers were done there
and you looked at your side;
you made water pour out from the rock,
a reminder of your tears.

6. Ma kåhat guihe guma'yu'us,
aya' yan i malago'-mo;
annai taimaktos gine'fli'e'-mo
nu todos i tentago'-mo.

A church was built there,
conforming to your wishes;
where your love is endless
for all your servants.

7. Fa' maolek lokkue' Bithen de Lurdes
iya Guåhan na tano'-mo;
po'lo ham Raina yan Nånan-måme
gi halom i korason-mo.

Make good, as well, Virgin of Lourdes,
your land of Guam;
place us, our Queen and Mother,
within your heart.


NOTES


Nåna lao . There is no exact translation for this Chamorro phrase which can mean many things but is said here as a cry of exasperation or, at other times, of disapproval or sarcasm.

Ini. This is the pre-Spanish Chamorro word for "this" or "these." Chamorros gradually dropped it in favor of the Spanish "este." You can see how Påle' Román tried to revive its use by favoring the word in this hymn over "este."

Måhgong. This is ordinarily understood as "peace" but it can also be understood as "still, quiet, at rest." So the hymn has Mary telling Bernadette not to be still or quiet but to be always on the move spreading the message of Lourdes.

Fanhasuyan . Literally, "place of thinking or remembering." A poetic way of saying "reminder."

Taimaktos . Måktos means to break or snap something extended, linked or continuous, like a rope, chain, wire or thread. Poetically, taimaktos means "unbreakable, infinite, endless."

Guåhan. The original name, it is believed, of Guam.






LENTEN REGULATIONS IN 1873

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Chamorro matrons in black veils during Good Friday procession in the 1920s


In modern Guam, people argue whether chicken is meat or not, when discussing the Church's Lenten regulations. Forty years ago, no one ever asked that question. Everyone understood that chicken was not eaten on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent.

Little do people know how much more strict our grandparents observed the Lenten penances in their day.

A sermon written in Chamorro in the year 1873 explains these Lenten regulations. Here are the main points, with some explanations in the Chamorro spoken at the time, 150 years ago or so.

1. During Lent, all seven Fridays of Lent were fast days AS WELL AS Holy Saturday (which is not the case today). Interestingly, Ash Wednesday was not a fast day for the faithful in the Marianas and , I suppose, also the Philippines, since the Marianas were included in the laws of the Philippines.

Most of the Catholic world had many more fast days but Rome reduced their number for places like the Philippines and the Marianas, considering the indios (natives) weaker in physical strength to be able to withstand a more rigorous fast.

2. On fast days, breakfast was limited to an ounce and a half of food devoid of animal substance.

Para u fan gef ayunat i kilisyåno, u kånno', gin oga'an, onsa i media na nengkanno' ni i tai iyo sustånsian gå'ga'. Pot ehemplo, chokolåte, chå, kafe, un tasitan atule, un pedasiton titiyas, pat kuatkiera ha' otro na nengkanno' yagin tai iyo sustånsian gå'ga'.

For the Christian to truly fast, he will eat, if in the morning, an ounce and a half of food lacking animal substance. For example, chocolate, tea, coffee, a small cup of atule (corn porridge), a small piece of tortilla, or whatever other food if it lacks animal substance.

3. On fast days, a person can eat for lunch whatever his stomach needs, except meat as these days were also days of abstinence. But he could eat fish, and cook it even in lard (animal fat).

4. On fast days, a person's dinner was limited to eight ounces of food, but no animal substance at all, except that he could cook his vegetables in lard (animal fat) as that was allowed in the Philippines, under which the Marianas fell.

Gin puenge, siña u kolasion asta ocho onsas na nengkanno', lao atotta gi kolasion kåtne pat guihan, lao siña u kosina håf na gollai yan i mantika, sa' ma konsiente gine giya Filipinas.

At night, he can have a light meal up to eight ounces, but it is forbidden to have meat or fish, but he can cook whatever vegetable in lard, because it is allowed here in the Philippines.

5. Abstinence was the refraining from eating meat, and those days did include Ash Wednesday and all the Fridays of Lent, plus Holy Wednesday, Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday. The Church regulations speak of only two kinds of animal food : meat and fish. Chicken and other poultry were thus clearly identified as meat and not fish.

6. Here is an interesting Lenten rule of the past that, even today, some older Chamorros remember and observe! And that is to never eat both meat and fish at the same meal on any day in Lent. This is because, at one time, that was actually the rule!

I ha'åne siha nai atotta ma na' danña' kåtne yan guihan, este siha : todo i ha'åne siha gi Kuaresma asta i Damenggo-ña siha lokkue', yan i ha'ånen ayunat.

The days when it is forbidden to mix meat and fish are these : all the days of Lent including their Sundays, and the fast days.


SOME FORGOTTEN WORDS

Even in these short, partial excerpts from the Chamorro sermon we see some old words not used nowadays, or not used in the same way today.

Atotta : it means "forbidden."

Kolasion : a light meal.

Yagin : another form of the word yanggen (meaning "if").

Gine : another form of the word guine (meaning "here").

Kosina : known to us today as "kitchen," which it also meant in the past, but back then it could also mean "to cook."






CHAMORRO OFFICIALS 1791

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

CHAMORRO OFFICIALS IN THE EARLY 1800s


The Spanish government in the Marianas employed Chamorros as village officials very early in its history. In the beginning, they were members of the local military company. In Hagåtña, these troops were originally Spanish, Latin American and Filipino soldiers, many of whom then married Chamorro women. Their offspring would have spoken Chamorro.

Out in the rural villages, there were fewer outsiders, sometimes none at all, except for the village priest.

In 1791, just about 100 years after the end of Chamorro-Spanish wars, these were the officials in the villages outside of the capital city of Hagåtña. Saipan and Tinian have no officials since these island no longer had a permanent population.

I really dislike interspersing my remarks within this list, but it would be easier for readers to follow my explanatory comments if I did.



SINAJÅÑA
Marcelino Achuga, Assistant to the Gobernadorcillo

Francisco Achuga, Sheriff

The Gobernadorcillo ("little governor") was like a mayor. Only the larger villages usually had one.

We can assume that Achuga is a Chamorro name. We're not sure what it meant. It could come from the prefix A which means "together" or "each other." Chuga means "to calm someone or something down." Chuga i mimo . Calm the fight down.

The sheriff ( alguacil ) was the local law enforcer, more or less like a policeman or warden.

MONGMONG
Tomas Montezuma *, Assistant



An interesting name, Montezuma. It appears on the very early lists of "Spanish" soldiers on Guam. But the name is Mexican, after the Aztec historical figure of Moctezuma. Many people in Mexico still have Montezuma or Moctezuma as their surname.

APUTGUAN
Baltasar Afaisen, Assistant



A Chamorro name now associated only with Inal å han but, as you can see, was found elsewhere on Guam in the past. Aputguan (Apotguan) is where Dungca's Beach or Alupang is in Tamuning. The prefix A (together/each other) and the word faisen (to ask) put together mean "to ask each other."

ANIGUAK
Francisco Tinafña, Assistant

Mariano Materne, Sheriff



A good number of Chamorro names end with the suffix - Ñ A, meaning either "his/her" or "more than." If only we knew what the first part of the name Tin å f ñ a meant. Ostensibly the root word is t å f , which might be connected with the word t å ft å f (early) or it could mean something we have no clue about.

Materne still exists today and old documents spell it Matetnge, so I believe that is sufficient evidence that the name comes from totnge , which means "to build or start a fire."

ASAN
Antonio Chibog, Assistant



Chibog was a last name that survived in Asan all the way till the early 1900s. I knew a lady whose grandmother was named Chibog. But the name, now, has disappeared.

TEPUNGAN
Nicolas Agangi, Assistant



Ag å ngi means "to invite."

Tepungan is the area in between Asan and Piti. What is now the village of Piti used to be further east in what is called Tepungan.

HÅGAT
Quintin Namnam, Gobernadorcillo

Julian Quitaofi, Sheriff



Namnam appears in other lost Chamorro surnames like Salucnamnam and Saguanamnam. Someone told me it appears in a list of Chamorro words written by an explorer and it means "expert."

The Qui in Quitaofi might be the same as the Qui in Quichocho or Quitugua, meaning ke or "try to." But taofi remains the mystery!

HUMÅTAK
Pedro Nae, Gobernadorcillo

Gaspar Gofsagua, Assistant

Francisco Cheguiña, Sheriff



Nae could be the word n å'e (to give) but since the writing lacks diacritical marks, like the glota, it's hard to be sure if that is true or if the word is something else.

S ågua' means "port" as in Commercial Port. Gof means "very." Gofsagua is a very good port, or someone who is a good protector of others.

Cheguiña, nowadays also spelled Chiguiña, is very likely Chagiña, from chagi or "try." The Spaniards sometimes used E for A such as in Megofña, which is magofña .

MALESSO
Dionisio Afaii, Gobernadorcillo

Antonio Quinene, Sheriff



Afaii remains a mystery, although we know the prefix A, and there are words få'i (rice seedling) and another prefix fai, but it still remains a mystery.

Quinene comes from konne ' (to take).

INALÅHAN
Francisco Hokokña, Gobernadorcillo

Pedro Mantanoña, Sheriff



Hokkok means "to the absolute limit" and can also mean "exhausted, depleted."

T åno' ('land" or "to walk on land") seems to be the root in Mantano ñ a, and the MAN prefix could be the same as the MAN in Mansapit, which is a shortening of mas ås åpet , in the same way that mansangan is a shortening of mas ås ångan .

PÅGO
Felipe Quifaña, Gobernadorcillo

Senen Atoigue, Sheriff



Yes, there used to be a village at Pago Bay.

Again, I wish I knew what quifa meant, being the root, it seems of Quifa ñ a. Perhaps it is KE + FA'. "To try to make/do."

Atoigue is a name that survives till today. The -GUE suffix means "to do or make for, to or on behalf of someone." So the root word would be ato' , which means "to give or offer." Atoigue thus would mean "to give someone" or "for someone," in the same way that f åtto (to arrive) becomes fatoigue (to go to someone).

LUTA
Francisco Borja Taimañao, Gobernadorcillo

Mariano Quicanai, Assistant

Jose Charpagon, Sheriff

The Borja in the first man's name is not his mother's maiden name but rather his second baptismal name. There are many Franciscos among the saints and this one was Saint Francis Borgia, in Spanish Francisco de Borja, often shortened to just Francisco Borja.

Taima ñ ao, a name that exists today, means "fearless."

Quicanai seems to be KE + KANNAI, but that meaning is curious. To attempt to hand? Perhaps the kanai is not k ånnai ("hand") but something else we don't know anymore.

Charpagon seems to come from CHAT (badly) and PAGON but I can't find a meaning for p ågon , or even p ågong .


CHAMORRO BLOOD STILL FLOWS IN OUR VEINS

This list shows very clearly that the blood of our ancestors did not evaporate or disappear.

Every single one of these men, with one exception, had what appears to be indigenous, Chamorro names. This means that Chamorro mothers and, in most cases, Chamorro fathers brought forth Chamorro children.

It is true that some of these men may have been illegitimate, the sons of foreign men. That did happen not infrequently. But illegitimate births were not overwhelming, and were not even the majority of cases.

Over time, people with "pure" Chamorro blood mated with people of foreign or mixed blood, and the so-called "pure" strain became mixed. But it didn't disappear entirely. Anyone descended from these people are descendants of a people who once lived in our islands long before the Europeans and others came ashore.

This is why Chamorros consider "Chamorro" to mean both those who lived here before 1668 (Sanvitores' arrival) and those descended from them, regardless how much foreign blood was added to them.

EXCITED?

Monday, February 8, 2016


Are you excited?

OK then. How do you say that in Chamorro?

I was asked the other day that very question, and I must admit I was stumped.

People doing a TV ad wanted to end the commercial saying that they were offering something exciting and they wanted to say that in Chamorro.

Now, before we proceed, I think it is important for us to be very clear what we mean by "excited" or "exciting."

By "excited" or "exciting" we mean a high degree of enjoyment or positive anticipation.

So, off I went to my dictionaries and to my older Chamorro speakers whom I always consult. Even these proficient speakers of Chamorro scratched their heads and needed time to think about the question. How does one say "excitement" or "excited" in Chamorro?

Many words were suggested, but most of them only got close to the idea of excitement, but didn't hit the nail on the head.

Here are some of the words suggested to me :

MANMAN

Manman means to stand in awe or admiration at something amazing or unusual. To be manman is to be beside oneself in wonder. Now, you can be manman when you're excited. But not always. We can be excited about ordinary things which do not cause awe and wonder. For example, carrot cake always makes me excited, but does not cause me awe and wonder.

ÅNSIAS

Borrowed from a Spanish word, it is related to our English word anxious because both are based on a Latin original. Anxious/ å nsias . It is true that we are often anxious when we are excited. If I am waiting in a huge crowd for the appearance of my favorite megastar, I can be both excited and anxious. Anxious that the star is taking too long to appear on stage; anxious that I may not get a good view, and so on. I would be ånsias waiting to see the dentist, but I wouldn't say I would be excited to see the dentist! So I don't think å nsias (anxious) perfectly fits the idea of excitement.

GUINAFE

This comes from the word gu åfe or "fire." Guinafe means "burned" and guinaguafe means "burning." Again, being excited can be likened to burning up inside with one's emotions. But the difficulty is that guinafe can also mean literally burnt, as in a piece of meat on a grill. One can be burning up inside when one is angry, too. So, guinafe may not hit the nail on the head when it comes to excitement.

ANIMOSO

Another loan word from Spanish, animoso comes from the word å nimo , which means "spirit, energy, intent, effort." N å 'e å nimo means "give it your all, put your heart into it." Animoso usually means, therefore, "industrious, energetic." So, although excitement connotes an increase in spirit, to put it colloquially, "to be pumped up," animoso doesn't quite fit "excitement."

DIBETSION

Yet another Spanish loan word, it means "fun, entertainment, play." Again, it suggests excitement but one doesn't have to be excited when one is being entertained or when one is having some fun playing cards. Excitement suggests something stronger than simple pleasure.

And there were other such similar words that suggest excitement, or can be part of excitement, but do not work as an exact translation of "excitement."



ONE OF THE BETTER OPTIONS

Believe it or not, magof (happy) is one of the better translations I came across. And that is because, in the way we are using the word "excitement" in this post, we are talking about strong enthusiasm, delight and pleasure about something. This always means happiness. To say "I am excited to be here" always means one is happy to be there.

Enjoying the thrill of bungee jumping, one could say " Magof yo' " and mean "I am excited!"

Hearing that the show is about to begin in 10 seconds, one could say " Magof yo' " and mean "I am excited!"

Or, " Ei na minagof! " and mean "Wow, what excitement!"

Or, " Na' magof! " and mean "Exciting!"

But magof always means "happy," so Chamorro seems to lack a precise word that specifically means "excited."

But how about.....

AGODDAI

If you look at the 1932 Chamorro dictionary of P å le' Roman, he defines agoddai as "to become greatly excited," to become "enthused, impassioned."

I really like this option. I think this is the original meaning of the word agoddai .

The challenge we have today using agoddai to mean "excited" or "excitement" is that, over the years, agoddai has become associated with only one use of the word.

If someone today hears agoddai , s/he will usually think of the intense desire to pinch a baby.

Personally, I find it suspicious that our ancestors would have invented a word that only meant the intense desire to pinch a baby! It is possible they did, I won't deny that. But, to me, it seems more believable that our ancestors had a word to simple express any excitement or intense desire. Then, over time, people narrowed it down to one use of the word.

But P å le' Roman's older dictionary shows us that, at least even as late as the 1930s, Chamorros were using agoddai to express an intense desire, passion and excitement for other things, too. As in a passion for a person.

Ma agoddai yo' nu h å go. I feel passionate for you. You enthuse me .

Na' ma agoddai este! This is exciting! This is exhilarating!

I think I found my answer. But, I would be sure to be misunderstood by the majority of people today if I used agoddai to mean general excitement about something.















THE NAVAL CEMETERY : A FIRST

Friday, February 5, 2016



FIRST NON-CATHOLIC CEMETERY IN GUAM

Or in the Marianas, for that matter. And since westernization, to be precise. Prior to 1668, our ancestors were not Christian and were obviously buried in our islands.

But ever since Catholic Spain began to run things, only Catholic cemeteries were allowed in the Marianas, under the supervision of the local priest.

So, if you were not Catholic (and the islands always had non-Catholic residents, at least in the 1800s), where was your body laid to rest if you died in the Marianas?

The fact is that Catholic cemeteries had provisions for that possibility.

Catholic cemeteries were consecrated and a fence or a wall marked the area that was consecrated. Right outside that fence or wall was the space provided for non-Catholics, unbaptized babies, suicides and "public sinners," meaning Catholics who lived in a public way in contradiction to the religion who died without reconciling with the Church. Catholics who died unrepentant of living with a partner outside of marriage, or Catholics who joined the Freemasons, for example, would be buried here. Many of these prohibitions concerning burial in a Catholic cemetery are no longer in force, but I remember the days visiting a relative's grave which was outside the fence.

It is documented that, during Spanish times, Protestants and others were buried at Pigo but in the unconsecrated portion of the cemetery.

GOVERNOR SCHROEDER

There may be documentation stored somewhere in the US among Navy records detailing the opening of this cemetery but they aren't readily accessible, if they exist at all. Still, the first burial we know of dates back to 1902, during the tenure of the second American Naval Governor of Guam, Seaton Schroeder.

Seeing the need for a burial space for their own personnel and for the increasing number of non-Catholics on American Guam, the Naval Government chose this site for a military cemetery. At the time, this area of Hagåtña, called San Antonio, as yet had a small population. This area would have been at the outer edge of the barrio or district. But it wouldn't be long before the population grew and new houses would be built to the east of the cemetery. The beach and the road in front served as the northern and southern borders.

NOT JUST FOR AMERICAN NAVY MEN

The oldest grave is that of an American Marine private, Elwood Hopkins. But more than just active stateside military personnel are buried here. There are some spouses, children and retired military men, too. And there are also some Chamorro military men, both active and retired.



Jesus L. Guerrero, Chamorro, was in the Navy and died during World War II in 1944



Ah Shun Chang was Chinese and a member of the Auxiliary Services of the US Navy, which probably meant he was a cook or other domestic worker in the Navy.



Francisco Unpingco Rivera was a Chamorro Navy man who died in the attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. His body was later buried on Guam.



Alessandro Veneziano was Greek Orthodox. He came to Guam as a musician in the Navy and married a Chamorro lady. His children eventually moved to the US mainland.



Gertrud Costenoble was a civilian and a German. Her husband had first moved to Saipan when it was under the Germans but he then moved to Guam.



Another German buried here was a civil servant in the Saipan government! For whatever reason (maybe medical?) he was on Guam in early 1903 and passed away.


THE CORMORAN GRAVES

On April 7, 1917, when the U.S. declared war on Germany, a German ship, the SMS Cormoran, peacefully lay in Apra Harbor. Rather than let the ship fall into American hands, the Germans on board blew up their own ship. Seven crew members died and are buried in this cemetery.


The Cormoran marker, with the German Iron Cross and inscription in the German language.



Poor Emil Reschke of the German Navy didn't make it alive after the explosion.



One of the Cormoran deceased was not German at all but from German-controlled New Guinea. His name was Boomerum (or Bumerum).


MAY THEY ALL REST IN PEACE

HÅYE SI SOCOCO?

Thursday, February 4, 2016





In the famous song recorded by the Delgado Brothers, Ramon San, the second verse begins with :

Si Sococo segundo- ñ a
sa' ha d å kngas ilu- ñ a.
Eyo mina' m å 'gas gue'

Sococo was his second-in-command
because he shaved his head.
That's what made him a boss.

Now, who was this Sococo?

Was he a fictional character? Or was he a real person?

I knew from the 1897 Guam Census that there was indeed a family by the last name Sococo. We don't hear about them on Guam anymore because, as far as we can tell, no one has that last name anymore.

But, just to be sure, I called up one of the Delgado Brothers to find out.

According to him, to the best of his recollection, a man named Benavente from Dededo, composed the song Ramon San.

The "Sococo" in the song is not really Sococo. It was a nickname given to a man by the last name San Agustin.

But while we're on this topic, we might as well talk about the real Sococos.

In the village of Asan, in the 1890s during Spanish times, lived a Chinese man named Manuel Sococo. Like many Chinese settlers on Guam, his last named ended in -co (Unpingco, Limtiaco).

He was married to an Asan lady named Juliana Megof ñ a.

They had five daughters, it seems, and no sons. But the oldest girl had a son out of wedlock so he carried the Sococo name. The boy's name was Jose.

Jose may have been the Jose who fathered children with his wife Rosa Ungacta. A son of theirs, Peter, left Guam and joined the US Navy in 1939. He had a brilliant Navy career for over 30 years as a submariner.



Peter Sococo, USN


Sococo married in the States and had three daughters.

There were a few other Sococos but, apparently, the family name disappeared in Guam in the last few decades.

***UPDATE***

According to one source, the composer named Benavente was Vicente San Agustin Benavente (familian Chedo') of Dededo and former Commissioner of that village.

FINO MAN AMKO' : NI HOI NI GOI

Wednesday, February 3, 2016






NI HOI NI GOI
Neither a hoi nor a goi

Ni hoi ni goi is said when not a word has been heard from someone.

M å tto m å gi si Kiko ya ha li'e yo' lao ni hoi ni goi.

Kiko came by here and saw me but didn't say a word.

In the video above, Tan Esco talks about one of her father's brothers. She says,

Sa' i dos m å tai, ah malingo gi che'lu- ñ a si tat å -ho i Mariano.
Because the two who died, ah lost of my father's brothers (one) was Mariano .

Hum å nao ya ilek- ñ a bayinero, no?
He left and became, as he said, a whaler, no?

Saonao gi batkon man aligao bayena.
He went with the ships that searched for whales.

Eyegue ni uno ni hoi ni goi ti ma tungo' h å fa uttimon- ñ a, no?
He was one who they heard nothing from and didn't know what happened to him, no?

T å ya' "communication."
There was no communication.



ORIGIN

It's an interesting phrase, first of all, because the Chamorros of old did not like the OI sound.

Our future-marker verb BAI comes from the Spanish word VOY which means "I go." Some older Chamorro writings maintain the BOI spelling. But no Chamorro ever says BOI. We all say BAI. Our preference is the AI sound.

Secondly, the NI in the expression "ni hoi ni goi" comes from the Spanish word "ni," which means "neither." Ni t ú ni yo means "neither me nor you."

But there is no Spanish expression ni joi ni goi .

There is a Spanish expression ni pi ni pa , and it means "zero, zilch, nothing, not a thing."

~What did you learn from math class today?
~Ni pi ni pa! Not a thing!

~What did he tell you about last night?
~Ni pi ni pa!

~What do you know about tonight's schedule?
~Ni pi ni pa!

Filipinos have their own version of this expression. "Ni ha ni ho."

So it seems that the Chamorro expression is based on a Spanish model, which Chamorros heard, and which Chamorros used to create their own expression.

Usually, one person comes up with an expression, and it is copied by others who hear it and like it.

KÅNTA : LELU LELU LE

Tuesday, February 2, 2016


When Johnny Sablan started recording Chamorro music albums in 1968, I was old enough to play the records my aunties bought and listen to his songs.

One of the songs that instantly became one of my favorites is Lelu Lelu Lelu Le. I memorized the lyrics to this sweet and simple melody, and even then I could not understand what the lyrics were trying to say, although I understood some words like kafe and leche .

As I grew older I began to learn about children's songs which often have no deep meaning or message and which can sometimes simply be nonsense words so that we can just have fun singing the melody.

Today I listen to Lelu and think of the simple, innocent but fun life children had in the past. The song speaks of yummy food and fruits that kids would have readily available at their disposal. Nothing from a can except for the milk and maybe the coffee. Everything else was from the land and sea before them.

The last verse in Johnny's recording, though, was more mysterious to me. So I went to ask him about it. From Johnny himself I learned how he came to record this song.

His mother Rita had friends from Saipan who suggested Johnny record this song and provided him with the traditional lyrics. Then Johnny thought about including his own message of the youth of his time in the late 1960s who were getting involved with drugs.

He used the image of the banyan tree, the trongkon nunu a tree with many leaves, whose abundant and exposed roots are feared and respected as the abode of the spirits of our ancestors. In these roots we can "see" the faces, young and old, of our ancestors and people. He says, "If you are high on drugs, and you are asking who you are, you will find the answer to that, your name will be called, you will find yourself, if you come down off your high and just sing Lelu lelu le. The song will calm you down and you will find yourself again."


LYRICS

1. Lelu lelu lelu le, latan leche yan kafe, gi ha'åne San Jose
(Lelu lelu lelu le, a can of milk and coffee, on Saint Joseph's day)

ya hagon suni, fina'denne', ti u ma igi para mångge', lelu....
(and taro leaves, fina'denne', they can't be beat for flavor, lelu....)


2. Lelu lelu lelu le, un titiyas mamaipe, tininun ti'ao na totche
(Lelu lelu lelu le, a hot titiyas, barbequed ti'ao fish for the main dish)

yan alåguan ni ma leche, para atmåyas ni dinanche, tiinun lemmai ni ma guesgues.
(and rice porridge with coconut milk, corn porridge made just right, barbequed scrubbed breadfruit)


3. Guaha trongko gi hatdin, manmanfloflores pot fin, manmanokcha i tomåtes
(There is a tree in the garden, that is finally flowering, the tomatoes have sprouted)

manmañensen kakaguåtes, man sen meppa trongkon åtes, todo maolek mås ke åntes.
(the peanuts are full, the åtes tree is abundant, everything is better than before.)


4. Guaha trongko ni mi hagon, måtan taotao yan påtgon, sinangåne hao i na'ån-mo
(There is a tree with abundant leaves, the face of a man and child, you are told your name)

yanggen tatkilo sagå-mo, fåtto påpa' ya ta (fa)ngånta : lelu lelu lelu le.
(if your place is high, come down and let's sing : lelu lelu lelu le.)


My friend Goro from Saipan sings a verse of Lelu himself :



TODAY IN HISTORY : MABINI ARRIVES

Monday, January 25, 2016

Apolinario Mabini outside his tent at Asan


On this day 115 years ago, the US Rosecrans arrived in Apra Harbor, Guam from Manila. It carried 34 Filipino political exiles and their male servants. But among the most famous of them was Apolinario Mabini, the "Brains of the Philippine Revolution." His deportation to Guam was justified by the American authorities based on Mabini's communication, even while inside an American jail in the Philippines, with Filipino fighters continuing the fight against American rule.

Mabini returned to Manila in February, 1903 after having sworn an oath of allegiance to the U.S.

Mabini's two year stay on Guam (along with his fellow exiled countrymen) is commemorated by a historical marker at Asan Point.




Another marker is just a few feet away. From this vantage point, you can see how close the camp site was to the capital city of Hagåtña.





THE MONUMENT THAT IS NO MORE




Last year, yet another monument to Mabini was to be erected in Asan, in the center of the community and not at the seaside spot where Mabini's camp actually was.

This was not received well by a number of vocal village residents.

For half a century or more, the village residents never said a word about the two monuments at Asan Point (or the old Camp Asan). That was, in fact, where Mabini's camp was and the village itself was not located there.

But this intended monument was in the heart of the village, which is small enough that any marker or monument placed there would stand out. Planned to rest next to the mayor's office and community center, which is next to the parish church, perhaps villagers felt that this monument would be too defining a structure, coloring the Chamorro villagers with an association to a person who had no significant relationship with the village or villagers themselves over 100 years ago. Mabini happened to live a short while by a beach a mile or so distant from the community itself, and that was all, so to speak, in the eyes of the community.

My sources tell me that the monument was completed and dedicated. But Mother Nature had a quick and, at least for now, final word. A typhoon toppled a tree branch nearby and damaged the monument. Thus, only the foundation and base remain.

SNOW IN THE MARIANAS?

Saturday, January 16, 2016


Naturally there is no snow in the Marianas, just as coconut trees do not grow in Alaska.

But there have been many women named Nieves among the people of the Marianas.

"Nieves" means "snows" in Spanish. Why would Chamorro mothers name their daughters "snows?"

Because of Catholic tradition.




In Rome is a basilica which was the first church in Western Europe named after the Blessed Virgin Mary.

It is called Saint Mary Major, "major" meaning "greater," as there are many churches named after Mary in Rome, but none as grand in size as Saint Mary Major.

How this church was built explains why it is also known as Our Lady of the Snows.

In ancient Rome, a Christian couple could not have children and were thinking what to do with their wealth once they died. As they were devoted to Our Lady, they vowed to use their wealth to do something in Our Lady's honor but didn't know exactly what to do. They asked Mary for a sign.

On August 5th, snow fell on the spot where the basilica now stands. Not only is it unheard of for snow to fall anywhere in Europe in August, even in winter it doesn't snow much in Rome at all. So everyone took this as Mary's sign to build a church in that spot. And so many people called the church Our Lady of the Snows and August 5th its feast day on the church calendar.

In Spain, "snows" is "nieves." So the custom began of naming some baby girls Nieves, especially those born on August 5th.



Nieves C. Aguon
3rd name from top
1920 Guam Census


Though typically a woman's name, the Spaniards were not hesitant to name their boys, once in a while, Nieves.

Case in point, our very own Hag å t ñ a library is named after the Filipino Nieves M. Flores, a Guam educator before the war.




The Chamorro nickname for Nieves is Ebi' or Ebe'.

FINO' GUAM FINO' SAIPAN

Wednesday, January 13, 2016



Our people, in general, like their food spicy hot.

And nature has given us the very thing to achieve that - the donne' pepper, of which there are many kinds.

When the donne' pepper is prepared (the Chamorro word fa' , or "to make"), it becomes fina'denne '. Donne' that is prepared.

Usually, fina'denne' is donne' ' swimming in soy sauce, or vinegar or lemon juice, often with onion slices added. People then dip their food into this sauce or spoon it over the food.

In Guam, when the donne' ' is mashed ( ma gulek ) into a paste, usually with salt and maybe some vinegar added for flavor and preservation, it is called do nne' dinanche . Dinanche means "correct."

I suppose the name came about because people had the idea that donne' ' that is prepared this way is donne' that is prepared "just right" or "correctly," meaning "most pleasing to the palate."

It should be remembered that the Chamorro verb danche can also mean "to hit a target" or "hit the mark." So, donne' dinanche is to "get it just right."

Purists will say that donne' dinanche is just the donne' paste with some salt and vinegar. But many others add a wide variety of extra ingredients which differ from home to home. Some add string beans, onions, garlic, coconut crab meat, imitation crab meat, coconut milk, lemon juice, finely chopped pumpkin tips and even mayonnaise. I think the variations will continue to evolve into the future.

In the Northern Marianas, which has more Japanese influence, some add miso paste.

But the purists will say that such donne' dinanche is not dinanche !

In Saipan, no one called it donne' dinanche . Recently, a few in Saipan have started to call it so, because of Guam's influence.

Otherwise, the Chamorros of Saipan just called it donne' or fina'denne' .

But in Saipan there is another name for it : donne' chosen .

Chosen (some pronounce it Chosing ) is an old Japanese way of naming Koreans. Koreans do not appreciate the name and it should not be used among them.

Guam Chamorros are unfamiliar with the term Chosen because we on Guam did not have a Korean community on our island before the war, unlike the thousands of Korean workers brought into the Saipan in the 1920s and 30s by the Japanese. Japan ruled Korea before World War II.

The Saipan Chamorros, observing the Koreans (or Chosen) and their love for the chili pepper in their food, started to call donne' paste after the Koreans.

I asked someone from Saipan what he thought of the Guam term do nne' dinanche .

He chuckled and said, " Todo donne' dinanche ."

"All donne' is correct."



KONSETBA

Thursday, January 7, 2016


Our islands abound in papaya. They grow wild all over the place.

But we don't see this Chamorro sweet treat much. It's called konsetba , and in English we might call it "candied papaya."


WHAT IS IT?

Konsetba are papaya slices that are :

BRINED and then COOKED IN SUGAR

The result is sweet, gummy papaya slices with some stiffness.

BRINING means soaking the papaya slices in water and åfok , which is lime (not the fruit) made from baking coral or clam shells. Brining stiffens the papaya slices so that they can survive cooking and not fall apart, and it also helps preserve the papaya. Konsetba does not have to be refrigerated, though it can be, especially if you want to take time finishing your supply.

Then sugar and some water are added to a pan and allowed to caramelize. Then the papaya slices are added and cooked in the caramel. Once done, it is now konsetba and the slices are cooled and allowed to drip any excess.

Here is a link to a recipe for konsetba : KONSETBA RECIPE


DOES KONSETBA MEAN "CONSERVE"

Why is it called konsetba ? To some, it sounds close to the English word "conserve." Is there a connection?

There is a Spanish word conservar . Indeed, it can mean "to conserve," as in, "to keep something from being lost." A synonym would be "preserve."

And foods en conserva in Spanish means preserved foods, such as canned or potted foods.

Because the brining of the candied papaya makes it harder for bacteria to breed and spoil the papaya, it was rightly called konsetba , from the Spanish en conserva .....preserved papaya.

But don't think konsetba can also be used to mean, in Chamorro, "to conserve or preserve." Konsetba , in Chamorro, only means candied papaya.



CHAMORRO WORD FOR "CONSERVE" OR "PRESERVE"


Today, and for a couple of centuries already, we have been using the Spanish word mantiene to express the idea of holding on to something, not allowing something to be lost, weakened, deteriorated and so on.

"Preserve our culture." "Mantiene i kuttur å -ta."

To "conserve" as in "not to waste," there is the Chamorro term chomma' , which means to reduce usage or abstain (as well as "to block, forbid, prevent").

But in the 1865 Spanish-Chamorro dictionary by Father Ib á ñ ez, n å 'na' is another word for "conserve."

This comes as a surprise to people fluent in Chamorro, because nå'na' means "to hide." But it makes sense. If you want to preserve or conserve something, you often need to hide it, or at least store it away.

Påle' Román's 1932 dictionary confirms that nå'na' did indeed mean "to save, keep, safeguard" because one often hides what one keeps safe for the future.

But since our generation has lost the other meanings of nå'na' , if we said " N å 'na' i kuttur å -ta " hoping to mean "Preserve our culture," fluent speakers of the modern age would interpret the statement to mean "hide our culture."

So, ironically, the indigenous term "to preserve" has not been preserved up to our times. We would generally use the word we borrowed from Spanish, " mantiene ."










I SÅNTO ANGHET-ÑA

Tuesday, January 5, 2016


(The story teller preferred not to appear on the video)



BACKGROUND TO THE STORY

In 1944, the Americans by-passed Luta (Rota) while invading the other three main islands of the Marianas : Saipan, Tinian and Guam.

Luta was cut off from supply ships and food was scarce. The Japanese made the Chamorros farm for them in the fields, and American planes would sometimes fly in and attack military and Japanese targets, but Chamorros were also vulnerable to these attacks.

The story teller recounts an incident told to her by her mother about one such strike from an American plane while farming the fields of Luta when she was a baby, carried on her mother's back.

In 1945, the Japanese were given the opportunity to surrender, without an American invasion, when the war ended.


Gi liyang annai man gaige todo i taotao.
( In the cave where everyone was .)

Kada dia debe i famalao'an de u fan h å nao para i gualo'
( Every day the women must go to the farm )

para u fan macho'cho' ya u fan å nom para i Chapanis.
( to work and plant for the Japanese. )

Pues gu å ho nai "cry baby" yo' ya ti si ñ a yo' ma po'lo
( Well I was a cry baby and I couldn't be left alone )

sa' siempre yanggen duro yo' kum å ti lal å lo' i Chapanis.
( because the Japanese will be angry if I keep crying .)

Pues ha kokonne' yo' si nan å -ho, ha o'ombo' yo' gi tatalo'- ñ a
( So my mother would take me, carrying me on her back )

ya hum å h å nao yo' lokkue' para i gualo'.
( and I would also go to the farm. )

Uchan yan somnak gaige yo' gi tatalo'- ñ a.
( Rain and shine I was on her back .)

Pues un dia annai man mamaila' i aeropl å no,
( So one day when the airplanes were coming ,)

t å ya' chansan- ñ iha para u fan mal å go ya u fan attok.
( they had no chance to run and hide .)

Pues manohge kalan est å ka "or" m å tai trongkon h å yo ya mangeto.
( So they stood there like poles or dead trees and stayed still .)

Pot fin, mamaki i aeropl å no ya uno na b å la poddong
( At last, the plane fired and one bullet fell )

gi me'nan i damagas adeng- ñ a si nan å -ho.
( in front of my mother's big toe .)

Ya despues ilek- ñ a, "Nihi ya ta fan mal å go ya ta fan attok sa' siempre ha bira gue'."
( Later she said, "Let's go and run and hide because surely he will return. )

Mag å het na ha bira gue' i aeropl å no ya mamaki.
( Sure enough the plane returned and fired .)

Annai hum å nao i aeropl å no yan man huyong siha,
( When the plane left and the people came out )

duro ma s å ngan i sinienten- ñ iha annai duro mamaki i aeropl å no.
( they kept expressing their feelings when the plane was shooting .)

Si nan å -ho ilek- ñ a, "Poddong un b å la gi me'nan i damagas adeng- ñ a lao ti p å kpak."
( My mother said, "A bullet fell in front of (her) big toe but it didn't explode. ") *

Pues ilek- ñ iha i famalao'an, "Ai Luisa. Ennao ha' i S å nto Anghet- ñ a i patgon
( Then the ladies said, "Ay Luisa. It was only the Guardian Angel of that child )

gi tatalo'-mo muna' fan s å fo'," sa' todos siha mag å het man s å fo',
( on your back who protected us, because they were all surely safe ,)

kontodo gu å ho.
( including me .)

* The story teller switched back to the third person while speaking in the first person, quoting her mother.


NOTES

~ She uses another word for airplane, aeropl å no , borrowed from the Spanish. The more usual word we use is b å tkon aire , both words borrowed from Spanish but according to Chamorro usage. It means "air ship."

~ She uses the original Chamorro word for the human foot, addeng , preserved by the Chamorros of the Northern Marianas. Guam Chamorros switched to using p å tas , originally meant for animal feet only.

FAMILIA : INOS

Wednesday, December 30, 2015


+Governor Eloy S. Inos


The Inos family hails from Luta (Rota)

And the interesting thing about the family is that, at one time, the entire family named Inos consisted of one person! Luckily for the name, it was a male who could have children and pass down the name.

His name was Patricio Inos, and he was the son of Rita Inos. Rita had Patricio out of wedlock, so Patricio carried the surname of his unwed mother Rita. According to the hand written notes of a former Luta pastor, the biological father of Patricio was one Juan Taisacan.

Patricio married Juana Masga in 1912 and the rest is history. From these solitary roots, a family continued which produced educators, judges and civil servants, including the first Governor of the Northern Marianas who was from Luta, the late Governor Eloy Songao Inos who passed away in 2015.


INOS IS A CHAMORRO WORD


Like all Chamorro surnames, Inos actually means something.

Inos is an adjective that describes something that fits easily into something else - a hole, crack, gap, cut....any tight or restricted opening.




So, for example, in the Chamorro religious hymn, I Flechan Yu'us ( The Arrow of God ), it says


Gu å ho mag å het l å nsan Longinos
kal å ktos, inos flumecha hao.

I am truly the lance of Longinus,
sharp, fitting, which pierced you.


The verse is talking about the sinner being like the spear or lance of the Roman soldier Longinus at the crucifixion of Jesus; how it was sharp and fit easily into the side of Jesus' rib cage.

So a hand that is just small enough to pass through a tight squeeze is inos .

A rat which is just small enough to go in and out of a narrow break in the wall is inos .

A round peg perfectly fit to be inserted into a round opening is inos .


ENGLISH EQUIVALENT?

It's interesting because sometimes it's difficult to find one Chamorro word which is an equivalent of an English word, but, in this case, I cannot think of a single English word which is an equivalent to the Chamorro word inos .

In the hymn above, I used the word "fitting" for inos because something inos fits into a tight opening. But "fitting" is only an approximate translation.

ENGLISH THE CHAMORRO WAY

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

OD Å YE / OTD Å YE

To order for someone



We Chamorros borrow, but we usually change what we borrow!

Take, for example, the idea of ordering something.

Perhaps it's a new concept for us, since, in the past, you rarely ordered something. You either had it or it was easily accessible. Just go to the jungle and pick it. Go to the sea and fish it.

You didn't have to place an order to get it.

But, in the modern world, we place a lot of orders in order to buy things.

So, many Chamorros borrow the English word "order" even when speaking Chamorro.

" OK, bai fan order gi computer ." " OK, I will order on the computer ."

Of course, it would sound more like " fan oda gi kompiuta " but you get the message. Some people even spell it just as it sounds.

But, if you wanted to order for someone, how would you say that in Chamorro?

Well, in Chamorro, when an action is to be done for or at someone, we add an -e at the end of the word.

Dandan , "to play," becomes dand å ne , "to play for." " Bai hu dand å ne hao kantan Elvis ." " I will play an Elvis song for you ."

T å yuyut , "to pray," becomes tayuyute , "to pray for." " Bai hu tayuyute hao ." " I will pray for you ."

But, sometimes,we need to add more than an -e to the word, to make it sound nicer to our Chamorro ears.

So, k å nta , "to sing," becomes kant å ye , "to sing for." " Bai hu kant å ye hao ." "I will sing for you."

If we go back to "order," in Chamorro, it sounds like " oda ." So, "to order for" would therefore become " od å ye ."

And others prefer to say otd å ye , keeping the R in "order" but changing the R to T, as we normally do in words where R appears. As in Carlos, which become K å tlos, in Chamorro.

Od å ye and otd å ye .

To order for someone.

" Bai hu otd å ye hao magagu-mo ." " I will order clothes for you ."

LOS GIGANTES

Monday, December 28, 2015

Parade at the Guam Fair in Hag å t ñ a in 1932


History can be learned in many ways.

Through documents. The physical remains that survive. Stories passed down by elders.

But once in a while you learn something from photographs.

As far as I know, I have never seen anything written about this. Nor has any elder ever said anything to me about this.

But there it is.....in a photo. Undeniable evidence that it once existed on Guam.

And that is the papier mach é giants that are part of festivals, carnivals and parades in Spain and other parts of Europe. Besides the skeleton that formed a frame, the giants were clothed and costumed. These playful figures often represented historic characters, mythical persons or stereotypes of the location, such as the peasant, the clergy or other social classes. Someone underneath the figure carried it, hidden below.

In Spain, they are called los gigantes (the giants). I don't know what Chamorros called them. As our elders often used Spanish terms, perhaps they themselves called them gigantes or hig å nte .  The G before I or E in Spanish is sounded like an H.



Gigantes in Spain


So here we see in the pic above a parade during the "Guam Fair" held in Hag å t ñ a in 1932. Clearly walking in front of a float is a - hig å nte .

I assume that hig å ntes were once part of our local scene during a feria or carnival or during some holiday festivity, thanks to our Spanish heritage.

Higantes (as they are called there) are also found in the Philippines, where they are prominent features of specific festivals in a few places. One of the more famous ones is in Angono, Rizal.




Higantes in the Philippines


Why older people didn't speak (in my experience) about this is interesting to me, and perhaps suggests that the hig å nte was not so prominent a feature of pre-war Guam festivities that it made such an impression on their memory as to recall them years later. But that is just speculation. What we do know, from the pic, is that they did exist. How far back in time and to what extent is what we don't know, unless someone out there in reader land knows from their parents or grandparents.

KÅNTA : KUTTURÅ-TA

Sunday, December 20, 2015


I really like this song.



LYRICS


1. Famagu’on, atiende m å no ha’ eskuelan-miyo


(Children, attend to whatever school you may be)

sa’ i lina’la’ mampos makkat gi tano’-ta.


(because life is too hard in our land.)

Ekkungok ya en fan man osge gi sainan-miyo


(Listen and obey your authorities)

gi maestra yan i maestro.


(the teacher, female and male.)


Chorus :


I kuttur å -ta gof impott å nte mo’na siha gi tiempo,
(Our culture is very important in the times ahead,)


i lengguahi-ta mungnga ma na’ falingo.


(do not lose our language.)

Protehe todo mo’na famagu’on i tano’.


(Protect the land in the future, children.)

Ya ta s å ngan todo : Fanohge Chamorro!


(And we'll all say : Stand up, Chamorros!)


2. Pinasensia todos hit na kl å sen taotao.


(We are all a patient kind of people.)

Direcho-ta eyo ha’ ta g å g å gao.


(We are only asking for our rights.)

Famagu’on na’ fitme mo’na hinenggen-miyo


(Children, make firm ahead your faith)

sa’ i kuttur å -ta ta onra todo i tiempo.


(because we honor our culture at all times.)

GÅTBON PÅTGON

Saturday, December 19, 2015



This Christmas carol is based on a carol found in a Baptist Hymnal probably in English, but which also appeared in German in a German hymanl! Thanks to Lawrence Borja for tracing this. Then it was most likely rewritten in Chamorro by P å le' Rom á n Maria de Vera, OFM Cap.

He put it in his Lepblon K å nta, but comprised of only one verse. The second verse is found in the Saipan hymnal or Lepblon K å nta. It is possible, therefore, that P å le' Rom á n composed only one verse, which some thought too short of a song. Even with a second verse, the song is less than a minute in duration. We don't know who composed the second verse, but it could have been someone in Saipan.

Here it is recorded by the female singers of Johnny Sablan's singing group and found in one of his albums.

The lyrics are :



G å tbon p å tgon, m å 'gas p å tgon
(Beautiful child, great child)

dikkike' Ni ñ o Jesus.
(little Christ Child.)

Atan ham todos na in adora hao,
(Look at all of us adoring you,)

komo i mag å het na L å hen Yu'us.
(as the true Son of God.)


In tingo' todos na i finatto-mo
(We all know that your coming)

para un libre i famagu'on-mo.
(was to free your children.)

Ayo na p å tgon reg å lon-m å me
(That Child is a gift to us)

gi korason yan i anten-m å me.
(in our hearts and in our souls.)



The German Version
based on a Baptist Original





P å le' Rom á n



PÅTGON TAOTAO

Friday, December 18, 2015


P ÅTGON TAOTAO

(The person's child)


I rarely hear the expression nowadays, but I used to hear it in the past.

Another Chamorro way of referring to a person. P å tgon taotao. Someone's child. Literally, "the person's child" or "child of a human being."

Words are important, not only because of their direct meaning, but often because of the mentality or psychology these words reveal about those who use them.

First of all, it seems our older Chamorro mentality was to sometimes prefer the indirect way of referring to specific people.

Instead of talking about Juan or Maria, we wouldn't call them by name but instead refer to them in a roundabout way.

And p å tgon taotao is just one of many examples of how Chamorros did just that. I'll have to save the other examples for later so I can have more topics for the blog!

Secondly, it seems unusual, from our Americanized frame of mind, to refer to someone as "a person's child."

But I am immediately reminded of this saying in English about the enemies we shoot and kill in war.

"Every soldier killed is some mother's child."

The point here is that, whereas the relationship between two enemy soldiers is one thing, one should keep in mind that there is another, more weighty relationship going on between that enemy soldier and his or her mother.

I think that when a Chamorro speaks of another as " i patgon taotao ," we are keeping the conversation mindful of that person's connection to others, and thus, that person's high value in life.

That person may just be a customer to you and me, but s/he is something far more important to his/her mother and father.

Thus, I have heard one clerk tell another clerk in a government office, " Atiende fan i patgon taotao ." "Attend to the person's child." That person waiting in line at that office is not just someone demanding your time and service. S/he is someone's child.

Another example.

A teenage guy is waiting in a store for his mother to finish shopping. Bored, he starts to do things other people find irritating. Someone starts to make a move to scold the teen, and someone sitting next to the irritated person reminds him or her, " Pasiesi å ye, sa' p å tgon taotao. " "Be patient, because s/he is someone's child."

This expression can also be a way of reminding people (yes, sometimes we need to be reminded) that the person is a human being - p å tgon taotao - and therefore someone to be treated with dignity, even if they are a nuisance or difficult.

I have even heard adults be called p å tgon taotao , but not seniors. Other people, though, may have heard even seniors be called p å tgon taotao . I am not sure.

Man more examples abound, but I believe one major reason for this kind of thinking, and this kind of addressing people, is to be mindful of that person's special connection with others not visible at the moment; to be aware that a person has a special place in the world to some people. It's a call for us to treat people in a more caring way. That other person may not be so special to you and me, but they are p å tgon taotao , someone else's special someone.


YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN...

Wednesday, December 16, 2015


....an ear means 365 days.


Many of our grandmas used to say, "Ears and ears ago, when I was in first grade......"



WHY CHAMORROS SAY "EAR" INSTEAD OF "YEAR"


It's because different languages have different sounds, and also lack other sounds.

Statesiders often have a hard time, for example, saying the Chamorro NG sound as in "Mangilao." When a statesider tries to say "Mangilao," it often comes out as "Manilao."

Many Filipinos struggle with the F sound, which is lacking in most of their native languages.

Russians don't have the H sound. For them, Hitler was Gitler.

And we Chamorros don't have the western Y sound. In our own alphabet, Y makes the DZ sound, as in Yigo and Yo ñ a.

When we have to use a foreign word that has the Y sound, we have two ways of handling that difficulty. The first way is to change the foreign Y sound to our own Y (DZ) sound.

So the Spanish word ya , which means "now" or "already" sounds like DZA when said in Chamorro. We see this in the Chamorro (borrowed from Spanish) expression y å ke , meaning "since that, given that." Y å ke un tungo' h å fa ma tago'-mo, h å nao ya un kumple ennao! (Now that you know what your task is, go do it!)

The Spanish letter LL is sounded like a Y by nearly all Spanish speakers. So the Spanish word llave sounds like yabe . But in Chamorro it sounds like DZABE.

And the same is true for Spanish mantequilla (butter) which becomes Chamorro mantekiya .

Even Chamorro names, spelled by Spaniards, use the LL but is sounded like DZ in names such as Acfalle, Tajalle and Aflleje.


THE SECOND WAY.....IGNORE IT


But the second way we deal with that unpronounceable foreign Y sound is to just ignore it.

So year becomes ear.

As we are now well into an era where almost all of us are English speakers from the day we are born, we are losing our distinct Chamorro way of speaking English.

So I am documenting this way of speaking English, the way our grandparents spoke it, many ears ago.


HÅFA "KAMALEN?"

Tuesday, December 8, 2015



In Chamorro, we say kamalen .  The stress is on the first syllable. KA - ma - len.

But the original Spanish word is camar í n . The stress is on the last syllable. Ca - ma - RIN . You can see the Spanish word in the street sign above. It says, "Street of the Camarin of Our Lady of Mount Carmel."

Kamalen, or Camarin, is the name given to the famous statue of Our Lady, found, it is said, in the waters off Malesso' many years ago during Spanish times.

Unfortunately, we have found no documentation about this statue that go back to the very early history of this statue.

But this post focuses on the name of the image. Why was she named Our Lady of Camarin? Who named her this?


THE WORD ITSELF

In Spanish, the word camar í n can mean several things. But all these meanings point to a special place.


A Religious Cama r ín


It can mean, for example, a niche or alcove where a special religious statue, often of the Blessed Mother, is placed. In big churches, there is often a circular wall behind the main altar which forms an alcove, or camar í n . In this camar í n , a special statue of the Virgin or another saint was often placed.




A camar í n did not always have to be an alcove behind the main altar. A camar í n could also simply be a niche for the statue, positioned anywhere convenient. Sometimes it was located at or around the main altar. In Guam's case, the niche for Our Lady of Camarin was mainly* placed directly above the tabernacle, right in the center of the sanctuary.




The niche (or camar í n ) of Our Lady of Camarin
in the Aga ñ a Cathedral before the war


Sometimes, a camar í n was a room used to store religious statues that were not used all year long in a church. When that statue's feast was approaching, the church would take the statue out of the camar í n and prepare it for the feast.

Or, a camar í n was a room used all year round for the veneration of an important statue. Sometimes the camar í n for a special statue wasn't a room at all, but rather an entire building, such as a chapel. This is what, I think, the Camar í n of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is which is indicated in the street sign above.


A Storage Room, Shed or Barn

As mentioned, camar í n could mean a room where religious statues were stored for future use.

From there, the word expanded to mean a storage space for other things and not just religious images.

In the Philippines, two provinces, North and South, are called Camarines, after the agricultural storage sheds prominent in that area. Camarines is the plural of camar í n .





In Chamorro, kamalen can likewise mean a barn or storage room.





Thatched sheds on the beach to shelter canoes were also called kamalen



Ok, so now what?


According to tradition, the statue of Our Lady of Camarin was found in Malesso', in the lagoon really that surrounds the waters off the village. D å no (Cocos Island) is part of the reef that forms the lagoon.

Either very quickly or not long after, the statue was taken to Hag å t ñ a. In the capital city, it was placed, at least during one chapter of the statue's life, in the soldier's barracks. Some people say, it is from the barracks that the name Camarin arose.

The thing is, though, that camar í n does not mean barracks. The barracks were called the cuartel in Spanish.

Another version says that the statue was placed in a tool shed belonging to the barracks. Why? The cuartel or barracks was being built at the time and not finished yet. So, off to the tool shed she went. A tool shed could have been called a camar í n (storage room), but I don't think the Spaniards would have allowed her to stand there with axes and saws and nails. If they really did put her in a tool shed, it was cleared out of the tools so that the structure itself could become the camar í n of the statue.

But how then do we account for the stories that when the soldiers got drunk, the statue would turns its back on the drunken men? Were they all sleeping in a tool shed? Unlikely.

So, perhaps, she eventually made it into the barracks with the soldiers when the barracks were finally built.

It's also possible that there was a camar í n in the barracks; a camar í n in the religious sense. A niche, alcove or room in the barracks that was a camar í n for the statue.


Maybe the church itself?


In time, the statue was then put in the Hag å t ñ a church itself.

Since, in Spanish, a camar í n can be a niche where statues are placed, it could also be that the camar í n in her name refers to the niche where she was placed above the tabernacle or somewhere in the sanctuary.

Unfortunately, almost nothing was written down in those days about the statue, at least that we know about today. So we cannot come to any definite conclusions about why this statue is named Our Lady of Camarin and who named her this.

But, at least, we only have several possible answers to keep in mind, and not 100 possible explanations.

1. The tool shed could have been called a camar í n and she may have been there for some time.

2. The soldiers barracks ( cuartel ) could have had a camar í n inside or attached to it, and she could have been placed there for a time.

3. She is called Our Lady of Camarin because, when she was finally placed in the church itself, she was placed in her own special nice, or camar í n .

Since the statue had no name, it would have been a natural thing when someone asked, "Which statue?" for someone to answer, "Our Lady over there in the niche, or the tool shed...."

To make it easier :


THREE POSSIBLE ORIGINS OF

THE STATUE’S NAME



TOOL SHED connected to soldiers’ barracks



Can a tool shed be called a camarín? YES



NICHE or ROOM inside/attached to soldiers’ barracks





Can a niche or room be called a camarín? YES


NICHE connected to the main altar inside Hagatna Church



Can a niche in church be called a camarín? YES




TODAY



In the present Cathedral-Basilica, built in 1959, Our Lady of Camarin sits in a - camar

í n ! In a niche in the center of the sanctuary.


Truly, she is Our Lady of Camarin....of the Niche.






* I say mainly above the tabernacle in the Hag å t ñ a Church because there is some photographic evidence that the statue was not always above the tabernacle. Perhaps, the statue's position to the side of the altar was temporary, due to some liturgical observance or maybe maintenance/improvement of the altar.


In the photo below of the sanctuary of the

Hag å t ñ a Cathedral in the 1930s, Our Lady is not in the niche above the tabernacle. She seems to be on the left. I wonder if that image is actually a substitute, and the reason why she is not in her usual spot is because she was being repaired.



LIYANG CHUGAI

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Turtles?


These figures, almost certainly representing turtles ( haggan ), are found in a cave in Luta called Chugai.

Getting to Chugai is not an easy thing to do. You need to drive on a rocky, single-vehicle trail through dense brush, with t å ngant å ngan brushing against your car, until you get to the end of the trail where you park.

You will then see that you have come to the top of a cliff, some 500 feet above the beautiful sea.




Then, it's a ten-minute walk on sharp, coral terrain until you get to the mouth of the cave.




And at the mouth of the cave, you are greeted with a padlocked gate!



Gated entrance to the cave


I am glad that the gate is padlocked. Vandals have no chance of defacing artwork done by our ancestors. However, you can call the Rota Historic Preservation Office and they will guide you into the cave and make sure you don't do any harm to it or yourself.

Once inside, you will discover that the cave is very deep. Before long, the sunlight will become useless as you become surrounded by darkness.

It is only with a portable light source that you can see what's inside. According to one source, there are 90 different drawings. The drawings were made with a black substance; charcoal or ash are suspected as being the material used to draw these images. Dating cannot be done unless one tampers with the images, so we don't know for sure how old they are.

The turtles seem instantly recognizable, but most of the others are not so easy to identify. This, for example, could be a bat (probably fanihi but I wouldn't rule out the payesyes ).




Other figures seem to be birds and fishes. But others do not seem to represent either human or animal. Many are simple, geometric shapes. Could some of these images represent spiritual or religious ideas? Could the mak å hna (spirit intermediaries) have been the ones behind these images?

Here are a few others. People will be debating what they represent for years to come :






Whoever drew these images must have brought in many torches and lamps.


JAPANESE REMAINS

The Chamorros were not the only ones who left things behind. So did the Japanese.

Towards the entrance of the cave, where there is more natural light, one can find many broken Japanese bottles, sake cups, glasses, jars.




One can also observe a lot of broken pieces of wood strewn about.




I was told that the Japanese used the cave as a "hospital" during the war.

While I won't discount this, I wonder if this "hospital" were simply a kind of medical station. The place (dusty and humid) may not have been the healthiest environment for wounded people risking infection.

Luta never had the full-on battles of Saipan, Tinian and Guam. There would not have been huge numbers of wounded. But the Americans did strafe Luta now and then, as well as bomb it. There were various people - soldier and civilian, Japanese and Chamorro - who were killed and wounded.

I think some Japanese (the cave is too small for large numbers) used the cave for shelter against the American strafing and to care in remedial ways for some of the wounded.

The US waited for the war to end (September 1945) before landing troops on Luta to round up the surrendering Japanese. For over a year, the nearly 3000 Japanese troops on Luta hid in caves just like Chugai.

And now, it's video time....





Para m å s infotmasion :

http://www.guampedia.com/chamorro-cave-art/#Liyang_Chugai_Luta_Rota

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chugai%27_Pictograph_Site


PAIRE

Monday, November 23, 2015


Here is yet another example of how languages, like so many things in life, are forever changing.

In Saipan and, because of its influence, in Luta and Tinian as well, it is common to hear people say paire or pairere (same word, but extended to give emphasis).

But, if you said paire to older people on Guam, you would get an icy stare, especially from the older women.

Here's the reason why. In Guam, the word paire has an exclusively sexual connotation.





PAIRE





GUAM



SAIPAN, LUTA, TINIAN





STUD BULL




THE BEST, NUMBER ONE

EXTREMELY GOOD





How did this difference come about?



FROM GUAM TO SAIPAN


From around 1740 to about 1815, Saipan had no human settlement. The island had been depopulated by the Spanish.


So where do the Chamorros in Saipan today come from? There were only two other islands inhabited by Chamorros : Guam and Luta. Tinian also was depopulated in Spanish times (except for a small number of men from Guam who took turns temporarily working on the government cattle ranch there).


So 90% or more of the Saipan Chamorros come from Guam Chamorros who moved to Saipan from the 1850s till the early 1900s. A few people from Luta also moved to Saipan during this time and also during the Japanese period and after.


So the Chamorro spoken in Saipan a hundred years ago was the very same Chamorro spoken in Guam. Thus, at one time, paire meant the same exact thing both on Guam and Saipan - a stud bull , valued by farmers for the breeding qualities it had.



SAIPAN CHAMORROS EXTENDED THE MEANING



If a certain bull was paire - the best male for breeding purposes - then some Chamorros in Saipan began to apply that idea and word to the best in anything else.


We do the same in English. Literally, a king is the ruler, the top man, of the government of the land. But we also call some people the King of Rock 'n Roll, or the King of Pop, and a certain brand is called the King of Beers.


The use of paire in Saipan to describe someone or something very good, the best or number one became so common that the word lost its ability to make people blush. From Saipan, its use spread to Tinian and Luta.


But not to Guam. On Guam, it retains its original meaning and thus its taboo in public discourse.


Tan Escolastica Cabrera, born in 1930, is from Saipan but she remembers that paire was not a nice word to use in public when she was a child.





In this interview, Tan Esco relates that, when she was a child, paire was used exclusively to refer to cattle, specifically a bull who was good in impregnating cows.


Today is a different story. As Tan Esco says, even Toyota cars are paire !


Pic courtesy of Sam Santos


THE ORIGIN OF "PAIRE"


Now where does the word itself come from?

There are two clues that suggest that the word paire is not indigenous, that is, not used by Chamorros before the Spaniards came.

First, there were no cattle in the Marianas before the Spaniards. Yet, paire means a stud bull (and only that, in its original meaning).

Second, Chamorro doesn't like the letter R. Yet there it is in paire . We often (but not always) change Spanish R to Chamorro L ( guitara becomes git å la , rancho becomes l å ncho ).  Where there is an R, there is a good chance it is Spanish in origin.

But you can search high and low in a Spanish dictionary for paire , and not find it.


BUT....


This is where having a wide vocabulary in Chamorro is helpful.

We also have the words pair å sto or pair å stro in Chamorro. They're really the same words, but some people prefer saying one over the other. They both mean "stepfather" and come from the Spanish word for "stepfather," padrastro .

Do you see it?

In Chamorro, we change the PADR sound to PAIR, and the MADR sound to MAIR.

Spanish padrastro becomes Chamorro pair å stro ( pair ås to ).

Spanish comadre becomes Chamorro komaire .

And Spanish padre becomes Chamorro paire .

Paire is simply "the father." The bull that was able to father many cattle.




THE STOCKADE

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Chamorro women (perhaps from Saipan) washing laundry in the stockade
( MARC collection )


Much of Guam history after the war remains hidden.

Take, for example, the stockade built by the Americans for civilians suspected of being pro-Japanese.

The stockade was located in Aga ñ a Heights, along where Naval Hospital is now.

Interned men and women were housed in different sections.

Those interned were local full-blooded Japanese civilians, most of whom had Chamorro wives; Chamorros from Saipan, and even the children of Japanese and Chamorro marriages. There may have been Guam full-blooded Chamorro civilians put in the stockade, too, but I have not heard yet of anyone specific.

The internee put in charge of the women's section of the stockade (called the matron) is still very much alive and blessed with good health. She granted me an interview.

Rosita was the daughter of a Japanese tailor and a Chamorro mother. She was an only-child.

On the sole basis of her being the daughter of a Japanese father, she was placed in the stockade after the American reoccupation. The Americans put her skills to work. She could speak English, Chamorro and Japanese and was dependable and cooperative. So they made her head of the women's section.

She registered anyone who was sent to the stockade. She supervised the women according to the instructions of the Americans, like Dr. Stone, who was the stockade physician. She herself made money as a seamstress for the American officers. Even the Saipan ladies helped her in this and made some money as well.

In all this, she bore no grudges but rather made the best of it. Rosita later on became a school teacher and a techa , leading people in Chamorro prayers.

Rosita spent less than a year in the stockade and was then released.

A good number of Japanese-Chamorros and their Japanese fathers had to be cleared by other Chamorros vouching for their innocence.

The full story of these Japanese-Chamorros has yet to be told.

Watch the interview :





FÅKKAI

Wednesday, November 18, 2015


Languages change.

And it doesn't always take outside forces to make a language change.  Many changes are from within.

One example of this is the Chamorro word f å kkai .

For many years in the recent past, the word has been considered impolite. Older people will scold you for saying f å kkai in public conversation.

Ask an older person today what f å kkai means and they will say it means something along the lines of doing physical harm to someone; to demolish, tear apart and physically undo someone.

Yet....the grandparents of people today who consider the word f å kkai impolite in public conversation used the word without any shame or difficulty back in their day....because that older generation knew the original meaning of the word.

Case in point....P åle' Roman Maria de Vera - a Spanish missionary priest considered more expert in the Chamorro language than many Chamorros of his own day (1915-1941). And it was Chamorro people who said that!

P åle' Roman arrived on Guam in 1915 and immediately began learning Chamorro. And what kind of Chamorro was being spoken in 1915?

Well, suffice it to say that Padre Palomo, the first Chamorro priest, born in 1836, was still alive when P åle' Roman arrived in 1915. Padre Palomo's Chamorro would have been the Chamorro spoken in 1800, what he learned from his parents and grandparents. Padre Palomo was undoubtedly someone P åle' Roman spoke Chamorro with till Palomo passed away in 1919.

P åle' Roman published a Chamorro dictionary in 1932, but he certainly started compiling a list of Chamorro vocabulary many years before.

In that dictionary, P åle' Roman defines f å kkai as "to distribute," "to partition."

One example is taken from the old Chamorro custom of dividing the catch after fishing.

"Ma f å kkai- ñ aihon i sengsong ni guihan."

"The people of the village were given a portion of the fish caught."

So clearly was this original meaning of f å kkai in the minds of Chamorros that, in the 1920s or 1930s, P åle' Roman used what many now consider an impolite word in one of his nobenas (devotional prayer book).

"Na' gai fakkai yo' nu i gr å sia siha."

"Give me a portion of graces." Or, "Make me have a portion of graces."

And then there's this gem :

"Ha fåkkai si San Roke i guinahå-ña gi mamopble."

"San Roke distributed his possessions to the poor."

So, this is the original meaning of the word f å kkai . To distribute, to give people a portion of this or that.



HOW THE MEANING CHANGED


So far, we've been dealing with facts. Now we move into speculation.

If f å kkai originally meant "to distribute portions," then that involves the breaking apart of a whole.

The whole catch was broken down into portions in order to f å kkai the fish to the people in the village.

Perhaps this is where people formed the idea that to f å kkai is to break down, to break into parts or portions - no longer in order to distribute, but rather just to tear apart.

Thus, to f å kkai someone no longer meant to give that person his or her portion of something broken down, but rather to break apart the person him or herself.

Some people also use the word f å kkai when referring to mixing, by hand, different ingredients in cooking. This, too, is a breaking down of individual things in order to create a new thing out of the mix.



THEN COMES ENGLISH

Whether we like it or not, a huge number of Chamorros have allowed the English language, not only to supplant their own language, but also to influence the way they think about their own vocabulary.

What Chamorro will not chuckle when they hear someone say, "That Mexican restaurant is good. I love their chili." Only the younger, or highly Americanized, Chamorro, will not get the reference.

Because the Chamorro word f å kkai sounds so close to an English curse word, I believe f å kkai gained even more negativity among a new generation of Americanized Chamorros; Americanized in the sense that they let English influence the way they think even about Chamorro words that have no relation to English.

This mind set probably came about in the 1950s, and definitely by the 1960s.



THE WORD IS CHANGING EVEN NOW


Fast forward to our own times.

In the 1990s, a young man named Roman dela Cruz decided to market a brand of his own creation. It wasn't just clothing; his brand was closely associated with martial arts on Guam and beyond.

He gave the word f å kkai a new meaning; his own. He had a spiritualized meaning in his own mind when he used the word f å kkai in his marketing.

For Roman, f å kkai represents the spirit or soul of the local people - the life force inside us that propels us to keep living and to overcome all challenges and to thrive.

I know this because I asked Roman about it. But I am putting into my own words what I think Roman means. If you want to, ask Roman yourself what he means.

I can see how he could make this connection. By the 1950s, to f å kkai someone was to tear them apart - a show of power. In Roman's mind, f å kkai is that indomitable spirit that empowers us to handle life's challenges. It was a new meaning. And, to symbolize how new it was (and is), he also gave the word his own unique and stylistic spelling : f ökai .

Thus we see how languages change.

From "distribution" to "break apart," with an uncomfortable similarity in sound to an English curse word, to "indomitable spirit."

The thing is, no matter what the dictionary says, the meaning of words depends on what the community says.  Even the dictionary will add new meanings to old words because the community has adopted a new meaning to old words like "gay" or "sick." When something is good, some people call it "sick."

And a community does not arrive instantly at an agreement what words mean.

There will still be many Chamorros who will never accept alternate meanings of the word f å kkai ; not even the original meaning! For them, f å kkai will always mean only one thing.....to physically damage someone.

And, believe it or not, there are still older Chamorros, here and there, on Guam and in the CNMI, who still know the original meaning of the word.

And will Chamorro speakers ever adopt, in big numbers, Roman's spiritual meaning of the word f å kkai ? Time will tell.

One thing is for sure. His use of the word f å kkai on his shirts and other items for sale have put the word right smack in front of our faces, and has caused a negative reaction in some; bewilderment in others; and (unfortunately) apathy in others. For them, f ö kai is just cool. Or, is it hot?



YAN KIN PO

Monday, November 16, 2015


When I was in elementary school, I was introduced to yan kin po by classmates.

The Japanese phrase, when written in Roman letters, is jan ken po .

But you know that J becomes our Y. Like Yigo.

I smiled when I read the following anecdote of an elderly Chamorro lady in Saipan.

Three older women sat outside the room where a legislative public hearing was being held on Saipan.

They weren't sure how they would be called in to testify and, as they didn't want to hurt anyone else's feelings by struggling over who would go first, they played yan kin po .

But what made me smile was that the first lady to go in to testify, the winner of the yan kin po, felt she had to tell the politicians this :

"Buenas noches. Man yan kin po hame gi san hiyong h å ye para u h å lom fine'na."

"Good evening. We played yan kin po outside to see who would come in first."

The game started in China, and then spread to Japan.

So it's not surprising it is found in Saipan, where the Japanese ruled for 30 years. I wonder how it got to Guam, and why it goes by the Japanese name for it.




PUGUA' POLITICS

Friday, November 6, 2015


Pugua' (betel nut) has been a part of our culture "since ever since," as the Fokkai saying goes.

Pugua' stains appear on the teeth of many (but not all, interestingly enough) skeletal remains in archaeological digs in the Marianas, going back thousands of years.

Our favorite nut has been used in a variety of contexts and for different reasons over the centuries. It has been used when two families meet to discuss marriage plans for their children. In the old days, families did not cook red rice and barbecue meat every night for rosaries for the dead; they passed around pugua' and all the fixins : pupulu (pepper leaf), å fok (lime) and am å ska (chewing tobacco).

But pugua' has also been used in political campaigns; at least, in our post-war period.

In the photo above, Ricky Bordallo, and his running mate Pedro (Doc) Sanchez are seen passing the pugua' and pupulu around as they speak to a voter. Whatever your politics, it must be admitted that Ricky was a consummate campaigner and one of the best orators our Chamorro race has ever produced in our modern times.

When I was active in politics in the late 1970s, pugua' was definitely available at most pocket meetings and rallies, whether Democrat or Republican.

Don Parkinson, a Democrat and former Speaker and Senator, was famous in the 1980s and 90s for passing out pugua' to people and, if memory serves, not just during campaign season. Smart move, I'd say, for a stateside politician.

Today, it seems, pugua' has become pass é among our people, especially the young. There is bad publicity concerning betel nut and its cancer risks. But I also think that more and more of  our younger generations just were never exposed to it, and,  if they try chewing it later in life, find pugua' not to their liking.

In a few decades, I think, pugua' will disappear from the Chamorro landscape, except for a small pocket of pugua' fans.


CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS

Thursday, November 5, 2015

MISEN TE'LA'-MO



Misen means "abundant" and can be applied to different things, including abundant fluid or liquid.

To'la is "saliva."

When someone salivates when seeing food, s/he becomes misen te'la'- ñ a .

And you can tell them, "Misen te'la'-mo." "Your saliva is abundant."


JAPANESE MERCHANTS

Wednesday, November 4, 2015



The Japanese started getting interested in the Marianas in the late 1800s.

Japan did not become open to the world, of course, until after Commodore Perry, in 1854, placed great pressure on Japan to do so.

Sometime after 1866, the Spanish Governor Moscoso brought in Japanese farmers to revive agriculture on Guam, but the experiment failed and the Japanese who did not die on Guam returned home.

By the 1890s, Japanese merchant ships were visiting Guam and Saipan, and a few Japanese were already residing in Saipan.

When the Americans took over Guam in 1898, the Japanese presence on Guam took off. One of the most prominent was J.K. Shimizu, whose boats went up and down the Marianas, taking passengers and cargo.

But quite a number of other Japanese moved to Guam and opened small businesses and worked at their trades. The majority of them married Chamorro women, becoming Catholic, even if at times just in name.

A few of these Japanese married Chamorro women from the higher social classes.

A list from 1914 tells us which Japanese residents on Guam had business or liquor licenses :


JK Shimizu
S. Takeyama
JH Haniu
T. Aso
T. Shibata
E. Yamamoto
Y. Kiga
K. Takahashi
Juan Matsunaga
Taroka Inouye
B. Ochai
I. Kamo
K. Takemiya
S. Sakakibara
T. Ooka
K. Ooka
K. Okiyama
T. Seimiya
H. Yamashita
Y. Sugiyama
G. Okiyama
Y. Arina
Z. Hatoba
G. Takatsu


Those are A LOT of Japanese - just 15 years after the start of the American administration of Guam.

Not all of these Japanese enterprises lasted or worked out. Some of these last names are familiar to this day, some have disappeared. Later Japanese immigrants came and started businesses like Shinohara, Sawada and Dejima.

But this list shows the importance of the Japanese settlers to Guam in terms of our genealogy and in business.



CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS

Sunday, October 25, 2015


A few of us at table one night were drinking coffee. Regular coffee. Not the decaffeinated kind.

And one of the ladies said, " Siempre ha na' bela yo' este na kafe ."

" This coffee will keep me up all night for sure. "

Bela is the Chamorro/Spanish word for wake , as in the all-night vigil for the dead.

This expression would not be possible were it not for the Catholic influence on our people for 300 years.

The all-night bela or wake is now a thing of the past. Once in a blue moon a family will observe the old custom.

It was still practiced in the late 60s when I was a child.

I remember tents being put up around the house, and tables and folding chairs.

Wakes were held at the house of the deceased. Churches did not host wakes and there were no funeral parlors to speak of.

People stayed up all night and some played cards in order to fight their drowsiness.





Not every burial was preceded by a wake.

If a person died early in the morning, they were often buried by that afternoon. There were no morgues in those days to keep the body in "cold storage."

Also keep in mind that, many years ago, burial would happen in the morning, not at 2 or 3PM as is done today.

So, after staying awake all night, mourners would surely be able to go to sleep by noon the day of the burial.

COURT CASES IN 1915

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

The Tribunal, or court house, in prewar Hagåtña


Just how tailaye (wicked) were people living in Guam a hundred years ago?

We have the court records to give us some indication.

In a one-month period in 1915, the following cases were tried in the Island Court :



CRIME


DECISION



PUBLIC DISORDER – 1 case



1 Conviction


ADULTERY - 1

case

1 Conviction



SWINDLING – 1

case


1 Conviction


PUBLIC INTOXICATION – 1

case


1 Conviction


CALUMNY – 1

case


1 Dismissal


TRESPASSING – 1

case


1 Conviction


THEFT – 1 case

1 Conviction



BODILY MISTREATMENT – 1

case


1 Dismissal


CRIMINAL ATTEMPT AGAINST A PUBLIC OFFICIAL – 1

case


1 Dismissal




A RESÅT

Monday, September 21, 2015



This is such a forgotten custom that I rarely ever hear it in Guam or the other Mariana islands.

Yet, I heard it in California!

At the Guam clubhouse, at the start of a nobena .

The techa (prayer leader) is saying, " A res å t. Maila' ya ta fan nobena ." " Let us pray. Let us pray the novena. "

The phrase " A res å t " is borrowed from the Spanish " A rezar ," which means "To prayer," or "Let us pray."

It's like a verbal bell to tell the people to quiet down and compose themselves for prayer.

In the old days, this meant people were to stop talking and to kneel down.

People knelt to pray.


REZAR
(Spanish for "to pray")



Another lady at a rosary calls out "A RESÅT!"




One more time, at another nobena .


TAN CHONG GUTOS

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

TAN CHONG GUTOS
(Concepción Salas Mendiola)


She was one of the most popular techa in all of Guam.

Tan Chong was the daughter of José Garrido Mendiola (Gutos) and María Delgado Salas. The family lived in the Santa Cruz district of Hagåtña before the war.

Her mother, María, was also a techa before her, and undoubtedly Tan Chong got her start from her mother. But her real career as a techa took off in a most humorous way.

As an eleven year old child, Tan Chong would sit behind the techa in Santa Cruz church, looking over her shoulder and would read aloud the nobena along with the techa . But Tan Chong was so good and so fast in doing this that she soon overtook the techa , who was a few paces behind the little girl Tan Chong.

In exasperation, the techa turned around and said to Tan Chong, " Hu! Chule' ya hågo un tucha !" (" Here! Take the book and lead it yourself! ")

And Tan Chong did! Since then, she was a techa in the church and in many homes.


NOT ONLY A TECHA BUT...

...a good singer as well. Not every techa is a singer. Some, in fact, let others lead in singing the Chamorro hymns and they stick to leading the recited prayers. But quite a few also sing as well as lead in the prayers.

A techa is specifically a prayer leader. A singer is a kantot (if a male) or a kantora (if a female).


NOT ONLY CHAMORRO BUT...

...in Spanish as well. Tan Chong was from that generation that grew up saying many prayers in Spanish. She also knew Spanish hymns.


WHAT MAKES A GOOD TECHA

Tan Chong was liked as a techa because she was loud enough, clear enough and had the right speed, neither too slow nor too fast. When she lead the prayers, people could understand her, follow her and pray with her.


FRIEND OF PÅLE' SKÅT




Tan Chong was the first techa of the new Saint Jude parish in Sinajaña after the war, with Tan Maria'n Songsong and Tan Catalina'n Gido. She wasn't one of the daily techa who lead prayers before Mass, but was rather the kind of techa called by families to their houses.

Påle' Skåt (Fr Oscar Calvo, later Monsignor) was first in Sinajaña then moved to Agaña Heights next door. Tan Chong became a regular member of Påle' Skåt's religious circle and was also a main figure in the Agaña Heights parish as a techa and teacher in Eskuelan Pale'. She was also close to his sisters and other women devotees.

One of the Agaña Heights Sodality members (an association for the young girls) always knelt next to her when she lead the prayers so that they could learn from Tan Chong how to lead prayers.



Påle' Skåt gave this image of Our Lady of Fatima to Tan Chong to take from house to house, leading the hosting family in prayer.


SALÅPPE' PAT NENGKANNO'

Families often show their appreciation to the techa by giving them money or food, all unsolicited.

Tan Chong lived in a wooden house in Sinajaña and would just put the money, all crumpled up, in any nook or cranny in the walls of the house. Family members cleaning the house would find the rolled up bills in cracks in the wood here and there. She would sometimes give the money to family members to buy whatever was needed.

When families would give her food instead, she would share it with the family, who lived in various houses in the neighborhood. Instead of telephoning or yelling, she would bang on an empty oxygen tank to call their attention.

If it was to call the chickens to eat leftovers, she would bang the same tank but with a different rhythm meant just for the chickens.




Tan Chong is seen here in 1945 or 1946 in the bombed out Hagåtña Cathedral with a group of singers from Sinajaña (after the war). She is marked with three Xs and is the only one wearing the mestisa .

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO'

Tuesday, September 8, 2015


I kastiyo, kastiyon i såbio;
lao an måtto i oso,
dinilalak huyong i såbio gi kastiyu-ña.

The castle is the castle of the wise man;
but when the bear comes
the wise man is chased out of his castle.


Our mañaina weren't witless boors.

What they lacked in classroom education was made up for in folk wisdom passed down orally from elder to child.

The above statement was taught to a lady by her mother who learned it from her mother. This is something that goes back to the late 1800s and perhaps even earlier.

Our islands don't even have bears, yet our mañaina knew something about them because Spaniards obviously talked about them and described them to our elders.

There were more than one moral lesson to be learned from such quotes as the above.

A man may be wise, but none of us are invincible. Even the wise man can be defeated by a bear. Every Goliath has a David, and so on.

So even if you live in a hut, and envy the castle, remember that even those who dwell in castles can be chased out of them.

CHAMORRO WHALER NAMES

Thursday, August 27, 2015



Lists of Chamorro whalers show up in many documents of that period, from around 1820 till 1900.

How do we know they are Chamorro?

If we're lucky, the document says the men are from Guam, or the Ladrones. The English-speaking world was still calling our islands the Ladrones in the 1800s.

At other times, the last name of the whaler is almost certainly Chamorro, like Taitano or Babauta, which are neither Spanish nor Filipino.  Even Manibusan or Pangelinan, though originally Filipino, became Chamorro surnames as well when Filipinos with those names moved to Guam and married Chamorro women. If you find a Pangelinan on a whaling list, there is also the possibility that he might be Filipino, as the whalers also recruited from various port cities in the Philippines.

When the list does not state specifically that a whaler is from Guam, or the Marianas, we face the following hurdles coming to a conclusion that the whaler is Chamorro :


1. SPANISH SURNAMES

Many Chamorros carry Spanish surnames. These Spanish surnames join the Chamorro man with countless others from all over the world who also carry Spanish surnames. Jose de la Cruz could be from the Philippines, Mexico, Peru, Chile and many other places.

A few Portuguese recruits had their names spelled more like the Spanish version.


2. MYSTERIOUS SPELLINGS

American and British clerks spelled a Chamorro recruit's name the way it sounded to them. This means that in many cases the name was spelled in very bewildering ways.

Some are not so far off that it is relatively easy to figure out that Denorio is Tenorio and Mendiolo is Mendiola. Perrado is Peredo and Pangalino is Pangelinan.

Sometimes a whaler's name might sound very similar to an Anglo name, and he'd be stuck with that. So a man named Fausto became Foster, and a Roberto would become Roberts, which was the original version of Roberto anyway! All the Chamorro Robertos are descendants of a British seaman named John Roberts, who became Juan Roberto when he settled on Guam.

Someone named de la Rosa could have been renamed Rose.

Some names look unfamiliar because the names died out on Guam. One whaler was a Nego, which used to be a family on Guam but they died out.

A bit harder to recognize at first, but gazing at it a bit longer will help you see that the whaler named Longrero is actually Leon Guerrero. Manilsea was more than likely Manalisay.

But some clerks went wild with names like Guamatasas, Hanotanto and Gamatuatan, which I suspect was Gumataotao.

Mantotanta was possibly Mantano ñ a.

Let's keep in mind that these names were hand written, not type written. Different clerks had different penmanship, and what looks like an N to you and me could have been that clerk's R or U.


3. NICKNAMES

Finally, a whaler's name may look nothing like a Chamorro name because captains often gave a recruit a brand new name! Yet, he is Chamorro.

What new name? It was all up to the whim or logic of the captain.

I have seen lists where the guy was named Joe Guam, after the island where he was recruited.

Or Joaquin Kanaka. Kanaka was a common word in the Pacific meaning "islander" or "native" of an island.

Other times, the reason for the new name remains a mystery, known only to the captain and possibly the recruit, now dead.

For example, would you believe that John Allen, Domingo Carter, Jo Davis and Louis Thurston (all Anglo surnames) were listed as having been born on Guam.  American captains were not hesitant at all to give English surnames to both Chamorro and Hawaiian recruits.



For more about Chamorro whaler lists :

https://www.chamorroroots.com/x5/index.php/34-taotao-tano/history/227-chamorro-whalers-of-the-charles-w-morgan-ship

For more about the custom of giving whalers nicknames :

http://www.nha.org/history/hn/HNwinter2007-lebo.htm




THE MYSTERY OF LEARY JUNCTION

Wednesday, August 26, 2015


Few people know, and older people hardly remember unless they hear the name again, that there is a section of Guam's roads called Leary Junction.

The problem is deciding where it is!

I first came across the name when researching life on Guam in the 1950s. I came across an article in a Guam newspaper of the time and it spoke about Leary Junction. It described that junction as the intersection between Marine Drive (now called Marine Corps Drive) and Route 8, the road to Mongmong and beyond.

But, if you look at the map above, modern indications say that Leary Junction is the intersection of Marine Corps Drive and Route 4, the road that leads to Sinajaña, Ordot and so on. You can clearly see in the map above that Leary Junction is by the Paseo.

So which is it?

Well, the newspaper article from the early 50s should be more credible than a modern map, I would think, because back in the 1950s they (the Americans) were still calling that intersection Leary Junction. When the name became less used, people's memory where it was more than likely became less certain of that.

Then, I came across this post card.




The post card clearly states "Leary Junction" at the bottom left corner.

And if you look carefully, this is indeed the area where Marine Corps Drive and Route 8 meet. Look at the bridge in the foreground, and, if you look closely or enlarge this, you can see in the back, on the right, the road to Mongmong and Maite. You can also see the cliffs in the background where Maite sits.


BUT WHO WAS LEARY?




Leary was Capt. Richard P. Leary, first American Naval Governor of Guam, and he expelled the Spanish missionaries in 1899, leaving it to old Padre Palomo to take care of 10,000 Chamorro Catholics from Hagåtña to Malesso'.

He prohibited the public celebration of the village saints' feast days. He outlawed cock fighting on Sundays and tried to get the Carolinians living in Tamuning to wear clothes.

Leary Junction. Where? Who?

Perhaps I shouldn't have brought it up!

ÅNTES YAN PÅGO

Tuesday, August 25, 2015


This is the junction of Route 1 (Marine Corps Drive) and Route 8.

Some maps refer to this as Leary Junction, while other maps say that Leary Junction connects Route 1 and Route 4 (not Route 8), what we now call the Agana Loop by Chief Quipuha's statue.

The first picture was taken in the early 1970s. We can still see Town House, one of the island's top shopping destinations at the time. The new Ada building is already built, on the left. The Pacific Daily News Building (today the DNA Building) is not yet built.

Marine Corps Drive (called simply Marine Drive in those days) had no median strip and was just 4 lanes wide. There were as yet no sidewalks.

Before the war, this area was known as San Antonio.



Early 1970s



Today

KÅNTA PARA I SEKRETÅRION GERA

Monday, August 24, 2015



Chamorros are a welcoming people.

Some Chamorros think we welcome too much! As in, they say, we welcome foreign countries who occupy our islands!

Nonetheless, so we are and we often welcome people with song.

In 1935, the U.S. Secretary of War (what we now call the Department of Defense) George Dern visited Guam, an important naval outpost for the U.S.

The Governor of Guam, Navy Capt. George A. Alexander, got a committee together which included the main players among Guam's elite.

Among the many songs sung in Dern's honor was this Kåntan Chamorrita :

Biba Sekretårion Gera,
( Long live the Secretary of War )
sa' måtto hao gi tano'-måme ;
( because you have come to our land ;)
bai in fata hao ni guaha ,
( we will show you what we have ,)
kon todo i minagof-måme.
( with all of our happiness .)

Kao para minaulek tåno',
( Is it for the good of the land ,)
håfa mohon finatto-mo?
( what is the reason for your arrival ?)
Pat para un li'e hechuran-måme?
( Or is it to look at our appearance? )
Håfa guaha gi hinasso-mo?
( What is on your mind? )

Pues adios, Sekretårion Gera ,
( So farewell Secretary of War ,)
uttimo ha' ali'e-ta på'go ;
( this is the last time we will see each other ;)
hahasso ham gi puesto-mo,
( remember us in your position ,)
ni minagof-måme nu hågo.
( our happiness with you .)

In desea hao maolek biåhe ,
( We wish you a good trip ,)
an un dingo este na puetto ;
( when you leave this port ;)
ya i man ali'e-ta på'go
( and our meeting today )
in konsidera un rekuetdo.
( we consider something memorable ).


The Secretary of War, George Dern, was the great grandfather of Hollywood actress Laura Dern.




Great Grandpa Dern




Laura Dern in her role in the movie Jurassic Park



A TRACE OF CHAMORRO HUMOR


In the second verse of the Chamorrita song above, I can detect a bit of old-fashioned Chamorro self-deprecatory humor.

Here is this big-shot from Washington coming to little ole Guam in the middle of the huge Pacific Ocean.

So the Chamorro singers ask him, in so many words, "Have you, such a VIP, come all the way here just to see our Chamorro faces?"

"Pot para un li'e hechuran-måme?"

"For you to see our appearance?"

But more to the core of the question would be, " For you to see what we look like ?"

This reminds me of the "natives on display" type tourism of the past.

But there could be a twist according to this Chamorro logic.

Who is the greater fool?

The native on display? Or the foreigner who travels so far and with great effort to see people who, in their own eyes, are just ordinary people.

ÅPAS

Friday, August 21, 2015


Some people were wondering about the Chamorro used in this sign.

My first comment is to say that Chamorro, like perhaps most languages, does not always operate in just two colors, black and white. There are many shades of meaning, and different Chamorros will appreciate some of them and other Chamorros will find them disturbing.


KAOHAO

First of all, let us examine the use of the word kaohao for box.

Kaohao probably meant any box-like container but in time, among the majority of Chamorros, kaohao has come to mean, exclusively, a chest where special material things are stored and only rarely to be touched. Things like wedding dresses, special fabrics yet to be sewn, documents and so on.

This is why, when Påle' Román on Guam translated the phrase "Ark of the Covenant" as " Kaohao i Inadingan ," the Chamorros of Saipan found it strange. The Ark of the Covenant was indeed a box, richly ornamented. Chamorros on Guam just went with the flow of Påle' Román's translation and people can get used to just about anything. But the Chamorros of Saipan, who had their own translation ( Åtkan i Aliånsa , which uses Spanish loan words which Påle' Román always tried to avoid), to this day find the use of the word kaohao in this way strange. To them, and most Guam Chamorros, kaohao is that wooden chest in the bedroom where nåna hides special things, seen once a year at most.

Instead, Chamorros adopted two Spanish loan words for other kinds of boxes. Kåhon (from cajón ) is usually a large box while kahita (from cajita, or "little caja ") is a small box or a box made of cardboard. Even the refrigerator is a kåhon ais (ice box).

So, although kaohao is certainly correct, most older Chamorro ears will find it strange to use it for a drop box.

DROP

The Chamorro translation above does not translate the English word "drop." This is probably because it's an idea not normally expressed in Chamorro.

In Chamorro, we rarely say, "I dropped something." Instead, we say, "It dropped." Poddong . Maybe it's a verbal way we distance ourselves from guilt!

You could say, though, " Na' poddong ayo! " " Make that thing drop! "

It could be that to "drop" money is not a Chamorro way of thinking. Instead, one places or puts money somewhere. So perhaps " pine'lo " or "placement" could work here for "drop."

" Kaohao pine'lo " or " Kåhon pine'lo " might work for "drop box," but more precisely "placement box."


PAYMENT

Åpas is the Chamorro word for "payment."

Åpas isao is "payment for sin."

Åpas madåsai is "payment for a hair cut."

Åpas ha'åne is "daily wage."

Åpas kåndet is "payment for the electrical light." It really includes all the electricity used in the house, but the light is the most obvious use, to most people. So when a Chamorro says he needs to pay the kåndet, he means the power bill.

Inapåse (payment) and ma apåse (to pay) can also be used.

But the older Chamorros find the simple form åpas sufficient. It means "payment."


ELEKTRISIDÅ

Elektrisidå is a perfectly fine and correct word. It specifically means "electricity."

But, as mentioned, kåndet can also mean "electrical power." It is the first way older Chamorros think when wanting to refer to "electrical power," because the first you notice when the power goes out is that the light dies ( måtai i kandet ). There were no TVs or air conditioners in those days.


HÅNOM

No question here. It means "water."


So, there are options  besides the one seen in the sign above :


KAOHAO PINE'LO ÅPAS KÅNDET YAN HÅNOM

KÅHON PINE'LO ÅPAS KÅNDET YAN HÅNOM

KAOHAO PINE'LO ÅPAS ELEKTRISIDÅ YAN HÅNOM

KÅHON PINE'LO ÅPAS ELEKTRISIDÅ YAN HÅNOM

and there are still other possibilities.


NOW, THE QUESTION ABOUT HOURS

The reckoning of time into seconds, minutes and hours is a Western construct, dependent on (in our case) Spanish words. But the sign above seems to want to avoid Spanish loan words as much as possible.

So "g.e." stands for " gi ega'an " which means "in the morning."

And "g.p." means " gi pupuenge " which means "in the evening."

Notice that the usual introduction " a las " meaning "at" is missing. A las siette gi ega'an . At seven in the morning.

Now the description of 5PM as "in the evening" creates a debate right there.

Some Chamorros will contest that 5PM is "in the evening." To them, "evening" starts at 6PM and not a second earlier.

So they will say " a las singko gi despues de talo'åne ." " At five after noon ."

I suppose one could abbreviate that into : g.d.t. Gi despues de talo'åne . If you don't mind something longer, g.d.d.t.


TUMAKA'

Finally, there is this use of the word taka', which means "to reach, to obtain."

The creator of this sign above wants to avoid the Spanish loan word asta , which modern Chamorros often render esta . But the original Spanish word is hasta , the H not being voiced. It means "until."

Asta ke måtai yo', bai hu gofli'e hao .
Until I die, I will love you.

So the creator tried to find a way of expressing "until" without resorting to the Spanish-based asta or esta .

He or she chose the word taka' , "to reach," as in, "from seven in the morning it reaches five in the afternoon."

This is a new way of using the word taka '.

A usual way of using it would be, for example, " Ti ha tataka' las onse ya esta yo' måpos ." " It wouldn't even reach 11 o'clock and I will already be gone. "

But tumaka' , which uses the -um infix,  is an actor-focused verb form. -Um verbs answer the question, "WHO did it?"

Si Juan tumaka' i langet. Juan reached (obtained) heaven.

Perhaps tinaka' would be a better verb form.

For example, " Na' tinaka' agupa', " means "let it reach tomorrow." Keep doing your work 'till tomorrow comes. Your work lasted all the way till the next day.

7:00 g.e. tinaka' 5:00 g.d.d.t.

I suppose one way to avoid asta/esta is to say :

Ma tutuhon gi a las siette gi ega'an ya måtto chi-ña gi a las singko gi despues de talo'åne.
It begins at 7 in the morning and it comes to its completed distance at five in the afternoon.

As you can see, that's a mouthful.

And there are several more ways one can try to express a beginning and an end time without using the Spanish loan word asta/esta .

Others will reason, "Well, there's no way to avoid Spanish loan words because this time scheme is not indigenous in the first place." They have no problem borrowing the word hasta which became our asta/esta .

As you can see, there is more than one way to express things in Chamorro, as in perhaps any other language.

Many times, it boils down to "that's just the way we say it."

Others are more willing to invent and create new uses of old words. But not everyone will join the band wagon, as they are not used to these new phrases created by individuals or committees, and because there may in fact be older, indigenous ways of expressing the idea, but the loss of fluency among modern speakers has pushed them to re-invent the wheel.

ALUNAN HÅYO

Wednesday, August 19, 2015


The uniquely gifted Sidro Torres of Santa Rita saw an old photo of a man resting his head on a wooden pillow while he lay on a guåfak (woven mat).

History shows that pillows were made of all sorts of materials all over the world before today's soft, stuffed pillow became ubiquitous. The ancients used wood, stone, straw, bamboo and even porcelain.

Sidro made the pillow out of narra wood which, though not native to Guam, grows here in limited quantity. In fact, he had to get the narra wood at a private ranch.

In the old days, people did with what they had.

Before stores existed, people made their own pillows using the cotton-like bulbs of the kapok tree, called the trongkon atgidon in Chamorro. Atgidon is the Chamorro form of algodón , the Spanish word for cotton. Though not true cotton, it is very similar in feel and Chamorros would take whatever fabric they had, make a sack, stuff it with kapok and sew it closed.



Fallen bulbs of the trongkon atgidon

If atgidon was not available, people in those days used what they had. They would fold up some clothes or fabric or, as seen above, use a wooden pillow or block to rest their head. Sometimes, they wouldn't use a pillow at all. Or, as one elder said, they would rest their head on someone else's body.

Ha fa' alunan i tiyan nanå-ña!

S/he made a pillow of his/her mother's tummy!





Sidro Torres
Carver

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO'

Monday, August 17, 2015



CHE'CHO' MALAKÍS
( sloppy, clumsy or inattentive work )


When your employee photocopies your report back-to-back, but the rear page is printed upside-down, that is che'cho' malakís .

The auto repair shop returns your car, but forgets to tighten the bolts on your wheels. That is che'cho' malakís.

Sloppy, inattentive and clumsy work.

Che'cho' means "work" or "action."

But where did we get the word malakís ?

It's not Spanish, and it doesn't resemble a modification of a Spanish word.

Some think that malakís comes from the Chamorro word pulakis .

Pulakis means "to peel" the skin of a fruit, or the shell of an egg.  A second meaning is to "hatch an egg." It can also mean "to incubate."

In time pulakis became a kind of curse word and, for reasons I cannot discover yet, a strong one! Older Chamorros do not use the word pulakis when in polite company.

Perhaps, then, people changed the word pulakis to malakís as a safe alternative.

This could also explain the change in pronunciation. The stress in malak í s is on the last syllable : malaKIS, not maLAkis. This makes the word even more distant from pulakis , which stresses the middle syllable : puLAkis.




MANY WAYS TO SAY "SMALL"

Friday, August 14, 2015


Chamorro has a number of ways of expressing the idea of "small" or "short."

DIKKIKI' : is the usual word for something small in size.

Please note that we do not mean here something small in quantity, which would be diddidi '.

DICHICHING : mean something extremely small, tiny or minute.

The eye of a needle is dichiching , for example.

When Christ talked about the tiniest part of the letter of the law (like the dot of an I), we can use the word dichiching .

ETTIGO' : means short of stature, as opposed to a tall person.

The ettigo' person may be rather large in size, like an obese person, but be short in height.

A tree can also be ettigo' .

NÅNO : is the word for "dwarf." It comes from the Spanish word enano , meaning the same.

But Påle' Román says there is an indigenous term for dwarves. It is chónnai na taotao .

Chónnai itself, according to Påle' Román, means a "rooster with short feet."

PO'YET : means something or something that has a difficult time growing taller. Ñating dumångkulo . Mappot dumångkulo .  From this it came to mean anything small, or smaller than it should be.



NEWER TERMS


Thanks to newer influences from other countries, we have a few more ways to describe small or short people.

SHORI : is the Chamorro pronunciation of the English "shorty."

In fact, the Chodde' family on Guam are so-named because that is yet another way Chamorros pronounce "shorty."

CHIBI' : is borrowed from the Japanese, and is thus used in the Northern Marianas, but not on Guam. In Japanese, chibi is a slang word for a short person and carries with it, among Japanese, a somewhat negative connotation, as in "shrimp" in English.


MALESSO' FISHING SCENE

Wednesday, August 12, 2015



They say the best time to fish is at night, when the sun doesn't chase the fish into deeper water.

In the dark of night, the fish come up close to the surface so they can look for food. That's when the fish are easier to catch.

This painting depicts just such a scene.

It was painted by Påle' Marcian Pellett, an American Capuchin missionary who was the priest of Malesso' in 1940.

He told how Jesus Cruz Barcinas, a Malesso' resident and community leader, took him and a few others with him to do night fishing.

To do this, one needed a hachón, or fishing torch. The word itself is borrowed from the Spanish. By 1940, Chamorros were using metal canisters filled with kerosene, with some rags serving as the wick.

Then, the fisherman would use a spear, or fisga , to catch the fish. That word, too, is borrowed from Spanish.

As soon as the fish was lanced, into the rice sack it went.

There are pros and cons to almost everything in life, and night fishing did pose its dangers. One could step on the wrong thing in the dark water, for example.

The amazing thing about this Malesso' fishing scene is that is was painted in Japan - not on Guam!

Påle' Marcian, being an American, was shipped off to prison camp in Japan when the Japanese occupied Guam. There, he had lots of time on his hands. Somehow he managed to get the supplies needed to paint these water colors, all from the memories he kept of his time in Malesso'.



THE UNKNOWN CHAMORRO PRIEST

Monday, August 10, 2015



P Å LE' JOSE ADA MANIBUSAN

1914 ~ 1945


Most people have heard of at least three Chamorro priests from the early years, the time before the war.

A lot of them know the name Padre Palomo, the first Chamorro priest, whose full name was Jose Bernardo Torres Palomo.

Even more people, perhaps, remember the second Chamorro priest, because he was beheaded by the Japanese in 1944 and because a well-known school is named after him : Father Jesus Baza Due ñ as.

Many still remember the third Chamorro priest, who died only in the year 2000. He was a contemporary of Father Due ñ as. Monsignor Oscar Lujan Calvo.

But very few people can name the fourth Chamorro priest, ordained in 1942. Few can name him because he died not long after ordination. He was not even ordained on Guam, but in Manila. And he never spent a day on Guam as a priest, because the war prevented him from leaving Manila, where he died.

His name was Father Jose Ada Manibusan.

He was born in Hagat ñ a in 1914, the son of Lorenzo San Nicolas Manibusan and Regina Mendiola Ada.

At some point, he was sent to Manila to study for the priesthood when he was still in his teens. The future Fathers Due ñ as and Calvo also studied in Manila at the same seminary of San Jose, run by the Jesuits, both Spanish and American.




Fr Manibusan in Manila when he first began his studies, not yet in a seminarian's cassock.
Photo taken in 1930.


First to finish his studies was Due ñ as, the oldest of the three, who left Manila to return to Guam and be ordained in 1938. Then Calvo returned to Guam to be ordained a priest in 1941. Manibusan was not ready yet for ordination so he stayed in Manila, only to be stranded there when war broke out on December 7, 1941.

On March 21, 1942, with the Japanese already occupying Manila, Manibusan was ordained a priest. Because of the war, he still had to wait in Manila till circumstances might allow him to return to Guam.




The Pride of the Church on Guam
Bishop Olano and the Three Chamorro Seminaria ns in Manila
Duenas, Manibusan and Calvo


Father Manibusan had been suffering from poor health for some time. His poor health may have slowed his progress towards ordination, since he was, in fact, one year older than Calvo, who was ordained ahead of Manibusan. Older people recollect that his illness was some sort of respiratory condition, but cannot say anything more specific. The hardships and shortages of the war, including a lack of proper medical attention and medicine, contributed to his decline.

Though thousands upon thousands of civilians died in the battle for Manila in February of 1945, Manibusan survived the bombs and bullets, only to die from his own poor health, on March 13, ten days after the Americans had recaptured Manila.

He was buried in Manila, but his body was eventually brought back to Guam where it was buried in Pigo Cemetery, in an above-ground crypt standing on its own and then later in another crypt in the new mausoleum building.

THE GUÅFAK LAWSUIT

Friday, August 7, 2015

GUÅFAK
Pandanus Mat


Pablo Pérez was a governor who stood out.

Ruling over the Marianas for a long term, from 1848 till 1855, he certainly made his mark on the islands. He also stepped on a few toes, including American agents on Guam, as there were many American whalers coming to the island at the time, and he even managed to irritate the Spanish priests.

Formal complaints were actually lodged against Pérez with his successor, Felipe de la Corte. Perhaps it was a case of beefing up one's case that multiple complaints came in. Perhaps the main plaintiffs actually went out looking for others who had an ax to grind with Pérez.

For here we find in the documents a complaints made by three Inalåhan officials against Pérez over guåfak - mats woven from pandanus, usually, and sometimes from other plants.

Justo Taimanglo, Francisco Charguani and Regino Meno were the three Cabeza de Barangay in Inalåhan. A Cabeza de Barangay was a neighborhood leader. Towns and villages were divided into barangay or neighborhoods, and were headed by a cabeza , which is Spanish for "head."

According to the complaint, Governor Pérez ordered guåfak to be made by people in Inalåhan, to the tune of 83 pieces. The three Cabezas were apparently in charge of seeing that this was done, and they were successful and turned them in to the Governor.

But the Governor stiffed them. The Cabezas never got paid for them. Either the Cabezas fronted the money and paid the weavers (less likely) or the Cabezas promised the weavers the money would be coming soon (more likely).

As soon as Pérez was replaced by de la Corte, the three Cabezas filed this complaint.

The Spanish text is nicely worded :

"Que habiéndose hecho en este pueblo 83 petates, por disposición y mandato del ex Gobernador Don Pablo Pérez, tenemos el sentimiento de elevar a su superior conocimiento como hasta la fecha no se nos ha satisfecho el pago de dichos petates."

"That having made in this town 83 mats, by the ruling and command of the former Governor Sir Pablo Pérez, we have the desire to bring to your greater awareness that till this day we have not been given payment for said mats."

The cost for all those mats? Ten pesos.

But, as they say, there are two sides to every story and, apparently, others testified that the weavers gave these mats to Pérez as a donation.

After all the back and forth, Governor de la Corte decided there was no merit to the case and ended proceedings.


TÅDDUNG NA FINO' CHAMORRO

Tuesday, August 4, 2015


FAHATEK

1. Easily done
2. Risky behavior
3. Prohibited act


Opening a crocodile's mouth and putting your head inside it isn't that difficult a feat. But the consequences can be a pain in the neck. Thus, laws can be enacted to make those acts illegal.

I wouldn't be surprised if fahatek originally just meant "something easily done."

Ti fahatek ma cho'gue . That's not easily done.

Fahatek ma konsige. That's easily achieved .

And later, it gained a nuance. Many things that are easily done lead to results that are hard to endure.

It isn't difficult for a woman to walk the streets advertising herself. But numerous dangers can come her way by doing so.

Tailaye na palao'an; ti ha na' fahatek i bidådå-ña . That evil woman; she doesn't consider her behavior to be risky.

Finally, a further development from this was to make these risky acts illegal.

Fahatek i mangonne' benådo på'go na mes . Catching deer is illegal this month.

Today, when very few people know the word fahatek , these ideas would be expressed using other terms, sometimes Spanish loan words.

Libiåno ma cho'gue . It's easily done . From the Spanish word liviano , meaning "light, easy."

Ti mappot ma konsige . It isn't hard to achieve . Mappot means "difficult."

Pine'lo-ña na fåsit mama'tinas salåppe' . S/he thinks making money is easy . From the Spanish word fácil , meaning "easy."

Peligro ayo i bidådå-ña . What s/he is doing is dangerous . From the Spanish word peligro , meaning "danger."

Ma pribi i mangonne' fanihi entero i sakkan . It is prohibited to catch fruit bat throughout the whole year . From the Spanish word prohibir , meaning "to forbid, prohibit."


FINO' I MAN ÅMKO'

Monday, August 3, 2015


UMO'MAK GUINAHA

(Bathed in wealth, possessions)
(Opulence, lavishness, excess, luxury)


O'mak means "to bathe." But the connotation is "to be immersed in water."

Thus, "swimming" is often rendered to as o'mak . Umo'omak gue' gi tase . S/he is swimming in the sea. One does not literally bathe in the sea in the sense of cleansing oneself.

Umo'omak gue' gi saddok . S/he is bathing in the river . That can mean he or she is bathing in the river with soap and shampoo. Or, it could simply mean the person is having a swim in the river.

Not all o'mak is hygienic bathing, but being in water, whether the ocean, river or shower stall is always o'mak .

So it seems the imagery created by the word o'mak is to be immersed in water or some other thing, as in riches.

Guinaha comes from the word guaha , "to have, to exist."

It can simply mean "possession" but is also used for "riches" or "wealth."

To be bathed in wealth means to be in opulence and extravagance.

~ Atan si Pedro yan i nuebo na gumå'-ña! ( Look at Pedro and his new house! )
~ Umo'omak guinaha si Pedro! ( Pedro is bathed in opulence! )

HAWAIIANS WANT TO STAY

Thursday, July 30, 2015


Hawaiian and Chinese signatures


During the whaling era in the 1800s, many Chamorro men left Guam, but a few foreign whalers decided to remain on Guam! Some people left, some people came.

In 1857, four Hawaiians and a Chinese man (probably coming by way of Hawaii) petitioned the Spanish Governor permission to stay on Guam until they could leave to return home or go elsewhere.

The four were seamen and the Chinese man was a cook.

Their names are very difficult to decipher. The Spanish spelled their names one way, and their signatures above show something different. One name is clear : Kaainoa.

In order to stay on Guam, the five had to

1. Promise to obey the laws of the land.

2. Not incur debts that would prevent them from leaving the island.

In order to guarantee condition number two, one William Hart, a resident of Guam, had to agree to be their guarantor and assume any and all financial obligations for any of the five.

Eventually, a Spaniard on Guam, Carmelo Gil de Orberá, became guarantor for two of them.

I am sure that, in return, the five men had to do some work for their guarantors.

It is unknown what eventually happened to these Hawaiian and Chinese settlers. We don't see their names again in the records, unless new ones come up. Perhaps they left the island. Perhaps they stayed and died without establishing families. I suspect the former.

Their presence on Guam shows that our elders of the 1800s were familiar with the bigger world out there. Spaniards, Filipinos, Chinese, Americans, British, Carolinian islanders.....and Hawaiians were known to them.

They also used the widespread term for Hawaiians at the time - kanaka - which carries today some negative feeling for some.

KÅTTAN UN PIPULAN

Wednesday, July 29, 2015



The following letter, written to various priests, was written in Chamorro by the spouse of a dying person. It has been edited to honor the family's privacy.



S en bonito na ha'ånen i guaiyayon na Saina-ta.
( A very beautiful day of our lovable Lord .)

Para bai nå'e hao dångkulo na agradesimento pot i tinayuyut yan guinaiya para si X yan i familia.
( I give you great appreciation for the prayers and love for X and the family .)

Esta si X gof malango yan todo i tiempo ha nesesita asistimienton otro.
( X is already very sick and needs the assistance of another all the time .)

Eståba si Y guine ha gachunge yan ha setbe si tatå-ña tres semåna, despues ha bira gue' tåtte para i che'cho'- ña.
( Y was here for three weeks, accompanying and serving his father, afterwards he went back to his work .)

Gaige ha' i dos hagå-ña guine. Si Z yan dos hagan-ñiha gaige esta lokkue'.
( His two daughters are here. Z and two of their daughters are already here as well .)

Esta i famagu'on yan i familia gi guinaiya yan pininiti ma aksepta i situasion yan håfa plånun i Saina.
( The children and family in love and sorrow already accept the situation and whatever the Lord's plans are .)

Esta monhåyan planu-ña para ma tratå-ña i tataotao-ña yan todo yanggen måtto i oran ma agång-ña.
( His plans for the disposition of his body and everything when the time of his calling comes are done .)

Pot fabot kontinua i tinayuyut para u ñahlalang pinadesi-ña siha yan para hame ni familia para in fan metgot gi hinengge yan aksepta i disposision i Saina.
( Please continue the prayers so that his suffering will be lightened and for us the family that we be strong in faith and accept the will of the Lord. )

Kon tinayuyut yan bula guinaiya.

(With prayers and much love.)

FAMILY NICKNAMES : KARABAO

Monday, July 27, 2015


KARABAO


One branch of the Quitugua family is better-known-as the familian Karabao .

Many family nicknames are of uncertain origin.

Oral tradition even within one clan differs, with various family members having different explanations why that family has that nickname.

According to one member of the familian Karabao ,

Si bihu-hu guaha ga'-ña karabao.
( My grandfather had a carabao .)

Un dia, ha kåtga i kosås-ña gi karabao ya må'pos para i gualo'-ña giya Libugon.*
( One day, he put his things on the carabao and went to his farm in Libugon* .)

Todo maolek, lao media karera, esta ti malago' mamokkat i karabao.
( All was well, but half-way, the carabao didn't want to walk anymore .)

Yayas i karabao, ya sumåga gi chalan.
( The carabao was tired, and he stayed on the road .)

Pues si bihu-hu ha godde i karabao, ha na' tunok todo i kosås-ña ya guiya mismo kumåtga hulo' i kosås-ña para i lancho-ña.
( So my grandfather tied the carabao, took down all his things and he himself carried up his things to his ranch .)

Despues, ha bira gue' tåtte gi ga'-ña karabao ya ha båtsala i karabao guato para i lancho-ña.
( Then, he returned to his carabao and lead it over to his ranch .)

Annai lini'e si bihu-hu ni pumalon taotao, na ha båbåtsala i ga'-ña karabao hulo' para Libugon, ma chatge si bihu-hu ya desde ennao na ma fana'an si bihu-hu si Karabao.
( When my grandfather was seen by the other people, that he was leading his carabao up to Libugon, they laughed at him and since then they named my grandfather "Karabao." )


* Libugon : is what we call nowadays Nimitz Hill

THE RÚBRICA : CHAMORRO SIGNATURES UNDER SPAIN

Thursday, July 23, 2015

MANUEL AFLAGUE


What in the world are all those extravagant circular lines that almost cover the signature of Manuel Aflague?

All those flourishes are called the rúbrica in Spanish, and they were a common feature of Spanish (and Chamorro) signatures in the 1800s.

The point of it was this : it is far easier to forge a person's first and last names. But it is harder to forge the rúbrica . One's first and last names were limited to the letters that spell those names. Far more open to one's personal artistic whims was the rúbrica . Therefore, it was the rúbrica that assured others that the signature was authentic.

It was said that a rúbrica without a signature was worth more than a signature without a rúbrica .

So common was it that it was more surprising to see a signature without a rúbrica than an I without a dot or a T without a cross.

In many cases, a signature was not legally valid without a rúbrica .

So, those Chamorros who could sign their names copied the Spanish custom of designing a rúbrica to accompany the signature.

Here are some examples :



Juan Terlaje and José de San Nicolás



Ramón Ada




Antonio Martínez




Andrés de Castro



This is the signature of Juan Flores Pangelinan (Kotla). Notice he doesn't add his first name Juan. The rúbrica or flourish at the bottom of Pangelinan was identification enough.


Some said that the rúbrica was like the snakes on Medusa' head.

They could puzzle even the devil in discovering where they began and where they ended.

But they all agreed that it was downright impossible to reproduce the rúbrica as well as the inventor, so it was a seal of authenticity better than any.




Here's another example of the identification function of the rúbrica .

In the above document, two witnesses signed their names Vicente Camacho and Vidal Camacho. Later on they had to sign the document again, but this time they didn't spell their first names. Their last name plus the rúbrica were enough to tell us which Camacho they were. Vicente's C looked one way and Vidal's another way. Vicente's rúbrica was more circular, with wider spaces between the circles, while Vidal's rúbrica was straighter, with narrower spaces between the circles.

FIRST WEDDING IN ENGLISH

Monday, July 20, 2015


RITA DUARTE
The Bride
(MARC Collection)


I have my doubts about that claim, but I'll explain those later.

But, according to the Guam News Letter in June of 1915, the first exchange of vows performed in the English language of Guam was between David A. Diaz and Rita Millinchamp Duarte.

The bride was a Chamorro mestiza , the daughter of the Spaniard Pedro Duarte y Andújar and the Chamorro mestiza María Victoria Anderson Millinchamp. María was the daughter of Henry Millinchamp, a man of English and Polynesian ancestry, and his wife Emilia Castro Anderson, a woman of mixed Chamorro and Scots ancestry.

Díaz was not Chamorro but had rather come to the island connected somehow to the U.S. Naval Government. He was a member of the Agaña Lodge of the Elks Club. His mother resided at the time in San Francisco, California. He could have been of Mexican ancestry, but his surname reveals he could have been from any number of Hispanic backgrounds or even Portuguese.

The wedding took place at the Agaña Cathedral on May 22, 1915 with Påle' Román officiating. Påle' Román was one of the few priests on Guam at the time who had a good grasp of English.


REALLY THE FIRST?


My doubts about the claim that this was the "first wedding ceremony" in English here on Guam stems from the fact that other American-Chamorro weddings were celebrated on Guam before 1915. James Underwood, for example, married Ana Martínez about ten years before this, in the early 1900s. It is possible that Underwood, an American, pronounced his vows in Spanish or Chamorro, but it seems just as likely that he said them in English.

There were other American-Chamorro unions before 1915, as well.

Still, the Guam News Letter said what it said and we can't just dismiss the statement entirely. I'll just leave a little room for another possibility.

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Artist : Paul Jacoulet


Hånao ha' bonitan måta
puede ngai'an na ha'åne;
ya måno nai guaha lugåt-ho
ayo hao na hu sangåne.

Go ahead, pretty face
hopefully whatever day it may be;
and whenever I have the time
that's when I will tell you.




Young love is often shy love.

Nerves. Rules.

The two meet, and cannot unleash the strong feelings beating in their hearts.

They smile and flirt, but that is all.

She has spent too much time with him. What if people notice and start to make comments?

She takes her leave, but he says he will wait for the right moment, whenever that may be, to finally tell her how she has captured his heart.

I ATMONEDA

Tuesday, July 14, 2015



Å tmoneda in Chamorro means "auction."  The word is borrowed from the Spanish word almoneda .

Exclusive licenses from the government to run games and profit from them were auctioned, or opened up for bidding. The highest bidder would win and the government would benefit from the money put in for the bid.

In the late 1950s in Saipan, two bids were opened to run the gayera (cockfight) and bingo. Bingo was an American import so Chamorros don't have any other word for it than "bingo."

Here are the results of those two bids :


RESUTTAN I ATMONEDAN GAYERA (Results of the Cockfight Auction)

1. Joaquin C. Guerrero $1257

2. Efrain B. Matsunaga $1200

3. Francisco S. Pangelinan $1025

4. Manuel F. Aldan $900

5. Juan S.P. Cruz $80



The bingo auction seems to have been divided into districts on the island.


RESUTTAN I ATMONEDAN I BINGO (Results of the Bingo Auction)

Distrito 1

1. Ana S. Aldan $250
2. Juan S.P. Cruz $218

Distrito 2

1. Jose P. Tenorio $600
2. Vicente B. Lizama $556
3. Margarita A. Ayuyu $503
4. Baldomero Concepcion $486
5. Maximo S. Concepcion $465
6. Anselmo Iglecias* $400

Distrito 3

1. Francisco S. Pangelinan $255
2. Jose SN Ada $60

* In Saipan, the last name is spelled Iglecias. On Guam it is spelled in the original Spanish way; Iglesias.


There would have been a third auction, for b å to , a game where one tries to knock down a stick or objects on a stick. But it was postponed for reasons described here :


NOTISIA
(NOTICE)


I atmonedan i b å to ma kana' asta ke u fonh å yan i Otdin å nsia Munisip å t annai para u ma na' guaha i leg å t na probision gi areklon este na å tmoneda.

( The b å to auction is postponed until a municipal ordinance is completed wherein a legal provision organizing this auction will be enacted .)

FAMILIES OF THE PAST : VENEZIANO

Monday, July 13, 2015

THE VENEZIANO FAMILY OF GUAM
1908
( MARC Collection )


Guam became the home of people from all over the world even during Spanish times. American, Chinese, Dutch, British and French men, among others, settled and founded families here.

But the American era also brought even more nationalities to our shores, including Greek.

Alexander Quitropolis Veneziano was born in Corfu in Greece around 1874 or 1875. His father was Spiridion and his mother was Elizabeth. At age 19, in 1894, he started work as a musician in the Royal Navy (United Kingdom). Veneziano's island of Corfu had been under British rule for around 50 years a few decades before.





ALEXANDER VENEZIANO
(MARC Collection)

In 1895 he moved to the United States and enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a musician. He became a US citizen in 1898. He was with Captain Leary, the first U.S. Naval Governor, when he arrived on Guam in 1899. He remained on island and married a Chamorro girl, Ana Guerrero , the daughter of Rosa Guerrero and an unknown father. On Guam, he was frequently called Alejandro, the Spanish version of Alexander.

Veneziano was given an honorable discharge from the US Navy in 1906.

He then engaged in private business in Hagåtña. He ran a saloon on the ground floor of his house, and otherwise identified himself as a merchant in some documents of the time.

In 1916, he went to Yokohama, Japan seeking medical treatment. Unfortunately, he died there in September. His body was returned to Guam where he was buried with military honors at the Naval Cemetery in Hagåtña.




ANA GUERRERO VENEZIANO


Alexander and his wife Ana  had 6 children; half Chamorro, half Greek.

Isabel, also called Isabella, was the first Miss Guam, which was held in 1916. She later married John Charles Poshepny, an American naval officer, in 1918. Later they moved to California.

Rosa, or Rosita, married Widdy J. Laborde of Louisiana and moved with him to California.

Espiridion (a Greek name; he was also called Espiro), Enrique, Patrick and Jorge (or George) were the boys. Enrique died on Guam in 1935. Patrick moved to the U.S. mainland in the 1930s, joined the US Army in 1940 and remained in the States.


( Guam News Letter, October 1916 )


At least up until 1916, Mrs. Ana Veneziano ran a garage with car rental services.

Ana's Greek mother-in-law, Elizabeth, was still living on Guam in 1920.

After the war, Ana moved to Santa Rosa, California, where her son Patrick lived. Her daughter Isabel lived in nearby Sonoma. Ana died in Santa Rosa in 1969.




Alexander Veneziano's signature in 1902

LAST HURRAH FOR THE TERRITORIALS

Thursday, July 9, 2015
MARC Collection


The photo above shows the members of the 8th Guam Legislature being sworn into office in January of 1965.

This was a legislature that made history. After four prior legislatures, or eight years, when not a single Territorial was even elected, the Territorial Party swept the majority in the 8th Guam Legislature.

There were 21 members of the legislature back then, and the Territorials won 13 seats while the Democrats retained just 8 seats.

From these 13 came some of the most prominent Guam statesmen.

Carlos G. Camacho, who later became the first elected Governor of Guam.

Paul M. Calvo, another future Governor of Guam.

Kurt S. Moylan, future Lieutenant Governor of Guam.

Carlos P. Taitano, who was elected Speaker of the 8th Guam Legislature, was the famous leader of the Guam Congress Walk-out in 1949. Later, Taitano became a staunch Chamorro culture advocate.

On the Democratic side, Ricky Bordallo would become Governor of Guam twice in two separate terms.

But the glory days of the TP were brief. In the very next election, not a single Territorial candidate won a seat in the legislature.

The party fizzled after that, with many former members forming or joining the Republican Party of Guam. Taitano, however, moved over to the Democrats.




Carlos Pangelinan Taitano
Speaker of the 8th Guam Legislature
MARC Collection



TERRITORIAL ORIGINS


The Territorial Party began in 1955 when the majority of the senators (called Congressmen back then) switched their support to vote in a new Speaker.  Antonio B. Won Pat had been Speaker of the 1st and 2nd legislatures and put his name forward for the speakership of the 3rd legislature.

Others wanted a change and rallied behind Francisco B. Leon Guerrero. Leon Guerrero was indeed elected and when the two camps could not get back together, the majority formed the Territorial Party, Guam's second political party. The only party before this was the Popular Party, which became the Democratic Party of Guam in 1960.

Won Pat and the Populars defeated the Territorials in the next election, with all 21 seats going to the Populars. In those days, they called that "Black Jack," and it happened many times. All 21 seats going to the Populars/Democrats.



Francisco B. Leon Guerrero
Speaker of the 3rd Guam Legislature
MARC Collection

THE PARTY IS HUNG

Wednesday, July 8, 2015



In English, events are postponed and agenda items are tabled .

In Chamorro, they are hung .

The word "to hang" in Chamorro is kana' .

Ma kakana' i gipot asta ke m å kpo' i pakyo.
The party is postponed until the typhoon is over.

Maolek- ñ a ta kana' este asta despues de Agosto na mes.
It's better that we table this until after the month of August.

Ma kana' i botasion sa' pot ti nahong miembro.
They delayed the voting because there weren't enough members.








In Chamorro, we hang events and topics like we hang clothes or a picture on a wall. We don't mean we hang them like we hang people to die.

In Chamorro, to hang someone or something in order to kill them is ñ aka' .

Ha ñ aka' maisa gue' i besinu-ho.
My neighbor hanged himself.

Ma ñ aka' i babue pues ma puno'.
The pig was hanged then killed .

ÅHE' TI MA DEPOTTA

Tuesday, July 7, 2015



Chamorro politics used to be much more personal than now.

It was standard practice for politicians to devote most of their speaking time to attacking candidates of the opposite party, including remarks about the opponent's personal life, spouse and children.

In 1959, a politician in Saipan felt it necessary to publicly refute the following accusations made by others about him :


Pot otro kosa, mina' presisamente malago' yo' na hu dekl år a gi me'nan i pupbliko
( On another thing, I want to specifically declare before the public )

i ma supopone na ma depotta yo' t å tte Saipan,
( who believe that I was deported back to Saipan ,)

pat i ma dulalak yo' gi U.S. Army.
( or that I was evicted from the U.S. Army .)

Este siha na sospecho man sen ti mag å het ya peligroso para gu å ho
( These suspicions are altogether untrue and dangerous to me )

ni en ayek para represent å nten-miyo gi minaulek yan i probechon i linahyan.
( whom you chose as your representative for the good and benefit of the community .)

Pot ennao mina' para infotmasion ku å tkiet petsona, gu å ho ti ma depotta
( For that reason, for the information of whatever person, I was not deported )

yan ti ma dulalak yo' gi Army.
( nor was I dismissed from the Army .)

Ni tampoko sikiera diddide' na minancha na' å n-ho guine gi uttimo na biahi-ho.
( Nor even the least stain on my name in this my last voyage .)

Gu å ho ayo i biktiman i sitkunst å nsias.
( I am a victim of circumstances .)

Bum å sta yo' gi Army sa' malago' yo' bum å sta yan l å hyeye pot i lachen i pasapotte-ko
( I quit the Army because I wanted to quit and especially because of an error in my passport )

annai hum å nao yo' para Guam gi Enero na mes para bai hu h å lom gi Army.
( when I went to Guam in the month of January to enter the Army.)

Bai hu refiere atension-miyo ni k å tta siha guine na gaseta .
( I refer your attention to the letters here in this newspaper .)



Apparently, this politician was accused of being such a bad character that he was thrown out of the U.S. Army and forced to return to Saipan.

Still, he won the election! Nonetheless, he thought it important to deny those accusations.

On a side note, notice the abundance of Spanish loan words : pot, otro, kosa, presisamente, dekl å ra, pupbliko, supone, depotta, sospecho, peligroso, represent å nte, probecho, infotmasion, ku å tkiet, petsona, ni tampoko, sikiera, m å ncha, uttimo, bi å he, biktima, sitkunst å nsia, b å sta, pasapotte, Enero, mes, bai, refiere, atension, k å tta, gaseta.

GUEVARA WANTED TO BUY LAND

Thursday, July 2, 2015


In 1861, Vicente Guill ó , a Spanish officer in the militia of the Marianas, the Compa ñ í a de la Dotaci ó n , sold his property in Asan to Fernando Guevara.

The land was used for the growing of rice, corn, coconuts and other crops. It measured 250 feet, but that seems to be a vague measurement.

The farm had a house made of wood, three shacks, two carabaos (one male, one female), two plows and a number of goats of both sexes. There were also 800 coconut seedlings. All of these were included in the sale.

The buyer was a Filipino resident of Guam, Fernando Guevara of Binondo, a district of Manila. Guevara was to pay Guill ó 261 pesos and 5 reales over a two-year period.

It is unclear if Fernando Guevara has any connection with the Guevaras of Guam we know today.


SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Tuesday, June 30, 2015

MARÍA PÉREZ CALVO TORRES
(1885 ~ 1973)

MAOLEK-ÑA I BABAN GUAHA, KE NI MAOLEK TÅYA'

( The bad of what you have is better than the good of what you don't have .)


The saying comes from a member of Guam's old prominent families.

María'n José'n Torres was a member of the Pérez and Calvo families by blood, and of the Torres family by marriage, with connections to the Martinez clan.

Her husband José Martínez Torres was a leading businessman and judicial official before the war. He passed away in 1950.

They came from the generation very influenced by Spanish culture. In fact, when they wanted to hide information from the children or grand children, husband and wife spoke in Spanish.


The Proverb


As to the proverb....

What you have, although it may not be perfect, exists. It is there. It's in your hands to benefit from and enjoy.

There is always something or someone "better" out there, but often only theoretically. Possibly. But the point is that this possibly better option isn't in your hands now....and may never be!

It is better to accept a less-than-perfect person, thing or situation, because the perfect often exists only in our imagination. Furthermore, though less-than-perfect, the person, thing or situation that exists brings his/her/its own assets. Whereas the imaginary, theoretical and merely possible good brings no benefit, unless imagining the possible has its benefits.

Of course, as with all proverbs, there is a grain of truth, but not all truth. One proverb's truth is balanced by another proverb's truth.

Example :

1) Look before you leap.

2) He who hesitates is lost.

These two proverbs contradict each other, yet both are true depending on the situation.

HUNTING BIRDS

Friday, June 26, 2015

deviantart.com


Manuel shares the story how he used to hunt for edible birds before the war, using his slingshot.

The word he used for "slingshot" was pakin goma , literally meaning "rubber gun." But other Chamorros might use the word flecha , which is Spanish and usually means "arrow" but can also mean a slingshot.

To make his pakin goma , Manuel would first go into the jungle and look for a tree with Y shaped branches. The wood couldn't be too thick or two thin. Once he found the right dimensions of branches shaped into a Y, he would cut it off to the desired length.

He would then use rubber bands ( goma ) to tie around the two branches of the Y and use leather ( kuero ) as the nest for the projectile.

The best things to use as ammunition are round objects with a smooth surface. They fly much better than rough stones. He would use biyåt (marbles) or bålan plomo (lead balls).

Quietly he would go into the jungles or forests in northern Guam, just before sunset if he could, when birds often came back to rest in the trees. He would then aim and shoot. If he hit a bird correctly, it would drop to the earth. His eye had to be quick to follow the falling bird, because sometimes it was hard to find the dead bird, hidden under the fallen foliage of the dense jungle.

Hunting birds to eat was mostly a past time for Manuel. The meat on the birds was hardly enough to fill the stomach. But he was taught never to kill an animal just for sport. " An un puno' debe de un kånno' ," he said. "If you kill it, you have to eat it."

" M å s i tettot hu sodda' gi halom t å no' ." "It was mostly the tottot bird that I found in the jungle."

" Pues hu na' estufao pat guaha na bi å he na hu na' k å ddun pika ."

"Then I made it into an estufao or sometimes I would make it into a k å ddun pika."


ÅCHO' ATUPAT

The slingshot that Manuel used was not the same as the pre-Spanish åcho' atupat used by our ancestors. The åcho' atupat was swung and thrown from the slingshot, not shot by pulling back an elastic band.



PRE-WAR TAKANO MAUSOLEUM?

Thursday, June 25, 2015
MARC collection

In a pre-war photo of Pigo Catholic Cemetery stands a large mausoleum.

The mausoleum itself is prominent, dwarfing the small lápida (grave stones) around it. But what also catches the eye on closer inspection are the Chinese characters written above the entrance of the mausoleum.

Japanese names are written in Chinese characters ( kanji ). The mausoleum shows that the owners had some money, and that they were Catholic, which usually meant a Japanese male married to a Chamorro female.

So I asked some people to take a look at the kanji . They said it meant No ("field") and Daka or Taka from takai ("high").

This only made me more mystified because there was no Japanese-Chamorro families names Nodaka.

But there was (is) a Japanese-Chamorro family named Takano, and they ran a store.

If you invert No and Daka/Taka, you get Takano.

Perhaps this was the Takano family mausoleum.

The family patriarch was a Japanese who settled Guam and who received the Christian name Vicente when he married Dolores Dydasco San Nicolas.




ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Monday, June 22, 2015

1950s





2015

LOST SURNAMES : DEZA

Thursday, June 18, 2015


To this day, at least among older people, there are families better-known-as "Desa."

The name is actually Deza, and it was the name of their Spanish ancestor, Vicente Deza, whose signature appears above. Vicente was mentioned in many government documents as he was sometimes called on to act as interpreter.

Vicente also appears in a baptismal record in Saipan, where his daughter gave birth. In that record, Vicente is described as a "Spaniard, born in Manila."

In the Spanish spoken in the Marianas, Z and S have the same sound. The Z was not pronounced as it is in English, like a mosquito buzzing. The Z sounds like an S.

Vicente apparently married twice.

I suspect this because there is, in our records, a Nieves Luj á n Deza. All the other Dezas of the same era and who are said to have been Vicente's children have Baza as a middle name.

Thus, Vicente probably married a Luj á n woman who bore him a daughter, Nieves. I suppose this first wife died and Vicente married a second time. This second wife was one Mar í a Baza.



LUJÅN DEZA


Nieves Luj á n Deza married Juan Leon Guerrero Blas (some of the descendants spell it Blaz). Again, the Z and S sounded the same so people used either letter.

Nieves was still alive when P å le' Rom á n compiled a census in 1920. He states that her full name was Mar í a de las Nieves (Mary of the Snows).  According to him, Nieves was born around 1860.

They had a daughter Mar í a who married Jos é Haniu, a Japanese settler on Guam. After the war, the sons opted to take their mother's surname. This branch of the clan has the distinction of sometimes being called "better-known-as Desa" or "better-known-as Haniu."



María Deza Blas Haniu
Granddaughter of the Spaniard Vicente Deza


BAZA DEZA


Vicente Deza and Mar í a Baza had several children.

Isabel married Jos é Ortiz Camacho. From this line, many descendants were born.

Then there was Josefa, who married Dionisio Taisague Cabrera in Saipan.

There was also a María, who married José Terlaje Quidachay.

Finally, there was one son, Mois é s. But Mois é s never married nor had children. Thus, the Deza name died on Guam as a surname.

Still, don't be surprised if you hear some people mention "Familian Desa" when referring to a Blas, Blaz, Sgambelluri, Camacho and a few other people.


THE DEZA SURNAME


Deza is not a very common name in Spain.

Today, there are only 1,200 people in Spain who carry the last name Deza.

Various theories exist about where the name comes from or what it means, but no one is really sure.



GOVERNOR FOR TWO WEEKS

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

WILLIAM PRITCHARD COE
MARC collection


Although the United States took over Guam on June 21, 1898, it did not install a permanent Governor of Guam until the following year when Navy Captain Richard P. Leary arrived on August 7 as formal Governor of Guam, appointed by the U.S. President.

During those 13 months, there was, for much of them, political uncertainty, if not chaos. The title "Governor" was claimed by some, imposed by others, and American naval officers passing through put in place one or two.

Coe was a Governor of this last kind. Louis Kaiser, a U.S. Navy lieutenant, was on Guam for some time and took issue with the Governor at the time, the Chamorro Don Joaquín Cruz Pérez (Gongga), who had been made Governor by a prior American officer passing through.

Pérez was supported by the Chamorro junta, or council, so Kaiser passed over the whole Chamorro leadership and appointed a non-Chamorro, William Pritchard Coe, sometime in July of 1899.


BORN IN SAMOA

Coe was half-white, half-Samoan. His New York-born father had been rescued from a crashed whaling ship in Samoa and settled there, marrying a Samoan of high, chiefly status. William was born in Samoa and also married a Samoan.

Like his adventurer father, Coe traveled the Pacific and came to Guam, with his wife (and probably his children) just after the American capture of the island, according to Safford.


TWO WEEKS

Coe didn't have the time to make a big impact on Guam as Governor, given that Leary arrived just two weeks later, in early August of 1899. Coe stepped down to give place to the first Governor of Guam appointed by the U.S. President.

Coe had bought land in Adelup and was postmaster of the island. He also acquired 24 acres in Tutuhan (modern-day Agaña Heights) where he ran a farm with many fruit trees. But his wife died while on Guam and he sold his land, packed his bags at some point and off he went. He died in 1909 in Davao, Philippines.

Here's a video about Coe's father and his descendants in Samoa, who are of high status due the Samoan mother's bloodline  :





ATRASAO I CLIPPER

Tuesday, June 16, 2015


A note, written in Chamorro in the 1930s, revealing Guam's link to the world via Pan Am's Clipper.

Beginning in November of 1935, the Clipper made stops at Sumay on Guam as the sea plane made its way in between Manila and San Francisco, stopping at Hawaii, Midway and Wake along the way. Mail could now come to Guam much faster and, in time, the Clipper was also transporting passengers, some of whom were famous celebrities.

A lady on Guam took advantage of an arriving Clipper to send a Chamorro living in California some Chamorro religious songs and prayers. Her note above says,


Lupe, al ultimos oras (1) na munanayan
(Lupe, at the last hour was finished)

este macopia dididi y (2) canta (3) yan
(copying this a little the song and)

novena (4) ya atrasao y clipper sa
(novena and the clipper was late because)

elegnia na ufato gui jueves ya y
(they said it would arrive on Thursday and)

viernes na mafato. Esta y otro biaje
(on Friday it arrived, Until the next time)

y palo, sa ajalang yu na utrasao. (5)
(the rest, because I fear I will be late.)


NOTES

(1) Al ultimos oras . This is her version of the Spanish phrase "a las ú ltimas horas" which means "at the last hour." More common in English is "at the last minute."

(2) She uses "y" whereas today we would use "i." In Spanish, the Y and the I have the same sound so it was normal in those days to use either letter.

(3) In "canta" and several other words, she uses the C whereas today we use the K. The use of the C shows Spanish influence, which lacks a K except in foreign words.

(4) She spells "novena," "jueves," and "viernes" in the Spanish way.

(5) Her writing here is a bit unclear. She writes "utrasao," and I am just guessing that she meant to write an S even though it can look like a C. But there is no Chamorro word "utracao." "Utrasao" is also not a word, but she may have meant "u atrasao" which would mean "it will be late" or she could have also meant "hu atrasao" which would mean "I will be late." If it were the plane that would be late in departing, she'd actually have more time, so I will go with the interpretation that she would be late in getting this note to the plane before it departs.




SAN ANTONIO FIESTA IN 1915

Monday, June 15, 2015

Naval Station Band in 1918
MARC collection


The feast of Saint Anthony of Padua, patron of the barrio of San Antonio in Hagåtña, fell on a Sunday in 1915.

Then, as we do today, the people celebrated the feast over the weekend.

On Saturday, the Navy band paraded through the streets of that district in the cooler evening hours, playing for the people.

On Sunday, a priest chanted the Te Deum , a hymn of thanksgiving to God. This was done in the San Antonio chapel. It was not a full-fledged church, nor even a parish. It was a chapel under the main Dulce Nombre de María church. A large crowd of faithful attended this service.

During the day, sports competitions were held, with prizes for the winners.

In the late afternoon, the procession. Along the route, the streets of San Antonio were adorned with the åtkos , wooden arches decorated with local fruits and vegetables and even the American flag. Once again, the Navy band played during the procession, but religious hymns this time, of course.





You can see where the district of San Antonio was in Hagåtña before the war, by looking at the upper right hand corner of this map. The area would be where Nissan Auto City, Meskla restaurant and Paradise Fitness are today.




MASSACRE IN HAGÅTÑA

Thursday, June 11, 2015


The Marianas, especially Guam, had been a penal colony for Filipinos for many years, but a terrible tragedy was to befall many of them in December of 1896.

In the last weeks of August in 1896, armed struggle between members of the Katipunan and the Spaniards broke out in the Philippines. The Katipunan was a movement seeking independence for the country. When the revolution broke out that month, many of the Katipunan fell into the hands of the Spaniards, while others continued the fighting in the field.

Spanish authorities in Manila decided to deport many of their Katipunero captives.  In December of 1896, the Saturnus transported 207 Filipino deportados (deportees) to Guam. Some among the exiled included deportados who had been on Guam in earlier years and knew the weaknesses of the roof and the small number of Chamorro guards at the prison. Some of these Katipunan talked among themselves and mentioned how easy it would be to escape. The conversation was overheard by some Chamorro guards, and it was reported, putting the guards on alert. One newspaper stated that a Chamorro sentinel obtained information that the Filipino insurgents intended to break out, kill the Spanish Governor and all who stood in their way, and take possession of the island.

It had been some time since Guam had to house such a large number of prisoners, so lodging and food became a problem.  Governor Jacobo Marina packed as many as he could into a crowded and dilapidated barracks, or cuartel , in the Plaza complex of government buildings in the heart of Hagåtña.

These unbearable conditions were obviously an added stimulus for rebellion by the prisoners.  On the night of December 19, a few of the prisoners decided to go through the roof and escape. They were caught, and the guards killed one and wounded five others.

But there was a second attempt the very next night, and this time it was by the entire mass of nearly 200 prisoners. Punishment for the prior night's escape was being prepared by the Spanish, punishment which could have included death, so perhaps the prisoners decided a successful escape was better than waiting for Spanish justice. One newspaper said that the rebels were thinking they could commandeer a Japanese schooner lying off of Guam if they could only escape and make it to the ship.

So, the prisoners made their move that night. Some went through the roof while others battered the door.

It seems the Chamorro guards panicked and opened fire, volley after volley. Alarmed by the noise, the people of the city woke up. The Chamorro men came to the cuartel with guns, machetes and clubs, offering their assistance to the Spanish Governor. Chamorros were placed at different areas surrounding the cuartel to prevent an escape of foot. When the shooting stopped, 80 prisoners had been killed and 45 others were wounded.* The site was described as gruesome.

The story made it to American newspapers, which described it as a "massacre."

In time, most of the survivors were shipped back to Manila.

This sad experience helped cement the negative stereotype many Chamorros had about Filipinos being dangerous rebels and troublemakers. The other side of the reality is that there is a lot of Filipino blood running in Chamorro veins, and many Chamorros were married to and continued to marry Filipinos, before and after this bloody incident.




One of the American papers that carried the story had an incredible version of it.

The Sun , a New York City paper, was considered a conservative, serious newspaper, nowhere near the yellow journalism of other papers that relied on exaggerated news to beef up circulation.

But it did try to appeal to the common reader and was the first newspaper in America to include a story about a suicide, something that would never have been included in newspapers before.

Its editor, Charles Dana, was a friend of José Martí, a Cuban independence advocate, and Dana was very much in support of Cuba's fight against Spain.

So The Sun's version of the killing of the Filipino exiles says that it was the Spaniards - not Chamorros - who killed the Filipinos. Who in America would want a war against Chamorros, if they had even heard of them? But many in America harbored strongly anti-Spanish sentiments.

According to The Sun , these "Spanish" guards began shooting at the cuartel housing the Filipinos merely for amusement. This was spread over three nights, not two, amounting in the end to 180 killed, not 80. The survivors saved themselves by using the corpses of the dead as a shield against the bullets. There is no mention in The Sun's story about the attempted escape of the prisoners.

The source of this information? Whaling ships arriving in the U.S. who had heard the story in Japan from ships that had been to Guam.

* Another source says there were 83 killed and 46 wounded.

But here is a note from the Spanish priest of Hagåtña, Father Francisco Resano, in a list of deceased for the year 1896. He says 98 "Tagalos" were shot and killed over two nights.



HERE'S SOME BEEF

Tuesday, June 9, 2015


There are several things about this partially Chamorro ad that seem awkward.

Before I proceed, let me say that the creator of the ad is not here to explain what s/he had in mind. I'm not even sure if this was even put out by Wendy's!

Secondly, I consulted a few mañaina whose first language is Chamorro.

So, what's awkward about this ad?

1. Is it the use of HÅGO, with an O, versus HÅGU?

I don't quibble about this. I prefer the O because that's how I pronounce it, because that's how I heard it growing up. Even today, you will hear some people retain the O, while the majority say U.

Keep in mind, though, that the lonnat (the open circle above the A) and the glota help us distinguish between hågo/hågu (the pronoun "you") and the verb hago'/hagu' ("to obtain/reach").

2. Is it the expression HÅGO LAO?

A bit. If the expression is supposed to be the equivalent of the English, "Up to you," which reminds me of the BK slogan "Have it your way," then HÅGO LA'MON is more common.

Nuances and subjective interpretation are a part of all communication, in whatever language. Even in English, "Have it your way" can sound dismissive and contrary, depending on the tone.

In discussing this with mañaina , some would say that HÅGO LAO goes more along with "Well, I don't really agree with you, but hågo lao. It's up to you. Do it if you want."

But other mañaina don't see a problem with HÅGO LAO if it means "In this restaurant, we serve you food the way you want it."

3. Is it the word GUAMANIANS?

Yes and no.

First off, I don't have a problem with the word "Guamanian" if you mean "people whose home is Guam." I don't think Wendy's wants to sell just to Chamorros. Money has no race.

But I do have discomfort starting off in Chamorro, then switching to English when a Chamorro word or term is available. I mean, why have a Chamorro ad at all if one is going to disregard some Chamorro words/terms in it?

"Taotao Guam" is a perfectly Chamorro equivalent to "Guamanians."

So I do have a problem with the word "Guamanians" IF your intent is to communicate in Chamorro.

4. Is it the phrase HÅGO LAO?

Yes and no.

Not in itself, but the speaker clarifies that s/he is speaking to a group of people, in the plural (i.e. Guamanians).

HÅGO is the singular, when speaking to only one person.

The correct pronoun, when speaking to more than one person, is HAMYO/HAMYU.

So : HAMYO LAO or HAMYU LAO.

So perhaps we can redo this whole ad as :


HAMYO LAO, TAOTAO GUAM



*** There's also the alternative GUÅHAN for Guam

GUAM'S "BROADWAY"

Monday, June 8, 2015


Hernán Cortés Street in Hagåtña


Guam's "Main Street" or "Broadway" in the 1920s and 30s was the street pictured above. On this street were many of the capital city's main business and the homes of many prominent citizens.

To the left of the photo is the Gaiety Theater and further down is Butler's store and ice cream parlor. Atkins Kroll, one of the biggest companies on Guam, had its main office on this street. Prestigious families like Pedro Martínez and William Johnston lived across these landmarks on the other side of the street.

The street was called HERNÁN CORTÉS street since Spanish times.



An old document from the Spanish court here on Guam shows the original spelling : Hernán Cortés


It was named after the famous, or infamous, depending on your viewpoint, Conquistador of Mexico, Hernán Cortés.




As the first of many conquistadors who won a whole nation over for Spain, it wasn't surprising that his name was found on many streets all over the Spanish Empire, including Hagåtña.

But the American rendering of his last name - Cortés - soon replaced the Spanish original.

Cortés became Cortez.




You can see here that Mrs. Dejima, a Japanese merchant on Guam, had one of her shops, store number 3, located on Hernan Cortez Street.




And here, in a prewar map of Hagåtña, we see the street is spelled Hernan Cortez (encircled above).


AFTER THE WAR....MORE AMERICANIZATION


But after World War II, society on Guam became even more estranged from its Hispanic heritage. Familiarity with history and the Spanish language weakened considerably.

In time, not only was Cortés changed to Cortez, even Hernán was changed to Herman!





Luckily, the few buildings in modern Hagátña who identify the street have it right as far as Hernán is concerned.







WHERE IS HERNAN CORTEZ STREET TODAY?

Well, if you start by the San Antonio Bridge (Sirena Park) on the street closer to the cliff (not the sea), that's Hernán Cortez Street.



Following the street south, you will head towards Julale.


Approaching Eddie Terlaje's building on left.


Passing Julale (on left), Hernán Cortez takes you out to Kentucky Fried Chicken, where it joins Marine Corps Drive.



If you made a u-turn and went back in the opposite direction, Hernán Cortez Street will take you back to the San Antonio Bridge (Sirena) and the US Immigration office in the tall office building on the right, across from Mermaid Tavern.

One thing's for sure. Hernán Cortez Street is no longer the heartbeat of the capital city as it once was, just as the city itself is not the lively nerve center for the island as it once was.



HERNÁN CORTÉS STREET IN 1934

Nowadays, parades go down Marine Corps Drive. Before the war, they went down Hernán Cortés Street.


TAOTAOMO'NA : ESTORIAN TAN KATMEN

Friday, June 5, 2015

The Road from Hagåtña to Sumay

My grandmother had a cousin whom we all called Auntie Måmmi'. Her name was Carmen Cruz, married to a Guzmán from Sumay. She was second cousins with my grandmother but for some reason they were more like sisters. Maybe it's because they were only one year apart in age. Grandma was born  in 1899 and Auntie Måmmi' in 1900.

Part of this closeness between them was that Auntie Måmmi' would spend a lot of time at our house. I mean she would spend 2 or 3 weeks at our house; the house that grandma and her sisters and I lived in. There was no extra bed. Auntie Måmmi' would share the same bed with one of the sisters.

Auntie Måmmi' couldn't speak English very well. She spoke broken English to me, but it was good enough for me to get what she was saying. She would also interject some Chamorro, which was great because that's partially how I got my start learning a little Chamorro.

I always enjoyed her long-term visits. She did interesting and cool things, like chew massive amounts of betel nut, with the works : pugua', pupulu, åfok and amåska (betel nut, pepper leaf, lime rock paste and chewing tobacco). She would spit this blood red juice into a Foremost milk carton stuffed with paper towels. She would drink water out of a låtan dudu . She wore enough gold bracelets to open her own store. Though her ear lobes sagged with age and gravity, she wore earrings and put lipstick on. Dudus biha . (Flirty old lady.)

But she was so interesting because of her stories. She loved to tell me her encounters with the taotaomo'na . Here are some.

WITH THE GOVERNOR

I guess she was a socialite of some sort, being a dudus lady. So when she told me that the Governor of Guam and his wife, sometime in the 1920s, asked her to accompany them to Sumay, I believed it.

She said they rode in his car, which had an open roof. It was dusk, the sun was setting and it was becoming perfectly dark. She was sitting in the back of the car, in a corner. The Governor and his wife were busy talking to someone else when she felt a presence next to her, standing outside the car but at her corner.

It was dark so she didn't see the features of this person standing next to her, but she had this feeling it was a strange person. The person started talking to her, but in a language she did not understand. And Auntie Måmmi' imitated the sound : bab bab bab bab.

In time, the Governor was ready to go and the driver started up the car and off they went, and Auntie Måmmi' did not say a word about it to the American Governor. Down they drove to Sumay along the road that you see in the photo above.


THE SPOOKY HILLS OF SANTA RITA

Auntie Måmmi' in fact married a Guzmán from Sumay and after the war moved to Santa Rita as all the Sumay people did on orders of the U.S. Navy.

As you may know, Santa Rita sits on the slope of Mount Alifan. Some of those houses there are right up against the mountain.

Auntie Måmmi' told me about living in one such house, with its back door facing the bushy slopes of the mountain.

Someone also living in the house, I forget who, would throw things into the bush behind the house, against the slope of the mountain. Then, when Auntie Måmmi' would open the back door when it was getting dark, she saw dark figures in the bush. There may have been more details to this story which I have forgotten. But the bottom line was that Auntie Måmmi' told the person to stop throwing junk in the back of the house. Apparently the taotaomo'na were not happy about it and made their presence known to Auntie Måmmi' to let them know it.


DON'T PEE OUTSIDE GUAM MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

My mother's brother Ning, Auntie Måmmi''s nephew, once went to GMH for some reason. It wasn't because he was sick. He went there either to visit someone who was sick, or some other business. Well, he parked in the back where the terrain is very rocky with coral rocks. He needed to relieve himself and he figured he could just do it safely by the cliff line, where it is rocky.

The following day his one foot was ablaze with painful swelling.

It was my Auntie Måmmi' who told me about it. " Isao-ña ha' si Ning! " " It's Ning's own fault !" she said.

" Sagan taotaomo'na i acho' ," she said. " Rocky places are the abode of the taotaomo'na ."


SHE SAW WHAT I COULDN'T SEE

Later in life, Auntie Måmmi' became one of the first residents at Guma' Trankilo, a residential area for elderly people. I would visit her there and she always said Tomhom (Tumon) was rife with taotaomo'n a since ever since.

Tomhom had been a large Chamorro settlement long before the Spaniards came. Bones of our ancestors can be found everywhere underneath Tomhom's sandy soil.

Especially when it was dusk, I'd be sitting talking to Auntie Måmmi', with her facing the screen door many times, and she would interrupt our conversation to ask me, " Håye ennao ?" as she looked at the screen door. I'd turn around and see no one. " Who's that ?"

" Tåya' taotao, Auntie ," I would reply. " There's no one ."

" Hunggan guaha! " " Yes there is ."

Then she'd look down or away. I guess whoever was there moved away.

I'd get a bit of chill but I never saw, heard or sensed anything.

Sometimes I wondered if it was just an old lady's imagination, or if my Auntie Måmmi' was something of an entertainer.




Auntie Måmmi' is the lady in front of the haligi (pillar) facing the camera. The other lady is her cousin, my Auntie Epa', my grandmother's sister, Josefa Torres Artero, whom we called Auntie Epa'.

Taken at a picnic in the 1980s at Ipao in Tomhom - sagan i taotaomo'na! Abode of the taotaomo'na!

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Thursday, June 4, 2015


Åmbres i ilu' gi papa' t å no' man l å lala' ha'.
( Even the worms under ground are alive .)


This was said by a man who was asked how could he provide for his family of eleven children.

He was the only rice winner in the family as his wife raised the children and managed the home. But he brought home the check that fed, clothed and housed his children, whom he also put through Catholic school.

It's similar to what the Lord said about how the birds neither spin nor reap yet God the Father feeds them.

Mother Nature was a teacher to our ma ñ aina who saw that there are resources available for those who are willing to look for them. Even the lowly worm teaches us that.



NOTE

Ulo' (with glota) = worm

Ulo (without glota) = head

WHALING CONTRACT OF JOSEN KUETO?

Wednesday, June 3, 2015


JOSÉ MENDIOLA TAITANO
"Kueto"
with his wife, Juana Pérez San Nicolás


Although I cannot be totally certain of this, I would be willing to wager that I came across the whaling contract of one of Guam's first Chamorro Protestants and patriarch of the large Kueto clan : José Mendiola Taitano. I believe the facts of the contract fit together with other facts about Jose that we know from other sources and family tradition.

First, the dates fit. Family tradition says José was born around 1839 or 1840. The contract says this José was 19 years old in January of 1856, so therefore born around 1836 - pretty close to 1839. Keep in mind that in those days people were very casual about dates, because they didn't have the same culture as we do today with our driver's licenses, birth certificates and other forms of ID readily available. People didn't have much in the way of paper IDs and little need for providing their date of birth. It is very documented that people gave different years for their date of birth, depending on their all-too-vague memory of what they were told.

Second, it is well-known that José left Guam as a young man as a whaler. That's how he got to see the world and be exposed to Protestantism, which he adopted in his heart, though he could not openly practice it when he returned to Guam many years later. He even had his first children baptized Catholic and married Juana, his wife, in the Catholic Church.

Third, the 1758 Census identifies a Francisco Taitano married to a Songsong (or Manongsong). They were from Aniguak, the same barrio that the  José in this contract comes from. That fits in nicely also with the fact that the more "pure" blooded Chamorros (Taitano is a Chamorro, not Spanish, surname) lived in the surrounding barrios (Aniguak, Mongmong, Sinajaña, etc.) while the more mixed race lived in Hagåtña proper.

But the document also provides us with one detail I had never heard of before (if this is truly Josen Kueto's contract) and that is that José was orphaned of both father and mother by the time he was 19 years old.




According to the contract, one José Taitano, aged 19 years, orphaned of both parents, a resident of Aniguak, agreed to serve on the American whaling ship Philip I under Captain Benjamin H. Sisson in January of 1856, for a period of one year, when Sisson was supposed to return José to Guam.

Two other Chamorro lads joined Sisson's crew at the same time : Juan de la Cruz and José Manibusan.


KUETO TREE

According to family tradition, the Kueto clan goes back to a male ancestor named Ukudu Da'gua.

His son was Francisco Taitano, born around 1712. Francisco was from Aniguak and married Maria Songsong or Manongsong.

His son was José Taitano, born around 1750.

His son was Francisco Taitano, born around 1795 and married to Josefa Mendiola.

Francisco and Josefa's son was José, who could very well be the subject of this whaler contract.




Josen Kueto's signature???

PÅLE' ROMAN'S RAFFLE SONGS

Tuesday, June 2, 2015


In the late 1930s, P å le' Roman Maria de Vera, the most outstanding expert in the Chamorro language among the Spanish Capuchin missionaries, was busy trying to raise money to build a new church in Santa Cruz, Hag å tna.

This was the second parish in the capital city, which had around 10,000 residents. The original church was built almost 20 years before and was too small for the growing population.

In order to raise funds, P å le' Roman conducted raffles. One of the main prizes was an Indian bull, donated by Pedro Martinez, the wealthy businessman and close friend of the missionaries. He owned a large herd of cattle in Dandan.

As usual, P å le' Roman used music to attract buyers of raffle tickets. He used commonly-known school songs and put them to Chamorro words. Most of these tunes are not known today.

Here they are :

Sung to "There's a cry behind the hill" :

Ayogue' i dangkulo, Indian bull! Indian bull!
P å tas, ulo, kanghelon, Indian bull! Indian bull!
H å fa ya-mo Christmas-mo, s å ngan p å 'go i ya-mo;
Indian bull! Indian bull! Indian bull!
( There is the big Indian bull!
Feet, head, horns, Indian bull!
What would you like for Christmas, say now what you'd like;
Indian bull! )

Sung to "Postman! Postman!" :

Dollar, dollar, bente na numero;
dollar, dollar, sa' riko hao.
Nihe ta anaga, nihe ta afana,
ombre, ombre, na' geftao hao!
( Dollar, dollar, number twenty;
dollar, dollar, because you're rich.
Let's flood each other, let's face each other,
man oh man, be generous! )

Sung to "Cherries are ripe" :

Giya Gu å han, giya Dandan
ma p å sto i Indian bull.
Ti ga' ice cream, ti chichipa
lao ya- ñ a Santa Cruz.
( In Guam, in Dandan
the Indian bull pastures.
He doesn't like ice cream, he doesn't smoke
but he loves Santa Cruz. )

My favorite one, and one sung to a tune we should all know, is sung to "Ring around the rosie" :

Rifa, rifa, rifa, ku å nto para h å go,
one, two, three, four, iyo-mo i bull!
( Raffle, raffle, raffle, how much for you,
one, two, three, four, the bull is yours! )

Chule' numeru-mo, ku å nto malago'-mo,
one, two, three, four, iyo-ko i bull!
( Take your number, how many do you want,
one, two, three, four, the bull is mine! )





INDIAN BULL

EARLY CHAMORRO MERCHANTS

Monday, June 1, 2015

Luís Martínez Baza's stores, located in three Hagåtña barrios : San Antonio, San Ramón and San Nicolás


Chamorros were involved in commercial enterprise, in small numbers, even back in the 1800s under the Spanish.

We can think of Jose Martínez Portusach who, in partnership with his brother-in-law, the British J. Turner Harrison, tried to make money from copra in Pagan.  But his lease on Pagan was full of legal controversy, hampered by the change of administration from Spanish to German rule and the separation of the Northern Marianas from Guam.

We can also think of Vicente Roberto Herrero, engaged in business also at the turn of the century. And there were a few other Chamorros who invested money here and there with the hope of making a profit.

In 1915, we get an idea who were the principal Chamorros interested in running businesses on Guam.

Luís Martínez Baza was one the biggies. He had a 2nd class business license in 1915 which enabled him to run a business worth no more than $5000 with imports valued at the same amount.

Others at the same tier of business were Lorenzo de León Guerrero, Eulogio de la Cruz (Filipino but married to a Chamorro), José Martínez Torres, Vicente de la Rosa Mesa and Antonio de Torres.

Small retailers (3rd class license for businesses worth $500 or less) included numerous Chamorros. These would have been sellers of copra or owners of small retail shops.

Ignacio Mendiola Cruz
Vicente Dueñas de Torres
Vicente de Borja
Rosauro Unpingco
Manuel Manalisay
Ignacio Camacho
Vicente Palomo Camacho
Emilia Martínez
Vidal Camacho
Antonia Martínez
Rafael Calvo
Vicente Roberto Herrero
Antonio Camacho
Ana de Salas
José Untalán
Antonio San Nicolás
Juan Santos
José Castro
Félix Pangelinan
Gregorio Pérez
Rita Guzmán
José Díaz
María de León Guerrero
María Flores
Enriqueta de Guzmán


FALSE FRIENDS

Friday, May 29, 2015


PENDEHO


A "false friend" is a word found in two languages, but do not mean the same thing. You think you can use the word with your own meaning (a "friend"), but in another country it has a different meaning ("false friend").

Even though we borrowed our Chamorro word pendeho from the Spanish, it means one thing in Chamorro, and another thing (or things, actually) in Spanish.

For us, pendeho just means "a rascal," "rogue" or "a mischievous person."

It is never taken offensively and can even be somewhat affectionate, acknowledging the smarts of a scoundrel, or is simply said in jest.

Nå'e si pendeho ni salape'-ña.
Give the rascal his money.

Ai si pendeho!
What a mischievous person!

But I advise you not to go around Spain or other Spanish-speaking countries saying pendejo .

In a few of those countries, the word is harmless.

But in some of them, it is highly insulting.

I won't tell you what it means in those countries. You can do your own research!


A WORD ABOUT H AND J


In Spanish, the word is spelled with a J : pendejo .

Although we preserve this Spanish style in place names like Sinajaña, Inarajan and personal names like Juan and José, when we spell in Chamorro nowadays, we switch the J to H.

So pendejo becomes pendeho .

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO'

Thursday, May 28, 2015


"Totoktok gi un k å nnai; sasaolak gi otro k å nnai."

( "Hugging with one hand; spanking with the other hand." )


An older lady, in her 80s, was talking to me about someone we both knew, now long since passed.

She remarked how this person was both strict and loving at the same time; not averse to punishing you, yet always following up punishment with some act of kindness.

A person is born with two hands. It's the same person, but using two hands for opposite things. So it is with the way some people treat you. Hugging with one hand, spanking with the other.

THIS IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

Wednesday, May 27, 2015


In the days before the internet, TV or even radio, how was important news from the government immediately disseminated to the general public?

As far as the capital city was concerned, by way of a town crier.

This was a common practice in Spain, and it was repeated here in the Marianas.

When something had to be announced to the whole population in Hagåtña, the crier would go out at night with a lantern bearer and a bugler ( kotneta ). The bugler's tune would call the people in that particular area out from the homes to gather around the crier. When everyone was present, he would read out the news. Many times these were instructions from the governor, perhaps concerning health (there were often epidemics in those days) or some public works project, or a new law. After announcing in one barrio, the crier and company would move to the next.

Why at night? Well, probably because a lot of city dwellers, especially the men, were at their ranches since even before dawn. The government had to wait till they returned home before sunset to have most of the men present to hear the news.

More than likely, the Chamorros called the town crier the same thing the Spaniards called him, the pregonero . Påle' Roman's Chamorro dictionary has the word pregón , which means "announcement" and the verb pregona ("to announce"), but he doesn't include the word pregonero (announcer). Another early dictionary (von Preissig's in 1918) does not include the term. But, as late as 1946, up in Saipan, the word pregonero was used for a news bulletin in both English and Chamorro. Today, the word is completely absent from conversation.

One thing's for sure, these announcements were read out in Chamorro. It's quite possible they were announced in both Spanish (for formality's sake) and Chamorro (for effectiveness), but almost certainly at least in Chamorro, as most Chamorros did not understand Spanish very well, at least those in the late 1800s.  In fact, some Americans who came to Guam in the early 1900s, thinking their Spanish would be enough to ensure successful work with Chamorros, soon realized that their Spanish was useless with most Chamorros. They had to learn Chamorro in order to communicate with all Chamorros, "high and low."

HOW TO SAY "CHUUK" IN CHAMORRO

Friday, May 22, 2015



When I was growing up, it was Truk.

Then, in the 1980s, we first heard about Chuuk.

But how did Chamorros call this island, or group of islands, back in the day before they also spoke English?

They used the Spanish version of the name Chuuk.

We always have to forgive people in the past for spelling unfamiliar things in foreign lands the way they did. After all, if someone spoke to you in a language you didn't understand, and asked you to write down what you heard, it would be a mess!

So when the Spaniards (and other Europeans) heard the word Chuuk, the best they could spell it as their minds tried to grasp the sound they heard, was Ruk. Sometimes the Spaniards spelled it Ruc, as K is not found in the Spanish language (except sometimes when spelling foreign words or names).




Here is a close-up of a Spanish map of the Carolines, showing the island of Ruk. In the map at the top of this post, you can also see Ruk spelled out, and it's an American map, not Spanish! You can see the name Ruk in the heading and also in the part encircled.




A Spanish magazine talking about the "island of Ruk."


But, for the Spanish, the U in Ruk is pronounced like the OO in hook. Ruk rhymes with hook or crook. Not with luck or duck.

Here is how the name RUK sounds.




It was the Chamorros of Saipan, Rota, Yap and Palau who maintained this version of the name for Chuuk even up to our days. Why?

In 1898, the Chamorros of Guam were politically separated from all the other Chamorros of the Northern Marianas. The U.S. had no connection with Chuuk until after World War II.

But the Germans, and then the Japanese, controlled everywhere else in Micronesia : the Northern Marianas, Palau, Yap and yes - Ruk.

Chamorros from the other Japanese mandate islands, in small numbers, went to work in Ruk now and then under the Japanese.

So the Chamorros outside of Guam kept up a connection with Ruk. They were all under the same flag - the Japanese. They would hear news about Ruk. They had relatives living and working in Ruk. Their Jesuit priests in Saipan and Rota sometimes went back and forth, serving in Ruk.

" Ginen mano si påle' mågi? " ("From where did Father come here?")
" Ginen Ruk mågi ." ("He came here from Ruk.")

Even as late as 1992, I heard older Chamorro women in Saipan talk about a place called Ruk.

I would say, "Where?" "Ruk!" they answered. And that's how I learned how the older Chamorros called what we call Chuuk, and, at one time, Truk.

CHAMORRO SOLDIERS 1795

Thursday, May 21, 2015


From a list of soldiers on Guam in 1795.

These soldiers, for the most part, are examples of the new race of mixed-blood Chamorros, having pre-contact Chamorro blood, as well as Spanish, Latin American (and thus Aztec and other indigenous American blood) and Filipino blood.

ACOSTA, Patricio de

AGUIRRE, José Antonio

AGUON, Victor

ARCEO, Desiderio
ARCEO, Félix
ARCEO, Francisco
ARCEO, Leopoldo

BAZA, Remigio
BAZA, Victorino

BERMEJO, José

BORJA, Enrique

CALDERÓN, Pedro

CAMACHO, Francisco

CAPISTRANO, Francisco Pascual

CASTRO, Ignacio de
CASTRO, Nicolás de

CEPEDA, Nicolás

COTINO, Pedro

CRUZ, Felipe de la
CRUZ, Félix
CRUZ, Francisco
CRUZ, José de la
CRUZ, Justo de la
CRUZ, Salvador de la

DUEÑAS, José Romano

ESPINOSA, Ignacio

GARRIDO, Manuel Tiburcio

GUERRERO, Juan de Dios

GUEVARA, José Andrés

LIZAMA, Nicolás

MANIBUSAN, Gregorio
MANIBUSAN, Juan

MENDIOLA, Paulino

OJEDA, Manuel de

PABLO, Juan Regis

PALOMO, Antonio

QUINTANILLA, Nicolás

RIVERA, Diego de
RIVERA, Marcos de

RODRÍGUEZ, José

ROSA, Domingo de la

SABLÁN, Agustin Roque

SÁNCHEZ, Andrés

TELLO JIMÉNEZ, Andrés

TORRES, Juan Francisco Regis de

ULLOA, José de


THE FORGOTTEN STRAGGLERS

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

MASASHI ITO (left) and BUNZO MINAGAWA (right)
shortly after their capture in 1960


Mention Yokoi on Guam and practically everyone knows who we're talking about.

But Ito and Minagawa? Their names are all but unknown.

Yet, almost 12 years prior to the capture of Yokoi in early 1972, two Japanese stragglers were found on Guam in May of 1960.


MANIBUSAN AND SANTOS



MINAGAWA AND HIS CAPTORS

Like Yokoi, the first of the two to be found in 1960, Minagawa, was found by Chamorro men from Talofofo who were hunting. Vicente Manibusan and Clemente Santos, both young at 33 and brothers-in-law, were hunting coconut crab by Togcha when they saw a man in the distance. Just from the look of the man, they suspected he was a Japanese straggler.

They circled the area and found Minagawa up inside a breadfruit tree. When they called out to him, he jumped down and ran away. After about a quarter of a mile in pursuit, Manibusan and Santos caught up with Minagawa and struggled with him till he finally gave in. A hit on the head with the butt of Manibusan's rifle helped! Passing cars were hailed, but it was only the third car which cooperated and promised to call the police to send a patrol car to that area.

A fourth car, driven by Enrique Reyes of Talofofo, agreed to take the trio to the Yoña police precinct. Jesús Sehachi Sayama, a Japanese resident of Guam since long before the war, was living in Yoña and was asked to come to the police station and act as interpreter. Several hundred villagers gathered outside when news spread throughout the village.

Minagawa had fought and screamed when Santos and Manibusan tried to seize him. At the police station, though no longer screaming, Minagawa wouldn't say a word, even with Sayama present. Not even donuts and coffee could loosen his lips. They waited for a police car to fetch them and take them to the main Agaña police headquarters. Then the Navy stepped in and took over.




FRIENDLY REUNION
Clemente Santos, Vicente Manibusan and Minagawa on Guam in 1964



CLEMENTE CAMACHO SANTOS
One of the two Chamorros who discovered Minagawa


ITO



ITO A FEW YEARS AFTER HIS CAPTURE

In time, Minagawa started to open up. During his questioning by authorities, Minagawa informed his captors that there was another Japanese soldier still hiding in the jungle by the name of Masashi Ito. Minagawa was willing to accompany the military police to Ito's hidden camp site and encourage him to surrender.

When the time arrived, the search party went by helicopter to the site and Minagawa called out to his compatriot. Ito emerged from hiding, waving a cloth, and turned himself in. Ito later said that knowing Minagawa was captured, he himself had to surrender because he could not make it by himself in Guam's jungle. He had survived so far in large part by having a partner. For the last two days he had been searching for Minagawa, not knowing he had been discovered.

There had been a third soldier in their company, Tetsuo Unno (some old newspapers call him Umino), who had died six years earlier due to illness which weakened him that he could not forage for food like the two others. Though the other two shared what they could and tended to him in his aches and pains and worsening cough, malnutrition set in and he died. They kept his bones for repatriation to Japan.

The two stragglers had a hideout in the Talofofo area, but apparently knew nothing about Yokoi. They made trips as far north as Pago Bay, and Manibusan thought he had spotted Minagawa before, while fishing at Ylig River and Bay. A man with long hair tied in a bun, just like Minagawa, was in the water. When Manibusan called out, the mysterious swimmer dove and disappeared. But Minagawa said that there were a few times he walked right down the main street in Talofofo, but late at night when he went to go fishing. Shows how quiet village life was in those days.



MINAGAWA AFTER HIS CAPTURE


The two were eventually repatriated to Japan, in good condition. They found jobs as security guards. All those years in the jungle needing to notice every movement and sound would make them excellent in patrolling the grounds of their employer's business.

Ito and Minagawa had suspected that the war was over and that Japan was no longer in charge of Guam, but they had no idea that Japan had surrendered and had been itself occupied by America. They refused to turn themselves in because it had been instilled in them that Americans killed their enemy captured.

Asked if they thought there were more Japanese holdouts hiding in Guam's jungles, they replied no. Boy were they wrong!

They returned to Guam, in fact, in 1964 to assist in a search for more stragglers reportedly seen but never captured. In 1972, that would change with the finding of Yokoi.

While back on Guam in 1964, they frequently met with their Chamorro captors, going to parties and eating at restaurants. Minagawa said he was thankful that Manibusan and Santos had spotted and captured him, otherwise he would not be back home in Japan, with a wife and a new life.




The discovery of the stragglers naturally made news all over the world


MALINGO NA FINO' CHAMORRO

Tuesday, May 19, 2015


We're very used to the word, and phrase, "Esta!"

It means, "already," and can also mean, "OK," "alright," and so forth.

The word is borrowed from Spanish, but "ésta" in Spanish means "this." So it's curious how "this" became "already" in Chamorro.

One explanation, going back a hundred years or more, is that "esta" is really a shortened version of yesta .

Yesta appears in the Chamorro prayer book above, which was written over a hundred years ago by a Chamorro, well-educated in the Spanish system.

Påle' Román says that yesta is itself a shortened form of the Spanish "ya está." "Ya está" means "it's already there," or simply, "already."

"Did you fold the clothes?"
"Ya está." (They're already there. I already did it.)

From there, Chamorros shortened "ya está" to "yesta." And, as the years rolled on, shortened it further to "esta."

In time, yesta disappeared and is now no longer heard.

I think that's about all I can say about it. Pues, esta!




THE BUS TO SUMAY

Monday, May 18, 2015

A typical bus of the 1930s


Sumay was Guam's second largest town well before the 1930s. It was also an important town, with its port, Marine barracks, cable station, Pan Am Clipper landing, hotel and many businesses.

Because of all this importance, it isn't surprising that there was a lot of traffic between Hagåtña and Sumay and the need for public transportation going between them.

One such line was the City Motorbus Line, which ran a bus in the 1930s from the capital to Sumay and back, passing through Piti and Hågat.



TAMING FISH IN LUTA

Thursday, May 14, 2015


Several sources from the early 1900s talk about a unique way the people of Luta (Rota) caught fish.

They tamed them. Right in the ocean.

When the fish were very small, the fishermen would go out in their canoes. They would let down into the water a half a coconut shell, with a stone in it for weight. There was also a string tied to the stone so that the fisherman could jiggle it, making a sound which would attract the fish. Inside the shell would be grated coconut meat. The little fish would eat to their heart's content. And day by day, for as long as needed, the fishermen would do this.

As the fish got bigger, and more attractive to catch, the fish got very used to finding coconut meat in what they thought was a safe environment. Then - swoosh! The fishermen would easily grab the fish.

I wish I knew what type of fish was the object of this method of catching them.

Most of Luta lacks a reef. So I can only imagine where this type of fishing took place, as most of the waters around Luta seem rather rough and deep for this method.

This method is also time-consuming. But, as one writer said, especially in those days, the people had a lot of time on their hands.

FISHING WITH A TAOTAOMO'NA

Wednesday, May 13, 2015
http://www.kawikaspiritartstudio.com

Two komp å dres agreed to go fishing one night at To'guan Bay in Hum åtak. Since they would go out at night, they brought torches ( hachon ), along with their spears ( sulo '). All things being prepared, one decided to nap since it was dark but the tide was still high.

"Wake me when it's time to go out," he said to his p åre .

Some time later, he was awakened by the voice of his p åre , saying it was time to go. "Find me there," he said to his awakening companion.

It took the awakening man to set out and he found his partner already in the water, fishing. He tried to approach him so they could fish together, but he noticed his p åre was always a certain distance away, no matter how close he tried to approach. He also realized that his p åre never looked in his direction.

For a long while, he never caught a single fish. He wanted to see how his p åre was going, and noticed that he kept putting things from the ocean into his basket, boasting, " Bula yo'! Bula yo '" (" I have plenty! ") But when he looked closer, his p åre was only catching sea slugs.

He was not convinced that the man who awakened him and who was now fishing with him, was not his p åre . Fear overtook him and he didn't know what to do. He decided to move closer to the mouth of the To'guan River, but his partner moved in that direction, too, keeping the same distance as before.

At some point, the man thrust his torch into the hole of a rock to kill it and surround himself in complete darkness. Then, following the river inside, he ran into the interior of the jungle, trying to escape this mysterious partner.

In the jungle, he came upon a group of young men, playing a game called guaoho , forming a circle in a clearing in the dark jungle. They were not men, but taotaomo'na !

Seeing his frightful fishing partner running into the jungle chasing him, the fisherman ran into the circle of taotaomo'na playing their game.

The spirit fishing partner saw this, and yelled out, as he pursued him, " Guaoho, guaoho, guaoho! Hasayon i tiguang-ho! Pao limut! Pao le'o! Pao acho'! Pao ma'ti! " (" Guaoho, guaoho, guaoho! My partner has an awful smell! He smells of moss, of seaweed, of rock and of low tide !")

This spirit tried to get into the circle of his fellow taotaomo'na to catch the man, but the other taotaomo'na defended the fisherman. They subdued the one taotaomo'na and allowed the fisherman to escape and return home, just as the sun was rising.

AN ATTACHMENT TO SPANISH

Tuesday, May 12, 2015


The Spanish paragraph above was written by a Chamorro in 1950. And it is impeccable Spanish, except for a single spelling mistake and the lack of accents - all rather minor.  Further, it was written by a Chamorro woman!* Keep in mind that, in the era she grew up, in the early 1900s, women were usually not given much of an education.

Yes, the use of Spanish among many Chamorros in those days was that good.

The note above was written on the inside cover of a novena book.  It says :

Aviso Importante
( Important Notice )

Si esta novena se perdiere,
( If this novena gets lost, )

como suele suceder
( as often happens )

suplico al que me la hallare,
( I plead with whoever might find it for me ,)

y que la sepa devolver.
( that he should know to return it. )

Si no sabe mi nombre
( If he doesn't know my name )

aquí lo he de poner
( here I shall put it )

Pangelinan Cruz por apellido
( Pangelinan Cruz is the surname )

Asunción para servir a usted.
( Asunción to be at your service .)

Agaña Heights a 22 de
( Agaña Heights on the 22nd of )

Mayo de 1950. Lot #19
( May of 1950 .) Lot #19

(Signature)

Un Padre Nuestro y Ave María
( One Our Father and Hail Mary )

para el bienechor (should be spelled bienhechor )
( for the benefactor )


You can see here the attachment that many older Chamorros had for Spanish. Even though the novena itself was written in Chamorro, the owner decided to write a note about "Lost and Found" in Spanish, to a possible finder who would have little chance of knowing what the note in Spanish meant! Still, she was that attached to the Spanish language.

You can also see that there is a touch of old-world elegance in the phraseology of the note. It somewhat approaches poetry.

In our super Americanized environment today, which leaves its own deep mark on our Chamorro language and culture today, we forget just how Hispanicized many of our mañaina were 100 years ago, and how attached they were to that language and culture.

* According to several family members, the handwriting is unmistakably their grandfather's, the husband of Asunci ó n. In that case, his was the hand and Asunci ó n was the voice of this Spanish message.

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO'

Monday, May 11, 2015



MÅFFAK I LALA'ET-ÑA

( His/her gallbladder ruptured )


For modern ears, an unusual expression, perhaps.

The gallbladder ( lala'et ) is the organ where bile, a very bitter ( mala'et )  fluid, is stored. Bile is produced by the liver, but stored in the gallbladder. It is an important substance which helps in our digestion, especially in breaking down fats.

Bile, however, because of its bitterness, has taken on, for centuries and across many cultures, the symbolic meaning of sorrow, pain or....bitterness.

For our mañaina , when the gallbladder is ruptured, an abundant amount of bile is released. The symbolism is clear : a ruptured gallbladder means an abundance of sorrow or pain.

~ Ai si Maria. Duro de tumånges sa' pot måtai si nanå-ña.
~ Måffak i lala'et-ña.

~ Poor Maria. She keeps crying because her mother died.
~ She has an abundance of bitter sorrow. (Literally : Her gallbladder ruptured.)

Another nuance to this expression is when someone is saddened because they feel left out.

For example, a mother notices that her child will not share his or her treat with a friend standing nearby, with an obvious expression of disappointment.

She says, " N å 'e i amigu-mo masea diddide', sa' si ñ a ha' m å ffak lala'et- ñ a ."

" Give even a little to your friends, because he may feel sad and deprived ."

I BIBIK : HARMONICA IN TRADITIONAL CHAMORRO MUSIC

Friday, May 8, 2015



The guitar is accompanied by the bibik or harmonica


Even in the 1970s when I was growing up, older Chamorro musical groups and singers often used an instrument that has recently all but disappeared - the harmonica, or bibik in Chamorro.

Bibik can also mean a hand-held whistle, like the one coaches use in sports.

The modern harmonica came about in the early 1800s and was very popular among sailors and whalers. It wasn't costly. It was durable and easy to carry around.

The whalers, and their tunes, made an impact on Chamorros in the 1800s as they visited Guam and sometimes the other islands of the Marianas.




John Perez (familian Bon ñ o) is one of the few Chamorro harmonica players who play the old, traditional tunes besides other melodies in his large repertoire.

Here he shares about the older Chamorro musicians he knew such as his uncle Josafat Perez and also Jesus Franquez.


LATIYA? OR NATIYA?

Thursday, May 7, 2015


A popular dessert dish among Chamorros is latiya.

Or is it natiya?

The short answer is : both.

To make you more confused, some also say latiyas or natiyas. And in Saipan, they call it lantiyas.

What's the deal here?

The name is borrowed from the Spanish, who call it natillas or natilla , again depending on the country. It's simply the difference between saying, in English, "custard" or "custards."

The root word is nata , which means milk cream. The condensed milk forms the custard, along with the other ingredients : sugar, eggs, water, vanilla extract, cinnamon and corn starch for thickening.




From Spain, the custard dish recipe went all over the Spanish-speaking world, becoming modified here and there depending on the country and the resources they had.

Words in a language also change, here and there, depending on the sounds preferred by the speakers.

First of all, no Chamorro would ever pronounce Spanish LL as English Y. It becomes Chamorro Y, which sounds like English J. Quintanilla. Acfalle. So natilla became natiya.

But then, many Chamorros in the past liked to changed initial N in a Spanish word to L. This is what happened to natilla. For some Chamorros, natiya became latiya.

Up in Saipan, time away from Guam as Guam Chamorros moved up there since the 1850s, allowed changes in pronunciation to develop on their own. Latiya became lantiyas.


CHAMORRO VERSION


One thing that stands out about the Chamorro version, whether it's from Guam, Saipan or the other islands in the Marianas, is that the custard is only one-half of the dish. It isn't latiya (or natiya, or lantiyas) unless the custard goes on top of sponge cake, broas or even pound cake, as the recipe undergoes more recent tweaking.




In my own version, I add canned peaches. People love it. I also add a secret syrupy ingredient to soak a bit of the bottom of the cake. Secret.

When I first lived on Saipan, back when I did not have a strict diet, they found out I loved lantiyas. Although they called it by a slightly different name, it was the same dish and it went into the same stomach where latiya used to go!

CHAMORRO....THE ENGLISH WAY

Thursday, March 26, 2015


In recent years, there has been a greater interest among many people to revert to or continue to use Chamorro words, even though they are used in an English context.

But we are often unaware just how much we are a product of our times, and the overwhelming English-language environment many of us grew up in. We are so immersed in that linguistic sea that we hardly realize how wet we are!

Take, for example, the word saina . It's Chamorro for anyone who is senior or higher in status than you. It could be a parent, older relative, older people in general and people of civic and religious standing. It can even be applied to God. Yet, a twenty-year-old is still saina to his or her five-year-old nephew or niece. It is a very elastic word in our language, but the essential meaning is clear. The saina is above, I am below.

As we engage more with our elders, we hear people speaking publicly about their - sainas . "We welcome all our sainas to today's event."

It sounds very supportive of the Chamorro language revival, but the word sainas is subjecting a Chamorro word to English grammatical rules.

In Chamorro, we do not denote something in the plural by adding an -S at the end of the word.

The exception to this rule is with some Spanish loan words. I senadot . The senator. I senadores . The senators. Señot . Sir. Señores . Sirs.


HOW WE MAKE THINGS PLURAL IN CHAMORRO


1. Add the prefix MAN before the word

ETMÅNA (religious sister)
MAN ETMÅNA (religious sisters)

MÅ'GAS (the great, the superior, the powerful, etc)
MAN MÅ'GAS (the great ones, superior ones, powerful ones, etc)

2. Keep in mind that MAN can undergo a change if the following word begins with K, P, S, T or CH

MAN + K = MANG

Kilisyåno = Mangilisyåno (Christians)
Katoliko = Mangatoliko (Catholics)

MAN + P = MAM

Påle' = Mamåle' (priests)
Popble = Mamopble (the poor people)

MAN + S = MAÑ

Sottera = Mañottera (single women, teenage girls)

MAN + T = MAN

Tomtom = Manomtom (the wise people)
Tunas = Manunas (the righteous people)

MAN + CH = MAÑ

Che'lu = Mañe'lu (the siblings)

3. Be careful, though; there are often exceptions

Man + parientes remains manparientes (the relatives).

Man + sendålo remains mansendålo (the soldiers).

Man + chunge' remains manchunge' (the gray/white haired ones).

Sometimes, there is a change and sometimes there isn't.

Some people say Mañamorro and others say Manchamorro.

4. Adding the prefix MAN is not the only way to make something plural. Often, one simply adds the word SIHA after the word. SIHA denotes plural.

I Tagålo siha. The Filipinos. No one says "I man Tagålo," although that is still grammatically correct.

I chetda siha. The bananas. No one says, "I man chotda."

I gima' siha. The houses. No one says, "I man guma'."

Sometimes, one can use MAN and still use SIHA. That makes it very clear the subject is plural.

I man sendålo siha. The soldiers.

I man gefsaga siha. The wealthy people.

So...

INSTEAD OF….



TRY…


SAINAS



MAÑAINA


MAN ÅMKOS



MAN ÅMKO’


PÅLES


MAMÅLE’



GUMAS (often heard nowadays for houses of dance groups)



GUMA’ SIHA


FAFANA’GUES (often heard now for “teacher” in lieu of maestro/maestra)



MAN FAFANA’GUE or

FAFANA'GUE SIHA



It would be wonderful to hear an MC say from now on.....


"We would like to welcome our MAÑAINA today," instead of


"We would like to welcome our SAINAS today."


If we're going to speak English sprinkled with a little bit of Chamorro, let's keep the Chamorro word as intact as possible in its Chamorro form.


Otherwise, we will be promoting but an Anglicized version of the Chamorro term.









STRANDED IN MANILA

Wednesday, March 25, 2015


Fe Untalán Cristóbal was the daughter of Adriano María Cristóbal, Ilocano, and Carmen Untalán, Chamorro. She was born in 1915 in Hagåtña, Guam.

As her father was himself an educated man who valued higher learning, he sent his daughter Fe to be educated in Manila at the Philippine Women's University.




All was well, as she graduated in 1941.




TWIST OF HISTORY

As she prepared to return to her native Guam, Fe packed the following items to be shipped to Guam ahead of her : pianos, sewing machines, beauty parlor equipment and musical instruments for her brother Adriano (Nito). Her plan was to open a private school to teach music and sewing to her fellow Chamorros.

Her own voyage to Guam was to be by air, flying on the Pan American clipper, due to land on Guam on December 10, 1941.

But two days prior, on December 8, the Japanese attacked Guam. War was declared. Fe was stuck in the Philippines.

Later she found out that the ship's captain ordered all non-essential cargo to be dumped in the sea as soon as it was learned that the Japanese had attacked Guam. Fe's response was, "Man proposes, but God disposes."




And God certainly disposed that, while she waited the war out in Manila, she would meet her future husband, Alberto Tominez Lamorena, an attorney and an Ilocano like her father.

When war was over, she brought back to Guam, not sewing machines and pianos, but a husband, a daughter and a son. In time, she would have four sons in all (besides her one daughter), whom she all named Alberto, with a different middle name to distinguish them.

She never did open a school but raised her family. She was active in church and civic affairs, however, and was a founding member of the Filipino Ladies Association of Guam. She honored both her Chamorro and Filipino lineages.

ROSARY FOR HER "DEATH"

As the war dragged on and there was no communication between civilians in Manila and in Guam, Fe's family assumed she must have died. So they began praying her novena of rosaries for her soul.

This was when the Americans were about to return and the family was huddled in a shelter for protection from American bombs. As they were praying the rosary, a white butterfly flew in. The family took this as a sign that Fe was alive and not dead.


MAGA'LÅHEN SANKATTAN NA ISLAS MARIANAS

Friday, March 13, 2015

THE FIRST FOUR
Camacho, Pete Tenorio, de Leon Guerrero, Froilan Tenorio


The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands is a young jurisdiction. It was established in 1978, or 37 years ago. Prior to the Commonwealth, the Northern Marianas were a district of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, along with the rest of Micronesia. There was no Governor of the Northern Marianas before 1978.


CARLOS SABLAN CAMACHO (1978-1982)

The first Governor of the CNMI shared the same first and last names as the first elected Governor of Guam. The CNMI Governor was Carlos Sablan Camacho, while Guam's was Carlos Garcia Camacho. Both also had careers in the health care field; Saipan's Carlos was a medical doctor and Guam's Carlos was a dentist.


PEDRO PANGELINAN TENORIO (1982-1986, 1986-1990, 1998-2002)

Universally known as "Teno," Tenorio has the distinction of being elected Governor three times. I remember him as being very popular among the people.


LORENZO IGLECIAS DE LEON GUERRERO (1990-1994)

He is the first CNMI Governor to pass away, which he did in 2006.


FROILAN CRUZ TENORIO (1994-1998)

During his term, the controversies concerning the CNMI's labor and immigration conditions became prime news.

AN MÅTTO SI TUASON

Wednesday, March 11, 2015


Jos é Mar í a Tuason
Wealthy Chinese-Filipino of the 1800s


Pre-war Chamorros on Guam had a saying.

" An m å tto si Tuason. " "When Tuason comes."


WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Too bad the generation that started this saying is dead, so they could tell us what they meant by this saying. They didn't write these things down, either.

But, their children and grandchildren, many of whom are still alive and remember this saying, tell me that Tuason was some rich Filipino. The idea was that, when Tuason comes to Guam, he brings lots of money and, humorously, none of us have anything to worry about when he comes. We will all have the money to take care of anything.

So, if someone wanted to buy something, but it was expensive, they could say, " Po'lo para an m å tto si Tuason. " " Leave it for when Tuason comes (to Guam) ."

If someone wanted to give someone else a tip or some money, but didn't have it, he or she could say, " Nangga asta ke m å tto si Tuason ." " Wait till Tuason comes ." When Tuason comes, I'll then be able to tip you, or give you some money.

Or, if someone looked rich or dressed in fine clothing, he or she could be told, " Kalan hao si Tuason ." " You're like Tuason ."


WHERE DID IT COME FROM?


But why should Chamorros know anything about a rich Filipino during Spanish times? As far as I know, no rich Filipino named Tuason came to Guam. And why would he? What possible incentive would there be for a rich Filipino to come to Guam in the 1800s? In those days, there was little to no money to be made here, and very little to spend money on even if you had it.

But it is possible that Chamorros who had connections in the Philippines came back with knowledge of a fabulously rich Filipino named Tuason.


THE REAL TUASON

The Chamorro saying is based on actual fact. There was an immensely wealthy man in the Philippines named Tuason; Antonio Tuason, to be exact. He was so rich, he was made a Spanish noble by the King of Spain, as a reward for his loyalty to Spain against the English and the Moros. His descendants inherited his enviable land holdings in the greater Manila area. José María, pictured above, was one such descendant.

But how did Chamorros 1500 miles away know anything about him?


THE CALVO-TUASON CONNECTION

Some Chamorros in the 1800s did spend time in Manila. The Calvos of the Marianas actually have their origin in Manila first (after Spain) before they came to Guam and married into Chamorro families.

Interestingly, a Tuason lady married a Calvo. I'm not sure if this Calvo is connected to our Chamorro Calvos, but it is entirely possible.

Furthermore, two men, a Calvo and a Tuason, both worked in the same government office in Manila in the 1800s.




To make things more interesting, here on Guam, in 1873, Vicente Calvo sued the heirs of Petrona Tuason, a member of the rich Tuason family. But what the issue was exactly is unknown.


THE BARCINAS-TUASON CONNECTION

Even stronger and more probable, in my opinion, is the Barcinas-Tuason connection.

The Barcinas clan of the Marianas are descendants of the Filipino Barcinases who moved to Guam. They were all descendants of Eustaquia María Tuason, daughter of Antonio, founder of the wealthy Tuason family.

In fact, four members of the Chamorro Barcinas clan  - Tomás Cruz Barcinas, Benita Cruz Barcinas, Tomás Reyes Barcinas and María Barcinas Manibusan - sold all their rights to the Tuason holdings in the Philippines in 1894 for the sum of 5000 pesos.

In some correspondence of that era, someone discussing a possible enterprise but needing capital is remembered to have said, "Let's use the Barcinas money," to fund the project. The "Barcinas money" spoken of was probably this income from their Tuason shares. Thanks to Carlos Madrid for reminding me of this.


IN ANY EVENT....

Popular sayings like " An måtto si Tuason " usually have no provable origin.

Whatever the case, we'd all be a lot better off when Tuason finally arrives on Guam.

We're still waiting.

KELAGUEN/KILAWIN

Monday, March 9, 2015


Visitors to the Marianas don't always like all of our food.

But the one dish that seems to be a hit with almost all visitors is kelaguen , especially kelaguen månnok .

Where did this dish originate?

I wish I knew. Three hundred years ago, only Europeans were writing down things about Chamorro culture and none of them talk about kelaguen .

But coincidences between us and others sometimes leads us to some pretty good guesses. And, between us and the Filipinos, there are two coincidences dealing with kelaguen .

The first coincidence is the dish itself. Both the Filipino and Chamorro versions of kelaguen deal with marinating mainly raw foods in some kind of acid. Chamorros exclusively use lemon (or lime) juice, while the Filipino version is open to vinegar and other fruit juices as well as lemon/lime.

The second coincidence is the name. Chamorros call it kelaguen ; in the Philippines it is kilawin , although regional variations on the word exist. The root word seems to be hilaw , or "raw."

Since lemons and limes did not grow in our islands before the Spaniards came, it's more than likely that the basic recipe for kelaguen came from Filipino settlers in the Marianas, although the Latin American settlers could have also had a hand in it, since they have a similar dish called ceviche .

But the word kelaguen is so close to kilawin that I would guess that we borrowed kilawin and pronounced it our way. Remember that Chamorro does not have an independent W souind. The W sound exists in Chamorro when combined with G, for example, as in guiya, guennao, pugua' .

In fact, when foreign names starting with a W came to us, Chamorros pronounced the W in other ways, as in Bisle for Wesley and Guait for White.



Chamorro Kelaguen Uhang (Shrimp)


It's not kelaguen unless it has lemon juice, salt and onions. Green onions will also do.

Purists will say kelaguen also has to have chili peppers ( donne' ) but some people forego that because some people can't stand the heat.

Some kelaguen includes grated coconut, and some do not. Some will not add coconut when the dish will be out on the table a long time, for fear of quick spoilage. Others just don't think grated coconut goes well with raw meat, such as benådo (deer), beef or fish. Some seafood kelaguen , however, will add a bit of coconut milk into the mix.

In a few kelaguen recipes, sliced cherry tomatoes will be added.


KILAWIN




The Filipinos, however, are a lot more permissive with what they add to their kilawin . Ginger, garlic, black pepper, sugar and a longer list of veggies than ours can be found in different types of kilawin .

In terms of style, the Chamorros will mash up more what the Filipinos will allow as whole or larger-cut pieces. In the picture above, the Filipinos serve their shrimp whole while the Chamorro recipe would mince the shrimp into a kind of mash.

Also :

www.guampedia.com/kelaguen-meat-chicken-or-seafood-with-lemon

CHAMORRO LAD AT THE LICEO DE MANILA

Saturday, March 7, 2015



There used to be a time when Chamorros looked towards Manila when they needed something our islands could not give them

Sort of what we do now when it comes to Saint Luke's Hospital at Global City.

But 100 years ago, when it came to commerce and education, we cast our gaze westwards to Manila.

So it happened to a young boy in Dededo named José Roberto Palomo.


Courtesy of Dolores Palomo

José's father and mother lived on their ranch in Dededo, mainly growing corn, among other things. But an uncle, on his father's side, had been a sailing man for many years. After seeing a lot of the world, this uncle settled in the Binondo district of Manila. The uncle wrote to José's father, suggesting that he send the young José to live with him in Manila and enroll in a school there that could provide an education unavailable in Guam at the time.




In 1912, José entered the Liceo de Manila, a private school recently opened by highly educated Filipinos, like Leon Ma. Guerrero, an academic and Philippine nationalist. Most of the education imparted at the Liceo was in Spanish, still the language of prestige in the Philippines even after the Americans arrived.


Courtesy of Dolores Palomo
José Palomo in the uniform of the Liceo's military-training battalion. One can see the initials "L.M." on the collar.


JUST THE BEGINNING

José's stay at the Liceo was nothing short of successful. He did outstanding work there, winning many honors. It was just the beginning of an academic career that brought him to become the first Chamorro to earn a Doctorate many years later.

Palomo spent the rest of his life mainly in the United States, in both academia and in business. He passed away in the U.S. in 1995.




JOSÉ IN 1918



CONTRIBUTION IN GUAM

In 1950, Palomo was called back home to Guam to become the Director of Education. Back on Guam, he envisioned founding a teacher training program. In due time, this became the Territorial College of Guam, which also in time became the University of Guam.

In the early 50s, some stateside parents advocated for segregated schools, with the mainland students separate from the local students. The rationale, they claimed, was that the stateside children were being slowed down in academic progress by the local students. Palomo opposed this move towards segregated schools and the idea disappeared.


Courtesy of Dolores Palomo

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Wednesday, March 4, 2015


Maolek- ñ a mang å gao ke ma ñ å kke.

It is better to ask than to steal.


Many people are afraid to ask for something, when they are in need.

But the elderly advise us, "If you do not ask for what you need, you will be tempted to get what you need by stealing, or by some other unethical means."

So don't be afraid to ask. There is no shame in that.

The shame is in stealing.

WHEN ST. FRANCIS WAS KING

Monday, March 2, 2015


What was one of the largest schools on Guam in the 1950s and 60s?

Saint Francis School in Yoña.

At one time, the student population at Saint Francis was 1500 students. For some years, one could get an education at Saint Francis up to the 10th grade.

The school was so huge that there was no public elementary school in Yoña for some time because there would have been insufficient students to justify its existence! Imagine the Department of Education telling people, "We have no public school in Yoña. The parochial school has all the children!"


THE MAN BEHIND THE SUCCESS




One word (name) is sufficient to explain why a Catholic school in the south of Guam was once the island's biggest private school. Father Alvin.

Father Alvin LaFeir was a one-man typhoon. Except that he used his power in order to build, not to destroy.

A missionary who came to Guam before World War II and who spent the war in POW camp in Japan, some people said Father Alvin would have been Mayor of Detroit had he not become a priest. He was (in the good sense) a wheeler-dealer. Someone who slept very little because he was always working to get things done. The sky was the limit for him. He dreamt of building something huge, even if he had no money or resources.

In another sense, he had everything he needed to make those dreams come true because he had his biggest asset : himself. He was blessed with the natural ability to make strong friendships. People, of all races and creeds, found it impossible to say "no" to him. He got help from Protestants and Catholics alike. Money came in from his numerous contacts back in his native Detroit. The military on Guam came to his rescue numerous times.

So Father Alvin dreamt big. Others came before him in Yoña. but he wanted to expand ten-fold what the prior missionaries did. On the large tract of land belonging to the Catholic Church in Yoña, he wanted to build a complete parish complex : a church, a school and a sisters' convent. The school would have a large auditorium which the parish could also use as a hall. For his own office and residence (or konbento ), the old church built by the Spanish Capuchins before the war would suffice. His needs came last. He often ate right out of a can, since he was too busy to cook.

More than once, but especially in 1962 with Typhoon Karen, Father Alvin had to rebuild what was torn apart by Guam's typhoons. From the quonset hut school Father Cyril Langheim, OFM Cap built in 1949, the complete parish complex was finished in the early 1960s.

It's not a surprise, really, that Father Alvin died in 1966 at the age of  60 years. He had burnt himself out.


FREE TUTION FOR PARISHIONERS

Of course Father Alvin couldn't make his dreams come true without the help of the Yoña parishioners. They all pitched in undertaking numerous fundraising and construction projects. In return, all children of parishioners went to the school tuition-free. Non-parishioners (like my family) paid a small fee. I remember in the late 60s, my tuition was $35 a month.

Other non-parishioners came in large numbers from as far north as Andersen Air Force Base. That was Father Alvin's military connections at work.



THE HEROIC WORK OF THE SISTERS





The foundation of the success of Saint Francis School was, of course, the heroic work of the School Sisters of Notre Dame.

People had faith in their teaching credentials. Americanization (which meant fluency in English, the key to success, parents believed) was the program of the day and the first Sisters were Americans.

They also taught for close to nothing. Father Alvin and the parishioners paid for their needs, but the sisters received no salaries per se until many years later. This was the reason why parishioners did not pay tuition. When lay teachers were needed to make up for the insufficient numbers of teaching sisters, salaries were needed and thus tuition became mandatory for everyone, and at increasing levels as the years went by. As other factors emerged and combined, the student population of Saint Francis decreased.

But, at one time, Saint Francis School was king.

CHAMORRO SERMON ON CONFESSION

Friday, February 20, 2015


Well, part of a sermon.  From the 1960s

Un Påle' eståba na mamamaisen kuestion siha pot i katesismo.
( A priest was asking questions about the catechism .)

Måtto gi un dikkike' na påtgon låhe ya ha faisen,
( He came to a small boy and asked ,)

"Juan, siakåso mohon na måtai hao yan un makkat na isao gi anti-mo, para måno hao guato?"
(" John, suppose you die with one mortal sin on your soul, where will you go?" )

"Siempre malak sasalåguan yo'," ineppe-ña i patgon.
(" I will surely go to hell," was the boy's answer .)

"Pues håfa mohon para un cho'gue?" finaisen-ña ta'lo i Pale'.
(" So what would you do?" was the priest's question again .)

"Bai hu konfesat," ilek-ña si Juan. Manman si Påle' ya ilek-ña, "Para un konfesat?"
(" I will confess," Juan said. Father was amazed and said, "You will confess?" )

"Måno nai un konfesat an esta hao gaige sasalåguan?"
( "Where will you confess if you are already in hell? ")

"Bai hu konfesat giya hågo," ineppe-ña i patgon.
( "I will confess to you," was the boy's answer. )

Si Juan lache ni para u konfesat giya sasalåguan. Magåhet na yanggen måtai un taotao yan un makkat na isao
( Juan was wrong that he would confess in hell. It is true that if someone dies with mortal sin )

gi anti-ña, siempre u falak sasalåguan. Lao ayo ha' hamyo nai siña mangonfesat
( on his soul, he will certainly go to hell. But you can only confess )

yanggen man gagaige ha' hamyo trabia guine gi tano'.
( if you are still here on earth. )

Solo gi mientras man låla'la' hamyo.
( Only while you are alive .)

THE LEGEND OF AS MÅTMOS

Thursday, February 19, 2015


Many years ago, before the Spaniards came, there was a village on Luta called As M å tmos. M å tmos means "drown." The village is long gone, but the area is still called that today.

You might think the village was called by this name because it was located on a cliff by the sea. One false step and you could fall off that cliff and drown in the sea.

But the ancients have another explanation.

In those days, villages in our islands loved to compete. There were rivalries between chiefs, between father and son, and also between villages.

One day, the chief of the village eventually called As M å tmos challenged another chief of another village to see who could grow more rice.

Rice, as you may know, needs a lot of water to grow. Rice cannot grow on dry land, even if it is watered a lot. It has to grow in wet lands, like swamps.



Growing rice seedlings (f å 'i) in a rice field (fam å 'yan)

Well, As M å tmos is very dry and rocky land by that seacoast cliff. Try and try as they might, the people of that village couldn't create a rice field. But their chief kept pressuring them, so they wouldn't loose the competition and become mam å hlao (ashamed).

There are two versions of the conclusion of this story. The first is that the people of the village got fed up with their chief's insane ambition to win, which would have been impossible. So, they threw him over the cliff and he drowned. In the second version, the chief himself, seeing how it was impossible to grow rice in his village's bad terrain, threw himself into the sea and drowned.

In either case, the chief drowned and the place was known henceforth as As M å tmos, the place of drowning.



The rocky, sandy land of As M å tmos

ESTORIAN I KAKKAK

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Kakkak
( Yellow Bittern - Ixobrychus sinensis )


An tiempon Kuaresma, manayuyunat i taotao .
( During Lenten season, the people fast .)

I man å mko' yan i man mal å ngo u fa ñ ocho k å tne.
( The elderly and sick are to eat meat .)

Pues i kakkak ti malago' umayunat, sa' ma' å ' ñ ao na u masoksok.
( Now the kakkak didn't want to fast, because he was afraid to get skinny .)

Pues annai m å kpo' i Kuaresma, sinang å ne as Jesukristo,
( So when Lent was over, he was told by Jesus Christ ,)

"Ti un hongge i fino'-ho, sa' ma' å ' ñ ao hao na para un masoksok."
( "You didn't believe my word, because you were afraid that you were going to get skinny." )

"Pues tiene ke ni ngai'an na para un yommok."
( "Therefore you will never be fat." )

"Masosoksok hao asta i finatai-mo."
( "You will stay skinny till your death." )







SUPPLYING THE WHALERS

Tuesday, February 17, 2015


Although the heyday of the whaling era was already over, some foreign merchants thought there was still money to be made on Guam supplying the whaling ships and whoever else might stop by.

A Spanish pilot and merchant with business ties in the Pacific named Serapio San Juan opened such a business on Guam. The landing is described as Apra Harbor, but the actual store had to have been on land, so Sumay, Piti or Hagåtña are likely places.

It's quite an impressive list of items for sale, one that the European colony on Guam and perhaps some affluent Chamorros would have welcomed, except that the Spanish Governors usually wanted control over all commerce in the islands. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some quiet "arrangement" between San Juan and the Governor at the time, Pablo Pérez, who was a controversial figure.




Apparently, San Juan reached out to two people with money from opposite sides of the Pacific, probably to invest in his business and keep it alive with capital.

Martín Varanda was a Spanish businessman in the Philippines, and Francisco Rodríguez Vida was the Chilean Consul in Hawaii.

The business floundered and didn't last very long at all, perhaps just a year. San Juan's name shows up in press accounts and documents in Peru years later, after his failed Guam venture.

In 1850, San Juan got permission from the Spanish government to mine coal in Hågat, which I'm not sure even existed. Whatever dreams he had of making money in Guam coal never materialized.

The ads for his Guam business were placed in a Honolulu newspaper. Because of the whaling ships, a mercantile connection linked Guam and Hawaii for much of the 1800s. Because of that, a small colony of Chamorros ended up in Hawaii long before both Guam and Hawaii became part of the U.S.

*** Even years after Sanvitores changed the name of these islands to the Marianas, non-Spanish sources often still called them the Ladrones in the style of the older maps and books. This was often abbreviated as L.I. (Ladrone Islands)

DESPEDIDA LETTER

Thursday, February 12, 2015


Sometime after New Year's, 1972, Juan Aguon Sanchez, a well-known civic leader in Saipan, learned that the pastor of Saipan (it was all one parish then), Capuchin Father Lee Friel, was being transferred to Guam.

Sanchez was moved to write a farewell, or despedida , letter to the priest. His original letter is seen above. I will transcribe it using my orthography and supply an English translation :

I gine'fli'e'-ho na Påle'-m å me gi papa' i m å nton Korason de Jesus.
( My beloved pastor of ours under the mantle of the Heart of Jesus .)

Dångkulo na hu agradese, Påle', todo i masapet-mo pot hame nu i famagu'on-mo,
( I hugely appreciate, Father, all your hardships for us your children ,)

yan i Lorian Yu'us na Saina-ta, (1)
( and for the Glory of our Lord Go d,)

annai eståba hao guine gi parokian-måme.
( when you were here in our parish. )

Pues, Påle', hu gågågao hao gi todo i ha'ånen i tinayuyot-mo,
( So, Father, I ask you that in all your daily prayers )

na on (2) hahasso ham yan i famagu'on-mo siha, ya nå'e ham nu i bendision-mo.
( that you remember us and your children, and give us your blessing .)

Sin mås, Påle', adios ginen hame yan i asaguå-ho yan i famagu'on-ho .
( Without further ado, Father, farewell from us and my wife and children .)


NOTES

(1) Some Chamorros say gloria and others say loria , for "glory."

(2) On is an alternative for un (you, singular).

THE GUAM CAPUCHINS AND LOURDES

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Dedication of OL of Lourdes Church, Yigo
May 5, 1965

The Capuchins on Guam established most of the parishes on Guam, but Yigo stands out in a special way because that church may never had been called Our Lady of Lourdes had it not been for the Capuchins, and perhaps because of one in particular, Påle' Román María de Vera.



Påle' Román

The idea probably came about in 1919, because by early 1920, Påle' Román was already preparing a young Yigo lady named Isabel Torres Pérez to recite the novena in Chamorro which Påle' Román had written. Besides the novena, Påle' Román composed the hymn to her in Chamorro, using a Basque church melody, and taught it to a small group of young Yigo maidens, mostly sisters from the Pérez (Goyo) clan.

A very rudimentary chapel, made up of free materials from Guam's jungles, was built for the small numbers of people in Yigo at the time. As the years went on, the population grew, as Yigo was prime farming land.


The temporary chapel built in Yigo right after the war in 1945


THE SPANISH CAPUCHIN DEVOTION TO LOURDES

The Spanish Capuchins who worked on Guam since 1915 were from the Basque country, in the north of Spain near the French border. They were so close to France that devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes was something easily planted in the Basque country.


Lourdes (at top of map) is not very far from Spain

When the Capuchins began a presence in Manila, Philippines, they set up a shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes in their church in Intramuros, and, when that was destroyed in World War II, moved it to its present location in Quezon City where it has become a National Shrine.



The Lourdes Devotion in the Capuchin Church in Manila before the War

This connection with the Capuchin Church in Manila before World War II is important because Påle' Román first served in the Philippines long before he came to Guam.

A REMINDER

When I designed the new friary on Guam, built in 2007, I wanted to remind us all of our traditional Guam Capuchin link to the Basque Capuchins, Intramuros, Påle' Román and Our Lady of Lourdes. So I had this simple outdoor shrine made for Our Lady of Lourdes, across the Friary chapel.




People see this shrine and think of Our Lady of Lourdes, but there's more to this than that.

I pass by and think of all those things mentioned above.

SERENITY PRAYER IN CHAMORRO

Tuesday, February 10, 2015



The English version is well-known :

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.


NOTES

N å 'e yo' minahgong-ho . M å hgong means peace, tranquility, quiet. In Chamorro, when one asks God for this or that, the request is often expressed as "God give me my patience," or "my courage" and so on. M å hgong , by the way, is not the same as m å gong , which means the easing of pain or illness.

Minatatnga. From matatnga , meaning boldness, fearlessness, courage.

Tinemtom . From tomtom , or wise.

ANNAI LALÅLO' SI PÅLE' SKÅT UN BIÅHE

Monday, February 9, 2015

Monsignor Oscar Luján Calvo

Although he was honored with the title Monsignor, Chamorros back in the day always called him "Påle' Skåt."

The Skåt was short for Oscar, shortened and pronounced the Chamorro way which changes final R to T. Like kolot instead of Spanish color . Under American influence, Skåt is often spelled Scott, but that just confuses people, thinking his actual name was Scott.

Påle' Skåt started out as a priest with a reputation for avoiding controversy. This he did with the Japanese when the Imperial forces occupied Guam during the war, and it saved his head, which was good for the 20,000 Catholic Chamorros who needed him!

In due course, however, time would prove that Påle' Skåt was not afraid of confronting publicly what he thought was unjust. The earliest example is when he lead a protest against the writings of George Tweed, the U.S. Navy radioman who was sheltered by the Chamorros the entire time of the Japanese occupation.

Right after the war, Tweed wrote a book, with the help of a professional writer. In that book, he made statements about both Father Dueñas and Påle' Skåt that were highly offensive to Påle' Skåt and others. Returning to Guam after that book was published, Tweed was greeted by a demonstration in the Plaza de España in Hagåtña, with Påle' Skåt at the forefront. Tweed later retracted his statement about Father Dueñas (but not about Calvo), saying that his ghost writer embellished the story and that he (Tweed) relied on what others said too much.

THE PDN LANGUAGE POLICY

Around 1977 or 1978, Påle' Skåt was at the forefront of another protest, this time against the "English only" language policy of the Pacific Daily News.

Chamorro language advocates were offended. They felt that the PDN should honor the Chamorro language which is indigenous to the island. When they felt that the PDN was not open to their arguments, they scheduled a protest.




THE PROTEST

The morning of the protest, which I believe was on a Saturday, I stood on the periphery of a crowd of 40-60 people who gathered on the public sidewalk in front of the Academy of Our Lady of Guam, facing the tall PDN Building. Protesters sang Chamorro songs and gave speeches in English and Chamorro. Indistinguishable faces peered from behind blinds and curtains from the PDN Building, including perhaps management which worked on the 2nd floor.

But the dramatic scene was saved for Påle' Skåt who climbed (with assistance) the raised platform and began his speech, again in both languages. Quite unexpectedly, he raised a copy of the PDN and, if memory serves, said into the microphone, "Here's what we think of your newspaper," and I suppose someone else (Påle' Skåt was advanced in age and nearly blind) lit a flame to the newspaper and set in on fire.




THE AFTERMATH

Within a week or so of this protest, the PDN changed its policy. Things could be published in the PDN in languages other than English, as long as there was also an English version of the same.

I am not sure now what is the PDN language policy today. I know that Peter Onedera has a CHamoru column in the paper, with an English version of it available on-line.

Once in a blue moon I will see a paid ad or notice (like funeral announcements) entirely in Chamorro.



ETTON. NO, NOT THE ENGLISH SCHOOL ETON.

Thursday, February 5, 2015


Some of the streets in some of our villages are named after long-forgotten areas in the outskirts of the village. Take, for example, Etton Lane in Sinajaña.

Few residents of Sinajaña know that Etton is actually the name of an isolated area in between Sinajaña and Ordot. Legally Etton lies in Chalan Pago-Ordot Municipality. But, in olden times, the area was considered part of Sinajaña, which itself was legally part of the capital city of Agaña,

Here's a map showing the location of Etton, encircled :




At one time, though Etton had ranch houses, some of them growing coconuts, probably for the copra trade. Here is a Spanish-era land document showing the owner having land in Etton, spelled Erton by the Spanish. Just think of Terlaje, also a Spanish spelling, though in Chamorro we say tet-lahe .




The Spanish above, starting with the word "Segundo," means :

"Second : a piece of land, with coconut plantings, situated in Erton.


MEANING?

Now rests one final question. What does "etton" mean?

It's such an old word, no one uses it any more.

But it means "obstacle, hindrance." We have Påle' Román's Chamorro-Spanish dictionary to thank for that information.

Now why should that area be called "obstacle" or "hindrance?"

Who knows? It's in a heavily forested valley. Perhaps difficult to access and that's the reason for the name. Or maybe not. Our ancestors did not write down the reasons for what they did or why they named things the way they did.

HEARTBREAKING LETTER

Thursday, January 29, 2015


In 1912, the U.S. Naval Government of Guam decided to send island residents they deemed to have contracted Hansen's disease (usually called leprosy in those days) to an island in the Philippines called Culion, where facilities set up by the American Government in the Philippines would give them better care.



At first, conditions at Culion were horrible. But by 1922, with new administrators, Culion in time became one of the best, most well-equipped and modern treatment center in the world for patients suffering this malady. Culion took on the atmosphere of a normal town, with a band made up of patients entertaining the residents in a Spanish-style plaza on Saturday nights. There was also a church in Culion, cared for by Jesuit chaplains.



Chamorro patients in Culion
Antonio Unpingco Collection

But the Americans, who thought that Chamorros and Filipinos were similar enough to make for an easy transition, did not expect the tremendous emotional trauma the Chamorro patients underwent.

Even the Filipino patients suffered emotionally, unable to see loved ones and family. Patients from all the different provinces, many speaking only their own local language, were put together, increasing the sense of loss and unfamiliarity. Imagine what it felt like for the Chamorros if even the Filipinos felt they were in a strange land, an "Island of No Return," as they said of the place.

So in 1926, a group of Chamorro patients wrote this letter, in Chamorro, to the Governor of Guam, begging him to repatriate them. I will write it here in a more modern form of spelling.

Señor Maga'låhe :
( Sir Governor : )

I in sen gofli'e yan i in sen respeta na Gobietnon-måme giya Guam.
( Our very beloved and very respected Governor in Guam. )

Señor! In tatayuyut si Yu'us, yan man didimo ham gi me'nå-mo, man mangågågao ham mina'åse',
( Sir! We pray to God, and we kneel before you, asking mercy ,)

na un konne' ham guine na tåno'.
( that you take us away from this land .)

Sa' demasiao in padedese triniste yan minahålang pot i familian-måme ni esta åpmam na tiempo
( Because we suffer too much sadness and homesickness for our families which for a long time now )

na ti in li'e matan-ñiha yan i tano' lokkue' annai man mafañågo ham .
( that we haven't seen their faces, or the land where we were born .)

Ti siña in maleffanñaihon ha'åne yan puenge in guiguife ha' siempre.
( We cannot forget day and night we will surely dream of them .)

Ma'åse' Señor nu este na inigong-måmåme nu hågo,
( Have mercy Sir on this our sighing towards you, )

ya un na' li'e ham ta'lo ni tano'-måme åntes de in fan måtai.
( and make us see our land again before we die .)

Sa' tåya' nai mås maolek i taotao na i tano'-ña.
( Because a person is nowhere better than in his own land .)

Ginen in hingok, Señor, ma sångan na para in fan ma konne' guine, para ennao iya Ipao.
( We have heard it said, Sir, that we will be taken from here, to there in Ipao .)

Pues in desesea na dångkulo yan man mannanangga ham siempre giya hågo
( So we greatly desire and are waiting from you )

kao håfa disposision-mo ya in tingo' hame guine todos ni manåtanges.
( what are your orders and all of us who are weeping will know .)

Unfortunately, the Government never changed its mind. The Chamorro patients were never taken back to Guam and they died there in Culion. They were not given individual and identified graves. All that remains is a mass grave for all of them.



Culion as it appears in recent years



Culion's location in the Philippines

MALAIGLESIA : SEEKING REFUGE IN THE CHURCH

Monday, January 26, 2015


Under Spain, if you were being pursued by the law, or indeed by anyone, you had the right to run to the church and be protected from your pursuer, at least for a while.

Since the sanctuary of the church was considered holy and inviolate, the civil authorities could not enter it and arrest you.

But the priest couldn't let you off the hook for murder, for example. The right of church refuge was a way of protecting innocent people from rash judgments or mob justice. If the priest saw that you were probably guilty, he had to surrender you to the law, but by that time (hopefully), there was more evidence and calmer minds so that you could undergo the judicial process fairly.

But, if the priest saw that you were innocent, he could tell the civil authorities that you were exempt. Then you could be released from the sanctuary with the guarantee that you would not be held accountable for something you didn't do.

The Chamorros had a term for this running to the church for refuge : malaiglesia or alaiglesia .

In Spanish "a la iglesia" means "to the church."

"Ma la iglesia" is a Chamorro-Spanish construct meaning "to go to the church" for refuge.

Or, malaiglesia could come from malak (Chamorro for "to go to") and iglesia (church).

There is at least one documented case of malaiglesia on Guam.

It happened in 1860, to a Filipino resident of Guam whose last name was Custodio. He was apparently working for an English carpenter who was rather rough on him. Custodio claimed he was being physically abused by this man, so he stabbed the Englishman in the rear, causing two large gashes.

Realizing what he had done, Custodio ran to the church in Hag å t ñ a and hid behind the high altar.

The Spanish Governor stationed two guards at the church doors, in case Custodio exited. Meanwhile, negotiations began between the parish priest and the Governor. The end result was that the priest exonerated Custodio, since he was being physically abused by the man he stabbed.

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Friday, January 23, 2015

Yanggen oga'an hao na sinedda'
ti un tinaka' talo'åne;
hahasso yo' bonitan måta
yanggen håfa hao hu sangåne.

If in the morning you are found
you won't reach midday;
think of me, pretty face
if I tell you something.


This verse is open to more than one interpretation.

Remember that, being a strict Catholic society in those days, lovers had to speak in code all the time.

" You won't reach midday. " The lover, probably a male since it is unbecoming, in those days, for the female to be the pursuer, is telling his paramour that if he has the good fortune of seeing her in the morning, his love is so intent that it won't even be noontime when he does or says something.

" Think of me if I tell you something. " If he sees her in the morning, he will tell her something that he hopes she won't forget. Perhaps he will ask her to meet him somewhere, and hopefully it will take place before noontime.


BELEMBAUTUYAN

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Chamorro Studies staff learn about the belembautuyan
guampdn.com


The belembautuyan is considered a native musical instrument in the Marianas, but we can't be sure about its origins.

Not much documentation exists about it prior to World War II. We can't even be sure just how extensively used it was before the war.



After the war, a few people still played it. By the 1980s, Guam had just two men - Jesus Meno Crisostomo and Manuel Indalecio Quichocho - who were belembautuyan players. But Jesus, now deceased, did train Delores Taitano Quinata and the art is now being passed on by her to others.

The art involved is actually two skills : making the belembautuyan and then playing it.

The name of this instrument - a long wooden rod tied with string or wire - is actually a combination of two words.

Belembau is a Chamorro word meaning "to sway, to brandish, to totter, to wave, to swing." The general idea behind belembau is for something to move side to side.

Tuyan means the abdomen. This is because the gourd of the belembautuyan , which allows the vibration of the string or wire to be amplified, is placed on the tuyan of the player.

But we are torn between the theory that belembau is truly an indigenous term, and that it is a Chamorro version of the imported word berimbau .



Brazilian berimbau

Since Chamorros avoid the R and replace it with an L, one can see how it is possible that the berimbau of Brazil became the Chamorro belembau .

It's possible that the actual instrument came to the Marianas from abroad. When Chamorros were first introduced to it, they heard it being called a berimbau . In time, that was changed to belembau .

Chamorros then applied it to the harmonica, calling it the belembau p å chot , as opposed to the belembau tuyan .

Brazil and Guam seem too far apart for this connection to have happened. But one should remember that Guam was often visited by people from South America. Some of the first governors of the Marianas were actually from South America. Whalers of every race and color visited Guam in the early 1800s. Anything could have happened!

From the musical instrument, then, Chamorros could have applied the word belembau then to anything that swayed side to side.


Jesus Meno Crisostomo of Inal å han
Master Belembautuyan Player

How does the belembautuyan sound?

I once saw, when I was a kid in the 70s, Jesus Crisostomo riding on a parade float on Liberation Day, playing the belembautuyan .  Boing, boing, boing was the sound it made, but he could change the pitch, though there was not much variation in the sound it made, as far as I remember.

But, as you can hear from the video below of Quichocho playing the belembautuyan , it can actually give off a good array of sounds. Caution, however. The narrator's Chamorro pronunciation is not the best.

For more, go to

http://www.guampedia.com/belembaotuyan-2/

VIDEO LINKS

Manuel Quichocho playing the belembautuyan :

http://vimeo.com/6790671

Jesus Crisostomo and Manuel Quichocho show how to make a belembautuyan :

http://vimeo.com/6789125


AI SI ANTONIO

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

ANTONIO LUJÁN

There was a saying applied to the Chamorro men who left the Marianas to serve on the whaling ships, most of them not returning back to the islands. Mina'lak i chalan , hinemhom i gima '. These men often did so well wherever they went, they were the mina'lak i chalan (the brightness of the street). But one sometimes wondered why they weren't so stellar when they had been on the island. Here, in our islands, they were sometimes the hinemhom i gima ' (the darkness of the home).

The Chamorro seamen had the reputation of being good workers. Docile, obedient, dedicated. Settling in various parts of the world, some of them became managers, farmers, clerks, property owners.

But a few stayed in the dark ( hinemhom ).

Antonio Luján was sadly one of them.

Born around 1864 or 1866, he is said to have arrived in the U.S. in 1881 at age 17 or so. It seems he basically lived around the San Francisco Bay Area. He is described as a laborer and a wood chopper.


ANTONIO KILLS A FELLOW CHAMORRO IN MARIN COUNTY




Antonio's first brush with the law occurred in 1890.

On Sunday, August 24 of that year, Vicente Pangelinan and Antonio Luján were drinking with a woman at the Mailliard Ranch in San Gerónimo, California, about 8 miles distant from Novato. A newspaper account of the time says that both men had an interest in the lady.

Well, apparently, the drink got to at least Luján, who struck the woman. Pangelinan rose to her defense, and Luján stabbed Pangelinan in the abdomen with his pocket knife. Six inches deep. Pangelinan died as a result of this stabbing two days later, on Tuesday.



Realizing what he did, Luján fled. Inebriated and panicking, Luján didn't know what to do.  He went first to his cabin and changed clothes (perhaps there was blood on them). Then he wandered all over the rural areas in Marin County for weeks, sleeping in the woods. Several times he came upon people, but he avoided detection. It was hunger that finally brought him out of the woods. He had only been eating wild berries and whatever fruit he could steal whenever he found a chance. For three days he didn't eat much at all. Not knowing he had actually killed Pangelinan, he decided to turn himself in for stabbing the man.

He wandered into San Rafael and asked where the sheriff's office was. He went to the second floor and sat down. The District Attorney's office was on the second floor, and when District Attorney Angellotti saw Luján just hanging around, he asked Luján what his business was. Luján said he had been involved in a stabbing incident. Angellotti asked Luján his name, and when Luján gave it, Angellotti called the sheriff and had Luján arrested. It was then that Luján found out that Pangelinan died from his stabbing wounds. Luján said he remembered very little of the incident, and that he was very drunk at the time. Luján was so hungry in jail that guards had to feed him more than the usual fare. The police, who had been searching for Luján all this time, were told to call off the search.

In February of 1891, Luján was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to imprisonment for eight years. Here is his intake document at Folsom State Prison, just north of Sacramento. His last name is misspelled "Lujar," which would continue to be made in some documents and newspaper articles.





A SECOND CONVICTION



In 1898, Luján was charged a second time, this time for assault with a deadly weapon in San Mateo. He was sentenced to seven years, but was released early from San Quentin in 1903.

What became of Luján, I do not know. May he rest in peace. Let us pray for his troubled soul. Perhaps, before his death, he remembered to say the Act of Contrition his nåna taaught him to say.







Luján appears in the 1900 US Census as an inmate at San Quentin State Prison


A NOTE ABOUT CLERICAL ERRORS

The records about Antonio Luján are full of inconsistencies and errors.

But, we must keep in mind that, in the 1890s, few Americans ever heard of Guam, or the Marianas, or the Ladrones as they were still called by some. American clerks and reporters spelled names as it sounded to them, not having any background in names foreign to them. Many Chamorros went along with their misspelled names, or changed their names anyway to fit in more with their new surroundings. I wouldn't be surprised if Antonio called himself Anton just like everybody else was calling him.

Luján and Pangelinan are misidentified as Portuguese, in the first newspaper accounts of the stabbing in 1891.

The victim is first called Vicente, but then in subsequent reports he is called by numerous variations : Anselta, Enneseto and Ansanetta among them. The last ones, Enneseto and Ansanetta, suggests Aniceto. So, "Vicente" could have been something else, but I'll stick with Vicente as the first name reported.

Vicente's last name was spelled in many ways. Pankalina. Pangalini, Pangalian. All of which suggest Pangelinan, which I am confident was his surname.

GRANDMA'S TEXTBOOK

Friday, January 16, 2015


The Spaniards ran schools in the Marianas. The first and the best was founded by Sanvitores in Hagåtña, the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán. "Colegio" did not mean "college" in the American sense - a school of higher learning beyond high school. In Spain, then as well as now, "colegio" meant a secondary school, the level after primary or elementary education.

Education was free, but limited. It was meant to groom leaders among the Chamorros. Primarily men who would be Catholic and obedient to the Spanish government. The Jesuits, who started schools in the Marianas, also trained the select students at the Colegio in music, farming and other skills.

Thus, even in Hagåtña, an education was given mainly to the most promising youth. Hundreds more children did not go to school. It was believed, even up to American times, that youngsters who would eventually become farmers and fishermen wouldn't need a western education except in how to write their names and (for the Spanish) in the catechism. Even the catechism was as basic as can be, and most often passed down orally and retained by memory, not by books.

But, what books did the select students actually use?

In the records of the 1800s, the most prominent book mentioned was the catón .

The catón was a primer, the fundamental and basic reading book first given to little children to use in school.

Although the catón I am using in this post as an illustration was printed in 1919, it would have been very similar in content to the catón used in the Marianas in the late 1800s.

The language of the catón was Spanish. This is how the brightest children would learn to speak basic Spanish. Some Chamorros learned excellent Spanish, as well.




As you can see, the catón taught the alphabet and basic readings skills; on this page, how to pronounce syllables. Some of these Spanish words would have been easily recognizable to the students, as these had been passed over into the Chamorro spoken at home. Dåño for "wound," såla for "hall" or "large room," siya for "chair," tåsa for "cup," båla " for "bullet" are just some of the many Spanish loan words in the text above that entered Chamorro speech. Of course, when necessary, we changed the Spanish pronunciation to our own and used Spanish words according to our grammatical rules.




The catón would also cover basic math skills; adding, subtracting and multiplying. Above we see an additions table.




The catón was also a kind of catch-all book. It included whatever the educators thought would be necessary for the fundamental formation of the child on all levels, including the moral and the religious. On this page, we see the Roman numerals as well as proverbs and refrains meant to enlighten the child in moral lessons about general life.  One such proverb above says, "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom." And, "He who wants it all, loses it all."




Under Spain, at the time, religion was not separate from education. So, the catón also included, if not emphasized heavily, the Catholic religion. Religion is spread throughout the catón , no matter the subject. On this page, we see the enemies of the soul (the world, the devil and the flesh); the theological virtues (faith, hope and charity); the four cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance) but also the five corporal senses (to see, hear, smell, taste and touch)! All older Chamorros know from memory that the three enemies of the soul are : i tano', i anite yan i sensen .

On other pages of the catón , there are the Ten Commandments, the Seven Sacraments, a guide how to hear Mass in Latin and many other religious teachings.




Agueda Johnston, Guam's foremost educator under the early American administration first went to school under the Spanish system, more than likely using a catón .  In one of her written recollections, she complains how limited and rudimentary her schooling during Spanish times was. She said, words to the effect, that it was too basic and then became repetitive.  Agueda was meant for much more in life than just the basics.

CHAMORROS ON PAKIN ATOLL

Monday, January 12, 2015

Pakin Atoll, Pohnpei


Pakin Atoll lies northwest of Pohnpei.

During the Japanese administration of Micronesia, government policy was to isolate islanders suffering from Hansen's Disease (leprosy) on remote atolls. Pakin was one of them.

At least three Chamorros were sent by the Japanese to Pakin before World War II.

One was from Luta (Rota), named Jesus . His last name was not recorded.

The two others were from Saipan. Jose de los Santos and Maria de los Santos . Their relationship is not documented. They could be spouses, siblings, cousins or have no close relationship at all.

After the war, Pakin was no longer used for this purpose. The final outcome of these three Chamorros on Pakin is something I have yet to discover. After World War II, Tinian was used as the site of a facility for patients of Hansen's Disease from all over Micronesia, including Chamorros. It's possible these three were sent there.


ALLÁ EN EL RANCHO GRANDE...CHAMORRO STYLE

Friday, January 9, 2015


Today, one finds many people wanting to strip the Chamorro language of any foreign influence.

Interestingly, this is a new attitude, and individuals are certainly free to have it. I wonder where it comes from. It certainly doesn't come from our mañaina , who borrowed left and right!

They borrowed musical tunes as well as vocabulary, without feeling that they were any less Chamorro for doing so.

Take, for example, the Mexican folk song, "All á en el rancho grande."  The tune is borrowed and, in this Chamorro version, English words are incorporated to make for a humorous song.

The chorus remains the same, in Spanish :

All á en el rancho grande, all á donde viv í a;
hab í a una rancherita, que alegre me dec í a, que alegre me dec í a.

Then the Chamorro verses go :

Bai fa'tin å se hao lancho-mo, l å nchon lanchero;
bai fa'tin å se hao dega-mo, degan kuero.
( I will make for you a ranch, a rancher's ranch;
I will make for you slippers, leather slippers .)

All á en el rancho grande.....

Bai fa'tin å se hao talay å -mo, tal å yan "wire;"
bai fa'tin å se hao karetå-mo, hum å h å nao sin "tire."
( I will make for you a net, a wire net;
I will make for you a car, which runs without tires .)

OLD CHAMORRO SIGNATURES

Thursday, January 8, 2015


In Spanish times, Chamorros were not used to writing their names. They had little need to. They were farmers and fishermen and paper work was few and far between.

In fact, many Chamorros couldn't write their names. Those who couldn't would mark an X or a + where their name would be written by a clerk on a document.

The first American Naval Governor of Guam, Richard Leary, didn't like this. So, he issued General Order No. 13, dated January 23, 1900, instructing all adults on the island to learn to sign their names by July 1st of that year.

This list above of signatures by island residents was drawn up in the 1920s. Some of them may have been young adults born during the American administration, but some more than likely were older and born under the Spanish flag.

In those days, people were less concerned about uniformity. Take Pangelinan, for example. The first Pangelinan spells it clearly with an E, the second Pangelinan could be spelling it with an I. It's not so clear which.

Garrido is a Spanish surname and is spelled with two R's, but Manuel is happy with just one R. It wouldn't have bothered anyone at the time. If a clerk preferred two R's, he'd have listed Manuel as Garrido and not Garido, and Manuel wouldn't have cared either.

Joaquin Rivera had some trouble writing. He spells it Joaqien, and adds a second R at the end. We know his last name today as Rivera, which is how Spaniards spell it. But, V and B sound the same in Chamorro (and Spanish) so many spelled it with a B in those days.

Spanish influence is very clear here, even 21 years after the Spaniards left. It is seen in the style and form of the letters, and in the name Atoigue. The last Atoigue, Vicente, adds two dots above his U. Atoigüe. This is because, in Spanish, GUE or GUI will not make the GWE or GWI sound unless there are two dots above the U. Without those two dots, GUE sounds like GE, like Guerrero; and GUI sounds like GI as in Aguigui.

You will also notice a family name we don't hear about today. Julian Cabo. In the 1897 Census, there is a Cabo family on Guam. The father, Leoncio, is probably Filipino or some other non-native. But he married a Chamorro, Manuela Guerrero Due ñas. They had a good number of children - five, including Julian. Four of those five were boys, so it's interesting that there are no more Cabos on island, at least descendants of Leoncio.


FAMILIA : ANGOCO

Tuesday, January 6, 2015


If you are an Angoco, you have the good fortune of coming from a small family, which means you can be very sure of your lineage at least as far back as the mid 1800s.

It's an indigenous name, based on a Chamorro word : angokko .

Angokko means "to depend on, rely on, trust."

The family comes from Aniguak, which, in the 1700s, was overwhelmingly populated by the more purely Chamorro, while Hag å tna was peopled by the Spanish, Latin American and Filipino soldiers who intermarried with Chamorros.

Presiding over the Aniguak Angocos in 1897 was one Joaquin Angoco, married to Susana Taitano (another indigenous name). Listed with them are over a dozen single adults, young adults, teens and children. It is possible that the older ones are their children, and the younger ones their grandchildren.

Living apart from them is a Don Pedro Angoco, who is identified in government documents around the same time as Pedro Taitano Angoco. Thus it seems pretty clear that Pedro is the son of Joaquin and Susana. The "Don" means that Pedro served once as a municipal official, probably the head ( cabeza ) of the barangay (district) of Aniguak at one time.

But there is also a Dimas Angoco, a little younger than Pedro, and his middle name is Cruz. He is the son of Francisco Angoco and Nieves Cruz (apparently both deceased by 1897). It's possible that Pedro and Dimas are brothers. Not sure. Dimas also lives in Aniguak, apart from Joaquin and Pedro.

So, the Guam Angocos seem to come from two possible origins. A Joaquin and a Francisco.

At one time, there was a Manuel Angoco. He seems to have moved to Luta (Rota) in the mid or late 1800s where he married an Ayuyu. He is the ancestor of the Luta Angocos. His relation to the other Angocos is currently unknown, but there must be a connection as the entire clan seems to be small and limited to Aniguak.


HÅGAT : CAPITAL OF THE MARIANAS?

Friday, January 2, 2015



Yes....if the wishes of a few Spanish governors had been granted.

The idea of transferring the capital of the Marianas to H ågat was put in more than one report written by the Spanish governor to his superiors in Manila.

Remember that Guam was not politically separate, as it is now, from the rest of the Marianas. Until 1898, all the Marianas were one political unit.

Don't forget, either, that Hag åt ñ a was overshadowed at times by Hum åtak, where the Spanish governor would often reside. The fact is that the disadvantages of Hag åt ñ a, and the advantages of other places, sometimes meant that the official capital city of the Marianas was in question.

What were these disadvantages and advantages?



DISADVANTAGES OF HAG Å T Ñ A



1. Lack of Anchorage

Hag å t ñ a is bordered by a coral reef that acts like a wall or barrier. Ships could anchor outside Hag å t ñ a in the deep, but to get from the ship to the shore, passengers would have to get in small boats and take their chances going through small breaks in the reef.

It is for this reason that Hum å tak became such a desirable place for the Governor, who controlled the importation of goods. Ships could more easily anchor in Hum å tak Bay without a reef to deal with. Later, Apra Harbor became the port of choice. From Sumay, the town which developed at Apra, it was a short ride to H å gat.

2. Lack of Good Drinking Water

Although a small river ran through Hag å t ñ a, beginning at its source in the ci é nega or swamp to the east of the city, people did not drink from it. The water was cloudy and brackish so they used it for washing and bathing instead.

For drinking water, people in Hag å t ñ a dug wells on their property. But the soil is chalky, and the water, though drinkable, was not pleasant enough for the Europeans and perhaps even some Chamorros. Those who would not drink the water from the Hag å t ñ a wells would have water from the Asan River hauled over to the city. This took time and, for some, money.



ADVANTAGES OF H Å GAT



1. Port at Apra

As mentioned, some thought that by moving the capital to H å gat , it wouldn't be that much of a distance from Hågat to the port at Apra where ships were anchoring. The road between H å gat and Sumay was easily traveled by carriage.

2. Abundant, Good Water

The mountains behind H å gat produced good streams and rivers which could easily provide a new capital city with drinking water.

Although not stated, as far as I know, in Spanish reports, I believe another factor that made H å gat more desirable than Hag å t ñ a was its spacious landscape compared to Hag å t ñ a . Hag å t ñ a was hemmed in by the reefed shoreline in front and by the sheer cliffs that rise behind the capital city, where Agana Heights is now located.  The disatnce beteen the cliffs and the beach in Hagåtña sometimes leaves the tightest of spaces to build.

H å gat, on the other hand, had a broader space, from the beach slowly rising into the highlands behind it. This would allow for the expansion of houses. Hag å t ñ a , in contrast, was growing ever more crowded due to space limitations.




HAG Å T Ñ A

hemmed in by both reef (north) and cliffs (south)





HÅGAT

more spacious and well-watered

If Governors Francisco Villalobos (1831-1837) and Francisco Olive (1884-1887) had their way, H å gat would have become the capital of the Marianas.

But it was not to be.

Spanish inattention of the Marianas doomed such a large project from the beginning. A great deal of effort, and some money, would need to be spent in order to transfer the government to H å gat from Hag å t ñ a .

Some factors also favored the retention of Hag å t ñ a as capital of the Marianas.

First, the majority of Hag å t ñ a 's population would have stayed there, rather than move to H å gat . This majority had their interests in northern lands, where their farms, and livelihood were located. Some Hag å t ñ a families owned land in and around H å gat , but most had their lands up north. That would have kept them tied to Hag å t ñ a and closer to the farms they tilled so they could eat .

Secondly, the Church would more than likely have remained headquartered in Hag å t ñ a , sanctified, as it were, by the spirit of Sanvitores, who chose Hag å t ñ a as his center of activities and his residence. If ordered by the government to make H å gat the seat of the mission, the missionaries could be expected to put up a fight against such an order.

H å gat was not the only place proposed as a possible new site for the islands' capital. In the end, none of the suggested villages ever replaced Hag å t ñ a .

KOSTUMBREN ÅÑO NUEBO

Wednesday, December 31, 2014


Different cultures view New Year's Day differently, and so customs differ throughout the world concerning the first day of the New Year.

Some cultures consider New Year's a time to ward off evil and encourage good fortune for the coming year. So fireworks, for them, chase away the bad and 12 (some say 13) round fruits on the dinner table on New Year's means 12 months of good fortune, all year round; the 13th for some people means even extra fortune.

Others, like Americans, regard New Year's as a time to begin anew. So, they make New Year's resolutions.

Chamorros, in the past, didn't seem that preoccupied about the coming year's fortunes, good or bad. Perhaps this is due to the average Chamorro's consistent pattern of having the basic necessities of life. There were few luxuries for most, but almost all had a roof over their head, land to till and the sea to fish in.

The attitudes Chamorros had about New Year's in the days before Americanization can be broken down into three main categories. Remember that not every Chamorro family had the same regard for New Year's and not everyone practiced these customs.


A TIME TO PUT SOME THINGS TO AN END

For some, New Years was the time to bury the hatchet. Or machete. To forget about past wrongs, end a family fight, or grievance with a neighbor or whomever. Two people who may not have spoken to each other due to a quarrel might start to speak to each other once again on New Year's or thereabouts.

CLEAN THE HOUSE

Some families observed the custom of really giving the house a clean sweep. This was done a day or two before January 1, not on New Year's Day itself. Everything in the house, and sometimes around the house, was given a good cleaning. Perhaps some old and useless things were disposed of. The New Year was started, this way, with everything clean and in order.

NEW CLOTHES

Another custom, for some, was to wear nothing but new clothes and new shoes on New Year's. Again, it was the idea of starting the new year using nothing but new things. But, as one lady said, this was not a widespread custom before the war, because, before the war, " Puro ha' mamopble ." "We were all poor."

ON SAIPAN - REMEMBERING THE YEAR'S DEAD

The Germans have many interesting New Year's customs. In some parts of that country, a spoon full of melted lead is dropped in cold water and the resulting shape is supposed to give a clue as to the coming year.

The German Capuchins were in charge of the Catholic mission in Saipan and Tinian from 1907 to 1919. They used some German melodies to compose new hymns in Chamorro. These songs were not sung on Guam; only in Saipan and then Rota.

One of these songs, "Ta fan magof todos," is sung for the new year. It includes the lines :

Jesus Yu'us-m å me / gi nuebo na s å kkan
gai'ase' nu hame / ap å tta i da ñ o.
N å 'e nu i desk å nso / i man gaige esta gi naftan
yan gu å ha sea k å so m å tai na s å kkan.

"Jesus, our God / in the new year
have mercy on us / remove what is harmful.
Give rest / to those already in the grave
and on those who may die this year."


In time, this idea of thinking of the dead developed into remembering the dead of the past year. In recent years (the last 20 or 30), this developed further into the practice of lighting candles in Mass, and presenting them to the altar or sanctuary, one candle for each deceased in the past year, at the New Year's Mass. This custom (and the song) also traveled south to Guam where it became the practice in some parishes.

NOT A BIG DEAL

In many families in the old days, New Year's was not celebrated with any special attention. Yes, it was the New Year, but so? Life was very different back then. A new year meant another year of pretty much the same thing; farming and fishing.

If any meaning was given to January 1 in those days it was a spiritual, or religious, commemoration.

For centuries, January 1 was, for Catholics, the feast of the Circumcision of the Lord, since Old Testament Law ordered that Jewish baby boys be circumcised on the 8th day after birth. Since the Lord's birth was observed on December 25, His circumcision would be observed on January 1. The feast of the Lord's Circumcision meant several things. First, it showed how Mary, Joseph and the Child Jesus obeyed the Old Testament Law. Second, on the 8th day, baby boys received their names. Our Lord's name, Jesus, means "God saves" and is indicative of His mission and identity. Third, when the Child Jesus was circumcised, He shed His first blood for our salvation. The fact that this feast fell on the first day of new civil year was secondary.

In 1960, Pope John XXIII changed the title of the Church feast of January 1 from the Circumcision of the Lord to "Octave of the Nativity," "octave" meaning "eighth day." The prayers of the Mass of that day still referred to the circumcision of the Lord. In 1969, the general reform of the Church Calendar shifted the observance to Mary, the Mother of God, though the current Gospel for that day does make reference to the circumcision of Jesus.

So Chamorro Catholics from the time of Sanvitores up to the changes in the Church calendar observed January 1 as a religious feast of the Circumcision, and thereafter the feast of Mary, the Mother of God. The change of a new secular, or civil, year was not seen as a religiously significant thing.

Now, of course, New Year's in the Marianas is often accompanied by fire crackers, gun shots and resolutions, under influences from abroad. Modern attitudes about hoping for a better new year, in terms of money, health and other things, have come into people's minds. But, under several centuries of Spanish influence, many Chamorros in older times did not give January 1 tremendous attention and not many customs developed except for the ones described above. January 6th, in fact, was more celebrated by Chamorros than January 1st.




THE STORY OF PALÅYE ROCK

Tuesday, December 30, 2014


To most modern people, the rock on the left, off the shore of H å gat, looks like Aladdin's slipper or maybe a genie's lamp.

But to our ancestors, who had no idea who Aladdin was, the rock reminded them of a canoe.

A very old story is told about these two rocks came about.

Many centuries ago, before the time of the Spaniards, some Chamorro men in H å gat agreed to go out to sea to catch fish. They took with them fruits and the bark of the puting tree, which is narcotic, to use to catch fish.

The tide would soon go out and the fishermen needed to tie their nets to the breaks in the reef in order to catch the fish swimming out with the tide. In their haste, they chose a canoe that was leaky. As they rowed out, the boat began to leak. As they paddled back to land, they began to throw their things out of the boat so as to return to land faster. But the canoe was just leaking too much and they abandoned it to swim to shore.

When they looked back, they saw that the canoe had changed to a rock, which they called Pal å ye. The things they threw out of the canoe, such as the nets, the bark and fruits, formed a second rock.

Since then, Pal å ye Rock served the fishermen of H å gat by making loud noises as sea water rushed through holes in the rock, just as the canoe from which it was made had leaking holes. These loud noises warn the fishermen that big waves are on their way.

The other rock, formed by the nets, bark and fruit, has some vegetation. But on Pal å ye, made from a canoe, no plants grow. At least, as the story goes. But recently some vegetation has spring up on Pal å ye. Still, compared to the growth found on the rock on the right, one can see why that's how the story goes. I do remember seeing Pal å ye Rock completely barren of plants.


NOTE

The puting tree is known, in English, as the fish-killer tree and as the barringtonia asiatica among scientists. Its poison stupefies fish, making them easy to catch in their dazed state.


ANTI-JAPANESE SENTIMENT IN PRE-WAR GUAM

Monday, December 29, 2014


Mr. Kaneaki Sawada, a Japanese merchant, was living a comfortable life on Guam since around 1908. Though a long-time Guam resident, he never fully entered into local society besides selling his wares and having friendly business relations with other merchants. His wife, Nao, was Japanese. Unlike other Japanese men who became Catholic because they married Chamorro women, he and his family did not convert.

Sawada took a trip to his native country, specifically to Tokyo, in March of 1933. This was less than a month after Japan withdrew completely from the League of Nations, which pointed to Japan as the cause of the problems in Manchuria. Japan's growing isolation from world diplomacy created in many the impression that Japan were the "bad boys" of the global scene.

On Guam, Sawada said, this negative feeling towards Japanese could be felt. Sawada's comments were reported in more than one Japanese newspaper. He said there was a desire on the part of some on Guam to drive the Japanese out, at least those who had not married into local society. In fact, seven such Japanese males left Guam permanently that March.

The Japanese on Guam, numbering around forty persons, worked as merchants, tailors, barbers, fishermen, carpenters, blacksmiths, cooks and farmers, making more money than Chamorros doing the same work. This, also, did not help Japanese-Chamorro relations.

The interesting thing, Sawada said, was that some of the children of these Japanese, being half Chamorro, supported the idea of forcibly repatriating some of the Japanese residents of Guam.

Sawada did not live long enough to see the ultimate result of Japan's diplomatic divorce from the rest of the world. He died before World War II began. His widow, Nao, lived long enough to gloat when the Japanese flag flew over Guam, and she made life difficult for some locals during the war. Mysteriously, she disappeared when the Americans invaded Guam.

CHAMORRON YAP : AQUININGOC

Friday, December 26, 2014

Headstone at Tinian's Catholic Cemetery


Ignacio Arceo and Manuel San Nicolas Aquiningoc were Chamorros who moved to Yap sometime around or before 1920.

The Japanese were running all of Micronesia by then, except for Guam.

Ignacio was born in Agat, Guam, the son of Joaquin and Vicenta Arceo Aquiningoc. He first married a Welsh-Chamorro woman with the last name Lewis. She was the daughter of Evan Lewis, a Welshman from England, who went from island to island doing a variety of work, till he settled in Yap and married a Chamorro woman with the last name Cruz.

Ignacio had a good number of children, born in Yap. Living for twenty or more years in Yap, I am sure that Ignacio, as head of the household, was able to speak some Japanese and maybe even some Yapese. Manuela, minding more domestic duties, probably had less interaction with the Japanese and Yapese but could still have learned something of those languages.

The children, especially the older ones, would have had more exposure to the Japanese and Yapese languages. The couple continued to have children right into the war. Those younger ones would have been still very young when the family, as well as all the Yap Chamorros, were forcibly moved off of Yap by the U.S. government at the request of the Yapese.

Like most of the Yap Chamorros, the Aquiningocs moved to Tinian after the war, where there was plenty of good land and no native population to cultivate it.

LINANGITAN NIÑO

Wednesday, December 24, 2014



This carol includes some Chamorro words using older and forgotten meanings. Please read the notes below for an explanation.

Linangitan Ni ñ o, boi hu faisen hao :
h å ye u tane'-ho, yanggen triste hao?
( Heavenly Child, I will ask you :
who will cheer me up, if you are sad? )

Misen i lago'-mo pinedongguan hao
annai si Maria mina' onno' hao;
ayo ha' i Bithen sinang å ne hao
"h å ye u tane'-ho yanggen triste hao?"
( Many tears fell from your eyes
when Mary wrapped you up;
the Virgin only said to you
"who will cheer me up, if you are sad?" )

Meggai na pastores fumatoigue hao
para un ma nginge', hulon i taotao;
ilek- ñ iha a'gang yan ma li'e hao
"h å ye u tane'-ho yanggen triste hao?"
( Many shepherds came to you
to kiss you, Lord of the people:
loudly they say when they see you
"who will cheer me up, if you are sad?" )

NOTES

1. The intent of this sentimental song is to cheer up the Baby Jesus, who comes into this world of suffering sharing in our sad condition. The Baby is not born in comfort. He is born in a cave or stable, among animals, as there is no room in the inn. Mary and Saint Joseph are not in their home town. They are far from home and its usual comforts, yet Mary has to give birth in these conditions. In time, the Infant will be hunted down by King Herod to be killed. So, Our Lady and the others try to cheer Him up by asking, "If you are sad, who will make us happy?" Then the Baby Jesus will remember that He has to be happy, because He is the joy of His mother and the whole human race. This carol is sentimental, and not strictly theological.

2. P å le' Roman, the composer of the Chamorro lyrics, used the word t å ne' to bring across this idea. In the older, original meaning, t å ne' is anything that occupies your time. It is the opposite of idleness, boredom or inactivity. Thus, it can take on multiple meanings. If someone or something delays you, it is taking up your time, so t å ne' can mean a delay or a distraction. But something entertaining also takes up your time in a happy way, so t å ne' can mean entertainment or fun. When you see someone bored, which is usually something that drags us down, you can say, " Espia h å fa para tane'- ñ a ." "Look for something to occupy his time," which implies making him happy and no longer bored.

3. P å le' Roman also uses the older form boi , from the Spanish voy , which means "I go." It was adopted by the Chamorros to express a future action. " Boi hu k å nta ," "I go to sing," or "I will sing." But Chamorros really don't favor the OI sound and change it to AI. So Jimmy Dee sings the modern and usual version of the word, bai .

4. Hulon is not a word usually used nowadays. It has the general meaning of a leader or official, like a judge, or head of a community or family.

5. Pinedongguan means "to fall on its own," meaning not something deliberately thrown down. The Chamorro words do not specifically say the tears fell from His eyes, but I translated it that way because it's implied and it sounds nicer that way.


THE ORIGINAL

Påle' Román, a Spanish Capuchin, was Basque. The Basques have their own language and customs. He relied a lot on another Spanish Basque Capuchin, Father José Antonio de Donostia, a composer, for songs to translate into Chamorro. Linangitan Niño was one of them.

SOME CHURCH DATA FROM SAIPAN IN 1933

Monday, December 22, 2014


Father José Tardio, the Jesuit missionary in Saipan (pictured above in black), kept up a regular correspondence with his fellow Spanish missionaries on Guam.

In January of 1933, he wrote to a Spanish Capuchin on Guam to wish him a Happy New Year, to send him some extra calendars and to share some information about the religious condition of the Saipanese, both Chamorro and Carolinian.

Here's what he says. This is my translation of the Spanish original :

"Over here, everything goes as normal. This year has been one of blessings in terms of the deaths among the natives. Only 85 have died during the year. Among them, 80 were completely prepared and five deaths were doubtful. Three were lost at sea and could not receive the sacraments. Two were given the Last Rites at the last hour under condition; both were drunkards and were somewhat sluggish when they called on the priest. Baptisms were 151; confirmations 181; marriages 36; 25,846 confessions heard by me; 66,007 communions distributed.  Thanks be to God, faith and piety reign among the majority of these faithful."

An explanation is in order concerning his information on the deaths.

Traditional Catholicism is very concerned about a person's spiritual state at death since, the very worst can repent and the very best can lose faith, up to the last moment of one's life. So, spiritually preparing for death was a great concern.

Priests tried their very best to assist the dying with the sacraments. To die without the consolation of the Last Rites was something to avoid. Thus, Father Tardio speaks about 80 out of 85 deaths that were "complete," meaning "completely prepared." These 80 dying people had the Last Rites. The three lost at sea obviously could not be reached by a priest.

The two drunkards (Father Tardio actually uses the Chamorro word bulachero ) were given the Last Rites under condition because of the sluggish state they were in when they called the priest. Not being in full awareness or consciousness, or in full grasp of their free will, there is some uncertainty about their true spiritual condition. Still, they were anointed, presuming that, had they been completely sober, they would have sincerely wanted to repent and make their peace with God.

Father Tardio closes by saying how faith and piety reign on Saipan among the majority. This was certainly the reputation of Saipan's Chamorros. Even after the war, when the American Capuchins came in to take over the work, they remarked how devoutly Catholic the majority of Saipanese were.

One statistic alone makes this clear. If one priest (Tardio) heard 25,846 confessions in one year, or 365 days, that means he heard, on average, 70 confessions a day. Of course, right before Easter or Christmas there would have been many more than 70 confessions those days, and less on other days throughout the year. But that is quite a number, compared to today.

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Friday, December 19, 2014


Yanggen chumocho g å mson i ga'l å go, siempre nina' dåkngas.

( If a dog eats octopus, it will lose its hair. )


Ilek-ña i amko', "Ti debe de u chochocho sa' måppla' siempre i pilu-ña." " It shouldn't eat it because its hair will fall out"

I heard this when I was a kid.

Not that I have ever seen it. Fifty years and I have not once seen anyone offer octopus to a dog.

So I asked the elder, " Lao håftaimano i ga'lågo para u fañodda' gåmson para na'-ña? " "How would a dog find an octopus for food?"

"Yanggen mañochocho gåmson i familia ya guaha sopbla, siña ha' nina' chocho gue' nu i gamson." "If the family is eating octopus and there are leftovers, the family might make the dog eat the octopus."

Neither is there, as far as I can find out, any scientific basis for the folk belief.

The only caveat I read about is to avoid the toxic blue-ringed octopus. Its venom is powerful enough to kill humans.



"Don't eat me! I'm poisonous!"


But I'd never myself offer a dog even a regular octopus. Just in case.

This seems to be more than just a Chamorro concern, as the link below will show. Others have also asked the question if eating octopus will make a dog lose its hair.

http://www.justanswer.com/veterinary/63hg4-will-eating-octopus-affect-dog.html




ILEK-ÑA SI PÅLE'

Wednesday, December 17, 2014


Sermon from the 1950s

Komo påle'-miyo, guaha obligasion-ho na hu na' fanmanhasso hamyo pot i moråt na obligasion-miyo yanggen manmanbota hamyo.
(As your priest, I have an obligation to bring to your mind your moral obligation if you are voters.) (1)

Nesesita en bota ayo na petsona i en pepe'lo gi korason-miyo na guiya i mås maolek para ayo na ofisio.
( You must vote for that person whom you consider in your hearts to be the best person for that position.)

Yanggen manbota hao ha' sin fotmalidåt pat yanggen on bota håye na taotao ni taigue gi korason-mo na guiya i mås maolek na taotao para ayo na ofisio, siempre on komete un isao kontra i tininas.
(If you vote without seriousness or if you vote for someone who isn't in your heart as the best one for that position, you surely commit a sin against justice.)

I obligasion para manbota, un serioso na obligasion.
(The obligation to vote is a serious obligation.)

Petmitido hao manbota sa' guaha libettåt-mo.
(You are permitted to vote because you have freedom.)

Fanhasso maolek åntes de on fa'tinas i botu-mo.
(Think well before you make your vote.)

Faisen maisa hao : Håye siha i mås man maolek na lalåhe (2) para u ha ma'gåse (3) i sengsong-ho (4).
( Ask yourself : Who are the best men to lead my community.)

Nesesita hågo mismo on fa'tinas i desision-mo.
(You yourself must make your decision.)

Gågao si Yu'us ya on inayuda fuma'tinas i dinanche na desision.
(Ask God to help you make the right decision.)

NOTES

1. This line strays from a literal translation. The Chamorro literally says "to make you think" and also "if you vote." But I have given a dynamic translation to give more of the sense intended.

2. Lalåhe = men. This sentence dates this sermon to the days when it was assumed that only males were political candidates.

3. Ma'gåse = to be superior, the head. Må'gas can mean the superior or great.

4. Songsong = town, village or community.

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO'

Tuesday, December 16, 2014


Nuebo na rai, nuebo na lai.

A new king, a new law.


I've heard this said only by one person, in his mid or late 80s, and that was ten or more years ago.

Am sure he learned it as a kid, so perhaps in the 1930s.

The idea is that it's a whole new ball game whenever a new guy takes over.

This was especially true when Guam and the Marianas were truly ruled more by man and less by rule.

Both Spanish and American military governors had wide powers. On paper, there were limits and these were observed to an extent. But some governors exceeded them and got away with it many times.

To be accurate, even some Spanish governors were denounced (fairly or otherwise) and had to appear before higher authority. Some American Naval governors also faced fire from the public and were then scrutinized by Washington.

Because of this, I am sure our mañaina certainly related to the proverb : Nuebo na rai, nuebo na lai . One didn't know what to expect with each new governor.

Even today, when we say we are under a government of laws, not men, each ruler's personal likes and dislikes, style and emphasis color his or her administration and affect people's lives to some extent.


A CHAMORRO BOXER IN HAWAII

Monday, December 15, 2014


Chamorros in Hawaii were not as low-profile as one might imagine a hundred years ago.

For example, a Chamorro from Guam named Joe (born Jose) Castro was a bit of a boxing celebrity in Hawaii at one time.

We don't know who he was, other than that he was originally from Guam. In fact, he billed himself as the "Guam Wonder" in the ring. Castro didn't box just in Hawaii. In the early 1900s, he was in Stockton, California, and did so well he was able to come back to Hawaii with money in his pocket.

He had a bit of bad luck, though, in the Aloha State.

His wife sent a small boy to a Chinese eatery to buy ten cent's worth of poi. But the missus didn't give the boy the necessary dime, and the Chinese owner wouldn't part with his poi.

Mrs. Castro then went personally to see the Chinese owner, and a verbal exchange took place. That's when The Guam Wonder came in and used his boxer's fists to do the talking. He, and his wife, were arrested. Eventually, both the Chinese owner and Castro coughed up the money to pay the court fees and end the case.

Turned out to be very expensive poi.




POI
( made from taro )

FINO' GUAM, FINO' SAIPAN

Thursday, December 4, 2014


Well, before Charmin came along, what DID our ma ñ aina use?

Some say this....



....or whatever leaf (non-irritating) was handy.

I am old enough to remember we often used this, especially in the outhouses :




But when actual toilet paper became commercially available, Guam and Saipan (and Luta) diverged because, when that time came, we were under two different colonial powers.

On American Guam, our people decided to forego trying to pronounce the English "toilet paper" and coined the Chamorro phrase " p å ppet etgue ," which literally means "paper for wiping."  Not just wiping, as in wiping anything. But I don't want to get more specific. You get the idea.

While on Japanese Saipan and Luta (modern Tinian had no Chamorro community before WW2), the Chamorros borrowed the Japanese word for tissue chirigami .

The Japanese word chirigami comes from two words. Kami means "paper" (it also means "god"). Chiri means "dust" or also "rubbish."  Rubbish paper. The word did not only mean "toilet paper." Inexpensive wrapping paper was also called chirigami .  Or, chirigami could also mean a coarse, rough kind of paper. In fact, today in Japan, many people no longer call toilet paper chirigami . Many call it tisshu (tissue) or even toiretto pepa (toilet paper).  But, just as it happens in other places, Saipan and Luta preserve an old usage less employed in the original country!

On Guam, as well, there is a standard joke that we use "paper toilet" in the restroom.

Whatever you call it, make sure you know your Guam term, and your Saipan/Luta (and now Tinian) term, so you get what you need when you're in a jam.


GI HILO' TÅNO'

Monday, December 1, 2014



1. Gi hilo' t å no' annai muma' taotao i Saina
( On earth when the Lord became man )

Ha padese minappot pot i bid å -ta
( He suffered difficulties on account of our deeds )

Ha k å tga un makkat kilu'us pot i isao-ta
( He carried a heavy cross on account of our sins )

Mum å tai yan lum å 'la' pot i satbasion-ta.
( He died and rose again for our salvation .)

CHORUS

Esta p å 'go ha baba i pottan* i langet
( He has already opened the gate of heaven )

sa' yanggen m å tai yo' siempre ha pipet yo'
( because when I die He will surely lead me )

Pues ta fan man å yuyut pot i isao-ta
( so let us pray over our sins )

Ya puede tunas i anti-ta para i Saina.
( so that our souls may go straight to the Lord .)

2. Sumen bonito este bid å - ñ a i Satbadot-ta
( Our Savior's deed is most beautiful )

Ha na' annok ha' d å ngkulo guinaiya- ñ a
( He revealed His great love )

Ola mohon ya taiguihe i korason-ho
( May my heart be that way )

Bai sakrifisio ya bai suh å ye i tentasion.
( I will make sacrifice and avoid temptation .)


* Usually the definite article i ("the") will change potta to petta .

GARAPAN, GUAM

Saturday, November 22, 2014



Garapan, GUAM???

We've all heard of Garapan in Saipan. But on Guam?

Yes. But ever since nearly everyone moved out of war-devastated Hag å t ñ a after World War II, people forgot that there was a small section of the city that was called Garapan.

It was located east of the Protestant, or Baptist, cemetery, formally known as the Custino Cemetery. This cemetery is unknown by many, as it lays mostly hidden from view. It is across the street from the better-seen Naval Cemetery.

Tony LG Ramirez confirmed this for me some time ago, but this elderly man, who lived in San Antonio as a child, the barrio where Garapan was located, also confirmed it for me.





CHAMORRO SERMON FROM 1873

Wednesday, November 19, 2014




Uno na monha (1) nina' li'e as Jesukristo i momento annai måtai un taotao ni i isao,
( Jesus Christ allowed a nun to see the moment a sinner died ,)


ya ha hungok i sentensian Jesukristo ni i yinegguan (2) uhe (3) na å nte na måtai yan må'gas na isao.
( and she heard the sentence of Jesus Christ of condemnation of that soul which died in mortal sin .)


Annai ha li'e i monha na uhe na desgrasiao na ånte kinenne' ni i anite ensegida iya sasalåguan,
( When the nun saw that unfortunate soul was taken immediately to hell by the demon ,)


ha tutuhon i monha umugong ya kumasao dururo.
( the nun began to groan and cry intensely. )


Ayo nai finaisen gue' as Jesukristo, "Håf mina' umugong hao, ya kumakasao hao taiguennao?"
( Then Jesus asked her, "Why do you groan and weep like that? ")


Ya ineppe nu i monha, "Håftaimano, Asaina Jesukristo, håftaimano ti hu ugong ya ti hu kasao ,
( And the nun answered Him, "How, Lord Jesus Christ, how would I not moan and weep )


hu lili'e uhe i desgrasiao na ånte ma yoggua para siempre ha',
( to see that unfortunate soul condemned forever ,)


ya tåya' håf na remedio para guiya, sa' hågo mismo un sangåne,
( and there is no remedy for him, because You yourself said ,)


na tåya' håf na nina' libre giya sasalåguan?"
( that there is no escape from hell ?")


Ayo nai ilek-ña si Jesukristo, "Ennao na ånte ma yoggua muna' malago'-ña ha'.
( Then Jesus said to her, "That soul is condemned through its own will .)


Guåho, ni i Yu'us yo', sen hu tutungo' na i taotao iningak (4) ni i tinailaye desde i pinatgon-ña,
( I, who am God, know very well that man is inclined to evil from his childhood, )


ya muna' ennao na tiningo'-ho hu po'lo gi iyo-ko iglesia
( and because of that knowledge, I instituted in my Church )


i sakramenton kumonfesat para u ma na' funas todo i isao siha.
( the sacrament of confession for the wiping away of all sin. )


Ennao na sakramento eståtaba gi disposision-ña, annai låla'la' ennao na ånte gi hilo' tåno',
( That sacrament was at his disposal, when that soul was alive on earth ,)


ti ha aprobecha i tiempo ni i hu nå'e gue' para u dingo i chat (5) na bidå-ña ya u gef konfesat;
( he didn't take advantage of the time I gave him to forsake his evil ways and confess well ;)


måtai på'go ya hu na' ma yoggua muna' i deskuidå-ña (6) yan i ma abandonå-ña."
( he has died now and I condemned him because of his carelessness and forsakenness .")


NOTES

(1) Monha = from the Spanish word monja or "nun." Nuns are different than sisters in that nuns are cloisetered; they do not leave the convent. We are more used to sisters here in the Marianas, who teach and do other works. For us, a religious sister is etmåna , from the Spanish hermana meaning "sister."

(2) From the root word yoggua , which means to be condemned.

(3) Uhe = an old word for "that," no longer used.

(4) From the root word ungak, which is "to tilt or lean to one side."  The last name Ungacta also comes from this word.

(5) Chat means "defective."

(6) Deskuida is borrowed from the Spanish. Today, most Chamorros would say deskuido , rather than deskuida.

FAMILIA : VILLAGOMEZ

Friday, November 14, 2014


The Villagomez family has been around for a long time now.

At least since 1727, when they appear in the Guam Census.

In that Census, there is but one Villagomez, and his name is Crist ó bal (Spanish for "Christopher").

Crist ó bal is listed under the "Spanish"soldiers, which can mean either a Spaniard from Spain, or a Spaniard but born and raised in Latin America, or a Latin American of mixed blood (Spanish and one of the local native races in Latin America).

Crist ó bal is married to Francisca Ana. Now therein lies the enticing mystery.

Ana is not a Spanish last name it is a first name). It doesn't sound Filipino, either. One must usually suspect a Chamorro wife, unless a Spanish or Filipino surname suggests otherwise.

There is a Chamorro an ñ a, which means "to attack or injure some physically." The question is if the N in the original manuscript shows the ñ or not. All I've seen so far is a typewritten copy. I'll ask to see a photocopy of the original manuscript. If that has an ñ, then we're in business. If it doesn't, it is still possible that the name Ana is really an ña, but the scribe didn't use the ñ for whatever reason.

Our ancestors had names that were often words of actual things, actions or conditions, so an ña would be a possible name, like Naputi .

Crist ó bal and Francisca had the following children :

Juan Jose
Jose
Francisco
Manuel
Manuel

Five boys! And there could have been more children after the Census was taken. Two boys had the same name, Manuel.

In the 1758 Census, only the three oldest boys appear. The two Manuels do not.

Juan Jose married Dominga Manfaisen. Manfaisen is a Chamorro name. It is a contraction of "ma fafaisen." Faisen is "to ask."

Jose married Maria Francisca de la Vega. There is only one de la Vega family in the Marianas at this time that appears in records, and that is the family of "Spanish" soldier Manuel de la Vega and his wife Maria Egui. Again, Egui is not Spanish so we can assume she was Chamorro. Although there is no child named Maria Francisca in the 1727 Census, we can speculate she may have been born just after the Census was taken.

If this is accurate, we can see how outside blood was marrying into Chamorro families. The children most certainly grew up speaking Chamorro, as well as perhaps some Spanish in some cases at least.

Lastly, Francisco married Dorotea Ramirez. Dorotea appears in the 1727 Census as a daughter of the "Spanish" soldier Antonio Ramirez and his wife Antonia de la Cruz. We have no idea who Antonia was or her race.

MODERN TIMES

On Guam, the Villagomez name survived mainly because of one Francisco Due ñ as Villagomez who, by 1897, had almost a dozen children with his wife Mariana Cruz.

Nearly all the other Villagomezes on Guam in 1897 were women.

Two Villagomez men, born on Guam, moved to Saipan in the late 1800s.

One, Joaquin, married Rita Castro, and became the patriarch for the largest Villagomez branch in Saipan.

He had two sons. Manuel married a Carolinian woman, Antonia Parong Seman. His son Manuel became better-known-as Kiyu.

The other son, Rafael, married Romana Campos Pangelinan. Chamorros have a hard time pronouncing R, So Rafael was better-known-as Laffet and his descendants became a large clan in Saipan.

Another Villagomez from Guam, Jose, moved to Yap with his wife Maria Mendiola Cruz. The Yap Chamorros later left that island after World War II and returned to the various islands of the Marianas.

WHAT DOES THE NAME MEAN?

There are numerous surnames in Spain that are a combination of the word villa and something else. Villa means "house," as in an estate, larger than just the normal structure called a casa .

So Villanueva means "new house."

Villaverde means "green house."

Villalobos means "wolf house."

Villagomez means "town of G ó mez." G ó mez is a last name and is found everywhere in Spain and means "son of Gomo." "Gomo" is an old word that could mean "man" or "path."


HOSTED BY GUAM ELITE

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Antonio Maria Regidor
Filipino Nationalist Deported to Guam

In January of 1872, Filipino soldiers rose up against the Spanish at Fort San Felipe in Cavite. The mutiny was squashed and the Spaniards began their retribution by executing or exiling the rebels, but the Spaniards also targeted many people accused of anti-Spanish ideas or activities, though not directly involved in the revolt.

Many of these arrested for nationalistic aspirations were exiled to Guam, where they were housed with some of the island's elite.

Among the Spaniards of Guam, Vicente Guill ó housed the best-known of the Filipino deportados , or deportees - Antonio Maria Regidor y Jurado.

The Spanish priest of Hag å t ñ a, Father Aniceto Ib á ñ ez, OAR, housed Jose Baza y Enrique and Jose Maria Baza y San Agustin.

Vicente Calvo y Olivares, a Spanish mestizo with Filipino blood, who was more or less a permanent resident of Guam, housed some rather big names in the Philippines nationalist cause at the time. They were Ramon Maurente y Luciano (allegedly a financier of revolutionary causes), Maximo Paterno y Yanson (father of the more famous Pedro Paterno), Pedro Carrillo y Flores, Jose Mauricio de Leon y Jacoba and the Filipino priests Pedro Dandan y Masancay (he stayed on in Guam for several years, exercising the ministry. He was something of a celebrity in the Philippines upon his return there in 1876 and died mysteriously during the Revolution of 1896.), Agustin Mendoza y Casimiro and Miguel Lasa y Berraches (also stayed on Guam for a while, exercising priestly ministry).

A Filipino, but a permanent resident of Guam and married into a Chamorro family, Tiburcio Arriola, housed two fellow Filipinos, both of them priests found guilty of nationalist sympathies, Feliciano Gomez y de Jesus and Justo Guanson y Vasquez.

Our own Chamorro priest, Jose Palomo y Torres, housed some Filipino deportados , all of them priests - Jose Maria Guevara y Reyes, Anacleto Desiderio y Bautista, Toribio del Pilar y Gatmaitan and Mariano Sevilla y Villena.

Several Spanish officials living on Guam also housed a few, individual deportados .

These deportados were not simple soldiers, much less common rabble-rousers from the streets. They were men of some education. Some were well-educated (Regidor) and wealthy (Paterno). Many were seminary-educated priests. So political ideas were certainly shared among them and their Guam hosts. One can just imagine Father Palomo discussing politics with them.

Further insight showing us that Guam was not quite the isolated, back-water island it was thought to be.


HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Thursday, November 6, 2014


Sihek
( Micronesian Kingfisher - Halcyon cinnamomina cinnamomina )



Ilek- ñ iha i man å mko',
( The old people say ,)

yanggen gaige hao gi halom t å no',
(if you are in the jungle ,)

cha'-mo tattittiye i sihek yanggen chinefl å fl å gue hao,
( don't follow the sihek if it whistles to you ,)

sa' nina' abak hao,
( because it will make you get lost ,)

kinenne' hao m å s h å lom gi taddung gi halom t å no'.
( it will take you further into the deep of the jungle .)


NOTES


Chefla = to whistle

Chefl å ggue = to whistle to someone



FAMILY NICKNAMES : BALI TRES

Wednesday, October 29, 2014


BALI TRES

One clan named Santos is better-known-as the Bali Tres family.

According to an 80-year-old member of that family, the nickname came from his grandmother, Andrea Santos, who was so industrious that her work was worth the work of three people.

He told me, " An man macho’cho’, å ntes gi gualo', un taotao ha cho’gue b å len tres na taotao chumocho’gue che’cho’- ñ a ."

" When they worked, in the past on the farm, one person did the work of three people doing her work."

CHAMORRO SOLDIERS 1786

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Spanish uniforms in the Philippines in the late 1700s


In 1786, the list of soldiers on Guam was still described as the Compa ñ í a de Infanter í a Espa ñ ola y de la Pampanga; the Spanish Infantry Company and that of Pampanga, a province in the Philippines.

But the soldiers who made up these two companies were, for the most part, not born in Spain or the Philippines. They were born on Guam, specifically Hag å t ñ a, of ancestors who had come from Spain, Latin America and the Philippines and who had (again, in large part but not necessarily all) married Chamorro women. Even those who had just a little pre-contact Chamorro blood were Chamorro by culture and language if they were born and grew up on Guam. Of course, it was a culture and language strongly influenced by both Spanish and Catholic cultures. Still, this new culture and the language spoken in the home was not Spanish nor Filipino.

There are a few indigenous surnames (Taitano, Achuga, Anungui, Materne). Some are Filipino in origin (Manibusan, Pangelinan, Demapan). We see that San Nicolas is already a surname here. The Augustinian missionaries arrived 17 years prior to this list and were probably the ones who began naming some babies San Nicolas, as evidenced by baptismal records as late as the 1850s and 60s.

So a good many of these men would have been born and baptized during the Jesuit era. We can see Jesuit names of saints, such as Juan (John) Regis, a Jesuit saint, and many Ignacios (Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits).

Most of the surnames we see in this list of soldiers are recognizable. Some never took root here or vanished after a while for lack of male descendants.

Many names on the list were unintelligible due to ink smudges and/or tears in the paper. I have also given them the modern, recognizable spelling though some names were spelled in old, obsolete ways.

ACHUGA, Rafael

ANUNGUI, Francisco

ARCEO, Félix

BAZA, Remigio

BORJA, Enrique de

CALDERÓN, Pedro

CAMACHO, Francisco

CÁRDENAS, (first name unintelligible)

CASTRO, Ignacio
CASTRO, Nicolás de

COTINO, Pedro

CRUZ, Félix de la
CRUZ, Francisco de la

DEMAPÁN, Ignacio (some of the Demapan family later moved to Saipan where they grew in number, whereas the Demapan on Guam grew smaller)

DÍAZ, Pedro

DUE Ñ AS, (first name unintelligible)
DUE Ñ AS, Feliciano

FLORES, Juan Cris ó stomo (Cris ó stomo here is not a last name, but the full name of John Chrysostom, a saint)
FLORES, Rosario (yes, Rosario could be used as a man's name, though not as often as a woman's. The name simply refers to the Rosary.)

FRÁNQUEZ, Florentino
FRÁNQUEZ, Rufino

GARRIDO, José
GARRIDO, Manuel Tiburcio (he became a government clerk whose name appears in a good number of Spanish era documents)

LEÓN, Lu í s de

LIMA, Joaqu í n de (some people on Guam in the 1800s had, as their middle name, de Lima)

LIZAMA, José
LIZAMA, Nicolás

MANIBUSAN, Gregorio
MANIBUSAN, Juan
MANIBUSAN, Mart í n

MATERNE, José

MENDIOLA, Tomás
MENDIOLA, Vicente

PABLO, Juan Regis (again, the complete name of John Regis, a Jesuit saint)

PALOMO, Antonio

PANGELINAN, Gaspar

PASCUAL, Andrés (there was still a Pascual family on Guam in the 1800s)
PASCUAL, Francisco

QUINTANILLA, Nicolás de

RIVERA, Marcos de

RODRÍGUEZ, Joaqu í n

ROSA, Domingo de la

ROSARIO, Remigio del

SABLÁN, Agustin Roque (interesting, because Sablan does not appear in the 1759 Census. So this Sablan may be of the first generation of Sablans on Guam since this list is from 1786.)

SAN NICOLÁS, Dámaso de

SANTOS, Antonio de los
SANTOS, Mariano de los

SARMIENTO, Juan

SIGÜENZA, Ignacio

TAITANO, Juan

TELLO JIMÉNEZ, Andrés (the Tello family lasted on Guam into the late 1800s)

VEGA, Antonio de la


FINO' I MAN ÅMKO'

Thursday, October 23, 2014


BUSKAPLAITO

Someone who is buskaplaito is the kind of person who goes looking for a fight.

He or she starts trouble.

It's as if they enjoy conflict.

They see peace and quiet, and don't like it.

So they'll pick on someone, hoping to start a fight.

They'll make a problem where none exists.

Sometimes, it's not for the mere enjoyment of it. Sometimes there's a real gain. For example, making two people who don't have a fight start fighting, so one can gain the advantage over both of them.

~ H å fa na ti ya-mo si Maria? ( Why don't you like Maria? )
~ Buskaplaito na taotao! ( She's a trouble maker! )

~ Suh å ye i buskaplaito na taotao . ( Avoid the trouble maker .)

The word comes from Spanish buscapleito .

It can be broken down into two words :

Busca , which means "he or she looks for," and

pleito , which means "quarrel or argument."

But we don't like the ei sound, and we change it to ai .

Like Spanish reina (queen) becomes Chamorro raina .

BAN ON WHISTLING RESCINDED

Wednesday, October 22, 2014


For a short time on Guam, it was a crime to whistle in the vicinity of Hagåtña.

One could, apparently, whistle all one wanted in Talofofo or Yigo. But not in the capital.

You see, whistling got on the nerves of one man. But that one man was the Naval Governor, and that's all that mattered.

Governor Gilmer said, "Whistling is an entirely unnecessary and irritating noise that must be discontinued."

If you were caught whistling, you had to cough up five dollars.



Governor Gilmer

Well, Gilmer's edict did not ring right in the ears of many, including those in Washington. Secretary of the Navy, Josephus Daniels, removed Gilmer as Govenror of Guam in 1920. Daniels said the whistling prohibition had nothing to do with it. One has to wonder.

With the removal of Gilmer, the ban on whistling disappeared. Under the Navy, the Governor was the law.

It was this sort of thing that got Chamorros, and some Americans, moving on making the change towards a government by, of and for the people. It is a process many think is still incomplete.

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Monday, October 20, 2014



Gotgot i deffe'.

A toothless person is loose-lipped.


Someone who is gotgot says more than s/he should. S/he can't keep secrets. The gotgot person is very free with his or her information. S/he will tell on you and get you in trouble. Gotgot people make good informants.

Why?


But why should someone missing a tooth, someone doffe' , be necessarily gotgot ?

The reasoning of the elders is :

" Yanggen guaha f å tta gi kellat, man mal å go ha' siempre todo i ga'ga' ."

" If there is an opening in the fence, all the animals will surely run off ."

Therefore, if there is an opening in the teeth, words will surely escape!






FAMILY NICKNAMES : PINDAN

Thursday, October 16, 2014


A branch of the Garrido family is better-known-as Pindan.

I ran into an older member of the family and asked her where the name comes from.

She said it comes from an ancestor (she doesn't know who) who was at a party and asked for some meat, saying, " Pendan fan guennao diddide' k å tne ya bai chagi ." " Cut a little meat there and I will try it. "

There is no such word pendan , either in Chamorro nor Spanish. People took it to mean the guy was asking that a piece of meat be cut for him to eat. Because the word was unheard of, people thought it was cute and used it to label the man himself, except that pendan became pindan .

The word pendan does exist in Spanish, but as a conjugation of the verb pender , which means "to hang, to be pending." Was the man asking for meat misusing the verb?

Many family nicknames are explained by family stories passed from generation to generation. Some of these stories have no basis in history. Sometimes the same family can have more than one story explaining the origin of their family nickname. So there could be other theories how this group of Garridos got the nickname Pindan.

The elderly lady who shared this story is the daughter of Jose Mendiola Garrido, the son of Juan Garrido and Dolores Mendiola. Juan and Dolores would have been young adults by the 1880s.

KASTIGON YU'US : CORPUS CHRISTI IN 1894

Tuesday, October 7, 2014


Corpus Christi in 1894 was not observed with full solemnity.

The Governor, Emilio Galisteo, was erecting a new building for the principal school in all the Marianas, the Colegio de San Juan de Letr á n, founded by Sanvitores more than 200 years before.

In order to get the building project done, the people of Hag å t ñ a were tasked with providing the manual labor. In those days, Chamorros had to put in a certain number of days working on public projects in place of paying taxes. But, because this was happening very close to the feast of Corpus Christi, when Chamorros build L å nchon Kotpus (outdoor altars) for the Corpus Christi procession, the people could not attend to that religious project. Corpus Christi came, but no låncho . For us, it would be like Christmas without a tree, or New Year's without fireworks - but worse! A Christmas tree and annual fireworks are not obligations to God, but a låncho on Kotpus is!

Perhaps due to the rush job, the lime used for the walls of the new colegio was improperly made and, when an earthquake and heavy rains afterwards combined to put pressure on those walls, they came tumbling down.

The Chamorros saw it as an act of divine retribution for the failure to observe the feast of Corpus Christi with the complete attention it deserved.

What's also interesting is that some anonymous critic wrote words to that effect and posted it on the front door of the Hag å t ñ a church.

A DIVORCE IN HAWAII

Friday, October 3, 2014


A most scandalous incident, leading to a bitter divorce, involved a Chamorro mestizo by the name of V. E. (Ben) Pangelinan and his wife Amy.

Ben was probably the son of Vicente Pangelinan, also known as Ben, who left Guam and settled in the Big Island. Ben senior died in 1903.

Ben junior worked for the inter-island transport the W. G. Hall .  This work took Ben away from his home, where his wife Amy was quite alone. Or so he thought.

Between 10 and 11 o'clock on the night of September 30, 1896, Ben came home, much to the surprise of Amy and her male friend, sleeping in the spot where Ben should have been.

Finding the door of the bedroom locked, Ben kicked it open. Ben had had his suspicions for some time, and planned this unexpected return for just this purpose.

Jumping out of bed, without a stitch of clothing on him, the man, later to be identified as one Arthur Jones, a clerk at a shoe store, tried to escape through the bedroom door. But Ben punched him hard enough to stun him into immobility. Ben then put Jones in a neck hold and proceeded to beat his head till it was bloody. Ben then forced Jones to sit, as naked as the day he was born, on a chair till the police came.

Jones was charged with unlawful entry onto private property. His hearing the next day had to be postponed, as he entered the court room with one eye covered with a leather patch.

Amy was also arrested, back in the day when one could get arrested for something called adultery.

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' : DIOS

Thursday, October 2, 2014


Our mañaina who lived under the Spanish incorporated numerous Spanish sayings and expressions into their Chamorro speech; expressions that were never translated to Chamorro as they borrowed them. Our mañaina didn't need to translate them because, for the most part, they understood what the Spanish expression meant.

But we, today, lost our familiarity with Spanish quite awhile ago. I would say that mañaina born after 1910 or so probably did not understand the literal meaning of these Spanish expressions, though they used these phrases a lot. Growing up with mañaina born from 1899 to 1917, I heard these expressions all the time. I mean that. ALL the time.

Our mañaina didn't change the Spanish words, but they did, when necessary, change the pronunciation to fit Chamorro sounds.

In this post, I will focus just on the Spanish expressions referring to God ( Dios ).

DIOS NOS LIBRE

The expression means "GOD FREE US." It can also mean "God save us," as in Saint Teresa's quote, "God save us from gloomy saints."  So it doesn't mean "God free us" as in we're enslaved and need that kind of freedom, but rather freedom from harm.

Sometimes people would change it to "Dios te libre," meaning "God free you ."

Rarely, I have heard older people say, "Dios nos libre de todo måt," in Spanish it's "de todo mal." It means, "God save us from all evil."  In Chamorro, we have the L sound, but not at the end of a syllable. So Spanish mal becomes Chamorro måt .

DIOS NOS GUÅTDE

The Spanish say "Dios nos guarde," but, in Chamorro, we don't have the R sound. It changes to an L ( guitarra becomes gitåla ) or a T when at the end of a syllable ( tambor becomes tåmbot and guarde becomes guåtde ).

The phrase means, "God keep us," as in "keep you safe and sound."

Again, the expression can be changed to "Dios te guåtde," "God keep you."

DIOS TE AMPÅRE

The phrase means "God protect you."

It can also be changed to "Dios nos ampåre," but I can't recall ever hearing that.

It's interesting because for every rule there is an exception, and this is one. We don't like the R and we changed it to an L or a T, but not in this case.

Dios te ayude

All this should remind us of a Spanish expression we hear frequently, which is the response given to someone who fannginge' the elder or the saina : Dios te ayude .

Dios te ayude is also Spanish, meaning "God help/assist you."

We pronounce the Y in ayude the Chamorro way, as in Yigo or Yoña.

PUNTAN PÅTGON

Wednesday, October 1, 2014


The tale of a strong boy jumping from the northern tip of Guam to Luta is one of the better-known Guam legends.  It can be found at http://www.guampedia.com/puntan-patgon-folktale/

But I find it doubly rewarding to know the story in one Chamorro-language version :

Un taotao gai patgon un l å he.
( A man had a male child .)

P å 'go annai lumamoddong esta,
( Now when he was grown already ,)

metgot- ñ a yan matatng å - ñ a ke si tat å - ñ a.
( he was stronger and braver than his father .)

Annai ha li'e na metgot- ñ a ke guiya,
( When he saw that he was stronger than he ,)

dinilalak asta i puntan i tano',
( he chased him away till the end of the land ,)

ya man goppe desde ayo na punta asta Luta .
( and he jumped from that point over to Rota .)

T å nto ke man r å stro guihe na punta yan Luta gi acho,
( Such that there was left a foot print at that point and in Luta on the rock ,)

ya ma fa'na'an Puntan P å tgon desde ayo.
( and it was named Child's Point since then .)


FIRST GUAM LEGISLATURE

Tuesday, September 30, 2014


The first legislative body in Guam with real legislative power. It was elected in 1950. They were all members of the Popular Party, the only party, really, to speak of at the time.

Speaker Antonio B. Won Pat
Vice Speaker Frank D. Perez

Vicente B. Bamba
Baltazar J. Bordallo
Eduardo T. Calvo
Antonio C. Cruz
Antonio SN Dueñas
Leon D. Flores
Manuel F. Leon Guerrero
Jose D. Leon Guerrero
Francisco B. Leon Guerrero
Pedro B. Leon Guerrero
Manuel U. Lujan
Jesus C. Okiyama
Joaquin A. Perez
Joaquin C. Perez
Jesus R. Quinene
Ignacio P. Quitugua
Florencio T. Ramirez
James T. Sablan
Joaquin S. Santos

Four Leon Guerreros!


Some Names

Won Pat - half Chinese. His father Ignacio was a cook for the U.S. Navy. His mother had Sumay (Borja) and Merizo (Soriano) roots. Won Pat was a teacher before the war. The Won Pat political legacy continues in his daughter, Judi Won Pat. Both father and daughter were Speaker of the Guam Legislature for multiple terms. Was Speaker of every Legislature except the 3rd and the 8th, and he thereafter ran for and was elected Guam's first delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Frank D. Perez - founder of Perez Brothers.

Baltazar J. Bordallo - half Spanish. Father of the future Governor Ricky J. Bordallo, and father-in-law of current Guam Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo in Washington, DC. Bordallo, together with F.B. Leon Guerrero (see below) went to the U.S. before the war to advocate U.S. citizenship for Guam Chamorros.

Leon D. Flores - half Filipino. His father (also Leon) was a Filipino revolutionary who was exiled to Guam for refusing to recognize American authority in the Philippines. He decided to stay on Guam and married here. His son Leon, the senator here listed, was Island Attorney for a while. Leon, the senator, was a Dungca on his mother's side; also a family with Filipino roots. Leon, the senator, was half-brother with Father (later Archbishop) Felixberto Camacho Flores, who also happened to be the Chaplain of the First Guam Legislature, and he can be seen on the left side of this photo. Leon was married to Josefina Torres Ramirez, sister of Florencio T. Ramirez, senator. Two brothers-in-law in the same legislature.

Francisco B. Leon Guerrero - would later oust Won Pat from the speakership in the 3rd Guam Legislature.

Manuel F. Leon Guerrero - a future governor.

Florencio T. Ramirez - future Speaker of the Legislature.

James T. Sablan - a Baptist and, I believe, the only non-Catholic in the Legislature. Shows that Guam's overwhelmingly Catholic voters at the time did not penalize him for being Baptist! Became an outspoken advocate for the reunification of the Marianas.

THE MURDER OF ALEJANDRO QUINENE

Monday, September 29, 2014


Chamorros have been marrying Filipinos for 300 years and have Filipino blood running through their veins.

In the 1800s, though, the Spaniards started to send to the Marianas Filipino convicts, or presidiarios . Obviously, at least some of these men would have had rough backgrounds, perhaps even a criminal mindset. From time to time, some of these presidiarios caused problems, giving Chamorros the idea that Filipinos could be pekno (murderous).

Chamorros, on the other hand, were more inclined to commit suicide than homicide. When the rare murder perpetrated by a Chamorro happened, it was usually a crime of passion; jealousy over a woman and things like that. But Chamorros thought the Filipinos were more calculating and daring; less hesitant to kill a complete stranger for sometimes the smallest of reasons.

In January of 1874, five Filipino convicts escaped from their work detail. The presidiarios weren't holed up in a prison cell all day long. In fact, many times they were given the freedom to move about, although with some restrictions, like a curfew. During the day, they were often put to work on public projects, such as road laying.

To show the mixed feelings held by Chamorros towards Filipinos, two Chamorro women accompanied the convicts as they made their way south to Humat å k! One was a single woman, Juana Mendiola, and a married woman, Maria Aguero, the wife of Pedro Gogo. Were these two women girlfriends/mistresses of some of these Filipino convicts?

The escaping party met up with a village official, who made the mistake of not arresting the convicts and taking them to Hag å t ñ a, which is what he should have done, according to government policy. This error cost someone his life, for at some point the convicts came upon Alejandro Quinene of Malesso'. Quinene had a gun and a machete, and he was killed in order to obtain them.

Why the convicts didn't simply ask Quinene for those items is unknown. Perhaps, knowing that Quinene had the upper hand with that gun, the Filipinos decided not to negotiate but rather kill Quinene right off. It was a bloody murder. Quinene had a gash across his face, and gashes on the head, stomach, intestines and back. Poor guy.

The men then stole a boat owned by Lino Roberto, port official in Hum å tak. The five were never heard of again, and it was suspected that they didn't make it, because the boat they stole was leaking badly.

The record says nothing further about the two Chamorro ladies.

The murder of Alejandro Quinene happened in the vicinity of Hum å tak.




Chamorros even married some of the Filipino convicts down through the years. But incidents like the murder of Alejandro Quinene were the things that created in many Chamorro minds a negative stereotype of Filipinos in the 1800s.

Source : Cr ó nica of Padre Ib á ñ ez

A SAIPAN HYMN IS BROUGHT TO GUAM

Friday, September 26, 2014

Guam's Lepblon K å nta
"Katoliko" is not found in the Guam hymnal

"Katoliko" is one of the better-known Chamorro Catholic hymns in all the Marianas. But, oddly enough, it is not found in the Guam Chamorro Catholic hymnal, the Lepblon K å nta, which was printed before World War II.

The reason is because "Katoliko" was first sung in Saipan. We do not know who wrote the Chamorro lyrics. It does not appear among the hymns composed by the German Capuchins, so it was more than likely written during the Japanese period. Oral tradition says Gregorio Sablan (Kilili') may have had something to do with its composition. That means he probably assisted a Jesuit priest stationed in Saipan with the Chamorro text. Or, he could have composed the Chamorro lyrics entirely. Ton Kilili', as he was known, was the strongest lay leader in the Church in Saipan at the time.

After the war, Guam and Saipan became united under the one Catholic mission, or Apostolic Vicariate, based in Guam. Bishop Baumgartner was responsible for the Northern Marianas, as well as Guam (and Wake!).

P åle' Jose Tardio, a Spanish Jesuit, stayed on in Saipan till 1947 to ease the transition from him to the American Capuchins. Father Ferdinand Stippich, an American Capuchin who came to Guam in 1939 and who spoke basic Chamorro, was the first American friar assigned to Saipan. The Chamorros called him "P åle' Fernando."

It was he who thought it might be a good idea to send Saipanese choir members to Guam to teach the Chamorros of Guam the hymn "Katoliko." Maybe it was thought a good idea to create some contact between the Chamorros of both islands, since they were now, for that time, one Vicariate. The war was just over, and there were still bitter feelings among many Guam Chamorros about some Saipanese interpreters (and this lasted for well over 40 years). Perhaps they could find some common ground in their common Catholic faith.

As Tan Esco narrates, she was one of those sent to Guam to do this. As she says, a good number of Saipan Chamorros, as herself, had close relatives on Guam with whom she could stay. She implies that two families had a friendly competition who would house her.





Some notes on our dialogue :

1. Notice the way she disciplines the children to be quiet.

2. She uses the expression " Manana si Yu'us " in the traditional way, meaning "When daylight broke," not as a greeting, which only came about in the last ten years or so.

3. She uses the word chatgon , meaning "cheerful, smiling."

4. Her word for "not yet" is the Saipan form tarabia , whereas on Guam it is trabia . Both forms are derived from the Spanish todav í a .

ILEK-ÑA SI PÅLE'

Thursday, September 25, 2014
Tamuning Sodality in the 1950s

Sermon preached in the 1950s

På'go na ha'åne para u fan ma profesa man nuebo na miembon i Hijas de Maria.
(Today new members of the Sodality will be professed.)

Magof yo' pot este siha na mañotterita ya hu gågagao si Yu'us yan si Santa Maria na u fan ma nå'e meggai na gråsia para gian-ñiha.
(I am happy for these young women and I ask God and the Blessed Mother to give them many graces to be their guide.)

Este siha na mañotterita man gaige gi gai minappot na edåt.
(These young women are at a difficult age.)

Mangokokolo' para u fan echa sottera.
(They are growing to become single women.)

Guaha siha meggai na tentasion.
(There is a lot of temptation.)

I anite siempre u fan tinientasiune para u ma komete isao, espesiåtmente kontra i santos na ginasgas.
(The devil will surely tempt them to commit sin, especially against holy purity.)

Yanggen este siha na famalao'an u na' fan fiet siha na man miembron i Hijas,
(If these women become faithful members of the Sodality,)

ya u fañåga chetton as Jesus yan Maria, siha siempre u fan siña bumense todo i tentasion i anite.
(if they remain close to Jesus and Mary, they will be able to overcome all the devil's temptations.)

Este siha na mañotterita manmanpromete as Jesukristo yan Santa Maria na u ha na' fan lamaolek siha na famalao'an gi manmamamaila' na tiempo.
(These young women promise Jesus Christ and the Blessed Mother to become better women in the coming days.)

Hu felisisita hamyo mañotteritas på'go na ha'åne, ya hu gågagao na nungka nai en che'gue håfa na kosas ni para u fan dinesonra i Hijas siha.
(I congratulate you young women today, and I ask that you will never do anything to dishonor the Sodality.)

PORTUSACH VERSUS LEARY

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Francisco M. Portusach
in a newspaper depiction

When the Americans captured Guam and arrested the Spanish government officials, taking them away from the island on June 22, 1898, Francisco Martínez Portusach, a Spanish-Chamorro mestizo and only American citizen on Guam at the time, claimed he was given verbal authorization by Captain Henry Glass, in charge of the American capture of Guam, to assume responsibility for the island's government. This was also what newspapers said, shortly after the event.

For half a year, Portusach's rule over Guam was contested by José Sisto, the last official of the Spanish government of the Marianas. Others, such as Venancio Roberto, Joaquin Cruz Pérez and William Coe, put forward by local committees or by U.S. officials passing through, also held title.

Finally, in August of 1899, over a year after the U.S. took possession of Guam but without establishing a firm government, Captain Richard P. Leary of the U.S. Navy arrived as duly appointed Governor of Guam.

Leary was not a popular governor. He was considered an authoritarian, military man with no ability to win the hearts of his subjects, nor having any desire to do so. He issued executive orders and expected compliance, or punishment.


Capt. Richard P. Leary
First American Naval Governor of Guam

He issued orders against the sale of local liquor ( tuba, åguayente ) to American servicemen. Many Chamorros lived with partners without benefit of marriage, raising illegitimate children. It was said that people did this because they had no money to pay the church fees for weddings. Other couples lived together without marriage because one was, and sometimes both persons were, already married but that relationship went sour. Since divorce and re-marriage were not possible under Spanish and Catholic laws, many resorted to simply living together. There is also the human factor, widely seen today in domestic partnerships, that the easy route is often the one chosen. Leary wanted to put a stop to concubinage, and issued an executive order to that effect. Later, Leary was to allow the first divorces on Guam. But many Chamorros found themselves in a complicated situation with the Church because of it.

Leary also expelled the Spanish missionaries, removed crucifixes from the schools, drastically reduced the number of public holidays (which were mostly religious), prohibited the ringing of the church bell before certain hours and halted religious processions in the streets. Many Chamorros found all this too much! Leary actually had to issue another order to enforce the prior order ending all religious instruction in the schools, since the Chamorro teachers had ignored the earlier order.

With the force of the pen, Leary thought he could compel every adult Chamorro to learn to write his or her name, solve the stray dog issue by mandating dog licenses for a fee, get more people to work the land, stop gambling, including cock fighting.

Even his fellow Americans, at least the lower ranks of the Marines, resented Leary's forceful manner. The men once tried to go on strike, and Leary threatened to shoot them himself if they didn't continue their work detail.



Hawaii headline announcing Portusach's arrival
On his way to Washington to lodge complaints against Leary

Francisco Portusach also had his run-ins with Leary. Portusach shared the same complaints the others had about Leary's heavy handedness. According to a newspaper interview, Portusach said Leary fined him $100 and put him in jail for a week, for reasons Portusach doesn't tell. The stress was too much for Portusach's wife, who took sick with typhoid and died.

Portusach said that Leary claimed he was supreme on Guam; he was the law. When Chamorros saw Leary from a distance, Portusach said, they'd say to each other, "There goes God." Portusach himself said that the U.S. Congress might have a thing or two to say about Leary's claim to be a law unto himself, and, when Leary retired as Governor in June of 1900, Portusach traveled to the U.S. making known to the American press the discontent many felt with the ex-Governor. One report says he went as far as Washington, DC.


One of many news articles in the U.S. about Leary's negative reputation

CHAMORRO FORCED INTO WHALING

Tuesday, September 23, 2014


Some records of the 1800s state that some American and British whalers were not too technical about observing freedom of choice when it came to employment.

Whaling ships often had deserters. Other crew men died on the voyage. Whatever the reason, whaling ships were often in need of new, able hands, and any young man hanging around the docks was fair game for some captains.

In 1899, one John Sablan (he would have been named Juan, but renamed John when he became a crew member on an American ship), from Guam, claims that he was simply working on a whaling ship while it was anchored off Guam.  He was probably doing light maintenance work or repairs, or perhaps even just loading things on or off.

Well, according to Sablan, before you know it, the ship had lifted anchor and set sail; the island of Guam, with all his family, growing smaller and smaller on the horizon. Sablan protested to the ship's captain, all to no avail.

In time, he was "dumped" at San Francisco, California. Perhaps the captain regretted selecting this one individual to kidnap.

Sablan was not a man easily abused. He got himself a lawyer in San Francisco and filed suit in U.S. District Court against W.T. Storey, master of the whaling ship, the Andrew Hicks .  Sablan was hoping to get $5,000 in damages. Quite a sum.

Did Sablan win his $5,000? Did he stay and die in California?

Still trying to find out.

I FUSIÑOS

Monday, September 22, 2014


So at some point, we don't know exactly when, someone introduced a new farming tool, or ramienta , in the Marianas.

The fusi ñ os , along with the machete, became every Chamorro male's best friend.

It was used to dig holes or to uproot grass and weeds. The long handle, often made of paipai wood, made it work well as a thrust hoe. You lifted the fusi ñ os diagonally and thrust in the opposite direction, and not much muscle was needed.



The fusi ñ os blade, as seen above, had a tooth-like protrusion on one side, to be used when you needed to tug at something to pull away, like a difficult root.


PAIPAI




The wood of choice for the fusi ñ os was the paipai (scientific name, Guamia Mariannae ). First, this wood grew straight, so it could easily be made into a pole. Secondly, the wood was not very heavy, so it could be handled without being tiresome.

ORIGIN

Many sources say, without much documentation, if any, that the word fusi ñ os is Portuguese. Whether that means the tool itself came from some Portuguese settler or visitor to Guam, is not known.

One wonders if this is probable. There were a few Portuguese men who settled on Guam, marrying Chamorros and raising families. For all we know, they introduced this gardening tool. But these numbered just 3 or 4, maybe slightly more, and most, if not all, came to Guam in the 1800s. It seems rather late in the game for the introduction of a farming tool that became so widespread in Chamorro farming.

It seems more likely that it was introduced earlier in colonial times by someone of greater social influence, like a government official or school teacher. Remember that the priests in Hag å t ñ a taught many things, like agriculture, and not just reading and writing. The church school ran its own ranches, too, partly for the needs of the school. From there, new influences could spread all over the islands as the students left school to return to their families.

From the word itself, the name of this implement, we might gather some more clues. The common belief is that the word is Portuguese. Indeed, it is not Spanish.

But the Portuguese word focinho means "muzzle" or "snout," like a pig's snout. There is no other Portuguese word that comes close to the sound of the word fusi ñ o that means anything like a farm implement.

But there is a language spoken in Spain that is closely related to Portuguese - Galician. Many people don't know that there are several languages spoken in Spain, not just Castilian, and that there are numerous local dialects with many words not used anywhere else except in that location.

And lo and behold there is a Galician word fouci ño . The puzzle is that the current meaning of fouci ño is a "scythe" or "sickle." While a scythe is used to cut grass, it is nowhere near a hoe.





The F ouci ño de Ouro, or Golden Scythe
from a children's book in the Galician language

But then one must always remember that words in a language often change in meaning over time. Two or three hundred years ago, when the fusi ñ os was probably introduced on Guam, there could have been an older meaning to a word now used in a different way.

It seems this is the case with fouci ño in the Galician language. An older use of the word fouci ño defines it as a hoe, with a long handle and a curved blade, used in pasturing or to cut branches and bushes with hard stems or stalks. The word is a synonym of the Galician word fouce , related to the Castilian hoz , which means "scythe." *

I think it is a better bet to say that our word fusi ñ os comes from a Spaniard from Galicia (a priest? government official?) who either brought one to Guam where it was replicated, or perhaps even had the first one made right here, based on the tool he knew from back home in Galicia, Spain.

But, it's just a thought. People didn't document a lot of things back then. They thought it wasn't important enough to put to paper.

* http://www.realacademiagalega.org/dicionario_rag/





FAMILY NICKNAMES : TITIRES

Friday, September 19, 2014


There is a Camacho family better-known-as the familian T í tires .

There is a street named T í tires in Maite and some of the family live in that area.

The word t í teres is Spanish, the plural of the singular t í tere and it means "puppet" or "marionette."

But Chamorros added another layer of meaning to it, but one can see where they got it.

P å le' Román's older Chamorro dictionary says that titires can still mean "puppet."

But it can also mean a "buffoon, a joker, a clownish person, a jester."

Modern Chamorro dictionaries add the meaning "unruly" or "ill-mannered."

Since puppets are often used to act out comical antics, it's not surprising that Chamorros expanded the meaning of titires to include the kind of behavior puppets perform.


SA' POT HÅGO NENE

Thursday, September 18, 2014


I like the musical style of the Saralu singers.

Sa' pot h å go nene muna' ti maigo' yo' gi painge.
(Because of you, baby, I couldn't sleep last night.)

Mamomokkat yo' gi hilo' satge, chumuchupa yo' pues hu gimen kafe.
(I walked on the floor, I smoked and drank coffee.)

Sa' pot h å go nene muna' ti maigo' yo' gi painge.
(Because of you, baby, I couldn't sleep last night.)

Hum å nao yo' mamokkat ya hu a'atan hulo' i pilan;
(I went walking and looked up at the stars)
mat å 'chong yo' yan i gital å -ho ya kum å nta yo' ni man na' mahalang. (1)
(I sat with my guitar and sang sad songs.)

Sa' pot h å go nene muna' ti maigo' yo' gi painge .
(Because of you, baby, I couldn't sleep last night.)

Maolek- ñ a mohon yan ti hu sotta hao ya ta hita maigo'
(It would have been better had I not let you go and still sleep together)
lao yanggen lache yo' cha'-mo mamassa' f å f å tto ya un ga'chunge yo' .
( But if I was wrong don't hesitate to come and be with me .)

Um å ' å sson yo' guine an puenge, bira bira yo' gi asson-ho, (2)
(I lie here at night, and toss and turn on my bed.)

Sa' pot h å go nene muna' ti maigo' yo' gi painge.
( Because of you, baby, I couldn't sleep last night .)

Hum å nao yo' mamokkat ya hu a'atan hulo' i pilan;
(I went walking and looked up at the stars )
mat å 'chong yo' yan i gital å -ho ya kum å nta yo' ni man na' mahalang .
( I sat with my guitar and sang sad songs. )

Sa' pot h å go nene muna' ti maigo' yo' gi painge.
( Because of you, baby, I couldn't sleep last night. )

Maolek- ñ a mohon yan ti hu sotta hao ya ta hita maigo'
(It would have been better had I not let you go and still sleep together)
lao yanggen lache yo' cha'-mo mamassa' f å f å tto ya un ga'chunge yo' .
( But if I was wrong don't hesitate to come and be with me .)

Um å ' å sson yo' guine an puenge, bira bira yo' gi asson-ho,
(I lie here at night, and toss and turn on my bed.)

Sa' pot h å go nene muna' ti maigo' yo' gi painge.
( Because of you, baby, I couldn't sleep last night .)

Ai, sa' pot h å go.....
( Oh, because of you.. .)
na ti maigo' yo' gi painge.
( I couldn't sleep last night .)

NOTES

(1) Mah å lang is not exactly "sad." Triste is "sad." To be mah å lang is to be deflated, low in spirits, missing someone or something.

(2) Å sson is "to lie down." Literally the song says he was turning and turning ( bira ) in his "lying down."


ORIGINAL SONG



PICK UP YOUR MONEY!

Wednesday, September 17, 2014



Two guys, possibly brothers, had $1,116 in an account on Guam in 1864.  They were suspected to be living in Hawaii, though, at the time, and I suspect the Spanish government on Guam asked Mr. Wyllie, the Hawaiian Foreign Affairs Minister, to get in contact with the two.

We have no idea who they were and why they had that amount of money stashed at the government treasury on Guam.

They had Spanish first names, Jose and Doroteo (misspelled Dorateo in the notice).

But their last name, Baranas, is a mystery.

Baranas is not a known Spanish surname.  Perhaps it was also misspelled?

The name doesn't appear, as far as we know, in any Guam document.

Is it Filipino? There is a place called Barana in the Philippines. There may be some people with that last name.

Baranas doesn't sound Chamorro.

BARCINAS?

It's just a hunch, but try, if you will, to have the ears of a 19th century American or British clerk (they were often the clerks in Hawaii at the time), trying to spell the unfamiliar name Barcinas.  Remember, these guys are not well-acquainted with Spanish, or Chamorro, sounds. Chances are some Chamorros couldn't even spell their own names, and clerks often didn't even ask you to spell it. The clerk decided how to spell it.

We know, for example, that, in the Hawaiian records, there was a man identified as a native of Guam living in Hawaii since the 1860s. In the Hawaiian records, he is named Jose Bassinus. BAH - SEEN - US. And, one of the 2 Baranas guys in the notice is Jose.

Sounds very suspiciously close to Barcinas. Look at the way our younger, Americanized Chamorros try to spell Chamorro....using their Americanized ears. Månnge' become mungy to some of them.



Here's another reason why I suspect Baranas could really be Barcinas. Remember that initial documents were done by hand, not printed, as in a newspaper. In the penmanship they had in those days, Barcinas would have been written something like the above. You can see how someone unfamiliar with the name Barcinas, depending on just how clear or unclear the writer was, with the C and I close together, could think it was an A. Did the typesetter or newspaper clerk look at something handwritten and misread it? It looks very suspicious to me.

So I wouldn't be surprised is Baranas was some guy's spelling of Barcinas. But all I am willing to say is it's one possibility among many.

One clue : there were, in fact, two brothers named Jose and Doroteo Barcinas. And they seem to have been away from Guam in the 1860s, the time of this notice.

In the end, we have to just admit it's a mystery who they were.

I wonder if they ever did get a hold of their money.  In today's values, their stash was worth around $15,000.

1855 AGAT KONBENTO

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

We have no photos of the Agat Konbento in 1855. But houses in those days tended to look something like this .

Between 1849 and 1855, the village of Hågat (Agat) was getting a new priest house, or konbento . This was certainly needed, since the konbento of Agat was specifically mentioned in Father Ibáñez's chronicle as having suffered damage in the earthquake of January, 1849.

In those days, under the Spanish, the men of the community had to put in a certain amount of hours working on public projects such as the building of roads, bridges and buildings. This was to substitute for taxes, which were not collected in the Marianas, since the people didn't have much money to speak of and whose harvests were not big enough to be treated as a government resource.

Since Catholicism was the state religion under the Spanish in those days, the building of a priest house was a public works project. Sometimes, the konbento was the only stone house in the village. The best they could do in those days was make houses using a mixture of coral rock and mortar, called mampostería .

We have the list of men who worked on the konbento project in Hågat. We don't know exactly what each one did, except for the more skilled ones with titles. The others, we can assume, did the more basic work of carrying, lifting and so forth. It is not certain all these men worked at the same time, or were rather spread out over the six year time period of this project.

SKILLED WORKERS

MASTER CARPENTER
José Mendiola

CARPENTER
José Santos

Francisco Taitano

Gregorio Alejo (1)
SAWYER
Gregorio Mendiola

Basilio Crisóstomo
BRICKLAYER
José Tanoña (2)

Marcelino Demapán (3)

Ramón Cruz

I could be wrong, but these skilled laborers were, perhaps, not all from Hågat.  At least, some of their surnames are not found in documents concerning that village, and other surnames in this list are so common that they could be from Hågat but just as possibly from other places. Since they were skilled workers, perhaps they were hired from Hagåtña or other villages, while the laborers below were Hågat people.


LABORERS

AGUIGUI, José
AGUIGUI, Manuel
AGUIGUI, Sirilo

AQUININGOC, Ramón

BABAUÑA, José (4)
BABAUÑA, Mariano
BABAUÑA, Silvestre

CHARFAUROS, José
CHARFAUROS, Juan
CHARFAUROS, Rafael

CRUZ, Aniceto

EÑAO, Alvino (5)

HOCOG, José (6)

LAGUAÑA, Alvino
LAGUAÑA, Francisco

LASCANO, Manuel (7)

NEDEDOG, José
NEDEDOG, Senén

PINAULA, Fulgencio
PINAULA, Paulino

QUINTANILLA, Anastacio
QUINTANILLA, Blas
QUINTANILLA, Tiburcio

QUITAUJE, Mariano (8)

RODRÍGUEZ, José

ROSA, Francisco de la

SAN NICOLÁS, Ángel
SAN NICOLÁS, Domingo
SAN NICOLÁS, Francisco
SAN NICOLÁS, Ignacio
SAN NICOLÁS, Joaquín
SAN NICOLÁS, José de
SAN NICOLÁS, Rosauro

TAEÑAO, Alejandro

TAISIGO, Ciriaco (9)
TAISIGO, Clemente

TAITIGUAN, Domingo (10)
TAITIGUAN, Manuel

TERLAJE, Juan

Of the 20 surnames listed among the laborers, 14 are Chamorro names.

(1) I have not come across Alejo as a family name before. Unsure who he is. Chamorro? Filipino?

(2) The Tanoña family died out eventually, but there were people with this last name not too long ago.

(3) Some of the Demapans moved to Saipan, where they became more numerous. The branch that remained on Guam was not so numerous.

(4) There was, at one time, a family in Hågat named Babauña. That family name disappeared, though Babauta survived. They are two different families. In old Chamorro, babao meant something like a flag, or banner, or symbol.

(5) Another family that disappeared.

(6) When we hear this name, we think of Luta (Rota) but Hågat also had its own Hocog family, but it died out.

(7) More Lascanos are found in Humåtak. Maybe this one was from Humåtak but moved to Hågat. Or did the Lascano originate in Hågat and some moved to Humåtak? Even the Lascanos in Humåtak died out.

(8) Another old Chamorro family that died out.

(9) A family that died out. Could come from the word sugo' (to stop by, to pass the while, to enter).

(10) Another family whose name faded away. Meaning unsure.

Many names were spelled differently in those days, and there was inconsistency many times, as well. Terlaje was sometimes spelled Tarlaje; Dimapan for Demapan; Jocog for Hocog; Nededoc for Nededog; Tayañao for Taeñao.

Lastly....the project seems to have been completed by 1855. The next year, in 1856, a smallpox epidemic devastated the island, killing off half the population. Many of the men listed here would have been among the dead.

O JESUS BAI IN KANTÅYE

Friday, September 12, 2014


Chamorro hymn to the Holy Name of Mary. The patroness of the Hagåtña Cathedral is the Dulce Nombre de Maria, the Sweet Name of Mary, a different version of the same title. The feast is today, September 12.

O JESUS BAI IN KANTÅYE, si Maria i Nanå-mo :
( Oh Jesus, we will sing to Mary your Mother :)

Nånan Yu'us as Maria, u ma tuna i na'ån-mo.
( Mary, Mother of God, blessed be your name .)

Singko letras ma tuge'-ña, i bonito na na'ån-mo;
( Your beautiful name is spelled with five letters ;)
ti hinentan nu i taotao, pat pine'lo mañaina-mo;
( it was not discovered by man nor given you by your parents ;)
lao tinago' i Saina-ta ni tumungo' i bidå-mo. (1)
( but commanded by Our Lord who knew your life .)

Mames na Nå'an Maria, mames nai i masangån-mo,
( Sweet Name of Mary, it is sweet to pronounce it ,)
långet, tåno' yan i tase, estague' gi matunå-mo.
( in heaven, on earth and sea, there is your praise .)
Tåya' nai gi hilo' tåno' ni umige' i Na'ån-mo.
( There is nothing on earth that surpasses your Name .)

Hågo pulan i hinemhom ya mani'ina gi tano'
( You are the moon in the darkness which shines on earth )
kalan åtdao talo'åne på'go ennao ininå-mo,
( your light is as bright as the noonday sun .)
Nina'inan Yu'us Åtdao as Jesus ni fina'nå-mo. (2)
( illuminated by God the Sun, Jesus, whom you behold .)

Gin in atan i tasi-ta in hasuye i Na'ån-mo; (3)
( When we look at the sea, we remember your Name; )
yagin taichi i tase, taihinekkok i grasiå-mo.
( If the sea i limitless, your grace is without end. )
Yagin sahguan hånom guiya, hågo Sahguan i Saina-mo.
( If the sea contains water, you are the vessel of your Lord .)

U fan magof i tumamtam i minames i Na'ån-mo.
( Those who taste the sweetness of your Name will rejoice .)
Gi inetnon i man ånghet taiminaktos matunå-mo.
( Your praise is eternal among the choirs of angels. )
Asta ke man måtto guennao gi mina'lak echongñå-mo. (4)
( Until we arrive there by your brilliant side. )

NOTES

(1) This line is based on the tradition that SS Joachim and Anne were inspired by God to give their daughter the name Mary.

(2) This verse (quite beautiful) speaks of Mary as the moon. Like the moon, she does not shine her own light, but rather that of the sun, who is Christ, whom she faces, as she is His mother.

(3) This verse is based on one interpretation of the meaning of the name Mary, or Mariam in the Greek New Testament. That theory says the name is based on the word "sea."  Christian theologians who agree with this see in this explanation a connection with Mary as being full of grace, as full as the oceans of the world are full of water. Mary is also called Star of the Sea, the light that guides our lives amidst the stormy waters of the sea.

(4) Here's that word again that modern Chamorros don't understand. The meaning has been lost. They confuse it with the word echong , which means "crooked." But there is a separate word echongña , which means "side."


From von Preissig's dictionary



THE AFLAGUE SISTERS

Thursday, September 11, 2014


In the early 1900s, several sisters, descendants of a Chamorro settler, enjoyed great success entertaining Hawaiians with song and dance.

Ignacio Aflague left Guam in the 1870s and eventually set up home in Hawaii, on the Big Island. In 1885, he married a Portuguese settler, Maria (or Mary) de Rego Souza. The couple had eight children together.

One son Joseph, had Enos for a middle name. Pronounced by an American, Enos would sound like ee-nos, which is close to the pronunciation of the Chamorro nickname for Ignacio, which is Inas. Is there a connection between Enos and Ignacio in Joseph's case? Joseph worked for the Oahu Railway and Land Company and eventually opened a business of his own, Aflague's Machine Works in Honolulu.

But far more prominent in Hawaii's social scene in the early 1900s were Ignacio's youngest daughter, who formed a singing group called the Aflague Sisters, sometimes called the Little Aflague Sisters.




And they certainly were little when they performed before the audience. Lucille, who played the ukulele, was but 11 years old when she and her younger sister Adeline began entertaining as a duo in 1910. Adeline was only 9 years old. They continued to perform frequently throughout the 1910s, right through the First World War until 1919. The sisters were now young adults with an eye towards marriage and family life and future careers. But while they performed, they were very popular with the crowds. They did it all; Spanish dances, Hawaiian songs and current hits.

They sang and danced not only at concert halls and theaters, but also for benefits, once for the Sacred Heart Church at Punahou.

An older daughter was Constance, who was a teacher (at one time in Waipahu) and who eventually married Louis Vivien in 1911 at Saint Augustine Catholic Church in Waikiki.

Another daughter was Gloria Aflague, who was a pianist and who married as early as 1902, to one J.E. Lewis.

Caroline, just a bit older than the two performing little sisters, married Henry Hanberg, Sr, and moved to California.

I don't know much about the oldest daughter Maria. Another son, Manuel, was a mechanic, and later an engineer, who lived on the Big Island for a time. He married Mae (May) Hurst and moved to the US mainland, passing away in Philadelphia, PA in 1969.

Though being Aflagues, the performing, little sisters were called by Hawaii newspapers "well-known members" of Hawaii's Portuguese community. This is understandable. Hawaii had a large Portuguese community while the Chamorros were just a handful. It was easier for the Aflague sisters to mix with their mother's Portuguese side, as her mother's family were in Hawaii while Ignacio did not have his siblings in Hawaii. Hawaii's Portuguese formed clubs and associations, while Hawaii's small Chamorro population were too scattered and few in number to do so at the time.






HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Wednesday, September 10, 2014


At least a week after the person is buried, rearrange the bedroom and all its furniture.

If there's anything worse for old-time Chamorros than someone dying, it's the return of that someone who died!

When we send them off to the afterlife, we want them to stay there!

We love and miss them, but that doesn't mean we want them showing up at the foot of our bed in the middle of the night. Or pinching us in our sleep. Or making noises and moving framed pictures.

We'll pray for their eternal repose and hopefully meet them again in heaven. But, for now, we want them to wait till that glorious day and save their visits for later, not now.

Now, what has this to do with the custom, observed by some, of rearranging the bedroom furniture after the burial?

According to one elder,

" Åmbres gi halom homhom un tungo' ha' m å no i chalan." ( Even in the dark, you know where the path is .)

One knows the lay of the land of one's bedroom so well from being in it so often that, even in the darkness, one can find his way. How much more a spirit that returns from the dead can find its way through the darkness of the bedroom when it wants to visit the survivors.

But if you rearrange the furniture,

" Yanggen m å tto ta'lo i espiritu ti u tungo'. " ( If the spirit comes again, he won't know the way .)

Poor grandma! " H å ye pumo'lo i kaohao guine m å gi? Est å ba guennao guato !" ( Who put the storage chest over here? It used to be over there! )

So, forgive us, grandma if you stub your toe on your way into the bedroom. It's just our way of saying, "Let's just meet again on Judgment Day. For now, we need to sleep!"

CHAMORRO DIVERS & AN ENGLISH OPERA SINGER

Tuesday, September 9, 2014


In 1866, a German ship, the Libelle , left San Francisco, California intending to journey to Hong Kong. Guam was not even remotely part of their travel plans. After stopping at Honolulu, the ship proceeded towards Hong Kong.

But the ship encountered a storm on the high seas and hit a coral reef at Wake Island in the dark hours of March 4. The ship was unable to proceed. Three weeks were spent on Wake, salvaging what they could from the Libelle .  Fresh water was not to be found on Wake, and, while sea birds were a good supply of protein, their salvaged food stock was bound to run out. That's when Guam flashed in the mind of German captain Tobias. On two row boats, they would be able to transport the 30 crew members and passengers to safety on Spanish-held Guam. On Guam, there'd be no risk of being killed (and eaten) by islanders, as did in fact happen on rare occurrences in the Pacific.

And what passengers they were! An English opera troupe on a world tour, with their star, Anna Bishop, plus her husband and New York diamond merchant named Martin Schultz. Charles Lascelles, a pianist, as well. A diplomat for the Hawaiian Government, Eugene Van Reed, and a Japanese diplomat (one Kisaburo) were also hitching a ride on the Libelle , hoping to get to Japan.


Anna Bishop
British Opera Star stranded on Guam in 1866

Before leaving Wake, it was said that Tobias had left behind a considerable fortune worth around $150,000, consisting of coins, precious stones and mercury (called quicksilver in old reports) in individual flasks. These were goods picked up in San Francisco and entrusted to him for transport to the Far East.

The boat taking Bishop and the others in her party made it safely to Guam in about 2 weeks, arriving on April 8. But the second boat containing Captain Tobias and much of his crew capsized and those men were presumed dead.

Marianas Governor Francisco Moscoso y Lara received the survivors with hospitality, even sending out search parties for Captain Tobias, finding no trace. The search party was lead by the boat owner, the British George H. Johnston. The motive was not entirely altruistic. According to the laws of the day, Johnston could keep a third of the remnants of the Libelle , including the treasure, if found, and the Spanish Government in the Marianas the remaining two-thirds.

While the Spanish were looking into the fate of Captain Tobias and his lost treasure, the survivors could not leave Guam, except for the two diplomats who left Guam for Hong Kong after a few weeks. When Johnston returned with no news of Tobias but, with some of the valuable goods he managed to recover, the survivors were allowed to sail on to Manila on June 25th on Johnston's ship.
According to Father Ib á ñ ez's chronicle, Johnston came back with more than 100,000 pesos in coin and silver bars

One can only imagine what Anna Bishop and the others did on Guam for those almost three months. To undergo a shipwreck and lose much of your possessions, to spend three weeks on a somewhat desolate atoll and then almost two weeks on the ocean sailing for Guam, one wonders what kind of emotional state they were in. Perhaps they were glad to be on a larger island with some comforts, with the small goings on of Spanish colonial life. Bishop, and Charles Lascelles, a pianist, did put on a few concerts while on Guam.  Lascelles was the first to play the organ on Guam (at the church?) and taught others to play it well, according to Ib á ñ ez. Though Protestant, imagine renowned world opera star Anna Bishop, who had sung for kings and princes in Europe, singing a motet in the Hag å t ñ a Church!  We do know that Bishop wrote from Guam to a friend in San Francisco telling him of their misfortune but also miraculous survival.


The anchor of the Libelle, found on Wake long after the storm


CHAMORRO DIVERS?

Johnston had not grabbed all what remained of the lost treasures of the Libelle , and news traveled fast. Soon, interested parties from both directions (Hawaii and China) were setting out for Wake to hunt for Captain Tobias' hidden treasure.

According to one report by a Hawaii paper, the First Mate of the Libelle , who made it successfully to Guam on the one boat, returned to Wake in search of the treasure.* He was well-equipped with weapons and brought with him a group of "expert divers from Guam." At Wake, he met Thomas Foster of Hawaii with his own crew of Hawaiian divers. Both of them unwilling to cede to the other, they agreed to split what they found fifty fifty. Foster returned to Hawaii, and the First Mate of the Libelle went to Hong Kong. To this day, not all of the alleged treasure on Wake has been found.

Now the question is, assuming the news report is true : who were these "expert divers from Guam?" Well, who lived on Guam at the time, who would have had a background in diving? I doubt the few Spaniards on Guam would fit that description, but who knows? Were they Chamorros? Perhaps a few Filipinos resident on Guam? Carolinians, also residing on Guam?

When the search was over, the First Mate went from Wake to Hong Kong, according to the newspaper. That means the "expert divers" from Guam also went to Hong Kong. From there, they may have found their way back to Guam. Or maybe not.

* The Hawaiian Gazette , January 21, 1890

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Friday, September 5, 2014


Sen tungu'on yanggen gaige
sa' lumo'lo' gi besino.
Ya manlolo'lo' pumalo,
lao lilo'- ñ a konosido.

It's very easy to know when he's around
because he coughed at the neighbor's.
And while others are coughing,
his cough is recognizable.


Those were the days when houses were so close to each other, you could hear someone cough in the next house.

Tungu'on = the suffix -on means "able to." Tungo' (to know) becomes tungu'on , "knowable."

Konosido = borrowed from the Spanish conocer , which means to be acquainted with, to know in an experiential or personal way.






PICK UP YOUR MAIL, VICENTE!

Thursday, September 4, 2014


Chamorros have been moving to Hawaii since the whaling days of the early 1800s. Unfortunately, many of them did not go by the usual names they had but had their names modified so that Americans in Hawaii could more easily pronounce them. Some were even called by their nicknames.

Many Chamorros have Spanish names, so at times it is impossible to tell from a list in Hawaii if the Cruz or the Santos is a Chamorro or someone else, a Puerto Rican or Portuguese, for example.

But Pangelinan is a good bet. It's a Pampanga (Filipino) name but with a branch that had been planted on Guam since the 1700s, intermarried with Chamorros and became Chamorros. Filipinos also spell it Pangilinan while Chamorros spell it Pangelinan.

In an 1871 list of people in Honolulu who still hadn't picked up their mail, we find the name of one Vicente Pangelinan.  There is, in fact, documentation that a Ben Pangelinan from Guam moved to Hawaii around the year 1860.  Ben lived in the Big Island some years. Maybe that's why he hadn't picked up his mail at the Honolulu Post Office for a while.

KÅNTA : I NANA GI FAMILIA

Wednesday, September 3, 2014


I nana gi familia, masea chatpago pat bonita;
ta hongge gi todos i tiempo, sa' kalan å nghet para hita.
(The mother of the family, whether plain or beautiful;
we believe her all the time, because she is like an angel to us.)

Ti bonita si nan å -ho, ti u ma ayek para raraina;
lao bonit å - ñ a si nan å -ho ke un bl å ndin Amerik å na.
(My mother wasn't beautiful, she wouldn't be chosen to be a queen;
but my mother was more beautiful than a blonde American.)

Ti ha chagi si nan å -ho, i "latest style" siha gi tienda;
lao todo i tiempo listo i modan-m å me, masea pinat man ma limenda.
(My mother didn't try the latest styles in the store;
but our clothes were always ready, even when most of them were repaired.)

Ti umeskuela si nan å -ho, ti settifiko ni sikiera un diploma;
lao guiya ha' ham fuman å 'gue, na si Yu'us na bai adora.
(My mother didn't go to school, she didn't have a certificate or even a diploma;
but it was she who taught us that it is God we are to adore.)

Todos hamyo ni man n å na, gof takkilo' i sagan-miyo;
si Yu'us en fan binendise pot todos i bidan-miyo.
(All you mothers, you have a very high place;
God bless you for all you have done.)

Esta taigue p å 'go si n å na, lao magof yo' humongge todos;
sa' esta hu tungo' na si n å na, gaige p å 'go gi fi'on as Yu'us.
(My mother is now gone, but I am happy to believe all she taught;
because I already know that mom is now at God's side.)

ORIGINAL



MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Pacific Daily News

It's happened before.  As far back as 1884.

The main ocean currents in the north Pacific, at least as far as they affect the Marianas, go from west to east; from California, past Hawaii to the Marianas.

Here, take a look :



So when people on the West Coast of the U.S. throw messages in bottles into the sea, it isn't surprising that some end up in the Marianas.

What is surprising is how long people have been doing it!

The earliest attestation I have found happened in 1884. That bottle was thrown into the sea from the steamer the Columbia in 1882. Two years later, it washed up on Saipan.

In January of 1898, one Clement Wragge, aboard the Zealandia , travelling from San Francisco to Australia, threw his message in a bottle into the sea.

On June 21st of that same year, on Guam, a Chamorro man walking along the shoreline at Ylig Bay, happened to notice a bottle with a piece of paper inside. His name was Rafael de Leon Guerrero. He turned it into authorities in Hagåtña. A sea captain, Captain Turner, who obviously spoke English, revealed that it was from a man named Wragge and the story was sent to newspapers here and there.

Source : The Independent (Honolulu), September 16, 1898

ILEK-ÑA SI PÅLE'

Friday, August 29, 2014


A sermon from 1963

Malago' yo' hu na' saonao sumångan guine una kosa.
(I want to include saying here one thing.)

Ti maolek yanggen i lahe u dingo i familiån-ña pot para u kefañodda' che'cho'-ña gi otro na lugåt.
(It isn't good if the man leaves his family in order to try to find work in another place.)

Intension-ña si Yu'us na i lahe yan i palao'an ni umassagua debe de u dadanña' ha'.
(It is God's intention that the married man and woman should remain together.)

Yanggen i lahe ni gai asagua ha dingo i familiån-ña ya malak otro na lugåt para u o'salappe', ha po'lo i familiån-ña gi meggai na peligro.
(If the married man leaves his family and goes to another place to look for money, he puts his family in a lot of danger.)

Maulek-ña ha' para i lahe yanggen dumadanña' yan i familiå-ña ya ti guailaye u nina' låstima nu ayo na salåppe' i siña mohon ha gånna yanggen humånao gue'.
(It's better that the man be together with his family and it won't be necessary to waste that money which he might gain if he goes.)

I lahe ni dumingo i asaguå-ña yan familiån-ña pot para u fanaligao che'cho'-ña gi otro na lugåt, mama'titinas meggai na tentasion para guiya yan para i asaguå-ña.
(The man who leaves his wife and family to look for work in another place, creates a lot of temptation for him and for his wife.)

Ayo lugåt-ña i lahe annai gaige i asaguå-ña yan i familiån-ña.
(The man's place is where his wife and family are.)


GRAMMATICAL NOTE

O' : is a prefix that means "in search of" or "to be in motion towards completing an act." It can also be rendered E'

O' salappe' : to go in search of money

O' faisen : to go in search of answers, information.

E' panglao : to go in search of land crabs

E' gagao : to go with a request in mind

FAMILIA : SAN AGUSTIN

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Former Speaker Joe T. San Agustin

The last name San Agustin does not appear in any Spanish records in the Marianas till the 1800s.

By that time, contact with Mexico was gone, since the war for Mexican independence began in 1815. That was the year the last Acapulco galleon sailed for Manila.

After 1815, the bulk of all outside contact with the Marianas, save for the whalers, was through Manila, and more and more Filipinos settled on Guam.

The first San Agustin to move to Guam could have come from many places, but the Philippines would be a good guess.

It seems that he had five children. We can account for two sons, Vicente and Mariano, and they both had the middle name Tainatongo, believed to be an indigenous, Chamorro name.  Today, one thinks of Malesso' when they hear Tainatongo, but the family actually was from Hag å t ñ a and some moved down to Malesso' years later.

Vicente Tainatongo San Agustin married Juana Crisostomo, the daughter of Maria Crisostomo. Her father seems to be unknown. They had a good number of children.

Mariano Tainatongo San Agustin married Maria del Espiritu Santo. I don't know Maria's parents. They, too, had a good number of children.

All the other San Agustins in the 1897 Census are women (three) so it seems that these two males, Vicente and Mariano, are the male ancestors of the San Agustins of Guam.

Though a small clan and of recent foundation, the San Agustins have made their impact on the island, producing civil servants, government heads, a laicized priest* and a teaching sister/principal.

* Laicized means a priest who no longer functions as a priest and returns to the lay state.

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO'

Wednesday, August 27, 2014


Ti pot i kantid å lao i fina'tinas.

(It's not the quantity, but the work.)

This is our version of the English adage, "Quality over quantity."

The Chamorro version is not quite exactly the same as the English, though essentially they say the same thing.

The Chamorro version speaks of the fina'tinas , the work itself.  The work, the end result, the product will speak for itself, whether it came out well or not.

Another interpretation is : it might have been a small thing, but a bad thing nonetheless!

For example :

~ Diåche si Juan sa' ha sakengguan yo' singko pesos!
(Gosh that Juan, he stole five dollars from me! )

~ Dalai hao, ti meggagai ennao i singko pesos!
( Oh please, five dollars isn't much! )

~ Ti pot i kantidå, lao i fina'tinas!
( It's not the quantity, but the deed itself! )



I LINAO GI 1902 NA SÅKKAN

Tuesday, August 26, 2014


Sept 22, 1902
1124AM

One of the most significant earthquakes in recorded Guam history occurred in 1902 close to noon.

These were the days before earthquake intensities were registered, so we don't know just how strong it was in terms of a scale. But we know from the effects that it was extremely strong.

Before there was any movement, people heard a deep murmuring under the ground. Then - three big jolts, followed by a lighter one. Then, for two and a half minutes (go ahead, time it and feel how long it was), the whole island felt like a ship rolling on huge sea waves.

The earthquake was felt as far north as Saipan, but, of course, not as strongly and with no significant damage there.

When the earthquake was over, here's what people saw :

1. All the stone homes and buildings showed some damage; many were damaged beyond repair. As someone said, the typhoon of 1897 hurt the poor, who lived in wooden and thatched homes easily blown away, and in the earthquake of 1902 it was the turn of the rich, who lived in stone homes, to feel the pain.

These houses of masonry were cracked, sagging and distorted. One sank 2 feet into the ground. The clay tiles that covered the roofs of most of them fell off and cracked.

And this was not just in Hag å t ñ a. Hum å tak's small stone church was damaged completely.

2. Bridges fell in many places, impeding travel between villages separated by rivers. The one linking Hag å t ñ a with Piti, where the government warehouse was located, was one such bridge that fell.

3. The ground opened up in many places. Salt water would gush forth from some of these fissures. Some of them emitted gaseous vapors.

4. There were landslides, too, in some places.

5. Telephone poles swayed to and fro, and some collapsed, disrupting telephone service, which, all the same, mainly serviced the military, government and a few private citizens.

6. Because of damage to schools, classes were interrupted for up to two years in some places.

7. Was the island raised? Chamorro boatmen noticed after the earthquake that the channels at low tide were lower than usual. They reported this observation to Governor Schroeder. After sending people out to investigate other points along the coast, they all reported that the water was shallower a full six inches. Some speculated that the earthquake was caused by volcanic activity under the ocean and lifted the island.

8. Thankfully, there was only one fatality, when falling debris, after the earthquake subsided, fell on someone and killed him or her. There were a number of injuries.

There were many after shocks after the earthquake, nearly every day for weeks, up to March of 1903. It's hard to tell if the tremors felt that late were aftershocks or new seismic incidents.

Some suspected that earthquakes in the Philippines in August of 1902 may have triggered Guam's in September.



Hag å t ñ a's church (not a Cathedral yet) suffered major damage in 1902. Major repairs would take more than ten years to complete.

(Yes, that's a big pile of rubble from the parts of the stone church that fell in the earthquake)

PÅTGON SANHIYONG

Monday, August 25, 2014


What was the traditional Chamorro attitude towards illegitimate children?

It's an interesting question because there was a high frequency of illegitimate births among Chamorros even when religion pervaded the atmosphere a hundred years ago.  Almost every family had an occurrence of illegitimate births somewhere along the way.

But it was normally considered something scandalous.  Let's hear what one of our ma ñ aina in the clip has to say.

First, I ask her what is the Chamorro custom concerning illegitimate children.  She says,

"I sinanganen- ñ a si nan å -ho annai kokkokolo' yo' ilek- ñ a, este i patgon sanhiyong ma n å na'na'.  Anggen p å 'go ma fa'tinas, ma n å na'na' i nana, sa' ma å ' å lok eyo na kalan desgustao gi familia, man a'abak, pues ilek- ñ a ma n å na'na' sa' na' mamahlao gi familia, d å ngkulo na eye i kalan isao na cho'cho' gi familia ni ma sedi ayo na p å tgon para u mafa ñ å go.  An mafa ñ å go ayo na p å tgon, matakp å nge ha', lao kalan ma n å na'na'." ( My mother's saying when I was growing up was that the illegitimate child was hidden.  When the child is born, the mother hides it, because they said it was like a dishonor in the family, they went astray, so she said they hid the child because it was shameful for the family, it was like a sinful thing for the family to let that child be born illegitimate.  When the child was born, it was baptized, but it was like they hid the child .)

I then told her that I had heard that some fathers who had illegitimate children did take care of them, even making them heirs of his property.  She said,

"I para u ma erensia i patgon bast å tdo?  Ennague ma s å s å ngan na anggen gai tano' ya sopbla lao man mofo'na i famagu'on propio ni i famagu'on sakramento." ( To make heirs of the illegitimate child?  That's what they say when the person has land and has extra land, but his proper children from the sacrament of matrimony come first." )

So, to sum up the traditional Chamorro attitudes :

1. Though it happened quite a lot, illegitimate births were not something to be proud of, much less think normal.  It was considered a moral failure, and to be hid as much as possible.

2. One way they did this was not to throw christening parties for the child.  The child was baptized, but quietly.

3. Rarely were illegitimate children told who their biological fathers were.  It was not a topic for open discussion.  Sometimes the child was lucky to hear from someone outside the immediate family who the father was.

4. Sometimes the illegitimate child was acknowledged by the biological father and taken cared of by him, usually from a distance because he normally had his own wife and children from her, whom he had to care for up close.

The common Chamorro term for a child born out of wedlock was p å tgon sanhiyong . It means, "Child from the outside," meaning "outside marriage" or "outside the union of husband and wife."

A harsher word, usually avoided and not told to the illegitimate child directly, was bast å tdo , meaning "bastard," borrowed from the Spanish language.

DON'T MESS WITH ZABLAN

Friday, August 22, 2014


Joaquin Pangelinan Zablan, a Chamorro from Guam, left his island home for another, Hawaii.

Usually young Chamorro men left Guam in those days aboard the whaling ships, with hardly a peso to their name.

It seems life was eventually good to Joaquin because by 1880 he was able to buy a cattle ranch on the Big Island.  Cattle rustling may have been a problem, as he thought it necessary to take out an ad in a Hawaii newspaper to warn people and their animals to stay off his property.

MORE CONFUSING CHAMORRO HYMNS

Thursday, August 21, 2014


Some Chamorro hymns can be confusing because some of the words in those hymns are no longer understood by modern-day speakers.

For example, I've already written about the word echong ñ å -mo , which has nothing to do with echong (crooked) or ñ å mo (mosquito).

www.paleric.blogspot.com/2014/06/tunanas-gi-echongna-mo.html

Here are two more examples.

TAG Å HLO

In the hymn, S å ngan Å nte , the line goes, " S å ngan å nte i tag å hlo na misterion i attat ."

Some people think the word tag å hlo means Tagalog.

"Kada m å tai i Tag å lo, estague' para kant å n- ñ a."

"Every time a Filipino dies, this will be his hymn."

But the word comes from the union of the prefix tak , which means "very," and hulo' , which means "high."

Tak is softened to tag , and hulo ' is modified to åhlo .

So, tag å hlo means "exalted, very high, superior, lofty" and so on.

Our ancestors also used the tak + hulo' combination to form the word takhilo' , which also means "very high."

We see tak used in other words, like

takpapa ' = very low

taklalo' = easily angered

takkalom = deep in the inside, interior ( tak + h ålom )

So the hymn is saying, "Say, my soul, of the exalted mystery of the altar."

LALAKSE'

This word is used in the hymn Ma'lak na Puti'on T å se (Bright Star of the Sea), a hymn to Mary.

The line goes, " chachal å ne i batko-ko su'on mo'na gi tano'-ho ya u f å tto lalakse' ."

Some people think it refers to a seamstress or tailor.

The word l å kse means "to sew."  Someone who sews is a lalakse .

So someone said, " Yanggen man m å tto hit gi langet, para ta fan man l å l å kse ha' ."

"When we get to heaven, we will just be sewing."

But the word used in this hymn is not lalakse but lalakse' .

Notice the use of the glota ( ' ) at the end.

It comes from the word guse' , which means "fast, quick."

The prefix la in Chamorro means "more."

So la + t å ft å f becomes lataftaf which means "earlier."

La + ch å go' bcomes lachago' which means "farther."

La + guse' becomes laguse' , but this can also be shortened to lakse' , both of which mean "faster."

The duplication of la (from la to lala ) indicates an intensifier. Lalakse' means "very fast."

So the line in the hymn means, "guide my boat pushing it forward to my land and it will arrive swiftly."

It's poetic language meaning, "guide my soul to heaven and I will get to heaven swiftly."


CHAMORRO PETROGLYPHS ON TINIAN

Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Father Marcian at Fr Marcian Cave
A recent article in the Marianas Variety reminds us of the existence of ancient Chamorro petroglyphs in Tinian, and the American Capuchin missionary who helped bring them to light.


Archaeologists are working at the moment to photograph and catalog a wide range of cultural treasures unearthed in Tinian for many years.  Tinian had, at one time, a thriving and prominent Chamorro population. The latte stones at the House of Taga, though all but one are toppled, are the tallest in the Marianas, at least that we know about.

In the 1950s, Father Marcian Pellett, a Capuchin priest who came to Guam in 1940 before WW2, was the one and only missionary on Tinian. Among the many things he did, he looked all over Tinian for historic sites and artifacts. He discovered ancient pictures marked on the walls of a cave.  They are very similar to other Chamorro petroglyphs found on Guam and Saipan.

That cave is still called "Father Marcian Cave." He also found, there and in other sites, pottery remains, shell pendants, beads, sinkers and stones possibly used as adzes or knives. Together with archaeologist Alexander Spoehr of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, he wrote an article about these findings that was published in a scholarly journal in 1961.


A page from Fr Marcian's article detailing some of his findings


FR. MARCIAN PELLETT, OFM Cap
(1909-1996)

Pastor of Tinian (1949-1958; 1968-1970)
Amateur archaeologist and artist

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : EKKIS

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

EKKIS : the letter X; also, to cross out something or mark something with an X

Ekkis måno malago'-mo para ineppe-mo . Put an X on what you want for your answer.

Pot i ti siña ha fitma, ha ekkis ha' i pappet. Because she couldn't sign it, she just marked the paper with an X.

Yanggen un na' bubu yo' bai ekkis na'ån-mo gi lista! If you make me angry, I'll cross your name off the list!

Esta yo' ma ekkis. I've already been marked with an X.




OLD SAIPAN POLITICS : POPULAR & TERRITORIAL

Monday, August 18, 2014

Territorial Party Candidates in Saipan
1974

"Popular" and "Territorial" were political labels, not only on Guam, but also in Saipan, once upon a time.

On Guam, the Popular Party morphed into the Democratic Party in 1960, while the Territorials struggled on a few more years, disappearing by 1968 when most (not all) of its members became Republicans.

In Saipan, the differences between the Populars and the Territorials also centered on whether to reunify with Guam or to seek its own political arrangement directly with the U.S.

Many of Saipan's business leaders opposed reunification and thus were Territorials. Saipan's Carolinian community felt they would be more of a minority among even more Chamorros if Saipan merged politically with Guam and they, too, supported the Territorials. Rota and Tinian, already overshadowed by Saipan, feared being minimized even further by uniting with Guam and thus the majority there also supported the Territorials.

Here's what Tan Esco had to say about it :



~ Gi un tiempo est å ba dos na pattida giya Saipan, i Territorial yan i Popular. H å fa na diferensia?
~ At one time there were two parties on Saipan, the Territorial and the Popular. What was the difference?

~ Ilek- ñ iha na i Popular mamopble ha' na inetnon yan i Territorial i inetnon i man riko.
~ They said that the Popular were only the poor group and the Territorial was the group of the rich.

~ Ennaogue' siha. Pues hame man Popular ham.
~ That was it. Well we were Popular.

~ Ya muna' diferensiao lokkue' todo i dos i uno ya- ñ a eyi i reunification.
~ And what also made both of them different was that one wanted reunification .

~ Hami ni Popular .
~ We the Populars .

~ Yan-miyo.
~ You wanted it.

~ Lao i Territorial å he' sa' para u direct. Eyi ilek- ñ a na para u direct U.S.
~ But the Territorials didn't because they wanted it direct. What they called direct U.S .

~ Ennaogue' siha fina' cho'cho'- ñ iha.
~ That's what they were doing.

So Tan Esco, though a business woman herself, supported reunification with Guam and was a Popular Party member. The Populars felt that merging with Guam offered the best political and economic advantages for the northern Marianas; in general, towards becoming part of the American family.

The Populars really had the advantage for many years, obtaining majorities in Saipan's political bodies. Twice the people of Saipan voted for reunification (in 1957 and 1963). But, on Guam, in 1969, reunification was voted down. But the voter turn-out was low (32%).

Imagine if reunification had been achieved in the early 1970s.

Learn more about the issue in :

http://www.guampedia.com/history-of-efforts-to-reunify-the-mariana-islands/

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO'

Friday, August 15, 2014


Nina' fan li'e hao nu i semnak lao si ñ a lokkue' sinengge hao.

The sunlight enables you to see, but it can also burn you.


BRITISH SHIPWRECK AT TINIAN

Thursday, August 14, 2014

October 4, 1848

The British ship Canton sailed peacefully out of Sydney, Australia in September, with China as her destination.

All was well till the early morning hours of October 4th when it was caught in a terrible storm.  Under these circumstances, the ship could not avoid hitting the reef off of Tinian. It is not known why the ship would have been in the Marianas in the first place, if they were indeed heading for China.

The ship lost 20 men, buried in the waters off Tinian.  Its 507 tons of cargo were also lost, including over a dozen horses.

Five members managed to get into a lifeboat and escape before the ship went down : William Foxal, Thomas Avent, William Thompson, and two unnamed others, a seaman and a boy.

These five survivors were well-received by the small group of Chamorro laborers living on Tinian at the time. These laborers, all from Guam, worked on Tinian's cattle ranches for two or three years at a time, providing beef for Guam. Sometimes Filipino convicts also lived on Tinian for brief periods, doing the same work. Carolinians would sail their boats up and down the Marianas sent on errands by the Spanish government.

After nine days on Tinian, the five survivors were sent to Guam. After some time there, they were sent to Manila where eventually they found passage to their homelands.

I KADIDOK NA MACHETTE

Tuesday, August 12, 2014


An old Chamorro tale.

Un taotao mat å t å 'chong gi pettan iya siha,
( A man was sitting at the door of their place ,)

ya ha li'e m å gi i asagu å - ñ a na ginen umo'mak.
( and he saw his wife coming who had bathed .)

Ya ma sosotta i gapunilu- ñ a* ya ma s å s å dda' i lipes- ñ a.
( And her hair was hanging down and her skirt lifted up .)

Nina' bubu i taotao ya ilek- ñ a :
( The man got angry and said :)

"Tai mamahlao!  H å fa na un bebende hao!"
(" Shameless! Why are you selling yourself! ")

Ya ha hakot i gapunilu- ñ a ya ha utot todo ni macheti- ñ a,
( and he grabbed her hair and cut it all off with his machete ,)

ya ayo na machette t å t nai ha nesesita ma gu å ssa' desde ayo.
( and that machete never had to be sharpened since then .)

* Variations for hair are gapunulo , gaputulo , gaputilo .  The last word is ulo or head .

STRANDED ON GUAM : THANKS TO OLE DIXIE

Thursday, August 7, 2014

James Waddell

Confederate Navy Lt. James Waddell, from North Carolina, had only one mission : make life hell for Union merchant ships wherever he found them.  Mind you; these merchant ships were not warships and were unarmed.  But war is war and the Confederacy wanted to hamper Union commercial activity and weaken the enemy in every way.

His ship, the CSS Shenandoah , was bought in Britain so it sailed first in the Atlantic. Then Waddell sailed to Australia and Singapore, which were under the British. Afterwards, towards the end of 1864, he sailed up to the Marianas, then under Spain.

From the Marianas, he went east towards Ponape. Ponape was in frequent contact with Hawaii in those days. Protestant missionaries, usually from New England, worked in Hawaii and also in the Marshalls, Kosrae and Ponape.  Hawaii was an independent monarchy in 1864, but many Americans, usually from Union states, worked for the Hawaiian government.

In Ponape, Waddell found a ship flying the Hawaiian flag. But, as predicted, the ship's officers were Americans from Union states. The crew was made up mostly of Hawaiian natives.

Waddell insisted that the commander of that Hawaiian ship surrender to him. Under protest, but unable to fight militarily, the commander agreed and vacated the ship. Waddell proceeded to board that ship, take what he wanted and then burned it down. Leaving Ponape, Waddell went on to destroy a dozen or so Union merchant ships in the North Pacific.


Waddell's ship
CSS Shenandoah

The American officers and the Hawaiian crew lived on Ponape, supported by those islanders. During this time, they repaired an abandoned whale boat and, when ready, set sail for Guam. From there they hoped to meet more seafaring traffic.

They arrived on Guam in July of 1865 and had to wait for six months before they could get a ride elsewhere. For those six months, they were well-received by the Spanish authorities on Guam. When a British ship touched at Guam, the Spanish Governor agreed to pay half the price of the transportation for these stranded Americans/Hawaiians, the other half to be paid by the American and Hawaiian consulates where they should land. Eventually, the Spanish Governor was reimbursed.

For six months, a few American seamen and a larger crew of Hawaiians, lived on Guam. Chamorros saw them on a daily basis. In Spanish times, a Chamorro knew who a kanaka was. It was a common term, not intended to be derogatory at the time, for Hawaiian natives.

Waddell, by the way, later surrendered the Shenandoah to a British officer at the end of the Civil War; the last Confederate vessel to take down its "bars and stars" flag. Waddell returned to the U.S. some time later, but stayed far away from Hawaii, where he was liable to be arrested for piracy.

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Tuesday, August 5, 2014


Yanggen meggai na kapitan, ma fondo i batko.

(When there are many captains, the boat sinks.)

Ti u fanmang å nna i un b å nda yanggen puro ha' kapitan lao diddide' send å lo.
(The one side won't win, if they are all captains but have few soldiers.)

Guse'- ñ a i taotao man å go', ke ni ma t å go'.
(People are faster to order, rather than be ordered.)

Man inkibukao i taotao siha yanggen meggai na m å 'gas ni ti man a'aya.
(The people will be confused if there are many leaders who do not agree with each other.)

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : PEKAS

Friday, August 1, 2014


PEKAS : freckles, spots, specks, splotches, mildew stains

Borrowed from the Spanish peca , with pretty much the same meanings

Bula pek å s- ñ a i mag å go sa' ginen fotgon . The clothes have many mildew stains because they were wet.

Gai pekas mat å - ñ a i Amerik å na. The American lady's face has freckles.

Na' fa ñ uha i pekas gi lemmai. Take away the spots from the breadfruit.


TEXTBOOKS IN THE 1890s

Thursday, July 31, 2014

A cat ó n printed in Manila in 1919
( School books for the Marianas were shipped from Manila so it wouldn't be surprising at all if some books used in our schools were printed in Manila )

Guam's schools under the Spanish administration in the late 1800s, though limited in number and student population, did use textbooks, of a sort!  Documents survive from the Marianas reporting the titles and quantities of these books used in the schools of Guam, Luta and Saipan.

Along with maps, large pictures and mathematical tables, school books were also used. The basic subjects taught were the Spanish language (reading, writing and grammar), the Catholic faith, arithmetic and geography.

For the teaching of religion, the catechism of Father Astete and a book of Bible stories ( Historia Sagrada ) were used.  These books were in Spanish. Father Ib á ñ ez's few books in Chamorro ( El Verdadero Cristiano Instruido/Y Magajet na Quilisyano Manaeyac , for example) were also used while supplies lasted.  Ib á ñ ez was a long-time Spanish priest in Hag å t ñ a and spoke Chamorro.

Another standard text used in classrooms in the schools of the Marianas was the cat ó n .

A cat ó n was an elementary guide to pronunciation and reading, including multiplication tables, basic catechism and short stories often having a moral lesson to them.


Although to our eyes the cat ón seems rather simplistic, it was a great aid to the very young in learning how to enunciate and how to pace their public reading.



Religion was always incorporated even into secular subjects.  Here, the seven precepts of the Church are listed.  The dashes are there to help the reader clearly enunciate the different syllables.

Chances are your great-grandparents or grandparents used a cat ón very similar to this one.

Sometimes we don't realize just how educated our great-grandparents were, thinking, as we do, that our islands were remote and ignored.

A Spanish verse says :


"La niña buena, aprende Catón,
y escribe los palotes sin ningún borrón.”


("The good girl learns the catón,
and writes the strokes without any smudge.")

TAN ANAN DENDE'

Tuesday, July 29, 2014


Not once did I ever have a conversation with her in English.  Not even a few words.

And she spoke with the ton å da , or sing-song accent, which, I believe, was the way all Chamorros, our ancestors, spoke before contact with the West. Just my hunch.

Ana Aguon Santiago Quinata was my parishioner at San Dionisio Church in Hum å tak, and when I say, MY parishioner, I mean it.  There were nights when it was only me, her and a stray dog at Mass. Other times, she'd bring one or more of her granddaughters. But many times, it was just Tan Ana and me at Mass.

Being pastor of Hum å tak in those days (1990s) meant living in Malesso' and driving to Hum å tak on Tuesday and Wednesday nights for Mass.  Besides Sunday, those were the only other days Mass was said at Hum å tak, weddings and funerals excepted of course.

She would walk to church by herself, but I always drove her back to her home after Mass in the parish van.  The ride lasted less than a minute, but we would talk and I would catch a few phrases or words here and there to improve my Chamorro.

She used the word å mko' in two ways, besides the usual meaning "old person."  She referred to the priest as "i amko'" (the "old man") even if the priest was 28 (as I was) and she referred to God as "i amko'" as well.  For sure, God is eternal and doesn't age, but from the human standpoint the Creator was there long before us and this world's been around a long time.


Tan Ana was married to the late Jose Topas ñ a Quinata (seen on the far right).  Jose was better-known-as JT but among the older villagers he was known as "Josen Dende'."  Tan Ana, thus, was also known as "Tan Anan Dende'," or as "Tan Anan JT."

JT was always fun to be with.  He liked to tell stories and have a laugh.  He told me about being hired by the Americans right after the invasion to look for Japanese stragglers and how one of them got him in the arm.  He used to open and close his fist, moving the muscles of his arm to show where the bullet entered.  As he flexed, you could see a depression in his arm appear and disappear. That's all that Japanese fugitive was able to do to JT, but I think the man was proud of that wound.

His house was right next to the famous bridge with the four towers, and he told me the government had not properly paid him for the land where one of the towers sat.  So, he told me, in Chamorro, "One of those towers is mine!"   Again, we'd have a good laugh.

JT was not shy.  If I was preaching and got somewhat enthusiastic, he would say out loud, "S å ngan, P å le'!"  ("Say it, Father!")  And, during the announcements after communion, when I was reminding the parishioners about the upcoming fiesta, he said out loud, "I'll bring one pig!"

Tan Ana, however, was old-school and would pinch his arm and nudge him to keep silent, looking at me to make sure I wasn't angry.  I never was!


Tan Ana was the daughter of Tan Eduviges Aguon Santiago, seen here in the middle of this photo.  I can only imagine how good and deep her Chamorro was, with a genuine ton å da accent.

Even when I had left Hum å tak and was assigned to Saipan, Tan Ana heard that I was coming down to Guam one March for my birthday.  Unfortunately, I had eaten some old crab salad the night I left Saipan to fly to Guam.  The next morning I was down with a mild case of food poisoning, with a severe head ache and dry heaves.  I couldn't hold anything down.  I was supposed to go down to Malesso' and Hum å tak to say Mass there, but had to tell P å le' Jose I just couldn't do it.

But Tan Ana had made me either a cake or a dish, I don't remember.  So she got someone in the family to drive her from Hum å tak all the way to Sinaja ñ a, to my mom and dad's house where I was sick in bed, to give me the dish and to talk to me a little.  I made a very poor conversation partner, as I was so sick.

But I will never forget her thoughtfulness driving all the way up to give me that food.  Nor our conversations, nor her accent, and most especially the way she went to Mass every single time we had Mass, even when no one else was there.  A truly devout Catholic with a sweet, maternal personality.


Tan Ana where she liked to be, in church.


Tan Ana's house was always, traditionally, one of the stations (or L å nchon Kotpus) for the Corpus Christi procession every year.

Man sen deboto na mangilisy å no i familian Jose yan Anan Dende'.

THAT FLAG WON'T DO

Monday, July 28, 2014


Saipan was the scene of a minor international incident in 1897.

By the 1890s, Japanese merchants and adventurers were making the Marianas, and other islands in Micronesia, their home.

For merchants, copra was one of the big draws to the islands. The Nonaka South Pacific Trading Company had set up shop in Saipan to deal in copra. Ten Japanese were living in Saipan when, on New Year's Day in 1897, they gathered to celebrate. They wanted to drink to the health of the Emperor of Japan and, knowing they were in Spanish territory, also to that of the Spanish king. For this reason they looked for flags of both nations.

Lacking a Spanish flag of their own, they made one up using paper, and hung it up crossed with a proper, much better-looking flag of Japan.

A passing Spaniard (some wonder if he was really a Spaniard or rather someone working for the Spanish government) witnessed this and saw the shabby condition of the Spanish paper flag compared to the Japanese flag, and considered it an insult. He told the Japanese just as much, and insisted that they take down both flags. The Japanese didn't see what the trouble was, and shrugged it off.

But the Spaniard returned with others and arrested them. Key among them was Mr Miyazaki, the company manager on Saipan. The Japanese were sent to jail on Guam, capital of all the Marianas at the time.

Japan protested this, and the news made it to many journals across the globe. Look at this headline, for example, in a Hawaii newspaper in 1897.




Those "Spanish dungeons" spoken of in the headline above were the jail cells in Hagåtña, Guam, described as being "foul smelling" and "ill ventilated."

Apparently, nothing became of the matter in the end.

I METGOT NA PÅTGON

Friday, July 25, 2014


The strong child, the metgot na p å tgon , always a son, is a recurring theme in Chamorro folk tales.

The interesting thing is that the strong child is seen as a threat, to the father, of all people.  The father usually makes a move against his own son.

Two versions of this story are :

I

Un taotao gai nene l å he. Annai man aliligao p å nglao, ha bo'ok i haigue* ni tres å ñ os esta.
( A man had a male child. When the child looked for a crab, he pulled up a three-year-old coconut tree .)

Annai lini'e as tat å - ñ a ni che'cho'- ñ a, pinino'.
( When his father saw what he did, he killed him .)

II

Ma s å s å ngan na ginen gu å ha un nene na gof metgot, sa' ha bo'ok ni haigue annai man aliligao p å nglao un bi å he.
( It is said that there was a child who was very strong, because he uprooted a young coconut tree when he looked one time for crab .)

There is also a more developed story that starts with the premise of the "strong child," but we'll save that for another post.


* Haigue : a recently sprouted coconut tree

FINENE'NA YAN UTTIMO NA MUMU

Thursday, July 24, 2014


Ma susede este na estoria gi 1958 na såkkan.

Annai på'go gaige yo' gi mina' singko grådo, mumu yo'.
( When I first entered the fifth grade, I fought .)

Primet biåhe na mumu yo' yan uttimo;
( It was the first and last time I fought; )

sa' annai måtto yo' guato gi gima'
( because when I got home )

hekkua' h å ftaimano tungo'-ña si nanå-ho!
( I don't know how my mother knew! )

Lao ha na' oppop yo',  lao esta hu tungo' na para bai ma saolak.
( But she made me bow down, but I already knew I was going to be spanked .)

Pues humånao yo' nåya para i halom tåno' ya mañule' yo' hågon,
( So I went first to the jungle and got leaves ,)

eye dångkulo na hågon ya hu po'lo gi halom katsunes-ho
( those large leaves and I put them inside my pants )

pues humånao yo' hålom
( and I went in )

ya annai ma saolak yo'
( and when she spanked me )

ilek-ho "Ai! Ai!"  lao kada puti lao ni håfafa hu siente.
( I said, "Ouch! Ouch!" but each time it hurt I didn't feel a thing .)

Ma usa guihe na tiempo kuero, na fotte na kuero,
( They used in those days leather, strong leather ,)

potpot na kuero yan åncho.
( thick and wide leather .)

Despues umamigo ham yan i kontrariu-ho.
( Later, my opponent and I became friends. )

I rason na mumu ham pot man akassi yan para u li'e' håye mås metgot.
( The reason we fought was because we were teasing each other and to see which of us was the strongest .)

Ai adei annai duro man apanite ham pues ti apmam måkpo'.
( Oh my we really hit each other and soon it was over. )

Guaha gumacha' ya ma chuga' ya pumåra.
( Someone discovered us and stopped it and it ended .)


A WORD RARELY HEARD

Chuga' means "to make peaceful, to hush up, to end a quarrel."

BY-PASSING LUTA

Wednesday, July 23, 2014


Luta (Rota) is unique among the four main islands of the Marianas because it never experienced a massive American invasion in 1944, as the other three islands did (Guam, Tinian and Saipan).  The Americans actually passed over Luta.  It waited for the war to end before taking it from the Japanese, leaving the Japanese forces and Chamorro people there to live off their own limited resources, cut off from the rest of the world, for one year.

This policy of leapfrogging over less strategic islands and hitting hard the more important islands, in terms of military strategy, was adopted by Admiral Chester Nimitz.  In the Marianas, it was Luta that was skipped. Palau, Yap, Chuuk, Ponape and Kosrae were also never invaded, though Americans did invade Peleliu and Angaur in Palau to eliminate the Japanese military presence there, then left after awhile, especially when the focus shifted to the campaign in the Philippines.  Americans also invaded Ulithi in Yap district and stayed for some months, using the atolls for military purposes.  The Americans also destroyed the Japanese naval presence in Chuuk Lagoon, making it the world's greatest naval underwater graveyard, but did not invade those islands.

When the Americans destroyed Japanese air and sea capabilities by June of 1944, Luta was left to struggle on its own.  No Japanese ships or planes from the rest of the Marianas could come to its rescue, not even to supply it with food.  The Japanese and Chamorros on Luta would have to live off the land from June 1944 till the arrival of the Americans more than a year later.

ISOLATED, BUT STILL TARGETS


The Shoun Maru, a Japanese ship used in the phosphate industry in Luta, takes a hit from an American submarine's torpedo in 1944

American air strikes on Luta began in May or June of 1944.  These attacks continued until the war's end. The Japanese had built just one air strip on Luta, up by Sinapalo (Shinaparu by the Japanese), and the U.S. had easily neutralized it.  So the only real reason why the Americans sporadically attacked Luta after the fall of Saipan, Tinian and Guam was simply to harass the Japanese and to target practice. Bombers leaving Guam, headed for Japan, who had to cancel the run, for whatever reason, could not return to Guam fully loaded with bombs, so the American planes dropped them on Luta!

But Chamorros, not just the Japanese, were also wounded and killed by American bullets.

Because of these American attacks, the Chamorros abandoned their homes in Tatachog village (the Japanese lived in Songsong) and took shelter in caves in the island's interior and along cliff lines.  They grew whatever they could, trying to avoid planting in open fields where they could easily be seen by American planes.  They shot sling stones at birds to kill and eat.  Water was available in the south, where there was a spring.  But other areas suffered in the dry season of 1944 going into 1945.  Even their dead they couldn't bury in a cemetery, but rather close to the caves where they lived.

The people on Luta also had to deal with two kinds of American bombs - fire bombs and time bombs.  Even when one jumped into water to escape the fire bombs, the surface of the water was on fire.  The time bombs were also deadly.  Some people, thinking unexploded bombs were a dud, picked them up, only to be killed when the bomb exploded at that same moment.  Smoke from the frequent bombing made the air thick and hard to inhale.

CHAMORROS - AMERICAN BULLETS AND JAPANESE TEMPERS

As if American bullets weren't enough trouble, the Chamorros on Luta also had to look out for the Japanese. There were over 2600 Japanese military personnel on Luta in 1944, and only 790 Chamorros.

In addition, there were over 4700 non-Chamorro civilians on Luta, made up of Japanese, Okinawans and Koreans.

The Japanese soldiers took whatever food they could from the Chamorros.  Some Japanese, especially officers, "borrowed" Chamorro teenage boys and young men as well to be their cooks and servants.  One Japanese officer came to tell a Chamorro mother "sorry," her son, whom he had taken to be his cook, was killed during an American attack.

The Japanese, so it was believed, also planned to round up all the Chamorros and kill them, lessening the number of hungry mouths to feed on the island.  But a senior Japanese officer convinced the Japanese leaders that the Chamorros should live and do all the planting of food while the Japanese attended to the defense of the island.

It was also a Japanese, so the story goes, who took the risk of leaving Luta under cover of darkness and sailed in a small boat to the Americans on Guam, begging them to capture Luta before the Chamorros died of hunger.  This Japanese man, it was said, was close to a Chamorro family and may have been in love with one of the daughters.

THE AMERICANS COME

Then, in the early fall of 1945, the Americans stopped dropping bombs from their planes.  Instead, they were dropping cigarettes and little food packets, which the Japanese said were time bombs.  But a few Chamorros picked them up, and, when they didn't explode but contained food instead, were relished by the Chamorros.

The Americans also started dropping leaflets announcing that the war was over.  Japan had surrendered on August 15, 1945.

Still, the Americans waited a while to go to Luta to claim it.  They finally arrived on September 2, 1945, two weeks after the end of the war with Japan. Marine Colonel Howard N. Stent was sent from Guam to accept the Japanese surrender of Luta.  When his ship, the USS Heyliger , a destroyer escort, arrived, Japanese officials came on board and signed the surrender papers.


Japanese Military Officers at the surrender of Luta to U.S. forces

When the Chamorros first met American soldiers, the Americans offered them packets of food. Some Chamorros were hesitant to eat them, until the Americans themselves opened them up and ate it themselves. When the very hungry Chamorros started to eat all these new American rations, their stomachs were so bloated from hunger that they got sick.  After four or five days, though, they were able to eat normally.

American officials reported that the Chamorros were hungry but in good health.  It was clothing that they needed, and which the Americans provided.

By September 4, the Japanese soldiers on Luta, except for five of them too sick to travel, were shipped down to Guam for processing before being repatriated to Japan.

With the Japanese and others gone now, the Chamorros of Luta could go back to their fishing, farming and building new homes once again.



The Japanese Garrison on Luta now camped in Guam awaiting return to Japan

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE OCCUPATION

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Japanese in Guam during the Occupation

Yesterday's paper included a statement by a war survivor, pointing out something that I had known for quite some time. Life under the Japanese wasn't all pain and suffering for everybody.

Eddie Camacho, a well-known Guam businessman, said that, in the beginning, the Japanese "left the Chamorros to themselves."

What then, was the reality, based on all accounts from those who went through that experience?

WHAT THEY DID SUFFER


Of course there were exceptions. Some Chamorros suffered quite a bit for a lot of the Occupation, especially those considered higher status, as they stood out more and were suspected more of having pro-American sentiments.

Those married to Americans (who were sent to POW camps in Japan) were always eyes cautiously.

Those suspected of helping Tweed also had more attention from the Japanese than they cared for.

But, for the majority of Chamorros, life under the Japanese was not a brutal experience until the last phase.


WHAT THEY DID NOT SUFFER

  • Starvation. Even in the last several weeks before liberation, when most people were herded into camps, people had some food. From the time the Japanese came and stores ran out of goods and people had no cash anyway with which to buy, the people returned to farming. The weather cooperated during the whole Occupation. While people didn't have luxury food items anymore, they did have the basic foods needed for survival. This they carried with them into the concentration camps. Walking to the camps, sleeping on the earth in cramped huts, dealing with mud and rain, contending with the lice and the rats wasn't fun. But they had something, even a little, to put in their stomachs.

WHAT SOME ENJOYED


  • A Kind of Freedom. The picture above is there because one man, long deceased, told me he had terrific fun as an older teenager during the Japanese Occupation. His family owned a considerable number of cattle. As he was the oldest son on Guam at the time, his father put him in charge of the cattle. This placed him in a position to deal with the Japanese, looking for meat. He negotiated with the Japanese but he also gained a sense of importance with his fellow Chamorros. The Japanese always got the best cuts, but many Chamorros were happy with the less desirable parts which the Japanese would never touch. He admits that he used his position as a beef provider to his own advantage, especially with the ladies who now had a friendliness towards him unseen before the war. He told me, "I was never a good student, so I was so happy when the schools closed when the Japanese came." Unlike others who became very bored, this man used his new freedom from school to become a valuable supplier of food to the Japanese. He was active and important.
  • Friendship with the Japanese. Many Chamorros became friends with the Japanese, both military and civilians. Japanese Catholic priest, Father Komatsu, was treated like a son by several Chamorro matriarchs. Individual Japanese officers befriended some Chamorro families and even helped them escape danger. One family benefited from their mother's friendship with the Japanese in their southern village. She was a pre-war nurse, trained at the Naval Hospital. In her small village, she gave simple treatments to Japanese soldiers who needed minor medical attention. In return, the Japanese in that village made sure that family was safe and sound. Other Chamorro women became girlfriends of Japanese officers. Some of these ladies became girlfriends of American soldiers quickly after the liberation.

As one Chamorro man told me, "Wartime was bad only in the very beginning and the very end . When the Japanese Army was in charge."

"The Japanese Navy, which came after the Army, was much better. And then came the Japanese civilian government, which was tame. The Japanese just wanted you to grow food. Grow food and don't get into trouble. That was it."

A Chamorro lady told me, "Other than not having our priests and Mass, and our church to go to, we went back to the old way of life during the Spanish times, the time of my parents and grandparents. We farmed, we fished and as a family we helped each other. We were careful not to use English, but we spoke Chamorro in the family anyway. We just missed our priests and our church life."

"Didn't you miss the Americans?" I asked her.

"Oh yes we did! We loved the Americans. To us, the Japanese were a strange kind of people. Not Christian, not what we were used to. But honestly it was hard to know if the Americans would ever come back."

They did.


TESTIGO GI LEHISLATURA

Friday, July 18, 2014

Supporters of the "Historic Inal å han" program came to the Legislature in support of a bill intending to help fund this endeavor.  The majority of the testimonies were given in Chamorro.  Here was one of them.

Gu å ho si Rosita San Nicolas, uno gi “crafter” yan i taotao i kusina ta’lo,
(I am Rosita San Nicolas, one of the crafters and kitchen crew also,)

gi gu å ho fuma’titinas i asiga guihe p å pa’.
(I am the one making salt down there.)

Dångkulo na si Yu'us ma'åse',

Senator Cruz, Aline yan si Tina.
(Thank you very much, Senator Cruz, Aline and Tina.)

Man m å tto ham, man magof ham gi annai man mamaisen ham ayudo.

(We come, we are happy to ask assistance.)

In agradese todo i ineppen- ñ a si Tina nu hame.

(We appreciate all of Tina's answers to us.)

I represent å nte- ñ a as si Stephanie m å tto p å pa'
(Her representative Stephanie came down)

gi sagan-m å me ya ha kuentuse ham.
(to our place and spoke with us.)

Pues man gaige ham p å' go guine
(So we are here today)

para bai in sang ån e hamyo na in agradese todo i ayudo
(to tell you that we appreciate all the help)

yanggen si ñ a en na’e hame para bai in ab å nsa ha’ mo’na.
(if you could give us so we can move forward.)

Yan an man m å tto i bisita
(And when the visitors come)

pareho ha' i estr å ñ o yan hita ni taotao t å no'.
(the foreigner as well as the locals.)

In fanunu’e h å ftaimano mo'na i kinalamten i man antigo
(We show them how things were in the past)

guihe p å pa' gi lug å t-ta.
(down there in our place.)

Yan gu å ha na bi å he na man mamaisen bokan Chamorro.
(And there are times that they ask for Chamorro food.)

Pues in na' posisipble ennao gi anggen man mamaisen

(So we make that possible when they ask)

para bai in na’ gu å ha.
(that we provide it.)

Ennaogue’ testigo ha’ si Sen Cruz gi annai m å tto un bi å he.
(There is Senator Cruz to witness when he came one time.)

In na’ sena guihe p å pa'.
(We made him eat dinner down there.)


Pues in kombida para bai in fan gupot an si Senator.

(Then we invited Senator to feast with us.)

Si Tina ti m å tto ha dalak hame guihe na ha' å ne.
(Tina didn't come to follow us that day.)

Lao hu tungo' ha' d å ngkulo i korason- ñ a

(But I know that her heart is big)

para u bisita i taotao Inal å han lao chumatsaga guihe na ha' å ne
(to visit the people of Inarajan but that day it was difficult to do so)

annai m å tto p å pa' si Sen Cruz.
(when Senator Cruz came down.)

Pues in agradese na d å ngkulo yanggen mumaloffan este i finaisen-m å me
(So we appreciate a lot if this our request moves ahead)

ni para en ayuda ham gi h å ftaimano mo'na para bai in ab å nsa m å s i kinalamten i historical Inal å han.
(that you help us in our endeavor to advance more the activities of Historical Inal å han.)

Pues d å ngkulo na si Yu'us ma' åse' senadoras yan si senadot siha ni tumattitiye lokkue'
(And many thanks to the senators who follow also)

yan sumopopotte este na bill, i 361-32.
(and support this bill, number 361-32.)

NOTE

She uses a word some (many?) younger Chamorro speakers may not know.

Estr å ñ o .  It means "strange, foreign, unusual." Estranghero is the most exact word for "foreigner" that is related to estr å ñ o . They both come from Spanish loan words.

And the indigenous term can also be taotao hiyong (outside people) but that term tends to have a harder nuance to it.

ESCAPE TO THE AMERICANS!

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

An American PT boat during World War II

Fermin Flores was a Chamorro from Palau. His father Joaquin left Guam during the late Spanish era and, by way of Yap, eventually settled in Palau.

A Chamorro community developed in Palau, many of them living in Ngatmel, at the very northern tip of Babeldaob, the main Palauan island.

Fermin was working for the Japanese military on a special project, producing coconut oil for the needs of the Japanese as supply ships from Japan could no longer reach Palau due to American advances in the Pacific.

Thus, Fermin was able to circulate around the island quite a bit and, being fluent in Japanese, could understand everything being said around, even things that perhaps were not meant for his ears. For some reason, people would converse in his hearing, even though he shouldn't have heard things like - the possibility of killing all the Chamorros in Palau so that they would not aid the Americans should they invade.


Black smoke indicates hits by Americans on Japanese naval positions in Palau

Palau was being hit pretty badly by American bombs in the fall of 1944. Many people left their homes to seek shelter in more wooded areas, in caves, trenches and foxholes. This included the Chamorros in Ngatmel.  Everyone was unsure of the future. Would the Americans really invade? Would the civilians survive that, or would they perish alongside the Japanese troops? Would the Japanese themselves turn on the Palauan and Chamorro civilians?

Fermin was putting all this together in his head in October of 1944.  The Spanish missionaries and Hondonero family were, at least, missing, by then.  Even if people had no proof the Japanese had killed them, their absence would have raised suspicions.

Perhaps all this moved Fermin to seek a radical solution to this uncertainty. He abruptly asked his cousin Jack Borja if he would follow him.  "Where?" Jack asked. Fermin told him to never mind that and just answer the question. Jack must have sensed the underlying message and agreed to do it.

Fermin and Jack knew that American PT boats patrolled Palau's waters, but at about two miles' distance, keeping adequate length from any Japanese shore guns. Their plan was to steel away in darkness from an isolated point and make it to one of these American PT boats.

At 7PM that night in October, Fermin and Jack pushed out to sea. The waves were high and they had reason to fear that they may not make it in one piece. It took them all the way till dawn the next morning to reach the PT boat, which thought the two Chamorros were Japanese. Once they realized they were not Japanese, the Americans brought them aboard.

The Americans brought Fermin and Jack to Peleliu, in the southern part of Palau, which was now in American hands. The Americans obtained information from the two about Palau and the Japanese military strength there and overall conditions.

But then came the next thing, which must have been quite a surprise. The Americans said that they would rescue the Chamorros from Ngatmel. The plan was for Fermin and Jack to go back to Ngatmel and inform the Chamorros about the plan. That is what Fermin and Jack did. Then, in December of 1944, the Chamorros did as planned.  On three long boats, 119 Chamorros from Ngatmel reached an American ship lying outside Palau.

The Americans took the Chamorros to Angaur, another southern Palau island taken by the Americans, where a refugee camp was set up. The Chamorros of Palau were now safely out of Japanese hands. The Japanese would not surrender Palau for another nine months or so. One can only imagine what danger the Chamorros avoided by not living under the Japanese for another nine months.


Ruins of the Japanese Lighthouse at the Northern Tip of Palau

The day after the Chamorros escaped from Ngatmel, the Japanese noticed that no Chamorro showed up to work. Some of the Chamorros did the cooking for the Japanese. The Japanese figured the man on duty at the lighthouse should have spotted them. When they interrogated him, they found out that the man fell asleep.

(For further info, read Fermin Flores' book Vision Fulfilled )

TILL DEATH DO US PART

Monday, July 14, 2014


The hill in Ngatpang, Palau
Site of the execution

A Chamorro woman in her 20s, married to a Filipino, with two young children ages 5 and 3.  All of them - shot dead by the Japanese.

Agapito Cairela Hondonero was a Filipino who left his home country and settled in Yap around 1928 or 1929.  He was employed at the  "American" weather station on Yap, an island which was under the Japanese at the time. This station had a working relationship with the Manila Observatory, sending weather reports there. As the Philippines was still under American control at the time, he was considered an "American national."

This is not the same as a U.S. citizen. An American national owes allegiance to the U.S. and falls under the protection of the U.S., but does not have all the benefits of U.S. citizenship. Up until 1950, people born on Guam were American nationals only, unless they acquired U.S. citizenship some other way.  In 1950, the Organic Act granted U.S. citizenship to those born on Guam who weren't already U.S. citizens by another route.

Filipinos were considered American nationals till their country's independence from the U.S. in 1946. Being an American national alone would have put Hondonero in a bad light to the Japanese in Yap.

When war was declared between the U.S. and Japan in 1941, Hondonero was put in jail by the Japanese in Yap.

Hondonero was married to a Chamorro.  Her name was Filomena Adriano Untalan.  Her father, Jesus Guzman Untalan, had moved to Yap, not from Saipan (as the majority of Chamorros on Yap had), but from Guam. Her mother, Mecaila Chuapaco Adriano, was also a Chamorro from Guam.

In July of 1944, Hondonero was sent by the Japanese to Palau, along with two Jesuit priests (one Spanish, the other Colombian) and a Spanish Jesuit brother.  Hondonero's wife Filomena, and their two children, Baltazar, around 5, and Carolina, around 3, accompanied him to Palau.

In Palau, the priests were joined by three other Spanish missionaries, two priests and a brother.  The missionaries and the Hondoneros were together, waiting their fate at the hands of the Japanese.  Alfonso Untalan Diaz, a nephew of Filomena, happened to be in Palau and managed to talk to her.  He told her that she and the two children were not considered spies and that the Japanese were willing to set them free. Filomena told him that she knew the Japanese meant to kill her husband, and that she would not abandon him now.

On September 18, having heard of the Japanese losses in the Marianas and the American attack on Peleliu, an important island in the southern part of Palau, with heavy American shelling going on daily in the main section of Palau, the Japanese expected that an American invasion could happen at any moment.  They feared that the missionaries and the Filipino weather man would run to the Americans and help them with intelligence. The Japanese decided to kill them all.

Two trucks came in the early evening of September 18 to take them to their executions. The shooting happened on Ngatpang Hill, called Gasupan Daijo by the Japanese. The trucks stopped and the prisoners were taken into a jungle area, where they found a trench freshly dug. They were informed that they had to die. While the priests chanted, the whole group was made to kneel in front of the hole.  Japanese lined up behind each prisoner. The soldiers were told to shoot one prisoner each at the back of the head. They were to use pistols, since using rifles at such close range would be dangerous to the bystanders.

Hondonero and his family knelt on the far left. When the order was given to fire, the Japanese standing behind Filomena was so taken with emotion that he misfired. Filomena was carrying her baby girl on her back. The girl started to cry at the sound of the guns. Since he was faltering, the Japanese soldier was replaced by another soldier who came up and shot the girl, killing Filomena at the same time.


The three Jesuits from Palau, killed with the three Jesuits from Yap and the Hondonero family

The bodies of all ten were buried in the hole.  When the Japanese in Palau heard that their country surrendered to the U.S. on August 15, 1945, they decided to cover their tracks.  The bodies of these ten dead were exhumed, burned and what was left was buried in a new spot, but not far from the original site. The Japanese agreed to tell the Americans, once they came, that the prisoners were sent off to the Philippines and that they did not know what happened to them afterwards.

But, their crime was not hidden enough. The Americans soon found out about it and the Japanese soldiers involved were tried for it and found guilty. The leading culprit committed suicide before he could face trial. The trials, by the way, happened on Guam after the war.

For the Untalan family, the bitter memories are coupled with the failure to find the remains of their loved ones. There have been several attempts to do so and some spots have been found that could very well have been the site, but no human remains, so far, have been found.

Alfonso Untalan Diaz, nephew of Filomena, did get her rosary and crucifix, given to him by a local girl who got it from a Japanese soldier.

The soil of Palau remains the final resting place of a Chamorro mother, her Filipino husband, and their two children.  One was killed on suspicion of being an American spy; killed without trial, without evidence and without witnesses. The wife was killed because she would not leave her husband.  The two little ones were killed, as the Japanese officer said, because, with mother and father dead, there would be no one to take care of them.  A very sad tale.



Depiction of the Execution Scene

One of the Japanese at the scene indicated the positions of the ten people killed.  There are only nine spots shown, but that is because Filomena was carrying Carolina on her back when both were killed at the same time.

WHEN DID PÅLE' DUEÑAS DIE?

Friday, July 11, 2014

Pale' Oscar Lujan Calvo, with American officials, Due ñ as family members and others, at the original grave of Pale' Due ñ as in Ta'i in March of 1945

JULY 12, 1944  is observed as the official and recognized date of death of Father Jesus Baza Due ñ as, and the other three killed along with him, including his nephew, one-time Island Attorney Edward Camacho Due ñ as.

Some of those observing the July 12th date are :

Governor Carlos G. Camacho's Proclamation 70-24 (1970) making July 12th the official anniversary

Antonio M. Palomo, historian, in many of his writings

Guam Recorder , and other publications

Julius Sullivan, OFM Cap, in The Phoenix Rises , the 1957 church history book

However, July 13 is offered as the day of his execution in an affidavit signed only in June of 1945, only (little less than) a year after the death of Fr Due ñ as.  This affidavit was signed by Pale' Oscar Calvo, who got his information from the Saipanese interpreter, Joaquin Due ñ as, who was present at the beheading in T å 'i.

This, as far as I know, is the only source for the alternative date of July 13.

And yet - curiously enough - the same Pale' Oscar places a bronze plaque above the final resting place of Fr Due ñ as in the sanctuary of Inarajan Church and states the date of death as July 12.

Perhaps, because the killings were done in the darkness before the dawn (about 4AM the affidavit states), as the end of an ordeal that began on July 12, people remember the death as occurring on July 12.

Or, perhaps, when he wrote the affidavit, Pale' Oscar got his dates wrong.

As it is, July 12 is the day everyone observes his martyrdom.


The Memorial Plaque in Inarajan Church

"TENGA YA-MO MAN PROMETE"

Thursday, July 10, 2014


A good friend, Jose Arriola Espinosa, composed these Chamorro lyrics to go to the song, "Silver Threads and Golden Needles."  A great way to improve our language skills is by learning songs in the language.

I'll start with the entire Chamorro version first, then a line-by-line translation.

Tenga ya-mo man promete, ni korason-mo che'lu-ho.
Solamente yo' sin suette, guine nai na huego.

Sa' k å da yo' nai man guaiya, guinaiya ni gof fitme,
ma deroga i kontr å ta, ya ha tutuhon i puti.

Chorus : Nene, nene, gaima'ase', sa' ti si ñ a hu sungon,
todo este na pinadese, korason-ho ti mesngon.
Oppe yo' pot kilisy å no, oppe yo' ni mag å het,
kao bai suette guinaiya-mo, pat kao bai hu mas å 'pet?

Nene, ya-mo man ofrese, pues ti si ñ a hao konfotme,
na un fan guaiya un kilisy å no, uno ha' k å da bi å he.
Hinasso-mo na ti kombiene, na un fan guaiya nai t å tte,
eyo ya-mo i di å rio, m å s ke sea nai h å ye.

(Spoken) (Nangga n å ya,) siempre un dia, un padese i kastigon i huegu-mo,
sa' h å go na kl å sen taotao, ti å pmam hinasso-mo.
Siempre un dia un angokko, na un ma guaiya ni fitme,
ma fa' baba hao nai t å tte, asta ke m å sga hao, nene.

TRANSLATION
(see asterisked notes)

Tenga ya-mo man promete, ni korason-mo che'lu-ho.
(You often like to promise your heart, my brother/sister*)
Solamente yo' sin suette, guine nai na huego.
(All I am is the unlucky one in this game.)

Sa' k å da yo' nai man guaiya, guinaiya ni gof fitme,
(Because every time I love with a true love**)
ma deroga i kontr å ta, ya ha tutuhon i puti.
(the deal is broken and the pain begins.)

Chorus : Nene, nene, gaima'ase', sa' ti si ñ a hu sungon,
(Baby, baby have mercy, because I can't take)
todo este na pinadese, korason-ho ti mesngon.
(all this suffering, my heart isn't strong.***)
Oppe yo' pot kilisy å no, oppe yo' ni mag å het,
(Answer me for God's sake****, answer me truthfully)
kao bai suette guinaiya-mo, pat kao bai hu mas å 'pet?
(will I have the luck of getting your love, or will I suffer?)

Nene, ya-mo man ofrese, pues ti si ñ a hao konfotme,
(Baby, you like to offer, then after you cannot come through*****)
na un fan guaiya un kilisy å no, uno ha' k å da bi å he.
(that you should love someone, one at a time.)
Hinasso-mo na ti kombiene, na un fan guaiya nai t å tte,
(You think it's not proper******, for you to love back)
eyo ya-mo i di å rio, m å s ke sea nai h å ye.
(what you like is something new each day*******, it doesn't matter with who.)

Spoken over instrumental :

Nangga n å ya, siempre un dia, un padese i kastigon i huegu-mo,
(Wait a bit, for surely one day, you will suffer the punishment of your games)
sa' h å go na kl å sen taotao, ti å pmam hinasso-mo.
(because you're the type of person whose thoughts don't last long.)
Siempre un dia un angokko, na un ma guaiya ni fitme,
(Surely one day you will hope to be loved for real)
ma fa' baba hao nai t å tte, asta ke m å sga hao, nene.
(you will be betrayed back, until you get tired******** of it, baby.)

NOTES

* Che'lu .  Literally means "brother" or "sister" but here it means "friend," and not even literally "friend" but rather a way of addressing someone.

** Fitme .  Means "firm," "strong."  But here the connotation is a "true love," one that is strong and one that lasts.

*** Mesgnon .  Means "enduring," "capable of tolerating pain."  Here it can be taken to mean "strong."

**** Kilisy å no .  Literally means "Christian," but Chamorros use it to indicate a person, any person at all among Chamorros or western people.  Traditionally non-Christian people would not be called " kilisy å no ." The phrase in this line means "answer me, because I am worthy of an answer, a person of worth, since I am Christian."

***** Konfotme .  Means "agreeable, willing."  In this line, the meaning is, "You make an offer, but then you aren't willing to see it through."

****** Kombiene .  Means "proper, right, correct, appropriate."  Here, the meaning is "You don't follow through because you think you don't have to; it's not your obligation."

******* Di å rio .  "Daily."  The girl wants some new fling every day, which is why she can't come through with her promises of true love.

******** M å sga .  Means "to regret, to decide to change."  Here it means, "When your bad ways back fire on you, you'll get tired of paying the price for your old ways and want to change."

"PÅS CHAMORRO!" THE FALL OF SAIPAN

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Members of the Lizama (Batitang) family after the Battle for Saipan, July 1944
(Courtesy of Scott Russell, CNMI Humanities Council)

On this day 70 years ago, the Battle for Saipan came to an end.

It started with the American invasion on the morning of June 15 along the western beaches of Saipan, from Agingan Point up to just beyond Oleai.  Prior to the invasion, the island was "softened" by American bombardment.  The wailing of the evacuation sirens got civilians - Japanese, Okinawans, Koreans, Chamorros and Carolinians - to pack their essentials and head to the eastern side of the island, where the difficult terrain made an American landing less probable.

Many Chamorros traveled at night and avoided the trails, thinking the darkness of night and the wilderness provided more protection.  People ate what they could find.  When water from small streams, puddles and bo'bo' (little springs) was not available, some even resorted to drinking sea water.  Luckily, Saipan was covered in sugar cane fields and it was also lemmai (breadfruit) season so a number of Chamorros were able to eat those, though many could not find even that.

Babies and newborns were often the most vulnerable, and many of them died.  Some mothers were so traumatized by the bombing that they could not produce enough breast milk for the babies.

Being a small island, with the Japanese populations, both military and civilian, in close quarters with everybody else, it was hard for American bombs and bullets to find only Japanese bodies.  Chamorros, and other non-combatants, were wounded and killed as well.  Some families had to leave the dead bodies of their loved ones behind, finding them later for burial and sometimes finding nothing when they returned.

MEETING THE AMERICANS

Japanese propaganda told the Chamorros that the Americans would do the worst things possible to the Chamorros if caught, because the Chamorros had been under the Japanese.  The majority of Chamorros did not believe this.

They already knew some things about the Americans.  Some had relatives on Guam, and had even visited Guam and seen Americans.  They knew that Americans were, for the most part, Caucasian and Christian, just like their beloved priest, Spanish Father Tardio.  They just could not imagine Americans being as cruel as the Japanese said they were.

But a few Chamorros were inclined to follow the Japanese to the northernmost cliffs of Saipan and die with them, either from American bullets or through suicide, but none of them did.  Their family members convinced them not to.

Chamorros met Americans, most for the first time, in a number of ways.  Some American soldiers stumbled on Chamorros hiding in caves.  Many Chamorros would come out with hands up, or carrying religious objects like crucifixes, and say, " P å s Chamorro ."  " Peace!  I am Chamorro !"  They needed the Americans to know right away that they were not Japanese.

A few Chamorros had even learned the English word "peace" and said that when they first encountered the Americans.

A few older Chamorros could speak Spanish to some Hispanic American soldiers, and some Chamorros who had been close to the Spanish Mercedarian sisters could also say a few things in Spanish.  It was better than saying nothing at all, since most American soldiers could speak neither Japanese nor Chamorro, and few Saipan Chamorros could anything at all in English.

Some American soldiers had to exhort the Chamorros to leave the caves, blowing whistles and ordering them out.

Unfortunately, on more than one occasion, a Japanese soldier used Chamorros in acts of desperation.  One veteran of the Battle for Saipan told me that he spied a cave and whom he thought were Chamorros.  A Chamorro man did come out, holding up high a poster picture of the Sacred Heart.  But the veteran did not let his guard down, and thank goodness, because behind him, all of a sudden, came the Japanese soldier charging out.  He was shot dead.  The Japanese soldier thought the sight of a Chamorro holding up a poster of Jesus would persuade the Americans to lower their guns.  They didn't.

CAMP SUSUPE

As soon as they were in American hands, they were given food and water and the wounded attended to. Eventually they were all gathered in Susupe in their own camp, separate from the Japanese, Korean and Okinawan civilians and the Japanese soldiers who survived battle.


American soldier, Spanish sisters and Chamorro/Carolinian civilians at Mass in Camp Susupe


A HUGE IMPACT

The fall of Saipan into American hands was a huge disappointment to the Japanese.  It was the first time that a pre-war Japanese territory, which had been under the Japanese since 1914, was lost to the enemy.  Also, the fall put the Americans within distance to bomb Japan using their planes based in Saipan.  Later, Guam and Tinian would also be used for the same purpose.

Such a catastrophe was the fall of Saipan for the Japanese that Prime Minister Hideki Tojo resigned, as well as his entire Cabinet, on July 18 - nine days after the fall of Saipan.



TOJO



PÅLE' TARDIO

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

P å le' Tardio saying Mass right after the American arrival in the summer of 1944
(Notice the tattered sleeve of the altar boy's cassock)

Before the war, Spanish Jesuits were in charge of the Catholic Church in Saipan and Luta (Rota). Tinian did not have a Chamorro community there (except for a few men working there on and off) and didn't have a church.

Unlike Guam, with its ten priests and a bishop, Saipan's population was small enough (around 4000) to warrant only one priest, sometimes assisted by a Jesuit brother. There were also, since 1928, Spanish Mercedarian sisters working on Saipan.

From the early 1930s on, there was one priest for all of Saipan, whose name was echoed on that island up to the present age by the older people : P å le' Jos é Tardio.  He had tremendous influence over the people, who were at the time extremely devout Catholics.

P å le' Tardio was born in southern Spain.  He was a short man, but his personality was large.  He knew everyone in the community and spoke Chamorro.

Like many priests in those days, he was strict.  If he saw a member of the Hijas de Maria , the association for young, single women, dancing, he would go straight up to her and remove her association medal from her neck.  Wearing lip stick was also a major transgression. One elderly lady told me the story how her family bought a record player, a luxury in those days, and how her brother wanted to play Japanese records (what else?) right away.  She, however, cautioned him, " Adahe!  Yanggen ha hungok si P å le' Tardio, ha kastiga hit siempre! "  " Be careful!  If P å le' Tardio hears it, he will surely punish us !"

For a brief stint in the mid 1930s, P å le' Tardio exchanged places with the priest of Luta, Father Juan Pons. But that was only for a couple of years, perhaps just to give both priests a change of scenery, and then they went back to their respective places. P å le' Tardio would always be the "P å le' Saipan" and Pons the "P å le' Luta."


A skinnier Påle' Tardio right after the American conquest of Saipan in 1944

Some time before the war started in 1941, the Japanese imposed restrictions on P å le' Tardio's priestly activities. Mass could be said only on certain days and at certain times, usually at hours the Japanese knew the people could not attend. His sermons had to be examined by the Japanese, submitting them in writing in advance.

Eventually, with the war in full swing, he was more or less put under house arrest. Only the sisters and a few lucky Chamorros were able to attend Mass most days of the week.

The Japanese sometimes paid visits to the priest, and some unpleasant conversations ensued.  It was a form of psychological intimidation.



FR JOSÉ TARDIO, SJ
before the war

Although Spain was not a participant in World War II, the Japanese believed that Spaniards, being white Christian Europeans, would favor the United States over the Japanese. If P å le' Tardio was not an active spy yet, he would certainly help the Americans one way or another, the Japanese thought, especially if the Americans land and the priest comes in contact with them.

In 1944, with American ships and planes threatening Saipan, the Japanese requisitioned the Catholic priest's house. He and his companion, Brother Gregorio Oroquieta, had to pack their few belongings and find shelter with some Chamorros in their ranch houses.

When the American invasion of Saipan began, P å le' Tardio, Brother Gregorio and the sisters met up and moved from place to place, accompanied by some Chamorros.  Hungry and parched, they slept on the ground, sometimes without even a small cave for shelter.  One of the sisters was wounded, and P å le' Tardio gave her absolution from a distance while the fighting continued.

One of the first things some Americans did, especially the Catholic chaplains, was try to locate any Catholic clergy or missionaries.  "Where is the priest?  Where are the sisters?" they would ask. Finally, a Chamorro said he knew where they were and escorted some Americans to find them.

Once P å le' Tardio and the rest were safely in American hands, P å le' Tardio resumed his shepherd's role among his traumatized people. Chamorros and Carolinians were put in their own refugee camp in Susupe in the southern part of Saipan, while the battle continued in the north of Saipan.

The Spanish P å le'Tardio and the American Catholic military chaplains formed a tight bond right away. What he and the Chamorro and Carolinian people wanted most was Holy Mass, which the Japanese had taken away from them.  The military chaplains made it possible for P å le' Tardio to offer Mass once again among his people.


P å le' Tardio under better circumstances well after the liberation, when a decent chapel was able to be built

P å le' Tardio stayed on in Saipan for a few years after the war's end, but Rome had made the decision to entrust the Northern Marianas to the American Capuchins of Guam.  Even when the first American Capuchin started working in Saipan, P å le'Tardio stayed on a little to help with the transition.  But by the summer of 1947 he had returned to Spain, dying towards the end of that same year.  But everyone old enough to have known him remembers him to this day.


nmi humanities council
PÅLE' TARDIO AFTER THE WAR

KÅNTAN MAÑENGGON

Monday, July 7, 2014

This song goes to the tune of the Marine Corps Anthem.  "From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli."

The Chamorro lyrics were written in 1993 by the late Marine Corps Captain Peter Siguenza, a World War II veteran.  He wrote the lyrics for Susie Reyes Arceo to sing.  The spelling rendition is my own style.

GERAN GUAM
(The War on Guam)

1. Impott å nte este na estoria, estorian pot i geran Guam.
Ma at å ka i tano'-ta, nu i tropan i "Rising Sun."
I Chamorro man mas å 'pet, man ma an ñ a' yan man ma puno'
ni manailaye na taotao, h å lom liyang yan bokkongo'.

( This story is important, the story of the war on Guam,
Our land was attacked by the troops of the Rising Sun.
The Chamorros suffered, were beaten and killed
by evil people, in caves and bomb shelters .)

2. Man ma "camp" giya Ma ñ enggon, s å pblen "taicho" ma f å f å na'.
T å ya' boka ya man mal å ngo', i Chamorro man ma tribun å t.
Ai S å nta Marian K å malen, maila' ya un ayuda ham;
na' fan libre ham gi peligro, å sta ke u f å tto si "Uncle Sam."

( They camped at Ma ñ enggon, they faced the swords of the taicho.
Lacking food and sick, the Chamorros were put on trial.
Oh Our Lady of Camarin, come and help us;
free us from danger, till Uncle Sam comes .)

3. Annai man h å lom i send å lo, giya H å gat yan Asan,
gi Hulio bente uno, kuarentai ku å ttro na s å kkan.
D å ngkulo i mumun- ñ iha, para u ma chule' t å tte Guam;
manmang å nna i Amerik å no, siha fuetsan "Uncle Sam."

( When the soldiers came in, at Agat and Asan,
on July 21, in the year 1944.
The battle was great, to take back Guam;
the Americans won, they are the strength of Uncle Sam .)

4. I "Third Marine Division," "Seventy-seventh Army Group;"
i "brigade" yan todo i tropa, man matåtnga yan man metgot.
Man ma s å tba i Chamorro, bula "spam" yan "pork and beans."
Man ma guaiya i send å lo, i "United States Marines."
Man ma guaiya i send å lo, i "United States Armed Forces."

( The Third Marine Division, Seventy-seventh Army Group;
the brigade and all the troops, were fearless and strong.
They saved the Chamorros, there was plenty of spam and pork and beans.
The soldiers were loved, the United States Marine.
The soldiers were loved, the United States Armed Forces .)

NOTE

Taicho (actually properly transliterated, taichou ) is Japanese for "leader, captain, commander."

WHAT COLORS DID OUR ANCESTORS SEE?

Friday, July 4, 2014


The question may seem foolish to you.

But, did you know that not all languages "see" colors the same way others do?

For example, the Vietnamese see what we call "blue" and "green" as two shades of the same color.  A "grue" as some say.  Their word for both colors is xanh .  In order to distinguish the two shades of xanh , they will say "leaf xanh " for what we call "green" and "ocean xanh " for what we call "blue."

Other languages do not differentiate between green and yellow, as in Telugu, a major language in India. Their word " patstsa " can refer to both green or yellow!  To be more clear, they have to add additional words like, "leaf patstsa " for "green," and "turmeric patstsa " as opposed to "bright patstsa " for "mustard" and "gold."

So....what colors did our ancestors SEE?  Because one has to see a color first, before one names it.


ONE THEORY

Berlin and Kay, the former an anthropologist and the latter a linguist, came up with a theory (contested by some) that says that almost all languages start out having two basic colors in their vocabulary : black and white.

If the language has a third color, it will always be red.

If the language has a fourth color, it will be a color that can be either green or yellow.

Onward we go to a fifth color and so on till we get to pink, orange, purple and gray.

Now this is interesting because indeed we have indigenous names for those primary three colors black, white and red.

BLACK

ÅT TILONG

WHITE

Å ’PAKA’

RED

AGAGA’


Interestingly, when our ancestors drew images on the walls of caves, they used only these three colors above : black, white and red. That's because of three materials they used to make those drawings : powdered lime rock (white), charcoal (black) or clay (red). Other sources for the "ink" may have been used, but the colors rendered were always black, white or red.



Turtle Images in Black in Chugai Cave, Luta


But for all the other colors we use loan words from Spanish.

GREEN
BETDE (Spanish verde)
YELLOW
AMARIYO (Spanish amarillo)
BLUE
ASUT (Spanish azul)
BROWN
(KOLOT DE) CHOKOLÅTE (Spanish chocolate)
PURPLE
(KOLOT DE) LILA (Spanish lila)

Before we go on, I have to point out that, although we use Spanish terms for brown and purple, we don't use the exact words for brown and purple which are used by Spaniards.

In Spain, something brown is marr ó n or pardo ; sometimes, also, casta ñ o and even caf é (the color of coffee). Something purple is morado or p ú rpura .

But our people say kolot de chokol å te , or sometimes just chokol å te , when they want to say "brown." "Purple" is kolot de lila , or just plain lila, the color of lilacs.


ONLY THREE COLORS?

So we come back to the question : why are there only three indigenous words for colors in Chamorro?

We can look at the following possibilities :

1. Our ancestors only saw three colors : black, white and red.  This fits in nicely with the Berlin/Kay theory that almost all languages start out with terms for those three colors.

2. Our ancestors had words for other colors, but dropped them in favor of the Spanish words, especially for green, blue and yellow.  But why do that?  Why drop the words for blue and green, which would be so common, considering the green of the earth and the blue of the sea and sky?

Well, consider the possibility that our ancestors, like other cultures, did not see the distinction between green and blue; that they might have had a word for "grue."

Since there is no corresponding Spanish term for "grue," Chamorros may have been exposed to the idea that green and blue are different colors.  They may have been forced by circumstance, having to deal with non-Chamorros moving to the Marianas, to pick up the Spanish words for green and blue, and abandon the concept and word for "grue."

The same could apply to yellow and green, seen as two shades of one color in some cultures.

3. As for yellow, it's also possible that our ancestors used the word mangu for yellow; the color of the local ginger. Pale' Roman's dictionary say mangu can mean the color yellow, and not just the ginger itself.


WHAT IS THE CHAMORRO WORD FOR "COLOR?"

Ask a Chamorro today, and they'd say kolot .

That's our pronunciation of the Spanish word color .

But thanks to Pale' Roman, we are told there was an indigenous word for color : hilet .

Now THAT may explain a lot more; the fact that there was an indigenous word for color.

Because then our ancestors may not have necessarily come up with a word for blue, or green or yellow.

They just had to say hilet långet (the color of the sky) for blue, or maybe it was hilet tåsi (the color of the ocean).  And maybe hilet hågon (the color of the leaf) for green.  Just as they could have said hilet mangu (the color of ginger) for yellow.

Or maybe not.


A MYSTERY AND A CONSIDERATION

Now why should we have lost our own word for "color" : hilet ?  As well as, possibly, our own words for green, blue and so on?

We'll never know for sure.  People just didn't think it important to write down explanations for these things while they were happening hundreds of years ago.  Things just happened, and people didn't write journals about them.

But the main idea I'd like to propose here is this : not only is it possible that we lost indigenous words for some colors; it's also possible our ancestors did not see the same, distinct colors that you and I have been trained to distinguish through our English-language education .  There may have been, in fact, a Chamorro color for "grue" or "grellow."

The colors you and I see, may not have been the exact same colors they saw.


UGIS : GRAY?

There is a Chamorro word ugis , and it is thought to be the color gray.  But, not really.

Older speakers have explained the meaning of the word to me along these lines :

It is a lightening of a darker color.

An example :

~ Kao maolek este na magagu-ho?
~ ( Is this clothing OK on me? )

~ Hunggan, sa' inigis hao ni ennao.
~ (Y es, because it makes your complexion lighter .)

Or :

~ Ei na inapmam hao America!  Esta hao ugis!
~ Wow you were in the States a long time!  Your color is already lighter!

So it seems that ugis does not stand on its own as a distinct color.  One wouldn't say they wanted the painter to paint a wall ugis .

But, if the wall were painted a dark color, someone could say to make it ugis , to make the color a lighter shade.

This reminds me of the Chamorro word boksion , which means "pale, colorless, palid."  It isn't a color, but rather a lack of it!

MAESTRO SIHA GI 1885

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Escuela de Niñas
(Girls School in Hagåtña)

Who were teaching in the schools of the Marianas in the late 1800s?  Here's a list from 1885.

At the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán in Hagåtña, founded by Blessed Diego Luís de Sanvitores, and supervised by the priest of Hagåtña from then on, were :

Don Luís Díaz de Torres.  As headmaster, he earned 25 pesos a month.  He had been educated at the Teachers College in Manila (Escuela Normal).

Felipe Cruz
José Cruz Torres
Juan Rosario Sablan
Vicente Flores Aflague

These four teachers earned 10 pesos a month.

The girls, who eventually had their own school building, were taught by two women :

Ana Herrero
Dolores Cruz

These two women teachers earned 5 pesos a month.

OUTLYING VILLAGES AND OTHER ISLANDS

All these teachers earned just three pesos a month.

Sinaja ñ a - Mariano Castro

Aniguak - Justo Aflague

Asan - María Delgado

Tepungan - Pedro Taijito

Sumay - José Cruz

Agat - Mariano Taitano and Antonia Pangelinan

Umatac - Carmela Cruz

Merizo - Pedro Cruz and Ana Pangelinan

Inarajan - José Due ñ as

María Cristina (Carolinian village in Tamuning) - Mariano Fausto

Rota - José Castro and Consolación Crisóstomo

Saipan - Joaquina de León Guerrero and Antonia Borja

As you can see, there were very few teachers, which means that they were teaching very few children, compared to the total population of children.

The fact is that the government, and the Church, were not interested in educating every single child.  Since people were farmers and fishermen who lived off the land and sea, there was no perceived need for a classroom education.

But the officials did realize, for many years, that they needed a sufficient number of educated people who could read and write in order to become the civic leaders of the local population, who could assist the government and Church in the formation of the community they envisioned.


CHAMORRO MESSAGING ACRONYMS

Wednesday, July 2, 2014




SYM


Si Yu’us Ma’åse’

TG

Tåya’ Guaha


NUR

Nangga Un Råto


SMJ

Sus Maria Jose


KMYC

Katna Måmåtai Yo’ Chumålek


THT

Ti Hu Tungo’


NTY

Na’ Tutungo’ Yo’


PF

Pot Fabot


LOL

Lame’ Ombre Lai


BHE

Bai Hånao Esta



*** SYM to Jose Arriola Espinosa for KMYC

ÅMKO' VERSUS BIHO

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Tan Etbin

Chamorro has more than one word to express the idea "old."

Å MKO'

The interesting thing is that only one of them is not borrowed from the Spanish.  That word is å mko' . And å mko' , at least in today's Chamorro, can only refer to the age of a person, not a thing.

If someone is old, one can say that he or she is amko' .

But even a ten-year-old is å mko'- ñ a (older) than a five-year-old.

If Juan is the oldest of the children, even is he is just 11, he is the m å s å mko' (oldest).

Some Chamorros even refer to a person of high status as " i amko' ," (the "old man") even if the man is 30 years old, as in the case of a young priest.

Perhaps in the Chamorro spoken before the Spaniards, å mko' could also refer to inanimate objects, since we don't know (yet) if there was a separate Chamorro word "old" when applied to things.

SPANISH LOAN WORDS

All the other ways of describing something old are borrowed from the Spanish, and can sometimes refer to persons as well as things.

BIHO/BIHA

An old man is a biho and an old woman is a biha .  These are borrowed from the Spanish viejo and vieja .

These two words can also refer to one's grandparents. Si bih å -ho means "my grandmother."

There are actual words to refer to one's grandparents and great-grandparents, but biho and biha are perhaps the most common way.  They are actually a short version of T å tan Biho (old father) and N å nan Biha (old mother).

When applied to objects, biho is used. I biho na lepblo . The old book . I biho na mag å go . The old clothes.

ANTIGO

Borrowed from the Spanish antiguo , this means "old" and is applied to things from the past.

I antigo na kostumbre . The old custom .

I antigo na songsong . The old village .

There is a sense that something antigo is an object of respect, whereas biho carries the connotation of something of no use anymore.

If someone has "old values" or "old ideas," one would prefer the word antigo and not biho .

I antigo na hinasso- ñ a . His old way of thinking .

ANSI Å NO

Not heard much nowadays, but older Chamorros knew and used this term, meaning "old."

With age comes wisdom, they say, so ansi å no can also mean "wise" from experience.

Å NTES

Å ntes means "before," but that can also infer old age.  Again, a Spanish word.

I å ntes na kostumbre . The custom from before .

GAST Å DO

Something can be "old" in the sense that it is worn out. Gast å do comes from the Spanish, meaning "spent."

Gast å do ayo na sap å tos. That shoe is worn out.

HAGAS

Hagas is purely Chamorro, and not from the Spanish, and can denote something old, but its more precise meaning is "past."

It can mean something existing even today, but which had started sometime in the past.

~ Na'bubu ayo na taotao. ( That person is irritating .)
~ Hagas ha! ( Ever since! )

But there are times that hagas can include the idea that it is old.

I hagas guma' .  "The old house," but more accurately "the house from the past."  The prior house could actually be just a few years old, but it still is the house prior to the present house.  So it doesn't specifically mean "old."

Something hagas can be from the past and still remaining, but also something from the past that remains no more.

I hagas guinaiya- ñ a. Her old love (crush).

AN EXAMPLE

This matter arose when someone asked me to help them translate this English phrase into Chamorro :

Our old roots.

His first thought was : I man å mko' na hale'-ta .

But å mko' can only refer to people, not things.

So, his choices are :

I man antigo na hale'-ta.

I man biho na hale'-ta.

I hagas na hale'-ta.

I å ntes na hale'-ta.

So basic rule of thumb is å mko' refers to only a person's age, not an inanimate object.

I've even heard God referred to as " I amko' "  The "old man."  How old?  Without beginning.

GRACE BEFORE MEALS IN CHAMORRO

Monday, June 30, 2014

Guam 1960s

There is a wonderful freedom we enjoy when it comes to Christian prayer.

As long as it is said from the heart, with due adoration, respect and humility, it's a good prayer!  And so it is with any prayer of thanksgiving before eating a meal.

But here's a traditional Chamorro version that has been around for many years :

Asaina, bendise este siha na nengkanno' ni para in kanno'

ni man måfåtto ginen i gineftao i kannai-mo, gi na'an i Tata,

yan i Lahi-ña, yan i Espiritu Santo.  Amen.

Loosely translated, you will recognize the standard Catholic grace before meals in English :

Asaina, bendise este siha na nengkanno'
( Lord, bless this food )

ni para in kanno'
( which we are to eat )

ni man måfåtto
( which come )

ginen i gineftao i kannai-mo
( from the generosity of your hand )

gi na'an i Tata, yan i Lahi-ña, yan i Espiritu Santo.  Amen.
( in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen .)

BLESS THE TABLE

A standard comment one hears at many Chamorro gatherings is :

Fanohge para i ma bendisen i lamasa!
( Stand for the blessing of the table! )

To which someone invariably responds :

Ti i lamasa para u ma bendise, na i nengkanno'!
( It's not the table to be blessed, but the food! )

WHO BLESSES THE FOOD?

If there is a priest present, it is the norm to ask him to bless.

Of course, a bishop outranks the priest and he would be asked first, but the bishop could cede this to a priest if, for example, it's the priest's occasion.

If no clergy are present, the honor of leading grace before meals goes to one of the mañaina (elders and/or people of stature) such as the nåna (grandmother) or techa (prayer leader) or matlina (godmother).  Yes, women usually get the spot, but sometimes also men.

WHO GOES FIRST?

As you can see in the pic above, clergy go first.  Then it was pretty much whoever else, since the very elderly didn't line up at all but were rather catered to.  The elderly sat at their tables and someone else fixed a plate for them ( ma na'yåne ).

Today, as the culture wanes, it's everybody for himself, which means the energetic and agile kids get to the line first and Påle' has to go by the law of the survival of the fittest, on many occasions.

ILEK-ÑA SI PÅLE'

Friday, June 27, 2014
Seminarians at Fr Dueñas Minor Seminary

I mañaina siha debe u ha respeta i inayek-ñiha i famagu'on-ñiha na bokasion .
( Parents should respect the vocational choice of their children .)

Yanggen un påtgon låhe malago' man estudia para Påle' pat Etmåno,
( If a son wants to study for the priesthood or brotherhood ,)

i saina ti debe na u estotba i patgon, pat u chomma i hinasson-ña.
( the parent should not bother the child or oppose his thinking. )

Yanggen un hagå-mo malago' humålom gi un konbenton Etmånas,
( If one of your daughters wants to enter a convent of Sisters ,)

umisao hao dångkulo yanggen un chomma.
( you sin greatly if you oppose. )

Siña ha' despues de i patgon-mo man estudia unos kuåntos tiempo,
( It may be later after your child studies for a time, )

ha deside na ti inagang gue' as Yu'us pot este na bokasion,
( he decides that he isn't called by God for this vocation ,)

este minalago' Yu'us.
( this is God's will .)

Yanggen i lahi-mo pat hagå-mo ti ha chage, nungka nai siña ha li'e kao hunggan pat åhe'
( If your son or daughter never tries, he will never be able to see if yes or no ,)

ti man inagang siha as Yu'us para i relihioso na lina'la' .
( they are not called by God for the religious life .)

I mañaina debe u ha nå'e ånimo i famagu'on-ñiha para u ha chule' i ofision
( Parents should encourage their children to take up the position of )

maestro, enfetmera, mediko pat håfa otro na ofisio ni siña ha ayuda i pumalon taotao siha .
( teacher, nurse, doctor or whatever other work can help other people .)

Magåhet na guaha na biåhe nai ti dangkulo na suetdo man ma sosodda' guennao siha na ofisio
( It's true that there are times that big salaries are not found in those positions )

lao man maulek este siha na cho'cho' na todo i taotao siha man finaborerese.
( but these are good jobs where all the people benefit .)

Nå'e ånimo i famagu'on-miyo siha na u ha kontinua gi eskuela kuånto i siña na inapmam.
( Encourage your children to continue in school as long as possible .)

Kuånto mås meggai edukasion-ña i patgon-mo, yanggen åt mismo tiempo maulek gue' lokkue' na påtgon Yu'us,
( The more education your child has, if at the same time he is a good child of God, )

mås meggai inayudå-ña nu hågo i patgon-mo siña un li'e kontodo i pumalon taotao siha
( you can see the more your child is able to help you as well as the other people )

yanggen ha na' fonhåyan i umeskuelå-ña.
( if he finishes his schooling. )

PRE-WAR BARRIGADA BARRIOS

Thursday, June 26, 2014


The modern village of Barrigada which we know today was not quite the same as it was before the war.

Indeed, in the late Spanish period (1800s), there really was no organized municipality called Barrigada. There definitely were farms; many farms!  All the areas and districts included in what we now call Barrigada were some of the best agricultural lands on the island.  Those who worked the farms, mostly men, spent the night at the ranch house during the week, but returned to Hagåtña for the weekend to attend Mass and be with their families.

But by the 1920s, people started to live permanently in the outlying villages of central and northern Guam. Slowly, the priests built chapels in these villages where Mass could be held periodically, but not everyday. These priests still lived in Hagåtña and had to drive cars to these chapels.  Eskuelan Påle' (catechism class or CCD as we know it today) was also held in these chapels.

The government also built a few schools in the central and northern villages.

The municipal lines for Barrigada before the war included what is now Toto and Mangilao.

In 1940, there were already 875 people living in this municipality.

The different barrios or districts in the municipality, with their populations in parentheses, were :

ADACAO (48) - on the present back road to Andersen.

ASMUYAO and SONGLAGO (30) - towards Mangilao and Chalan Pago

CAÑADA and LEYANG (29) - more or less the present locations

GUAE and SABANAN PÅGAT (29) - further north on the back road to Andersen, past Adacao

JALAGUAG and MAITE (103) - Jalaguag was just before Tiyan if you were heading northeast towards Tiyan from Hagåtña.

LALO and SAN ANTONIO (116) - San Antonio was where much of the village proper of Barrigada is today; Lalo was south of that.

MACHAUTI and TOTO (22) - just north of Cañada

MAGA (83) - south of Mangilao, going towards the coast (Pago Bay)

MANGILAO (43)

NALAO (110) - in the area of the present village proper of Barrigada

TIYAN (24) - now the airport!

UNGAGUAN (238) - in the vicinity of the Admiral Nimitz Golf Course, past PC Lujan school

There are many other barrios located in the old, prewar municipality but they are not singled out in the population figures but are most likely grouped with the others who are mentioned.

These other barrios included Aspengao, Luayao, Mochom and Pinate, to name a few.



The present village of Barrigada does a nice job memorializing these districts by naming many of the streets after them.

UNGAGUAN might come from the word ungak which means "to tip to one side" or  "to bend something down," as in tipping a bench to one side or grabbing the branch of a tree and bending it down.

The family name Ungacta most likely comes from the word ungak .

Though we don't have any clear proof where the name Ungaguan comes from, there are two possibilities.

The suffix -guan means "to do something unintentionally" as in pineddongguan (to let something fall unintentionally) or "to do something against the will of someone" as in chule'guan (to take something away from someone unwilling to give it).  Ungaguan could mean "unintentionally tilting or bending."

Or, the suffix - an could be in use in Ungaguan.  -An means "place of."  Ungaguan could mean the place of tipping or bending to one side.


FORGOTTEN CHAMORRO : HUNTER

Wednesday, June 25, 2014


KASADULES : hunter

This word is so forgotten, it doesn't even make it into the latest Chamorro dictionary; a very extensive dictionary at that.

But it is found in P å le' Roman's Chamorro dictionary of 1932.

It's interesting because both peskadot and kasadules are derived from Spanish loan words.

Peskadot originally just meant "fisherman."  It comes from the Spanish words pescar , which means "to fish."

Chamorros also borrowed from that word and use peska to mean "to fish."

Pumepeska si Jose . Jose is fishing .

One could also say pipeska . Someone who peska (the duplication of the first syllable means continuous or habitual activity). For example, kånta is "to sing." A kakanta is someone who habitually sings, i.e. a singer.

It all goes together nicely when one recalls that the Spanish word for "fish" is pez . That itself comes from the Laitn word for "fish," which is piscis , in the plural, pisces .  Yes, like the zodiac sign.



We have our own indigenous way of saying "to catch fish."  We use the root word konne' , which means "to take" but is applied only to living or animate objects (or inanimate objects which represent living things, like the statue of a saint).

Mangonne' guihan nigap si Jose . Jose caught fish yesterday .

The prefix e' - means "to look for." E'che'cho ' means "to look for work." E'guihan means "to look for fish." This is probably connected to higuihan , a word Påle' Román says (in 1932) means "fisherman."

Sipik is a word defined by de Freycinet as "fisherman." De Freycinet was a French explorer who visited Guam in 1819.

A talayero is someone who uses a talåya , a specific kind of throw net used for fishing. That word comes from a word used in Latin America for a throw net, atarraya . The - ero suffix should be a clue as to the Hispanic background of the word talayero . We see it in panadero (baker); pan (bread) plus - ad ero .


KASADULES




Påle' Román's 1932 dictionary

In past times, Chamorros also borrowed the Spanish word cazadores , which means "hunters."

The caza is the hunt, or the chase (connected to the word caza ). Caza - dor is someone on the chase, who hunts.

Since we don't like the R sound, when Chamorros pronounced this word, the R was changed to L and it came out kasadules .




Compare the sticker above, with the deer and peskadot , and this sticker with a deer as well but with cazadores .  The word is used in the brand name of a kind of tequila.  Hunters' tequila!

In more recent times, more and more people stopped using kasadules .  But people still hunt, so they turned to peskadot to refer to hunters.

By the way, why is it kasadules , in the plural, even when talking about one hunter?

Because, for whatever reason, many words we borrowed from Spanish we keep in the plural, even if we refer to a single object.

Think of un espehos (one mirror), tres na espehos (three mirrors).

Un sap å tos (one shoe), sais na sap å tos (six shoes).

There's no logical reason for it.  It's just what we thought sounded better.

A CHANGING TRADITION : KOTPUS

Sunday, June 22, 2014


L Å NCHON KOTPUS IN HAG Å T Ñ A IN THE 1920s

Catholics around the world celebrate an annual feast called Corpus Christi, recalling the Catholic belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.

What Guam, the Marianas and many other places do, but which not all Catholics do, is erect outdoor temporary altars, or stations, to be used during the procession held on Corpus Christi.  Chamorros call these altars L å nchon Kotpus.  It literally means "Corpus ranch," and no one knows for sure why Chamorros a long time ago called them that.

Before the war, when Catholicism was extremely strong in our culture, the Corpus Christi procession was a grand affair, especially in Hag å t ñ a.

The L å ncho, as can be seen in the photo above, was exquisitely decorated with the best fabrics, lighting fixtures, religious statuary and plants.

The L å ncho were built by lay people in one of the residential homes.  Usually, a whole family was committed to setting up the L å ncho as an annual project.  Other people, too, would come and assist.

Looking at the elaborate design and all the details of the old photo, one can tell that people put a lot of time and effort into making the L å ncho.


CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION IN HAG Å T Ñ A
Early 1920s

The procession, too, easily involved thousands of people; perhaps 80% or more of the 10,000 people who made up the pre-war Hag å t ñ a population.  Men and women marched separately.  The priest was assisted by two other priests as deacon and subdeacon in full vestments.  A canopy was held over the priest as he carried the Monstrance containing the Sacred Host. Men occupying high roles in the Church wore white suits and special sashes and escorted the clergy in the procession.

You can see in the photo of the procession how the women, dressed in mestisa , knelt on the bare earth when the Monstrance passed by.  Such was the faith of the people back then.

AFTER THE WAR


A L Å NCHO IN 1953

The 10,000 people originally from Hag å t ñ a before the war were scattered all over central and northern Guam after the Liberation.  People were still recovering from the war and so, in the early post-war years, it's understandable that not all the material adornments could be had.

In time, the L å ncho designs started to change from intricacy to simplicity.



A L å ncho of the 1960s in Sinaja ñ a shows how, even then, there was a turn towards more simplicity.

By the time I was old enough to serve Mass in the 1970s, one could already start to see the changes.  My first recollections of the Corpus Christi procession in the early 70s included :


In Sinaja ñ a, for example, we would process from the church to the first L å ncho at one end of the baseball field; then clear across over to Bishop Baumgartner side where the second L å ncho was at Ton Antonion Gas' house (San Nicolas).  The final and third L å ncho was near the present-day Payless Market.  That was a long route, in the late afternoon heat.

By the 1980s, some parishes started to experiment having the procession at other times to avoid the heat. Some chose to have it after the earliest morning Mass.  Today, many have the procession after the Saturday late afternoon or evening Mass.

But, even then, one could count on only 80%, if that, of the crowd at Mass to participate in the procession. Attendance has gone down dramatically, even when the procession avoids the hottest time of the day.

Another difficulty that developed by the 1980s was finding places for the L å ncho.  Some families gave up the tradition when the matriarch or patriarch in the family, who was committed to the L å ncho, passed away. Sometimes pastors themselves looked for spots closer to the church in order to shorten the route, even if it meant that the L å ncho would no longer be at a private residence.

Designs for the L å ncho continued to become simpler and simpler.  Sometimes carports were turned into L å nchos, and then later pop-up tents or canopies were used. The ornate pre-war designs are seen no more. The huge crowds, the canopies used in the procession; the VIP men in their white suits and sashes; the veiled women kneeling on the ground...all a thing of the past.

In some parishes, all the L å ncho are right there on church property, at different corners or even lined up in a row, making for a very short procession. Attendance at the procession is still focused on those who attend the preceding Mass, with perhaps a few others especially devoted to this feast participating.

THE L Å NCHON KOTPUS TODAY


SINAJA Ñ A


AGA Ñ A HEIGHTS


HAG Å T Ñ A


ASAN


TOTO


PITI


OLEAI, SAIPAN

So, the hallmarks of the tradition of the L å nchon Kotpus and procession today include the following :

Perhaps some parishes can consider keeping some of these accommodations to modern conditions, but also reviving some of the wise customs of the past that stirred up our faith through external signs.

A SPANISH BISHOP SPEAKS CHAMORRO TO CHAMORROS

Friday, June 20, 2014

THE LAST SPANISH BISHOP
Capuchin Bishop Miguel Angel Olano speaking to Fr Dueñas men - in Chamorro

Anthony J. Ramirez, one of our Chamorro cultural and historical fafana'gue (teachers), recently wrote about his experience seeing and hearing the last Spanish bishop of Guam, Bishop Miguel Angel Olano, visit Guam in the late 1960s, and speaking to the Father Dueñas students exclusively in Chamorro.

Olano lived on Guam from 1919 till 1942 when he was shipped off to Japan with all the other foreign Catholic missionaries.  He returned to Guam in early 1945, only to be replaced by the first and only American bishop of Guam, Apollinaris Baumgartner, in the fall of the same year.

Olano spoke English, but was more confident and at home with Chamorro.  I met him in 1970 when I was eight years old.  We were introduced by my grand uncle and aunt, who knew him well before the war.  He looked at me and I looked at him and that was all!  He and my older relatives continued to converse - in Chamorro.

Here is what Ramirez wrote.

In 1968, Bishop Leon Miguiel Angel Olano y Ortega visited Guam.  He
first arrived on Guam in 1919, one of several Spanish Capuchin
missionaries assigned to Guam..  In 1934, he was elevated and
consecrated bishop (Read the article by Pali' Eric Forbes / guampedia
article).

During his 1968 visit, he came to FDMS . He wanted to meet the
students and address the student body and faculty. I was then a
freshman.  Prior to his presence on campus, I did not know who he was
other than a brief oral history account.

The only Spanish missionary I often heard off at home was Pali. Roman
de Vera.  He was almost venerated and a legend of his times.  He is
credited with the CHamoru translations of almost all the prewar WWII
"CHamoru Nobenas."  In addition, he wrote the CHamoru-Castellano
Dictionary. Through his translations, I learned at the age of nine (9)
how to read the "CHamoru Nobenan Ninu")

As the student body congregated in the cafeteria / waiting for Bishop
Olano / everyone assumed his address would be in Spanish or English.,
We were all wrong!  Bishop Olano addressed us in CHamoru. In those
years, it was unthinkable that such a person of such stature, a
non-CHamoru would have addressed us in our language.

I never forgot that day.  And I know that none of the students did!.
We were all awed and proud of his CHamoru address.  We listened and
heard him / a bishop / again a non-CHamoru / on campus addressing us
in our language. However, In those years at FDMS, almost all the
CHamoru students spoke CHamoru or if not at least understood the
language.

FDMS was quite unique then in the educational system.  I was never
challenge by the "Only English" policy.  I spoke CHamoru at home and
in almost all social and religious ocassions in my time. Thus, I never
considered these issues of  "preferred language use" or "Language
Policies" / on the use of CHamoru language even at FDMS.
.
Collaborating my statements on CHamoru Language, Father Knute, OFMCap,
my FDMS principal for four (4) years and my Spanish instructor for two
(2) years often times used CHamoru both within or outside the
classroom.  In fact, Father Knute inspired me to learn more / read
more / and write more in CHamoru since 1967.

The percentage of Spanish loanwords in CHamoru is remarkably high.
Thus in my first quarter of Spanish, my vocabulary increased by the
hundreds in a few weeks.  All, I did was de-CHamorozie the Spanish
loanwords.

Father Knute required each student to read then Bishop Felixberto
Camacho's Umatuna Si Yu'us Ma'asi' article / a Sunday newspaper.  I
had to underline each CHamoru word that is a Spanish derivative,  I
did this every week and submit my assignment on Mondays.  I was often
amazed that nearly underlined 2/3 of the words used by Bishop Flores.
In retrospect, Fr, Knute developed the first trilingual program /
Spanish and CHamoru and English as a reference.

Today, if Bishop Olano addressed the student body at FDMS, the
students would not understated him. Perhaps a few!  They may even
assume he is speaking a foreign language.  Within just a little over
one (1) generation, the CHamoru language diminished!  Need I write
more!




Bishop Olano, with Capuchin Father Peter McCall, at Fr Dueñas Memorial School

My own impression, reading this, is just how Chamorro the mindset of those Spanish missionaries was. These Spaniards had no connection with America or English.  They saw themselves as the spiritual leaders of the Chamorro people and, in order to connect with the Chamorro people, they had to speak their language. How interesting Olano was speaking to Chamorros in the 60s when some among them did not feel the same way.  By the late 60s, there were already some Chamorro youth who were losing fluency in their language by simply letting go of it.  A new mindset was in motion.

TUNANAS GI ECHONGÑÅ-MO

Thursday, June 19, 2014

ECHONG ÑÅMO?
The crooked mosquito?

O Maria Nana'magof is one of our well-known Chamorro Catholic hymns.

It includes the following line :

Goggue yo' yan chachal å ne / tunanas gi echong ñ å -mo.

That line contains a word that most Chamorros today have no clue what it means. Echong ñ a .

People get confused because they know that echong means "crooked."  The possessive suffix - ña means "his, her or its." Echong- ña means "his/her/its crooked?"  It doesn't make sense.

The suffix - ña can also mean "more."  Again, "more crooked" doesn't make sense.

Not knowing what echong ñ a means, people come up with various theories, the funniest one being that it means " echong ñ å mo ," or the "crooked mosquito."

But the word echong ñ a means "side." Echong ñ å -mo means "your side."

The word echong (crooked) and echong ñ a (side) are two different words.  But echong ñ a is an old word modern Chamorros don't use and don't understand anymore.

So let's translate that whole line and see if it becomes clearer for us.

Goggue yo' yan chachal å ne ( Defend me and guide me )

tunanas gi echong ñ å -mo ( straight alongside you ).

We are asking Mary to defend us and guide us with her at our side and we at hers.

An aside (pun intended)

Echong and echong ña are two different words with two different meanings, but consider that they may be derived from the same idea, because to be crooked ( echong ) means to lean towards one side ( echong ñ a ) more than another side.

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' : SARAGÅTE

Wednesday, June 18, 2014


The other day an elderly man told me that I was a bit sarag å te .

I had never heard the word before.

He said it meant "naughty, mischievous."

So I started doing research.  Katherine Aguon's dictionary has it as "mischievous" and "naughty."

P å le' Roman's Chamorro-Spanish dictionary also has it.

For those wanting to know how to use the word, one could say :

Mampos sarag å te este na p å tgon ! This child is overly mischievous !

AMERICANISMO

But what's interesting is that the original Spanish word, zaragate , is really an Americanism, meaning it's from the Spanish spoken in South or Latin America.  Some sources specifically say Mexico.

In South or Latin America, Z and S sound the same.  So zaragate will sound like sarag å te .

We are beginning to appreciate more and more Mexico's influence on Chamorro culture.  We can look at any fiesta table and see more Mexican-based dishes ( titiyas, chalakiles ) than European Spanish dishes.

Sarag å te is evidence of Mexican influence on our language.

Spain ruled the Marianas through Mexico, and Mexicans (as well as other Latin Americans) came to Guam as soldiers and religious workers.

FAMILIA : CHACO

Monday, June 16, 2014



You hear the name Chaco and you instantly think of H å gat.  And with good reason.  In the 1897 Census of Guam and Luta, all the Chacos reside in Hågat.

It seems all the Chacos of the Marianas today are descendants of one man : Jos é Chaco.  Unfortunately, I know nothing else about him, other than that he is the common ancestor of all the Chacos recorded in the H å gat baptismal register during the 1800s.

Was he Chamorro?  Or not?

Let's look at all the possibilities, without any means of proving any of them!

1. Chamorro

Almost always, an indigenous, Chamorro name is taken from actual words.  Mafnas (erased), Taitano (no land), Gogue (to protect/defend).  But we have lost the meaning of many of these words, and hence the meaning also of names. For example, we don't know what Taisipic means, although it probably meant someone didn't have a supik or sipik , whatever that was.*

There are Chamorro words that end in -ko/-co.  Think of angokko (to depend).  And lo and behold there is an Angoco family.  So Chaco may be a truly Chamorro word, whose meaning we have lost, and the Chaco name comes from that word.

If Chaco, or chåkko , is a Chamorro word and name, it could very well show up in the 1728 and 1758 censuses of Guam and Luta.  In those censuses, the indigenous Chamorros are entered in a list separate from the mestizos, foreign settlers and their Chamorro wives.

Lo and behold, there is man in the 1728 Census from Aniguåk named Pedro Chaco.  What does this prove?

Only that Chaco was used as a surname, of a Chamorro, and is more than likely a Chamorro word, whose meaning, unfortunately, we have lost.

There is also, in that same Census, a young boy from Pågo named José Chaco.  Further evidence that the Chaco name, and word, existed among Chamorros and which is, more than likely, indigenous.

These findings don't tell us much else, because back in those days, including the 1758 Census, indigenous Chamorros were not passing on surnames to their children.  If a man had five children, each of the five had not only a different Spanish Christian first name, but also their own, individual indigenous name.

Notice that neither of the two Chacos in the 1728 Census live in Hågat.  In the 1758 Census, there are no Chacos at all, anywhere.  It doesn't matter.  As I mentioned, Chamorro newborns were given two names, one Spanish/Christian and secondly an indigenous one.  A baby could have been born later, after the 1758 Census, who was given the name Chaco as a second name.

So my guess is that Chaco is indeed a true, Chamorro name.  I just can't tell you where José Chaco, the ancestor of the Hågat Chacos came from.  Was he originally from Hågat?  Another village?  I don't know. But he was, in all probability, Chamorro.

Still, let's look as some other possibilities, though less likely, in my opinion.

2. Spanish or, at least, Hispanic (Latin American)

We normally look to a Spanish source if the name is not indigenous.  Today, in Spain, there are but a tiny handful of people with the last name Chaco, and they seem to be immigrants from South America, where there are plenty more Chacos from various countries in that continent.

There is a geographic region covering several countries in South America called the Chaco, a semi-arid, inland terrain.  The name comes from the Quechua word chaku , or "hunting land."  The Chacos of South America could have gotten their name from this, and may even have been indigenous people, many of them intermarrying with Europeans and others.

Given that Guam was settled by some soldiers from South America during Spanish times, it is possible that the first Chaco on Guam was South American.  But, he doesn't show up at all in the 1728 and 1758 censuses.  Still, he could have come after those censuses were taken, but, if he did, he probably came on his own rather than with a group of imported soldiers.

3. Filipino

Many Filipino soldiers, and later prisoners and adventurers, came to the Marianas.  Many of them had Spanish surnames and others had indigenous Filipino names.  Chaco is not a surname found among Filipinos today.  But, there could have been Filipino Chacos in the past and the name died out in the Philippines.

4. Chinese

This is what a lot of people, even Chacos, think.  Why?  Because a lot of Chinese surnames on Guam do end in -co : Unpingco, Tydingco, Tyquiengco and so on.

But not all names ending in -co are Chinese.  As we've seen, there's Angoco (Chamorro), but also Francisco (Portuguese/Spanish) and Blanco (Spanish).

No Chaco appears on the list of Chinese residents of Guam in the 1850s to 1890s.  It's true that a Chinese Chaco could have come to Guam earlier than that, though.  But he'd be one of the very few, if not rare, Chinese who did not come to Guam with the others in the 1850s and 60s.  No Chinese shows up in the Marianas records prior to the 1850s, so I am highly doubtful the first Chaco here was Chinese.

Another reason why many people think Chaco is Chinese is because it sounds very similar to the famous, or infamous, Chinese adversary of Sanvitores, Choco.  But this is just a coincidence that the two names sound almost the same, with the difference of one vowel.  Even just one vowel makes a big difference between words.

Then we have to be open to all kinds of other possibilities.  The first Chaco on Guam could have been someone from Timbuktu who happened to be on a ship passing through and decided to stay.

At the end of the day, we have no proof (thus far) for anything to explain the origin of the Chaco family on Guam, but my hunch is that the first Chaco is a Chamorro from H å gat.  But I could be wrong.

Here's what we DO know.  There was in H å gat, at least since the 1860s or 70s, two brothers named Chaco, the sons of

JOS É CHACO , of unknown origin, who married
SALOM É CEPEDA

Now Salom é we can say more about.  There have been Cepedas on Guam at least since the 1720s because two Cepedas, Domingo and Jos é , show up in the 1728 Census of Guam as "Spanish" soldiers.  This can mean that they were either Spaniards from Spain; pure or part Spaniards from South America or pure or part Spaniards from the Philippines.

Both Cepedas married Chamorro women, one who was a Guadog ñ a (gu å ddok, to dig) and the other was a Mansangan (meaning, "it is said").  So all the Cepedas of the Marianas are from this Spanish (Hispanic)/Chamorro mestizo blend originating in Hag å tna. There was, at this time, no Cepedas in H å gat, so Salom é probably came from Hag å tña.

Jos é and Salom é had three children :

Jos é Cepeda Chaco, whose birthplace is unknown.  Jos é married Maria San Nicolas possibly of H å gat. These two had a large number of children.

Juan Cepeda Chaco, whose birthplace is also unknown.  He married Margarita San Nicolas possibly of H å gat, sister of Maria, wife of his brother Jose.  So, two brothers married two sisters.  It happens!

Juan and Margarita also had a whole slew of children!  And these we know were (for the most part) born in Hågat.  I say "for the most part" because the older children were born before the oldest baptismal records we have found.  There's a good chance even these older children were born in Hågat, but until we find the records, we can't say this with 100% certainty.

Finally, there is a sister : Micaela.  She married Agapito Pinaula.  They, too, were in Hågat.  So the whole Chaco clan on Guam in the late 1800s were living in Hågat.

So there we have it.

All Chamorro Chacos are descendants of either Jos é Cepeda Chaco and Maria San Nicolas; or of Juan Cepeda Chaco and Margarita San Nicolas.  And both lines are descendants of Jos é Chaco, from where is anybody's guess, and Salom é Cepeda, probably from Hag å tña, who was most certainly a mestiza Chamorro.

* An aside.  Taisipic actually means "no sipik ," because there was also the Chamorro name Sipicña.  So sipik (and not supik ) is the root word.  Sadly, we no longer know what it means.


THE ÅTKOS

Thursday, June 12, 2014
Bishop Olaiz with Chamorro faithful.  Åtkos behind, in front of the thatched-roof structure.
Possibly Sumay , between 1915 and 1920.

The custom of erecting arches, or åtkos , at festive occasions undoubtedly has connections with the Catholic missionaries, but this may also be a case of happy coincidence.

Early Spanish descriptions of pre-contact Chamorro culture tell us that our ancestors also built "triumphant arches," according to Father García, but he tells us that these arches were put up in connection with funerals. He also doesn't provide us with a detailed description of these "arches," but he wouldn't have called them such unless they had the general form of an arch.  He also says the Chamorros decorated the streets with garlands of palms.  So I don't think it is far-fetched to assume that our ancestors had something similar to our Spanish-influenced arches; "triumphant" and most likely adorned with palms and other local materials.

The åtkos used to be a prominent feature of any community celebration in the Marianas.  In recent decades, we see them less and less.  About the only time we see them today is at parish fiestas.



But, as the photographic record shows, the åtkos was not just for religious events. Even when a village observed Clean-Up Week, the people put up an åtkos .


Or when a new bridge was inaugurated, an åtkos was part of the happy affair.


The idea was that the åtkos was a way of welcoming visitors from outside the community, such as this arch in Spain welcoming the King and his wife to the town of Ampuero.


Or this one, in the Philippines, welcoming the local bishop to a parish's confirmation.  " Viva Señor Obispo ," it says.  "Long live the Lord Bishop."


The åtkos was made from local materials, easily obtained from the jungle.  Bamboo was often used for the frame, and local fruits and vegetables hung to decorate the frame.


This arch in the Philippines shows the same idea, with the added use of modern, store-bought decorative adornments.


This modern-day åtkos in Hågat shows a streamlined design but still incorporating local flora for decoration.


When Felixberto Flores was ordained the first Chamorro bishop in 1970, the Plaza de España was surrounded by modern-style, wooden åtkos , each one representing one of the islands then under the Diocese of Agaña.  There were åtkos for all the inhabited islands of the Northern Marianas, as well as Wake Island.  The one in the photo above is Guam's åtkos .


When St Pope John Paul II visited Guam in February, 1981, a number of åtkos were built around the island, mainly in Hagåtña.  Again, the planners decided on a more modern look for them, but used local materials as much as possible.


Even Guam Memorial Hospital put up an åtkos when the Pope went to visit the patients there.  The signage says, " Bendise ham Santo Papa ." "Bless us Holy Father."


A recent revival of the åtkos tradition.  This åtkos was not for a religious event, but rather to welcome visitors to Government House during Chamorro Month.  The åtkos is mainly made of local material : p å tma dr å ba (wood), pugua', p å hong, tupu, pap å ya, aga', niyok.

Let's remind people to build an åtkos for any big, festive event, whether civic or religious, to welcome our visitors and guests to the occasion.

HALIGIN PROTESTÅNTE : TAN ANAN GAY

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Ana Taitano Gay
1907

When one reads the early records of the Chamorro Protestant community on Guam, one is struck by the repeated references to Ana Taitano Gay.  She was a pillar of the fledgling community, a haligin Protest å nte , at a time when Chamorro Protestants received a cold shoulder, alternating with heated condemnation, from some of their Catholic neighbors, relatives and all.

Ana was the daughter of Jose Mendiola Taitano (Kueto) and his wife, Juana Perez San Nicolas.  Born in 1877 during Spanish times, she was baptized a Catholic, as were all her siblings.  She had a twin sister, Maria, who later married Tomas Cruz Gutierrez.

But in 1899, her father, who had been exposed to Protestantism during his years as a whaler, formally left Catholicism to publicly embrace Protestantism when the Custino (Castro) brothers came back to Guam from Hawaii to begin a Protestant church in their native land.  The American flag flying over Guam guaranteed their freedom to do so.

Ana embraced Protestantism with great enthusiasm.  She was a constant presence in the mission.  Eventually, she became the backbone of the Day School established by the Protestant mission.  The Day School, separate from the Sunday School which only taught religion, focused on English language classes, with an average enrollment of around 20 students, some of them Catholic.  Ana herself learned much of her English from Rosa Custino, daughter of Luis, one of the two Custino brothers.  Rosa had been born and educated in Hawaii.

At the time, the Protestant mission on Guam was affiliated with the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and had a Congregationalist orientation in theology, worship and practice.  They baptized infants, for example, unlike the Baptists.

Another important member of the Protestant mission on Guam was Elmer Lee Gay, a Congregationalist deacon originally from Illinois.  He was, at the time, a clerk in the paymaster's office of the Naval Government on Guam.  At times, when the mission lacked an ordained minister to run things, Elmer shared temporary administrative powers with another American member of the Protestant community, a Mr. Sanderson, also working in the paymaster's office.  Ana, the mission school teacher and deaconess, married Elmer in those early years.  They eventually had nine children.

The following quote is attributed by Reverend Francis M. Price, the American Protestant missionary, to Ana Taitano, concerning the social isolation Chamorro Protestants experienced in those early years, "But what need I care?  I have my Bible and I have Jesus."

Ana Gay eventually became a teacher in the public schools run by the Naval Government.  In 1910, the American Board decided to withdraw from Guam.  By 1911, the General Baptists took over the Protestant mission on Guam.

Beginning under Congregationalist tutelage, continuing under the Baptists, Tan Ana would, many years later, move to a third form of Protestantism - the Seventh Day Adventists.  The Adventists did not establish a presence on Guam until right after World War II, but Tan Ana was one of their earliest and strongest converts.  She donated the land where the SDA church sits today in Aga ñ a Heights.


SDA Church in Aga ñ a Heights

Elmer, by the way, even in his old age, had to endure POW camp in Japan from 1942 till 1945.  Upon his release at war's end, he returned to Guam.


Gay Drive in Aga ñ a Heights, right across from the SDA Church, serves as a reminder of the presence of the family in that location.

From the personal collection of Susan Gay Kirk
Tan Ana, with her husband Elmer, in their senior years.  Elmer passed away in 1953 and Tan Ana in 1959.

SAN ROQUE NICKNAMES

Saturday, May 24, 2014

San Roque Church, Saipan

I was pastor of San Roque parish in Saipan for three wonderful years (1991-1994).  The village counted 800 people and it didn't take me long to know all the families.

There were four main clans in the village : Babauta, Camacho, Castro and Santos. Some people even had both names.

It was here that I got a real taste of how Chamorros love to give and use nicknames. Almost everyone was known by something other than their surnames.

Some were known by their spouses.  Some were known by clan nickname, their meanings lost in some cases.  Others were given nicknames based on funny attributes. Sometimes the nickname was not funny at all to the person labeled with it!

Sometimes the nickname applied to the whole family and sometimes just to one individual.  But it was very easy for that individual's children to start being called by that nickname.

Here is a partial list of the family or personal nicknames I found in San Roque.  When possible, I give an explanation.  In no particular order :

Paete' (de la Cruz).  This raises my curiosity, because there is a town in the Philippines called Paete, but this could just be coincidence.  It happens!

Puspus (Babauta), This was the nickname of a man who, so the story goes, had an accident that affected his walking. He had to exert more effort walking and appeared to be pushing something in front of him.  So some people started to call him "pus pus" as in "push push."  Many Chamorros had a hard time saying the SH sound. Here's an example of Chamorros using an English word for a nickname.

Manggwa' (Santos).  The word is borrowed from the Japanese word manga or comics. Here you see the Chamorros change the pronunciation. This nickname applied to one person, but one person called this man's children "manggwalitos," or "little manggwa'." You see here the ingenuity of the Chamorros in inventing nicknames.

Kosinero (Pinaula).  "Cook."

Sando' (Camacho).  This applied to just one Camacho family.  Saipan has many Camachos.

Alab å do (Castro).  Applied to one man named Castro.  The word is Spanish and means "praised" but may come from the opening word in Spanish of the famous prayer "U ma tuna i sen s å ntos sakramenton i attat" which closes every devotion and prayer in Chamorro.  The original is the Spanish "Alabado sea el santisimo sacramento del altar."  In English, "Praised by the most holy sacrament of the altar."

Tuguini (Mafnas).  Supposedly, the father of this family could not say "taiguine," "this way."  Instead, he would say "tuguini" and thus a new nickname was born.

Sa'i (Babauta).  A very large clan.  The family story is that six fingers and toes ( sais , shortened to sa'i ) runs in this family.

D å go (San Nicolas).  Yam.

M å tseli å no (Castro).  The ancestor of this clan of Castros was named Marceliano, pronounced M å tseli å no by Chamorros.

Marubong (Castro).  A branch of the M å tseli å no clan.  The word supposedly comes from a Japanese word for liquor.

Pandan (Santos).  Given to just one woman, but her children were often called by the same name.

Welang (Castro).  Applied to just one man.

Elis (Camacho).  Applied to just one man, whose wife was Elisabeth, shortened to Elis.

Pilot (Tudela).  Just one man was called this, but everyone referred to him and his family by this name.

Half-Inch (Santos).  Only one man had this nickname, but he had the same first and last names as another man in the village.  So people gave him the nickname "Half-inch" because he took very short steps when he walked.

As pastor, I frequently heard these nicknames.  Many times, I was not told to go see Santos or San Nicolas but rather to go see Pandan or D ågo.

Even I was given a nickname, which thankfully did not last.  For a while I was "P åle' Rambo."  But that's another story.

ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Thursday, May 22, 2014

HAGÅTÑA
1920s

In the foreground is the barrio of San Ignacio, where the Spanish and South American officers and soldiers lived in the 1700s, many of them with Chamorro wives.  By the time this photo was taken, San Ignacio was home to a wide variety of Chamorros, of many racial mixes.  Though some considered San Ignacio the barrio of the upper class, the truth is that poor Chamorros also lived in San Ignacio, and upper class Chamorros also lived in other barrios of the city.

The Hagåtña church, plaza and Governor's Palace (palåsyo) were actually situated at the extreme north end of the city.  Beyond the church, in the direction of Minondo and Mongmong, there were hardly any houses.

To the west of the church was the barrio of San Nicolás.  North of that, going in the direction of Tamuning, was the barrio of San Antonio, the northern extent of the city. By the 1920s, these two barrios were heavily populated, more than San Ignacio.  By 1940, San Antonio was actually the most populated barrio of the city.

The rural plains of Tiyan, Barrigada, Ungåguan and other districts are visible; rich farming lands inhabited by 800+ people.  Mount Tuyan, now known as Barrigada Heights, is noticeable for its lack of housing, so different from today.

The main thing : Hagåtña was, at this time, a place people actually lived.  Over 10,000 of them by 1940, roughly half the entire island population.  Prior to that, when Guam counted just 10,000 people, about 80% of the people lived in Hagåtña.  Today, out of 160,000 people living on Guam in 2010, only 1,000 or just .63% of the island population live in the capital city!



HAGÅTÑA
2014
Ninety Years Later



ILEK-ÑA SI PÅLE'

Thursday, May 15, 2014


På'go na Damenggo, malago' yo' ta'lo hu kuentuse hamyo pot i mañaina yan famagu'on.
( This Sunday I want to speak to you again about parents and children .)

I derecho yan obligasion para u fan ma eduka i famagu'on, iyon-miyo i mañaina.
( The right and obligation to educate the children is yours, the parents. )

I mañaina ti debe na u ha sotta ha' na i eskuela la'mon enteramente nu i edukasion i famagu'on-ñiha.
( Parents should not leave entirely the education of their children up to the school alone .)

Mina' ma na' guaha eskuela pot para u fan ma ayuda ha' i mañaina;
( Schools are established only to assist the parents; )

lao åhe' ti pot para u ma chule' i tarean i saina.
( but not to take away the work of the parent .)

Este obligasion kåda saina i para u ma na' fanresibe i patgon-ña bula na kriånsa
( This obligation of each parent is to have their child receive a lot of upbringing )

gi asunton relihion yan i obligasion-ñiha gi relihion.
( in religious matters and in their religious obligations .)

Pot este na rason, i mañaina siha man obligao na u na' faneskuela i famagu'on-ñiha gi eskuelan Katoliko.
( For this reason, parents are obliged to school their children in Catholic schools .)

På'go yanggen gaige na imposipble ennao, i mañaina nesesita u ha tatago' i famagu'on-ñiha gi doktrina.
( Now if that is impossible, the parents must order their children to attend catechism class .)

Lao guennao ta'lo, i Pale' ti para u chule' i tarean i saina pot kosas relihion,
( But there as well, the priest is not to take over the work of the parent in religious matters ,)

i gima' finene'na nai ma fa'någue i patgon.
( the home is where the child is taught first. )

Yanggen i patgon man lili'e man båba siha na ehemplo gi gimå'-ña,
( If the child sees bad examples in his home ,)

i doktrina siempre ti u meggai na probecho para guiya.
( there won't be much benefit for him from catechism class .)

Sermon, 1965


MABINI, RICARTE AND DEL PILAR ON GUAM

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

"Insurrecto" was the term applied by the Spaniards, and later carried over by the Americans, to Filipino fighters for that nation's independence.

The Marianas were used by Spain as a place of exile for many of those who were captured.  Under the Americans, Guam continued to be used for this reason.



The most famous of those deported by the Americans was Apolinario Mabini, the "Brains of the Philippine Revolution."  Though a paralytic and already in U.S. custody, the Americans in Manila insisted he be deported because, even while in prison, he was able to secretly communicate with Filipino independence fighters operating in freedom.


Mabini at the Presidio (prison) of Asan.  They lived in tents at first, till a wooden building was complete. They were allowed to bring their man servants with them from the Philippines.

Another famous member was Artemio Ricarte.  Unlike the others, he never gave in to the demand that he swear an oath of allegiance to the U.S.  He eventually lived most of his life in Japan after his deportation.



ARTEMIO RICARTE



PIO DEL PILAR
Another high profile leader exiled to Guam




The New York Times
January 16, 1901


LIST OF FILIPINO PRISONERS SENT TO GUAM BY THE U.S.

Arriving January 1901 on the Rosecrans

Maximo Trias, Macario de Ocampo, Julian Gerona, Francisco de los Santos, Apolinario Mabini, Artemio Ricarte, Mariano Llanera, Pio del Pilar, Pablo Ocampo, Maximino Hizon, Esteban Consortes, Lucas Camerino, Pedro Cobarrubias, Mariano Barruga, Hermogenes Plata, Cornelio Requiestas, Fabian Villaruel, Juan Leandro Villarino, Jose Mata, Igmidio de Jesus, Alipio Tecson, Pio Varican, Anastacio Carmona, Lucino Almeida, Simon Tecson, Silvestre Legaspi, Juan Mauricio, Doroteo Espino, Bartolome de la Rosa, Norberto Dimayuga, Jose Buenaventura, Antonio Prisco Reyes, Joaquin Agramon, Eulogio Gonzalez.

The last two on the list were prisoners, but not political ones.

The following were servants to some of these high status men :

Maximiano Clamor, Adel Magcalas, Juan Guan, Faustino de los Santos, Prudencio Mabini, Aquilino Gandeza, Benito de Nuya, Jose Javier, Manuel Rivera, Antonio Bruno, Vicente Antequera, Ezequiel de los Santos, Juan Guasay

Prudencio was the brother of Apolinario Mabini. The prisoner Francisco de los Santos had a son and Pablo Ocampo had a brother-in-law in this group of servants or assistants.

The list does not include some Filipinos brought along as cooks.

There was actually one Spaniard among this group; Villarino, who fought for the Filipino side.

Arriving February 1901 on the Solace

This second group of political prisoners were all from the Ilocos region of northern Luzon.

Roberto Salvante, Marcelo Quintos, Jaime Morales, Pancracio Palting, Leon Flores , Gabino Domingo, Florencio Castro, Inocente Cayetano, Pedro Hernando, Pancracio Adiarte, Faustino Adiarte

TWO of these Filipino exiles remained on Guam.  Palting and Flores.  Both became prominent members of Guam society before World War II.

Except for these two who stayed on Guam, all the Filipino prisoners were sent back to the Philippines by 1903.


Filipino political prisoners boarding a vessel destined for Guam

A DIFFERENT KIND OF ACCIDENT

Monday, April 28, 2014


In English, we have all kinds of euphemisms and slang terms for being pregnant.  Some are considered offensive, and some are socially acceptable like, having "a bun in the oven," or having "one on the way."

But we have less slang terms for getting pregnant.  And they are usually highly offensive to some people.

In Chamorro, being pregnant is plain old mapotge' .  I am not aware of any slang terms in Chamorro for that.

But as far as getting pregnant is concerned, I have heard the slang term aksidente .  As you can guess, it simply means "an accident" or to "have an accident."

I have heard the word applied to an unwed woman who got pregnant outside of marriage. Aksidente i palao'an .  The woman had an accident.

But I have also heard it applied to priests.

It is common knowledge among older Chamorros that some priests, as far back as Spanish times, fathered children.

In those days, such an occurrence was not spoken about openly.  It was obviously a sin, for both priest and woman, and thus it was not something to publicly acknowledge.

But if the fact had to be stated, a Chamorro might say, " Ombre, sa' pot aksidente si p å le'. .."  "Well, because Father had an accident..."

JAPANESE TINIAN

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

On Tinian, sugar was king in the 1920s and 30s

One of the neatest things about Tinian is the abundance of Japanese-era remnants that exist there to this day.

Tinian was an entirely Japanese (and Okinawan and Korean) island in the 1920s and 30s.  The Japanese, who took over the Northern Marianas in 1914, found no permanent and rooted Chamorro community on the island.  Since the Spaniards deported the people to Guam in the 1700s, Tinian was inhabited only by seasonal Chamorro workers, and then later by a Carolinian community eventually relocated to Tanapag (Saipan), who tended the herds of cattle for the government and sometimes private entrepreneurs.  By 1914, all this had more or less been shut down and the island depopulated again, except for sporadic visits by Chamorros on Saipan to get beef or benefit somehow from the land.


Sugar Mill of the Nanyo Kohatsu Kaisha (NKK)

Taking advantage of Tinian's flat terrain, suitable soil and lack of a native population that owned land, much less used it themselves, the NKK sugar company expanded the sugar industry from Saipan to Tinian.  Eventually Tinian would be producing twice the amount of sugar Saipan was.


Though the fires burn, thanks to the battle, Tinian's sugar cane fields are still clearly visible


Tinian was mainly populated by Japanese, Okinawans and Koreans.  Chamorros amounted to a dozen or so males from Saipan and Rota doing temporary work on Tinian.  There wasn't even a Catholic priest assigned to Tinian during the Japanese period.
JAPANESE REMNANTS


Japanese Communications Center
now surrounded by cattle farms


The torii (gate) of the NKK Shinto Shrine

Japanese Air Administration building near the now-abandoned airstrips


Japanese Air Operations building in the area of the old airstrips

An office building of the NKK


The railroad tracks went through here, transporting sugar cane to the mill.

Tanks for raising unagi or fresh water eels.

The Sumiyoshi Shrine sits atop a hill thickly covered by vegetation.

The Shrine is still in good condition.

Another Shrine, on Mt Lasso, is not in as good a condition as Sumiyoshi.


Japanese Coastal Defenses, Chulu Beach

Japanese water pumps and tanks dot the island
What's left of the Japanese crematorium


KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Friday, April 11, 2014

Åntes de para un hånao
ai fangågågao lisensia!
Yanggen magof yo' un hånao;
yan ti magof yo' pasiensia.

(Before you leave,
oh, ask for permission!
If it pleases me, you will go;
if not, have patience.)


Stinging words that can be applied in more than one scenario.

One can imagine an adolescent boy who knows the girl of his love interest is momentarily at church or in another public place.  If he moves quickly enough, he can stroll by and converse with her.  But mother is keeping him on a short leash.

It could be a teenage girl, eyeing a potential boyfriend.

Perhaps it could even be from one lover to another, detaining the other to prove who rules in the relationship or perhaps to further enjoy the other's company.

The verse can mean many things, depending on the singer.

MALESSO' IN 1941

Thursday, April 10, 2014


SUCCESSES

Early 1941 was a good time for agriculture, the main occupation in Malesso'.   Tomatoes and corn in particular did very well.  More people were interested in farming and a record twenty-two plows were bought in Malesso' in just one month.

A type of pandanus called å kgak was receiving a lot of attention on Guam in the late 30s and early 40s.  Its production and use in weaving all kinds of things for home use and daily life was promoted by the government.  Jesus C. Barcinas, a teacher in Malesso', was a leader in å kgak production.  There was a big demand for woven products made of å kgak , especially by statesiders buying them as souvenirs.  It was a new way of making cash on Guam.

On the church front, Father Marcian was able to tear down what was left of the church which remained roofless after the typhoon of November 1940.  He was busy doing carpentry work to fix his residence and start building a new church.



DISAPPOINTMENTS

About the only sour note in Malesso' in June of 1941 was the no-show of the ma ñ å hak fish.  They showed up but in such small numbers that the people could not salt any for future use.  What little ma ñ å hak came was eaten up by the people.

Imagine this kind of life before December that year would change life forever.

HÅGAT "ELECTIONS" OF 1893

Wednesday, April 9, 2014


Village leaders in the Marianas during the Spanish period were not elected in the way we are familiar with today.  In the late 1800s, only a small group of village elite cast consultative votes, which could be (and often were) ignored by the Spanish officials who made the final determination.

These elite men were prior and current holders of various municipal positions such as gobernadorcillo (village chief), cabezas de barangay (neighborhood leaders), alguacil (a kind of justice officer) and others.

The local priest also had his say.  Sometimes this was even ignored by the Spanish Governor.

Keep in mind that in the H å gat (Agat) political unit, Sumay was included, as it was a more recent village and considered an annex of H å gat.  So some of the individuals mentioned below were residents of Sumay.

In the "election" of 1893 for the village of H å gat (Agat), the following were involved in the consultations :

Joaquin de San Nicolas
Vicente de Leon Guerrero Blanco
Juan Pineda
Jose de Rivera
Antonio de Leon Guerrero
Martin Tae ñ ao
Francisco Sablan
Nicolas Diaz
Ignacio de la Cruz
Luis Blanco Carbullido
Guillermo Lizama
Felix Charfauros

When all these men voted for the highest post, that of gobernadorcillo , the top vote-getters were :

Vicente de Leon Guerrero Blanco
Luis Blanco Carbullido
Juan de los Reyes

Padre Jose Palomo, the first Chamorro priest, was acting pastor of H å gat at the time and weighed in on the matter, saying that Vicente Blanco could hardly speak Spanish, but that Luis Carbullido knew how to read, write and speak Spanish.

Unfortunately, this record doesn't show who was actually appointed gobernadorcillo of H å gat by the Governor.

I SIETTE NA SAKRAMENTON GUINAIYA

Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Wedding of Pedro & Maria Nauta, 1947

Talak hiyong gi bentan å -mo


Ya un ekkungok yo’ kerida mia


Ya bai hu kant å ye hao p å ’go


nu i siette na Sakramento siha.

I finene’na i bautismo.

Hu tungo’ na esta hao matakp å nge,


Tinakp å nge hao as p å le’


Sa’ guiya yo’ sumang å ne.



I segundo konfitmasion.

Hu tungo’ na esta hao ma konfitma.


Gu å ho lokkue’ i na’ å n-ho


Gi korason-mo bai hu fitma.



I tetset i penitensia.

Esta yo’ kumonfesat gi as p å le’


Na h å go ha’ guinaiya-ko


H å go ha’, kerida, b å le.

I ku å tto i Santa Komunion

Nai un resibe i tataotao i Saina.


Un dia un ch å hlao yo’ para asagu å -mo


Ya h å go para gu å ho m å ’gas na raina.



I kinto i Santos Oleos

annai ma palai i kumekematai.


Gu å ho lokkue’ siempre ma oleos


Sa’ sin h å go chaddek yo’ m å tai.



I mina’ sais i pum å le’.
Ni ngai’an para bai ma otdena.


Lao si p å le’ hit siempre ha na’ danña’;


I dinañ å' -ta kalan fitme na kadena.



I mina’ siette i matrimonio.

Guiya p å ’go et m å s malago’-ho.


Pinto’ Yu’us na h å go bai asagua


Ya bai kumple este na matago’-ho.

Pues estague siha i Sakramento

Ni ginen i Saina nai man pine’lo


Lao entre siha este ha’ malago’-ho


I å ras, aniyo yan belo.

~~~Tinige' P å le' Eric


ENGLISH

THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS OF LOVE

Look out from your window
and listen to me my love
and I will sing to you now
about the seven Sacraments.

The first is baptism.
I know you are already baptized.
You were baptized by the priest
because he himself told me.

The second is confirmation.
I know you are already confirmed.
My name as well
I will write on your heart.

The third is penance.
I have already confessed to Father
that you alone are my love,
you alone darling are worthy.

The fourth is Holy Communion
when you receive the Body of our Lord.
One day you will take me as your husband
and you will be for me an exalted queen.

The fifth is Holy Anointing,
when they anoint the dying.
I, too, will be anointed
because without you I will quickly die.

The sixth is ordination.
I will never be ordained.
But Father will join us together,
our union like a strong chain.

The seventh is matrimony.
Now that is what I most want.
It is God's will that I marry you,
and I will accomplish this, my task.

So these are the Sacraments,
which were established by the Lord.
But among them this only do I want :
the coins, ring and veil.*

* A Spanish tradition continued among Chamorros is the blessing and exchange of coins, symbolizing the husband's promise to provide for the family, and the veil which goes over both bride and groom (her head, his shoulder) symbolizing their unity.

ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Monday, April 7, 2014

ÅNTES
1950s

Family Shoe Store was the first shoe store on Guam.  Shoes, of course, were sold in other stores before and after the war, but this store was exclusively for shoes.

It was opened around 1950 by husband and wife Jose (Ton Nene) and Ana Franquez Due ñ as.

The upper floor was originally storage space but in the early 1970s it was rented to my aunt, Sally Limtiaco, as a beauty salon (called Princess Coiffure).

Route 4 at the time was just two lanes and there were no side walks as yet.
1980s
The store closed in 1983 and eventually became the first offices of the newly-created Catholic Social Services.
Route 4 is widened and now has sidewalks.
P Å'GO
2014
The land was eventually leased to the Bank of Guam and the old building torn down to make way for the building of the bank's headquarters.  Route 4 now has a median island or divider.

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' : MATUBAN NIYOK

Thursday, April 3, 2014


Sais å ñ os despues de umassagua i dos, ha sodda' un palao'an na primu- ñ a mina' ku å ttro gr å do i asagu å - ñ a.
( Six years after the two married, a woman found out that her husband was her fourth cousin .)

Mampos inestotba i palao'an pot este, ya hum å nao sekretamente guato gi bih å - ñ a para u famaisen kao guaha h å fa b å ba bidan- ñ iha yan i asagu å - ñ a.
( The woman was exceedingly disturbed on account of this, and secretly went to her grandmother to ask if she and her husband had done anything wrong .)

Ilek- ñ a i bih å - ñ a, "Hagas hu tungo' na parientes-ta i asagu å -mo, lao hu konsiente para un asagua gue', sa' esta mina' ku åt tro p å pa' i matuban niyok."
( Her grandmother said, "I knew back then that your husband was our relative, but I agreed for you to marry him, because he was four grooves down the coconut tree .")

MEANING

Tuba, we mostly all know, is the fermented drink made from the sap of the coconut tree.

But matuba can mean the cut grooves on the trunk of the coconut tree ( niyok ) to help people climb it.  There is a connection between the cuts and the drink because the sap is collected by cutting the flower of the tree.

In the old days, one could see many coconut trees with these slashed grooves on the trunk.  Nowadays, as fewer people in our islands climb the trees to make use of them, it is harder to find trees that are matuba .

Older people thus used the symbol of the grooves of the coconut tree to express distance from the top.  The lower the groove, the more distance from the top.  By analogy, this could be applied to distances among blood relations.


HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO' : RAIN ON NEW YEAR'S

Wednesday, March 26, 2014


Not all folk beliefs are consistent.

People are people, and come up with a variety of beliefs that are the same in some ways, and differ in others.

Take for example rain.

Some believe that if it rains on Christmas day, it will rain on and off the following year.  There will be no true "dry season" or fa ñ omnagan .

But others say this :

Yanggen uchan gi Å ñ o Nuebo, siempre u templao entero i sakkan.

If it rains on New Year's Day, the whole year will be temperate.

Templao means that the year will be evenly regulated, with no extremes.  There will be rain and shine evenly distributed all times of the year.

SI KANABICHI

Tuesday, March 25, 2014


My informant was in his early teens when the Japanese invaded Guam in December of 1941.  He prefers to remain anonymous.

When the people had to vacate Hag å t ñ a when war began, his family headed north to Yigo where the family had farm land.

I asked him about his Japanese school teacher in Yigo.

"Marino.  Si Kanabichi na' å n- ñ a."
("He was a sailor.  Kanabichi was his name.")

"Kao maolek pat b å ba kostumbre- ñ a?" I asked.
("Were his ways good or bad?")

"Maolek."
("Good.")

"Ti ha patm å da hamyo, pat ti ha an ñ a' hamyo?"
("He didn't slap you, or beat you up?")

" Å he', P å le'.  T å ya' bidan-m å me lokkue' ni para in merese man ma an ñ a'!"
("No, Father.  We didn't do anything either to deserve to be beaten up!")

Then he grinned a little, looked at me and said,

"P å le', ti todo Chapanis man b å ba."
("Father, not every Japanese was bad.")

FAMILIA : TAIAÑAO TAIEÑAO

Monday, March 24, 2014


In the village of H å gat there has been, for many years, a small number of families who go by the last name Taia ñ ao or Taie ñ ao.

They really are the same name, but since people in the old days spelled names the way it sounded to them, slightly different spellings came about.

The root word for this Chamorro name is å ' ñao .  We see it in words like ma' å ' ñao , which means "fearful."  But that meaning came later. Å' ñao means "victory, domination, subjugation." Ma' å ' ñao meant someone or something was dominated, subjected, beaten in a fight.  Naturally, this was something fearful so ma' å ' ñao also came to mean "fearful," or perhaps "overcome with fear of subjection."

A'a' ñao means someone who is victorious and who dominates another.  The "a'a" is then changed into "ak" and "a'a' ñao" becomes ak ñao , meaning someone who is victorious.

Tai means "lacking."  So Taia ñao/Taie ñao means "invincible, unconquerable" but also fearless about being dominated, so intrepid.

The entire Taia ñ ao/Taie ñ ao family seems to be descended from one man with that surname, one Alejandro Taia ñ ao from H å gat.  He was married to a Maria Charfauros.

Their children were Mariano and Martin.  Martin (born 1844) married Maria San Nicolas Quintanilla, had a number of children, including sons, in the 1860s and 70s and from them the family continued to this day.

E Ñ AO

To make matters more interesting, also in H å gat, there was the E ñao family.  This family did not continue to our times due to lack of males to carry on the name.  E ñao could actually be A ñao, but perhaps not.
TAIA Ñ AO, MAA Ñ AO, TAIMA Ñ AO

So you see how there are three Chamorro families, the Taia ñ ao from H å gat, the Maa ñ ao from Asan and the Taima ñ ao from Luta, and all three names are derived from the root word å ' ñ ao.

ANNAI MALÅGO SI SPAM

Friday, March 21, 2014


Chamorro politics traditionally has been, like the Spam above, hot and spicy.

Political meetings were a form of entertainment, back when less people were lucky to have a TV to watch the one channel we had in those days, which went off the air dutifully at midnight after the playing of the National Anthem.

Political speakers were supposed to attack the opposition; the more fiercely, the better.  But what really scored points was when you made the audience laugh when you attacked the other party.

People judged a speech on its content, eloquence and humor - all in Chamorro.

Guam politics has become more Americanized, which means much (not all) of the humor is gone.  Very few speeches are said in Chamorro, as there are fewer candidates who can speak Chamorro.

But in the Northern Marianas, much of the campaigning continues to be in Chamorro, and speakers are expected to be combative yet humorous at the same time and entertain the audience.

On one of the northern islands, a certain politician's intials were PAM.  As he was a senator, they added S to PAM and he became known as SPAM.

So the opposing party milked this for all it was worth, habitually referring to this politician as SPAM.

Said one speaker, " Mag å het na SPAM hao.  Ya bai hu nangga asta ke m å kpo' i election ya bai hu aflito hao ya bai hu na' dokngos !"

" It's true that you are SPAM.  And I will wait until the election is over and I will fry you and I'll make you burnt ."

The thing is SPAM took this in stride.  He and his party also fired the same kind of shots back at the opponents.

My grandmother's brother-in-law was also a politician in Guam in the 1950s and 60s.  A man told me he went to one of the campaign rallies and heard a politician attack my uncle fiercely.  Later that night, he saw my uncle and the politician who attacked him sitting at the same table in the same restaurant having a meal together and having a great laugh.  While this was not true in every case, it was true that such attacks, often humorous, were just part of the natural and expected course of Chamorro politics in those days and up to now in the northern islands.

Our politics today is much more serious, and perhaps for good reason.  The issues of the past did not include many of the deep philosophical divisions we have going on today.

FIESTAN SAN ISIDRO GIYA LUTA

Thursday, March 20, 2014

For hundreds of years, the island of Luta (Rota) had but one church, San Francisco de Borja in Songsong.

But in 1991, a mission was started in a new housing development in Luta near the airport, in an area called Sinapalo.  The priest was Fr (now Msgr) Louis Antonelli.  He moved from Songsong, which received a new pastor, and took up residence in Sinapalo.  San Isidro (Saint Isidore of Madrid), the patron of farmers, was made patron of the new Sinapalo Church.

Msgr Antonelli worked hard with the people to build the present church, with small living quarters for the priest.

Actually, there are many small chapels and roadside shrines in Luta; many of them built under Msgr Antonelli's direction.  Sinapalo was one of them and, due to the new housing development there, it was selected to be the site on an emerging parish.

PRIMISIAS


In March, the farmers gather their first batch of fruits, vegetables and tubers.  These "first yields" are called primisias (from the Spanish).  They are offered to God in thanksgiving for a good harvest.  Also thanked is San Isidro, the farmers' patron.  The primisias are placed before San Isidro's altar at the fiesta.


After the fiesta Mass, these fruits and vegetables are left for the visitors to come and take home.  The locals are not to take any, unless visitors have left any behind.
A FIESTA IN LENT?



Complete with fireworks ( kuetes ; from the Spanish word cohete ), live music, dancing, raffles and carnival games, one finds it curious that such a traditional place as Luta would have this kind of festivity in the Lenten season, when traditional Chamorro Catholics refrain from all such merrymaking.  Besides, San Isidro's feast day is May 15, not in March.

It was explained to me that the local people had difficulty celebrating May 15 as the feast day.

May is graduation month; First Communion month and sometimes Confirmation, too.  There are many small chapel around Luta and each of them celebrates an annual fiesta.  May was too crowded with other events, and families felt overwhelmed with the burden of putting out for fiestas and parties in this one month.

Summer time would be too late to celebrate and had its own fiestas.  April would be risky with Holy Week and Easter usually falling in that month.  So March was chosen as the best time to hold the fiesta.

So, permission was granted to do so.

KÅNTAN SAN JOSE

Wednesday, March 19, 2014


This Chamorro hymn to Saint Joseph is one of the most popular ones to him in our language, but one that a lot of people are afraid to sing because it can get complicated!

The original melody is taken from a Basque hymn to a completely different saint, Saint Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits.  But how would people on Guam ever find that out back in the pre-war days?  But now we have the internet and Youtube, so the secret is out!

Nonetheless, this has become our San Jose hymn and we love it.



LYRICS

San Jose, si Yu'us guinaiya hao, ennao na pine'lo hao, sasague i linahyan na taotao ;
( Saint Joseph, you are beloved of God, thus He made you defender of the multitude ;)

Hagas ha' giya Belen yan Nasaret si Jesus lachaddek inesge hao, lu guiya ha' sen Yu'us .
( Since Bethlehem and Nazareth Jesus quickly obeyed you, though He Himself is truly God .)

San Jose tohge ya un s å gue ham; Patri å tka goggue ham!
( Saint Joseph, rise and defend us; Patriarch, safeguard us!)

Chomma' nai i tailaye, si Satan å s godde gue', pul å ne ham as Jesus ya in na' rai-m å me gue' ,
( Repel the evil, bind Satan, watch over us under Jesus and we shall make Him our King ,)

na minaolek i pinilan kannai-mo, San Jose!
( through the watchful care of your hands, Saint Joseph !)

M å 'gas hao ke si Moises yan David Rai Israet
( You are greater than Moses and David, King of Israel )

ayo na un hohoggue si Jesus ni Emanuel .
( that is why you hold in your arms Jesus who is Emmanuel .)

S å ntos ni manguaiya in tayuyute ham ni mangatoliko, adinganiye ham nu i un hohoggue
( Loving saint, pray for us Catholics, speak for us to Him whom you hold )

ya un na' fan maolek ham!
( and make us good !)

Sasague-m å me, s å gue i Santa Iglesia !
( Our defender, protect the Holy Church !)

Jose Patri å tka goggue ham !
( Joseph the Patriarch, safeguard us !)

THE ORIGINAL HYMN IN BASQUE


The opening words in Basque are :

Inazio, gure Patroi haundia
Jesusen Kompania

THE ORIGINAL HYMN IN SPANISH

The Spanish version opens with :

Fundador, sois Ignacio y General
de la Compa ñ í a real.

TONÅDAN LUTA

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

A certain intonation and pronunciation can still be found alive and well in Luta (Rota), which I hope will endure as long as I live.

Just today I verified with a man of many years, who has lived his whole life in Malesso', that this intonation, called the ton å da in Chamorro, was very strong among the older people of Malesso' and the other southern villages.

To this day, we can hear the ton å da among a small group of people in Hum å tak.  The interesting thing is that when they speak English, the ton å da vanishes.  When they switch to Chamorro, it is always with the ton å da .

I thus believe that the ton å da is the original Chamorro accent.  The Chamorros of Hag å t ñ a, being so intermingled with outsiders, perhaps lost the accent.  Saipan was depopulated and when it was repopulated, it was mainly by Hag å t ñ a settlers.  Tinian had also been depopulated and then repopulated by Chamorros from Yap (originally from Guam and then Saipan), Saipan and only a few from Luta.  That is why those two islands do not have the ton å da .  The Hag å t ñ a influence spread far and wide!

But Luta and the southern villages of Guam were more distant from this outside influence, and thus, I believe, retained the ton å da , the original accent.

But more than the intonation, there are other characteristics of Chamorro speech in Luta, and here's a video pointing them out :



For our listening pleasure, the Luta accent as spoken candidly by people in that beautiful island :


I CHENCHON GIYA LUTA

Monday, March 10, 2014

One of the neatest things about Luta (Rota) is that you can drive in your 21st century vehicle and go to the edge of a cliff and watch life as it was thousands of years ago as if nothing has changed.

The lush vegetation covering the lowlands that come up against steep limestone cliffs that jump up from below provide shelter and food for many kinds of birds, each with their own peculiarities.

The place is called I Chenchon.  Chonchon in Chamorro means "nest."  As the sun sets, birds come in from the sea, where they had looked for food among marine life.

Its other name is the Rota Bird Sanctuary.

Most days you could be the only person watching nature at her best.  If you're lucky, a bird may swoop in from nowhere and perch itself not far from you on the railing.

I hope I Chenchon doesn't change much in the years to come.

Here's a video.


ATITUYE KILISYÅNO (INALÅHAN/MALOJLOJ)

Saturday, March 8, 2014

From Guam to Luta, Tinian to Saipan; even within Guam itself, there are slight variations in the same hymns we all sing.

This Lenten hymn comes to us from singers living in Malojloj and Inal å han.  You can detect the differences between their rendition and the melody sung by those in Hag å t ñ a, who spread all over central and northern Guam after World War II.  The Hag å t ñ a version can be found here :

http://paleric.blogspot.com/2012/04/kantan-kuaresma_06.html

The lyrics are :

ATITUYE KILISY Å NO

Atituye Kilisy å no i sinantos kilu'us
( Reflect O Christian on the most holy cross )
Annai m å tai ma at å ne i mag å het na Yu'us .
( Where the true God died by crucifixion .)
Mames lulok, mames h å yo ni umuma si Jesus .
( Sweet nails, sweet wood which carried Jesus .)

MAMPOS GEFTAO

Saturday, March 8, 2014


An elderly lady was talking to me yesterday about wanting to show me an old book written in Chamorro passed down to her from her grandmother.

But she wanted to apologize in advance because her grandchildren had gotten a hold of the book and marked it up a little bit with their scribbling.

She said, " Mampos geftao i kannai- ñ iha man m å nge' ."  Literally meaning, "Their hands are too generous in writing."

It struck me as an unfamiliar and endearing way of expressing something children do.

Language is more than just the black-and-white expression of things like "Open the door; shut the door."

Language conveys feelings, attitudes, a way of looking at life.  This will differ from culture to culture, person to person.

It is also why learning a language from a book; looking at just vocabulary and grammar is not enough.  The best way to learn a language is to interact with someone who speaks it as a first language.  Those opportunities are running out fast.

To see a child's scribbling as being generous in the use of one's hand.  That's a new way (for me) of looking at something old.  But it was her old, Chamorro way of looking at it.

ÅPO VERSUS APO'

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Å PO, NOT APO'

Today I was asking our worker where he put the ashes which we will use tomorrow for Ash Wednesday.

I said, " M å no un po'lo i apo ?"  "Where did you put the ashes?"

I was simultaneously conscious of the fact that our word for ash or ashes - å po - sounds dangerously close to apo' , which means "to lean."

Thank goodness, therefore, for two little improvements to our Chamorro alphabet that weren't always there.

The first is the glota , which came into common usage in the 1970s.  Though it is often misused, when it is properly used, it makes a big difference.  As I have often mentioned, when you see a glota , cut off the sound of the vowel at the back of your throat, as if you are choking.  In English, the closest we can mimic the glota is to say, "Uh oh!"  You notice the way we close the back of the throat after we say "Uh."

So our word apo' includes the glota .  That's one way we know we're talking about leaning, and not about ashes.

The second recent addition to our spelling system is the A with the little, open circle on top - Å.  This distinguishes two A sounds in Chamorro.  There is the Å that is open or rounded, sounding like the A in "father" in English.  Without the little, open circle, the A in Chamorro would sound like the A in "fat."

When we use the definite article I (the), it changes the Å to A. Åpo becomes " i apo, " taking on the A sound of "fat."  But, thanks to the glota , when I asked the worker, " M å no un po'lo i apo ?" he knew I was talking about ashes, because he didn't hear a glota at the end, and also because of context.



APO', NOT ÅPO

SEN MAHÅLANG SI MARIA

Monday, March 3, 2014


This hymn looks at the Seven Sorrows of Mary, but, as her sorrows are tied to the sufferings of her Son, this hymn can be, and is, sung during Lent, which starts very soon.

One note of caution : this hymn is sung with some slight variations from place to place.  The way it is sung in this clip is not the way it is exactly sung in a few other places.  But the melody is basically the same.

LYRICS

Sen mah å lang si Maria annai taigue i Saina-ta ;
( Mary was grieving when our Lord was absent )

Ma ñ e'lu-ho pinitiye i mas å 'pet i Nan å -ta .
( My brethren, grieve over the suffering of our Mother .)

1. I tutuhon na esp å da i sinangan i profeta
( The beginning sword was the word of the prophet )
na ti å pm å m u ma puno' ayo i Nana'libre-ta .
( that our Savior would soon be killed .)
Sen pinite si Maria sa' ma s å ngan i Saina-ta .
( Mary was greatly sorrowful because Our Lord was prophesied about .)

2. I segundo na esp å da ayo annai ma na' h å nao
( The second sword was when )
i Sagr å do na Familia guato Ehipto na t å no' .
( the Holy Family was sent to the land of Egypt .)
Sen pinite si Maria sa' ma yute' i Saina-ta .
( Mary was greatly sorrowful because Our Lord was rejected .)

3. I tetsero na esp å da i tinaiguen i Lahi- ñ a
( The third sword was the absence of her Son )
gi tres homhom na ha' å ne annai hokkok piniti- ñ a .
( during the three dark days when her sorrow was complete .)
Sen pinite si Maria sa' malingo i Saina-ta.
( Mary was greatly sorrowful because Our Lord was lost .)

4. I kal å ktos na esp å da ha na' l å men si Maria
( The sharp sword wounded Mary )
guihe gi Chalan Pinite entre i send å lo siha .
( there on the road of sorrow among the soldiers .)
Sen pinite si Maria sa' ma an ñ a i Saina-ta.
( Mary was greatly sorrowful because Our Lord was assaulted .)

5. Kololo' ñ a nina' l å men annai m å tai gi fion- ñ a
( She was wounded even more when He died by her side )
ma at å ne gi kilu'us i yinius na patgon- ñ a .
( her divine child nailed to the cross .)
Sen pinite si Maria sa' ma puno' i Saina-ta .
( Mary was greatly sorrowful because Our Lord was killed .)

6. Dimo p å pa' kilisy å no ennaogue' i Nanan Yu'us
( Kneel down, O Christian, there is the Mother of God )
na ha hohoggue mah å lang i Lahi- ñ a as Jesus .
( sorrowfully embracing her Son Jesus .)
Sen pinite si Maria sa' ma dulok i Saina-ta.
( Mary was greatly sorrowful because they pierced Our Lord .)

7. I mah å fot Jesukristo yan i Santos na Naft å n- ñ a
( The burial of Jesus Christ and His Holy Tomb )
kalan na' mahalang Å cho na gumugom i Nan å - ñ a.
( were like a desolate rock which crushed His Mother .)
Sen pinite si Maria sa' mah å fot i Saina-ta.
( Mary was greatly sorrowful because they buried Our Lord .)



Siette na Esp å da - Seven Swords - Seven Sorrows

THE MEANING OF PANGELINAN

Friday, February 28, 2014
The late Chamorro singer from Saipan, Frank "Bokonggo" Pangelinan

For years I knew that the surname Pangelinan came from three men on Guam identified in the list of soldiers from Pampanga in the 1700s.  But for all those years I never knew what Pangelinan meant in the Pampanga language.  The Spaniards spelled local names in a variety of ways, in both the Marianas and the Philippines, so Pangelinan (the present Chamorro way) and Pangilinan (the Pampanga way) are just two versions of the same name.

To this day, there are Pangilinans in Pampanga and one of them moved to Guam more recently and became a household name, Mark Pangilinan the businessman.

Just a few days ago, I asked a dedicated advocate of the Pampanga culture and language, Satcheil Macasias Amamangpang, what Pangilinan meant in his language.

He directed me to a Spanish dictionary of words from Pampanga, Diego Berga ñ o's Vocabulario de la Lengua Pampanga en Romance (1860).  There we find that pangilin means to abstain from something. Pangilinan (notice the suffix -an, which we also have in Chamorro, meaning the "place of" or "time of" some action or object) was the day of abstaining or the thing itself which was avoided.  Eventually, pangilinan came to refer to abstinence from certain foods for religious reasons, such as the Lenten abstinence.

Connected with this idea of avoiding certain things is the idea of remaining pure, sanctified; free from human contact.  Pangilinan, thus,  is thought of as  "He who is not to be touched by human hands or seen by the human eye."


AN AMERICAN GETS A NICKNAME

Thursday, February 27, 2014
US Marines on Guam
1899
Chamorros love to give nicknames to others, and sometimes even an American will get one.

Before the war, an American Marine officer was in charge of some local men.  The Marines at the time doubled as the police department on Guam.

This one officer had both a strong Southern accent and a lisp.  So he had trouble saying the name of one of his men, Cerilo.

Whenever the officer had to call on Cerilo, "Shirley" came out instead.

So guess what the Chamorros called this American Marine?  Yes, "Shirley."

Chamorros will take your most obvious defect, your most unforgettable mistake or most prominent physical feature and make a nickname out of it.

Luckily, perhaps, for "Shirley," he got his marching orders and was assigned elsewhere - where he wouldn't be called "Shirley."

CHAMORRO LESSON VIA CHRISTMAS CARD

Tuesday, February 11, 2014


Always nice to get a letter or card entirely written in Chamorro; a rarity nowadays.  Perhaps this can be instructional for some.  I'll transcribe it here exactly as the writer penned it :

Puedi i Pasgua-mu pågu na såkkan inecha ni bendision i Niño Jesus, Santa Maria & Yu'us tåta, ya i nuebu na såkkan hinatmi ni gråsian Yu'us, bendision-ña, ma'åse'-ña yan minagof.  Si Yu'us Ma'åse' put i bonitun card Påsgua ni un hanågue ham kåda såkkan.

Rather than translate the card entirely, I'll explain most of the terms and see if you would like to render your own version.

Puedi - from the Spanish word "poder" which means "to be able to."  Chamorros use it to mean "may," "it may," even "hopefully."  And one Spanish informant tells me some Spaniards also use the word in this sense, as well as the principal meaning of "can, is able to."

Påsgua - from the Spanish. Pascua was any one of several church feasts.  In the Marianas, Påsgua usually means Christmas, but it can also be used for Easter and Pentecost.  I have a post on this and can access that by searching the word on this blog.

På'go - now, this moment, today

Såkkan - year, but also harvest

Echa - for the Spanish "echar" which can mean many things but in this case Chamorros use it to mean "cast on, extend to, shower over."

Bendision - blessing; again, a Spanish loan word.

Niño Jesus - Child Jesus, Infant Jesus

Santa Maria - Blessed Virgin Mary

Yu'us tåta - God the Father

Nuebu - from the Spanish "nuevo," or "new"

Håtme - to be penetrated, filled with

Gråsia - from the Spanish "gracia" which we use to mean "grace"

Ma'åse' - can mean mercy, kindness, benevolence

Magof - happy, joyful

Put - from the Spanish "por" which can mean "on account of, through the agency of, by way of" and is used in many other ways.

Bonitu - from the Spanish "bonito," meaning "pretty, handsome."

Hanågue - from the root word hånao, meaning "to go." Hanågue means "to send."

IS THIS CHAMORRO?  OR SPANISH?

This is "modern" Chamorro.  Our pre-contact ancestors wouldn't be able to understand this card very much; it is full of Spanish loan words.  But a Spaniard also would scratch his or her head a bit, though s/he would recognize many, if not half, of the terms.  But a Spaniard who didn't speak Chamorro could not translate this; s/he could only point to the words and translate them, sometimes with difficulty.

Take inecha , for example.  The root word is echa , which we took from the Spanish echar .  But we use it employing our grammatical rules, in this case, using the IN infix.  A Spaniard would be clueless about this and would probably not even catch that inecha is actually a Chamorro form of their verb echar .

The writer also uses one English word, card .  She could have used kåtta , except that kåtta is understood to mean letter (on paper), not a card .  But the word kåtta is also from the Spanish carta , which can mean "letter" but also "card" as in poker.  We Chamorros could use kåtta also for card , but only if people pick up the usage.  Language is a matter of convention.

Even the language I am using now and which you are reading - English - has gone through several reincarnations.  Ever try listening to Shakespeare?  Or reading Chaucer?  Or, further back, the Old English which was largely built on a Germanic foundation?  We moderns can barely understand the English of 900 years ago.  English has borrowed heavily from a development of a Latin language, Norman French.  Yet, it remains the English language; i.e. the language of the people of England.

Yes, this is Chamorro; the language of the indigenous people of the Marianas, no matter how much it has borrowed from Spanish and now even from English.  But just as we differentiate between Old, Middle and Modern English (and many smaller categories besides), we have to differentiate between Chamorro as it is and was spoken in its different phases.

Lastly, one cannot assume that, even before contact with Europeans, the language spoken by our ancestors was frozen and static.  A Chamorro of the 500s CE may have had some difficulty understanding perfectly a Chamorro of the 1400s CE.   Human speech evolves, even without outside influence.

SPELLING

The writer spells in a way that differs from my way of spelling.  Did it really matter to me?  Not at all.  I understood what she was saying, as she would have understood me with my kind of spelling.

We're a long way off till the day we all spell Chamorro the same way, just as people spell in English differently.  Not convinced?  Read people's Facebook pages!

Right now, my opinion is we serve language preservation more by focusing on getting people to speak it. When we help form a new generation of fluent speakers, we might be able to get (some) uniform spelling accomplished; not by law, but by the proficiency of the speakers adopting a common orthography. Language is a matter of convention.


YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN....

Monday, February 10, 2014

You wear all your religious medals on one safety pin on the outside of your dress.

Of course, many other countries, especially those which were once under the Spanish flag, do the same, but this was a very common thing among Chamorro women in the not too distant past.

The idea of putting all the medals on one single safety pin might be more seen among us, though am sure it happens elsewhere.

That Chamorro women started early in colonial times wearing religious medals and beads is attested to in these scenes from the early 1800s, when Chamorro women still liked to smoke homemade cigars made from locally-grown tobacco :



A religious medal is called a mel å ya in Chamorro. Mel å ya is the Chamorro pronunciation of the Spanish word medalla, meaning "medal."

The LL in Spanish is sounded like a Y, which, in Chamorro, sounds like a DZ.

Chamorro tends to prefer L in place of D and N. Natilla in Spanish, for example, beomes latiya in Chamorro. Naranjita in Spanish becomes lalanghita in Chamorro.  So, medalla became mel å ya .

Chamorro women were so wont to wear these mel å ya all bundled up this way, on the outside of their dresses or sometimes on their inner undershirt.

When these women were inpatients in hospital, the mel åy a would often interfere with tubes and wires attached to the women, but not the sternest nurse could get the women to take them off.  All the more reason, they said, to wear the mel å ya when they were sick in the hospital.


SPANISH THE CHAMORRO WAY : RUSSIANS

Friday, February 7, 2014


Russian tourists have been flooding Saipan for some time now and are now becoming a common sight in Tumon.

How does one say "Russian" in Chamorro?

Usually, we borrow the term for foreign nationalities and races from the Spanish.  A Chinese person is called "Chino" in Chamorro, which we borrowed from the Spanish.

A Spaniard is an "Espa ñ ot," which is "Espa ñ ol," pronounced in the Chamorro way.  An "American" is "Amerik å no," and so forth.

But we sometimes differ from the Spaniards, even when we create our own term and make it sound Spanish.  Case in point, "Russian."

In Spanish, a Russian is a ruso .

But Chamorros say Rusi å no, w hich sounds Spanish enough.

Russians were such a rarity in Spanish times that Chamorros didn't need to identify Russian things very often, so that might explain why we didn't borrow ruso and make it our own term.

We learned that adding O at the end of English words, more or less, could make them Spanish-sounding, and thus more Chamorro-sounding.  Take, "document" or "pilot," for example.  They easily become dokumento and piloto in Chamorro by adding an O at the end.  So, "Russian" becomes Rusi å no, whereas Spaniards say ruso .


RUSSIANS IN THE MARIANAS



In the early 1800s, a Russian expedition visited the Marianas under the command of Otto von Kotzebue.  Though ethnically German himself, his officers and crew included Russians, besides Russian Germans as well.

In 1870, another Russian ship visited Apra Harbor.  The Spanish priest of Hag å t ñ a went on board and had a visit.

There may have been, almost certainly, at least a few other Russian ships who visited the Marianas in her history.

A WHITE RUSSIAN ON SAIPAN



VLADIMIR OSMOLOVSKY OF SAIPAN


When Russia fell to the Communists in 1917, the anti-Communists fled as much as they could.  They were called "White Russians" as opposed to the Communist "Reds."

Many who lived in the eastern part of the Russian Empire, in Asia, fled to Japan.  When Saipan and Micronesia became Japanese territory in 1914, these islands were open to them for settling, as well.

One Vladimir Osmolovsky, who had once been police chief in Vladivostok, took up residence in Saipan during Japanese times.  He became a shop keeper.  He lived on Saipan all the way into the war, and was detained by the Americans in the civilian camp after the invasion. He died in Saipan in 1949.

TRETNOFF

Though they lived in Yap, the Tretnoff family, another group of White Russians, would have been in contact with the Chamorros living in Yap before World War II.  In fact, the Tretnoffs were good friends with a Chamorro lady, Filomena Untalan, who had married a Filipino, Agapito Hondonero.  All the Hondonero family were killed by the Japanese during the war.  The Japanese suspected that Hondonero was a spy.

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Thursday, February 6, 2014


B å sta n å na de tum å nges
sa' un na' lache karer å -ho;
yan maolek- ñ a yo' gi langet
ke i tano' na sag å -ho.
Stop your crying, mother,
because you will make me stray from my path;
for I am better off in heaven
than in my earthly place.
There are several K åntan Chamorrita verses in which the speaker, still alive, speaks to someone about their impending death, even if that death might be decades from now.
Perhaps it was due to some (many?) Chamorros lingering thoughts on the nearness of death.  Epidemics were not unknown, which wiped out large numbers of people.
I wonder, even, if this might be due to some of the young men's propensity to get on whaling ships and leave Guam as fast they could.  Many, if not most, never returned.  As late as 1941, I know of mothers and aunties weeping over a son's joining the US Navy as if they had just been told he had died.  Perhaps this was the young man's way of saying his joining the whaling ships might mean they would never see him again on earth, but that they would be together again, and more happy, in heaven.
The line about a mother's weeping is interesting.  For a young man seriously contemplating leaving the island for the big world, by joining the foreign ships, hearing his mother cry at the idea might make him change his mind and stray from his path.
Or, perhaps, for the soul which has departed the earth in death, to see his mother crying over his dead body will make him feel remorse and disturb his smooth journey to the next life.
Those two things stand out, for sure, in this verse, concerning the old Chamorro mentality.  A mother's tears were strong enough to seriously affect a child's future.  And that heaven was a better future than anything on earth.

FAMILY NICKNAMES : POTPOT

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Potpot na lepblo!
A thick book!

Some of the Mendiolas in the Marianas are known as the Potpot family.

Potpot means "thick."

The Potpot branch in Yo ñ a is very well known.  They are the descendants of Antonio Fejeran Mendiola of Hag å t ñ a (before the war) and his wife Juliana de la Cruz.

Other Mendiolas better-known-as Potpot are the descendants of Mariano Borja Mendiola and his wife Antonia Guerrero Pangelinan.

The family members I have spoken to do not know why their clan is called Potpot.  Of course, if any family member would like to contact me and let me know what they know, please do so.

It's important that people understand that potpot does not mean yommok . Yommok means "fat" or "overweight."

Neither does it mean pokpok . Pokpok means "swollen."

Here are some things that can be considered potpot :


Potpot na alunan
A thick pillow


Potpot na ped å son k å tne
A thick piece of beef


Potpot na to å ya
Thick towels

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO' : AN DURU I ICHAN

Thursday, January 30, 2014


Again, not all the ma ñ aina said this, but some people have told me they heard it growing up :

An duru i ichan, maolek, sa' pinino' i manglo'.
(When it rains hard, it's good, because it kills the wind.)

The idea was that the rain stopped the wind from picking up, thus preventing a typhoon, which nobody ever wants.

At the same time, other people told me a different version :

An duru i hilu, yan tettete i ichan, maolek, sa' pinino' i manglo' .
( When it thunders a lot, and the rain is light, it's good, because it kills the wind .)

It's up to you what you want to hold as true!

GROWING UP IN HARUTA MURA DURING THE WAR

Wednesday, January 29, 2014


The other day I met up with some ma ñ aina , one of whom happened to grow up in Barrigada during the war.  My own family, who lived in Hag å t ñ a before the war, spent the Japanese occupation at their ranch in Barrigada as well.  This woman knew my family, and was around the same age as my mother.

Barrigada was called Haruta Mura by the Japanese.

Haruta means "empty rice field" and mura is "village."  It would make sense that Barrigada was an empty rice field because they grew corn there, not rice!

There was one school house in Barrigada, across the San Roque chapel and near the bomban h å nom (water pump) which was accessible to everyone.  This was in what is now called Radio Barrigada.

There were two teachers, both Chamorros who had been trained intensively in Hag å t ñ a, where they lived in dormitories and were drilled in elementary Japanese so they could teach it to the children.  In Barrigada they were Juan Sanchez and Lucille Rosario (familian Chambambi').  They taught the kids in basic Japanese and in Chamorro.  English was forbidden.

Every morning the students would gather outside and sing the Japanese anthem, Kimigayo, facing north towards the Emperor in Japan.  They would also do calisthenics before heading into the school house.

There was no resident priest in Barrigada.  P å le' Oscar Calvo would periodically come say Mass, baptize, hear confessions, anoint the dying and so on.  People said their rosaries and prayers faithfully.

The woman remembered that my uncle Ben Reyes, married to my grandmother's sister, was soncho , or municipal leader in Barrigada.  The farmers there had to provide the Japanese with the food they harvested, and the soncho coordinated this.

The man said, " Ti man ñ å lang ham guihe na tiempo, sa' man bunmuch å cho i Chamorro siha gi tiempon gera. "  "We were not hungry at that time, because the Chamorros were hard working during the war years."  Those in Barrigada were blessed with some of the best agricultural land on Guam and farmed everything they could and raised all the animals they could.

She also remembered that my mother was one of the quicker learners of Japanese.  Later in life, my mother hated to hear Japanese or see Japanese, but I would tease her and speak Japanese to her or turn the TV to the Japanese station.  She would scold me, but, once in a while, I would catch her in a willing mood to speak Japanese or listen to the Japanese station.  She even taught me a Japanese song she learned during the war.

This elderly couple and I also spoke of more sensitive material about those war years which I cannot share for many years to come!

THE USS GOLDSTAR

Tuesday, January 28, 2014
USS Goldstar
Guam was not so isolated as one might think before World War II and even further back in time.  Under the American Navy administration, Guam had frequent ocean transportation to almost all points.

Guam had American destinations on either side of the waters.  Go east and one lands in Honolulu.  Go west and one arrives in Manila, then under American jurisdiction.  There was also travel north to Saipan and Japan, and even a few ships headed for Hong Kong and China.

The USS Goldstar was an American naval ship sent to Guam in 1924.  She was used mainly to transport cargo but also passengers.  For the rest of the 20s and all of the 30s, the name Goldstar was on the lips of many Chamorros.

One needed the permission of the Governor to leave Guam, and, of course, the money to buy a ticket, but many Chamorros did succeed in obtaining both permission and funds.

Some went for business; others for pleasure.  A few even went for medical reasons.  Some also went to Manila for an education.  Except for this last one, pretty much the same reasons why Chamorro travel to Manila to this day!

In July of 1934, for example, the following Chamorros boarded the Goldstar for Manila :

Vicente B. Martinez and his daughter

Jose de la Cruz

Ricardo E. Salas

Francisco Leon Guerrero

and 55 members of the Guam Militia.  That's a lot of Chamorros.  On holiday, perhaps?  Or to participate in some ceremonial function in Manila?

Also on board were two Spanish Capuchin missionaries, Father Gil de Legaria and Brother Jos é de Go ñ i.  The Capuchins at the time had a big friary in Intramuros, Manila.

One never hears of the Goldstar being attacked or sunk by the Japanese in Apra Harbor on December 8, 1941 because she happened to be in the Philippines at the time.  When war broke out, she left for Australia and was safe and sound for the rest of the war.  She never returned to Guam after that.

But anyone old enough to remember the 1930s on Guam instantly remembers the USS Goldstar when it is mentioned.

GUSE'-ÑA MA ÅGANG SI PÅLE'

Monday, January 27, 2014

P å le' Bernab é
One of the pre-war Spanish Capuchin priests

Nowadays, we call the cops if there is a family dispute bordering on violence.

In the past, as one lady said, " Guse'- ñ a ma å gang si P å le' ke ni polisia !"  "They would call the priest quicker than calling the police."

From all my conversations with the elders about this topic, I would summarize the reasons for this as follows, in no particular order of importance :

1. A priest would keep the family trouble quiet; the police may arrest someone, file a report that makes the squabble public.

" Yanggen si P å le' ma å gang, u s å ga' ha' gi halom guma' i plaito ."  "If Father is called, the fight will stay inside the home."

2. A priest was looked on as a person of wisdom - a spokesman for God - who could persuade and change hearts or minds; the policeman was seen as someone to be feared.

" Siempre ma respeta m å s si P å le'.  Achok ha' taimano binibu- ñ a i palao'an pat i lahe pat todo i dos, an kumuentos si P å le', ma ekkungok ." "They will surely respect Father more.  No matter how angry the woman or the man or both are, when Father speaks, they listen."

Some examples of priestly intervention were :

1. " Annai i dos saina p å 'go ma tungo' na mapotge' i hobensita å ntes de umassagua.  Ai!  Sumen lalalo' i tata ya si ñ a ta å lok na ha ke' puno' i hag å - ñ a.  Umentalo' i nana para u prinetehe i hag å - ñ a, pues i tata ha ke' dommo' lokkue' i asagu å - ñ a!  Pues ayo nai na ma å gang si P å le' !"

"When the two parents just found out that the teenage daughter was pregnant before marriage.  Oh my!  The father got so mad we could say he almost tried to kill his daughter.  So the mother intervened to protect her daughter, so the dad tried to punch his wife!  That's when they called Father!"

2. " Ai, P å le', sa' hu hasso annai m å tto un puenge sen atrasao si tat å -ho.  Sen bulacho asta ke kum å k å nta a'gagang gi chalan ya esta tatalo' puenge.  Ha na' sen mam å hlao si nanan-m å me.  Gigon hum å lom si tat å -ho gi gima', inan ñ a' si tat å -ho gi as nan å -ho.  Todo i si ñ a ha go'te ha usa para u kastiga si tat å -ho.  I sapatos- ñ a, i siya, i sinturon....masea h å fa si ñ a ha gu'ot!  Ha t å go yo' si bih å -ho para u å gang guihe guato gi gima'-m åme si P å le', achok ha' esta ges painge.  Mag å het na m å tto si P å le'.  Ha kuentuse si nan å -ho ya mag å het na ha na' m å pao.  Ha konne' si tat å -ho para u maigo' gi otro na guma'.  Sigiente dia, ha bira gue' si tat å -ho guato gi gima'-m å me ya, asta ke m å tai i dos, t å ya' na kumuentos i dos saina-ho pot ayo na pupuenge ."

"Oh, Father, I remember when my father came one night very late.  He was so drunk that he was even singing loudly in the streets and it was already midnight.  He made our mother so embarrassed.  The moment my father entered the home, he was beaten by my mother.  Everything she could hold she used to punish him.  Her shoes, the chair, the belt...whatever she could grab.  My grandmother told me to go call the priest over to our house even though it was very late.  Indeed, Father came.  He talked to my mother and really calmed her down.  He took my dad to sleep at another house.  The next day, my dad came back to our house and, till the day they both died, my two parents never talked about that night."

To be sure, not everyone called the priest, and there were times that one in the family, more so the father or a son, would turn against the priest rather than listen to him.

But, many priests were called in to intervene in a family fight, and at all hours of the day or night.



FANHA'ANIYAN

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Today, if you happen to be on Guam, you can head down to the Guam Fishermen's Coop next to Chamorro Village in Hagåtña to celebrate the 6th Annual Chamorro Lunar Calendar Festival.

In Chamorro, it is being billed as the : GUPOT FANHA'ANIYAN PULAN CHAMORU

When an elderly Chamorro man who speaks fluent Chamorro came up to me with the flyer for this event and asked me what fanha'aniyan meant, I knew I had better blog about it.

In Chamorro, we have a wonderful device called the FAN+WORD+AN construction.

Put any word, noun or verb, in the middle and out comes : PLACE OF or TIME OF.

Remember that the suffix -AN usually means, in Chamorro, PLACE or TIME of.

So, if we look at the middle term in fanha'aniyan , we find ha'åni , sometimes spelled ha'åne .

Ha'åni means "day" or "life."

So, fanha'aniyan means "place of days."  In other words, calendar!

If you notice, a Y has been added to -AN because it just sounds nicer to Chamorro ears to say fanha'aniyan rather than fanha'anian .

PULAN

Just as an aside, pulan itself has multiple meanings.

It means the "moon."

Since the moon watches over us at night, it can also mean "to watch over."

Since each new moon begins a new lunar cycle, pulan has a third meaning : month.

Påle' Román, a Basque Spaniard and Capuchin missionary, can be credited for promoting the use of the indigenous word pulan for "month" and fanha'aniyan for "calendar" (instead of the Spanish-based words mes and kalendårio ) because he used these indigenous terms in his many Chamorro books and pamphlets.

Personally, I like using all these terms.  Know the indigenous, but also know what generations of our mañaina have been using for three hundreds years, as well.  Otherwise, we miss out of three centuries of custom.

By the way, the indigenous word for "year" is såkkan , which also means "harvest.  But three centuries of Chamorros also used the Spanish word año .  Thousands of Chamorros for many years were equally adept at using either or both words for the same thing.

WHAT IS THE CHAMORRO CALENDAR?

Before the Spaniards came and gave us the Western calendar, our ancestors went by the moon.  They had a lunar calendar, since it is easy to mark the different phases of the moon.  The Chamorro lunar calendar was made up of thirteen moons, or months.

It's no wonder that this event is being held at the Fisherman's Coop, because traditional fishermen also use the phases of the moon to guide their fishing activities.

To learn more about this, go to :

http://guampedia.com/ancient-chamorro-cultural-aspects-of-fishing/

FAMILIA : RIOS

Friday, January 24, 2014


The RIOS families of the Marianas have a Spanish surname that means RIVERS.

In fact, the family crest in Spain looks like this. You can see the watery image of rivers is included in the design.





Just as many English family names come from places (Mr. Hill, Mr. Church, Mr. Woods), some Spanish names also come from places : Señor Palacios (palaces), Señor Torres (towers) and Señor Iglesias (churches). In English, there even are families called Rivers, which is Rios in Spanish.



GUAM ORIGINS

There were Rioses on Guam from very early on, as early as 1727.

In the 1727 Census, there are Rioses listed as soldiers in the Spanish regiment. This does not automatically mean they were born in Spain. They could have been from Mexico, South America or the Philippines but of Spanish, or part Spanish, blood.

There was Francisco de los Rios, who married a Chamorro woman named Rosa Taihimas.  Their children at the time of the census were Basilio, Manuela, Lorenza and Manuela Josefa.

There was also Juan Antonio de los Rios, who married Josefa de la Cruz.  Their children were Francisco, Pablo, Antonio, Jose and Pascuala.

Lastly there was Miguel de los Rios, who married Marcela de la Cruz.  They had three children by 1727 : Ignacio, Maria and Teodora.

We do not know if these three men named Rios were related.

THE 1758 CENSUS

By the next census we have, 1758, we see how these three Rios families developed :

Antonio Cruz de los Rios, who is seen above in the 1727 census as the son of Juan Antonio and Josefa, married Maria Francisca Montufar.  They had a daughter Antonia.  They could have had more children after the census was taken.

Miguel de los Rios, shown in the earlier census, is still alive in 1758, and still married to Marcela.

Pablo Cruz de los Rios, also in the earlier census and son of Juan Antonio and Josefa, married Rosa de Leon Guerrero.  Their children were Esteban Ambrosio, Maria and Josefa Anastasia.

Besides these men, there were two women named Rios who were married.


MODERN TIMES

By the time we jump all the way to the 1897 census, we don't have large numbers of people named Rios.  One would think that, with three fathers named Rios in 1727, the name would have gotten much bigger, but it didn't. We don't know why. It could have been that people in the family died prematurely from various epidemics. It could have been that more girls were born than boys, and when the girls became women and married, the Rios surname was lost to the father's surname.

What we can say is that there seems to be only two lines of Rioses in Guam in the mid 1800s.


BENIGNO

One of the Rios clans was founded by Benigno Rios, who is sometimes named Benigno Castro Rios.

Benigno married twice. The first wife was a Filipina named Asunción (sometimes called Ascensión) Ayuban. This begs the question; how did Benigno, a man from Guam, at a time when travel between Guam and anywhere else was not so frequent, with most islanders not having the means to pay for travel, get to meet a Filipina woman? It's easier for a man to get up and go across the ocean; much harder for a woman, especially an unaccompanied woman, in those olden days.

I'm sure it will be very hard, if not impossible, to find out how they met, since documents are so unavailable. Perhaps Benigno went to Manila. That seems the more possible option. Many Chamorro youth joined the whaling ships and went all over the Pacific and beyond.

A smaller chance is that Asunción came to Guam. Perhaps she came with a family member, or working as a domestic servant to someone who came to Guam, such as a Spanish official. Again, these are all just possible reasons, but not definitive answers.

Benigno and Asunción had a handful of children.

One son was BRIGIDO AYUBAN RIOS . He married Josefa Garrido de León Guerrero, of the Sombrero clan. Josefa's parents were José and Mariana.

Their sons were José, Vicente and Enrique. Their daughters were Asunción and María.

One grandson of Brigido's, José León Guerrero Rios, the son of the older José, was one of Guam's leading educators. He was not just a teacher but administrator and vice principal in many schools both before and after the war, earning him the title of "Mr. Education." He served in these capacities for 51 years. No wonder the present José LG Rios Middle School in Piti is named after him. José was one of several promising young men sent to Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1919 for further education at the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College.



JOSÉ LG RIOS AND WIFE ANTONIA


Brigido's three sons had many children spreading the Rios last name. His two daughters also married.

One of Brigido's sisters, Dolores, married Don Vicente de la Rosa Mesa, one of the Cabeza de Barangay (neighborhood leader) in Hagåt ñ a.  Their son Tomás Rios Mesa was sent to Manila for schooling and there he fell in love with María Lukban and they married, returning to Guam. Sometime before the war, Tomás went back to Manila to study dentistry and was away when the Japanese invaded Guam. María was abused by the Japanese and died in the Tinta Cave massacre. Tomás returned after the war and practiced dentistry.



TOMÁS RIOS MESA, WIFE MARÍA AND CHILDREN


Two siblings of Brigido, Concepción and Fulgencio, never married nor had children, but two other siblings, Rosa and Antonia did have children outside of marriage. Rosa gave up her children to adoption. Antonia moved to Saipan for a while during German times and had some children there but they seem to have moved back to Guam or died in youth.

Benigno married a second wife, Gregoria Campos de León Guerrero. They only had daughters.


Another Rios, Benigno Castro Rios, was the husband of Gregoria Campos de Leon Guerrero.  Their children were Fulgencio, Casiano, Antonia and Rosa.  But in another document, Casiano is identified as Casiano Ayuban Rios.  This leads me to suspect that Benigno had two wives.  The first was a Filipina by the last name of Ayuban, who was the mother of Brigido and Casiano, and thus also of Fulgencio, who is older than Casiano, and possibly of Antonia and Rosa.  Gregoria could have been the second wife, after the Ayuban wife died.

Then there's a Vicente Rios, married to Josefa Cepeda and their children Mariano and Maria.

So it seems that, with the exception of Vicente and his children, the other Rioses are of the Ayuban-Rios clan.

JOSE LEON GUERRERO RIOS


One descendant of the Ayuban-Rios clan was Jose Leon Guerrero Rios, son of Brigido and Josefa.  He was born in 1898 so he does not appear in the 1897 Census and probably, then, was the first child of the recently-married parents.

He got an early start in life as an educator and was sent by the pre-war Naval Government to study at Oklahoma A&M College.  He wrote articles for local publications and had a brief stint as a judge in the local courts.  He was a teacher and principal before and after the war, passing away in 1983.

For his life-long dedication to the island's schools, a Middle School was named after him in Piti.

One of his students, Judge Vicente Camacho Reyes, was my confirmation godfather and grand uncle through his marriage to my grandmother's sister Ana Perez Torres.

CHAMORRO TABOOS : KISSIN' COUSINS

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Being mostly Catholic, one would expect Chamorros would be OK with second cousins marrying, because the Church allows second cousins to marry, without any need to get special permission to do so.  The Church, however, will not allow first cousins to marry - unless they get permission from the local bishop.

But for many of our ma ñ aina , not even third or fourth cousins should marry.

I asked one elderly Chamorro why our culture frowns upon even third or fourth cousins marrying.

" Mampos hihot i haga' !" the woman exclaimed immediately and vehemently.

"The blood is too close!"

" Siempre gai defekto i patgon- ñ iha !"  "Their child will have some defect."

Then she started to tell me about her own relatives who were first cousins and got married.  Their children were fine, but, she said, the two spouses were always fighting.

" Demasiao hihot !"  "Too close," she said.

I told her then it must be hard in some places to find a future husband or wife.

" Espia nai gi san lago pat gi Filipinas !"  "Look," she said, "in the States or the Philippines!"

Whenever first cousins married on Guam, it was duly noted and spoken about (quietly) by other people.  It was as if people were just waiting to see some mishap or misfortune befall the couple or their children, and credit it all on the fact that they were first cousins.

My brother, too, had married a distant relative.  Since we're not too clear about the family tree once we get back to the 1870s, we think he and his wife are 5th cousins or even further back.  Despite this distance, our two clans consider each other "close."  I was told as a child to fan nginge' (reverence the hand) of any elders in this clan whenever I met them.

Sometime after they were married, my sister-in-law introduced my brother to her grandmother.  When she asked, " H å ye familia-mo ?"  "Who is your family?" and found out, she had a look of concern on her face!  And these two were 5th cousins or even further back!

For more, check http://paleric.blogspot.com/2011/08/fino-i-man-amko-mas-prima-mas-arima.html


GUAM-SAIPAN TRAVEL BEFORE WW2

Thursday, January 16, 2014
SAIPAN POST OFFICE IN GARAPAN
1930s
People often don't realize what a "happening place" Saipan was before World War II.  Thanks to the Japanese, business was in full swing in that island, dominated by the sugar industry.  The island population swelled in the 1930s as Japanese, Okinawan and Korean laborers and civil workers came to farm sugar, open stores and man the government offices.  The pre-war population of Saipan exceeded that of Guam, thanks to the huge numbers of transplants from Japan.

Japanese merchant ships traveled from Japan to Saipan, often making stops on Guam until the political climate chilled as war drew near.  Not only was trade necessary, people also traveled by ship between Guam and Saipan.

From a passenger list on the Japanese schooner, the Chomei Maru, in 1936 we get an idea.  It carried 140 tons of freight and 9 bags of mail.  On board traveling to Guam from Saipan were :

CHAMORROS, some of whom had relatives in Saipan, probably returning from a family visit and some who went on holiday; as well as Saipan Chamorros doing the same on Guam :

Adas.  Jose T and Maria T Ada, as well as Lydia, Delia, Elvira, Luise.

Ataos.  Natividad SN, Pedro SN, Carmen SN and Isabel SN Atao.

Ana C. Blas
Ismael T. Calvo
Concepcion M. Camacho
Pedro L. and Joaquina M. Cepeda
Jose P. and Francisca T. De Leon
Jose C., Constancia C. and Felicita C. Dungca
Alejo C., Ana C. and the future Archbishop Felixberto C. Flores
Francisco B., Lagrimas P. and Maria P. Leon Guerrero
Ignacio Q. and Isabel C. Sanchez
Ana M., Guadalupe M. and Jose M. Reyes
Maria LG and Miguel LG Salas
Ana D. San Nicolas
Joaquin and Constancia Camacho
Federico M. Lizama
Jose P., Maria SN and Luise P.Wilson
Gertrudes de la Concepcion

CHAMORRO-JAPANESE

Ambrosio T. Shimizu
Dolores SN Takano

JAPANESE

T. Shinohara, married to a Chamorro
S. Sudo, married to a Chamorro
and others with no Chamorro connections

ON THE WAY BACK TO SAIPAN we see more Chamorros living on Saipan returning there after a visit to Guam, to see relatives or perhaps to do some business or enjoy a change of scenery :

Agultos.  They were originally from Sumay and moved to Saipan.

Ylanos.  Also spelled Ilano.

Palacios, Blanco, Bermudes, Concepcion, Evangelista, Toves, Quitano, Santos and de Leon Guerrero....all of whom had relations on Guam.

And some Guam Chamorros going up to Saipan for a visit: Emiliana F. and Juan F. Perez, Tomasa A. and John A. Perez.

MÅTAN KATO

Wednesday, January 15, 2014



In Chamorro culture, blue or green eyes are called MÅTAN KATO , "cat eyes." You can see why from the picture above.

The term also applies to other shades. Anything other than black or brown eyes. The more the shade heads towards light and translucent, the greater the chance it will be called måtan kato .

Måtan kato is esteemed among Chamorros. They are considered beautiful.

They are often associated with Caucasian blood, but not necessarily. You often hear older people describe their father or grandfather being part Spanish or some other kind of Caucasian and, as if to bolster the claim, they will say he had måtan kato .


AMERICAN SOLDIERS



A lady in Saipan told the story how she and her family hid in a cave during the American invasion of the island in 1944. People in Saipan didn't see many Caucasians during Japanese rule, although the Catholic missionaries at the time were Spanish.

So on the day she and her family were rescued from battle, she was peering through a hole in the cave when she thought she heard people moving about outside. As she looked, another eye was peeping through the same hole right back at her.

She turned around and told her family in the cave, " Måtan kato !"

It was an American soldier, accompanied by other American soldiers, and they were moving in the area looking for the enemy, or to get civilians out of harm's way. The soldier put this family on a truck to take them to the civilian refugee camp.


A SUPERSTITION

Chamorro folk beliefs and superstitions are not always universal.  Sometimes, they can be found only among some families or certain individuals.

Recently only did I learn that one such belief is that, if you're grating coconut and want to increase the yield of coconut meat, you have to look into the eyes of a cat.

Yanggen mang å k å myo i taotao, debe de u atan i matan kato para u misen.

MAYAMAK -VS- MAYULANG

Monday, January 13, 2014


First, I'd like to affirm a few things about the person who wrote this sign in Chamorro.

1. He even thought to write in Chamorro, when he didn't have to.

2. I like the way he spelled "kemmon."  The double M reflects the way we actually say the word.

3. Kommon is one of those words we modify when preceded by the definite article " i " or "the." Kommon becomes i kemmon .


But....

....a correction is needed here, and I suggest it only as a way of helping people get better in the language.  There is a difference between mayamak and mayulang .


MAYAMAK

....means something is broken apart.  The physical integrity of the object is broken, smashed, demolished.

This is a toilet that is mayamak (actually several toilets)...



MAYULANG

....means that something isn't functioning.  The physical parts are all there and not destroyed, but the parts are not working properly.  The toilet is intact; it isn't mayamak .  But it's leaking, or it doesn't flush properly.  It's mayulang .




Other ways of understanding the distinction :

If someone destroys your trust, ha yamak i hinengge-ko nu guiya .  "He or she demolished my faith in him or her."

A watch that was run over by a car and was broken into a hundred bits and pieces is un mayamak na relos (a broken watch).

But a watch that is intact but the gears don't work properly and the hands no longer tick the time is un mayulang na relos (a broken watch).

A broken heart, meaning one that is in such great emotional pain as to feel shattered, is mayamak .

A heart that has a physiological malfunction (it doesn't drain or beat properly) is mayulang .

I ME'ME' I MÅS PÅTGON NA SOBRINU-HO

Thursday, January 9, 2014


Tamuning. 1970s

Est å ba yo' Tamuning sa' guaha para bai f å han gi tenda.
(I was in Tamuning because there was something I was going to buy at the store .)

Lao esta yo' ma empong ya ti si ñ a hu sustiene .
( But I was already needing to urinate and I couldn't hold it .)

Hu li'e na t å ya' taotao gi tatten i tenda .
( I saw that there was no one behind the store .)

Pot i ti halom t å no' yan bula guma', ti ma' å ' ñ ao yo' tuminane' guihe na lug å t .
( Because it wasn't jungle and there were many buildings, I wasn't afraid to urinate in that place .)

Lao ai lokkue' ayo na pupuenge!  Pokpok i addeng-ho yan sen puti .
( But oh that night! My foot was swollen and it was very painful .)

Esta tatalo'puenge ya ti si ñ a hu sungon.
( It was already midnight and I couldn't bear it .)

Guaha palao'an; å he' ti suruh å na gue' lao guaha tiningo'- ñ a pot este siha na sinisede .
( There was a woman; she wasn't a medicine woman but she knew something about these things .)

Pues hu å gang gue' ya ha t å go' yo' para bai fang å gao i me'me' i m å s p å tgon na sobrinu-ho .
( So I called her and she told me to ask for the urine of my youngest nephew .)

Pues hu å gang i ki ñ ad å -ho, achok ha' esta a las dos gi chatanmak .
( So I called up my sister-in-law, even though it was two in the morning .)

Ilek- ñ a, "Dalai na ora este i para un å gang yo'!"
( She said, "My what an hour for you to call me !")

Lao annai hu sang å ne gue' h å fa presisu-ho, ha p å ngon i lahi- ñ a, i m å s p å tgon na sobrinu-ho .
( But when I told her what I needed, she woke up her son, my youngest nephew .)

Hinengang i patgon ya ilek- ñ a, "Ha?  H å fa malago'- ñ a si tiu-ho?"
( The boy was shocked and said, "What?  What does my uncle want ?")

Kololo'- ñ a annai tinago' gue' gi as nan å - ñ a, "U.  Chule' este na b å so ya un na' bula ni meme'-mo."
( Especially when his mother told him, "Here.  Take this glass and fill it with your urine .")

Lao konfotme i sobrinu-ho ya ha cho'gue .
( But my nephew agreed and did it .)

Hu n å 'ye gi addeng-ho ya sigiente dia hu bira yo' para ayo na lug å t nai tuminane' yo' ya mang å gao yo' dispensasion .
( I put it on my foot and the next day I returned to the place where I relieved myself and ask for forgiveness .)

Una ora despues mum å gong i pokpok i addeng-ho ya sigiente dia m å 'pos kab å les todo i puti-ho .
( One hour later the swelling of my foot eased up and the next day all my pain completely went away .)

I me'me' i m å s p å tgon na sobrinu-ho fuma'maolek yo' .
( The urine of my youngest nephew fixed me .)

NOTES

~ Ma empong .  Some Chamorros say " ma empon ."

~ Addeng .  On Guam, Chamorros say patas , but originally that referred only to the feet or animals, and is borrowed from Spanish.  The original word for the human foot is addeng .  This is still the word used in the Northern Marianas.

~ Tuminane '.  The root word is t å ne' , which means to "be busy, occupied, entertained."  It's a euphemism for urinating; a polite way of talking about this call of nature.

~ The man thought that since Tamuning is developed and commercial, he'd have no worries concerning spirits.

~ Don't forget there is a difference between m å gong (healing, relief, easing) and m å hgong (peace).

"YOU'RE NOT CUTTING IT OFF!"

Wednesday, January 8, 2014


Many old-time Chamorros resisted amputations.  They flatly told the doctor, "You're not cutting it off."

Reasons differed, but one frequent Chamorro explanation was this :

" Annai ha na' huyong yo' si Yu'us, todo kab å les.  Mungnga yo' na bai hu f å na' si Yu'us 'nai m å tai yo'  ya u f å tta uno gi dos addeng-ho ."  "When God made me, all was complete.  I don't want to face God when I die and be lacking one of my two feet."

Or,

" Kab å les ha fa'tinas yo' si Yu'us, kab å les bai hu na' na'lo ."  "God made me complete, complete I will give it back."

Even when told that by letting one foot remain, s/he would die and lose both feet and his entire body, he or she would say, " Gao-ko hu f å na' si Yu'us yan entero i tataotao-ho, ke ni para bai hu f å na' Gue' ya guaha f å f å tta gi tataotao-ho ."  "I prefer to face God with all of my body, than to face Him and something be missing of my body."

Either they weren't catechized enough about the resurrection of the body (whole and entire) or they were using this as a convenient excuse to forego surgery.  Even if a man's body were blown to bits in war, dissected by several hungry sharks or burned to ashes in a house fire, God will have no trouble re-assembling all the bits and pieces on the day of resurrection.

I ESKUROSA NA BIHA

Friday, January 3, 2014


Hag å t ñ a.  1930s

Told to me by a woman in her eighties .

Annai dikkike' yo', guaha un palao'an giya Hag å t ñ a ni mampos eskurosa .
( When I was little, there was a woman in Hag å t ñ a who was overly squeamish.)

Ti ya- ñ a ma bisita gi gima' sa' ti ya- ñ a taotao.
( She didn't like to be visited at home because she didn't like people.)

Yanggen ma dilingding i kamp å na gi pett å n- ñ a, siempre ha saosao i batunes sa' guaha taotao pumacha .
( If someone rang the doorbell, she would definitely wipe the button because someone touched it .)

Yanggen ma n å 'e gue' nengkanno', siempre ha ch å hlao pot no u nina'pinite i mun å 'e gue', lao an m å 'pos i taotao, siempre ti u k å nno', sa' k å nnai otro na taotao fuma'tinas.
( If she was given food, she would accept it not to hurt the feelings of the one who gave it, but when the person left, she wouldn't eat it because someone else's hands prepared it .)

Todo i un pacha seguro na u saosao, ya ti u fan nangga asta ke m å ' pos hao pot no un li'e, lao ha chocho'gue gi me'n å -mo!
( Everything you touched she would wipe, and she wouldn't wait till you left so you wouldn't see her do that, but she would do it right in front of you!)

Sa' pot i sum å s å ga este na palao'an gi entalo' i gim å '-ho yan i gima' i bih å -ho, sesso yo' maloffan gi me'nan i gim å '- ñ a.
( Because this lady lived in between my house and my grandmother's house, I often passed in front of her house .)

Hekkua' ti hu tungo' pot h å fa na rason lao ya- ñ a yo' este na palao'an ya kada ha li'e na maloloffan yo' gi chalan gi me'nan i gim å '-na, siempre ha kombida yo' para in gimen chokol å te.
( I don't know for what reason but this woman liked me and every time she sees me on the street going past the front of her house, she would invite me to drink chocolate with her.)

Pues fiho ha faisen yo' kao malago' yo' maigo' gi gim å '- ñ a lao ma' å ñ ao yo' sa' ni h å f å fa ya-ho pumacha gi halom gum å '- ñ a sa' siempre ha saosao.
( Then she often asked me if I wanted to sleep at her house but I was afraid because I didn't want to touch anything at all inside her house because then she'd wipe it .)

Pues hu oppe gue' na mungnga yo' maigo' gi gim å '- ñ a sa' esta guaha kattre-ko gi gim å '-ho.
( So I answered her that I didn't want to sleep at her house because I already had my own bed at my house .)

Buente pot i kasao este na palao'an lao ti si ñ a gue' gumaipatgon na ya- ñ a yo' ya ha espipia yo' todo i tiempo .
( Perhaps, because this lady was married but couldn't have a child, she liked me and was always looking for me .)

Man manman i ma ñ e'lu-ho yan amigu-ho siha na ha kombida yo' h å lom gi gim å '- ñ a este na palao'an para in gimen chokol å te sa' siha na famagu'on ni ngai'an u fan kinembida para u fan h å lom gi gim å '- ñ a ayo na eskurosan biha.
( My siblings and friends were astonished that this lady invited me into her house to drink chocolate with her, because those kids would never be invited to enter the home of that finicky old lady .)


NOTES

Eskurosa .  The word is borrowed from the Spanish asqueroso , which means "disgusting, yucky, loathsome, repulsive" and so on.  So, in Chamorro, we've given the word a new twist, because for us it means someone who is easily disgusted; in other words, someone squeamish or finicky.

Chamorros also pronounced it their own way, askuroso/askurosa at first, but now most people will say eskuroso/eskurosa, the first way for a male and the second for a female.

Chocolate. The lady didn't ask the girl to come in and eat chocolate, nor to drink hot cocoa.  The old lady was following an old Spanish tradition of drinking actual melted chocolate.  Bars of chocolate were put to the fire and drunk hot.  The Chocolate House in the present-day Plaza de Espa ñ a area was so-called, supposedly, because it was where the wife of the Spanish Governor served chocolate drinks to visitors or among the Governor's family and associates.


THE REAL PERSON

This amusing story is based on a real lady who lived in the capital city before the war.

I know her identity, but since her extended family is still around, I won't identify her.

My informant, now an elderly lady herself, told me that this lady's story ended on a sad note.  By the time of the war, the lady was by herself, her husband was out of the picture and she had no children.

During the march to Ma ñ enggon right before the fierce battle to take Guam back from the Japanese, the lady died somehow.  Being alone, people don't really know under what circumstances she died.

A BOOK ON SUMAY

Saturday, December 28, 2013

It's been almost seventy years since the people of Sumay were forcibly moved by the US Navy from their beloved town, with its fertile farm lands and rich marine life, to the rough, wooded hills of Santa Rita after World War II.  But the people of Sumay, even their descendants who never knew life there, remain very attached to their home town, now part of the US Naval Station.

These memories and fond affection for Sumay have given birth to a new book, written by James Perez Viernes, a descendant of a Sumay family and now on the faculty of the University of Guam.

The book has everything; many historic photographs, historical data, personal stories and anecdotes by pre-war residents, a map of Sumay showing the location of each family's lot, photos of the parish priests, music.



I was happy to help in Viernes' project by sharing some old photos and whatever insights I could share with him in conversation.  I also submitted a small write-up about the strong connection between the Capuchin priests and the people of Sumay/Santa Rita. A hundred and eight years' worth of connection!

The book is available for purchase at the Santa Rita Church.  Phone number 565-2160.

Highly recommended.

I RINEKTON I MAN ÅMKO'

Thursday, December 26, 2013


In the 1930s in Hag å t ñ a :

Ocho å ñ os ha' yo' guihe na tiempo ya est å ba na tumotohge yo' gi bent å na, hu a'atan todo i maloloffan gi sanhiyong.
( I was only eight years old at that time and I was standing at the window, watching all that was passing by outside .)

M å tto si ti å -ho, ni che'lon nan å -ho, i mas å mko' gi ma ñ e'lo.
( My aunt came, my mother's sister, the oldest of the siblings .)

Ilek- ñ a, "H å ye na l å he un a'atan!"
( She said, "What boy are you looking at!")

"Bai na' minag å gon ganggotche hao ya bai kand å lo i ku å tto!"
("I'm going to clothe you in gunny sack and lock the room!")

Dalai gue', ocho å ñ os ha' yo'!  H å fa mohon tiningo'-ho pot l å he!
( The nerve of her, I was only eight!  What would I know about boys !)

KÅNTAN NOCHEBUENA GIYA LUTA

Monday, December 23, 2013


From Luta (Rota) comes this charming Christmas carol which borrows from several Spanish melodies and combines them into this medley.

It's very possible that a German missionary in Luta, Capuchin Father Corbinian Madre, wrote much of these verses, because we do know that he composed other hymns in Chamorro for the people of Luta, using music already known in Europe.  But, as far as I know, we have no clear evidence that he is the author of these Chamorro verses.

Another clue that the author is perhaps a foreign missionary is the use of Spanish terms that were not in wide usage among Chamorros even at that time.  Many of the German Capuchins who were sent to the Northern Marianas, from 1907 till the Japanese expelled the last of them in 1919, spoke some Spanish and freely incorporated Spanish vocabulary into their Chamorro speech and writings, even if the majority of Chamorros didn't always understand some words.

LYRICS

I å ngheles mang å k å nta yan su å be na komp å s :
"Gloria as Yu'us gi langet yan para i taotao p å s!"
Gloria para i taotao t å no' p å s!
Gloria a Dios en las Alturas;
para i taotao t å no' p å s!
Mafa ñ å go i Mesias
giya Belen gi un pott å t.
Gloria para i taotao t å no' pas!
Ya u hongga i temb å t,
d å nd å n- ñ a u ma d å nsa!
Pastores a pott å t,
fatoigue sin t å td å nsa!
Guihe, guihe, guihe ta sodda' si Jesus!
Guihe, guihe ta sodda' si Jesus!
Ta chule' i turrones yan miet
ya ta ofrese i Ni ñ o Manuel!  Manuel!
English
The angels are singing with a gentle rhythm :
"Glory to God in heaven and peace to mankind."
Glory, peace to mankind on earth!
Glory to God in the Highest,
peace to mankind on earth!
The Messiah has been born,
in Bethlehem, in a stable.
Glory, peace to mankind on earth!
May the sound of the drum be heard,
may they dance to its beat!
Shepherds, to the stable,
go without delay!
There, there, there we will find Jesus!
There, there we will find Jesus!
Let's take nougat and honey
and offer the child Emmanuel!  Emmanuel!
Notes
---The opening line, "I å ngheles mang å k å nta...." is the same line of a carol sung in Saipan.  It seems this Luta carol is a medley of several musical pieces.
---Notice the line "Gloria a Dios en las Alturas" is left completely untranslated.  It is kept in its original Spanish, perhaps to rhyme with p å s .
---Temb å t.  The more familiar word for "drum" is tambot , from the Spanish tambor .  This is more than likely tambot but there is a change in vowel placement.  Perhaps a distinctive Rotanese version of tambot .  Conveniently, temb å t rhymes with pott å t , seen in the next lines.
---D å nsa.  Again, the usual word for "dance" is baila .  Both baila and d å nsa are borrowed from the Spanish and they both are connected to the word "dance."
---Pott å t.  In Saipan and Luta, the word for "stable" is often pott å t , from the Spanish portal .  On Guam, the more usual word is liyang for "cave."  Depending on the Gospel, Jesus was born in a stable or in a cave.  So, on Guam, pott å t is rarely heard.
---Pastores a pott å t.  The phrase, though pronounced in a Chamorro way, is thoroughly Spanish.  The word "a" means "to," in Spanish.  "Shepherds, to the stable!"
---T å td å nsa.  From the Spanish tardanza for "delay."  This is a word almost unknown among Chamorros, even very senior ones, today.  But perhaps in those days a few more people were familiar with it.
---Turrones.  A Spanish candy, like nougat.  The singers in this recording pronounce it "tarones."
---Miet.  Honey, and is borrowed from the Spanish miel .  The singers here pronounce it "muet."

THE SPANISH ORIGINAL


At least one part of the Rota version is taken from this traditional Spanish villancico , or Christmas carol.

I find it charming that the Chamorro version runs quite parallel to the Spanish :

All í , all í (Guihe, guihe)
nos espera Jes ús .  (Ta sodda' si Jesus)

Llevemos pues turrones y miel (Ta chule' i turrones yan miet)
para ofrecer al Ni ñ o Enmanuel. (ya ta ofrese i Ni ñ o Manuel.)

*** Some Spanish versions just say Manuel rather than Enmanuel.  They both mean the same thing.

SPANK FIRST, THEN ASK QUESTIONS

Thursday, December 19, 2013


In olden times, many parents lived by the philosophy "Spank first, then ask questions."

One lady recounts her story, which happened in the early 1960s on Guam :

Guaha maestro-ko ni gof na' bubu.
( I had a teacher who was very irritating .)

Ti ya- ñ a i na' å n-ho, ya pot ennao ti ha å ' å gang yo' ni propio na' å n-ho.
( He didn't like my name, and because of that he didn't call me by my proper name .)

En lug å t, ha n å 'e yo' ni otro na n å 'an.
( Instead, he gave me another name .)

Pues, gu å ho hu sang å ne gue', "Pues h å go si Mister S å tna."
( So, I told him, "So you are Mister Scabies .")

Lal å lo' i taotao, ya ha dulalak yo' ginen i 'classroom.'
( The man got mad, and he kicked me out of the classroom .)

Ti hu tungo' na ha å gang si nan å -ho gi telefon.
( I didn't know that he called my mother on the phone .)

Ya ha hongang yo' si nan å -ho gigon m å tto yo' gi gima',
( And my mother surprised me as soon as I got to the house ,)

sa' ni sikiera ti humuhuyong un pal å bra ginen i pachot-ho,
( because not even one word came out of my mouth ,)

ha saolak yo' ni diruru å ntes de ha faisen yo' h å fa ma susede!
( she spanked me hard before she asked me what happened!)

Despues, hu s å ngane gue' h å fa bid å - ñ a i maestro-ko,
( Later, I told her what my teacher did ,)

ya ilek- ñ a si nan å -ho, "Achoka ha' lache bid å - ñ a i maestro-mo,
( and my mother said, "Even though your teacher did wrong ,)

h å go lokkue' lache bid å -mo!"
( you, too, did wrong !")

Pues hu oppe si nan å -ho,
( So I answered my mother ,)

"Un saolak yo' pot i lache na bid å -ho."
(" You spanked me for my error .")

"H å ye p å 'go para u sinaolak i maestro-ko pot i lache na bid å - ñ a?"
(" Who now is going to spank my teacher for his error ?")

Karamba sa' ha saolak yo' ta'lo si nan å -ho!
( My goodness, my mother spanked me again !)

On spanking, Archbishop Fulton Sheen said it was OK provided it was given

firm enough
often enough
and (most importantly?)
LOW enough!

MARY & THE MARIANAS : THE FIRST CONNECTION

Wednesday, December 11, 2013


When Chamorros of Guam think of the Blessed Mother, they almost always think of Our Lady of Camarin.  When we think of the Marianas being the "Islands of Mary," she seems a natural first thought.

But she comes sometime after the Catholic mission started under Sanvitores in 1668.

Few of us know that there was actually an earlier link between Chamorros and the Blessed Mother; one that pre-dates Sanvitores and goes beyond Guam's borders.

The year is 1638 and the place is Tinian.

That was the year the Spanish ship, the Concepci ó n , broke apart off Agingan Point in southern Saipan.  Spanish accounts say that the famous chief ( maga'l å he ) in Tinian, Taga', saw the Blessed Virgin Mary appear.  She encouraged him to become a Christian and to help the survivors of the shipwreck in nearby Saipan.  Evidently he was convinced.

He was baptized by a survivor, Marcos Fern á ndez, and given the surname Corcuera, then Governor General of the Philippines.  Taga' was also called Jose Taga' by some sources.

Taga' then arranged with the maga'l å he of Hag å t ñ a, Quipuha, to have the survivors sent to Manila.

The Spanish accounts say that the family of Taga' remained supporters of Christianity and that their home, in southern Tinian, became a house for Christian instruction and conversion.

When Sanvitores came to Guam in 1668, he named Tinian "Buenavista Mariana."  "Buena Vista" means, "Good View or Vision," referring to the apparition of Mary.

Nonetheless, Tinian became the site of some opposition to the Spanish missionaries and the place where Jesuit priest Agustin Strobach was clubbed to death in 1684, 16 years into the history of the Catholic mission.

The documents do not give many details about the Tinian apparition.  Did Taga' see Mary in the sky?  In a dream?  On land?  What was she wearing?

The information provided creates more questions.  If the family of Taga' formed a kind of nascent Christian community, as the sources say, why is it that the later missionaries do not say anything about a small community of baptized and catechized Tinian Chamorros, formed independently of the Jesuits?

Still, the sinking of the Concepci ó n was only thirty years before the arrival of Sanvitores.  People who were living in 1638 were still around in 1668.  It seems unlikely that the apparition story is a total fabrication, although one must leave some room for some embellishment, which people tend to do with any story, in any historical period, including our own.

So, the apparition of Mary to Taga' in Tinian in 1638 could very well be the first direct link between Mary and the islands which bear her name.


The Concepci ó n

FAMILIA : ROJAS

Sunday, December 1, 2013


The surname Rojas does not appear in the older Guam censuses of the 1700s.  So we can assume, then, that the first Rojas in Guam came in the last decades of the 1700s and perhaps in the early 1800s.  He could have come from Spain, Latin America or the Philippines or somewhere else.  Rojas is found mainly in southern Spain (Andalucia) where larger numbers of Spaniards left the mother country for the Spanish colonies overseas.

The surname is Spanish, though some Portuguese also have it.

The prevailing theory about the origin of the name is that it is toponymic, named after a geographical location. There are two towns in Spain named Rojas.  Or, a family could have been called Rojas because they lived near a place with red features (soil, terrain, etc.)  Rojas is related to the Spanish word rojo , meaning red. Rojas is the feminine plural form of rojo.

In the 1897 Census of Guam and Rota, we have the following male heads of families named Rojas.

ROJAS-DEMAPAN

Two men, possibly brothers, are Rojas with the middle name (maternal) Demapan.

Jose Demapan Rojas, born around 1830, was married to Narcisa Diaz.

Another Rojas, born around 1837, also has Demapan for a middle name : Cecilio Demapan Rojas, married to Josefa de los Reyes.

Then we have a younger Rojas, Antonio, born around 1867, who has the middle name Diaz.  It is possible, then, that Antonio is the son of Jose, whose wife was a Diaz.

Antonio, by the way, married Ana Cruz Atoigue.

ANOTHER ROJAS

Then we have a widower.  Mariano Rojas, born around 1841.  Unfortunately, we do not know (yet) his middle name.  However, his birth year of 1841 does make him a possible brother of Jose and Cecilio.  If he was, then he would have been a Demapan Rojas as well, and then we have the good possibility that one Rojas came to Guam in the 1820s and married a woman from the Demapan family.

What seems nearly clear is that Jose, Cecilio and Mariano, if not brothers, could be cousins, grandchildren of a single Rojas male who came to Guam at the end of the 1700s or beginning of the 1800s.  I wish I could tell the family the native land of their ancestor.

ROXAS

In Manila there is the famous Roxas Boulevard that goes north-south alongside Manila Bay, passing the American Embassy down to Pasay City.

In times past, X and J had the same sound in Spanish.  Think of Mexico and Texas.  In Spanish, one says the X like our English H.

That Boulevard is named after former Philippine President Manuel Roxas.

Which leads us to this....

CAMP ROXAS

FB camp roxas

After WW2, when more labor was needed for the military build-up on Guam than the island was able to supply, the US military brought in many Filipino workers.  Camp Roxas in Agat was their home, and is a part of our island's history.  Visit www.camproxas.com




LISÅYON MÅTAI : PAST & PRESENT

Monday, November 25, 2013
Culture is never static; there are always changes of one kind or another.  Changes in the material culture - what people do, the time they have or don't have, the resources they enjoy or lack - have an effect on other aspects of culture.

Here's a look at the way we used to pray the rosary for the dead, compared to now.  We're not looking here at the wake or the burial; just the rosary.



WHERE?
PAST....THE HOME      PRESENT....THE CHURCH

Rosaries for the dead held in a church is a recent thing, starting in the early 1970s.  There is a lot of convenience for the family having it in church.  The family does not need to find seating for the large numbers who usually attend.  Parking is usually not an issue.  Churches are air-conditioned.  As more and more families are foregoing serving any food at all, using the parish hall or putting up tents for refreshments (and borrowing the seating for that) becomes one less item to handle.  Don't forget garbage disposal.

But then one has to pay the parish. After all, electricity for all that air-conditioning isn't free for the church.  As more and more people die, there will be (and already have been) scheduling conflicts.  Only rarely have two separate families agreed to hold one rosary for two deceased people.  Having frequent rosaries in the church also adds to the wear and tear of the church building and grounds.  Rosaries at the church also have to fit around pre-scheduled parish events.  Some families choose to have the rosary at the home because there is a more personal feel to it; more of a connection to the deceased.

Before the early 70s, rosaries were held at the home.  Period.  An altar in the living room was set up just as soon as possible.  A techa (prayer leader) was contacted.  Folding chairs (before the war and right after) were not that easily borrowed so wooden benches were more often the seating.

FOOD
PAST...SIMPLE        PRESENT...CAN BE LIKE A FIESTA



Before the 1970s, people kept it simple.  Before the war, it was common for the family to pass out just mam å 'on ( pugua', pupulu and å fok ; betel nut, pepper leaf and lime rock) to the guests to chew.  Other families would provide water and coffee and something along the line of bread and butter, broas (sponge cake), roskete .

On the final day of the public rosary, the ninth day, the family of the deceased would sometimes provide an actual meal but, again, the basics : åg gon (staples) such as rice, titiyas , taro, yam, breadfruit ( suni, d å go, lemmai ); totche (viand) such as chicken, pork or beef prepared any number of ways; and one or two desserts.

Other families would keep a list of the families who attended.  Someone in the family would actually, in some cases, write down names in a notebook.  The deceased's family would kill a cow or pig on the ninth day, cook it and send portions of it to the families who had attended.

The techa would be given a bigger share.  Sometimes the family would give her a paper bag full of pugas (uncooked rice), eggs and/or canned goods ( laterias ).  A techa would not be paid in cash.  That, actually, would have been considered an insult to most, if not all, techa .

By the 70s, full-on meals became more and more common.  All kinds of abuses accompanied this, though the intention of the family was good.  Whispers would roam the area about some people coming just to eat; different rosaries would be compared as to which served better food.  Up in Saipan, the bishop, in recent years, asked people to stop serving full meals when the rosary was held in church because of waste and the economic hardship on families who felt shame if they could not serve full meals each night for nine nights!

Sometimes, when a large clan is involved, the different branches can shoulder the burden and take one night each.  Other times, co-workers, or members of a club the deceased may have been in, will volunteer to sponsor a night.

What many younger Chamorros do not realize is that serving full meals each and every night is not part of the older tradition.  It is a new tradition that developed in the last 40 years, and is increasingly diminishing among many families who find it either a burden or unnecessary.

WHEN
PAST....MORE THAN ONCE A DAY      PRESENT.....ONCE A NIGHT

In the past, a rosary was said immediately after someone died.  This is still often the case.  But the big difference is that, today, families most often have the rosary just once at night.  In the past, while the deceased was not yet buried, the idea was to have as many rosaries as possible.

For example, if someone died in the morning, a rosary would be said immediately.  Then at 12 noon, then some families would say it again around 4PM.  The 8PM rosary was de rigueur .  That was the main rosary, and it was started at 8PM, not 745, nor 815.  Then again at 12 midnight - if the deceased was not yet buried.

Remember that, in the past, burial was as soon as possible, there being no morgue and no family members in the mainland or Hawaii that could just hop on a plane.  Thus, this round-the-clock rosary, more or less, was a matter of just a day or two at the most.

You can see why no huge meals could be served either in the old days.  The person might even be buried the afternoon of the day of death, if he or she had died in the wee hours of the morning.  There was no time to cook for 200 people, and few stores to run to, and little cash to buy with.

Today, people just understand that there is a rosary once a night, and the hour can differ, depending on the church schedule.  On the day of burial, the rosary is usually held during the viewing and not at night.  In fact, many people aim to have the funeral on the ninth day and be done with the whole process on the same day.

TWO ROUNDS OF ROSARIES
PAST....18 NIGHTS      PRESENT.....9 NIGHT

The old tradition is to pray two sets of rosaries of nine nights each.

The first round is for the public; the extended family, relatives and friends.  This is called the Lis å yon Linahyan . Linahyan means "the multitude" but is meant here as the general public.

The second round is called the Lis å yon Guma' .   It literally means "the rosary of the house" and is meant for just the immediate family, especially those just living in the home of the deceased.   No refreshments were served in this rosary, and it was just once a day, at the 8PM hour.

The Lis å yon Guma' has all but disappeared now.

And even the rosary for the dead itself is disappearing, with some families wanting just nine nights of Mass intentions.  A pity, from my point of view.  But that is material for another post some day.

UMATAC AND LYTICO-BODIG

Tuesday, November 19, 2013
http://www.sffs.org/content.aspx?pageid=3656

If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, you may want to check out a movie documenting the illness known as Lytico-Bodig and the way it specifically affected our island, and perhaps a focus on Umatac, pictured above in the 1950s.

From the San Francisco Film Society website :

Local filmmaker Berry Minott takes us on an epic journey to find the cause—and perhaps the cure—of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, ALS and other neurological disorders. Her investigation begins on the Pacific island of Guam, where following the end of WWII, the indigenous Chamorro people were afflicted with Alzheimer’s-like symptoms from a disease called Lytico-Bodig. For years renowned scientists descended on this small village to detect the source of this mysterious illness—was it hereditary, environmental or dietary? This engaging and edifying documentary features rare archival footage and candid interviews with author/neurologist Oliver Sacks, New Yorker columnist Jonathan Weiner and many other noted scientists.

For more info, go to http://www.sffs.org/content.aspx?pageid=3656

KÅNTAN SÅNTA BARBARA

Monday, November 18, 2013


The fiesta of S å nta Barbara, patroness of Dededo, Guam is coming up soon (December 4).

It's always good to record her hymn for the benefit of all, but a plea from some Chamorros living in the U.S. mainland prompted this recording on this blog.  They are praying her novena, but are not familiar with the hymn.  Here it is!

TUNA SONGSONG i tag å hlo na patrona yan gogue-mo :

S å nta Barbara bendita, n å 'e ham ni ginegue-mo.

Annai p å 'go mafa ñ å go kalan å nghet mali'e'-mo,
chaot-mo i taotao t å no', si Jesus ginefli'e'-mo.

Guma'yu'us i gim å '-mo, tres bent å na i tore-mo,
tres ya uno ha' na Yu'us, ennao ha' i hinengge-mo.

Gos habubo i tat å -mo, maolek hao yan pinat mesngon,
ya mat å ga i ilu-mo, ma'pos hulo' gi langet-mo.

Yagin hulo, yagin p å kyo, pulan i man ginegue-mo,
yagin sago, yagin linao, f å ta i mina'ase'-mo.

ENGLISH

People, praise your exalted patroness and defender :

Oh blessed Saint Barbara, give us your protection.

When you were just born you looked angelic,
you refused an earthly man, Jesus was your beloved.

Your home was like a church, three windows had your tower,
three persons in one God, that was your faith.

Your father was ill-tempered, you were good and greatly patient,
and they cut off your head, you went up to your heaven.

When thunder, when stormy, watch over those you defend,
when sickness, when earthquake, show forth your mercy.

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS HYMN?

Barbara converted to Christianity when she was young and when Christianity was not yet legal in the Roman Empire.  Her father was still pagan and opposed her conversion to Christianity.

She refused marriage with a man, wanting Christ alone.

She lived in a tower, and, in a house built for her, she had three windows made to represent the Trinity.

They tried every way to harm her, but her wounds healed by the next day each time.  Finally, her father had her beheaded and he was struck by lightning as punishment.  That is why she is patroness in times of thunderstorm and lightning.
SOME NOTES ON THE CHAMORRO

My English translation is not literal, because sometimes the words are used in a poetic way.

Tuna songsong literally means "Praise, village."  The meaning is "let the people of the community praise."

Chaot-mo i taotao t å no' literally means "Your aversion was the man of the earth," but what is meant is that she rejected a man interested in marrying her. Chaot actually can also mean "allergy!" Taotao t å no' can also mean "person of the land" or "native."

Sago literally means "the flu," but what is meant is any illness with flu-like symptoms, like the influenza epidemic, with fevers, body aches and cold sweats.


THE ICONOGRAPHY OF SANTA BARBARA

Tower - where she lived

Lightning - which struck her father dead in punishment.  She is also our protector in times of storm and lightning.

Sword - by which her head was cut off.

Cannon - she is the patroness of artillerymen (as she is of those working in dangerous professions)

Chalice and Host - by which she remembered the sufferings of Jesus, which enabled her to undergo her own sufferings and martyrdom.

ADIOS, TAN ESCO

Friday, November 1, 2013

( In this short clip of just 22 seconds, several cultural values are manifested.  The matriarch shows herself a) the boss, commanding her grandkids to b) reverence the hand of the priest the Chamorro way, putting the hand to the nose.  Finally, she shows approval for someone by calling them "m å nnge'" or "delicious .")

The Chamorro community lost an important cultural icon in the passing of Escolastica Tudela Cabrera of Saipan, better known as Tan Esco.

She was a great resource for my blog and I have less to offer you now because she is no longer here for me to interview.

Esco was truly an icon of the Chamorro culture that those of us old enough to know first-hand ruled the land for the last 250 years or more.  Agrarian, Catholic, family-centered.

She spoke the language beautifully.  She was matriarch; strong-willed and not shy about expressing herself.  There were times I had to edit my recordings of her because she named names.

She was born into the Tudela and Borja clans in Saipan.  Her parents and grandparents came from that generation of Chamorros influenced by the Spaniards.  She knew some Spanish words and phrases and recalled how her elders could say prayers in Spanish.  She had some early training under the Spanish Mercedarian sisters.

She also spoke very good Japanese, having gone to Japanese school when Saipan was under the Japanese flag.


WORK HARD


Tan Esco was not born rich, and she did not die rich either.  But all her adult life she and her late husband, Gregorio Cabrera, worked very hard to raise their many children.  Esco was the type of person to see an opportunity and take advantage of it.  She learned skills so that she could do any number of things.  Whatever was near at hand, she put her hand to it.

She would wake up at 2AM to start her work.  Making food she would sell.  Baking.  Opening up businesses.  Many of the foods she made came from the grounds and trees surrounding her home.




CATHOLIC SANCTITY


Esco was unabashedly Catholic.  Fully dedicated to all things Catholic and, if you were not, she would preach to you to become one.

She was a prayer warrior.  Every hour, on the hour.  The type to wake up in the middle of the night and reach for her rosary.  Her home was strewn with mail from every traditional Catholic organization soliciting donations and sending her devotional leaflets.


She had a chapel or oratory built on her property next to her home.


As does happen with many strong personalities, some people shied away from her.  But I will miss her stories, her truly Chamorro way of thinking and speaking, her complete loyalty to her religion and her knowledge of a level of our culture, tied to the land and all the land's resources, that is disappearing as we speak.

U s å ga gi minahgong.
Find out more about her life at :
http://www.mvariety.com/cnmi/cnmi-news/local/60042-escolastica-cabrera-pioneering-chamorro-businesswoman-83 

FUNERALS ARE FOR....

Saturday, October 12, 2013

...finding out who your relatives are.

Sometimes very close relatives!  Ahem.

Grandma says one day,

" Fan minagago hamyo!  P å 'go gi alas nuebe guaha bela gi gima'yu'us ya debi de en fan man asiste sa' parientes-miyo i matai ."
" Put on clothes!  Today at nine o'clock there's a wake at the church and you have to attend because the deceased is your relative ."

Says one child, " Haftaimano ?"  " How ?"

Grandma says, " T å tan-miyo i matai!  Famatkilo ya na' fan listo hamyo !"
" He's your father.  Keep quiet and get ready !"

The child asks, " Lao h å fa para in che'gue gi gima'yu'us ?"
" But what are we going to do at church ?"

Says grandma, " Fan mat å 'chong ha' ya mungnga manguentos solo man kuinentuse hamyo !"
" Just sit down and do not talk unless you are spoken to !"

" Ai adei n å na ," says the child, " h å fa na solo an esta m å tai na in tingo' na t å tan-m å me ?"
" Oh my gosh grandma, why is it only when there's a death that we know who our father is ?"

" Ti si ñ a ma kuentuse esta !"
" He can't be spoken to already !"

As one person said in English, "At a funeral you hear the unheard."

Illegitimate births were considered very shameful in traditional Chamorro culture.  One never ever asked who one's father was.  Asking that could get you a slap or a spanking.

But the moment a father or grandparent died, sometimes the truth would come out and the children were sent to the rosary or funeral.

Sometimes the illegitimate child/children were acknowledged and brought into the circle of mourners.

Other times, the illegitimate child/children were not acknowledged and sat there quietly, while people spoke about their presence under the breath.

It would be considered brazen for the illegitimate child to dress as a mourner without the permission of the legitimate children or widow.

ÅFOK HIMA

Wednesday, October 9, 2013
http://beachcomberonsaipan.blogspot.com/2007/12/ingredients.html


I heard recently about an old custom of making å fok , the slaked lime that is added to pugua' (betel nut) and pupulu (pepper leaf), from hima , the giant clam shell.

Like the limestone obtained from coral rock, the hima is baked in a hotno (oven) to a high degree.  When it is fully baked and cools, one just has to touch it and the shell falls apart like powder.

But you still had to sift ( ma kula ) the powder in a kolladot (wire strainer) to remove dirt, grass and other impurities.  Then you had å fok .  You added water, according to one's taste, to make it a paste if you wanted.  I was told that å fok hima was rather strong.



Å FOK
( apog or apug in various Philippine languages )

CHAMORRO NICKNAMES : HUDAS

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

In our culture, be careful what and how you do, say and dress.  Because all is fair game when it comes to getting stuck with a nickname.

Our people were putting on plays a whole lot more back in the days before TV and the internet.  One church decided to put on a play during Lent about the betrayal of Jesus.  A lady tells me the story.

Guaha un taotao ni ma ayek na para guiya si Hudas.
( There was a man chosen for him to be Judas .)

Despues, annai esta monh å yan i play, hum å hnanao ha' ma å gang gue' Hudas .
( Later, when the play was over, they kept calling him Judas .)

Å ñ os yan å ñ os despues, gigon ma li'e na mamamaila', ilek- ñi ñ iha i taotao, "Ei!  Atan sa' estague' si Hudas!"
( Years and years later, as soon as they that he is coming, the people were saying, "Hey!  Look because here is Judas !")

Yan mag å het, ti inestototba i taotao na ma å ' å gang gue' Hudas.
( And it's true, that he wasn't disturbed that he was being called Judas .)

Lao annai sige mand å ngkulo i famagu'on- ñ a, ti yan- ñ iha i famagu'on- ñ a na u ma å gang si tatan- ñ iha Hudas.
( But when his children grew up, his children didn't like their father to be called Judas .)

Pues ha sang å ne i parientes- ñ a yan atungo'- ñ a siha, "B å sta yo' ma å gang Hudas, sa' man pininite i famagu'on-ho ."
( So he told his relatives and acquaintances, "Stop calling me Judas, because my children are hurt .")

Pues mag å het na mam å ra i taotao ma å gang gue' Hudas gi me'n å - ñ a pat gi me'nan i pupbliko, lao entre hame ha' hunggan sige de in agang gue' Hudas!
( So it's true that the people stopped calling him Judas in front of him or in public, but among ourselves, yes, we kept calling him Judas !)

This remind me of the time, in my own parish, I had a religious play and chose a teenager to play the part of Jesus as he had nice, long hair already.  For years he was called "Jesus" by his peers.

A CHAMORRO IN A HAWAII NURSING HOME

Saturday, October 5, 2013

A brief stop in Hawaii gave me the opportunity to visit an elderly Chamorro lady from Saipan who is trying to recover enough strength in her Hawaii nursing home to get back home.

My half-hour visit opened my eyes to see how she and her family are not quite the same as other clients in the nursing home.

The lady is just one of three clients in the room.  In fact, she is the minority.  One out of three.  But she is the dominant flavor of the entire room.  It shows on her part of the wall.  Religious iconography cover every available inch.

But it's also because she has three adult children at her side.  They do not have shifts, since the home does not allow 24 hour visitation.  So, all three of her children are basically there the whole day and into the night, up till visiting hours end.  The other two clients, though residents of Hawaii, do not have any children, much less three, visiting all day.  One, unfortunately, gets no visits.  The other gets a visitor periodically.  Of the three Chamorro children, two live in Saipan and so have made the journey and taken extended leave from work to surround their mother with three children.  Not only does this provide the mother with a larger circle of family, it lightens the load on the children, who have three pairs of shoulders to share the weight.

The four of them pray in Chamorro and sing Chamorro hymns all throughout the day and night.  This does not disturb the other two clients.  In fact, one of them, the one who gets no visits, enjoys them.  Though not Catholic, she is Christian and appreciates the prayers and hymns.  Before I ended my visit, the Chamorro family asked me to bless this neighbor.  She was happy to be blessed.

The lady from Saipan is old enough to have learned Japanese in her youth when Saipan was under the Japanese.  Hawaii has many residents of Japanese ancestry.  The lady from Saipan told me that she would talk more with some of the clients in Japanese, except that many of them are not capable of conversing much.

Lastly, the children of this elderly lady made sure she had Chamorro food to supplement what she was being fed by the home.  I don't know whether they had the blessing of the nursing home or not, but there was saibok lemmai (breadfruit cooked in coconut milk) and I was given a Tupperware bowl of it to take with me, even though I would be boarding a plane in several hours!

The stark differences between this Chamorro lady and her children and the rest of the clients were very noticeable from the start.  Family, constant physical presence, food and the unashamed expression of religious faith were all strongly noted.

A sickly Chamorro woman was being nursed in Hawaii, but to a great extent in a very Chamorro way.

PRE-WAR CHARITY

Friday, September 27, 2013


Before the war, Bishop Olaiz organized the Saint Vincent de Paul Society for the relief of the very poor.  All over the world, local chapters of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society did the same, so the Bishop decided to start one for Guam.

It was headed by such prominent Guam business and civic leaders as Antonio Suarez, Vicente Calvo, Judge Manibusan, Jose M. Torres, Pedro Martinez and James Underwood, all seen in the photo above with Bishop Olaiz in the center and P å le' Blas on the right.

The group photo of the Society was taken in front of their own hall, built adjacent to the Aga ñ a Cathedral around 1930.

The Society chipped in money and collected donations from the general public and gave these funds to the most needy families.

FORGOTTEN CHAMORRO : KÅTSA

Friday, September 27, 2013

Who can forget Margaret Dumont, the actress, always bedecked with the most elegant jewelry.

In Chamorro, we call that k å tsa .

It means to dress elegantly, with fine jewelry, or the smartest fashion for the men.

In the old days, "dressing up" made one stand out, and standing out in a Chamorro context always invites teasing.

A guy dressed to the nines walks into a store.

Says one, " H å fa?  Ginen mamano hao m å gi?  Sa' ma k å tsa si pendeho !"

" So?  Where are you coming from?  Because the rascal is all dressed up !"

Again, this word is borrowed from the Spanish calza , a fashion term but it doesn't mean to be "dressed up."  We borrowed it, but gave it our own meaning.

FALSE FRIENDS : LIBIÅNO

Thursday, September 26, 2013


LIBI Å NO

In Chamorro, when something is easy to do, we say it is libi å no .

Libi å no ma sodda' .  Easy to find.

Libi å no ma k å nta. Easy to sing.

Although the word is Spanish in origin, we have given it a meaning that has strayed a bit from the original Spanish meaning.

In Spanish, liviano means "light" in weight.  They got it from the same Latin root that gives us the English word levity , or lightness (in weight or spirits).

But even in Spanish, different locales have given it secondary meanings, like "frivolous," "fickle" and even "lewd."

So our Chamorro ancestors also gave the word a new shade of meaning.

Something light in weight is easy to handle.  So libi å no came to mean "easy" in every way.

But it's a false friend in Spanish because you can't go to Spain or Mexico and ask that something be done the libi å no way.  They'll think you mean light in weight, not easy to do,

20 SIGNS YOU'RE NOW A "LOCAL STATESIDER"

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

My stateside dad has been living on Guam continuously since 1959 and is definitely "local statesider."  It got me wondering what are the tell-tale signs that a statesider has become local.

1. Understands that the 35mph signs are just reminders how we used to drive in 1974.

2. Goes to the Talofofo fiesta, even though he or she's not Catholic.

3. Figures out immediately how two people are related.

4. Skips straight to the Assistant Manager, whom s/he knows, rather than speak to the Customer Service Representative.

5. Isn't bothered by geckos anymore; believes they're good because "they eat the bad bugs."

6. Prepares all morning to spend the day at the beach, and once there looks for the most shade.

7. Goes to Kentucky Fried Chicken for the kelaguen.

8. Finds him/herself secretly tuning into the Chamorro radio station while driving alone.

9. Still doesn't speak Chamorro, but adds "nai" at the end of English sentences.

10. When waiting at a red light, doesn't dare look over to the next driver.

11. Knows the name of his/her mayor.

12. Can never go to any store without saying "hi" to at least one person.

13. Knows that "Abe Maria Purisima" is the end of any rosary.

14. Drives down south, passes a carabao without even looking at it.

15. Is single with no family, but still has to visit someone at GMH.

16. Actually has reasons NOT to vote for some senatorial candidates.

17. Bush cuts in zori.

18. Looks for the soy sauce, tabasco or tooth pick in any restaurant of any cuisine.

19. Walks through Micronesia Mall and says to self, "So many statesiders now on Guam!"

20. Has a second fridge; outside the house.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : MÅSMAI

Monday, September 23, 2013


M Å SMAI : drenched, soaked

More people are familiar with the word fotgon .  But fotgon means wet; m å smai goes further.  It means someone or something is totally soaked.

M å smai masahalom.  Soaked in one's sweat.

M å smai h å ga' chinin å - ñ a si Jose.  Jose's shirt is soaked in blood.

M å smai yo' gi ichan.  I was soaked in the rain.


The word m å smai is a contraction of ma sumai . Sumai means to submerge in water or liquid.

SPANISH HYMN IN SAIPAN

Monday, September 23, 2013


September 24 is the feast of Our Lady of Mercy.  Up in Saipan, since 1928, the Mercedarian Missionaries of Berriz (Spain) have been ministering and brought this hymn to that island.

It is not sung anymore by the people, but we still have the music and lyrics.

The lyrics can be found here :

http://soltorres.udl.cat/bitstream/handle/10459/561/LLG-1-0356.pdf?sequence=1

En Espa ñ ol

Llegaron a Saipan (Islas Marianas) las Misioneras Mercedarias de B é rriz (Vizcaya) en el a ñ o 1928.  Ense ñ aron  a unas alumnas este Himno a la Orden Mercedaria pero, lamentablemente, ya no se canta este himno en aquella isla.  Conservamos las letras y la solfa y, para complacer la solicitud de un amable lector, he puesto aqu í esta grabaci ó n del himno.

COMMON MISTAKES IN CHAMORRO PRAYERS

Friday, September 20, 2013


Nowadays there is a bit of an attempt to keep praying in Chamorro alive, but, as younger Chamorros who are less proficient in the language take leadership in this, they may not be aware of some of the more common mistakes being made when praying in Chamorro.

Here is, I hope, a simple guide to help us watch out for these.

TATAN-M Å ME (Our Father)

Mistake : Asi'e i tano', komo gi langet

Correct : Asi gi tano', komo gi langet

Explanation : The English is, "On earth, as it is in heaven."  When the missionaries translated this into Chamorro, their rendering was "as it is on earth, as in heaven."  They used the Spanish word as í , which means "like this" or "like that."  The stress is on the second syllable; a SI .

If you say, "Asi'e i tano'" you are saying, "Forgive the world," which is not what the Our Father says.  What makes even less sense is the rest of the sentence, "as it is in heaven."  "Forgive the world, as it is in heaven."  God doesn't forgive anyone in heaven.  That's how they got to heaven; they were forgiven first while on earth.

So, once again, the English is, "Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven."  We're talking about God's will being done on earth as God's will is done in heaven.  No talk about forgiveness here.

"U ma fa'tinas i pinto'-mo, asi gi tano', komo gi langet."

"May your will be done, like on earth, as in heaven," would be a more literal translation of the Chamorro.

Older Chamorros, more accustomed to Spanish, would have understood the word as í .  But modern Chamorros, cut off as it were from their Spanish influences, don't recognize the word as í and confuse it with asi'e .

SI YU'US UN GINEGGUE MARIA (Hail Mary)

Mistake : Si Yu'us u gaige giya h å go

Correct : Si Yu'us gaige giya h å go

Explanation : In the Hail Mary, in English, we say, "The Lord is with you."  It's a declarative statement.  It declares something existing.  The Lord IS with Mary.  Not will be; not we hope will be; but rather IS.

The Chamorro word u is a future marker.  It means "will be" or "hopefully will be."

Siempre u ma cho'gue agupa'.  It will surely be done tomorrow.

Puede u ma cho'gue agupa'.  Hopefully it will be done tomorrow.

When we say, "Si Yu'us u gaige giya h å go," we are saying, "May the Lord be with you," or, "The Lord will be with you."

This is not only linguistically inaccurate, it is also theologically off.  The whole point Gabriel was making was that Mary was "full of grace,"  connected with God in a way radically different from the rest of Adam's race, who were cut off from God by Adam's sin.

Mistake : U ma tuna hao entre todo i famalao'an

Correct : Ma tuna hao entre todo i famalao'an

Explanation : Same mistake; the improper use of u .  "U ma tuna hao" means "You will be praised/blessed" or "May you be praised/blessed."  But this is erroneous.  Gabriel was making a declarative statement.  Mary IS praised/blessed among all women.

Mistake : Ya u ma tuna i fina ñ agu-mo as Jesus.

Correct : Ya ma tuna i fina ñ agu-mo as Jesus.

Explanation : Same thing.  Jesus will not BE praised/blessed ( u ma tuna ) but is in fact praised/blessed ( ma tuna ).

Possible Source of the Confusion

In the Glory Be, we say "U ma tuna i Tata, yan i Lahi- ñ a, yan i Espiritu Santo."

There we do use the u , because in this particular prayer we are wishing glory to God.  Of course God is already glorified, whether we glorify Him or not.  God doesn't need anyone to glorify Him; He is glorious in Himself whether anybody knows it or not.

But in our worship and adoration of Him, we desire to give Him our glory.  That's where the u comes in. U expresses something that will happen in the future, or which we wish will happen in the future, even if the future means in the next few seconds.

ABE MARIA PURISIMA

In this short prayer (ejaculation) which is unique among Spanish-speaking and Spanish-influenced places, we say :

Abe Maria Purisima, sin pek å do konsebida.  (Hail Mary most pure, conceived without sin.)

Mistake : Sen pek å do konsebida.

Correct : Sin pek å do konsebida.

Explanation : This prayer is actually in Spanish, pronounced the Chamorro way.  The original Spanish is "sin pecado concebida."  "Conceived without sin."

Sin is Spanish and Chamorro for "without."

Sen is Chamorro for "very much."

If we say, "Sen pek å do," we are saying, "Very much sin."  Not something we want to say about the Mother of God.

DEER HUNTERS IN 1872

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Guam's deer, or ben å do , were brought to the island by Governor Mariano Tobias in the early 1770s.

They became so rampant that they damaged crops, including the governor's own garden behind his Palacio.

In 1872, we see a list of deer hunters on Guam.  They were :

Juan del ESPIRITU SANTO
Pedro PEREZ
Tomas IRIARTE
Andres DELGADO
Mariano de CASTRO
Alberto GARCIA
Antonio NAMAULEG

KATESISMO #10

Wednesday, September 18, 2013
29. Ku å nto siha na Yu'us guaha?

T å ya' m å s na un Yu'us ha' na maisa.

30. Ku å nto siha na Petsona guaha gi as Yu'us?

Gi as Yu'us guaha tres na Petsona : I Tata, i Iho yan i Espiritu Santo.

31. Kao guaha h å ye guine gi tres na Petsona m å s å mko' pat m å s na'si ñ a ke i palo?

T å ya'; I tres na Petsonan Yu'us hagas ha' man gaige desde å ntes de todo i tiempo, ya siha man chagaisi ñ a, man chamaulek ya man chakabales.

32. H å f ta fa'nana'an este na misterion un Yu'us gi tres na Petsona?

I misterion un Yu'us gi tres na Petsona ta fa'nana'an i misterion i Santisima Trinid å t.
NOTES

Maisa : alone, by itself

Iho : Spanish, but used by older Chamorros along with l å he for "son"

Cha : prefix meaning "equally"

Gai : to have

Fa'na'an : Fa' (to make), n å 'an (name); "to call"

FINO' GUAM, FINO' SAIPAN

Tuesday, September 17, 2013


In Saipan and Guam, we basically eat the same food and call them the same names, but sometimes the names are totally different.  If you ask for that food in Saipan using the Guam name, they may not know what you are talking about, and the same holds true for Guam if you use the Saipan name.

In both islands, we all eat bananas, breadfruit, taro and other starches cooked in coconut milk.  But on Guam we call it gollai å ppan .  In Saipan, it is called saibok .

Gollai means "vegetable," related to the Tagalog word gulay .

Å ppan means "to evaporate, extract liquid, dry."

Saibok means "to cook in coconut milk."

It's interesting that almost all the Chamorro families in Saipan come from Guam families that moved up there between 100 and 150 years ago.  That's not a long time span, and there's only 120 miles that separate us, but little differences in language have evolved nonetheless.

FAMILY NICKNAMES : KOTLA

Monday, September 16, 2013


KOTLA

A huge branch of the Pangelinan family is better-known-as the Kotla family.

Where Chamorro families got their nicknames is often a mystery.  Sometimes the origin is easy to figure out, especially when the nickname comes from the name of an ancestor such as the Siket (Castro) family, named for their ancestor Ezequiel (Siket) or the N å ndo family (Peredo), whose ancestor was Fernando.

Other times, the family has preserved a family story, such as the Charot (Taitano) clan which has the lore that their ancestor was given a pair of shoes known as charol in Spanish.

As for Kotla, if we looked for a Spanish origin, it is possibly derived from an old Spanish term corlar , which means to apply a gold varnish on something, like the beautiful violin in the picture above.

Spanish corlar becomes Chamorro kotla , because Chamorros change an L or an R to a T when it's the final sound in a syllable. Another example of this would be ÅTTAT , which comes from Spanish altar . Notice that the L and the R are the final sounds of their syllables, and Chamorro changes them into a final T.

Juan Flores Pangelinan is the first documented person we know who was called Kotla. Why? I have no idea, and, as far as the family is concerned, there are a few theories but no one can guarantee their theory.

But since kotla means "to varnish," could it be that Juan worked in varnishing? Or perhaps he varnished something so well that people nicknamed him kotla . Chamorros loved to tease, and would tease you for something that stood out about you, even if it were a one-time event. Juan was a big landowner; he owned a lot of property in the Hågat and Sumay areas and their surroundings. The land records are still existing, in large part. He owned that land because he worked that land, growing, harvesting and selling.  People in those days made a lot of things by hand (there was no Home Depot). This includes the tools they used for farming, carpentry and so on. Varnishing would have been a part of that work.

But, the truth is, we have no solid evidence how the nickname came about. We only know what it means, if indeed Kotla comes from corlar .




SIGNATURE OF JUAN KOTLA IN 1898
He didn't need to add his first name Juan. His flourish at the end of his surname was enough identification.




SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Sunday, September 15, 2013

TODO UN D Å GGAO MO'NA, SIEMPRE UN SODDA'

What you throw in front of you, you will surely find.


Christ put it this way, "You reap what you sow."

Therefore, don't cry over what you yourself have arranged for yourself.

In college I remember a classmate using this imagery.  Some people go about life throwing thumb tacks in front of them as they walk.  Then they go "Ouch, ouch, ouch!"

We humans have a knack for self-destruction.  One of the consequences of Original Sin.  But repentance is always an option.

Stop throwing tacks ahead of your steps.

SPANISH THE CHAMORRO WAY : BABARIAS

Friday, August 30, 2013

There are a good number of Chamorro words that sound like we borrowed them from the Spaniards, but we didn't.

We just made our own word sound a bit more Spanish.

Take the Chamorro word babarias .

There is no such word in Spanish.  The root of the word is purely Chamorro; b å ba .  It means "bad."  Someone whose head is bad is "b å baba i ilu- ñ a."

We attached the Spanish ending -r í as to the Chamorro b å ba , to mean "foolishness, silliness."

There is a Spanish word bobo (or boba for women) which means a "fool, idiot or dunce."  But that's a stretch to go from bobo/boba to b å ba .  Anyway, in Spanish there is no word bobar í as .

Far more likely is that Chamorros added the Spanish -r í as to the Chamorro b å ba .  The -r í as ending is seen in many Spanish words. Tonto (or "stupid) becomes tonter í as (nonsense, absurdities). Puerco (pig) becomes porquer í as (filth, junk, rubbish).

Some examples of the use of our word babarias :

Ti ya-ho!  Puro ha' babarias ! I don't like it!  It's all rubbish!

Babarias ha' kuentotos- ñ a. S/he's only talking nonsense .

THE FORGOTTEN MISSIONARIES

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

The Jesuits?  Many people know that Catholicism was brought to the Marianas by the Jesuits, lead by Sanvitores.  We're even called the Marianas because of the Jesuit Sanvitores.

The Capuchins?  Any Chamorro Catholic 50 years or older knows about them, as they are still around and were the missionaries who gave birth to the modern Archdiocese of Aga ñ a.

But the Augustinian Recollects?  Only those with more than a passing interest in Marianas history have heard of them.  Yet this Order of missionaries was in charge of the Marianas the LONGEST.


THE CATHOLIC MISSION OF THE MARIANAS

Under Three Missionary Communities

JESUITS

1668 ~ 1769

AUGUSTINIAN RECOLLECTS

1769 ~ 1899

· The Recollects remained in the Northern Marianas till 1907

CAPUCHINS

1901 ~ 1965

· When the mission became a Diocese in 1965, the Capuchins were no longer responsible for administering the entire local Church

· The Capuchins remain on Guam to this day but not as missionaries but rather as a permanent, indigenous community


Some notable things about the Recollects :

It was a Recollect priest who built the Malesso' Konbento in 1856
the oldest residence in continual use on Guam

A Spanish Recollect Missionary
his thick leather belt, or correa, is a distinctive feature of the Augustinian habit
So, for 130 years, with the exception of Father Palomo and several Filipino diocesan priests working in the Marianas when Recollect priests were either few or not available at all, it was the Recollects who kept the Catholic faith going in the Marianas, building churches, baptizing, marrying, burying, teaching.  Our great-grandparents knew their names, those at the end of the 19th century : Fathers Resano, Cabanillas, Ort í n, Cueva, Lamb á n and others.
But few people today know anything about them.
Religious orders, like the Recollects, are divided into provinces usually named after a saint.  The Recollects in charge of the Marianas for 130 years were from the Province of San Nicol á s de Tolentino.  That is why the name San Nicol á s shows up on Guam and the Marianas in more ways than one.

ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Å NTES

The sanctuary of San Dionisio Church in Hum å tak, sometime after the War.  It seems to me, RIGHT after the War.  The reason?  There isn't even a tabernacle, the sacred receptacle of the Blessed Sacrament.  No sanctuary lamp.  Most unusual for a Catholic church.

If this had been a simple chapel, what is known elsewhere as a chapel of ease, meaning a place where Mass could be said occasionally, this is would make sense.

But San Dionisio was a de facto parish since the 1680s.  A tabernacle would be expected here.

During the War, I would not be surprised at all if the tabernacle had been removed by the priest himself.

Father Marcian Pellett, an American Capuchin, was pastor of Malesso' and Hum å tak in 1941 and actually hid in the hills when he heard that the Japanese had attacked Guam.  Then he realized he had better turn himself in and went back to his konbento (rectory).  He may have had time to remove the Blessed Sacrament for fear of desecration by the Japanese, in both of his churches.

If it had not been Father Marcian, perhaps it was Father Due ñ as, the pastor of Inal å han, who divided Guam into two sectors - north and south - with him responsible for the south and Father Calvo the north.  Since he was severely restricted in his ministry by the Japanese, he may have removed the Blessed Sacrament in Hum å tak and Malesso'.


P Å 'GO

The rectangular windows are now gothic and transparent, adding natural light to the sanctuary.  For many years after the war, these windows were filled in and became niches for statues.

The wooden altar rail ( komutgatorio ) has been removed since the period after Vatican II.  The roof, too, which flew off almost every big typhoon, has been replaced by a permanent one.  The floor has been re-tiled.  Very handsome church.

The roof of this church blew off twice when I was acting pastor once then pastor in Hum å tak.  The first was in December of 1990 (Typhoon Russ) and the second in December of 1997 (Paka).  It's true that the tin roof was easily blown away, but it was also easily replaced by a new tin roof at a cost of about $5000 with free labor if the parishioners did the work.

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Today, a Chamorrita verse from our neighboring island of Luta (Rota)....

Ti sang å non minames-mo yan i maf ñ ot kari ñ u-mo;
hu buett å ye entero Luta, lao ti hu sodda' parehu-mo.
Your sweetness is unspeakable, nor your intense affection;
I scoured the entire breadth of Rota, but I didn't find anyone equal to you.

NOTES
Sang å non - made up of the word s å ngan , which means "to say, to speak" and the suffix -on.  Think of Chamorro -on as English -able. Sang å non thus means "speakable." Ti is the negation, so ti sang å non means "unspeakable."

Maf ñ ot - means "tight."  So this is an idiomatic phrase, not literal.  How can affection be "tight" unless this is figurative for intensity or affection that is physically close.

Buett å ye - from the Spanish vuelta , which means "a lap, turn or revolution."  The Chamorro suffix -e means the action is done to or for something. Buett å ye means "to make a lap or tour around a place."

SHOPPING IN MANILA

Monday, August 26, 2013
Chamorros shopping in Manila has been a long tradition on Guam, at least since the early 1900s.  In the 1800s, some Chamorros did venture off to Manila for travel, study or commerce, but the scale wasn't large as the Marianas did not have much of a market economy back then.
Sometimes, after a typhoon or drought, for example, relief goods would come to Guam from Manila during Spanish times.
But when both Guam and the Philippines were under American rule at the same time, travel between Guam and Manila was very possible for those Chamorros who had the money to pay the fare.
Jose M. Flores, better-known-as "Josen Anga," was a successful businessman on Guam who kept up frequent commercial contacts with Manila to meet the growing demands on Guam as more Chamorros earned salaries from government and the nascent private sector.
You'll see in his advertisement in the Guam Recorder that many of his wares came from Manila.
Josen Anga's store in pre-war Hag å t ñ a
In the district of San Ignacio


MA SUSEDE UN DIA

Friday, August 23, 2013


Alupat Island.  Saturday.  January 22, 1910

What is today called Alupang Island was also called Alupat Island.

And the waters around it look placid enough; no one would fear jet skiing in this area.

But we locals know that these waters can get very choppy in the early months of the year and as early as December, when the winds pick up and give that time of year the pleasant coolness but also more dangerous sea conditions.

A boat carrying six persons, including one woman, was traveling back to Hag åt ña from the ranch of Mr. Herrero.  As they passed Alupat Island, the boat was swamped by the heavy seas.  The news article isn't clear if the passengers ended up in the water.  What is clear is that the boat was no longer able to sustain the lives of the passengers.

One Vicente Castro, a powerful swimmer and respected man, who had already saved others before from the perils of the sea, started to swim to the shore to call for help, but was instead swept out to the open sea.

The passengers were eventually saved, but Castro's body was never found.  The Governor had sent two boats to look for his remains, but the search was unsuccessful.

It is worthy of note that these ranch hands were returning to Hag åt ña on a Saturday.  Many people lived in the ranches during the week, but returned to the capital in time for Sunday Mass.

( Guam News Letter )

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : MALÅTE'

Thursday, August 22, 2013

MAL Å TE' : smart, intelligent

Kao mal å te' si Pedro?  Is Pedro smart?

Mal å te' na p å tgon!  A smart child!

Hokkok malate'- ñ a!  He is super smart!  (Literally : His intelligence is to the furthest degree possible.)

Est å ba gof mudoro lao despues mumal å te'.  S/he was once dull-witted but later became smart.

Falak i kolehio ya un na' mal å te' hao!  Go to college and make yourself smart!

Na' fan mal å te', pot fabot, i famagu'on-ho!  Please make my children smart!

Minal å te'.  Intelligence.

N å 'e yo', Asaina, ni minalate'-ho.  Grant me, Lord, intelligence.  (Literally : my intelligence.)

I man minal å te'.  The intellectuals.

BACK TO THE PHILIPPINES?

Wednesday, August 21, 2013



Guam civic leaders were all concerned in October of 1926 when news came to the island that a Philippine politician, Eduardo Mercaido of Masbate, had introduced a resolution in the Philippine Legislature advocating the annexation of Guam by the Philippines, which was, at the time, a kind of territory of the U.S. with limited self-government.

One of Mercaido's arguments in favor of annexation was the prior historical and cultural links between Filipinos and Chamorros.

When Mexico became independent in the early 1800s, the Marianas became a province of the Philippines.  Look at any list of provinces of the Philippines in the latter part of the 1800s and the Marianas is one of them.

Now all this was strongly opposed by Guam's leading citizens.  The reason was because Chamorros knew that the Filipinos, in general, wanted independence and were patiently waiting for the right circumstances to obtain it.  Earlier that same year, in July, the Philippines legislature had actually asked the U.S. to hold a plebiscite on independence in the Philippines. A reporter for the Chicago Tribune added that people on Guam believed that the Philippines did have the means to govern Guam and that the island would fall into the hands of the Japanese, which ruled all the islands around Guam in 1926.

Had Guam been annexed to the Philippines while it was under the U.S. flag, Guam might lose its connection to the U.S. and remain part of an independent Philippines.  Chamorros did not want to become part of an independent Philippines.

Enough older people were still alive in 1926 to have known and seen the Filipino political prisoners who were sent to Guam both during Spanish and American regimes.  These " insurrectos " and " deportados ," as they were called, did not get in trouble for simply making speeches, but for leading armed revolt against either the Spaniards or the Americans.  Chamorros saw the Filipinos as strongly headed towards becoming an independent nation one day.

Chamorros contrasted themselves, on the other hand, as docile and loyal to the U.S., grateful for the blessings of American rule which they did not want to lose by being made a part of the Philippines.

The Guam Recorder offered prizes for essays against annexation.  The first prize went to Agueda Iglesias, who later became Agueda Johnston.  The second went to Veronica San Agustin, who later married a Perez; the mother of Gerry Perez of GVB and GEDA fame.

Veronica's essay included the following, "Our President, who art in the United States, hallowed be thy name; thy judgment come; grant us this time our citizenship and protect us from falling into the hands of any other nation.  Amen."  This gives you a sense just how attached many Chamorros, at the time, were to American rule, even with its imperfections.

For all their blood ties (some of these Chamorro opponents of Philippine annexation had Filipino grandfathers) and historic connections to the Philippines, Chamorros at the time saw themselves as a separate people and did not want to lose the benefits they enjoyed under American rule.  It wasn't perfect; many Chamorros quietly resented some injustices under the Naval Government.  But it was better than being on one's own, they believed, or being under another flag.

Further reading :

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=1926%2Bphilippines%2Bguam

ANOTHER SPANISH LÁPIDA

Tuesday, August 20, 2013


Even up to the 1920s, Chamorros were writing some things in Spanish, including cemetery headstones.  This one is in Saipan.

Aqu í yacen los restos mortales de Rodrigo de Castro que falleci ó 18 de enero de 1913 a los 62 a ñ os de edad.  Su desconsolada esposa y familia dedican este recuerdo como prueba del acendrado cari ñ o y amor que le profesan.  RIP

"Here lies the mortal remains of Rodrigo de Castro who passed on the 18th of January in 1913 at the age of 62 years.  His inconsolable wife and family dedicate this memorial as a sign of their sincere affection and love which they have for him.  Rest in peace."

FRIHONÅDAS NA SINANGAN : MEA CULPA

Friday, August 16, 2013



Back when Mass was always said in Latin, the priest said the "I confess," or the Confiteor by himself, and the altar boy followed him by saying his own Confiteor.

At the part where we say "through my fault," the priest said in Latin " mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa, " or "through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault," striking his breast three times.

Altar boys are boys, and, as they say, boys will be boys - always trying to get a laugh out of anything.

Back when all boys on Guam spoke Chamorro, the altar boys had a joke (never said during Mass, of course), twisting the " mea culpas " of the Confiteor.

Mea culpa, mea culpa - b å sta P å le' chumupa!

"Through my fault, through my fault - stop smoking, Father!"

Frihon åd as !  Silliness!

Which reminds me of the way the Spanish priests and brothers would lovingly scold the altar boys.

One would knock the head of an altar boy with his knuckle, if the boy did something foolish, and say in Spanish, " Tonto !"  "Fool!"

Another used to scold them in Chamorro, " Lassas aniti !" "The devil's skin!"  I never quite understood that one.

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : KADUKO!

Thursday, August 15, 2013


One of the first Chamorro words I learned as a kid; NOT because my grandma called me this, either!

But we kids used to call each other this when at play.  We all spoke English, but always had some Chamorro words sprinkled in; usually stuff like this.

The word is borrowed from the Spanish.

Caduco in Spanish can mean "expired" or "lapsed," as in expired medicine, or food that has gone beyond it's labeled shelf life.  It can refer to an expired license or contract.

It can even refer to things that have fallen in use, such as fashions that are out of date.

But here's where it got transformed into our Chamorro kaduko .  Spanish caduco can also mean "mentally lapsed" or "deficient," as when an elderly person has failing mental capacity.

" Tu abuelo est á un poco caduco ," means "Your grandfather is a bit off."

And in Portuguese, caduco can actually mean "crazy."  A few Portuguese settled on Guam in Spanish times, but not enough, I would think, to make a dent in Guam slang.

When applied to a woman, it becomes kaduka .

All of this is based on the Latin word cadere , which means "to fall."  Think of the English musical term cadence and even cadaver - both coming from Latin cadere .



Spanish language comic strip named Caduco

FAMILIA : BALETO

Wednesday, August 14, 2013


When you hear the name Baleto, think Sumay / Santa Rita.

Baleto will be a mystery for sometime, if not forever.  It is not a Spanish name, nor Portuguese (there were some Portuguese who settled on Guam, especially during the whaling days of the 1800s).

There are people with the surname Baleto in the Philippines, though not numerous.

The first Baleto we know about on Guam is Ramón Baleto.  We just know his name, not his origins.  My guess would be Filipino, since I don't find any other people with that surname in other countries.

He married Feliciana Due ñ as, obviously from Guam, though Due ñ as is a fairly common Spanish name.

Their son José Due ñ as Baleto married Ana Ulloa.  Their son Vicente Ulloa Baleto married María Concepción.

Ramón and Feliciana also had a daughter In é s.  In é s had been married, but lost her husband.  As a widow, she had several children, one of whom, Sebastián by name, married Josefa Martínez and moved to Saipan for a while where his son Remigio, also known as Romeo, remained and started his own family while Sebastián returned to Guam. Remigio's (or Romeo's) wife was Dolores Palacios Torres, daughter of León Lizama Torres and Dolores de la Cruz Palacios.

Though a small family rooted in Sumay, in all the world, the majority of people having Baleto as a surname are Chamorros.  If Ramón Baleto was indeed Filipino, his Baleto relatives back home were small in number.

JAPANESE INFLUENCE ON GUAM

Monday, August 12, 2013



Unlike Saipan and Luta, the Japanese ruled over Guam for only two and a half years.  But that doesn't mean we had zero Japanese influence except for that brief occupation.  Many years before, more than a dozen Japanese permanently settled on Guam, as early as 1900, most of them marrying Chamorro women.

But, even in the late 1800s, Japanese merchants were becoming a huge source of supplies for Chamorros on Guam.

Take, for example, soy sauce.  Today, so much Chamorro cooking simply could not be done without it.  Yet, prior to the Japanese introduction of soy sauce in our stores through the Japanese merchants, Chamorros knew nothing about soy sauce.  We don't even have a Chamorro name for it.  We on Guam call it "soy sauce" or ketch å p , probably because American ketchup and Japanese soy sauce were both things poured onto food as a flavor enhancer.  In Saipan, where Japanese influence was very ingrained, they call it shoyu , as in Japanese.




Daigo is another Chamorro favorite, but a real oddity because the Japanese don't call it daigo .  They call it takuan , and this is also what Chamorros in Luta and Saipan call it, having had a longer time of enculturation with the Japanese.  Now it is true that daigo is pickled radish, and the radish is called daikon in Japanese, but daigo , in Japanese, means "great enlightenment."  Nothing to do with pickled radish, unless eating daigo somehow makes you see the meaning of life.

We can go on and talk about pickled onions ( rakkyo ) and sashimi , with its accompanying wasabe and soy dipping sauce, but you get the flavor of what I'm saying.  Japanese influence on Guam's Chamorro culture is mainly in the eating department.

There is FAR MORE Japanese influence on Saipan and Luta, and in many other aspects of life.

If Chamorros are hooked on rice, blame JAPAN

Yes, Japan.  During Spanish times, rice was grown in limited quantities on Guam as it needs low-lying, swampy terrain.  Muddy flats in the south of Guam was where all the rice paddies were; in the north, there were none. Corn was the big staple on Guam for 200 years under the Spanish.  Prior to Spanish contact, it is unknown whether the Chamorro population on Guam ate rice on a daily basis.  My guess is not.  The population on Guam before the Spanish colonization was actually larger, but the land mass was still the same, growing the same amount of rice for a bigger population.  Taro, yams and breadfruit were probably more available on a daily basis than rice.

It was the Japanese merchants in the 1900s were brought in a big supply of rice to sell to the Chamorros, and that's how we got hooked on it.  The U.S. Navy once limited the importation of Japanese rice, in order to force local farmers to grow more.  But  the move was so unpopular that some locals started a petition to allow the free marketing of Japanese rice on Guam; a petition which proved to be something else, but that's a different story.

Actually, we have no one to blame but ourselves for being addicted to rice!  If we didn't like rice, the stores wouldn't sell it as much as they do.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF PROTESTANT

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Episcopal Bishop Charles Henry Brent
1862-1929

When the United States took over Guam and the Philippines in 1898, the Episcopal Church in the U.S. took an interest in sending a missionary bishop to the Philippines.  Brent was chosen in 1901 for the job.  But Brent also had a brief visit to Guam in 1909.

Many Episcopalians had, and still have, an affinity for the Catholic Church on account of their mutual love for liturgy.  By the time Brent came to visit Guam, the local Protestant mission, run by American Protestants of a more evangelical view, was slowing down and the American missionary organization that funded the Guam mission was looking for a new church body to assume responsibility for Guam.

It was hoped that Brent would, upon visiting Guam, urge his own Episcopal Church to take over the Guam Protestant mission.

Brent, however, took the opposite view.  He said that the Chamorros of Guam were already Christians and didn't need a Protestant mission.

Brent was no complete fan of the type of Hispanic Catholicism he saw in both the Philippines and Guam.  His view was that the Philippine revolt against Spain was due in large part to the political and economic power of the Spanish friars, and to the moral corruption found among a good number of them.

But, even in the Philippines, he concentrated his missionary efforts among the remote communities that had not become Christian of any sort.  He might want Catholics in these islands to come closer to his idea of right Christian practice, but he didn't want to steal sheep from the Catholic Church.

Things were not exactly the same on Guam as they were in the Philippines.  Here, the Church never owned large plantations reaping good income for the missionaries.  Some of the Recollect missionaries in the Marianas had a bad reputation among the American military officers, but they were replaced by Capuchin missionaries who had a better image with the government.


Guam also had one Chamorro priest - the first - Monsignor Jose Palomo.  Brent happened to be on Guam right when Palomo celebrated his Golden Jubilee of ordination.  Brent met Palomo and, as did almost everyone who met Palomo, was won over by his gentle charm.

Brent wrote, "May he (Palomo) live to celebrate among his devoted flock a diamond jubilee; and the best wish that I could offer for the well being of the church which he represents, is that from the Chamorro people there should be raised up other priests such as he in piety, uprightness and benevolence, to hold the ecclesiastical oversight of Guam." (Guam Newsletter, December 23, 1909, p. 3)

Clearly, Brent did not want to replace the Catholic Church but rather to see the Catholic Church on Guam ruled by a native hierarchy.  His wish came true in 1970 with the consecration of Bishop Felixberto Camacho Flores.

FATOIGUE YO' MÅGI

Tuesday, August 6, 2013


A Chamorro hymn to the Sacred Heart that isn't very well known all over the island or by the younger generations.  But I recorded this in Inal å han, where it is still sung.

According to P å le' Roman, who more than likely wrote the Chamorro version, the original is by Haller.  I assume he means Michael Haller, a German Catholic priest composer (1840-1915).

Don't be surprised that P å le' Roman may have borrowed music from Haller.  P å le' Roman went to a Capuchin seminary (Lec á roz) that was well-known in that area of Spain (close to France) for its focus on music, sacred and otherwise.

The words are simple enough.  A hymn of love between the Sacred Heart of Jesus and he or she who is devoted to Him.  The melody is also simple, but charmingly so.

The hymn starts off with Jesus addressing the person.  In verse two, it becomes the person responding to the Lord.  In verses 3 and 4, the pronouns are a bit vague but I take them to mean Jesus is inviting the person to become united with His Heart, since the hymn started with the Lord taking the initiative.


Fatoigue yo' m å gi - å nte ni mansapet;
fatoigue yo' - gofli'e yo'.
( Come here to me - suffering soul
come to me - love me .)

Estague yo' guine - O Korason Jesus;
hu tuna hao - hu guaiya hao.
( I am here - O Heart of Jesus;
I praise You - I love You .)

Ta hita gefsaga - guine na korason;
an ya-mo yo' - iyo-mo yo'.
( Let us dwell contentedly - in this heart;
if you love Me - I am yours .)

Inigue sag å -mo - ni hu po'luye hao;
mailague yo' - sag å ye yo'.
( Here is your place - where I place you;
come to Me - stay with Me .)
NOTES

Fatoigue = the root word is f å tto , "to come, arrive."  To "come to" is fatoigue .

Mansapet = the root word is s å' pet , to suffer.  " Ma s å s å' pet ," meaning "suffering," is shortened to " mansapet ," with the stress on "man" to sound like MANsapet.  We see the same thing with " ma s å s å ngan ," which becomes MANsangan.

Inigue = hardly ever used anymore.  " Ini " is the indigenous word for "this," which has been replaced by the Spanish borrowed term " este ."  We still retain ennague (there) and ayogue (that).



Rev. Michael Haller
Composer

GUAM INSTITUTE 1930

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Nieves Mariano Flores (center, in suit)
Founder and Principal of the Guam Institute

Activities for the Guam Institute during the year 1930 included a meeting of Institute alumni and the senior class.  The valedictorian of 1927, Fermin L.G. Bitanga , and the valedictorian of 1929, Raymond Underwood , as well as guests Alfonso Reyes and Luis Untalan , gave pep talks and admonitions to the seniors.

In a more festive vein, Asuncion Blas Haniu directed a Maypole Dance while Pedro Diaz Perez coordinated athletic games.

For graduation that May, Jose S. Perez won the valedictorian's spot that year.  Graduating with honors were Helen C. Herrero (salutatorian), Fe Untalan Cristobal and Alfred C. Duenas .   In the social function following the ceremonies, Eugenia Underwood and Lovie Elliott directed the music and dancing.

The above names reflect some of the leading families in Guam society before the war.  The keynote address at the graduation was rendered by the head of education under the Naval Government, who almost always was the Protestant Navy chaplain.  This was always a sore spot with the Spanish friars.


MORE STORIES ABOUT FATHER KOMATSU

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Japanese Catholic priest Father Petero Komatsu
dressed in civilian clothes after his detention by the Americans

Father Komatsu was the only Japanese priest who lived on Guam during the Japanese occupation.  He was ordered to live on Guam by the Japanese government.

From all accounts of people who knew him who are still alive to tell me the story, he was a harmless man.  He kept a low profile and befriended a number of Chamorros, including Pale' Oscar Calvo.

He spoke decent English, too, and was close to one Chamorro family to the extent that he called the matriarch of the family "Mother."  "Go and call mother," he would say.

Komatsu would accompany Pale' Osk å t (Oscar) to a certain ranch owned by relatives.  This ranch was a perfect place, because the owner had prepared it well for the occupation.  Bishop Olano had told the man some time before the war, " Na' listo i lancho-mo, sa' ti apmam siempre man gine'ta hit ."

"Prepare your ranch, because before long we'll all be wearing ge'ta," or Japanese clogs.

One day, Father Komatsu got injured by a piece of wood that slammed into his side.  He had to stay in the hospital, and started to cough up blood.  He was given Chamorro medicine and recovered, but slowly.

Saved some Chamorro Girls

On another day, some Chamorro girls were being told by the Japanese to go join a forced labor crew.  Komatsu knew these girls.  He told the messenger, "Tell the taicho that these girls cannot go work today, because I am sick, and these girls are assisting me."

The girls didn't have to go.

We know that some Chamorros died or were seriously wounded because they had been on these work crews, so God only knows what may have happened had Komatsu not found those girls a convenient excuse.

Komatsu had a local Chamorro servant boy.

Captured

At some point, Komatsu was captured by the Americans, but was found in decent physical condition.  He was taken in a jeep to visit some of his Chamorro friends, and had to break the bad news that some of the family members had been killed.

Komatsu was never found guilty of any wrongdoing and was sent back to Japan.  He did return to Guam in the 60s and maybe even the 70s for a visit.

Father Due ñ as strongly contested the presence of Monsignor Fukahori, sent by Japan to inspect church conditions on Guam.  Due ñ as contended that Fukahori had no mandate from the Vatican, the only authority that mattered, and that he was an agent of the Japanese government.

Fukahori stayed on Guam only a few months and returned to Japan, filing a report stating how well the Catholics on Guam were faring under Japan.  He was later made a bishop.

Komatsu, on the other hand, stayed on Guam for the whole stint; making friends, keeping quiet and staying out of politics and controversy.  Back in Japan, he remained a simple priest in the Tokyo area and has since died.  RIP

"MAN MÅ'POS HA'"

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

At the Ma ñ enggon Freedom Run yesterday, I got a chance to ride the bus with the survivors; people who, though just children and teens at the time, remember life under the Japanese.

Naturally I tried to get as much information as I could from them.

Not everyone was ordered to go to Ma ñ enggon; there were other camps.

But the order to march to Ma ñ enggon was put into effect on July 10.  The people started trickling in after a day or two, depending on their point of origin.  They brought with them what they could, but some were hampered by having to carry their elderly and sickly.

Once in the valley, they cut down what they could to build ramshackle huts.  The earth was the floor for most.  People would sleep on top of each other in many cases, or sit side by side and lean against their flimsy walls.  People answered the call of nature wherever they could do so with some privacy.

People weren't starving, but they made do with what they had brought and what they could find.  They were forbidden from making fires, to prevent being detected by the Americans from the smoke during the day or the glow of fire by night.

It wasn't always one family per hut; some people too packed in their own huts wandered off to see if they could spend the night in a hut less crowded.

The camp wasn't guarded by hundreds of Japanese.  Those men were needed at the scene of battle; not guarding harmless civilians.  A "skeleton crew," as one man said, was all there was; enough to man three machine guns which were meant to shoot down all the Chamorros in the camp.  A trench was dug (by the Chamorros themselves under Japanese supervision) to easily dump in the bodies and cover them with dirt.

Some people were physically injured, many were slapped, punched or kicked; but most of the suffering was emotional and psychological.  Women, in particular, were a vulnerable target.  Some were raped, but others were forced to strip naked while some Japanese inspected their privates to mock the woman, to the laughter of other Japanese looking on.

The taicho , or Japanese commander at Ma ñ enggon, was of the worst sort.  A man who enjoyed playing on the fears of the women, especially, and dishonoring their modesty.

Guards would take out their daggers or swords and pretend to thrust or swing them, and then have a laugh at the frightened Chamorros.  Guns weren't used.  As one man said, "The Japanese never wasted a bullet on us.  It was always the sword."

One never knew if this was the day they'd die or not.  Those machine guns were a constant reminder of that possibility in the three weeks they stayed there.

Then one day, according to one woman, the Japanese started to demand that people turn in to them all their knives, machetes and other such objects.  " Ramenta ," the lady said, "metal tools."  They said they needed them for their upcoming battle against the Americans.  Then, one morning, the Chamorros woke up and the Japanese skeleton crew was gone.  They assumed they went north to fight in the battle.

" Man m å 'pos ha'." "They just up and left."  And that was that.

Then, on July 28, according to one lady, they heard the drums of the Americans.  Others say they saw American soldiers ("Greek gods," according to another lady) coming over the hill.  Chamorro soldiers, who had joined the military before the war and were out of Guam when the Japanese invaded in 1941, were part of the landing force in 1944 and were needed to help identify who were Chamorros and get information from them.  Two names I heard were George "Boy" Cristobal and Manuel "Nai" Perez.

Otro Kuentos-m å me

The man å mko' had many other stories to tell me, as we killed time waiting for the formal event to commence.

Not all Japanese were bad

One man said he was sent to Japanese school in Mangilao.  But, then, after about six or seven months of that, he was told to stop and to start work being a servant of the military in the area.  He would be the one to serve the soldiers food and drink.  This was how he met one Captain Homma.

This Chamorro boy (at the time, around 12 years old), served Homma a drink and Homma said, in perfectly clear English, "Thank you very much,"  That struck up a conversation between the two - in English!  Homma had been born in the U.S. and actually had a sister still in the U.S during the war.  Being of pure Japanese blood, he went back to Japan to live or study for a while and the war broke out.  He was drafted.  Privately, he told this Chamorro boy that he was against the war himself and that the Americans would win.  He told the boy, "The Americans will invade Guam on August 14, 1944."

The boy wondered, "Why is he telling me all this!"  Later, he reflected that if the Americans had truly waited till August to invade Guam, the Chamorros may have all been killed by then.

Homma was a smoker and gave the boy Japanese cigarettes to smoke.  The Chamorro man's been a lifelong smoker ever since, and he's now in his 80s.
Mrs. Sawada

She was one bad Japanese, according to the Chamorros.  She had a business on Guam before the war and just as soon as the Japanese entered Guam in 1941, she was flexing her muscles.  She seemed to enjoy getting Chamorros in trouble with the Japanese.

She had a saying that, if the Americans did succeed in coming back to Guam, the Japanese would destroy everything and everyone, so that the Americans wouldn't even find any r å ro' .  What she meant was l å lo' , or "fly" in Chamorro.  But she couldn't pronounce the L so she said r å ro '.

The curious thing, some have said, is that she was never found after the war.  They assume she followed the Japanese up north to the last battle sites, and either committed suicide or was a war casualty.  Her body has never been identified.  But some Chamorros say that maybe her dead body rotted in the hot sun, covered with r å ro '.

Not a nice story, but one must keep in mind how many Chamorros felt about her, given her behavior during the Japanese occupation.
"I will not accept money from the U.S."

One of the older Chamorro men made his opinion quite clear to me about war reparations.

He won't say this publicly, "Or else they'll skin me alive," he says.

But he says, "The Americans liberated us.  Many of them died to free us.  That's good enough for me.  We lost everything, but the U.S. came back and liberated us.  If they send me a check for war reparations, I will put it in an envelope and send it back."

Well, that's his opinion and we're free to have them.

MAÑENGGON FREEDOM RUN

Monday, July 29, 2013

A Freedom Run was held yesterday to mark the 69th anniversary of the liberation of the Ma ñ enggon civilian concentration camp on July 28, 1944.

It was that day that the Americans entered the Ma ñ enggon Valley to find that the Chamorros had been quietly abandoned by the skeleton crew of Japanese soldiers who had been guarding them since around July 10.

To mark the event, a number of groups, especially those involved in public safety and defense, were invited to run from various starting points around the island and converge on Ma ñ enggon by at a targeted time.  Once assembled in Ma ñ enggon, the runners, young and vibrant, would join the survivors of the actual forced march to Ma ñ enggon.  The survivors, carrying a banner, walked several hundreds yards from the drop-off point to the old camp, in symbolic re-enactment of their more arduous trek 69 years ago.


The survivors, in their 70s and 80s, take the lead in the walk, assisted by some younger folk.  Three young drummers preceded them in their honor.


Behind them, in emulation of what the survivors went through, the young and strong from three generations after the war.  It was a chance for our young people to experience something of what their parents and grandparents went through.  Not just knowing history, but in a sense living it.


The runners started at five points earlier that day :

1. CHAGUI'AN (Yigo) - site of a massacre of civilian Chamorros by the Japanese.  These men were part of a forced labor crew working on Japanese defense works just before the invasion.  Then the Japanese turned on them, chopping off their heads.  The Japanese feared the men would meet Americans and inform them about Japanese locations.  Some of the dead are not positively identified to this day.  It took years for people to even now about this massacre.

2. TIYAN (Barrigada)

3. ADILOK/PIGO' (Hag å t ñ a) - Pigo' Cemetery was used as a civilian refugee camp shortly after the Liberation.

4. H Å GAT - this starting point also commemorates the massacre at Fena'.

5. INAL Å HAN

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : HÅLE'

Friday, July 26, 2013

H Å LE' : root, to root

Meggai hale'- ñ a i trongkon nunu.  The banyan tree has many roots.

H å fa hale'- ñ a ayo na finiho?  What is the root of that word?

Giya Malesso' nai gaige i hale'.  The roots (of a family) are in Malesso'.

Tingo' i hale'-miyo!  Know your roots!

Agupa' bai fanh å le' d å go.  Tomorrow I will root up yams.

B å ba yanggen m å tto m å gi i babue sa' siempre ha h å le' i tinanom-ho.  It's bad if the pig comes here because he will surely uproot my plant.

Halion.  Able to be uprooted.

Kao halion ayo na trongko?  Can that tree be uprooted?

Mehlele.  Having abundant roots.  A contraction of mi (abundant) and h å le' .

Mi + h å le' = mehlele.


There is a series of publications on the biographies of prominent people in our local history called "I Hale'-ta Series."

Some Austronesian languages have similar-sounding words for "root" like:

lali

dalid

dalig

I PIKARO NA TANORES

Thursday, July 25, 2013


Dos na tanores est å ba gi gima'yu'us ma ñ e ñ etbe gi S å nta Misa .
(Two altar boys were in church serving Mass.)

Chume'lo i dos, ya est å ba si nanan- ñ iha lokkue' gi gima'yu'us na humohosme gue' Misa .
(The two were brothers, and their mother was also at church hearing Mass.)

Mampos frihon i uno, ya sige de ha na' ch å lek i otro gi dur å nten i Misa .
(One was a real comedian and kept making the other one laugh during Mass.)

Kada r å to ha a'atan bu ñ uelos i uno guato gi otro na tanores ni che'lu- ñ a ..
(Every other moment the one would make faces at the other altar boy, his brother.)

Si P å le' ha gof pasiensi å ye i dos, lao m å tto gi lal å lo' i S å nto Bendito annai esta kalan a'gang diddide' i burukan- ñ iha i dos na tanores .
(The priest was very patient with the two, but the priest finally got angry when the noise of the two altar boys was getting a little loud.)

Pum å ra si P å le' ha s å ngan i Misa; tumalak guato gi dos na tanores .
(The priest stopped saying Mass; he turned towards the two altar boys.)

Ya gi me'nan todo i taotao, si P å le' ha sang å ne i dos na tanores ,
(And in front of all the people, the priest told the two altar boys,)

"H å fa guaha, na ti si ñ a hamyo na dos mamatkilo?"
(What's up, that the two of you can't keep quiet?")

Ai, despues de Misa, sen lalalo' i nanan i dos na tanores .
(Oh, after Mass, the mother of those two altar boys was very mad.)

"H å fa, l å ssas anite!  En na' mam å hlao yo' gi me'nan P å le'!  Ii mohon ya si ñ a hu na' ma preso hamyo!"
("What, devil's skin!  You embarrassed me in front of Father! If only I could you put in jail!")

Ha konne' i dos chume'lo ya ha kastiga siha .
(She took the two brothers and punished them.)

Ha na' fan å nom i dos chume'lo trongkon chotda gi tatten i gima'- ñ iha .
(She made them plant banana trees behind their house.)

Ya asta p å 'go na ha' å ne, si ñ a ha' un li'e i trongkon chotda siha gi tatten i gima'- ñ iha .
(And to this day, you can still see the banana trees behind their house.)



Guiya este na p å le' i fiho ha s å ngan gi tinayuyot- ñ a gi annai tiempon atulai ,
(This priest is the one who often said in his prayers when it is mackerel season,)

"Asaina!  Na' fan bula na atulai p å 'go na tiempo!"
("Lord!  Make an abundance of mackerel this season!")

"Na' fan mangonne' i peskadot siha meggagai na atulai!"
("Make the fishermen catch plenty mackerel!")

BEFORE THE CHA CHA, THERE WAS THE CHOTIS

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

This decal on this person's car reminded me of a dance that was once well-known in the Marianas during Spanish times called the Chotis.   Other Chamorros pronounced it Sotis.

Chamorros adopted a wide number of European dances which they learned from Spaniards, Latin Americans, Filipinos and the British/American whalers.

One of them was the Chotis.  It was originally popular in Vienna (Austria) and thought to be of Scottish ("Schottisch" in German) origin.  When it got to Spain, Schottisch became Chotis.

From Spain it ended up in the Philippines where it underwent a Filipino transformation.  I suspect that the Filipino version of the Chotis is what our great-grandparents ended up dancing here.  I also wouldn't be surprised if the dance morphed a little into something different, however slightly, when our people danced it.





This doesn't mean the chotis danced in the Marianas was exactly the same as this particular performance in the video, but influences in the 1800s came mainly through the Philippines, so it's worth a look.

For the sake of comparison, here's how it's danced in Spain.  Note the differences.





Too bad we have no footage of Chamorros dancing the Chotis/Sotis back in the day.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

EL BAILE DEL CHOTIS EN GUAM

Hubo un baile, alguna vez muy conocido en las Islas Marianas, llamado Chotis. Otros chamorros lo pronunciaban Sotis. Los chamorros adoptaron una gran cantidad de bailes europeos que aprendieron de los españoles, hispanoamericanos, filipinos y de los balleneros británicos y estadounidenses. Uno de ellos fue el Chotis. Originalmente era popular en Viena (Austria) y se pensaba que era de origen escocés ("Schottisch" en alemán). Cuando llegó a España, Schottisch se convirtió en Chotis. De España recaló en Filipinas donde sufrió una transformación local. Sospecho que la versión filipina del Chotis es lo que terminaron bailando nuestros bisabuelos aquí en Guam. Tampoco me sorprendería si el baile se transformara un poco en algo diferente, aunque sea un poco, cuando nuestra gente lo bailaba. Esto no significa que el Chotis bailado en las Marianas fuera exactamente el mismo que el de esta actuación en el vídeo, pero las influencias del siglo XIX llegaron principalmente a través de Filipinas, por lo que vale la pena echarle un vistazo. Lástima que no tenemos imágenes de chamorros bailando el Chotis/Sotis durante el pasado.


ILEK-NA SI PALE'

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Sports was big on Guam, especially after the war when there was not much else to do in leisure time.  Here are the words of Monsignor Oscar Calvo to his parishioners in Inal å han in 1947 about a volleyball match between his people and another parish.

P å 'go gi talo' å ne para u fan bola i taotao Holy Name Inal å han kontra i taotao Holy Name Santa Rita volleyball giya Santa Rita.
( Today at noon the members of the Inal å han Holy Name will play volleyball against the members of the Santa Rita Holy Name at Santa Rita .)

Para u fan h å nao i taotao-ta para ayo na lug å t.
( Our people will go to that place .)

Ta desesea na u maolek todo i che'cho'- ñ iha ya u fan m å tto m å gi siha i manmang å nna .
( We wish that all they do will be well and they will come here the winners .)

Fatta na man maolek hit na man "Good Sports."
( Show that we are good at being "Good Sports .")

Nihi todos ta n å 'e å nimo ya ta g å nna este na huego ya u ta fan m å tto m å gi man "Champion."
( Let's all give it our best and win this game and come here the "Champion .")

NOTES

Holy Name .  Was a Catholic men's association, found in every parish at the time.

Fatta .  Means "to show forth, display, exhibit" which then took on the connotation of "bragging, showing off."  But Monsignor Calvo means here the original sense of "showing forth."

FINIDNG LIFE IN A CEMETERY

Monday, July 22, 2013

Pigo' Cemetery was in existence since Spanish times and, as you can see from the photo, was badly damaged in the American bombing of July 1944.

When the Chamorros started crossing into American lines and into American hands in the closing days of July and the beginning of August, they were directed to a number of civilian refugee camps.

One of them was in Aniguak, which then spilled into the neighboring cemetery.

Chamorros camped out there, some even sleeping in vacant niches.  Medical teams treated the people and basic food was served.  The people found life in the midst of the tombs.


Later, the area reverted to a cemetery, but the old graves and niches are gone.

It's a shame because, had those gravestones survived, we'd have a lot more data to help us with our family trees.

KÅNTA BABUE

Friday, July 19, 2013


One of the most famous Chamorro songs, recorded by the late, one and only Mike Lagua ñ a.

It's a humorous song, a kassi na k å nta (teasing song), making fun of a guy who is overly solicitous concerning his pig.  But many people don't know what he's singing, not making out some of the Chamorro words and others not understanding what the Chamorro words mean.

So, here goes...


KÅNTA BABUE


Tengnga ilek-mo ga’-mo i babue
(You often say the pig belongs to you)

Sige hao tengnga chinatge
(You keep getting laughed at)


Yanggen måtto hao an pupuenge
(Whenever you come at night)


Para guiya un asiste
(It's the pig you attend to)

Annai un hålla i tappe’- ñ a

(When you pull his trough)

Ya un fa’gåsi i fache’- ñ a

(and wash away the mud)

Ya despues de un nå’e na’- ñ a
(and after you feed it)


Chinatge hao sa’ l å ml å m nifen- ñ a
(they laugh at you because its teeth shine.)



I wonder where the yellow went
When you brush your teeth with Pepsodent.



Yanggen måtto hao an pupuenge che’lu-ho
(Whenever, brother, you come at night)

Tunanas hao asta i lancho
(you go straight to the ranch)


Ni sikiera un sugo’ nai nåya

(not even to stop by a while)

Ya un ago’ i magågo
(and change your clothes)


Annai humånao hao u mamåsto

(When you go to pasture)

Binatångga hao asta i ba ñ adero
(You're dragged through the muddy puddle)


Annai applacha’ i magågo

(When your clothes get dirty)

Ilek-mo “Ai lokkue’ che’lo!”
(You say, "Oh brother!")


NOTES

~~~This is not a literal translation, because some things are just understood and not spelled out.

~~~Some things are best translated giving the English colloquial equivalent, not necessarily the literal equivalent.

~~~The banter before and after the song is also part of the context.  The first guy is saying how noisy these pigs are.  Mike then says the pigs are his; he has many pigs and he'll sing the story now.

~~~The particular pig he's talking about in the song has a name : Nena', which some people might take exception to because Nena' is a nickname for Ana.  But some Chamorros call out " nena' , nena '" to their pigs.  It's our equivalent to "Oink, oink!"

~~~The main jibe is that the man pays so much attention taking care of his pig that even the pig's teeth are shiny white.  The implication is that the guy brushes the pig's teeth with Pepsodent.  You can see that in the closing banter when Mike says, " Na' gueguesgues, na' å paka' !"  (Brush!  Make it white!)

~~~The refrain is based on an actual Pepsodent commercial :




GERMAN MUSIC IN ROTA

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Rota's Catholic Church during German times
(1899-1914)

Georg Fritz, the German district administrator for the Northern Marianas, visited Luta (Rota) from time to time as part of his official duties.

He describes how the Chamorros in Rota quickly learned German songs and European dances.  Some dances, perhaps, were known since Spanish times and others through German contact.

The Chamorros knew how to dance the waltz, polka, the Rheinl ä nder and the Fran ç aise.

Besides that, German patriotic songs were also being sung in the Catholic church!

Here's one of the German patriotic hymns Fritz said were sung at church in Luta (Rota) :


WHY "ICE" IS "AIS" IN CHAMORRO

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

The Ice Plant in Hag å t ñ a


The island of Guam did not see ice, at least locally-produced ice, until the year 1900.  That was less than a year after the American Navy moved in for good.  The Americans were in a hurry to get their ice.

It was on October 6th of that year that the government Ice Plant was opened, amidst great fanfare.

Since it was the Americans who introduced ice on Guam for the first time, our people just called it what the Americans called it.






Some older Chamorros, especially those with Spanish blood and breeding, may have called it by the Spanish name, hielo . The 1918 von Preissig Chamorro dictionary says that "ice" in Chamorro is called either "ais" or "ielo." But "ais" must have been the more usual word because even von Preissig says that the Chamorros called the "ice plant" the fåbrikan ais , or "ice factory."

Later, in 1921, Pedro Martinez opened his own ice plant as a private business.

When I was growing up, Pedro's Ice Plant was still in business and did a very good business especially after typhoons when the power would be out for weeks and months and there would be no refrigeration.




CODE WORDS

Monday, July 15, 2013
A few months before the Japanese invaded Guam in December of 1941, two Chamorros in Hag å t ñ a were talking.

One was a Chamorro gentleman who had been born in Saipan but who moved to Guam as a young adult.  He knew both the German and Japanese times in Saipan.  Besides his own insight into Japanese plans for the future, communication with relatives still in Saipan may have added to his premonitions.

He told a Chamorro woman, born and raised on Guam, " Fanhongge, siempre man zinozori hit."

" Believe it, we will surely be wearing zori ."

Zori, or Japanese-style slippers, were not used on Guam much before the war.

Perhaps being careful lest he be considered a Japanese sympathizer, he used code words to tell the lady that sooner or later Guam would be overrun by the Japanese.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : FALINGO

Monday, July 15, 2013


FALINGO : to lose , to disappear, to be missing.

Dies libras ha na' falingo!  S/he lost ten pounds!

H å fa malingu-mo?  What did you lose?

D å ngkulo i malingu-ho.  I lost a lot.

Malingo i sal å ppe'.  The money disappeared.

NOTE

Malingo means "lost" as in "not found," or "not visible to the one seeking."

Abak means to lose one's way; to not know where one is or how to proceed or return.

Example :

" Malingo i patgon " means that a child is lost and, up to now, has not been found.

" Abak i patgon " means that a child doesn't know where s/he is and how to get home.

In the Chamorro hymn about the Child Jesus lost in the Temple, part of it goes :

Tayuyute ham, Maria, gi patgon-mo ni malingo .
( Pray for us, Mary, to your child who went missing .)

Our Lord was not abak ; He knew exactly where He was.  But He was missing, lost to Mary who didn't know for three days where He was.

PETDIDO

As a side note, petdido is a Spanish word meaning "lost" and is used in the title for Jesus when He was lost in the Temple. Ni ñ o Perdido means "Lost Child" and is the patron of Asan's Church.

But, among older Chamorros, petdido is also used to mean "lost" but in a very negative way.  It implies a hopeless, irredeemable loss.

Examples :

"M å ngge i salape'-mo?"  (Where is your money?)
"Petdido."  (Lost, as in a bet, and can never return.)

When speaking about someone who is seen as a hopeless alcoholic, drug addict or always in trouble with the law, older people will sometimes say that person is petdido .

This sense, of course, is not applied to the Lost Child Jesus.

MA PUNO' SI PÅLE' DUEÑAS

Friday, July 12, 2013

Father Jesus Baza Due ñ as did not like the Japanese.  Not even the Japanese Catholic priests sent to Guam by order of the Japanese Government.  One of the two Japanese priests stayed for a short while; the other till the American return.

Due ñ as was not liked by the Japanese either.  They considered him a problem.  He put up resistance to Japanese rules as much as he could before he crossed the line.  He tested those lines often.

He wasn't afraid to show his displeasure at Chamorros, too, who cooperated with or who were friendly with the Japanese.

Due ñ as had some information on Tweed, the American radio man who was in hiding, but Due ñ as did not know as much as the Japanese thought he knew.  But that was what the Japanese could pin on him, and that they did.

On July 8, 1944, as the Americans were raining down bombs on Guam and the Japanese had a sense that all was lost; knowing that their bastion up north, Saipan, had already fallen into American hands; in their desperation and anger, the Japanese military police, the Kempeitai, arrested Due ñ as in Inal å han.

In a private residence in Inal å han used by the Japanese, they beat and tortured the priest.  Witnesses told me they saw him hanging by his hands, tied with rope, from the ceiling.

Then, he was taken to Tutuhan (Aga ñ a Heights) to the Butler ranch used by the Kempeitai and beaten some more.

In the dark, early morning hours of July12, he was taken to T å 'i where the Japanese agricultural section of the government, the Kaikontai, had a station.  There he was beheaded, along with three others, including his nephew Edward Due ñ as, the Island Attorney.

Prior to being taken to T å 'i, while he was in Tutuhan, he could have escaped with some other Chamorro detainees, when the guard had nodded off.  But Due ñ as refused, saying, "God will save me."


Father Due ñ as' grave marker in the floor of the sanctuary of Inal å han's Church of Saint Joseph.  After the war, with the aid of a Saipanese interpreter who was present at the beheading of Father Due ñ as, Monsignor Calvo and others had his body dug up, identified and then buried once again in his parish church.

ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Friday, July 12, 2013
This time, we have three, not just two, different uses for the same site in Aga ñ a.


Santa Cruz Church
This was the 2nd Catholic Church in Hag å t ñ a before the war.  It was built on land donated to the church by the original owner, Antonia Cruz Untalan.

As you can see, the church was much too damaged during the American bombardment of 1944.  Besides that, Hag å t ñ a lost almost all of its prior residents and there was no need for a second church anymore.


Catholic Medical Center

In time, the Catholic Church, still owners of that land, decided to build a clinic - the first church-owned clinic on Guam.  It was opened in July of 1955.


The clinic closed sometime at the end of the 60s or early 70s and sat abandoned for some years.  Later, a commercial building was built on the same site and now houses a law firm.

ILEK-ÑA SI PÅLE'

Thursday, July 11, 2013

From a church announcement in 1947 by Monsignor Oscar Calvo in Inal å han :

Hokkok sen bonito todo i selebrasion-ta gi 19 de M å tso.
( All of our celebrations on the 19th of March were very beautiful to the fullest .)

Si Yu'us Ma' å se' ta n å 'e i Se ñ ot Obispo yan si P å le' Superiot yan i pumalon mam å le' ni man m å tto m å gi para u ha mis å ye hit un sen bonito na Misa.
( We give thanks to the Bishop and Father Superior and the other priests who came here to say for us a very beautiful Mass .)

Si Yu'us Ma' å se' nu i kantoran Hag å t ñ a pot i boniton na k å ntan- ñ iha .
( Thanks to the Hag å t ñ a choir for their beautiful songs .)

Si Yu'us Ma' å se' as Alejandro Aquiningoc pot i sen bonito siha na pinent å n- ñ a .
( Thanks to Alejandro Aquiningoc for his very beautiful paintings .)

Katolikon Inal å han, annok na yagin man malago' hit, todo ta na' si ñ a .
( Inarajan Catholics, it shows that if we want, we can do all .)

I che'cho'-ta gi gima'yu'os-ta ma sen aprueba nu i linahyan .
( Our work in our church is very approved by the crowd .)

Hokkok otguyoso yo' nu hamyo .
( My pride in you is complete .)

Hu desesea mohon na u ta na' annok i m å s boniton che'cho'-ta gi mamamaila' na mes gi "Gipot Patrosinio."
( I wish that we will show our best work in the coming month in the "Feast of the Patrosinio .")

Para u sisige ha' maulek i che'cho'-ta, ta fan a'ayuda todos hit ya ta na' guaguaha i espiritun kooperasion giya hita.
( Our work will continue to work well, let us all help each other and let us create the spirit of cooperation among us .)

NOTES
Hokkok .  We normally think of it meaning "finished, depleted."  But the essential meaning is "to the fullest extent."  When something is completely gone, it is gone to the fullest extent.  This is a nice term in Chamorro to express perfection, completion.  I have heard older people say, " Hokkok minagof-ho !"  "My joy is complete!"  "I couldn't be more happy!"  But younger speakers of Chamorro may need to be taught this original meaning of hokkok because today it is only understood to mean "depleted."  Which means when they hear someone say, " Hokkok minagof-ho ," they may be tempted to think it means "I have no more joy," when in reality the person means the exact opposite.

P å le' Superiot .  In 1947, the Catholic Church on Guam was still a mission entrusted to the Capuchin Friars, so their Father Superior had greater status then than he does now.  In fact, in 1947, Father (later Monsignor) Calvo was the only Chamorro priest.  Everyone else was a Capuchin from the U.S. mainland.

Kantora. Means "singer," and female at that. Kantot would be a male singer. Koro means choir.  But here Monsignor is thanking the singers in the choir, who happen to all be women.

Yagin .  Another term that has given way to the predominant use of yanggen .  Both can mean "if" but also "when."  " Yagin malago' hao ," "When you want" or "If you want."

Linahyan . L å hyan means "abundant" or "numerous." Linahyan means a large group of people, a crowd.  Here, Monsignor Calvo means the work of the church people is appreciated by the people, but literally he means "the masses of people, the crowd of people."

OFF TO BILIBID!

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Bilibid Prison in the Philippines
Pre-War American Times

In a reversal of history, criminals from Guam were sent, for a time, to the Philippines, instead of the other way around.

For a hundred years or more, Spain was sending Filipino convicts to the Marianas.  But, under the United States, a few Guam prisoners were sent to Bilibid Prison, south of Manila.

In 1909, for example, Gabriel Benavente Sypingco of Hag å t ñ a, in jail for swindling, was so incorrigible that he was sent to Bilibid.

In the same year, Tiburcio Rodriguez Quitugua of Asan was sent to Bilibid.  He was sentenced to six years in prison for attempted rape.

The practice of sending Guam inmates to Bilibid was discontinued after a while.

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO'

Tuesday, July 9, 2013


Our ma ñ aina prayed in Spanish - a lot!

I am sure many times some of them did not understand what they were saying, but I do know for a fact that many understood the general ideas of the prayer, and some knew the meaning of every word, especially the short phrases.

One of them was :
Entran los angeles!
Afuera los malignos!
(Let the good angels enter, and stay out you bad ones!)

Of course, Chamorros pronounced these words their own way, which differed from Chamorro to Chamorro.

This short prayer was a blessing for the home, to keep the good spirits in, and the bad ones out; those who cause mischief and trouble.

THE GERMAN PRIESTS

Monday, July 8, 2013

THE HOUSE OF HABSBURG
Had power over Spain, parts of Italy, the Low Lands, Austria, Bohemia and Moravia

We are accustomed in our islands to speaking about Spanish governors, Spanish priests, Spanish soldiers, Spanish settlers.

Spaniards certainly did come here, in all those capacities.  But "Spain" was a vast empire.  When Spain ruled the Marianas in the late 1600s and in the early 1700s, the territory controlled by the Spanish king included parts of what is now Belgium, Austria, Italy and the Czech Republic (besides all its colonies in the Americas and the Philippines).

This is because through marriages and inheritance, the same royal family that ruled Spain ruled these other areas of Europe.  That family was the House of Habsburg.

This map shows you in green the areas of Europe ruled by that House at one time :


If you look at the area pointed to by the large black arrow, you're looking at an area that was largely German in orientation.  Some parts, like Austria, were truly German in race and language.  Other areas, like Moravia and Bohemia (today the Czech Republic) were a mix of German and Slavic peoples.

So when the Spanish Jesuits sent missionaries to the Marianas, they opened the door to Jesuit priests from these areas as well.  The Marianas had priests from what is now Belgium and southern Italy.  But a good number of these non-Spanish missionaries were also German; not from what is today called the country of Germany, but people who were German in race and/or language.

Some of these German Jesuits on Guam came at the very beginning, like :

Father Augustine Strobach, who was from Moravia (modern-day Czech Republic).  He was killed by Chamorro opponents of the Catholic mission in Tinian in the year 1684.

There was also Father Karl von Boranga.  He was from Vienna, Austria.  He, too, was killed by some Chamorros, in Rota, also in the year 1684.

Not all were killed.  Father John Tilpe was a priest on Guam in the 1690s.

Another was Father Matthias Kuklein, also here in the 1690s.  He went by a Spanish form of his last name - Cuculino.  That's how some people did it back then.  When they worked among a different language group, they changed their names to fit in with the new group.

A Father Victor Walter worked on Guam but in 1731 went with another Jesuit to try and establish a Catholic mission in the Carolines.   They didn't succeed; the other Jesuit was killed and Walter returned to Guam.

German Jesuits continued to work in the Marianas till the very end.

The last group of Jesuits to work on Guam before they were all expelled in 1769 by the King of Spain included two Germans :

Fathers Francis Stengel and Francis Reitenberger.



When Guam was separated in 1899 from the rest of the Marianas, which went to Germany, the German Capuchins in Saipan tried to place German priests on Guam in the 1900s.

The American Naval Government, the leaders of the Chamorro community on Guam and, to a little extent, the Spanish Capuchins on Guam, all opposed it.

The Chamorro leaders said, "We don't know the German people, language or customs!  We know the Spanish!"

But the German Capuchins tried to convince the Guam Chamorros, "But your very own founder and martyr, Sanvitores, had German priests working with him.  German priests used to work in your islands for many years!"

It didn't work.  German priests were never allowed to work on Guam under the American flag.

MA SUSEDE UN DIA

Friday, July 5, 2013

Santa Cruz, Hag å t ñ a.  March 1, 1869.

Jose de Salas had a habit of testing the strength of his gunpowder, obtained from a whaling ship.

He'd put a little powder in his hand and light it!

Unfortunately, his young daughter Dolores saw him do it, and decided one day to try it herself.  Except that this time she put too much, I suppose, and created a huge explosion.

She lived only five hours after the explosion, but confessed her sins and received the Last Rites.  Two other sisters were burned, but survived.  The explosion also caused a fire, which was quickly put out.

MAN E'EYAK MAMA'TINAS NA' CHAMORRO

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

"Flirtacious Kitchen"

A Chamorro language class at UOG turned to the fun and practical; cooking Chamorro food.


The class divided into teams and demonstrated how to cook specific Chamorro recipes.  The Chamorro language was used as much as possible in the menus, recipes and conversation.

Lumpian Aga'
( Banana Rolls )
Cutting up the dough for the Bu ñ uelos M å nglo'
Bu ñ uelos M å nglo' are simple flour donuts and literally mean "wind fritters."  It could be so-called because they are so light, but there's also the belief that they were named after the typhoons, which blow a lot of wind.  Apparently, when the electricity was out because of the typhoons, women fried up these bu ñ uelos .

Frying the donuts.



Gollai Å ppan Kamute

Sweet potatoes were imported to Guam from Mexico.  Many Mexican soldiers and lay catechists were brought to Guam by the Spaniards.  In Gollai Å ppan style, the starch is cooked in coconut milk.

In Saipan, they don't use the term Gollai Å ppan .  They say Saibok .


Thickening the custard to top the sponge cake ( broas ) to make latiya .

Latiya comes from the Spanish natilla , or "custard."  The root of that word is nata , or "cream."  In Saipan, they pronounce it lantiyas .


The recipe for Bu ñ uelos M å nglo' written in both Chamorro and English.

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Å ntes de un f å tto guihe,
esta hao gaige guine.

( Before you arrive there,
you are already here .)


This journey into the illogical was simply n å na's way of saying : make it fast.

Grandma is making latiya and ran out of carnation milk.

She yells, " Antonio!  Chule' este na sal å ppe' ya un falak i tenda ya un fah å ne yo' carnation milk !"

"Antonio!  Take this money and go to the store and buy me carnation milk!"

Little Antonio takes the money and heads out the door.

Then, he hears, " Å ntes de un f å tto guihe, esta hao gaige guine!"

Antonio scratches his head and looks at the floor.  Then scampers off.

ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Å NTES

Hon. Madeleine Bordallo and daughter Debbie in front of the Guam Academy of Music and Arts (GAMA).  I remember hearing the sound of the piano and dance teachers loudly giving instructions coming out of the windows.

Paco de la Cruz also ran a travel agency from this building.  I remember the logo he had, either on a sign or a poster, near the entrance : Cruise with Cruz, or something along those lines.

Back in the late 70s, there also used to be a Korean restaurant in the little section in between the main GAMA building and the neighboring "PanAm" building.  I hung out at the Guam Legislature across the street every afternoon in the late 70s, either as a student employee or political volunteer in those days.  They would play classical music to accompany my Korean food.  That's where I fell in love with chapchae for the first time.

The building displaying the PanAm sign has had many lives over the years.  I think the Trust Territory headquarters were here for awhile, if I remember my mother's comment correctly.  She worked for the TT for a bit.  In 1978, it was the campaign HQ for the Calvo-Ada gubernatorial team.  I seem to remember Charles Troutman's Compiler of Laws office being in this building, too.



P Å 'GO

Today the GAMA building is the Emporium store.  The small section sandwiched between the two larger buildings is a private residence, I think, judging from the look of it when I passed by one time recently and saw an elderly Asian man looking out from what appeared to be his living room.  The once PanAm building is now the Padre Pio Catholic book store.

HOW CLOSE WHERE THE HOUSES?

Monday, July 1, 2013


As you can see, Hag å t ñ a was one crowded city before World War II.

There was very little space between many of the houses.  Around 10,000 people had to squish into that limited area in the 1930s.

One lady told me the story how her grandmother made a living being a seamstress.  After she was done making a dress, she would call outside her window to the next home, asking for a woman in the neighbor's house who more or less fit the dress she had made.

She'd ask the woman, child or adult as the case may be, to try on the dress.  The lady would try on the dress and model it from her own home, while grandma the seamstress examined it from her own home!  Then pass the dress from home to home through the window!

Yes, that's how close.

FAMILIA : RODRIGUEZ

Friday, June 28, 2013
my.opera.com
Rodriguez is a very common last name in Spain and Latin America.  But there are only a hand-full of Chamorro Rodriguezes on Guam.

Only one male has it as a last name in the Guam census of 1897.  Mariano Lujan Rodriguez of Hag å t ñ a, married to Fermina de los Santos (but according to other records, Fermina's last name was Salas).  Sometimes there was inconsistency using the father's last name and the mother's last name, since Chamorros used both, as they learned from the Spanish,

Then there are three Hag å t ñ a women, all single, with the last name Rodriguez.

That's it.

But my great-grandfather was Pedro Rodriguez Torres.  How he is related to Mariano, if at all, is not known, but I was always told that we were related to all Rodriguezes and I knew one lady who was a Rodriguez and we paid her respect as an older relative.

There were both Spanish and Filipino Rodriguezes among the soldiers on Guam in 1727.  But it's difficult to connect Mariano, or my great-grandfather with these.  I also remember hearing some talk about us possibly being Portuguese Rodriguezes.  A number of Portuguese came to Guam on the whaling ships and settled (for example, Pereira).  The Portuguese spell it Rodrigues, but if a Portuguese Rodrigues settled on Spanish Guam, it would have been spelled according to Spanish usage.

The Meaning of the Name

Almost all Spanish names ending in -ez (Perez, Sanchez, Gonzalez) mean "son of."  Perez is son of Pedro; Sanchez is son of Sancho; Gonzalo is son of Gonzalo.

So Rodriguez is son of Rodrigo.  Rodrigo is the Spanish version of Roderick, which comes from the Germans.  German tribes invaded Spain a long time ago.

IMBILIKERO

Wednesday, June 26, 2013


Annai man dikkike' ham, hame yan i ma ñ e'lu-ho, kada man malago' ham para in tingo' h å fa ilek- ñ i ñ iha i ma ñ ainan-m å me, siempre manohge ham gi fi'on i petta.
( When we were small, me and my siblings, every time we wanted to know what our elders were saying, we would stand by the door .)

Todo i tiempo, yanggen guaha h å fa para u ma s å ngan, ya ti man malago' i ma ñ ainan-m å me na i famagu'on u tungo' h å fa ma s å s å ngan, siempre manguentos siha gi halom apusento, ya man ma t å go' ham i famagu'on para in fa ñ å ga ha' gi s å la pat gi sanhiyong.
( All the time, if there was something to be said, and our elders didn't want the children to know what was being said, they would speak in the private rooms, and they would send us to remain in the living room or outside .)

Lao guaha na bi å he na ha siente si nanan-m å me pat si bihan-m å me na mangagaige hame gi fi'on i petta, ya siempre kumakkak .  Gigon in hingok na ha cho'gue ennao, esta in tingo' na guaha siempre para u ma saolak an monh å yan siha manguentos .
( But there were times that our mother or grandmother sensed that we were by the door, and she would make the noise of clearing her throat.  The moment we heard that she did that, we already know that someone would certainly get spanked when they were done talking .)

Pues un bi å he, ilek- ñ a i m å s å mko' na che'lu-ho, "Nihi!  Ta fan malak i saddok !"
( So one time, my oldest brother said, "Let's go!  We'll go to the river !")

"Para h å fa hit gi saddok?" hu faisen gue'.
("For what purpose are we going to the river?" I asked him .)

"P å kkaka'!  Nihi!" ilek- ñ a.
(" Quiet!  Let's go!" he said .)

An monh å yan ham man o'mak gi saddok, in bira ham t å tte gi gima', ya ha sodda' ham si n å na na man fotgot ham .
( When we finished bathing in the river, we returned back home, and mom found us all wet .)

"Ginen mano hamyo?" ilek- ñ a.
( She said, "Where have you been ?")

Manoppe i m å s å mko' na che'lu-ho, "Man o'mak ham gi saddok ."
( My oldest brother answered, "We bathed in the river .")

Pues ennao mina' ha po'lo si nanan-m å me na å he' ti est å ba hame gi fi'on i petta ume'ekungok siha yan i palo na ma ñ ainan-m å me .
( And that's why our mother believed that no, we weren't by the door listening to her and the rest of our elders .)

Lao ha sang å ne ham, "Otro bi å he, masea m å no para en hanaogue, fanmang å gao lisensia fine'na !"
( But she told us, "Next time, no matter where you're going, ask permission first!")

En fin, mam å ra ham man ekkungok h å fa kuentos- ñ i ñ iha i ma ñ ainan-m å me sa' ti in tingo' meggai na pal å bras.  Ti in tingo' h å fa adotterio, h å fa abale, h å fa guma'chong.
( In the end, we stopped listening to what our elders were talking about because we didn't know a lot of words.  We didn't know what was adultery, immorality or cohabitation .)

Pues ilek-m å me, "Para h å fa hit ta ekkungok siha, sa' t å ya' probecho-ta!"
( We said, "Why should we listen to them, we don't get anything out of it !")

OFFICIALS OF AGAT & SUMAY IN 1876

Wednesday, June 26, 2013


In 1876, Sumay was still considered a sub-division of Agat.  The two officials in Sumay reported to the major civil authority in Agat.

These Chamorro officials were appointed by the Spanish Governor, after a consultative vote by the village elite was taken.  The parish priest also sent in his comments about the candidates.

Jose MENDIOLA
Gobernadorcillo, or village head

Jose LEON GUERRERO
Teniente (second-in-command)

Juan de la CRUZ
Juez de Sementeras y Ganados (an agricultural officer)

Antonio LEON GUERRERO
Alguacil (warden or peace officer)

In Sumay, there was

Joaquin IGLESIAS
Teniente (second-in-command for Sumay)

Mariano MU Ñ A
Alguacil (of Sumay)

What I notice in this list is the absence of the indigenous H å gat names like Babauta, Aquiningoc, Nededog.  The Hispanic names reflect families originally from Hag å t ñ a who moved down to H å gat in later years.

In Sumay, the whole village was made up of former Hag å t ñ a residents, and a handful of former H å gat villagers.

NORTH KOREA VERSUS GUAM

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Jose had a bit too much to drink at the family BBQ and decided to call up Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of North Korea.

"Mr. Kim," he says, "we on Guam have decided we're not going to wait to see if your threats are real or not.  We've just declared war on you."

Kim asks Jose, "How many troops do you have?"

Jose looks around and says, "Well, there's me, and my cousin Ankie, and my neighbor si Big Ben, three dudes from GPA and the whole fire station crew from down the street.  That makes 11 of us."

Kim says, "Well, I gotta tell you.  I have 100,000 troops lined up for Guam alone."

Jose says, "Sus Maria!  I gotta get back to you then."

The next day Jose calls up Kim and says, "The war is still on.  We lucked out and got ourselves some armored vehicles."

"And what would that be?" asks Kim.

Jose says, "My brother's tractor, the village mayor's Ram pickup truck and a bulldozer we found at an abandoned construction site."

Kim says, "Well, I have 6,000 tanks and 5,000 armored personnel carriers.  And I increased my troops to 150,000."

Jose says, "Ai lokkue'!  OK, I get back to you tomorrow."

The next day, Jose calls and says, "The war's still on, we got ourselves a navy!"

"And what does this navy have?" asks Kim.

"Two fishing boats from the boat basin, five jet ski boats from my cousin's business and a tug boat they're no longer using at Commercial Port."

Kim says, "Well, I have 4 submarines, 3 destroyers and 30 landing craft.  Plus, I now have put aside 200,000 troops for the invasion of Guam."

"Dios nos libre!" says Jose, "I'll call again tomorrow."

The following day, Jose calls and says, "Mr. Kim, sorry but the war is off."

Kim says, "Sorry to hear that.  But why the sudden change of plans?"

Jose says, "Well, we had another BBQ and discussed this seriously over flank steak kelaguen and beer, and there's just no way we on Guam can house and feed 200,000 North Korean prisoners!"

SI TAN AMA

Tuesday, June 25, 2013


She lived till just about two months shy of her 103rd birthday.

Maria Naputi Mantano ñ a, better known as Ama, was the mother of 12 children, and outlived 8 of them.  She lived in the village of Inal å han.

She had so many children that her younger sister helped raise some of them.

Her husband Pedro was remarkable in that he did the cooking when he came home from work, and also the laundry, in order to spare his wife those chores.  She had more than enough work tending to a dozen children.

She was a good seamstress and would never throw any fabric or clothing away. " Mungnga ma yute' i matitek na magagu-mo !" she would say. "Don't throw away you torn clothes!"  She would mend them over and over again, no matter how old they were.

Her husband was somewhat glad she had much work to do indoors.  He preferred that she not leave the house much, as she was a beautiful woman!

She was fond of novenas and held several of them throughout the year.  She taught her daughters and nieces to pray to Santa Maria for themselves; to San Jose for their husbands, especially to find work; and to the Ni ñ o Jesus (Infant Jesus) for their children.

December 8 (the Immaculate Conception) was her biggest devotion and she would call all the family to the nobena at her house nine days prior, and to arrive between 5 and 6pm.

She lead that devotion all the way into her 90s.  But eventually she made her younger sister lead the nobena and then, after her, she taught her even younger niece how to lead it.  How else would the devotion stay alive in the family after she had died?

SAN JUAN DE GUAJAN

Monday, June 24, 2013

Catholics today will be celebrating the feast of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist.

Ordot parish on Guam celebrated it this past weekend, as he is their village patron.

But few remember that Sanvitores gave Guam, or Guahan, a patron saint as well, and it was Saint John the Baptist.

The map above was printed in France, and so it says "Isle de Guahan" (Island of Guam) ou (or) "Isle St. Jean" (Saint John Island).


Chief Quipuha (Kepuha) was also baptized by Sanvitores and given the name Juan, because San Juan Bautista was the patron of the whole island.

It's not surprising that the name "San Juan" did not stick.  Even the Spaniards rarely used it when naming the island in their records.

HONEYDEW BUCKETS

Sunday, June 23, 2013
Years ago, an older gentleman told me that long before the war, maybe in the 1920s, not everybody had indoor plumbing in Hag å t ñ a.

As a matter of fact, in the 1920s, the majority didn't.

There were even public latrines and outhouses along the reef in Hag å t ñ a, which you could access by walking on long slender bridges from the beach out to the reef.

According to this gentleman, some families could be seen sending their sons each morning with buckets of their bodily wastes from the night before out to these reef-side outhouses to dump the buckets.

Locals gave these a pretty-sounding name in English : honeydew buckets.

DEPOPULATING LUTA

Saturday, June 22, 2013
More than once, the idea of shipping everyone from Luta (Rota) to Guam came up during Spanish times.  The population would hover around 300 people and some officials felt that these small numbers could easily move to Guam and no effort need be spent on running civil and church affairs on the island.
It never happened under Spain, but it was even considered by the Germans.
A very bad typhoon in November of 1913 which ruined some crops and damaged many homes was the impetus for this consideration.  Since Guam was under the Americans, the idea was to bring the 480 Rotanese to Saipan and settle in the Laulau area.
Luta, bereft of people, could then be leased to a private company to make money through agriculture.
But the idea did not push through, and the Japanese took over the Northern Marianas in 1914.  The Japanese idea was to do the work themselves (with Okinawans and Koreans) turning the island into a source of income through agriculture but also by mining phosphate.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : POTPOT

Friday, June 21, 2013


POTPOT : thick in appearance

Potpot labios- ñ a!  His/her lips are thick!

Mungnga sa' mampos potpot este na mag å go.  No because this fabric is too thick.

Chule' i petpot na lepblo.  Take the thick book.

Pinetpot.  Thickness.

Maolek pinetpot- ñ a.  It has good thickness.



FLORES AND PALTING : FILIPINO EXILES

Thursday, June 20, 2013

It is well known that Apolinario Mabini was exiled to Guam in early 1901.  With him were other familiar names of the Philippine nationalist movement against the United States occupation : Ricarte, who later supported the Japanese; del Pilar, Trias and others.  All told, 33 of them and 13 servants.  They were housed in a camp at Asan Point.

But less known was a second batch of Filipino political exiles.  This smaller group of 11 men arrived just a few weeks after the first, aboard the USS Solace , on February 1, 1901.  This group of men were from the Ilocos region.


They were :

Roberto Salvante
Marcelo Quintos
Jaime Morales
Gabino Domingo
Florencio Castro
Inocente Cayetano
Pedro Hernando
Pancracio Adiarte
Faustino Adiarte

and two Filipinos who decided to remain on Guam, even though they eventually could have returned to the Philippines had they wanted to :

Pancracio Palting
Leon Flores

Palting became a judge in the local court.  His son Paul served in the Guam Legislature after the war.

Flores was a teacher and lawyer.  He was the father of the first Chamorro bishop, Felixberto Camacho Flores.


ASAN POINT
Camp site of the Filipino exiles 1901-1903

THE STORY OF CAIN & ABEL IN CHAMORRO

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Si Adan yan si Eva meggai lal å hen- ñ iha yan h å gan- ñ iha.  I finene'na siha si Cain yan si Abel.  Si Cain gumu å gu å lo', yan si Abel mamomoksai kinilo.  Guaha lokkue' este na diferensia entre i dos chume'lo : si Abel ha ma'a ñ a ñ aogue si Yu'us, si Cain å he'.

Un dia, manofrese i dos chume'lo sakrifisio gi as Yu'us, kuentan agradesimiento pot i meggai na bendision ni ha resibe ginen i kannai Yu'us.

Si Abel ha sakrifika i finene'na i patgon i ga'- ñ a g å 'ga' siha, lao si Cain manofrese i tinekcha i atbot siha yan i produkton i tano'.

Magof si Yu'us nu i sakrifision Abel, lao ti magof as Cain.

Sumen layo' si Cain gi as Abel ya, gi fehman na binibu- ñ a, ha huchom i korason- ñ a kontra i che'lu- ñ a.

Sinang å ne si Cain as Yu'us, "Pot h å fa na un na' fehman i binibu-mo kontra i che'lu-mo?  Gin maulek mohon i fina'tin å s-mo, hu sen guaiya hao pareho yan i che'lu-mo.  Lao tailaye i fina'tin å s-mo, ya taiguennao gusise' u f å tto i kastigu-mo."  Lao si Cain ti ha atiende si Yu'us.

Otro dia, umasodda' i dos chume'lo ya kinembida si Abel gi as Cain para u siha i dos gi halom t å no', ya si Abel inosente m å 'pos ha'; ha dalalak i che'lu- ñ a, sin u hallum h å f na tailaye, ya annai est å ba esta i dos gi halom t å no', si Cain ha puno' i che'lu- ñ a as Abel.


Entonses ilek- ñ a si Yu'us gi as Cain, "M å ngge i che'lu-mo as Abel?"

Manoppe si Cain, "Hekkua', ti hu tungo'.  Adda' gu å ho i pipulan i che'lu-ho?"

Si Yu'us ilek- ñ a nu guiya, "H å f fina'tin å s-mo? I haga' i che'lu-mo kum å k å te a'gang ginen i edda' guine m å gi giya Gu å ho.  Sa' pot h å go un na' gimen i tano' nu i haga' i che'lu-mo, ni ma chuda' pot i kanai-mo, hu matdise i tano' p å 'go kontra h å go.  Yanggen un t å nme, ti un nina'e tinekcha, ya ti un tungo' para m å no hao guato gi hilo' t å no' mientras l å la'la' hao."

Ilek- ñ a si Cain, "Mampos d å ngkulo i isao-ho.  Bai hu h å nao, ya bai hu atok gi me'n å -mo.  Ya kuatkiera ha' ni sumodda' yo', u puno' yo'."

Si Yu'us ineppe gue',"Ti u taiguennao!  Kuatkiera ha' ni pumuno' si Cain, bai hu ap å se siette beses."  Ya ha po'lo si Yu'us un se ñ å t gi as Cain, para t å ya' ni uno na u sinedda' ya u pinino'.  Despues, hum å nao si Cain gi me'nan Yu'us, taisaga ya ti ha tungo' para m å no gue' guato gi hilo' t å no'.



NOTA BENE

As in all proper names, I keep the original Spanish spelling, like Jose, Francisco and Maria.

So in this story of Cain and Abel, Cain is pronounced Ka - EEN, with the stress on the last syllable.  And Abel is pronounced Ah - BET, again with the stress on the last syllable.

I had to point that out since these two names are spelled the same in English and Spanish.

FAMILY LIFE IN 1946

Wednesday, June 5, 2013


Chamorro family after the war


From the viewpoint of an American missionary written in 1946, describing the typical Chamorro family :

" How unusual in this modern generation to see children respectful to their elders; young girls being chaperoned - no matter where or with whom they go; boys listening to the wishes of their fathers and obeying to the very letter of the law; young girls learning all the arts of home life before contemplating marriage; young boys being able to support a family by the use of his own hands before this sacred step is taken.

Parents are truly the rulers of their homes, but they rule with love.  The attachments of fathers and mothers for their children is very evident, and accompanied by more outward manifestations than we find in the States.  All children and young people are taught to greet their parents and old people upon entering the room by kissing them or bowing to them or raising their hands to their lips - or more correctly their noses - the Chamorro phrase for this is 'smelling the hand.'  The mark of respect is also extended to the priests, or pales .

At social gatherings, one never sees the children; they are outside playing, quietly, and never need to be reprimanded when guests are present.  (Like all other children they are full of mischief.)  If one eats at the table with a family you will be quite impressed to find the servers none other than the boys of the family, and sometimes the girls.  This they do with complete poise and courtesy.  The attitude of the young boys for their parents is extremely edifying.  Parents still have a great deal to say about the conduct of their children, whom they shall marry, what they shall do in life, etc."

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN....

Saturday, June 1, 2013
GERMAN MEASLES BECOMES...

simplynetworking.es

...GERMAN MISSILES

brianz.org


Sometime ago I was speaking with an elderly man and he brought up the subject of how many members of his family, during his father’s time in the 1910’s, died of the sarampi ó n .

I had never heard that word before, sarampi ó n .

So I asked him, “ H å fa sarampi ó n ?” “What is sarampi ó n ?”

And he replied, “German missiles.”

Now, keep in mind he pronounced “missiles” like “missals.” To rhyme with “whistles,” not “hair styles.”

So, I said, “ Ta’lo fan ?” “Say it again, please?”

And he repeated, “German missiles.”

So I just kept wondering, “Why would the German ships come here and fire missiles and kill a whole bunch of people in the 1910s? The Germans never fired a single shot here in the 1910s.”  But I dropped the subject.

A few days later I bumped into an older lady and asked her, “ H å fa sarampi ó n ?”

And she said, “German measles.”

OBSOLETE CHAMORRO : YEGON

Friday, May 31, 2013

Today's Catholic feast of the Visitation reminds me of a Chamorro word that no one uses any more.

The word is yegon .

P å le' Rom á n is the only one that I know, so far, who uses the word.  It means "to visit."

Neither Ib á ñ ez nor von Preissig have it in their dictionaries, which are older than P å le' Rom á n's.

Today, we uniformly use the Spanish loan-word bisita.

So imagine if we said today,

" H å fa na un yeyegon ham ?"  " Why are you visiting us ?"

" Nihi ya ta yegon i sementeyo ."  " Let's go visit the cemetery ."

" In yegon meggai siha na lug å t ." " We visited many places ."

We could also say fatoigue , which means "to come to."

Or, less likely but still possibly, e'ga'ga' , which means "to look for, to inspect, to verify" and so on.

Some people today want us to get rid of all Spanish loan-words and go back to purely Chamorro words, but it will take a long and arduous effort to do that.  Try getting some 50,000 or more, many of whom have been speaking Chamorro all their life, to drop a word they've been using for 60 or more years, to switch to a word they've never seen or heard before.

P å le' Rom á n uses yegon in one of his devotional books, and several techa have come to me completely bewildered.  When I explain the meaning to them, they still balk at using the word.  We are creatures of habit.

God only know where P å le' Rom á n learned the word.  He may have had notes written by Padre Palomo or other older missionaries, or he could have been able to speak with a very old Chamorro who hadn't died yet in the influenza epidemic of 1918 which killed many old-timers.

Finally, from what I know of the preferred sounds of Chamorro, I would wonder if the word should be spelled yeggon .  It 's still quite possible that the word was pronounced ye - gon.  Since P å le' Rom á n did not use the glota ( ' ), it's also possible that the word was actually ye'gon .  That's the difficulty of reviving lost words.  How were they truly pronounced?  No one is alive to tell us!

KING COPRA

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Under the Spaniards, our Chamorro ancestors mainly grew just what they needed to feed their families.  Despite some attempts by some Spanish governors, the Marianas could not become an exporting community.  Why should it, when the Spanish governor was ensured to make the most money off of such trade?

Under the Americans, there was a feeling that the farmer could actually make a handsome living.  The Naval Government encouraged local planters to grow for export.  One of the main crops was copra.

Copra is the dried meat of the coconut.  Out of that was extracted coconut oil, which was used in a wide variety of products, from soaps to cosmetics to home cooking.

Mariano Rivera Leon Guerrero in Inal å han and Vicente Due ñ as Torres in Malesso' were some of the promoters of copra production in the south.

The main buyers were the United States and Japan.  From a mere $22,000 in copra sales made in 1920, Guam was selling $156,000 worth of copra to the U.S. and Japan by the year 1930.

I remember Ton Enrique Chaco Reyes of H å gat telling me about Baltazar Bordallo's large copra plantation around Atant å no, where the turn-off is from Big Navy to H å gat and Santa Rita.

CHETNOT MAIPE YAN SAN ROQUE

Saturday, May 25, 2013


Told by a woman from Inal å han.  July of 1944 during World War II :

Gi annai esta para u fan h å lom i Amerik å no, ya ma tutuhon ma bomba i isla,
( When the Americans were ready to come in, and the bombing of the island started ,)

Ha å gang ham todos si tatan-m å me.
( Our dad called all of us .)

Lao ti ma sodda' i m å s å mko' na che'lun-m å me l å he.
(But our oldest brother wasn't found .)

Ma sokne si bihan-m å me na guiya kumonne' i che'lun-m å me para u ga'chong- ñ a.
( They supposed that our grandmother took him to be her companion .)

Lao ti in tingo' am å no na gaige i dos.
( But we didn't know where those two were .)

Pues hame man attok ham gi halom un liyang.
( So we hid inside a cave.)

Despues, annai esta man m å tto i Amerik å no ya manhuyong todo i taotao ,
( Later, when the Americans came and the people came out)

Man a'sodda' ham yan si bihan-m å me yan i che'lun-m å me,
( We met our grandmother and our brother,)

ya pokpopok atdet i pat å s- ñ a i che'lun-m å me.
( and our brother's foot was really swollen.)

"Am å no na est å ba hamyo na dos?" ilek- ñ a si tat å -ho.
( My father said, "Where have you two been?")

Man oppe si bih å -ho, "Hu konne' este ya umattok ham gi liyang giya Malojloj."
( My grandmother answered, "I took him and we hid in a cave in Malojloj .")

Ya in pe'lo na guaha h å fa na taotaomo'na guihe na liyang ya nina'ye si che'lun-m å me ni chetnot maipe.
( And we supposed that there was some ancient spirit there in that cave and our brother got sick from the spirit .)

Si bihan-m å me ha konne' si che'lun-m å me para as San Roque giya Barrigada ya ayo ha' na mum å gong i chetnot- ñ a chetnot maipe .
( Our grandmother took our brother to San Roque in Barrigada and only then did his sickness abate .)

This short and simple story is full of cultural and linguistic tidbits :

Chetnot maipe - is the term used for a sickness caused by, so it is believed, the spirit of an ancestor.  Literally it means "hot sickness," meaning it causes inflammation of some kind, like a swollen foot, ankle or hand.  Western medicine cannot cure it.  From the gist of the story, Chamorros would assume that the boy did something inside the cave to upset a spirit, like urinating or disturbing the place or making noise.

Bomba - the older meaning is "to pump."  There was no word for "bombing" since airplanes dropping bombs is a new reality.  But older Chamorros use the word also for the modern kind of bombing.  In Spanish, the bomb itself is called bomba ; bombardear is the verb in Spanish "to bomb."

Che'lun-m å me l å he - There is no separate Chamorro words for "sister" or "brother." Che'lo means both brother or sister.  To distinguish them, we add "l å he" or "male" for "brother" and "palao'an" or "woman" for "sister."

Sokne - means "to accuse" but here it is not used in a derogatory way.  Here it means "to allege, purport, imply, suggest" as a way of explaining something.

P å tas - this shows this is a Guam Chamorro speaking, because originally the word for "foot" is addeng . P å tas was only an animal's foot, or the leg of a table or chair.  In the rest of the Marianas addeng is still used for the human foot.

M å gong - not to be confused with m å hgong .  The latter means "peace" and the former means "to be cured of, relieved of a sickness."

San Roque - a healing saint.  His chapel was in Barrigada since before the war.  He himself had a sore on his leg, as can be seen in his statue.  Veneration for him was strong among Chamorros for relief from sickness, especially contagious diseases.


The story shows a combination of both ancient and Spanish-influenced thinking.  The cause of the sickness is the irritated spirit of an ancestor; the cure for the sickness is a Catholic saint!

THE BURNING OF HINAPSAN CHURCH

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Hinapsan (usually spelled Jinapsan) is in the north of Guam, east of Litekyan (Ritidian) Point.

Around 1680, the Spaniards gathered the Chamorros in the area and consolidated them in a large village at Hinapsan.

The Chamorros themselves worked to build a church there, in honor of San Miguel (Saint Michael the Archangel).  A solemn dedication was planned for February of 1681.  But at midnight on February 3rd, someone set fire to it.  As the wood was dry (February is usually a dry and breezy month), the fire spread quickly and all was lost within the hour; the church, the images, the vestments.  Apparently the priest was not living there yet as he and a brother companion had to be called, and too late, for the fire had already engulfed the structure.

The Chamorros were afraid that the priest would abandon them, and they feared reprisals from the military, but the priest promised he would not leave them and sent the Jesuit brother instead to report the fire to the authorities in Hag å t ñ a.

In the meantime, the Chamorros must have kept thinking what might happen, and fear overtook them.  They decided to all get in boats and sail for Luta (Rota), just forty miles away.


Luta (Rota) seen from northern Guam

When the Spaniards from Hag å t ñ a finally reached Hinapsan, all they found there was the Jesuit priest and his few companions.  They all packed their bags and returned to Hag å t ñ a with the soldiers to wait and see if the Hinapsan people would return from Luta.

Dedications for other new churches in the other parts of Guam went on as scheduled, to show the others that this one incident would not deter them.  The villagers of P å go, for example, stationed guards at their own church to make sure no one burnt it down.

The Hinapsan people, despite promises of the Spaniards to treat them well, refused to return.  The Spaniards had tried to convince them that they were not considered guilty, since the people did not harm the priest when he arrived in Hinapsan.  But they wouldn't budge.

So in April, the Spaniards sailed to Luta and were met with resistance by both Luta and Hinapsan Chamorros.  In the fight, the Chamorros fled inland, and the Spaniards burnt down the village erected there for the Hinapsan Chamorros.

But the Hinapsan Chamorros remained in Luta for a time.  A new church in Hinapsan was built, but, in time, the northernmost mission was closed and the Chamorros there moved to southern locations.  By the 1700s, all the mission activity - churches and schools - would be in the central and southern parts of Guam. The north became purely ranching country.


Latte Stones in Hinapsan
Reminders of the ancient Chamorro villages that dotted Guam's coastline

DANGEROUS WORDS : HÅGO LA'MON

Wednesday, May 22, 2013


H å go la'mon means "It's up to you."

Very dangerous words to interpret when your n å na (mother, grandmother) is the one telling you this.

H å go : Nang, kao debi de hu fanasiste gi lis å yon Auntie Chai la'mona?
( You : Mom/Granny, should I attend Auntie Chai's rosary tonight ?)

Nang : H å go la'mon.
( Mom/Granny : It's up to you .)

Later that night, after not attending the rosary, your n å na whacks you with her sangkletas (slipper) as you enter your house.

H å go : Nang!  H å fa isao-ho?
( You : Mom!  What wrong did I do?)

Nang : Ti malak i lis å yo hao!
( Mom : You didn't go to the rosary !)

H å go : Ilek-mo na gu å ho la'mon!
( You : You said it's up to me!)

This is followed by a second whack with her slippers.  End of story.

FAMILIA : SARMIENTO

Monday, May 20, 2013

Although there were three people who carried the name Sarmiento in Hag å t ñ a in 1897, all three were women, so the name is mainly associated with Sumay / Santa Rita, where one male Sarmiento was able to keep the name alive through his son.

Prior to this, we see no trace of the Sarmientos in earlier censuses, so I suspect that one single Sarmiento came to Guam in the late 1700s, early 1800s; from where is anybody's guess, though the name is Spanish and he could have been Hispanic or Filipino.

The three women Sarmientos in Hag å t ñ a all had Taitano for a middle name, whereas the one and only male Sarmiento, who lived in Sumay, had Salas for a middle name.  He was slightly older than the three women, who could have been his cousins or perhaps half-sisters, sharing the same father (Sarmiento) but different mothers (a second marriage).

The Sumay Sarmientos are better-known-as the Ñ arak family, for reasons I don't know.

The Meaning of the Name

Sarmiento is a Spanish word meaning "shoot of the vine."

cmackay.cl
This is a sarmiento.

plusesmas.com

SAN ISIDRO DE GARAPAN

Wednesday, May 15, 2013


It's almost all but forgotten now, but San Isidro (whose feast is today) was once a "big shot" in Saipan.

We must remember that the Spanish priests had the custom of sometimes naming one patron saint for the town or village, and another for the church building itself.

The most prominent, but now forgotten, example is Hag å t ñ a, the capital of the Marianas at one time.  The patron of the city is San Ignacio.  The patroness of the church is Dulce Nombre de Maria.

In Malesso', San Dimas for the village; Our Lady of the Rosary for the church.

In Inal å han, San Jose for the village; Our Lady of Consolation for the church.  All but forgotten.

This custom did not occur in every case.  In Hum å tak, San Dionisio is patron of both village and church.

In Saipan, the patron of the town of Garapan was, at one time, San Isidro.  Notice the parish seal above.  The parish was coterminous with the town.  It says, " Parroquia de S. Isidro de Garapan ."  Or, "Parish of San Isidro of Garapan."

The seal, probably made in Manila, features a little image of the saint, with his plow and a stalk of some kind of crop behind.

In 1865, there is a reference in the Saipan baptismal records that the church of Garapan was named after Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in Spanish Nuestra Señora del Carmen. Thus we see the Spanish custom applied here. San Isidro for the parish of Garapan (the entire island of Saipan), and Mount Carmel for the church building.

Almost a hundred years later, in the 1930s, some older people remember the church in Garapan being called Kristo Rai, or Christ the King.

But the devotion to San Isidro lived on, mainly because he is patron of farmers so he would be popular among Chamorros, anyway, for that reason alone, at least in the good old days of farming.

Today, San Isidro is remembered each year in Saipan as the patron of farmers, especially by the Carolinian community.


Saipan singer Candy Taman at the San Isidro fiesta

AN AMERICAN ON AMERICANIZATION

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Chamorro attachment to the U.S. was sealed because of the experience of Japanese occupation

Life is not always black and white.

As this American missionary's writing shows, even some Americans did not like every aspect of Guam's rapid movement towards Americanization, much of it due to the Chamorros themselves.  Yet, this same American missionary was one agent of that very process.

Written in 1946, just two years after the Americans returned to Guam :

" It seems to me that many of the younger people are actually ashamed of their Chamorro ancestry, traditions and customs;  and all too eager to forget them in Americanizing Guam; but even in this short time I have become aware of the wealth of tradition and heritage which belongs by right to these people.  It would be indeed a shame if they lost their own identity in American customs...  The people of Guam have a heritage equally as valuable, and should be encouraged to hold on to each small part of it ."

As these words were being jotted down, Chamorros on Guam started calling themselves "Guamanian," most newly-arrived American missionaries were not learning to speak Chamorro, Chamorro families with some money were sending off their children to the mainland for schooling and the thrust of all ambitious families and individuals was to become as Americanized as possible.

ULLOA-MENDIOLA WEDDING

Tuesday, May 14, 2013


A wedding in 1952 at the Aga ñ a Cathedral.

Probably the godfather ( patlino ) and godmother ( matlina ) next to the bride and groom.

In 1952, the Cathedral was not the huge concrete one we have today.  But the smaller one made of wood and woven material built after the war.

In those days, the exchange of vows came just before Mass.  Masses in those days were very early.  I wouldn't be surprised if this wedding took place at 6AM.

HÅGO HA' SOLO

Monday, May 13, 2013


H å go ha' solo guinaiya-ko, t å ya' m å s ke h å go sa' h å go ha'.
(You are my only love, there is none but you because it is you alone.)

Å pmam tiempo de hu s å s å 'pet yo', å pmam tiempo hu tattiye hao,
(I have suffered a long time, I have followed you a long time)

S å ngan nene h å fa malago'-mo, sa' hunggan yo'.
(Say baby what it is that you want, because I am willing.)

Puede un dia, puede un dia un merese i siniente-ko
(Perhaps one day, perhaps one day you will be worthy of my feelings)

ni hu g å sta para h å go ni ti un agradese.
(which I have spent on you which you don't appreciate.)

Ya bai s å ngan ha' taiguine, ya bai hu komprende
(And I will say it this way, and I will understand)

na i guinaiya-ko nu h å go nene ti u m å fnas.
(that my love for you baby will never disappear.)

ILEK-ÑA SI PÅLE'

Friday, May 10, 2013

A Chamorro sermon from the 1950s.


Kåda uno guine guaha esta nai manli’e redio ni si ñ a ma kilili'. Este na dikkike’ redio si ñ a ha tutuhon dumåndån masea måno na lugåt komo ha’ un chonnek i batunes pat un bira i “switch.” I redion ma kilili' un bonito na inbension. Ti bonito mohon yanggen i taotao u gai batunes para u si ñ a ma bira ya u ma na’ påra yanggen esta mampos meggagai kuentos- ñ a. Guaha nai hu li’e man maulek siha na famalao’an ni man sesen meggai yan sesen chaddik kuentos- ñ iha kalan mohon man sen maulek man peska gi papa’ tåse, sa’ man mesngon man liof ya siempre håssan nai u fangahulo’ para u fan hågong gi aire. Ya håfa ma susesede? Meggai siha na isao i hila’ man ma komemete sa’ i taotao siha ti ma hahasso fine’na håfa para u ma sångan. Meggai siha na atboroto man ma tututuhon nu este siha na klåsen taotao ni buente ti måtto gi intension- ñ iha i para u ma na’ guaha atboroto, lao nungka nai ma hasuye fine’na kao ti båba i para u ma sångan.
I kumuentos un na’ magof na fotman rekreasion. I man amigo siha man a’abisita unos yan otros ya ma gågåsta meggai siha na ora gi konbetsasion. Maolek este. I klåsen kuentos ni muna’ guaguaha meggai siha na atboroto gi lina’lå’-ta ayo na kuentos i sin ma hasuye. Unos kuåntos segundo ha nesesita i para un fanhasso åntes de un kuentos. Faisen maisa hao : Kao magåhet este? Kao ti u dinesonra håye na taotao nu este? Kao ti u nina’ låmen nu este i para hu kuentuse na taotao? Kao hågo un taotao hao ni ti un hasusuye håfa para un sångan?
Yanggen hunggan, pues debe de meggai na biåhe nai muma ñ otsot hao pot håfa na sinangån-mo, lao gi annai esta atrasao para un na’ ta’lo tåtte i palabrås-mo? Sumen meggai na atboroto yan inaguaguat yan minimo si ñ a ti ma susede komo ha’ manhasso hao uno pat dos segundo åntes de håfa un sangan. Yanggen en che’gue ennao, si ñ a meggai na isao ginen i hila’ ti u fan ma susede. Siempre en fan mås man trankilo ya mås en fan ma respeta ya en fan ma gofli’e nu i pumalon taotao. I kumuentos, i abilidåt- ñ a i taotao para u kuentos, guiya un regålon Yu’us nu hita. Debe u ma usa maolek!


( Tinige' P å le' Lee Friel, Kapuchino )

INTERLINEAR ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Kåda uno guine guaha esta nai manli’e redio ni si ñ a ma kilili’.
(Each one here has already seen a portable radio.)


Notes : Since the radio only came to Guam during American times, we just adopted the English word. Kilili’ means “to carry about.”


Este na dikkike’ redio si ñ a ha tutuhon dumåndån masea måno na lugåt komo ha’ un chonnek i batunes pat un bira i “switch.”
(This small radio can start to play in whatever place if one just pushes the button or turns the switch.)


I redion ma kilili’ un bonito na inbension.
(The portable radio is a beautiful invention.)


Note : “Invention” is not a word frequently used in ordinary speech, and the writer just borrowed a Spanish form of the word. One might also say “nuebo na fina’tinas ni p å ’go ha' ma na’ huyong” or “a new work/product just come out.” But “inbension” is quicker!


Ti bonito mohon yanggen i taotao u gai batunes para u si ñ a ma bira ya u ma na’ påra yanggen esta mampos meggagai kuentos- ñ a.
(It wouldn’t be nice if a person had a button to turn and stop him if he already was talking a lot.)

Guaha nai hu li’e man maulek siha na famalao’an ni man sesen meggai yan sesen chaddik kuentos- ñ iha kalan mohon man sen maulek man peska gi papa’ tåse, sa’ man mesngon man liof ya siempre håssan nai u fangahulo’ para u fan hågong gi aire.
(I have seen good women who speak a lot and very quickly as if they are very good in fishing in the sea, because they can endure diving and will rarely come up to breathe in the air.)

Ya håfa ma susesede? Meggai siha na isao i hila’ man ma komemete sa’ i taotao siha ti ma hahasso fine’na håfa para u ma sångan.
(And what happens? They commit many sins of the tongue because people do not think first what they will say.)

Meggai siha na atboroto man ma tututuhon nu este siha na klåsen taotao ni buente ti måtto gi intension- ñ iha i para u ma na’ guaha atboroto, lao nungka nai ma hasuye fine’na kao ti båba i para u ma sångan.
(Many disturbances start with this kind of people who perhaps never have in their intention to start problems, but who never think first if what they are going to say is bad.)

I kumuentos un na’ magof na fotman rekreasion.
(Speaking is a pleasing form of recreation.)


I man amigo siha man a’abisita unos yan otros ya ma gågåsta meggai siha na ora gi konbetsasion.
(Friends visit each other and spend much time in conversation.)

Maolek este. I klåsen kuentos ni muna’ guaguaha meggai siha na atboroto gi lina’lå’-ta ayo na kuentos i sin ma hasuye.
(This is good. The kind of speaking which creates many disturbances in our lives is that kind of speech that is thoughtless.)


Unos kuåntos segundo ha nesesita i para un fanhasso åntes de un kuentos.
(A few seconds are needed to think before you speak.)


Faisen maisa hao : Kao magåhet este? Kao ti u dinesonra håye na taotao nu este?
(Ask yourself : Is this true? Will this dishonor someone?)


Kao ti u nina’ låmen nu este i para hu kuentuse na taotao?
(Will the person I will speak to be injured by this?)

Kao hågo un taotao hao ni ti un hasusuye håfa para un sångan?
(Are you a person who doesn’t think about what he is going to say?)

Yanggen hunggan, pues debe de meggai na biåhe nai muma ñ otsot hao pot håfa na sinangån-mo, lao gi annai esta atrasao para un na’ ta’lo tåtte i palabrås-mo?
(If yes, then you should be frequently remorseful on account of your speech, but when it is already late to take back your words?)


Sumen meggai na atboroto yan inaguaguat yan minimo si ñ a ti ma susede komo ha’ manhasso hao uno pat dos segundo åntes de håfa un sangan.
(Many disturbances, oppositions and fights can be prevented if you think for a second or two before you speak.)


Yanggen en che’gue ennao, si ñ a meggai na isao ginen i hila’ ti u fan ma susede.
(If you do that, many sins of the tongue won’t happen.)


Siempre en fan mås man trankilo ya mås en fan ma respeta ya en fan ma gofli’e nu i pumalon taotao.
(You will surely be more at peace and more respected and more loved by other people.)


I kumuentos, i abilidåt- ñ a i taotao para u kuentos, guiya un regålon Yu’us nu hita. Debe u ma usa maolek!
(Speech, the ability of a person to speak, is a gift from God to us. It should be used well!)

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Este i dos p å tman kanai-ho / lamasa-mo an para un chocho
I kattre-mo an para un maigo' / este ta'lo i pecho-ko.
These two palms of my hands / is your table for when you eat
your bed for when you sleep / is also my chest.

A romantic verse, where the man professes to the woman of his dreams that he will provide for all her needs.

There may be the idea, too, that, though he is poor in material goods, he will use his very body to make up for what he cannot materially provide.

Thus, he is willing to sacrifice his own body for her.  Such is his strong love for her.


FAMILY NICKNAMES : BUDOKI

Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Provinces in Spain where the surname Bodoque appears


A branch of the Camacho family on Guam are better-known-as the familian Budoki or Bodoki. But the further back in the family tree you go, it seems it was a Flores who married a Camacho who was the Budoki.

People didn't write down how they got their family nicknames, so if the story wasn't passed down to the next generation, the reason got lost. Sometimes the meaning of the nickname also got lost.

Some of our family nicknames come from Spanish words or Spanish names and, lo and behold, Bodoque is a last name in Spain.  The map above shows you where the surname appears in the different Spanish provinces, and the number of families having it.  As you can see, there aren't many families with this last name.  In no province at all are there ever more than 20 families with the name.  It may be the someone with the last name Bodoque came to Guam but, since the numbers are so low, it's a small chance.

Further research shows that bodoque is also an actual word in Spanish. But it has many meanings, so take your pick!

First of all, let's go to the oldest and original meaning of the word, which goes back to Spain.  A bodoque was a mud or clay ball thrown at a target.

In Mexico, a bodoque can mean a ball made of anything light, like paper. A lot of Mexican influence came to the Marianas, because soldiers were recruited in Mexico to serve in our islands.



Bodoque stitching

Then, bodoque can also mean a kind of stitching.

Sticking with the Mexican angle, bodoque can also mean a physical lump on someone's body.


CHAMORRO MEANING

This, the Mexican meaning, is what came into the Chamorro language. Katherine Aguon says that budoki (or bodoki ) means a lump, often an abnormal lump, or a cyst on the body.

So maybe someone was nicknamed Budoki on Guam because he or she had a noticeable lump on the body.

But since we don't have proof of that, we need to keep the door open to other possible meanings.

In Mexico, bodoque can also mean something done badly; or it can mean a child; and it can also mean someone not too bright.  Because it can refer to a child, it can thus also be used for adults in an affectionate way, as in romance.  " B é same, mi bodoque !"  "Kiss me, my baby!"

Because of all these meanings, especially referring to children, bodoque has been applied to certain fictitious persons.  In the Spanish version of the animated film Ice Age , Roshan is called Bodoque.




And in one Latin American country, a TV personality, a smart-mouthed rabbit, is named Bodoque.





In an old Spanish-Chamorro dictionary, written in 1865, the Spanish word bodoque is translated into Chamorro as langnga , meaning someone "dull, not too intelligent, easily fooled." This is one of the many possible meanings stated above. Perhaps budoki was known in the old days as a simple, foolish person, and it was applied as a nickname to someone.

Sadly, and this is true of so many family nicknames besides Budoki, we won't know for sure until we're in heaven some day, God willing, and we can ask around who in heaven is from Guam from the Budoki family and how did the nickname start.

"I KNEW FATHER KOMATSU"

Tuesday, May 7, 2013


War is a very complicated experience.

It's not always black and white; good guys versus bad guys.

Take the two Japanese Catholic priests sent to Guam during the Japanese occupation.

One of them, Monsignor Dominic Fukahori, spent just a short time on Guam.  The other, Father Petero Komatsu, spent more time on Guam and got to know some people, like Carmen, interviewed in the video clip above.

Father Komatsu had also spent time in Saipan before the war.

As Carmen explains, Father Komatsu was a pleasant and friendly man.  She did not recall him preaching Japanese propaganda.

Another Chamorro family I know also remembers him as a mild-mannered, friendly man who said very little about politics or war.

While it is certain that Father Due ñ as voiced his objections to the presence of Japanese priests who had no authority from the Vatican to be on Guam; and while it is certain that some Chamorros had their suspicions about them and kept some distance, it is also clear that some Chamorros found Father Komatsu a harmless and friendly priest who was able to say Mass for them at times and hear their confessions.


FR. PETERO KOMATSU
In civilian attire when he was detained by the Americans after the liberation

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Monday, May 6, 2013
virtual-kidspace.blogspot.com

Our wooden, tin-roofed house in Sinaja ñ a in the 1960s did not have air conditioning.  Which meant we slept with the windows open.  Which meant that the ñ å mo (mosquitoes) could come in at will.  We had screens on our windows, but mosquitoes could still come in somehow.

So, we had mosquito coils burning at night to keep them away.

Can I confess that I actually liked the smell of mosquito coil?


Before the Stores Sold Mosquito Coils

Our ma ñ aina used oddo' , fibrous parts of tree trunks, like niyok (coconut) to smolder, create smoke and chase the ñ å mo away.
Sengko'

In Luta and Saipan before the war, the Japanese stores sold mosquito coils, which in Japanese is senko (incense stick). So, the people of Luta and Saipan call it sengko' .

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Sunday, May 5, 2013

DESDE I TIEMPON MAGALLANES!

Magallanes is the Spanish / Chamorro version of a name we all know well, Magellan.

Ferdinand poked his nose around the Marianas in the year 1521.

That's a long time ago.

So it was an expression in years past to say, " Desde i tiempon Magallanes !" to mean it's been a long, long time since whatever.

Literally, it means "Since the time of Magellan!"

I heard this expression just the other day when I was thanking some people for taking me and a friend to a swimming spot.  They, in turn, actually thanked me for asking them to escort us to that spot, for it had been a long time since they had gone there.  The lady said, " Desde i tiempon Magallanes !"

The double L in Magallanes is pronounced like a Y in Spanish, and like a DZ in Chamorro.  Like Acfalle and Quintanilla.  MA - GA - DZA - NES.

TÅDDONG NA FINO' CHAMORRO : I PILAN SANTA MARIA

Saturday, May 4, 2013

A Chamorro lady in her 70s called me up recently.

"Emergency! Emergency!"

She had started her May devotions, in Chamorro, I Pilan Santa Maria (The Month of Mary).  This devotion is not like a nobena , which lasts nine days or nights. I Pilan Santa Maria has a different prayer for each of the thrity-one days of May.

And some of the Chamorro words are old and obsolete.  Words we almost never use anymore.

Luckily, the author of this devotion, P å le' Rom á n Mar í a de Vera, also wrote a Chamorro dictionary.  So we can find out the meanings of these deep words.

Here are some of them, found in I Pilan Santa Maria :

YEGON .  It means "to visit."  We borrowed from the Spanish and now say bisita .

MAFOKNA .  It means "to reduce, diminish."  One way we say that today is reb å ha , again borrowed from the Spanish.

GUAICHONG HA' .  It means "indifferent, equal."  As in, "Either flavor of ice cream is good for me."  "One is as good, or as bad, as the other."  Today we would say, " Pareho ha' ," borrowed from the Spanish, or " Achamaolek " or " Achababa " or what have you, using the Chamorro prefix " acha " which means "equally."

MAGGUAK .  It means "spacious."  A spacious room, for example.  Today we might say, " Gai k å mpo na ku å tto ," "a spacious room."  Again, k å mpo is borrowed from the Spanish.

P å le' Rom á n, though a Spanish citizen, always wanted to revert to the truly Chamorro word if he could find it, even though few if any Chamorros used the word anymore because they had adopted the Spanish term.

But history shows that his attempt to revive some obsolete words didn't succeed, as shown in the case of this 70-something old woman who had no clue what yegon meant.  P å le' Rom á n could put it in his religious literature, which many Chamorros read time and time again, without changing the language of ordinary conversation.  It's a challenge to buck social trends.  Not impossible, but a challenge.

WHEN THEY FIRST SAW A PLANE IN LUTA

Thursday, May 2, 2013

It is said, not as a matter of history, but in jest, that when a man on Luta (Rota)  first saw an airplane flying in the air, he gazed in amazement and said,

Agila re å t
mundi k å ñ a
sa' gai tekpung dag å n- ñ a!

Agila re å t : Literally "royal eagle," from the Spanish á guila (eagle) and real (royal).

Mundi k å ñ a : my informant, fluent in Chamorro, has no idea what this means.  When making up songs or expressions, Chamorros often added nonsense phrases.  Or, this could be a Chamorro rephrasing of a line taken from a foreign song or expression the person heard.

Sa' : Because

Gai : It has

Tekpung : The root word is tokpung ("handle," as in a broom handle)

Dag å n- ñ a : Its buttocks

So, the man was marveling that this bird's bottom had a handle on it!  Obviously he was looking at the tail end of the plane.

ESTORIAN JUDIT

Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Si Judit annai ha utot i agag å '- ñ a si Holofernes

I taotao siha ni i ma ñ åsaga giya Juda gusese’ man maleffa ta’lo as Yu’us. Pot ayo na nina’ fan guatutuye as Yu’us un nuebo yan na’ luhan na desgråsia. Si Holofernes , heneråt giya Asiria, yan i sendalu- ñ a siha, ha håtme i Rainon Juda. Gi uno na siudå i man Hudios, ni Betulia na’ån- ñ a, ha po’luye si Holofernes pongle ya ha chochomma i taotao guennao na siudå nu i hanom. Ha na’ fan sesen ñ ålang ha’, ya esta måtto gi hinasson- ñ iha i man Hudios para u entrega i siudå guato gi as Holofernes yanggen ti manma ñ odda’ siha åtgun ayudo gi halom singko dias.


Un såntos na biuda, ni si Judit na’ån- ñ a, ha hungok todo este ya nina’ ma’åse’ i korason- ñ a nu i man masåså’pet na achataotao - ñ a siha. Si Judit ha adotna gue’ ni man guaguan na alåhas ya ha palai gue’ ni paopao na lå ñ a. Sumisiha yan i muchachå- ñ a, humånao si Judit guato gi kampamenton Holofernes. Pine’lon- ñ a si Holofernes na si Judit ha abandona i taotao- ñ a siha, yan pot i bonitå- ñ a si Judit, sinedi si Judit as Holofernes para u såga ha’ gi kampamenton i enemigo.

Gi mina’ kuåttro dias, mannå’e si Holofernes dångkulo na gupot ya gumimen mampos na bino, tånto ke umå’åsson gi kamå- ñ a mumaigo’. Annai måkpo’ i gipot gi annai esta ges painge, yan todo i taotao siha gi oriya man mamaigo’ man sen måffong, kahulo’ si Judit ya ha chule’ i espådan Holofernes, ni eståba ma kakana’ gi un halige, ya ha utot i ilu- ñ a si Holofernes!


Despues, humuyong gi kampamento, måtto gi siudå, ya ha agånge todo i taotao siha, ilelek- ñ a, “ Tina hamyo si Yu’us, ni ti ha abandodona i sengsong - ñ a!”

Annai man makmåta i ehetsiton i taotao Asiria, ya ma sodda’ i tataotao Holofernes na ma utot i agagå’- ñ a, ma tutuhune man malågo. Si Judit ma na’ må’gas giya Israel, ya ma alåba i palao’an gi taiguine siha na finiho : “Hågo i onran Jerusalen; hågo i minagof Israel!”

NOTES


FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' : CHE'CHO' CHAPUS

Tuesday, April 30, 2013


Very sloppy work, doing a bad job, as in the horrible sewing shown above, is called che'cho' chapus .

A bad hem; buttons sewn in the wrong place; one sleeve longer than the other....all che'cho' chapus.

The stress is on the last syllable; cha - PUS.

Now don't use your Americanized head and pronounce it as in bus or fuss.

Use your Chamorro head and pronounce it OO, as in loose or juice.

Che'cho ', of course, means "work" or "deed."

The word chapus comes from the Spanish chapuz , meaning "sloppy work."

P å le' Roman, in his pre-war Chamorro dictionary, has this word, but he spelled it chapuus , showing that, at least some Chamorros in his day, changed the pronunciation a little, giving it three syllables : cha - pu - us.

But the lady who taught me this phrase pronounced it like the Spanish original : cha - pus.  Two syllables.


I don't know anything about plumbing, but maybe the above is another example of a che'cho' chapus .

SPELL CHECK

Monday, April 29, 2013

It's always good to see signs in Chamorro.

But this is another example of using a glota where it is not needed.

We seem to think : the more glotas , the more Cha'mo'rro '.

Remember that the glota is a glottal stop.  A glottal stop is a closing of the back of the throat, at the place indicated in the depiction below.


Basically, you choke.  If you don't hear a choke in the word, you don't need a glota .

The Chamorro word for "pull" is pronounced H Å L - LA.  No choking.

Notice we kind of hang around on the L sound.  We don't say HÅ then LA.  We say HÅL then LA.  So I put two L's there to indicate that.

On another matter, the two A's in h å lla are not the same sound.

The first A is rounded, like the English sound made in AW.  Thus the little circle is placed above that A to indicate that sound. Å.

The 2nd A is flat, like the English sound made in Alabama.

Well, at least I give them credit for not putting a glota after a consonant, as in hal'a .  There's no way you can close the back of the throat after a consonant.

So, in the end, I would have spelled it H Å LLA .  Pull.

FR DUEÑAS STUDENTS 1962

Saturday, April 27, 2013

These FD students in 1962 formed the Yearbook Committee that year.

The two teacher advisers are, Mr John Forbes, on the left, and Capuchin Father Donan Hickey on the right.

In the front row, left to right : Alberto Lamorena, Antonio Martinez, Johnny Okiyama, Sebastian Ongesii, Nick Abelardo, Jesus Borja.

In the back row, left to right : Juan Cruz, Anthony Quan, Jose Blas, Wilfred Aflague, Jesus Babauta, Ricky San Nicolas.

The three seminarians sitting on the ledge on the right : Vandrick Cepeda, Joseph Sablan, William Perez.

FEW MASTERS, FEW SLAVES : CHAMORRO EQUALITY

Thursday, April 25, 2013

A comfortable family of Hag å t ñ a

"Few masters, few slaves" was William Edwin Safford's way of describing the egalitarian society of the Chamorros on Guam in 1900.

Everyone was the same, it could be said; they were all poor!

"Poor" in the sense that no one lived a life of luxury, but few lived a miserable existence.

Everyone had land.  There was enough land to go around, when the entire island had just 10,000 people.  There was so much land that people often farmed land that wasn't legally their own, with little complaint from others.

Very few people had a lot of cash; cash wasn't needed.  There was hardly anything to buy.  And one grew or made oneself what was needed for life.

This meant that class distinctions were not as sharp in the Spanish Marianas as they are today.

Before the Spanish, the Chamorros did have sharp class distinctions, especially between the lowest (the manga'chang) and everybody else, grouped in middle (achaot) and high (matua) classes.  The manga'chang couldn't mix socially with the others; marry someone from the higher classes; use all the tools and implements used by the others.  Even their diet was somewhat different.

Under the Spanish, there certainly were some class differences.  But they tended to be expressed in feelings of cultural status and not in material terms.  A family might have more status because they were more Spanish in customs and behavior, but even they had ranches and farms.  There was no university that only their children could afford; frequent trips abroad that only they could purchase tickets for; large plantations that they hired hundreds of workers for, while they supervised from their porches drinking lemonade.

The cultural elite in Chamorro society under the Spaniards was a small group indeed.  The several who went to the Philippines for an education; a few who ventured abroad for business or as whalers; some who could speak, read and write excellent Spanish.

Mixed bood alone wasn't sufficient to put you in a high status.  There were a number of Chamorros whose fathers were Spanish or some other caucasian, who didn't rise on the social ladder.

Between the better-off family in the first photo above, and the more humble family in the second photo below, the material differences are not staggering.

Both houses are made of local, easily procured material, though the first is perhaps sturdier than the humbler home below.

The family above is dressed in finer clothing, but the simpler family below has very similar clothing, though not as fine.

But we're not contrasting a five-star condo above, and a hovel below. Both families spoke Chamorro; went to the same Catholic services; relied on locally-grown farm products and fish; re-thatched their roof regularly; abided by the same cultural norms; dealt with the limitations of travel, education and commerce that prevailed in the Marianas at the time.





KIDNAPPER ASKS 75 CENTS RANSOM

Wednesday, April 24, 2013
thestampbug.co.uk

Hag å t ñ a, March 1917.

Missus X owed Mister Y seventy-five cents.  I suppose that in 1917 that could have been a significant amount for many Chamorros who did not have salaried jobs.

But Mister Y decided to force Missus X to hand over the 75 cents by kidnapping her baby.

The kidnapping lasted for less than a day, as the baby was found before the day's end, and Mister Y was somewhat thankful for it, as the baby under his "care" refused all food he tried to give it.

What is most amazing is that the police didn't arrest Mister Y.  The baby was returned to the mama; the judge declared the debt cleared and that was that.

MALESSO'S SCHOOL HOUSE

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Sometimes you can drive right past it and not even notice it.  It's Malesso's old schoolhouse, built in 1941.

In one of Guam's most Chamorro villages, it has the most un-Chamorro name of the "Merlyn G. Cook Schoolhouse."

It was named in 1931 in honor of the first head of the Department of Education under the American Naval Government.  He served during Governor Maxwell's term (1914-1916).  There had been superintendents of schools prior to this, but not of department status.

The original schoolhouse, built as a barracks in 1922, was extensively damaged by the typhoon of November 1940.  So a new schoolhouse, further up the road at the present location, was built and completed in the summer of 1941.  War broke out that December.

The Japanese used it as a schoolhouse, the Mashiyama Gakko, with day classes for children and night classes for adults.  It was also used for meetings.

After the war, when it no longer served as a schoolhouse, it served as a youth center and at times was even abandoned.

FAMILIA : TAIMANGLO

Saturday, April 20, 2013
"Windless"

Taimanglo is an indigenous Chamorro name.

Tai = without, lacking

M å nglo' = wind

This is one of those Chamorro names that makes one wonder what our ancestors were thinking when they came up with names.

You may remember that, before they became Christians, Chamorros had just one name.  Some scholars state that even this one name could be changed, depending on some important event in someone's life.

Many Chamorro names have a negative (as we see it today) connotation.  Tai (without), Chat (defective), Tat (Never).  The Spaniards spelled it Char as in Chargualaf and Charfauros; and Ted or Ter as in Tedtaotao and Terlaje.

There are Taimanglos found in Hum å tak, Inal å han and Hag å t ñ a in the 1897 Census, but it seems that Sinaja ñ a is where many of them lived, especially of the Fegurgur Taimanglo clan.


BABY JOE TAIMANGLO
AKA The Juggernaut

THE PROTESTANT NAVY CHAPLAIN

Friday, April 19, 2013

While Guam was under direct Navy rule from 1899 till 1949 (except during the Japanese occupation), there was, obviously, a chaplain for Navy officers and enlisted men.  He was always a Protetant.  Since Guam was predominantly Catholic, the Catholic Navy men could attend Mass with the locals.

Old-timers used to tell me that the Protestant Navy chaplain didn't have much to do.  Besides Sunday services, there might be another spiritual meeting once during the week, but not much more.  Sunday School couldn't have been a heavy task, since there wasn't a huge number of Navy children dependents.

So to give the man something to do, the Protestant Navy chaplain was almost always made head of the Education Department.  All schools were run by the Navy government, except for the private and non-denominational Guam Instititue.  The Catholic Church was not allowed to run its own schools.

Imagine the chagrin of the Spanish friars who ran Guam's Catholic churches; all those Catholic Chamorro kids under the supervision of a Protestant chaplain!  In reality, there was no active effort to convert the Catholic children to Protestantism.  The real rub came when schools planned plays, dances and other events during Lent, which was strictly observed in those days.

SINAJA Ñ A PUBLIC SCHOOL RENAMED IN HONOR OF CHAPLAIN SALISBURY

In 1929, the public school in Sinaja ñ a was renamed "Chaplain Salisbury School" in honor of former Education head, Lieutenant Stanton W. Salisbury, Navy chaplain.  He served as department head from 1924 till 1926 and in that time had a new schoolhouse built in Sinaja ñ a.

Principal Jose Kamminga, Deputy Commissioner Vicente Gogo and Congressman Joaquin L. Atoigue all participated in the ceremonies, but most interesting was that a prayer at that event was offered by none other than Catholic missionary, Capuchin Pale' Javier of the Cathedral.

Salisbury Junction

I believe that location is named after another Salisbury, Governor George Salisbury.

THOSE TRAVELING CHAMORROS

Thursday, April 18, 2013
navsource.org
On April 20, 1940, the USS Henderson left Guam bound for Manila, taking on her the following Guam residents :

Mrs. Agueda Johnston and her daughters Cynthia J. Torres and Marian A. Johnston;

Mr. & Mrs. Manuel S. Reyes

Father Jesus B. Duenas

Jose A. Flores

Juana Untalan

Felisa C. Baza

Mrs. Leocadio Bautista

Lourdes S. Leon Guerrero

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : TOLLAI

Wednesday, April 17, 2013


TOLLAI : bridge

Filipinos say tulay and we say tollai .  I can see a bridge somewhere there.

This newsletter uses the word tollai in its name.  The definite article "i" ("the") changes the pronunciation of the word tollai .  The O in tollai is changed to E.

We see this in other words with an O in the beginning of the word, such as :

OKSO (hill, mountain) becomes I EKSO.

TOMMO (knee) becomes I TEMMO.

TO'LANG (bone) becomes I TE'LANG.

It's not just the definite article but any preceding word with an I in it, such as "gi."  "Gi" means "at, in."

GI TELLAI.  At/on the bridge.

NI TELLAI.  Of the bridge.

But this rule doesn't apply in every single case of an initial O.  For example :

BOTE (boat) remains I BOTE, not "i bete."

KORONA (crown) remains I KORONA, not "i kerona."


The Spanish Bridge at Sella Bay

BURIED TREASURE IN PAGAN?

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Beautiful Pagan

With Spanish galleons passing through the Marianas on their way between Acapulco, Mexico and Manila, it isn't a stretch of the imagination to think that there are treasures at the bottom of the sea when one of these vessels sank.  Indeed, the wreck of the Concepcion, which sank in 1638 off Saipan, yielded quite a bit of treasure when it was collected in 1987.

But treasure buried in the ground?  On remote Pagan island?  With its active volcanoes?

Apparently yes.  At least there were stories, told and re-told over and over again, in the 1800s.  According to the legend, an English captain, around 1820 or 1822, carried some treasure from Chile or Peru when those countries won independence from Spain.  He buried this treasure in Pagan.  He later returned to Guam seeking permission from the Spanish Governor to look for his treasure in Pagan.

Several newspapers around the world carried a story in 1916 about 50,000 being wasted in an attempt to retrieve "pirate's treasure" at Pagan Island, "in the Ladrones" islands.  Navigational books of the time also make mention of this myth of buried treasure.  Georg Fritz, German Governor of the Northern Marianas, also wrote an even more detailed, or perhaps embellished, account of the legend.

FIRE IN SAN ANTONIO 1913

Monday, April 15, 2013

HOUSES IN SAN ANTONIO

San Antonio was a district of Hag å t ñ a before the war.

Today, it would be in the area just north of all that bridge construction on Marine Corps Drive.

On November 21, 1913 a fire broke out in that neighborhood.  Some paper that was burning in a stove blew against the thatched walls, setting the house on fire.  The house was owned by Domingo Blas. Unfortunately, his neighbor's house also caught fire.  It was owned by Jose Rosario .

The good breeze and the proximity of the houses, plus the highly flammable nature of the housing material, all added to the success of the fire.  Though no one was injured, much less died, both owners lost a lot of their possessions.  The houses, it seems, were not totally destroyed and could be repaired.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN...

Friday, April 12, 2013



You never throw old containers away.  Other people may save four or five containers, but we keep mountains of them around the kitchen.  You always need them for the sopbla .  Leftovers.  I think these four plastic jars, just a fraction of what else was in the kitchen, were going to be used for pickled mango.
CHAMORRO TUPPERWARE


(empty, of course)

MARVIN HOUSE

Thursday, April 11, 2013
baseballinwartime.com

It was not all baseball for the Third Marine Division after the recapture of Guam in July-August of 1944.

The next year, when the Third Marines returned to Guam after securing Iwo Jima, Agueda Johnston, head of the public schools, would round up some of the older girls after classes with calls of "Marvin House, girls!  Marvin House!"

Marvin House was a dance hall in Yo ñ a, where the Third Marines were.

The girls would get into military trucks around 2pm and head up there with Mrs. Johnston and a few others as chaperones.  Even some of the fathers of the girls would go up there to keep an eye on things.  The Chamorro girls served as dance partners for the Marines till about 8pm when the supervisors would call it a night.

One of the women who joined the dancing told me, "One of the frustrating things was we switched partners constantly.  There were too many Marines, and too few girls.  So the Marines were constantly tapping each other's shoulders wanting to cut in on the dance with the girl."

She also said, "We didn't like the officers' parties.  Our dads did, because they could rub elbows with the brass.  But we girls didn't, because the officers were older and already married.  We liked the dances of the ordinary soldiers.  They were closer to our age and more fun to be with."

Music was provided by a band made up of Marines.

One of the women who was almost always at these dances was my mother.  She was a dance-aholic.  Even when my mother was in her 60s, she would put on Tommy Dorsey or Glenn Miller and show me what the dances of the 40s were like, dancing with a make-believe partner in our living room.  That's all I heard from mom about life after the war.  Jitterbug, jitterbug, jitterbug.

Well, my mom met my dad at a dance, but during the Korean War.  But right after World War II, my mother was one of the crowd favorites at these dances.  Many women he knew her said that my mother was a very social and popular dancer.  One of her chaperones was her relative John Cruz, better known as "Johnnin Gaga."  He was very tall.  Good; his job was to keep an eye on my mom.

FAMILY NICKNAMES : CHODE

Wednesday, April 10, 2013


Everybody on Guam knows, if you want your Chamorro "fix," you go to Chode's.

Empan å da, latiya, titiyas ....you name it.  You can find it at Chode's.

If you know the family, they are the Sablans.  So how did the nickname "Chode" come about?

It's a Chamorro way of pronouncing SHORTY.

Apparently, one one of the prominent men in the family was not tall. He got the nickname SHORTY, but older Chamorros can't say the R. Carlos becomes KÅTLOS. SHORTY became CHODE.





ENRIQUE CRUZ SABLAN
founder of Chode's
with wife Teresa and children



ANTONIO CRUZ SABLAN
brother of Enrique


CHAMORRO NICKNAMES ARE BEING INVENTED ALL THE TIME

Not all family nicknames come from Spanish times. Chode was invented during American times.  Nicknames are being invented even now.  So be careful about what you do or what you say.  Your grandkids may one day be called by that word or action!

CHAMORRO CANCER CURE?

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

I was visiting a family the other day and I noticed a tree on their property that was full of soursop.  I had never seen so many soursop fruits hanging on one tree, and this size.  They were huge.

This fruit is native to Central America and the Caribbean.  It's almost a guarantee that it was brought to the Marianas from Mexico when the galleons stopped on Guam on their way from Acapulco to Manila.

The Filipinos call this guyabano , but we call it laguan á .  The name for it in Mexico and other places in that region is guan á bana .  I can easily see how Chamorros modified the pronunciation of guan á bana into laguan á .  Just as Chamorros heard people say, in Spanish, " la mesa ," "the table" and made it one word " lamasa ," they probably heard people say, in Spanish, " la guan á bana " and turned it into " laguan á ," a shortcut of " laguan á - bana ." This leads me to believe even more that the fruit came to the Marianas directly from Mexico and not from the Philippines (who got it from Mexico as well) since we did not adopt the Filipino name for the fruit.  I can also see how guyabano may be a variation of guan á bana , but laguan á is more clearly derived from guan á bana rather than from guyabano .

There has been a lot of enthusiasm for soursop lately because of its purported medicinal benefits, including claims that it fights cancer.  The medical establishment is not as excited about it, and consuming large amounts of soursop can pose health risks, too.

I don't go crazy over soursop but I do like it when it comes across the table, especially on very hot days.

ANALYSIS OF AN OLD CHAMORRO SERMON

Wednesday, April 10, 2013
A few days ago I posted a paragraph from a Chamorro sermon written in 1873 and invited readers to offer their translations.

Here is the original Chamorro :

An m å tai h å ye, ya gef g å sg å s ha' i anti- ñ a, u hungok este na sentensian Jesukristo : "Maila', bendito ni i Tat å -ho, h å lom gi minagof i Saina-mo." An ta chuchule' mohon h å f na ped å son lulok ya ta na' h å lom gue' gi guafe, ta lili'e na ma fa' kalan gu å fe ha', ya k å si ti ma distingge ni i mismo na gu å fe, sa' sen figan i lilok. Pues taiguennao u fan gaige i anti-ta gi as Yu'us, sa' u fan gaige man bula ni i todo na iyon Yu'us. U ta li'e si Yu'us man a'afana', ya taiguihe i Guiya gue'; u ta li'e ya u ta tungo' kl å roro todo i misteriu- ñ a siha; h å f mina' ha na' huyong todo gine i taya'; i taihinekkok na minaulek- ñ a annai ha poksai hit; i gine'fli'e'- ñ a yan i piniti- ñ a nu hita annai ha na' fan libre hit; i gr å sia siha ni i ha n å 'e hit para u ta na' fan g å nna ni i todo na tentasion yan desgr å sia gi hilo' i tano'; i taihinekkok na mina'ase'- ñ a nu hita annai ha po'lo i sakramenton- ñ a siha para i suette-ta, i fottun å-ta yan i dinichosu-ta.

Here is one reader's translation :

When one dies with a clean Soul they will hear this sentence from Christ Jesus: "Come, blessed of my Father, and enter into the joy of your Lord". If we take any piece of metal and plunge it into a fire, we see that it becomes fire-like, and it becomes hard to distinguish it from the fire, for the metal is so hot. Therefore, so should our souls be as unto God, filled with all godliness. We will see God face-to-face, as He is, as will clearly behold His mysteries; why he brought forth the world out of nothingness, His infinite goodness in bringing us into being, His Joys and sufferings in liberating us, the graces he bestows upon us to give us victory over the temptations and disgraces of this world; of His infinite mercy with us, when He instituted His Sacraments for our benefit, our treasure, and our happiness.

And another :

When we die, we who are pure in spirit will hear his voice. “come, you who are blessed by my Father, enter into God's joy/happiness.” When we take a piece of nail and put it through the fire, we only see fire. We are not able to see the nail because of the scorching heat. Our spirit also must be as such before God. We must come before him filled with Christ’s spirit. If we are like him, we can see God and we will then have a clear understanding of Christ’s mysteries. He who goes forth without himself (?), shall be raised into everlasting life. God’s love and suffering has set us free. He gave us to endure temptation and disgrace while on earth. Because of his everlasting mercy, he sacrificed himself so we may have our freedom, our wealth and our faithfulness.
So I decided to take the original paragraph apart and translate it piecemeal.  I make a few comments here and there :


An m å tai h å ye, (When whoever dies)


ya gef g åsg ås ha' i anti-ña, (and his soul is all very clean) - Notice the word "ha'."  "Gåsgås ha'."  That means "only clean, entirely clean."


u hungok este na sentensian Jesukristo : (he will hear this sentence of Jesus Christ : ) - Not a grammatical sentence but a judicial sentence.

"Maila', bendito ni i Tat å -ho, h å lom gi minagof i Saina-mo." (“Come, blessed of my Father, into the joy of your Lord.”)


An ta chuchule' mohon h åf na ped åson lulok (If we were to take whatever piece of iron) - Notice the word "mohon."  That gives the sense of "suppose, for example."

ya ta na' h å lom gue' gi guafe, (and we put it in fire)


ta lili'e na ma fa' kalan gu åfe ha', (we see that it becomes as if it were fire itself) - Again, "ha'."  It become as if fire only; nothing but fire.


ya k åsi ti ma distingge ni i mismo na gu åfe, (and it’s almost indistinguishable from the very fire) - "kåsi," "almost."  It's almost as if one couldn't tell the difference between the heated iron and the fire itself.

sa' sen figan i lilok. (because the iron is very hot.)


Pues taiguennao u fan gaige i anti-ta gi as Yu'us, (So in that way will be our souls in God,)


sa' u fan gaige man bula ni i todo na iyon Yu'us. (because they will be full of all that is of God.) - "Iyon Yu'us."  What belongs to God, meaning, His personal characteristics (such as the brightness of fire).

U ta li'e si Yu'us man a'afana', (We shall see God face-to-face,) - "A'fana'," "to face each other."


ya taiguihe i Guiya gue'; (and in the way that He is;)


u ta li'e ya u ta tungo' kl å roro todo i misteriu- ñ a siha; (we shall see and know clearly all His mysteries;)


h åf mina' ha na' huyong todo gine i taya'; (why He created all from nothing;) "how" would be "håftaimano." "Håf mina'" is "why."  "Håfa mina' måtto hao mågi?"  "Why did you come here," or "What made you come here?" "Gine" is an older form of "ginen."


i taihinekkok na minaulek- ñ a annai ha poksai hit; (His infinite goodness when He raised us;)


i gine'fli'e'- ñ a yan i piniti- ñ a nu hita annai ha na' fan libre hit; (His love and His suffering for us when He freed us;)


i gr å sia siha ni i ha n å 'e hit para u ta na' fan g å nna (the graces He gave us so that we overcome)


ni i todo na tentasion yan desgr åsia gi hilo' i tano'; (all temptation and adversities on earth;) - "Desgråsia" sounds like English "disgrace" but it means "adversity" or "misfortune" both in the original Spanish and in Chamorro.  Getting into a car accident is a "desgråsia."  A misfortune, not a shameful or disgraceful thing in the English sense.

i taihinekkok na mina'ase'- ñ a nu hita (His infinite mercy for us)


annai ha po'lo i sakramenton-ña siha para i suette-ta, i fottun å-ta yan i dinichosu-ta. (when He established His sacraments for our advantage, our wealth and our happiness.) - This sentence contains a few words that have a certain sense and not necessarily a literal meaning.  "Suette" usually means "luck," but that can't be the meaning here.  When someone is described as being "lucky," it can mean he has a certain advantage not enjoyed by everyone else.  The help that the sacraments give are for our advantage and benefit.  "Fottuna" can be understood as a "good outcome" in things but it can also mean material blessings.  The sacraments are our spiritual blessing, wealth and treasure.  Just as one relies on one's material blessings, we rely on the sacraments.

ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Å NTES
around 1962

There is hardly anything at the Paseo.  The Cathedral stands out, having been finished in 1959.  The "Pacific Daily News" building did not exist yet, nor the Bank of Guam headquarters.


P Å 'GO

OLD CHAMORRO SERMON

Monday, April 8, 2013

Part of a Chamorro sermon written in 1873 by a Spanish Recollect priest on Guam :

An m å tai h å ye, ya gef g å sg å s ha' i anti- ñ a, u hungok este na sentensian Jesukristo : "Maila', bendito ni i Tat å -ho, h å lom gi minagof i Saina-mo."  An ta chuchule' mohon h å f na ped å son lulok ya ta na' h å lom gue' gi guafe, ta lili'e na ma fa' kalan gu å fe ha', ya k å si ti ma distingge ni i mismo na gu å fe, sa' sen figan i lilok.  Pues taiguennao u fan gaige i anti-ta gi as Yu'us, sa' u fan gaige man bula ni i todo na iyon Yu'us.  U ta li'e si Yu'us man a'afana', ya taiguihe i Guiya gue'; u ta li'e ya u ta tungo' kl å roro todo i misteriu- ñ a siha; h å f mina' ha na' huyong todo gine i taya'; i taihinekkok na minaulek- ñ a annai ha poksai hit; i gine'fli'e'- ñ a yan i piniti- ñ a nu hita annai ha na' fan libre hit; i gr å sia siha ni i ha n å 'e hit para u ta na' fan g å nna ni i todo na tentasion yan desgr å sia gi hilo' i tano'; i taihinekkok na mina'ase'- ñ a nu hita annai ha po'lo i sakramenton- ñ a siha para i suette-ta, i fottun å-ta yan i dinichosu-ta.

Translation anyone?

I'll post my translation of this in a day or two....

FR DUEÑAS SEMINARIANS 1962

Saturday, April 6, 2013


Father Due ñ as Memorial School was founded in 1948 for one main reason : the education of Guam's future priests.  Only in the 1990s did that core mission disappear from the school.

Father Donan Hickey, Capuchin (top row, far left) was rector of the FDMS seminary in 1962.

The seminarians are :

Bottom row (L-R) : William Perez, Anthony LG Ramirez, Joseph Okada, Roque Mendiola, Santiago Cruz, Ignacio Reyes.

Top row (L-R) : Joseph Cruz, Vandrick Cepeda, Jose Flores, Juan Meno, Maximino Mendiola, Andrew Sablan, Juan Guerrero, Anthony Apuron, Norberto Ungacta, Jose Cruz, Joseph LG Sablan, Pito Leon Guerrero.

Most of these young men did not go on for ordination, and only one of them remains a priest today. But not just a priest; an Archbishop!  Archbishop Apuron.

BATHROOM CHAMORRO

Friday, April 5, 2013

The building manager thought it would be helpful if this sign were posted in multiple languages, including Chamorro, advising people that no flushing was necessary in this waterfree urinal.

Let's look at the Chamorro...

TAI HANOM ESTE NA SYSTEMAN FANME'MEYON.

Grammatically, this is an excellent sentence.

Tai (without) hanom (water) este na (this) systeman (system) fanme'meyon (place of urinating).

But, a couple of suggested corrections.

Systeman shows the writer is thinking in English.  We don't spell it sy ñ a, or Tamunyng or Myguel.  We use the I.  So, sisteman .

Fanme'meyon .  "Place of" is FAN+VERB+AN.  Not -ON.

Me'me' (to urinate).  Notice there are two glotas.

Chamorros would say fanmemi'yan .  Not fanme'meyon .

Now on to the next sentence in Chamorro in the sign :

TI NISISITA "MAFLUSH" for "No flushing required."

Now, we often use the English directly in an English sentence.

But how would one say "flush" in Chamorro, and not borrow the English word?

We didn't have flushing till the Americans came and we had our first modern toilets.

We can describe the action, though.  To flush is to " na' machuda' i hanom ."  To "make the water pour down."

So perhaps, " Ti nesesita ma na' machuda' i hanom." I spell it nesesita because that's how I learned to pronounce it.  Others may have learned differently.

Longer, but it avoids borrowing directly from English.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : BUBU

Thursday, April 4, 2013



BUBU : angry

Binibu.  Anger

Pot i binibu- ñ a, ha yamak i lamasa.  (Because of his anger, he broke the table)

Na' bubu : make angry

Cha'-mo yo' ma na' bubu!  (Don't dare to make me angry!)

Nina' bubu ni famagu'on.  (The children made him/her angry.)

Na' bubu : irritating

Na' bubu na taotao. (An irritating person.)

Habubu : easily angered

Adahe gue' sa' habubu! (Be careful of him/her because s/he is easily angered.)

Bubuye : to anger someone

Yanggen un bubuye gue', fal å go!  (If you get him/her angry, run!)

Bibubo : irritable.

Ti bibubo na maestra.  She is a calm, tranquil teacher.

CIVILIZE THE CHAMORROS? GOD FORBID!

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Inal å han Ranch Scene
Early 1900s

Years ago, almost everything needed for life was obtained from the land and sea, with just a bit of human effort needed to harvest these resources.

For sure, metalware for farm implements, tools and household goods had to be imported.  Perhaps certain medicines, too, could not be found locally.  Otherwise, even leather and cotton could be obtained in one's backyard.

At the turn of the last century, an American official could say that true, dire poverty did not exist on Guam.  Though no one lived a luxurious life, everyone had the necessities of life.  The American said he knew of only one person on Guam who needed charity from others in order to live, for she was without family and was blind.

But then he visited the home of a blind couple, an elderly husband and wife.  Though blind, the man spent his time weaving pineapple fiber into fishing nets.

The couple's son, strong and able, tended to the family farm : corn, tobacco, coffee, coconuts, sweet potatoes, taro, yam, betel nut.  Not acres and acres of them, just a little patch here and there, but enough to feed the small family.  The animals included a few head of cattle, pigs and chicken.

The young man went up a coconut tree and brought down tuba for the American to drink.  All throughout the American's travel in and out of Guam's ranches, he saw people pleasantly growing crops, greeting him politely, with some of the children taking his hand to show reverence.

When a fellow American asked him if he thought the U.S. should civilize the Chamorros, this man's answer was "God forbid!"  From what he saw, the Chamorros were just fine.  In fact, better off than many elsewhere.

HAGÅTÑA VIP'S IN 1822

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Old Hag å t ñ a

1822 is a long time ago.  It marks, more or less, the mid-point of Spanish colonization in the Marianas.  In 1722, the Spaniards were firmly settled in the Marianas, with all the Chamorros Catholicized; the Chamorros of the islands north of Luta moved to Guam with some exceptions; the Hispanic and Filipino soldiers married to Chamorro wives and living in Hag å t ñ a.

By 1922, the Spaniards were gone.

So, what did the Hag å t ñ a population look like in 1822?  A list of prominent citizens eligible to vote for Hag å t ñ a's civic leaders shows us what names made up the list of Hag å t ñ a's VIPs.

Municipal elections were merely consultative.  Not every male could vote; only those who had already held or were currently holding municipal positions.

The voters were :

Manuel S á nchez
Lu í s Garrido
Lu í s de Torres
Felipe de Guzm á n
Agust í n Pangelinan
Antonio de Torres
Mariano Pereda
Jos é de C á rdenas
Jos é Ram í rez
Ignacio de C á rdenas

You can see that some of these families have died out (C á rdenas) or are not that visible at the forefront of today's politics (Garrido, Guzman, Pereda).  Some, like the Torreses, are still prominent in Guam social circles.

There's not a single one with an indigenous last name, like Taitano or Aguon.  These electors were mestizo , mixed blood.  But the Chamorro language and culture prevailed because of their Chamorro great grandmothers.

Besides the electors, there were also the following men holding various positions :

Scrutineers (of the voting process) :

Silvestre Inocencio Palomo (the father of Padre Palomo)
Joaqu í n de Le ó n Guerrero

The Secretary of the Governor : Nicol á s de Borja

The candidates for Alcalde , or Mayor, were :

Justo de la Cruz
Juan de Rivera

The members of the city council were :

Vidal Valenzuela
Faustino de Borja
Jos é Palomo de Rivera
Jos é Garc í a de Borja
Felipe de Guzm á n
Manuel S á nchez

The city attorney was : Jos é de Le ó n Guerrero

So, the list of VIPs in Hag å t ñ a in 1822 looks somewhat different from the list of Chamorro VIPs in today's Guam.  Names such as Calvo, Bordallo, P é rez don't surface till later, and even Camachos, Floreses and Chamorro names like Ada and Taitano don't emerge till later.  The Torreses and Le ó n Guerreros are represented as far back as 1822, though.


THANK GOD FOR TINIAN

Monday, April 1, 2013

The HMS Centurion (center) battles a Spanish galleon

The British ship Centurion looks so mighty in the sketch above, but such was not the case with her crew in the summer of 1742.

Having left South America and wandered for more than two months in the big Pacific Ocean, the ship was low on food and the crew sick with disease by the time she saw land on August 23.  It was Anatahan, which would have been difficult to land at.  Over some days, the ship passed by other islands, again too small or too high, without good anchorage, to be of any use to the emaciated crew.

The lack of wind did not help the ship move more speedily.  But, finally, on August 26, they spotted Tinian.  A flat island, it gave the ship, and her commander, George Anson, much hope.

Then they saw a proa, so they prepared to defend themselves, as much as the sickly crew could.  They even raised a Spanish flag and a red one, as well, to pretend to be a Manila galleon.  The proa turned out to be carrying a Spanish official and four Chamorros.

From them they learned that Tinian was a garden paradise, full of cattle, swine and poultry, and fruits and vegetables.  Anson landed at Tinian, preventing the Spanish officer from using his boat to sail down to Guam to inform the Spanish Governor, who might send up a sufficient number of armed men to threaten the British, still weak and sickly.  The Chamorro ranch hands fled into the interior, fearing the British.  This left vacant the huts used by the Chamorros, which the British then used for themselves.

The sick crew members were transported on land, some of them borne on the shoulders of the stronger men.  Many died, and were buried on Tinian.

The rest, however, began to recover after eating Tinian's lush fruits, especially the citrus ones to make up for their Vitamic C deficiency.  The records of Anson's crew use the word "incredible" to describe the amount of cattle, hogs and chicken running wild all over Tinian.  The British came across a new kind of food - breadfruit ( lemmai ).

If it weren't for Tinian, Anson and his men may have never survived their trek across the ocean.

But they couldn't - and didn't - tarry long in Tinian.  They got out as soon as they could, before the Spanish on Guam could reach them.

But they didn't leave without first stocking huge supplies of water and fruits to prevent scurvy from breaking out again among the crew.




SOLEDAD

Saturday, March 30, 2013


Today's the day where we get the name many Chamorro women had in the past; Soledad .

It's easy to confuse Our Lady of Sorrows, La Dolorosa or Nuestra Se ñ ora de los Dolores, with Our Lady of Solitude, Nuestra Se ñ ora de la Soledad.

They're both sorrowful, and the images are very similar.

But, as the name suggests, with Soledad, we are thinking about how lonely Our Lady felt when her son Jesus was taken away from her.   This devotion is especially focused on Saturday, when the Lord was already buried.  She could not see Him.  All she could do was visit a tomb, sealed up by a large stone.

I find that many images of Nuestra Se ñ ora de la Soledad picture her in black ( en luto ), mourning the death of her son.  Other frequent features are the laced veil that borders her face and the handkerchief she clutches to dry her tears.

Many Chamorro women carried this name, Soledad.  Many times we didn't know it because they were never addressed as Soledad, but as Da or Daling.

Then, of course, there's one of Guam's best-known Spanish forts, Fort Soledad, built around 1810, overlooking Humatak.





SIETE PALABRAS

Friday, March 29, 2013


The Siete Palabras is a Catholic devotion recalling the seven last words spoken by Jesus on the cross on Good Friday.

Every Good Friday in the Marianas in the old days had a Siete Palabras devotion sometime after 12 noon and before 3 o'clock.

There was a hymn sang for each of the seven last words.

Refrain :

Atan isao na taotao / atan i Lahen Yu'us
( Look, sinner / look at the Son of God )
ma kl å ba gi kilu'us / m å tai sa' umisao hao.
( nailed to the cross / He died because you sinned .)

The first verse went like this :

T å ta, asi'e, T å ta / na'tata i tiningo'- ñ a
( Father, have mercy, Father / his thoughts are slow )
ma' å se' ti ha gef taka / i tinaddong i isao- ñ a.
( mercy, he hasn't fathomed / the depth of his sin .)
Ha  na' ma puno' yo' guine / gu å ho ni Rai yan Yu'os- ñ a
( he has me killed here / me, his King and God )
Asi'e, T å ta, asi'e / ti baba i korason- ñ a.
( Mercy, Father, have mercy / his heart is not evil .)

ADULT EDUCATION IN HAGÅTÑA IN 1917

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

The Almac é n in Hag å t ñ a 1918

What do you do when you want an American education in Guam in 1917 but are a working adult?

You scrape up a dollar and enroll in the Night School run by the Naval Government in the Almac é n, an old Spanish building next to the Pal å syo.

That dollar was your tuition for the entire month.  Besides working adults who could not attend classes during working hours, the Night School was open to anyone who simply wanted more of an education, and who had the dollar to pay for it.

Jacques Schnabel, a Belgian who had married Concepcion Anderson Calvo, was Superintendent of Education at the time.

The Almac é n, originally built as a warehouse, was later torn down.  All that remains are those famous three arches that were the entrance of the building.  You can see those arches at the bottom left corner of the photo above.  The Pal å syo, or Governor's Palace, is to the right.


Can you match these arches with the ones in the picture above?

POST-WAR SIMPLICITY

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

After the war, there was not much in the way of high quality material for the builidng of new churches.  The idea was to build temporary and quick chapels and churches, and wait till funds could be raised and supplies were more available, to build a more lasting structure.

Here Father Alvin LaFeir, Capuchin, stands next to his simple altar.  The wooden platform underneath is not even painted nor surfaced with tiles or carpeting.   For the sanctuary wall, just some ecclesiastical fabric tacked onto a wooden wall.  The tabernacle is made of wood.

If someone can identify this church, please let me know.

FINO' GUAM, FINO' SAIPAN

Monday, March 25, 2013


What do you call this in Chamorro?

It depends.

On Guam, this is a lis å yo .

On Saipan, this is a misterio .

On Saipan, lis å yo refers just to the prayer itself, not the beads.

On Guam, lis å yo refers to both the prayer form and the beads it is prayed on.

Misterio is Spanish for "mystery."  The rosary is a prayer form based on the meditation of certain mysteries.  Each set of ten beads form a decade of a mystery.  This is where the idea came from to call the beads "mysteries."

Lis å yo , by the way, is the Chamorro pronunciation of rosario , which is Spanish for "rosary."

Chamorro doesn't like the R sound and, when possible, replaces it with an L.

Chamorro also doesn't like the Y sound (the final part of rosario sounds like rosa - ryo ) and replaces it with our own Y sound which is like a DZ.

So, in Saipan, people will look at you funny when you say, " Malingo i lisayu-ho ,"  "My rosary is missing."

They would say, rather, " Malingo i misteriu-ho ."

And if you said that on Guam, people would give you a mysterious look.

HOLY WEEK IN DAYS GONE BY

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Good Friday Procession in Hag å t ñ a in the 1920s

Our ma ñ aina took Holy Week ( Sem å na S å nta ) very seriously.

The main rule was : SILENCE.  The whole week long.

In order to keep Holy Week as quiet as possible, the following were forbidden :

-singing (except in church)
-playing games
-yelling
-playing the phonograph or radio (what few had them)
-all manual labor
-going to the farm or ranch
-fishing
-swimming in a river or the ocean
-all recreation

The most serious days were Holy Thursday ( Huebes S å nto ) and Good Friday ( Bietnes S å nto ).

All food to be eaten those two days was cooked already by Wednesday afternoon or evening, so that there'd be less noise in the kitchen and no manual labor like grating coconut and so on.  The foods cooked were therefore things can could last for two days without going bad.

Dishes were left unwashed for those two days.

Clothes, too, were not washed on those two days.

Many did not even shower or bathe on those two days, in order to participate in the discomforts of the Lord which He experienced.

Many Americans, who were not Catholic, complained that life came to a standstill on Guam in Holy Week.  No one socialized.  People were either at home or in church.  Many local businesses were closed.

KÅNTAN KUARESMA

Saturday, March 23, 2013


A Lenten hymn sung in the Northern Marianas.  It is based on the Latin hymn "Miserere Domine populo tuo" or "Have mercy Lord on your people."


Lyrics


Asie Asaina asie i sengsong-mo
( Have mercy, Lord, have mercy on your people )

ya u na' fan libre
( and free them )


nu i sen guaguan hagå’-mo.
( through Your most precious blood .)



O yo'ase Y'os-ho, gai ase' nu guåho.
( O my merciful God, have mercy on me )

I dangkulon kompasion-mo
( Your great compassion )


u funas i isao-ho.
( will wipe out my sin .)


Umisao yo’ Asaina, ya hågo hu isague.
( I sinned, Lord, and I offended You .)

Gi me’nan i inatan-mo,
( In Your sight )


i linachi-ho nai hu cho’gue.
( I committed my fault .)


Linguistic Note

Songsong usually means "village" or "town."

Cultural Note

"Pardon your people, Lord" was a major Lenten theme in traditional Catholicism.  In Spain and in Spanish-speaking countries, one of the best known Lenten hymns was "Perdona tu pueblo, Se ñ or," meaning "Pardon your people, Lord."  It isn't surprising then that there came to be a Chamorro equivalent, though sung to a different melody.


CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : KALAKAS

Friday, March 22, 2013

THE MEXICAN CALACA
" Kalakas !" your mother says when you come home from school dirty and smelly.

" Kalakas !" when you tell a dirty joke.

" Kalakas !" when people think your attitude stinks.

Where did we get this expression?

For years it escaped me, because one doesn't find this word in a standard Spanish dictionary.

Then, last year, I was at a community center in San Diego showcasing various minority cultures, and I came across these familiar Mexican figures associated with the Day of the Dead on November 2.

But, was I surprised to find out that these skeletal figurines are called " calaca ."

What most people don't realize, which I stress time and again in my talks and in my writing, is how strong Mexican influence has been on Chamorro culture.  This is because Spain ruled the Marianas through Mexico for the first 150 years or so.  Many of the so-called "Spanish" soldiers on Guam were actually Mexicans, even beginning with Sanvitores' group.

Look at our Chamorro cuisine for more evidence of Mexican touches : corn, titiyas, chalakiles, atuli and so on.

So I can just imagine how skeletal remains, evincing a reaction of disgust, could be transformed by Chamorro minds into an expression of repulsion.  I have no proof for this theory.  And I doubt that we'll ever find proof.  We don't have a complete dictionary or lexicon of ancient Chamorro to show that it's indigenous.  And no one, as far as we know, was documenting all the changes of our Chamorro language over the years back then.

If our kalakas is a term borrowed from the Mexican word, it's just one more example how our ancestors not only borrowed but changed imported vocabulary.  In borrowing, we change things and make it our own, slightly (and sometimes hugely) different from the original usage.



TOFU BURGER

And the Chamorro said, " Kalakas !"

FAMILIA : NEDEDOG

Sunday, March 17, 2013


When you think of Nededog, you think of H å gat.

It is an indigenous, Chamorro name.

The Spanish were famous for spelling Chamorro names slightly different from what they sound like to us.  And it's also possible that there were differences in pronunciation among Chamorros, either because of different locations or different times.

But my suspicion is that Nededog might be na' didok .  Just as Naputi comes from na' puti . Na' means "to make." Didok means "deep."  In the Spanish record, Nededog was spelled in a variety of ways.

It's not a very big clan, but there's been one senator in Guam history who was a Nededog, back in the days when they were called congressmen - Jose Charfauros Nededog of H å gat.  He was a member of the 4th Guam Legislature.  And there's been a Sister of Notre Dame and principal of Saint Francis School, Yo ñ a - Sister Marsha Nededog.  They can all trace their roots to one of the following people found in the 1897 Census :

Ignacio Nededog , who married Ramona Tae ñ ao.  Both last names are indigenous Chamorro, so this family has a lot of indigenous blood.

Maria Nededog , who wasn't married in 1897 but had children out of wedlock who carried the name Nededog.

Andres San Nicolas Nededog , who wasn't married in 1897 but perhaps married later and may have fathered children.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN...

Tuesday, March 12, 2013


......someone comes to your home to try to convert you to their religion, you have no intention of changing, but you still offer them food or drink.

Most of us are Roman Catholics, but in the 1970s we saw for the first time in great numbers the Roamin' Jehovah's and the Roamin' Mormons.  Especially in the smaller villages, where nothing goes unnoticed, the missionaries knocking unsolicited on people's doors was quite a topic of conversation.

But, being Chamorro means being hospitable.

Some people answered the door and very stoically or curtly said "no" and closed the door, or did so after saying "Sorry, but I was born and I will die in my religion."

I know of only one person, my grandmother's sister, who tried to convert the missionaries.  They soon struck her name off their visitation list.  Poor auntie.  She'd wait and wait for the missionaries but they would just pass by her house.  Maybe she should have tried the food trick to get them to stop by.

But a good number of people would listen and listen, even buy some of their literature for a few dollars, just to be polite.  And some offered the missionaries a drink or a snack.

"Sorry, I don't want to convert.
But try my empan å da!"

ENGLISH THE CHAMORRO WAY

Monday, March 11, 2013
flickr.com

You hear the most interesting things sometimes in the check-out line.

This time at Cost-U-Less.

A mom with her kids.  As they are waiting, the kids are eyeing the little goodies they stack by the cashier.  I don't even know what the one kid was wanting, but he says to mom, in English, "Mom, can I get?"

She says, in English,  "Which you like?"

Again, I think, a Chamorro-ism.  A direct translation of what she'd have said in Chamorro, " M å no ya-mo ?"  "Which you like?"  Or she could have asked, "Which you want?" as in " M å no malago'-mo ?"

Rather than, "Which one do you like, or want?"

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS

Sunday, March 10, 2013


Sustiene i makaka'-mo!
( Hold your itch !)

Sustiene comes from the Spanish sostener , and means to "hold, maintain, support, sustain."

Makaka' means itch or itchy.

So " Sustiene i makaka'-mo !" means : even though you are itchy, don't even try to scratch!

In other words...

You are really hungry, but the food hasn't all been put on the table yet, or blessed, but you feel so tempted to just grab and eat, and your mother says, " Sustiene i makaka'-mo !"

You are in a meeting, or in church, or at a school play, and you're tired of it, and you are fidgeting in your seat, barely able to keep on your chair, and your spouse says, " Sustiene i makaka'-mo !"

The phrase has also been used in connection with romantic attractions.

GUAM'S SMALLEST CEMETERY?

Saturday, March 9, 2013
Four graves.  That's it.

I know of individual graves, and also graves of two, perhaps three, individuals buried right next to a private residence.  But I wouldn't consider those cemeteries but rather private graves, instead.

But this site, not connected to any private residence, could be the smallest cemetery in all the Marianas.  Four graves.

It's found in Hum å tak, just outside the large Catholic cemetery.  These four graves belong to four Baptists in Hum å tak, who could not be buried in the Catholic cemetery for obvious reasons.



Juan Aguon Quinata, born in 1883, was baptized a Catholic, as they all were during Spanish times.  Later, during American times, he became a Baptist.  He died in 1953.  Two other graves are of people who died in 1925 and 1934.  So this small area was designated for the Hum å tak Baptists in the 1920s.

I have to investigate further, but I think the Baptist connection came about through marriage with one of the Hag å t ñ a Baptists.  These graves are basically of people within one family.

The gravestones all include at the bottom the opening lines of one of the most famous English Protestant hymns :  Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee!

It's amazing what you find hidden in some of the small villages and isolated locations in our islands - if you just look hard enough.

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Friday, March 8, 2013


Her name was Isabel Rosario Rivera Santos.

But to us she was Tan Sabet S å ra.

She was a sweet elderly lady who always wore the mestisa .  From time to time she would come to our house to be the techa at some devotion or novena.  My family had no shortage of techa ; my grandmother's spinster sister could do them all.  But asking Tan Sabet to be the techa from time to time kept a friendship going.

These were the days when families would have frequent devotions in the home.  I noticed in mine that certain individuals would be invited for specific devotions, and others for other devotions.

I often wondered where the S å ra came from.  As I grew up, it sounded more to me like the Spanish/Chamorro form of the name Sarah, which it is.  I am told the S å ra refers to the Rosario side of the family, so I am guessing there was a Sara Rosario in the lineage.  Perhaps I'll find such a person in the research one day.

Tan Sabet and my grandmother would also talk on the phone, chirping away in Chamorro.  I could understand bits and pieces only at the time.  I was a mere ten or eleven years old.

And, for some inexplicable reason, my grandmother handed me the phone with no clue as to why, when she was speaking with Tan Sabet.  Maybe grandma just needed me to keep Tan Sabet on the line for a while till grandma came back.

But while I had her on the phone, I clearly remember Tan Sabet telling me, " Cha'-mo maleleffa fumino' Chamorro, sa' lengguahi-ta ."  "Don't forget to speak Chamorro, because it's our language."

I managed to say " Hunggan " or " Si, se ñ ora ," I forget which; but I said something in the affirmative.

It struck me that she was not berating me for hardly being able to speak Chamorro at the time.  And that she was speaking to me in full-blown Chamorro as if I knew every word she was saying.  Her approach was positive and encouraging.

Very sweet lady.  A generation that is pretty much gone.  Too bad for us.

OVER A LITTLE BOAT

Thursday, March 7, 2013
A skiff

So what happened?  When the Europeans and Chamorros meet for the first time, blood is spilled.  Why?

All our sources for what transpired are European.  We have nothing but silence from the Chamorros themselves, who had no means of writing things down.  No oral tradition has come down to us, either, from the viewpoint of our ancestors.

Apparently, on the first day when Magellan's flotilla arrived, Chamorros came on board, with the Spaniards' consent, if not encouragement.  But when the Chamorros started helping themselves to what they wanted, there was a definite clash of cultures.  For whatever reason, the Europeans thought it necessary to use their crossbows - not guns - against the Chamorros.  Perhaps it was due to the superior number of Chamorros, or the Europeans' bad physical condition.  Remember, they were reduced to sickly, starving men by the time they came to Guam.

At the same time, the Chamorros made off with a skiff from one of the ships.  Magellan waited till the next day, when it was light again, to take action.

The Spaniards came ashore, killed seven Chamorros, burnt down many homes and recovered the stolen skiff.  Then they sailed away two days later, leaving nothing behind but a name for the islands - Los Ladrones (The Thieves) - which would not be changed till Sanvitores renamed them the Marianas.

Small as it is, for the European sailors, a skiff was worth the trouble of extending their stay, sending in an armed party and taking punitive action against the Chamorros, even taking lives.  With a skiff, seamen could test shallow waters first and know for certain where a ship could venture without danger of hitting ground or meeting some other danger.


Re-enactment in Hum å tak of the burning of Chamorro homes by Magellan's crew in 1521

So the first deadly encounter between the Europeans and Chamorros was over a ship's goods and a little boat; a skiff.  Who owned what.  Who could take what.

Blood spills to this very day, even Chamorro against Chamorro, over such things.

WHERE DID MAGELLAN LAND?

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Taipingot, or the Wedding Cake, in Luta (Rota)

Where did Ferdinand Magellan land on March 6, 1521?

How could we know for sure, since Magellan did not have a map of the Pacific nor of the islands he could have come across as he sailed west?

We have this eye witness account from Antonio Pigafetta, an Italian member of Magellan's expedition.  Pigafetta says that on March 6 they saw "a small island to the northwest" and "two others towards the southwest."  That makes three islands.  Then he says one of the two islands to the south was larger and higher than the other two.

Now, if one looks at a map of the Marianas, one would be tempted to think Magellan saw Saipan, Tinian and Aguiguan - three islands neatly in a row, separated by merely several miles.


The problem with this explanation is that Pigafetta says that the largest and highest of the three was to the southwest, that is, south of Saipan.  Unfortunately, neither Tinian nor Aguiguan fit this description.  Tinian is just slightly smaller than Saipan but definitely flatter.  And Aguiguan is tiny compared to the other two.  If one were approaching from the east, as Magellan was, Saipan would definitely appear to be the highest and biggest, which is at odds with Pigafetta's account.

That leaves only two more islands in the southern Marianas, Guam and Luta (Rota).  The problem is that makes for only two islands, and Pigafetta says they saw three.

Ah, but maybe what they saw looked like three islands, but were in fact only two islands.  In Luta, there is a high point to the south called Taipingot, or the Wedding Cake, that is connected to the island proper by a shallow and narrow strip of land (an isthmus) that would not be seen from a distance.  The little strip of land connecting Taipingot and Luta would be invisible from afar, and would make one believe he was looking at two islands instead of one.


Taipingot is connected to Luta proper by a narrow and shallow strip of land, unseen from afar.

This seems like a good explanation.  The "three" islands were really Luta and its southern high point Taipingot, mistaken as a separate island, and then Guam.

As Pigafetta says, Magellan decided to stop by the largest island to get food for his starving crew.  They headed for the western side of that island, as that side would be less windy.

Again, Pigafetta cannot tell us what beach or bay they landed at.  They had no maps; knew no names.  It could have been Tumon Bay, or Aga ñ a Bay.  Pigafetta lacks sufficient detail to give us better clues.  But to sail all the way down to Hum å tak (Umatac), some believe, would put him there at nightfall, an unlikely and more dangerous time to make contact with the islanders.  It also means Magellan would have by-passed Apra Harbor, another unlikely occurence.

Still, tradition has it that Magellan landed at Hum å tak.  This idea possibly comes from Legazpi's later landing at Hum å tak in 1565.

LET IT REMAIN HUM Å TAK


Magellan Monument in Hum å tak

We have no real evidence that Magellan landed at Hum å tak in 1521, and compelling reasons to think he actually landed more to the north of Guam.  But I say let's keep the tradition that Magellan landed in Hum å tak.

Since we'll never know for sure where he landed, any place will do to serve as a focal point for the historical fact that Magellan stopped at Guam in 1521.  We have no evidence what month and day Christ was born, but if any day of the year is as good as another to mark His birth, why not December 25th, which conveniently (for Christians) supplants a pagan feast and injects it with new meaning.

Tumon and Hag å t ñ a, if Magellan in fact landed at either place, already has enough busy activity which we frequently see anyway, while having Discovery Day in Hum å tak gives us a reason to visit that beautiful bay.

The people of Hum å tak certainly don't want it any other way.  Even when the narrator of the Magellan landing re-enactment talks about how those bad Spaniards killed Chamorros and burned down our huts, the narrator ends it all with a "Biba Magellan!  Biba Discovery Day!"

The Spaniards.  We attack them.  But we wouldn't be who we are today had they never come.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF CHAMORRO TOURIST

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

The black volcanic rocks of Hawaii.

Unlike the adventurous tales of the Chamorro whalers who braved the high seas, I heard the story of two elderly and modern Chamorro residents in Hawaii, who just moved there from the Marianas.

Having settled into their Oahu home for more than a year, it occurred to them to make a visit to the famed Big Island.

They arrived; checked into a hotel; rented a car.  The plan : visit the volcanoes.

But they found the driving distances too long.  They had never needed more than half an hour to get anywhere back home or even in Oahu.

The road was too winding, and the husband drove way under the speed limit.

The wife tells the story :

" Guaha gi tatten-m å me, ya duru ma na' k å ti i karetan- ñ iha sa' pot mampos ham desp å sio gi chalan !"
(There were people behind us, and they kept honking their horns because we were so slow.)

" Pues, manli'e ham man d å ngkulo yan man å ttilong na å cho.  Hu sang å ne i asagu å -ho, 'Mampos na' ma' ñ ao este siha na å cho.  B å sta!  Bira, bira!  Nihi!  Ta h å nao t å tte gi hotel!"
(Then, we saw these big and black rocks.  I told my husband, 'These rocks are way too scary!  Enough! Turn, turn! Let's go! Let's go back to the hotel!"

So for the two days they planned on being on the Big Island, they mainly saw their hotel room.

Some Chamorros are gadabouts , other Chamorros are homebodies.

SOCIAL LIFE ON THE CORMORAN

Monday, March 4, 2013


When the German ship, the SMS Cormoran, was confined in Apra Harbor in 1914, it was not considered an enemy.  The U.S. was not at war with Germany yet.  But the U.S. also wanted to be free of accusations of taking sides in the war.  The Germans were happy to be sequestered in the safe harbor of a neutral country, rather than risk being sunk by the enemy Japanese in the open waters.

On a small island, with a small American community, the addition of European sailors and officers from Germany was at first welcomed on Guam with great glee.

Their presence added color and entertainment to the social happenings on island.

Dinner parties were a regular thing on board, hosted by German Captain Zuckschwerdt.  German officers would entertain by playing the piano and by singing solo pieces.  Christmas time was the most special, with the Germans going the extra yard with their German yuletide customs.

German sailors roamed freely around Guam at this time.  I wonder if any German-Chamorro babies were produced in 1915 and in the next few years.  All that came to an end in 1917 when the U.S. finally entered the war and the Cormoran sunk itself rather than fall into American hands.

BLOG STATS : 10,000 HITS IN ONE MONTH

Sunday, March 3, 2013
I had to pick myself off the floor when I checked the blog stats for January 2013.  Over 10,000 visits to this blog is one month.  When I first started the blog nearly 2 years ago, I would have been happy if there were 10,000 visits for the last two years!

In February, with fewer days, 9,000+ visits.

Thank you dear readers. Si Yu'us ma' å se' !





I TIBA

Sunday, March 3, 2013


Before the Europeans settled the Marianas, the Chamorros didn't get drunk.

Why?  No tuba .  Or any intoxicating beverages for that matter.

It was the Filipinos who introduced tuba to the Chamorros. Tuba even made its way from the Philippines to Mexico, an example of reverse cultural influence.  Usually it was the other way around; Mexico influencing the Philippines.

Collected from the sap that seeps from the cut flower of the coconut tree into a bamboo cylinder hung around the flower stump.  When the first cut heals and the sap no longer flows, the stump is sliced again and the stump bleeds more sap.  The sap is most productive at night, and tuba makers collect the sap in the morning and before sunset.



When the sap is first collected, it is very sweet and can be converted right away into a form of syrup or sugar by boiling.  If left alone for four hours, it has fermented enough to become intoxicating, but still sweet.

Unless it is refrigerated after this point, the tuba will ferment quickly and become an excellent vinegar, binaklen tuba .  In the two bottles above, the sweet, cold and clear tuba is to the right; the room temperature, darker vinegar is to the left.

In the old days before Payless supermarkets, Chamorros would use tuba as a leavening agent, like yeast, in breads.  One can always tell, for example, when tuba was used in making poto (rice cakes).

But there's nothing like drinking ice cold, sweet tuba on a warm day....


Ilek- ñ a i Amerik å no, "Ei na minannge'"

A statesider tries tuba for the first time - and likes it.

GUAM INSTITUTE GRADUATES OF 1940

Saturday, March 2, 2013
The Jose Lujan House
Site of the Guam Institute
Guam's only private school before the war

In May, 1940, the following students graduated from Junior High level studies at the Guam Institute.  The ceremonies were held at the church hall next to the Cathedral.

Aflague, Joaquin
Aflague, Jesus T.
Bamba, Jesus M.
Benavente, Jose G.
Calvo, Angelina T.
Camacho, Carlos G.
Crisostomo, Pedro C.
Cruz, Jose M.
Diaz, Agustin T.
Flores, Jose LG
Iwatsu, Tomas S.
Leon Guerrero, Pedro M.
Lujan, Gregorio C.
Martinez, Carrie C.
Martinez, Rosa T.
Pangelinan, Emeterio
Quenga, Isabel S.
Rosa, Jose
Rosario, Lucille Marie

Recognize any names?  Many are immediately familiar.

One special one : Carlos G. Camacho.  First elected Governor of Guam (1970-1974).

US VERSUS US

Friday, March 1, 2013

We're used to the saying "Us versus Them."

But when village murals started going up some years ago, there was some discrepancy which Chamorro word for "us" to use.  Some villages used " hami ," or " hame ."



And others used the word " hita ."

What's the difference.

In English, "us" is "us" and "we" is "we."  But, in conversation, we're not sure who is always included or excluded when those words are used.

For example, when someone tells you, "We are going to the movies," you need to know from what went before, or from what follows, whether YOU yourself are included in this trip to the movies.

But in Chamorro, as in some other languages, the vocabulary itself solves the problem.

" Hame " means "Us, but not you."  Exclusive.

" Hita " means "Us, including you."  Inclusive.

So, in the case of the village murals, either word, hame or hita , works fine.  It just depends who is talking to who.

If a Sumay person is talking to another Sumay person and wants to say "We, the people of Sumay," s/he would say, " Hita ni taotao Sumay ." Hita , because both speaker and listener are included; both are from Sumay.

If a Sumay person is talking to someone not from Sumay and wants to say, "We, the people of Sumay," then s/he would say, " Hame ni taotao Sumay ." Hame , because the listener is not included in the group "people from Sumay."  Exclusive.

But people of both classes, residents and non-residents, pass these village signs all day long.  The included and the excluded drive by and read these signs.  So which word do you use?  The inclusive, or the exclusive?  I suppose the speaker itself - the village - has to decide first who it is speaking to in these signs.  The resident?  Or the non-resident?  In Chamorro, it cannot be both.


SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Thursday, February 28, 2013

" Å mbres i idu na taotao, komo un na' bubu, kl å l å ro gue' kumuentos!"

" Even the mute, if you anger him, speaks c learly!"


Enough said.  Nahong ha' esta.

FAMILIA : ATALIG

Wednesday, February 27, 2013


Atalig is a Chamorro name from Luta.  Many Guam Chamorros mispronounce it and say a-TA-lik, whereas the correct pronunciation is AT-talik.

"A" before a word in Chamorro means "each other."  Aguaiya means "to love each other."

But we're not sure what talik or talek means.  Unfortunately, many Chamorro words were lost before their meanings could be recorded.

Two Atalig men were civic leaders in Luta and were given the honorary title "Don" or "Sir."

Ger ó nimo Atalig of Luta married Maria Sablan Borja of Guam and his descendants were many. Ger ó nimo is the Spanish form of the name Jerome.

Benito Atalig married Brigida Manglo ñ a Masga.

There are also half a dozen other Ataligs in Luta in 1897 but their connection with these others is unknown.

Kevin Atalig is a well-known Chamorro singer from Luta with a unique style.  Chamorro rock.


Here's one of Kevin's earlier compositions, about his Cadillac

I remember people laughing at his opening words : KWAT - TRO, KWAT - TRO REDA- Ñ A!

( Ku å ttro, ku å ttro rueda- ñ a; it has four, four wheels.)

People were saying : "Ofcourse his car has four wheels!" All in good fun.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : MÅPAO

Tuesday, February 26, 2013


M Å PAO : cool down

M å pao i binibu- ñ a.  His/her anger is cooled down.

M å pao i hanom.  The water is cool/tepid.

Na' m å pao i kafe.  Let the coffee cool down.

I have even heard some people say, "Bai hu fan nangga asta ke m å pao i traffic."  (I will wait till the traffic cools down.)

CHAMORRO WHALERS ON THE BIG ISLAND

Monday, February 25, 2013

Born in Hawaii in 1899, this Joaquin Zablan is the son of a Chamorro whaler also named Joaquin Zablan

Doing some research recently with Hawaii records, I came across some Chamorro settlers in Hawaii long before the islands became American territory.  These Chamorros arrived in Hawaii as crew members of the whaling ships.  Some of these Chamorros I already knew about; some I didn't.

Many of these Chamorro whalers, or bayinero as we say in Chamorro, settled in the Kohala district of the Big Island.



The Kohala area was an active center of sugar plantations.  There, Chamorro settlers met and married local women, either born in Hawaii or settlers as they were.  Some were Hawaiian, others Portuguese or Puerto Rican.

I came across records on Joaquin Zablan and Sylvester (Silvestre) Zablan, whom I have written about it an earlier post on this blog.

Also on a Ben Pangelinan, who died on the Big Island in 1903 at the assumed age of 68 years old.  I say "assumed" because Chamorros, as well as many other people who didn't come from a very literary culture, were quite casual about such details as birth dates and ages.  Some didn't even bother informing church or government who their parents were.  They had left home for good.

There was a new name for me among the records : Luis Guzman, who died in the Kohala area as early as 1884. He is described as a "Spaniard from the Mariana Islands." But naturally this just meant he fell under Spanish jurisdiction, since Guam was part of Spain at the time. He was believed to be 45 years old when he died, so perhaps born in 1839.

Most of these Chamorro settlers remained attached to the Catholic Church, which in Hawaii at the time meant contact with the Sacred Hearts Fathers, the same group as that of Saint Damien of Molokai.  Many of these priests were French and Belgian; indeed, some notes in the church records are written in French.  We see in the records that many of the Chamorros were married in the Church and acted as godparents.  One Joaquin Pangelinan was a godfather to a good number of baptisms in the Kohala area for Portuguese and Spanish families.



Half-Chamorro Ben Zablan, born and raised in Hawaii, is standing on the far left.

These Chamorro and their half-caste descendants were very mobile, moving here and there in Hawaii.  The children of these Chamorro identified very much with the local culture, and the Chamorro language was probably not passed down even to the second generation.  Today, the descendants of these Chamorro whalers from over 100 years ago are a diverse group of people of many different racial mixtures and religions.  Some of them know their roots are in Guam, but some don't know much at all about Guam.  Quite understandably, their first identity is as Hawaiians.




PUPULU : IT'S ALL GOOD

Sunday, February 24, 2013

The pupulu , or pepper leaf, is traditionally an indispensable part of chewing pugua' (betel nut).

But it's not just the leaf that's good.  The long stigma in the middle is also very nice.  According to some, chewing it keeps the whole wad of mam å 'on (betel nut, leaf and lime rock) compact and held together.

In Chamorro, this stigma is called the kalili' .  Stress on the first syllable : KA - li - li'.

Personally, I even chew on the stems.  Makes it all more pika (peppery).

CHAMORRO CHAPERONE

Saturday, February 23, 2013

"Knock it off you two!"


A lady was telling me how she, the oldest of the daughters in a family of eight siblings, was always sent by the mother to run to the store at a moment's notice when they suddenly needed something for the kitchen.

But never alone.

One of the brothers had to go with her whenever she left the house.  But a brother wasn't always available.  And whatever they were out of in the kitchen didn't get bought.

So, in her words, " Yanggen t å ya' asukat, tododos mangigimen kafe sin asukat!"

"If we had no sugar, everybody drank coffee without sugar."

That's how our grandparents grew up.  Single women never left the house unaccompanied.

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS

Friday, February 22, 2013
seafavorites.com

I visited a lady who was talking to me about her teenage grandson, very good in computer skills.

She said, "Ti ilun i'e' ilu- ñ a."  (He doesn't have the head of an i'e' fish.)

I said, "Ha?"  "Haftaimano i ilu- ñ a i i'e'?"  (What? How's an i'e' head?)

She said, "T å ya' sanhalom- ñ a." (There's nothing inside.)

In other words, the young man has smarts.

The i'e' fish, called "juvenile jacks" in English, is a small fish that can be eaten whole and entire, either fried or in kelaguen style (like a ceviche; lemon, onions, salt, chili peppers).

THE GUAM TOAD

Thursday, February 21, 2013


The toad is a common sight on Guam.  But did you know it is a relatively new immigrant to the island?

It was introduced by the Naval government in 1937.  Apparently it was thought that the toad, venomous to many critters, would help eliminate slugs, centipedes and worms.

But it also helped reduce the iguana ( hilitai ) population, because the hilitai would bite toads or carry them in their mouth, exposing themselves therefore with its venom.

In Guam, Chamorros used the Spanish word r å na for toad.

In Saipan, Chamorros used the Japanese word kaeru .

CHAMORRO NAVY MAN'S EARLY DEATH

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

In 1938, Jorge Gumataotao was a young man from Sumay who decided to join the Navy and see the world.  In his case, it did come true.  Although Chamorro sailors could only serve as mess attendants at the time (cooking and serving meals), Jorge's duty ships took him to Europe, South America and the U.S.  His family was thrilled when, every so often, they'd receive packages of souvenirs from Jorge from all over the world.

More than anyone, Natividad Blas, was waiting for the chance to re-unite with her nobio Jorge in the States and marry him.

But World War II broke out in Europe in 1939 and, although the U.S. stayed out of that war at first, it impeded much travel for the American sailors.

But then, still out in far-flung Europe, Jorge developed pneumonia and rheumatic fever, and died.

It took a while, but the body of Jorge was shipped back to Guam where Capuchin Fathers Xavier, Adelbert and Marcian gave him his funeral rites.  A wake held all night in the Gumataotao home was followed by the priests coming at 9:30AM to escort the body to the church in Sumay where a Requiem Mass was celebrated.  Jorge was then buried in Sumay cemetery, right in front of the cemetery cross.  Pall bearers were other Chamorro enlisted men.  The traditional 21-gun salute and taps were rendered.

Natividad never got to marry him. Na'masi, no ?

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Sunday, February 17, 2013


Toktok m å gi sintura-ho, ya un kari ñ o yo' ni mames;
an hum å nu'ao ti bai m å tai, an hu dingu'ao siempre un t å nges.

Hold me here at my waist, and be sweetly affectionate with me;
if you leave, I won't die; if I leave you, you will surely cry.

In other words....

I want your love, but if you reject me, it will be you who suffer.

What a mixture of indigenous words and Spanish loan words!

Indigenous : toktok (hug/embrace), m å gi (here), mames (sweet), h å nao (to go, leave), m å tai (die), dingu (leave), t å nges (cry/weep).

Spanish loan words : sintura (waist), kari ñ o (affection), siempre (in Spanish it means "always," in Chamorro "surely").

Still, if you (or a Spaniard) didn't know the indigenous words, you wouldn't understand what this was all about.  Only something about a waist, and affection.


CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS

Saturday, February 16, 2013

I was telling a lady that her closet was full of old tv's, broken toasters and unusable microwave ovens and that they were just taking up space.

She replied, " Ei, ti mangågågao na'-ña ."

(Hey, it isn't asking for food.)

Language isn't just vocabulary.  It's also a mentality; an attitude; a perspective on life.


AN ATTEMPT AT COMMERCIAL FISHING

Friday, February 15, 2013


JK Shimizu was a long-time Japanese businessman who settled down on Guam and married a Chamorro.  One of his several experiments was to get a commercial fishing industry started on Guam.  For this purpose, he brought down four Okinawan fishermen from Saipan to work for him on Guam in 1926.

His boat would leave Piti at sunset and the Okinawans would fish till dawn.  In one night, they caught 900 pounds of fish : tuna, barracuda, red snapper, tarakito, bonito, parrot fish and sharks.

These he sold as fresh fish the morning they came in, or he dried and salted them.  The sharks he dried and sent to China.  Certain types of fish were dried and pounded into flakes to be used in Japanese cooking.  Whatever was unsellable was given to the pigs to eat.

Guam, however, never did create a commercial fishing industry.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : GUAIYA

Thursday, February 14, 2013

GUAIYA : to love, to like

It is one of two words in Chamorro that mean "to love."  The other is " gofli'e ."

Hu guaiya hao.  I love you.

Manguaiya yo' nu h å go.  I love you.  (We'll need another post to explain these two forms)

Ti hu guaiya i hagas na nobi å -ho.  I do not love my former girlfriend.

Guaiya na che'lu-ho.  My beloved brother (or sister).

Ma guaiya ayo na taotao.  That person is loved, appreciated, liked.

Aguaiya.  To love one another.

Fan aguaiya, uno yan otro!  Love one another, one and all!

Manguaiya.  To have love.

Puengen i Manguaguaiya.  Lovers' Night (at a restaurant, perhaps, or Valentine's Ball)

Guaiyayon.  Lovable.

Sen guaiyayon na p å tgon.  A very lovable child.

Guinaiya.  Love.

Metgot i guinaiya.  Love is strong.

H å fa, guinaiya-ko, malago'-mo?  What, my beloved, would you like?

Ti guinaiya gue' nu i famagu'on- ñ a.  S/he is not loved by his (her) children.

M å no guine guinaiya-mo?  Which one here is your favorite (at the dessert table, for example)?
PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF TAN ROSA...

It is not GUIYA . Guiya means "he, she, it" in Chamorro.

But many people spell Chamorro with English in their minds.

They think I in Chamorro sounds like I in English, as in "Me, myself and I."

Are they going to start calling the village of Piti : Pee - tigh?

Saina (lord, master, elder) become Sina?

Taitano becomes Tightano?

Please, keep English spelling OUT OF CHAMORRO!  Si Yu'us Ma' å se'!



I HAGUET : CHAMORRO FISHING HOOKS

Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Frank Wells

Our ancestors were some of the most skilled fishermen ever found by Western explorers.  The variety of fishing techniques and equipment, and the facility with which fish were successfully caught, impressed these foreigners.

The haguet , or fish hook, came in different shapes.  The V shaped and the L shaped hooks were very common, especially the latter, and are almost always found in ancient Chamorro archaeological sites.  These hooks were made with a type of oyster shell.  They would be attached to a string.  Bait, such as coconut meat or fish meat, would be attached to the hook.  A fish would have to swallow the bait and hook with its entire mouth in order for the hook to lodge in the interior of the fish's mouth or throat.  Then the fisherman could pull up the string with fish in tow.

Frank Wells

Fish could be eaten raw, and others were roasted on an open fire.  Since the Marianas did not have land mammals yet, fish was an important source of protein for our ancestors.

LOURDES IN YIGO

Sunday, February 10, 2013

To understand the devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes in Yigo, one has to understand the Spanish Capuchins who worked on Guam from 1901 till 1941.

The majority of these friars were from Navarra in the north of Spain.  Some of them came from towns not a day's journey to the French border.  The area in France where Lourdes is was, at one time, part of the Kingdom of Navarra.  So you can understand why these Spanish Capuchins from Navarra identified strongly with Lourdes.

Before the Spanish Capuchins came to Guam in 1901, they had already been in Manila since 1886.  There, in the old part of Manila called Intramuros, they built a chapel and a shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes.  This shrine became very popular among the people.


The Pre-War Capuchin Church and Shrine of Lourdes
Intramuros, Manila

When the famous Capuchin P å le' Rom á n de Vera came to Guam in 1915, he had already spent some years in Manila.  By the early 1920s, Yigo was expanding in population as more Hag å t ñ a people moved up there to ranch.  A chapel was needed there for monthly Masses.  It was given Our Lady of Lourdes for its patron, a devotion strongly held by the Capuchins of Navarra like P å le' Rom á n.  He composed a Chamorro hymn to her, using a Spanish melody.




The Chamorro Hymn to Our Lady of Lourdes

Matuna hao O Bithen de Lutdes / inangokon i taotao-mo
(You are blessed, O Virgin of Lourdes / the hope of your people)
i um å gang hao guse' un po'lo / gi mames na korason-mo.
(quickly place those who call on you / within your sweet heart.)

Tayuyute ham gi me'nan Jesus / i un guaiya na patgon-mo
(Pray to us before Jesus / your beloved child)
N å na lao! N å na! Cha'-mo didingo / ini i famagu'on-mo.
(Oh my!  Mother! Dare not abandon / these your children.)

Ayo as Bernadita Subiru / i lumi'e i lago'-mo
(She, Bernadette Soubirous / who saw your tears)
ya ha hungok nina' sen pinite / i na' tanges na fino'-mo.
(and who heard most sorrowfully / your tearful words.)




THE CHINESE CHAMORROS

Saturday, February 9, 2013

The Late Senator Antonio Reyes Unpingco
Descendant of the Chinese Rosauro Unpingco


Limtiaco, Tyquiengco, Unpingco.......these are names of Chamorro families we often hear.

They are also all descendants of Chinese men who moved to Guam during Spanish times in the 1850s and 60s.

That would have been during the administration of Governor Felipe de la Corte, at a time when Guam's small population (not helped by the smallpox epidemic of 1856) was at one of its lowest in years.  There was always talk about bringing in new settlers to increase the numbers on Guam and the Marianas.

VIA MANILA

Though the records show that these Chinese men who moved to Guam were born in China, more than likely they came to Guam through the Philippines.  There was no regular transportation between Guam and China, but there was between Manila and Guam.  The Philippines had a large population of Chinese; both those born in China and those born in the Philippines.


FUJIAN

The records also show that the majority of the Chinese who moved to Guam (and for that matter even to the Philippines) were from Fujian, a province in China.  Fujian Chinese had their own language, different from Mandarin (in the north) and Cantonese (in the south).  Sometimes older or alternate spellings are used for Fujian : Fukien or Hokkien.


FUJIAN PROVINCE
( in yellow )
You can see on the map it's not far from the Philippines




The circled city of Nan'an, also called Lamua, was the birthplace of many Chinese who moved to Guam, including the ancestors of the Unpingcos and Tyquiengcos.



-CO

Have you noticed that many Chinese Chamorro family names end in -co?  Unpingco, Limtiaco, Tydingco, Champaco, Tyquiengco.

Here's the reason.

The Chinese usually have three names : the family name first, then the generational name and finally the personal name.  The generational name indicates to others what generation of that family you belong to.



FAMILY MEMBER
FAMILY NAME
GENERATION NAME
PERSONAL NAME
FULL NAME
Father
Xia
Zhou
Jin
Xia Zhoujin
1 st child
Xia
Han
Zheng
Xia Hanzheng
2 nd child
Xia
Han
Li
Xia Hanli
3 rd child
Xia
Han
Yong
Xia Hanyong

But the Fujian Chinese had a peculiar custom.  They would often drop the generational name, and add -co to their names.  "Co" in Fujian Chinese means "elder brother" and was simply a mark of respect to call a fellow countryman "elder brother."


Corazon COJUANGCO Aquino
Former President of the Philippines

Her ancestor also came from Fujian, China, with a surname ending in -co.  Aquino was her married name.


LATER CHINESE MIGRANTS

Not all the Chamorro Chinese on Guam trace their ancestors back to Spanish times.  Some, like the Won Pats and the Quans, came during American times.

And not all the Chinese who moved to Guam in Spanish times had names ending in -co.  Think of the Quengas, who have a Chinese ancestor.

TAITINGFONG

Many people think this is Chinese.  But it's Chamorro.  It just sounds like it could be Chinese.


CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Friday, February 8, 2013
garyjwolff.com

I remember when you could drive right up to the edge of Two Lovers Point.....FREE OF CHARGE



There was no fence surrounding this hole.  Back then, if you wanted to, you could tie a rope and rappel on down.

No tour buses.  No tourists!

A Capuchin priest, Father George Maddock, who was always an avid outdoorsman, used to spend the night at Two Lovers Point, sleeping right on the edge of the cliff.  There was no fence there either.

MATH WIZARDS IN 1926

Thursday, February 7, 2013
Are any of these your grandparents?  Great-grandparents?



VILLAGE
NAMES
GRADES
PRIZES

Aga ñ a

Jose Flores
Manuel Blas Perez
Ana G. Reyes

5 th
5th
4th

1 st
2 nd
2nd

Agat

Baltazar B. Leon Guerrero

Juan M. Salas

2 nd


3rd

2 nd


1st

Barrigada

Concepcion Mafnas
Jesus G. Cruz

2 nd
4th

1 st
2nd

Sinaja ñ a

Jesus L. Bautista

3 rd

2nd


CHAMORRO FOLK BELIEF

Wednesday, February 6, 2013


It's a sign of good luck if a praying mantis hangs around.

How do you say "praying mantis" in Chamorro?  After looking it up in several places, I have come up empty-handed.  Which leads me to believe that the praying mantis is so recently introduced on our island that we haven't had time to invent a local name for it.  Safford (early 1900s) does not mention it in his list of Guam insects.

The Spaniards call it the "mantis religiosa" (religious mantis) or "santateresa."  Santa Teresa (Saint Teresa of Avila) is a well-known Spanish Carmelite saint, so it's no surprise the Spaniards named this pious insect after her.

Some cultures fear the mantis as a sign of doom.

We think it's a sign of good.

I just think it's one of God's creatures.  I am not fond of insects, but I enjoy it when a praying mantis, of its own accord, lands on me and sits, and sits and sits.  This is one insect that isn't a workaholic.

GUAM'S FORT SAINT AGATHA

Tuesday, February 5, 2013



"But P å le'!," you say, "that's Fort Apugan!"

Well the fort is in Apugan, the name of a certain section of the modern village of Aga ñ a Heights.

But when this small fort was built in 1800, it was named Fort Santa Águeda. Águeda is Spanish for Agatha, whose feast day happens to be today.



That's better!


A BUILDING FRENZY IN 1800

Fort Santa Águeda was just one of several public structures built by just one man, Spanish Governor Manuel Muro.  Spain was at war with the British at the time and wanted to beef up defenses on Guam.

Muro built Fort Santa Cruz in Apra Harbor; another fort in downtown Hag å t ñ a and even the San Antonio Bridge where Sirena now lives.  He also built the original structure whose three arches alone remain today at the Palace next to the Plaza de Espa ñ a.

So much of Guam's Spanish landmarks are all due to this one man.

He named this fort in Apugan after his wife, Maria Águeda del Camino, who was sickly and who, in fact, died shortly thereafter.  The fort was meant to defend Hag å t ñ a Bay.

The British never came; the fort fell into disrepair.  It was used here and there by the Americans and even the Japanese.  It is still being used by the Japanese, but, this time, Japanese tourists.


If you look hard enough, you can recognize Japanese writing which can be found on a corner of Fort Apugan.  Remnants of World War II.  I don't think the Japanese tourists wrote it. : )


GUAM'S MILITARY CODE NAME

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Right after Guam's recapture by American forces in 1944, the war against Japan was still in progress and U.S. military activities on Guam had to be kept under wraps.  So, a code name for Guam had to be found and the military settled on Duva.

Guam was still called Duva by the military, perhaps informally, even after the war had ended.

A military club on Guam was called Club Duva Den.


Ceraminc drinking mugs from Club Duva Den

In the 1980s, I visited a Chamorro lady in Hawaii married to an ex-Marine who was stationed on Guam during or right after WW2.  That's how he met and married his Chamorro wife.

When I'd walk into the door of their Waikiki condo, the ex-Marine husband would greet me with a "So how's things in Duva Duva?!?"

FAMILIA : GOGUE

Friday, February 1, 2013
The Gogue family of the Marianas have an indigenous, Chamorro name.

The word goggue means "to defend, to protect."

We hear the word often when we sing a standard Chamorro Marian hymn O Maria Nana'magof. The relevant line goes, " Goggue yo' yan chachal å ne ," asking the Blessed Mother to "defend and guide" us.

In the Chamorro version of the Hail Mary we say " Si Yu'us un gineggue Maria ," meaning "God protect you, Mary," based on a faulty understanding of the Spanish " Dios te salve Maria ," which means "God save you, Mary."  The confusion arises because, in Latin, "salve" is a greeting, but, in Spanish, it also means "save."  In Catholic theology, the angel could not have wished that God save Mary because God had already saved Mary when He prevented Original Sin from touching her at the moment of her conception (the Immaculate Conception).

Back to the name....


By the 1897 Census, we find the Gogues mainly in Hag å t ñ a.  So the family is from central Guam, probably originating in the Chamorro suburbs of what used to be mainly immigrant Hag å t ñ a (Spanish, Latin American and Filipino soldiers).  In time, the Gogues from the outskirts of Hag å t ñ a moved into the city.

Excluding the Gogue women who married and whose children would then not carry the Gogue name, we find in Hag å t ñ a :

Geronimo Gogue, married to Susana Taitingfong San Luis. (Geronimo is a Spanish name, the equivalent of Jerome, and is not just the name of a famous Apache chief.)

Juan Demapan Gogue, married to Maria Crisostomo Atoigue.

His brother Pedro Demapan Gogue was married to Juana Fegurgur Taimanglo, but had no children.

Nicolas Gogue, married to Ramona Palomo White.

Benita Gogue had a son out of wedlock named Julian, who would thus carry on the Gogue name if he had children.

As you can see, there aren't too many Gogue males who had fathered children, so most Gogues today can probably trace their ancestry back to one of these three men.  Except that......



AN IMPORTANT GOGUE MISSING FROM THE CENSUS OF 1897

His name was Basilio Pangelinan Gogue, the son of Jose Gogue and Monica Pangelinan.  Undoubtedly he was from Hag å t ñ a.  He would have been born in the 1830s or 1840s.  He married Paula Rivera.

He's important precisely because he is missing from the Census.  It means that, when the Census was taken in 1897, Basilio was not on Guam.  He was moving around.  Which means he made connections with other islands in the Marianas.

One daughter, Maria, was born on Saipan in 1865 and eventually married a Chamorro from Rota and died on that island.

I suspect two other Gogue women, Carmen and Ana, are Maria's sisters, as they, too, married Chamorros from Rota and died there as well.

But another daughter of Basilio and Paula was Isabel.  Isabel was the mother of at least three children that I know of, all three born out of wedlock.  At least one of the three children (possibly more) had a Spanish father.  The three children of Isabel were :

Vicente Gogue, who married Gloria Torres Pangelinan.

Prudencio Gogue, who married Dolores Garrido Reyes, and settled in Malesso'.

Joaquina Gogue, who married Manuel Due ñ as Flores.

I knew one of Prudencio's daughters in Malesso' and she was quite fair-skinned.

P Å TTEN GOGUE

There is a locale in Luta (Rota) called P å tten Gogue (Gogue's part, or portion).

As Basilio Gogue had connections with Luta (one, if not three, of his daughters married and lived there), I wouldn't be surprised if P å tten Gogue was named after Basilio (had he owned the land?).

So Basilio is an important Gogue because his children and grandchildren married into well-connected families and are among the better-known Gogues in the Marianas.




CHAMORRO BABIES : UP FOR GRABS?

Monday, January 21, 2013
A random picture of a Guam baptism.  Mom and baby have no connection with the story below!


An elderly lady was sharing with me her experience of being a new mother many years ago.

She hadn't even given birth yet, and some aunties, related not to her but to her husband, were already deciding who would be the baby's godmother.

One of the aunties put the claim in first to be the godmother.  A second auntie said she would sew the b å ta , the baptismal gown.  A third auntie said she would make the desserts for the christening party.  This was all back in the 1960s.

The lady said, "I gave birth, and within a few days, me and the baby were out of the hospital and the aunties were already there to take over everything. Siha la'mon ."

This was not the first time I had heard stories of Chamorro aunties being aggressive with newborns and pushing, to some extent, the mother aside as far as certain decisions are concerned.  I have even heard of aunties and godmothers deciding the name of the baby, and not giving the mother the prerogative.

And, even today, I hear of people who more of less insist that they be the godparent of a baby not even born yet.  " Este na p å tgon para gu å ho ," they say.  "This child is for me!"  Or, " Iyo-ko i patgon !"  "The child is mine!"

To non-Chamorros, this might sound bizarre.  But, I think, most Chamorros interpret all this as well-intentioned intense interest in the child.  What can be said in favor of this is that many Chamorro godparents take their roles seriously; being a major part in the child's life through the important events of the child's growth.

SWEET WOOD

Friday, January 18, 2013


How do you say "cinnamon" in Chamorro?

We ought to have a word for it, as we use it in latiya , for example.

Pale' Roman's 1932 Chamorro dictionary uses the Spanish word canela , spelled kanela in Chamorro.  This would indicate that at least some Chamorros used cinnamon and called it by its Spanish name.  I suspect that very few Chamorros used it, since cinnamon isn't grown here and had to be imported.  Just those who could afford it.

Today, almost everyone I know just uses the English word "cinnamon."  " N å 'ye cinnamon !" they will say.  "Put some cinnamon!"

SWEET WOOD

Then I came across the Indonesia word for "cinnamon." Kayu manis.

That translates into "sweet wood."

Kayu = wood

Manis = sweet

Now doesn't that remind you of two Chamorro words? H å yu and mames ?

Kayu = h å yu = wood

Manis = mames = sweet

You see, we really are related to the Indonesians, Malaysians, Filipinos and to some degree with everyone in the Austronesian family.  Incidentally, kayo is "wood" in Ilocano.

We have an Indonesian friar living with us.  Next time, I'm going to make him chuckle when I make coffee and offer to put some h åyu mames in his coffee.  He will probably know exactly what I'm talking about.




CHAMORRO THE AMERICAN WAY

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Driving down Marine Corps Drive, I see this truck with a sticker that says MA Ñ ELUS.

Now, in Chamorro, we do not form the plural by adding an S.

That's what we do in English for most (not all) words.

Horse becomes horses; dog becomes dogs; but mouse becomes mice.

In Chamorro, the plural is formed by adding MAN before the word, and/or adding SIHA after the word.

Che'lu (brother/sister) become MAN+CHE'LU = MA Ñ E'LU.

But it's inevitable that 100 years of Americanization will affect the Chamorro language, just as Spanish did.

As long as we know it's a new development thanks to American influence.  And some of us will hold out against such influence as long as we can.

Give Credit Where Credit is Due

I will take my hat off to them for using the Ñ instead of a regular N in MA Ñ E'LU.

AUTOMOTIVE CHAMORRO

Wednesday, January 16, 2013


TBZNSMU

Ti bisnes-mu.

It's not your business.

OK, but I would never have paid attention to your license plate had you simply stuck with the ordinary one issued to you by Rev & Tax!
NO PIC, BUT HERE'S ANOTHER WINNER....

TKK2

Ti keketu!

Keto or kieto , from the Spanish quieto , meaning "still, motionless."

Quieto (Spanish) and kieto (Chamorro) has more the meaning of physical stillness, which usually means the person or environment is also silent, but if one wanted to say silent, silencio (Spanish) or silensio (Chamorro) would be used.

* Si Yu'us ma' å se', Lucinda, pot i un na' tungo' yo' pot este na ehemplo!

So, "ti keketo" or "ti keketu" means "always on the run."

THE DANGER OF SPITTLE

Monday, January 14, 2013


The early Spanish missionaries reported that the ancient Chamorros were very careful about their to'la , or spittle.

They would spit only when no one was looking, so that no one could see where their spittle landed.

Why?

As in many other cultures, our ancestors believed that a person's saliva could be used in some magical charm against him (or her).  If your enemy saw you spit, s/he could collect it later on when your back was turned.

Today...



...the only curse we fear connected with spitting is the curse of red stains all over the floor and walls, thanks to pugua' or betel nut.

Which leads me to wonder.

Did our ancestors spit the juices of their pugua' ?  Or did they swallow it?

Since tobacco did not come around until the Spaniards came, and since it is only the addition of tobacco that makes swallowing pugua' juices unpalatable, I suspect our ancestors swallowed the juices of the pugua' , pupulu and å fok .  But who knows?

Personally, I don't add tobacco and so I swallow the juices.  I mean, that's the point, isn't it?



CAROLINIANS OF TAMUNING

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Carolinian women, topless, in the streets of Hag å t ñ a in the late 1800s.  But they lived a mile or more up the road, in a place they called Tamuning.

The Carolinian people who live on small atolls almost directly south of Guam, several hundred miles away, had historic links to the Marianas.  They made regular trips to the Marianas and preserved the sailing directions in their memorized chants.

These atolls, such as Woleai, Eauripik, Lamotrek and Elato, are now included in Yap State, but the people are part of the Chuukese ethnic family.

In the 1700s, the Carolinians made sporadic visits to Guam, at one time forming a strong friendship with Luis de Torres, a Spanish-Chamorro mestizo and military officer.

In the early 1800s, more and more Carolinians sailed to the Marianas, seeking lengthier stays.  Originally sent to live on unpopulated Saipan, by 1868 islanders from Namonuito were relocated to Tamuning, at a place known in Chamorro as Apotguan.

The very name Tamuning is believed to be Carolinian in origin.  We have no clear evidence what it means.  Even older Carolinians I have asked in the past, many of them now dead, did not know.

In 1884, the settlement of Carolinians in Tamuning was given a new name, Maria Cristina, in honor of the Queen Regent of Spain.  There was normally a Chamorro appointed their teacher, and the Hag å t ñ a priest often tried to influence them to become Catholics.  A few did, judging from the 1897 Census which shows some of them with Christian names.  But the majority did not have Christian names, even as late as 1897.

Their clinging to tradition, including their minimal clothing, was a source of concern for the early American administration.  Not only were some Americans disturbed by their lack of clothing, one official was upset that visitors were taking photos of them and sending them off to the States and elsewhere, giving the world the impression that this was how the Chamorros lived.

So, in 1901, American Governor Schroeder deported the entire community to Saipan, where they were gladly received since Saipan had an established Carolinian community and was in need of more settlers.

When I was in Saipan 20 years ago as a young priest, I met elderly Carolinians who said that their parents or grandparents were Re Tamuning . Re is Carolinian for "people." Re Tamuning means "People of Tamuning."  Here is one young lady today who says one side of her Carolinian lineage hails from Tamuning.



The Carolinian village of Tamuning was located at what we now call Dungca's Beach, near Alupang.  In Chamorro, the area was called Apotguan.  The Japanese landed here on December 10, 1941.


A CHAMORRO TERM FOR DIABETES

Saturday, January 12, 2013
ehow.com

Mames meme' .

Mames = sweet.

Meme ' = urine.

Sweet urine.  This is one of the old Chamorro terms for diabetes.

Glycosuria is the English medical term.  It means "sugar in the urine."

Diabetes is often one of the medical conditions responsible for high sugar content in the blood, but it is not the only one.

Nevertheless, older Chamorros described diabetes this way.

I even heard of an old method of diagnosing diabetes.  The person's urine was spilled on the floor.  If the ants came and surrounded it, that was confirmation of mames meme' .

postiar.com

THE FIRST RUSSIAN "TOURISTS"

Thursday, January 10, 2013


SIGNS IN RUSSIAN APPEARING NOW ON GUAM
That's ZOOPARK in the middle, written in the Cyrillic alphabet

Guam is experiencing a welcome boost to tourism, thanks to the increasing arrival of tourists from Russia.  The government has recently made it easier for Russians to travel to Guam, and Vladivostok, a major Russian city on the far eastern coast of Russia near Korea and Japan, is just several hours away from Guam by plane.

But the first Russian tourists to Guam came long before there were high-rise hotels on Tumon Bay.

Let's go back to....1817!

In that year, a Russian scientific expedition on board the Rurik , commanded by Otto von Kotzebue, visited Guam.  The scientist Chamisso and the artist Choris were part of this visit, and, thanks to them, we have some information and sketches of life in the Marianas back then.


Otto von Kotzebue
The First Russian Tourist to Guam
1817

There was yet another visit by Russians, this time in 1870.  This time it was not a scientific expedition, but a Russian warship, that briefly stopped at Apra Harbor.

The Spanish priest of Hag å t ñ a, Father Aniceto Ib áñ ez, went to visit the ship and met the chaplain, a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church.  The Russian priest could speak Russian, naturally, and German; neither of which Ib áñ ez knew how to speak.  Thankfully, both the Russian priest and Ib áñ ez could speak some French and so they could communicate.  The Russian priest showed Ib áñ ez all the sacred items he used for their sacraments.


A Russian Priest
Much like the one who visited Guam in 1870


THE RUSSIANS IN THE 1960s

A few people say that Russian submarines were spotted off the coast of Guam in the 1960s, during the Cold War.

One John Forbes of Sinaja ñ a is said to have taken his boat out to the submarines to practice his Russian, which he had studied in college.  We have no solid evidence of this, and is perhaps just one more entertaining morsel of the John Forbes legend.





Soviet Submarine
Did they visit Guam in the 1960s?

Before we had this....?

kuam.com

I LA TADDUNG NA FINO' CHAMORRO : DESÅTMA

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

It may not be t å ddung (deep) in the sense of being an ancient Chamorro word, as it is actually Spanish, but it is a word rarely used and perhaps unknown to most younger Chamorros.

But the word is des å tma , and it means to "dismantle, disassemble, take apart."

The original word in Spanish, desarmar , means that but also to "disarm," as in to take away someone's weapon; and also to "win over" or to "placate."

Ma des å tma i belen .  The belen was dismantled.




WHY VILLAGE MAYORS WILL BE AROUND FOR A WHILE

Tuesday, January 8, 2013


We haven't heard it for a while, but several times in the past, some people have wondered out loud if village mayors should be phased out.  The idea always goes down the drain.

Guam likes its village mayors.  Even though Umatac, with just 700 residents, has a mayor just like Dededo with 40,000+ residents.

Historically, the islands didn't have rulers over the entire island.  Each village had its maga'l å he .  So all government was local.

Under the Spaniards, although there was a governor of all the Marianas, each village had its officials, though they all took orders from the Governor.

The Americans kept a village leader in place, though they eliminated some of the Spanish village offices, like the village agriculture supervisors and such.  Under the U.S. Navy, the village leaders were called commissioners, which survived all the way till the title was changed to mayor in 1990.

So we're used to our village leader, call him or her what-may.  The mayor is the person we go to for the personal touch in government.  He or she deals with citizen needs first-hand, dressed in their t-shirt and shorts, from their pick-up truck, all hours of the day or night.  And we like that.

Man Burukento i Taotao Siha

So I wasn't surprised when some people, who had been to the legislature's inauguration, told me that the mayors' ceremony was more boisterous and noisy.  The audience loves their mayors, and they expressed it.

" Biba! Biba! " filled the air.  There's a word that will probably not disappear any time soon.

As long as there's politics on Guam.

HOW DO YOU SAY "MAYOR" IN CHAMORRO?

Monday, January 7, 2013



In 1990, the Commissioners of our villages on Guam were given a new title : Mayor.

Now, we live in a period where people often ask, "How do you say that in Chamorro?" Government agencies, I believe, are required to have a Chamorro version of their entity's name. So, after the name change in 1990 from Commissioner to Mayor, people started to ask, "How do you say 'mayor' in Chamorro?"

What's the answer?

Well, you could go back to the old Chamorro word for "mayor," which most people have forgotten. Or, you can invent a new Chamorro word for "mayor," since so few people seemed to remember the old.


ATKÅTDE

That's the old word for "mayor."

It's borrowed from the Spanish word for "mayor," which is alcalde , because our people didn't have mayors until the Spaniards took over.

Before the Spaniards, we had maga'låhe , "great men," the head of villages.

But, when the Spaniards did away with the ancient chiefs in each village, the word maga'låhe became applied to only one person, the Spanish governor of all the Marianas.

As for the heads of the individual districts, at times he was called the alcalde , and at other times the gobernadorcillo , or "little governor," in Spanish. Saipan, Tinian and Luta at times was headed by an alcalde .

So, 100 plus years ago, when a Chamorro thought of the position "mayor," they used the word atkåtde , or in Luta atkåde , from the Spanish word alcalde .

Look at this pre-war lápida (grave stone) written in Chamorro of a former mayor of Saipan, Juan de los Reyes. It says,

Este na lugar nai ma
hafot i tatautau i hagas
Alcalden Saipan as
Juan de los Reyes

This place is buried
the body of the former
Mayor of Saipan
Juan de los Reyes



You see? "Mayor" in Chamorro is atkåtde . Although in this old grave stone they keep the Spanish spelling.


BUT, TIME GOES ON AND WE FORGET

But then the Americans took over Guam in 1899 and a new political structure replaced the Spanish.

In Guam, the Americans installed village commissioners, not mayors. Chamorros back then didn't bother to find a Chamorro name for "commissioner." They didn't feel the need to. Komishana was just fine, the Chamorro way of pronouncing "commissioner."

We've been calling them "commissioner" so long, since the early 1900s, that Guam Chamorros, on the whole, forgot the word atkåtde . It just didn't exist for them anymore.


AND SO WE INVENTED SOMETHING NEW

So, by 1990, when people wanted to find a Chamorro word for "mayor," having forgotten atkåtde , they invented something new.

They took the English word "mayor" and tried to make it sound Chamorro. How they decided that making it mahot makes "mayor" sound Chamorro, I do not know. It's a word without a historical foundation. Someone took the English word and played with it.

Some people disagreed and said mayot is a better version. The difficulty with this is that there already is a Chamorro word mayot , and it means "major" or "main" as in i mayot påtte , the major or main portion.

And to show you how far we can go when we have lost our older foundation, someone even made it manhot .




Up in the Northern Marianas, the Japanese who arrived in 1914 did away with local government. But, after World War II, when the Northern Marianas were under the United Nations Trusteeship entrusted to the US, the position of mayor came back for the individual islands. To this day there is a mayor of Saipan, Tinian, Luta and the Northern Islands. Most people just use the English word "mayor," even when speaking Chamorro. But older people understand atkåtde . In the Northern Marianas, atkåtde (or atkåde in Luta) was in use in the 1950s all the way up to just recently.


SO HOW DO YOU SAY "MAYOR" IN CHAMORRO?

There are two answers.

The traditional, but mainly forgotten, word atkåtde . The word historically used in all the Marianas.

Or, as far as Guam was concerned in 1990, make up a new one. Like mahot .

FAMILY NICKNAMES : GUTOS

Sunday, January 6, 2013




There is a branch of the Mendiola family called the familian Gutos .

Gutos means "to snap or break a rope, thread, wire."



Why the family should be called this, I don't know.  I have asked a few members of the family, and they don't know.  There may be an elderly family member I haven't met yet who may know.


JOSÉ MENDIOLA and JULIANA CAMACHO GARRIDO

The Gutos clan seems to have its earliest ancestors, that we can find information on, in the married couple José Mendiola and Juliana Camacho Garrido. Juliana was the daughter of Luís Diego Cruz Garrido and María Crisóstomo Camacho.

The couple had many children. The sons who got married and whose descendants perpetuated the family name were :

FRANCISCO who married Ana Ninaisen.

JOSÉ who married María Delgado Salas

A second son JOSÉ who married Ursula Taitague Atoigue


A FAMOUS TECHA

The family was well-known because one of the elders, Tan Chong Gutos, was a techa (prayer leader) at the Hag å t ñ a Cathedral before the war and, after the war, in Sinaja ñ a where they settled.



Tan Chong Gutos

Tan Chong was frequently called on by many families, especially in the central and northern villages, to be the techa at their family rosaries and novenas. She was part of Monsignor Oscar Calvo's circle of religious associates.

ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Thursday, January 3, 2013

All I have are pictures of the war-torn Santa Cruz Church in Hag å t ñ a, but few people know there was a second Catholic church in the capital city (besides two chapels) before the war.
It was located....


Where this law office is now located, a few doors down from the budget hotel and across the street from the insurance office.

Many people mistakenly think this part of town is already Aniguak, but it isn't.  It's what was once known as the Santa Cruz barrio of the city.

But why a second church?

It seems that Hag å t ñ a is so scarcely populated now that a second church seems unimaginable.  But before the war there were over 10,000 people living in the capital city.  A second church was not only necessary, the situation was helped by the addition of two chapels (Aniguak and San Antonio) in the city.

"PLACE OF....TIME OF"

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

FOOD COURT - FA Ñ OCHUYAN
The only thing missing is the ~ over the N

Our Chamorro language has a great way of turning any verb or noun into the "place of" doing that verb or the "time of" that noun.

One simply places FAN before the word, and AN at the end of the same word.

One easy example.

EYAK means "to learn."  FAN + EYAK + AN = FANEY Å KAN.  The place of learning, or school!  The one thing to notice is that using this formula can change the pronunciation of the original word, from eyak to ey å k .
Sound Combinations Can Change the Original Word

N+CHO = Ñ
N + S = Ñ
N+P = M
N+F = M
N+M = M
N+K = NG
N + T = N

Keep these in mind as we look at the following :

CHOTDA = banana
FO Ñ ATD Å YAN = place of banana trees

BEN Å DO = deer
FANBENADUYAN = place rife with deer

MAIGO' = to sleep
FANMAIGUAN = sleeping area, bedroom, dormitory

GIMEN = to drink
FANGIMINAN = bar, saloon

HASSO = to think, to remember
FANHASUYAN = monument

ME'ME' = to urinate
FANMEMIYAN = latrine

H Å FOT = to bury
FANHAFUTAN = cemetery

F Å 'I = rice seedling
FAM Å 'YAN = rice paddy

Those sound changes above do not apply in every case.

For example...

P Å LE' = priest
FANPALIAN (priest's home), not FAMALIAN

yet...

PAKI = to shoot
FAMAKIYAN = area of much shooting (as in a place where many hunt, or a firing range)

N + P should become M, but not every time.

It depends, nai .

ENDING THE WORD

Notice that sometimes one adds a Y when ending the word with -AN.  Again, it depends. P å le' ends with a glota, whereas paki does not.  It sounds better to the Chamorro ear to add a Y after paki and make it famakiyan.
EXERCISES

Take these words and, applying the FAN+WORD+AN formula, make them all "place of" or "time of."

G å sg å s = clean

P å sto = pasture

Huyung = to leave, exit

Pulan = to watch over

Kamute = sweet potato

L å kse = to sew


"NEW YEAR" IN CHAMORRO

Tuesday, January 1, 2013
guampdn.com

"New Year" is of course a Western concept brought to us by the Spaniards.  Our customs today of shooting fireworks and guns, drinking champagne and partying all night are not Spanish but modern-day American.

As the Chamorro column in the PDN shows, we have traditionally borrowed the Spanish "A ñ o Nuevo" and change the spelling to reflect our pronunciation.  Some Chamorros pronounce it closer to the Spanish and keep the -o, others say it with a -u.  We don't have the V sound (neither do the Spaniards) and we change it to B.

There are many ways to say "Happy New Year" and anyone who speaks Chamorro will understand whatever version you prefer.

Felis Å ñ o Nuebo - maintains, as closely as possible, the Spanish original we borrowed from. Felis comes from feliz , Spanish for "happy."  The stress is on the 2nd syllable; fe-LIS, not FE-lis.

Biba Å ñ o Nuebo - is a kind of Chamorroism, using Biba , which we borrowed from the Spanish, in ways the Spaniards normally don't use.  You can google "Viva A ñ o Nuevo" and find it, but it's not typical.

Magof Å ñ o Nuebo - combines something Chamorro ( magof , or "happy") with something Spanish ( a ñ o nuevo ).

Magof Tinilaikan i Sakkan - is pure Chamorro and translates into "Happy Change of the Year."  The PDN column uses minagof , which means "happiness" so I have questions how well that translates into "happy."  Adjective versus noun.

Magof Tinituhon i Sakkan - also Chamorro and means "Happy Beginning of the Year."

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : SÅKKAN

Tuesday, January 1, 2013
webclipart.about.com

As it is the New Year, I thought I'd look at a Chamorro word than can mean "year." S å kkan .

Can mean.  Why "can mean?"

Because s å kkan has multiple meanings.

We'll look at "year" first.  The calendar we use now (Gregorian) is, of course, a European one.  Our ancestors used a different kind of calendar, which followed the phases of the moon, hence a lunar calendar.  It was made up of thirteen, not twelve, months.

Some uses of s å kkan as "year" are :

H å fa na s å kkan?  What year?

Gi ma'pos na s å kkan.  Last year.

I mamamaila' na s å kkan.  The coming year.

Gi 1974 na s å kkan.  In the year 1974.

Ti p å 'go na s å kkan.  Not this year.

I once knew a lady who was born in 1900.  So when it was 1974, she was 74; in 1980 she was 80 and so on.  So she told me, " Acha amko' ham yan i sakkan ."  "I am as old as the year."  I thought it was a delightful manner of speaking.

Age

S å kkan can also mean "age."

I sak å n-ho.  My age.

Ku å nto sak å n-mo?  How old are you?  (Literally, "How many years do you have?")

Ti meggagai sak å n- ñ a.  S/he isn't very old. (Literally, "S/he doesn't have many years.")

*** Notice that I changed the spelling from s å kkan to s å kan, because the possessive suffix does change the pronunciation.

Maturity

S å kkan can also mean "maturity, ripeness."

Ti sasakan.  Not ripe, not mature, still green.

Gaisakan na taotao.  A mature person.

Harvest

S å kkan.  Used to refer to crops when they are harvested.

Ti maolek na s å kkan.  The harvest was poor.

Manma ñ å ñ å kkan.  They are havesting.




FAMILIA : TAIJERON

Friday, December 28, 2012

Taijeron is an indigenous, Chamorro name, associated with Malesso'.

Almost any Chamorro name beginning with tai means "lacking in something."  So, we look at the word that follows tai , as in Taitano. T å no' means "land."  Taitano means "lacking land."

Now jeron is not a Chamorro word, as far as we know.  We think Chamorro lacked the R sound, with the Spanish often confusing it for the L sound (e.g. Inarajan/Inal å han).  So perhaps the name is really Taijelon.

Tai also changes the pronunciation of the word that follows.  For example, huto means "lice."  To lack lice in one's hair is to be tai hito , which is how the last name Taijito came about. Huto becomes hito when tai is placed before it.  So jelon could possibly be hulon , and there is a Chamorro word hulon , which means "judge, or leader."  Thus, Taijeron could really be taijilon , "without a leader, or without a judge."

Here is a court document from 1807 that shows that Taijeron was spelled, at one time, Tayjilon, supporting the idea that Taijeron comes from tai (without) and hulon (judge, leader).



THE MALESSO TAIJERONS IN THE 1800s

Mariano Taijeron
+Dominga Tedpahago

Antonio Taijeron
+Luisa Aguon

Nicolas Fegurgur Taijeron
+Dolores Ugua Babauta

Vidal Taijeron
+Josefa Nasayaf

Jose Nasayof Taijeron

Dolores Nasayof Taijeron
---she had several children out of wedlock who carried on the Taijeron name

Josefa Dominga Nasayof Taijeron
---her illegitimate son Marcelino passed on the Taijeron name to his descendants


PITI / HAG Å T Ñ A

There were also a small number of Taijerons in Hag å t ñ a and Piti, who seem to have older roots in Piti because one of the older ones was a Taijito Taijeron.  The Piti Taijerons could have started there or a Malesso' Taijeron could have moved to Piti and began a Piti, then Hag å t ñ a, branch of the family.  These Taijerons moved out of Hag å t ñ a to other villages in central Guam after the war.


A LATIN CHRISTMAS

Thursday, December 27, 2012


In 1970, the Church allowed the entire Mass to be said in the local language, whatever that might be.  Prior to that, the Mass had to be in Latin, the language of the Romans.

We have forgotten that our Chamorro people had been singing in Latin for many years.  Even during Spanish times, the missionaries formed choirs that sang the Mass parts, like the Kyrie and Sanctus (Lord Have Mercy and Holy Holy Holy) in Latin.  Besides the Mass parts (called the "Ordinary"), the choirs sang Latin hymns.

If outsiders back in the pre-war days thought Chamorros, as a whole, were isolated and ignorant , they did not understand that many Chamorros had a living connection with a faith, a culture and a language that went back to ancient Rome, through the Roman Catholic religion.  Chamorros could sing in Latin, and sing music written by medieval monks and other composers.

This lady, who was in my choir years ago in Saipan, stil remembers a Latin Christmas hymn which she learned in the 1950s when she was a young girl, drafted into the choir by Tan Vicenta Lizama Evangelista.  Tan Vicenta was older; born in the pre-war days.  Tan Vicenta was taught by the Mercedarian Sisters from Spain who came to Saipan in 1928.

On Guam, Spanish priests in the 1920s were able to boast that the Hag å t ñ a choir could sing half a dozen Masses, meaning the Mass parts sung to six or seven different musical scores; some Gregorian chant, some recent compositions.

Our ma ñ aina (elders) knew more than we sometimes give them credit for.

AGAÑA CATHEDRAL, GERMAN CHOIR

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Crew members of the German ship SMS Cormoran

From December 1914 till she blew up and sank in Apra Harbor on April 7, 1917, Guam was the home of the officers and crew of a German Navy ship, the Cormoran .

From 1914 till the U.S. declared war on Germany in April of 1917, the German sailors were more or less free to roam about the island.

Some of them were Catholic, and one of the blessings for the Catholic church on Guam was that these German Catholic sailors formed a choir and sang at the Aga ñ a Cathedral for Christmas Mass.

The above photo shows some sailors of the Cormoran celebrating Christmas and New Year.  The man at the bottom in the middle is holding a sign that says " Prosit Neujahr ," which is German for "Happy New Year."

KANTÅYE GUE'

Monday, December 24, 2012


This Christmas carol is not very old in the Marianas, as it was taught to the Chamorros only in the 1900s by the Spanish Capuchins, who were only on Guam and not the other islands of the Marianas.  Thus our neighbors in Luta and Saipan don't sing it, just as we don't sing the carols taught to them by the German Capuchins, who didn't work on Guam.

Lyrics


Annai i Ni ñ o minida as Maria


( When Mary clothed the infant )


Ya nina’ åsson gi hilo’ ngåsan


( and made Him lie on the straw )


Kinantåye gue’ man mames na kånta


( She sang Him sweet songs )


Para u måffong gue’ gi maigo’- ñ a.


( to make Him sleep soundly.)



Kantåye gue’ sa’ kumekekasao


( Sing to Him, because He is about to cry )


Kantåye gue’ para u nina’ maigo’.


( Sing to Him, so that He can be put to sleep .)



Estague’ i Ni ñ o na mafa ñ ågo


( Here the Child is born )


ni i sinangan i anghet Gabriel


( as the angel Gabriel said)


Para u såtba hit todos gi isao


( to save us all from sin )


para u konne’ hit guato gi langet.


( and to take us over to heaven .)



Maila’ hao mågi ya hu toktok hao Ni ñ o


( Come here infant and I will embrace you )


Ya hu chiko todo i addeng-mo


( and I will kiss both your feet )


Sa’ un goggue i taotao siha gi isao


( because you save the people from sin )


Pot i dangkulun mina’ase’-mo.


( because of your great mercy.)



Ma’lak na estreyas gumigia guato


( Bright stars guide there )


I Tres Reyes ni manaotao kåttan


( the Three Kings, people from the east )


Para u ma adora i Ni ñ o Jesus


( to adore the Child Jesus )


Ya ma nå’e regålo- ñ a guaguan


( and give Him precious gifts.)



Ma’lak na oro, insensio yan mira


( Shiny gold, incense and myrrh )


I mana’i- ñ a i Ni ñ o Jesus


( are the Child Jesus’ gifts )


Guato guihe gi i liyang gå’ga’


( There in the animals’ cave )


Nai mafa ñ ågo i Låhen Yu’us.


( where the Son of God was born .)



AGINÅTDO? MISAN GÅYO?

Saturday, December 22, 2012

How did our ma ñ aina celebrate Christmas before the Americans brought us Santa Claus and Christmas trees?

Short answer : Very religiously and without much fanfare.

People didn't string lights around the house (no electricity) or even hang paper lanterns (no need for electricity) as they do in the Philippines (called a farol ).

There was nothing "American" about a Chamorro Christmas in the 1800s; no Santa Claus, Christmas trees, wreaths, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-nose Reindeer.

Even many Spanish Christmas customs did not make it to the Marianas.  There was no gift-giving either; not even on Three Kings ( Tres Reyes ).

Very little can be gathered about Christmas in those days from the Spanish documents we have.

Basically, our ma ñ aina went to Mass the nine mornings before Christmas.  All Masses were celebrated early in the morning in those days, since the fasting laws before receiving communion were very strict.  One had to fast from midnight if one were to receive communion that day, so Masses were held from 4AM on.

The Christmas novena ( Nobenan Ni ñ o ) may have been recited in church by a techa, in Spanish, while the people listened (few could speak Spanish; not all could read or write).  Chamorro novenas were few in those days; almost everything outside the official liturgy (in Latin) was said in Spanish.

Those early morning Masses before Christmas were called Misan Agin å tdo ( Misa de Aguinaldo , in Spanish).  But they weren't held like the Filipinos hold them; with a sermon expected on all nine mornings, followed by food.

The Mass at midnight on Christmas Eve was called the Misan G å yo ( Misa de Gallo ), or Rooster Mass, because it started at midnight and ended closer or even past 1AM, and roosters might be heard.  Anyway, if not literally, the name implied a very early morning Mass, as early as the sound of roosters getting up in the morning.

The mannginge' Ni ñ o (veneration of the Infant Jesus) happened in church, but taking it house-to-house was a recent development started just before the war.

Christmas lasted till January 6, Three Kings ( Tres Reyes ), with different families observing the end of their novenas then rather than on December 25 as other families did.

The belen (Nativity Scene) was probably much rarer in the homes than in the last hundred years of American rule.  Most families had no way of buying the statues needed, as they all had to be imported.  The better-off families, and those with family members and friends being able to travel to Manila, probably had a belen in their home.

KÅNTAN NOCHEBUENA

Friday, December 21, 2012


A sweet Christmas carol from Saipan.  The German Capuchins were in Saipan from 1907 till 1919 and taught the people there recent compositions set to German melodies, which is why we don't know these carols on Guam.

Taotao ni man ma dingo / na' fan magof hamyo todos
( People who have been left behind / rejoice all of you )
mafa ñ å go para hamyo / p å 'go nai i Satbadot!
( for born for you / today is the Savior!)
Ta fan dimo gi me'n å - ñ a / u ma k å nta ni minagof
( Let us kneel before Him / let gladness be sung )
u ma onra, u ma onra / i Saina-ta!
( let our Lord be honored!)

SPANISH - THE CHAMORRO WAY

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE CHAMORRO WORD FOR "SUPPORT"

What's the Chamorro word used for expressing the idea of "support?"  To go along with, agree with, promote, endorse, back, stand behind and so on?

Some Chamorros say supotta , others say supotte .

Whenever a Chamorro word sounds suspiciously close to an English word, chances are the Chamorro borrowed from the Spanish, since both Spanish and English have many words that come from a Latin original.  "Support" comes from the Latin sub (under) and portare (to carry).

But the Spanish word soportar does not mean "support" in the way we usually mean; that is, to back, to endorse, to assist and so on.

Instead, soportar means "to bear, to endure, to withstand" and so on.

My opinion is that the idea to "support" someone or something in the sense we usually have today is a recent development, when we started to have elections and the idea of supporting candidates came about.  We didn't have popular elections till the 1950s.

So we had to come up with a Chamorro-sounding equivalent to the English word "support."  So we invented supotta or supotte .  We didn't truly borrow the word from the Spaniards, since we gave it a new meaning not found in Spanish.  We just made English "support" sound more Chamorro by making it sound more Spanish.  Think about the underlying message there!

This also explains why some Chamorros say supotta and others say supotte .  We took English "support" and some made it sound more Spanish by saying supotta while others thought supotte sounds just as Spanish as supotta .

I always go with supotta since, if we're trying to mimic Spanish, then their word soportar would be conjugated soporta (in the third person singular).
WHAT ABOUT THE NOUN?

So far I've been talking about the verb form; the act of supporting.  What about the noun?  The idea of supporting.

In Chamorro, we turn verbs into nouns by adding the infix -in.

Guaiya , "to love," is a verb. Guinaiya is the noun "love."

So one could turn supotta/supotte into sinipotta/sinipotte .

But I prefer another option, which is totally a Chamorro invention though it sounds Spanish, and that is supottasion .

I think it's cool how inventive we can be, taking words from other languages and giving them our own form and even our own meanings.

Kao un supopotta yo' guine?

APOYO / TOHNE

Long before we came up with supotta/supotte , we did have two words that express the idea of "support."

Apoyo means "support" and is borrowed straight from the Spanish apoyar , which means "support" in the sense of rendering assistance. Tohne is truly Chamorro and it means "to support, reinforce, sustain, hold up."  I suppose it could be applied to political support, but I think supotta/supotte is here to stay while the Chamorro language lasts.

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

As an altar boy all my youth, we were in charge many years of going with some of the older servers and male church volunteers to pick lumut for the church belen .

We'd always head up to NCS.  I remember parking along-side the military fence and entering the jungle through an open area along the road.  I was always wondering if the military police would come looking for us.

We tried to do this as early as possible in the morning, to avoid being suffocated by the noonday heat deep inside a musty, insulated forest.  There were always mosquitoes and spiders to contend with; sprained ankles from slipping on the rocky terrain and getting jabbed by protruding branches.

But what pride we had later when we saw the grand lumut in the church.  We got the lumut !

GOT LUMUT?

Tuesday, December 18, 2012


We don't grow Douglas firs or build snow men, but in the islands we do have lumut !

Which means we can build awesome belens, or nativity scenes, which I would suggest have more to do with Christmas than reindeer and the North Pole.

Lumut is a moss that grows wild in the dark, moist and rocky interior of what's left of Guam's forests.  The shade that the trees provide encourages its growth.
A lumut -covered landscape can look charmingly other-worldy, as if elves are about to run from their jungle hiding places.


The lumut has to be carefully pulled from the coral rocks so as to tear them up in as large a piece as possible.  This way, a large piece of lumut can lie almost like a single carpet on the floor of the belen .

Twigs, leaves, insects and the like all have to be taken out of the lumut .  When stored in a plastic bag, the lumut should be folded in, with the brown underside exposed, to keep the moisture in and the lumut green.


A lumut -covered belen .  Much better, I think, than store-bought green carpets, papier-mache or fabric.

A CHAMORRO CHRISTMAS

Monday, December 17, 2012


Si Jose yan si Maria, estaguennao man mas å 'pet
( Joseph and Mary, there they are suffering )
O Yu'us na pelegrino, sugo' m å gi giya hame.
( O pilgrim God, stop and stay with us .)

Taitutuhon na Tiningo', taihinekkok na Finaye, takkilon- ñ a i ta'chong-mo, ke i sagan mapag å hes.
( Wisdom without beginning, Knowledge without end, your seat is higher than the clouds .)
H å fa na un dingo p å 'go i ginefsagan i langet?
( Why now do you leave the comforts of heaven ?)


Interpretive Notes

1. Joseph and Mary suffer - the trip from Nazareth, their home, to Bethlehem, Joseph's ancestral home, as required by the Roman Emperor for the purpose of registering with the census.  Mary is pregnant.  They find no place to stay in Bethlehem.

2. God is a Pilgrim God - the Son of God comes down from heaven into the womb of Mary; He makes the earth His home.  Inside the womb of His mother, He, too, travels from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

3. The Divine Condescension - would we, in our right mind, leave a perfect place, free of all pain, to be born in a place of sorrow and suffering?  If we were the Creator and Ruler, would we take on the nature of the creature and the subject?  Yet this is what Almighty God did in the person of the Son.  He leaves the palace to "hit the road" as a pilgrim to a sorrowful earth to share in and redeem us from our miseries.

MAN ÅMKO' TAKE OVER RESTAURANT

Monday, December 17, 2012


Don't mess with Chamorro grandmas.

The other day a group of elderly Franciscan Third Order members ( tetsi å ria ) gathered at a Chinese restaurant for their annual Christmas social.

They even brought their own bu ñ uelos d å go straight from their home kitchen.

Then, despite the noise from other patrons, loud waiters and waitresses and the clanging of glasses and dishes, the man å mko' tetsi å ria started singing traditional Chamorro Christmas carols.  For a good fifteen minutes, the place was theirs !

The clip includes just snippets of the songs, but here's most of what you hear :

Ilek- ñ a i anghet nu i pastot siha estague' i Kristo giya Belen
( The angel told the shepherds : Christ is here in Bethlehem )
gi sagan g å 'ga' chatsaga taigima'.
( in a place for animals, poor, homeless .)
Ta nginge', ta adora....si Jesús.
( Let us kiss, let us adore....Jesus .)

O Yu'us na pelegrino sugo' m å gi giya hame.
( O pilgrim God stop and stay with us .)

Ta fal å ggue sahyao i patgon Belen, ta li'e' i Bithen yan si San José.
( Let us run quickly to the child of Bethlehem, let us see the Virgin and Saint Joseph .)
Faisine ham N å na haftaimano gue', kao yanggen tumo'a u ma'g å se hit?
( Ask for us, Mother, how is He, when He grows up will He rule over us?)
Sang å ne ham lokkue' kao i dikkike' guiya i ma s å ngan na Låhen David ?
( Tell us also if the small one is the foretold Son of David?)

Kant å ye gue', sa kumekekasao
( Sing to Him, because He is about to cry )
para u nina' maigo'.
( so that He will be put to sleep .)

UN KABAYERO

Friday, December 14, 2012


The late Adrian Cristobal, better known as Nito, was a long-time fixture in Guam politics and society.  His father moved to Guam from the Philippines at the urging of earlier Filipino migrants, and he found good employment with the naval government, among other positions.

Nito started off working for the government and then became a senator, re-elected time and time again, many times as one of the highest vote-getters.

Besides this, he was very active in his parish in Barrigada.

But I knew him personally and he embodied for me some of the best traits of the Chamorro gentleman. Un kabayero .

His door was always open to visits.  With grace and refinement, he would slowly open all kitchen doors and cabinets and, one by one, bring out the next best thing.  He never laid out his treasures all at once.  He did so piecemeal, as if to extend your visit even longer by enticing you with the next surprise.  He never made one feel that one was intruding on his time or space.  Quite the opposite; that your visit was what he was hoping for all day.  I am sure that, at least at times, this was really not the case!

On top of that, he was perfectly sociable.  Engaging in his discourse, yet always allowing you to have your say.  He seemed to enjoy my historical questions, and he was very free in answering them, not holding back.  I still have my notes written of our conversations, dated 1984, 1985 and so on.  I learned a few secrets of Guam history of the late 1930s till the 1980s that I couldn't reveal, as the families involved are still with us.  I believe he trusted me with my discretion.

And he had a great laugh, strong and hearty.  If you were sad, which I wasn't, his laugh would have made you forget your sadness.

I miss my visits to him.  I regret I was not wiser to ask more important questions, but I was just in my early twenties at the time.  And I regret that his generation of Chamorro men, and the way they lived, is passing away.

NEW GENETIC FINDINGS ABOUT CHAMORRO ORIGINS

Thursday, December 13, 2012


Not surprsing, to me, that the DNA brings us back to eastern Indonesia and that there seems to be a later new strain around the time latte stones appear in the Marianas.

The genetic indicators seem consistent with archaeological and linguistic evidence.

This oldest strain goes back around 4000 years, consistent with the evidence found, to date, of human habitation in the Marianas, which goes back at least 3700 years.

SANTA GUADALUPE : A LONG HISTORY

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Santa Rita

Long before there was a post-war village we call Santa Rita, with Our Lady of Guadalupe as its patroness, this originally Mexican veneration was brought to Guam with Blessed Diego in 1668.

Marianas history always has to keep in mind its long connection with Mexico.  The Spanish government ruled the Marianas through Mexico for many years, and priests, soldiers and others came to the Marianas via Mexico on the galleons that sailed from Acapulco to Manila.


The Acapulco-Manila Galleon Route conveniently stopped by the Marianas almost every year

As a matter of fact, Sanvitores came to Guam via Mexico both times; the first, in 1662 when he first saw the Ladrones, as they were called then, and then in 1668 when he came back to live and die here, changing the name of the islands to the Marianas.

It was in Mexico that Sanvitores also raised some more money for the Marianas mission and recruited priests and soldiers to protect them.

He brought the devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe to the Marianas from the very start, and a church in northern Guam, now extinct, called Ayraan or Ayran (could that actually be Hila'an?) was dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe from the days of Sanvitores.  Besides that, there was a church in Sungharon, Tinian built under the same patroness, and a chapel at the Jesuit school in Hag å t ñ a, the Colegio de San Juan de Letr á n, had a chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Many Mexican soldiers and mission helpers came to the Marianas and it was only smart of Sanvitores to keep the Guadalupe veneration prominent in a mission with so many Mexicans.

Later, the village of Pago had a church dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe.  When that village was abandoned after earthquakes and the 1856 smallpox epidemic, Sumay inherited that patroness.  When Sumay was closed by the U.S. Navy as a civilian settlement, the people moved to Santa Rita and kept their original patroness.


You know you're Chamorro when....

You say Guat - da - lu - pe for Guadalupe.

Chamorro nicknames for women with this name are Lupe and Pupe.


The Okt å ba

A few years prior to the reforms of Vatican II, the Church had many octaves ( octava in Spanish, okt å ba in Chamorro).  These were periods of eight days (thus octo , the Latin word for "eight") during which an important church feast was celebrated for an extended time. The Church's new calendar still has octaves, but fewer than in the past.

The feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary on December 8 used to have its own okt å ba in the old calendar.  The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12, falls within that period, so Sumay/Santa Rita people refer to their patronal feast as the Okt å ba.

MOGEN DAVID : THE ONLY WINE FOR CHAMORROS

Tuesday, December 11, 2012


You would be surprised that American Jewish culture had any influence at all on our's, but it did.

When I was growing up, long before the Napa Valley wines were known of on Guam, there was only one wine our Chamorro elders knew of, and that was Mogen David.

To this day, many older Chamorros will not sip any wine at all unless it is super sweet, like the Mogen David wine we know as kids.  If at dinner, an older Chamorro tells me to drink a certain wine being served because it is good, I know that he or she means it is sweet.

Which is why priests cannot use just any ole wine they may happen to find at Payless.  Altar wine has to be pure wine, with no extra ingredients like sugar or brandy to make it sweeter.

TEACHING KIDS TO GROW

Monday, December 10, 2012

Biringhenas - Eggplant

Before the war, at least for a time in the public schools, agriculture was part of the curriculum in the elementary grades.  Students were encouraged to learn how to grow their own food and raise their own livestock.  Prizes were awarded yearly for the best crops and best livestock.

In 1926, for example, Jesus Mu ñ a from Hag å t ñ a won 1st prize for the best seed corn.  Felix C. Carbullido in H å gat won 1st prize for the largest corn stalk.

Dolores R. Acfalle down in Malesso' won 1st prize for the largest sugar cane, while Joaquin Cepeda from Hag å t ñ a won top honors for the best sugar cane syrup.

Another Malesso' gal, Carmen G. Gogue won 1st prize for the best coffee.  Tito C. Baza from Yo ñ a won the highest prize for the best root crops, such as taro or sweet potato.

Other prizes were given for best mangoes, eggplants or avocados; best poultry or hogs.

Self-sufficiency was the name of the game at the time.

THE MYTH OF MONOLINGUALISM

Saturday, December 8, 2012
When I was growing up, and even more so in the generation before me growing up in the 50s and 60s, we were told that we were taught English only because, they said, people who speak more than one language won't speak any language well.

So, the rule of the day was monolingualism : one (monos) language (lingua).

There are holes in the theory, because there are scores of people who speak English and a second or third language and speak all of them well.  And then there are those who can only speak English, and, well....they certainly could speak it better!

So, I suspect, it isn't limiting oneself to one language that ensures that you speak it well.  Instead, it is being schooled well in any language that ensures that you speak it well.

The Carolinians of Saipan have always impressed me because the majority of them have to learn how to speak at least three languages.  Firstly, their mother tongue, then Chamorro and then finally English.  The older ones born in the 1920s also learned a little Japanese before WW2, and then, after the war, a little English.

Mr. Lino Olopai, a well-known Carolinian historian and cultural expert, is one such polyglot.  Recently, he spoke on Guam at a conference on Chamorro herbal medicine.  He spoke in beautiful and perfect Chamorro about the need to preserve this folk medicine tradition and to unite as a people to work together towards this preservation.  Unfortunately, I was able to tape only a tiny fraction of his short speech.


The clip is so short that I couldn't fit all the transcription notes onto the clip.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : FACHE'

Wednesday, December 5, 2012
odditycentral.com

FACHE' : mud

Poddong gue' gi fache'.  S/he fell into the mud.

Bula fache'.  A lot of mud.

Kafache'.  Covered with mud.

Kafache' i sapatos-mo.  Your shoes are covered in mud.

Fanfachian.  Bog, quagmire.

M å tto hit gi fanfachian.  We came upon a muddy area (bog, quagmire).

Other Meanings

Fache' can also be used to describe something that is too wet, as in rice that was cooked in too much water.

Fache' i hinkesa.  The rice is watery.

Na' fache' ennao.  Dilute that; make it more watery.

Fache' can also refer to something made of clay (muddy soil).

B å son fache'.  Clay glass or cup.

GUIHE LÅGO : CHAMORRO WORKSHOP IN THE BAY AREA

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Around 250 San Francisco Bay Area Chamorros (and friends and family of Chamorros) braved the rainy weather to attend the Chamorro Cultural Workshop presented by Pale' Eric Forbes, OFM Cap.  A large committee of Bay Area Chamorros have been organizing this workshop for many months.


The Bishop of Reno, Nevada is Chamorro.  Bishop Randy Calvo graced us with his presence the whole day.


Bu ñ uelos Aga'
(Banana Fritters)


Pugua' Basket

MÅTMOS NA UCHAN

Saturday, December 1, 2012


From where I'm sitting, it may as well be the rainy days of Noah and the ark.

Among the several ways we can describe, in Chamorro, heavy rain, one is m å tmos na uchan , literally "drowning rain."

We know that, sadly, people can and have drowned in heavy rain and the flooding it causes.  Sandy on the East Coast of the U.S.  A few months ago in the Philippines.

In the Marianas, we are blessed to be spared deaths from heavy rains and flooding.  But in our past history, some people did die when trying to cross rivers, for example, during heavy downpours.

M å tmos na uchan was one valid reason, priests told the people, for missing Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation.

Speaking of Noah, that would be Noe in Chamorro, borrowed from the Spanish.  It is pronounced No - Way.

And the flood would be i dilubio , again a Spanish loan word.  To describe a flooded landscape, one would say dilubio i tano' .

NEW GUINEA SOLDIERS ON GUAM

Wednesday, November 28, 2012
thudscave.com

Many people know about the German ship that sank in Apra Harbor in 1917, the SMS Cormoran .

But fewer people know that, besides German sailors who made up the vast majority of the crew, there were also men from Papua New Guinea on board, working for the Germans.  PNG was a German colony at the time.

While the Cormoran was stranded on Guam when World War I broke out in 1914 (the U.S. and Germany were not at war yet until 1917), the Chamorros got to see German sailors and New Guinea islanders quite frequently.

In 1917, for the entertainment of the American and Chamorro population, two teams of New Guinea men put on a competition hurling spears.  I don't think at each other!

The story of the Cormoran , with a picture of the New Guinea workers, can be found at http://guampedia.com/guams-role-in-world-war-i/


HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Monday, November 26, 2012

Maulek-ña un kåti ya un laknos i piniti-mo pat binibu-mo
ke ni para un lalango.

(Better for you to cry and release your sadness or anger
than for you to collapse.)

There are two emotions here; sorrow and anger.

I think the rules apply differently for men and women.

Women are always allowed to express sorrow through wailing and weeping; men, however, should remain stoic.  Sons, I think, are given a little liberty to shed tears at their parent's funeral, and perhaps husbands over their dead wives.  But, even then, the men should not be loud and dramatic, as the women are allowed, even expected, to be.

Men, of course, are permitted to give vent to their anger, just as the women are.  Women often mix both anger and sorrow, crying and expressing their hurt as well as their anger.  The men, however, are always expected to be strong and admit emotional pain less.  Anger is "masculine," pain is "feminine," in the minds of many people.

So, in the midst of death, women are encouraged to let the weeping and wailing go full force.  It is bad to keep the sadness inside.  One can lose one's sanity that way, it is believed.  I have seen women in the family go mute at a funeral, only to have family members shake them, even gently slap them, for the dazed woman to "come to," being prodded to cry, scream and let it all out.

When Chamorro women do go at it at funerals, they are not told to shush.  Only when the mourner is about to do something physically harmful or exaggerated will someone step in; like climbing into the grave or throwing something across the room.

If a Chamorro woman sheds no tears at a funeral, there are only two possibilities.  One, she had little love for the deceased and two, she did not allow her grief to show, and she had better let it out sometime or else she will suffer mentally at some point.

As for anger, many people consider it advantageous for the person to vent all their anger verbally.  This may be enough, it is thought, to prevent something worse from happening.  But be wary of the offended party who keeps silence.  He or she is but a dormant volcano, quietly calculating the right time to strike and with even more deadly force than the loud complaints of an angry person letting loose.



MA SUSEDE UN DIA

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Fanhig å yan*.  August 29, 1874.  10AM

Vicente Camacho Garrido, 28 years old and already married, really thought himself something.  He was walking arm-in-arm with another woman, and, what was worse, she was already connected with another man, one Luis Mendiola Mendiola.

Vicente challenged Luis to a fight, and Luis declined.  Vicente called Luis a woman, and still Luis declined to fight.  Vicente took his machete and slashed Luis under his left floating rib, severing part of his intestines.  Luis was taken to Hag å t ñ a where he hung on for a while, receiving both medical care and the Last Rites.  But he died shortly thereafter.

( P. Aniceto's Diary )

* Fanhig å yan is the correct name for a place we all call today Finegayan.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : PÅBO

Thursday, November 22, 2012
sigmawebmarketing.com


P Å BO : turkey

There are no turkeys native to the Marianas.

So the Spanish word for turkey was borrowed : pavo .


A little humor.... HAPPY THANKSGIVING!



English Pilgrims
"We better start planting."


Chamorro Pilgrims
"Are there Chinese restaurants in Lourdes?"

NORMAL SCHOOL

Wednesday, November 21, 2012
linocat.com

At one time, Guam had a Normal School.

Normal?  This was an old term used for a school that taught high school graduates how to be primary school teachers.  The idea was for school teachers to all use the same teaching norms, hence "normal."

Even during Spanish times, at least one Chamorro, Luis Diaz Torres, was sent to the Escuela Normal in Manila to get training as a teacher.  Torres returned to Guam and taught at the Colegio de San Juan de Letr á n , Hag å t ñ a's highest school, and became headmaster of it at one point.

But teacher training was really limited on Guam in Spanish times.

The Americans tried a little harder.  They took their best pupils in their teens and trained them to be teachers.  My grandmother was one of them; she started teaching 6-year-olds when she herself was 16 or 17!

In 1917, the students at the Normal School in Hag å t ñ a were tested.  Here are the top five who scored highest :

RITA P. DUARTE (1st) (Score of 98.6) - Rita was the daughter of a prominent Spanish civil servant, Pedro Duarte y And ú jar.  Pedro served in both the Spanish colonial government of the Marianas as well as the American.  Rita maternal grandmother was Chamorro, Emilia Castro Anderson.  The Duartes eventually left Guam, for Manila and the U.S. mainland.

IGNACIA BORDALLO BUTLER (2nd) (93.5) - Daughter of the Spaniard Baltazar Bordallo and wife of the American Chester Butler.  Her mother was Chamorro, Rita Pangelinan of the Kotla clan.  A fuller biography of Ignacia can be found at http://guampedia.com/ignacia-bordallo-butler/

JUAN ROSARIO (3rd) (92.2)

AGUEDA IGLESIAS JOHNSTON (4th) (91.7) - Wife of William G. Johnston and future head of Guam's education department.  Her bio can be found at http://guampedia.com/agueda-iglesias-johnston/

MARIA ROSARIO (5th) (87.4) - I am unsure of her identity as she may have married later and is more known by her married name, but she was single when this test was taken.

Out of 26 students at the Normal School, my grandmother, Maria Torres Perez, placed 14th in the results with a score of 67.6.  She was a school teacher and principal for much of her life before WW2.

NASTY CRITTER : I NIFO' (STONEFISH)

Monday, November 19, 2012
squidoo.com

The Guam stonefish ( nufo' in Chamorro) is very dangerous.  It looks like part of the rocks and stones you see in the water, but it's a living, venomous fish.  If you step on one, you may get pierced by one of its long needles, sharp enough to penetrate your sneakers.  The pain is instant and excruciating.  People who are unfortunate enough to get stung will definitely need medical attention.  While waiting for the meds to kick in, their foot and leg will swell, turn color, throb in indescribable pain and the patient will often suffer from nausea.  It takes a week or more to get over, after getting medication.

Frank Lizama composed this little poem about it :


I NIFO'

Ti bunitu yo' na guihan
yan ti gof d å ngkolo yo' lokkue'.
I kulot-hu chukul å ti
ya i tataotao-hu tituka'.

( I am not a pretty fish
and neither am I very big.
Brown is my color
and thorns are my body .)

Kalan desp å sio yo' kumalamten
ayu na chaddek yo' makonne'.
Sum å s å ga yo' gi acho'
ya nufo' i na' å n-hu.

( I move about slowly
which is why I am quickly caught.
I live among the rocks
and nufo' is my name .)

~~~Frank Lizama, 1975, DOE Chamorro Studies
( English version mine )

ENGLISH THE CHAMORRO WAY

Monday, November 19, 2012
Ana : Maria, h å fa na atrasao hao m å gi?

Maria : Ai adei Ana.  Malak H å gat yo' pot para bai fam å han pugua', pues gi birad å -ho t å tte, b å ba i traffic , pues malak i bangko yo'.....puro ha' miscellaneous .

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : NIGAP

Friday, November 16, 2012
urbanmist.com

NIGAP : yesterday

Ti mafa ñ å go yo' nigap!  I wasn't born yesterday!

Hu li'e gue' nigap.  I saw him/her yesterday.

Nigap- ñ a.  The day before yesterday.

Gi nigap- ñ a na ma susede.  It happened the day before yesterday.

Nigap na puenge.  The night before last night.

("Last night" has its own word in Chamorro, but we'll leave that for another post.)

FAMILIA : MAFNAS

Thursday, November 15, 2012


Mafnas is a Chamorro name.

It's also a word, as are all indigenous Chamorro names, though many of them have meanings lost to us at this time.

But m å fnas is still a word used by modern Chamorros.  It means "erased, wiped away."  It comes from the root word funas , which means "to erase or wipe away."  The Chamorro language likes to make shortcuts, so " ma funas " is shortened to m å fnas .

Although it is a Chamorro name, it is rooted in Hag å t ñ a, which is interesting because most indigenous names are rooted in the southern villages where less foreigners settled.  Hag å t ñ a at one time became an almost foreign colony, made up of Spanish, Latin American and Filipino soldiers, many with Chamorro wives.  The surrounding villages such as Mongmong, Sinaja ñ a, Asan, Aniguak and others was where the more pure Chamorros lived.  I suspect, therefore, that the Mafnases came from these outlying villages considered part of Hag å t ñ a and gradually moved to the capital city.  One of the village officials in Pago in the year 1842, for example, was Luis Mafnas.

Today, of course, there are Mafnases all over Guam and one branch also moved to Saipan over 100 years ago.

One thing's for sure, ti u m å fnas i Mafnas giya Marianas .  The Mafnases will never disappear in the Marianas.

THOSE TRAVELING CHAMORROS (1916)

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

U.S.S. Supply

"Island fever" is a condition related to "cabin fever," depending on your geographical circumstances.  Chamorros have been great travelers for many years, long before they were racking up huge numbers on their OnePass accounts.

Back in the day, of course, it was all by boat.  In 1916, this meant travel to Manila by way of the U.S.S. Supply , an iron steamship built in 1873.  The Supply was for a time the station ship of the Guam naval base, making sure there was reliable transportation between Guam and Manila for cargo, mail and passengers.

On one voyage in 1916, the two brothers Francisco (Paco) and Jose (Pepe) de la Cruz returned to Guam from Manila on the Supply .  The De la Cruz brothers were sons of Eulogio Castro de la Cruz, who had links with Manila.  Paco later went on to live and work in Manila, where he married Carmen (Melin) Romualdez, a relative of Imelda Marcos.  De la Cruz returned to Guam and with Melin founded the Guam Academy of Music and Arts (GAMA) and other business ventures.

Also returning to Guam after a trip to Manila were Ursula Delgado, Felisa Garcia, Angel Cristobal, Justo Dungca, Soledad Dungca, Leon Flores, Felicitas Dungca Flores, Magdalena Herrero, Carmen Herrero, Dolores Herrero, Emilia Martinez, Joaquin Guerrero and Jose Salas.

A few private ships also provided Guam residents with passage to other shores.  The Mariana Maru was a Japanese schooner taking people and cargo to and from Yokohama.  In July of 1916, it brought back to Guam Atanacio Taitano Perez, Juan Torres, Jesus Flores and Japanese Guam-residents J. Yamanaka and S. Akiyama.  Then it picked up the following Guam residents for a trip to Japan : Guam postmaster James Underwood (married to the former Ana Pangelinan Martinez) and his daughter Essie and son John; Japanese J.K. Shimizu and his Chamorro wife Carmen and sons Jesus and Joaquin.



AMONG THE FIRST CHAMORRO VETERANS

Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Governor Joseph F. Flores

The first war that the United States was involved in wherein Chamorros could be involved as active-duty servicemen was World War I.

Joseph Flores was just in his teens when the U.S. entered the war in 1917.  Flores enlisted in the U.S. Navy.

Although he never saw combat, he served in the Navy both during and after the war.  He lived for many years in California before World War II.

After that war, he returned to Guam to run many businesses and, most notably, became Governor of Guam in 1960, appointed (as they were in those days) by the U.S. President.  That year was a presidential election year, and when John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, was elected President, Flores, a Republican, turned in his courtesy resignation.

Flores passed away in 1981.

ÅCHO' YAP

Monday, November 12, 2012
waterworks-sysooke.blogspot.com
Satawal canoe arriving in Saipan

From an article written in a 1938 Guam Recorder issue, we get the story of "Yapese" coming to Guam during Spanish times looking for a certain kind of rock for use as money ( å cho' Yap ).   The famous stone money in Yap, we know, was actually obtained in Palau.  But there is speculation that some of it could have come from the Marianas.

Antonio Crisostomo Suarez, a mestizo Chamorro of the late 1800s and early 1900s, who had spent some time in the Northern Marianas, then talks about natives from Satawal and Lamotrek making the voyages up to the Marianas in the same breath.

So I wonder about this, since people from Satawal and Lamotrek are part of the State of Yap, but are not ethnically Yapese.  Their language and culture are part of the extended Chuukese group, though they have some affinities with Yapese customs, such as betel nut chewing.

Still, it interested me to find out, from Suarez, that when the Carolinians (the term used for the Outer Islanders in Yap State) sailed for the Marianas, they had an easy source of protein : the fish they caught on the way.  For carbs, they soaked green breadfruit in salt water (unpalatable to others) or baked and pounded it and mixed it with coconut milk.  Other roots were brought along as food.  Fresh water was stored in bamboo tubes, and replenished with rain water.

It makes one wonder if there were any similarities between this and the way the first peoples of the Marianas brought food with them from their original lands to their new home in our chain of islands.

The Carolinians were so much a part of Saipan's history and community that the Chamorros could say Satagu å t (for Satawal) and Oleai (for Woleai).


CHAMORRO CULTURAL WORKSHOP : SAN DIEGO

Monday, November 12, 2012

Close to 200 people, mostly Chamorros and some family and friends of Chamorros, attended a Chamorro cultural workshop presented by Pale' Eric in San Diego, California.

From 9AM till 4PM, Pale' walked the participants down the same roads the people of the Marianas walked from the first physical signs of human habitation, down to the present situation and the challenges we face as a people.

With the help of many graphics and recordings of interviews, all aspects were touched on : history, language, beliefs, religion, family origins, customs, song, dance.



SINFUL COOKIES

Friday, November 9, 2012


A woman remembers perhaps her first sin.  The year?  1938 or so.

"I was around 4 years old and I saw my mother making the batter to bake cookies.  From the moment I saw her making the batter, I wanted to eat those cookies so badly.  But then my mother put them in a ceramic bowl and hid them at the top of the cupboard.  She said no one is to eat them; they were for that night's dessert.

Our maid told all of us brothers and sisters to take our nap after lunch.  When everyone was sleeping, I climbed up and got one cookie.  Just as soon as I put the cookie to my mouth, I felt so terrible.  I knew I was doing wrong, and the cookie tasted awful to me because of my guilty conscience.  But I already put it to my mouth, so I ate it, but without any delight.

That night, my mother took down the cookies and while everyone was eating them, she said, 'One of the cookies is missing.'  I couldn't believe she knew how many cookies there were!  She looked at my oldest sister and accused her.  My older sister started to cry and told my mom she didn't take the cookie.  So my mom accused the maid, and from then on, my mother never trusted the maid.

I was only four years old, and I already committed five sins.  First, I disobeyed God, who told me to obey my parents.  Second, I disobeyed my mother.  Third, I took a cookie I wasn't supposed to take.  Fourth, I lied and pretended to be innocent.  Fifth, I let an innocent woman suffer a false accusation."

" Ku å ttro å ñ os ha' yo' guihe na tiempo, annai hu li'e si nan å -ho na ha b å b å tti i arina para u fama'tinas cookies.  Gigon hu li'e ennao, ha na' sen malago' yo' chumocho cookies.  Lao despues, si nan å -ho ha sahguan i cookies gi halom i ceramic na tason ya ha n å 'na' gi hilo' i tapblita.  Ha sang å ne ham todos na ti si ñ a in kanno'; na para ta k å nno' gi despues de sena ayo na puenge.

Pues i much å chan-m å me ha t å go' ham todos, hame yan i ma ñ e'lu-ho siha, para in fan maigo' annai esta monh å yan ham ma ñ ocho gi talo'ane.  Annai esta hu tungo' na manmamaigo' todos i pumalo, kahulo' yo' gi tapblita ya hu chule' uno na cookie.  Lao gigon hu po'lo i cookie gi halom pachot-ho, b å ba i siniente-ko.  Hu tungo' na isao i bid å -ho, ya ha na' ti m å nnge' para gu å ho i cookie sa' pot i piniti-ho na umisao yo'.  Lao pot i esta hu po'lo gi halom pachot-ho, hu k å nno' ha', masea ti hu gogosa.

Ayo na pupuenge, ha chule' p å pa' si nan å -ho i cookies ya mientras ma ñ ochocho todos, ilek- ñ a si nan å -ho, 'H å ye chumule' uno na cookie?'  Ti hu hongge na ha rep å ra si nan å -ho ku å nto na cookies guaha!  Ha atan i mas å mko' na che'lu-ho palao'an ya a sokne gue' na guiya chumule'.  Duro kum å te i che'lu-ho ya ha sang å ne si nan å -ho na å he' ti guiya chumule'.  Pues si nan å -ho ha sokne i much å cha na guiya chumule', ya desde ennao para mo'na, esta si nan å -ho ti si ñ a ha angoko i much å cha.

Ku åt tro å ñ os ha' yo', lao esta singko na isao hu komete.  Finena'na, hu isague si Yu'us sa' ha t å go yo' si Yu'us na para bai osge si tat å -ho yan si nan å -ho.  Segundo, hu isague si nan å -ho sa' ti hu osge gue'.  Tetset, hu chule' i ti debe di hu chule'.  Ku å tto, mandagi yo' ya hu fa' si inosenta yo'.  Kinto, mamatkilo ha' yo' annai ma sokne i much å cha ni t å ya' h å fa b å ba bid å - ñ a. "

CHAMORRO WORKSHOP IN LOS ANGELES

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

On Saturday, November 3, about 100 Chamorros and friends and family of Chamorros, gathered in Torrance, California (LA area) for a workshop on Chamorro culture given by Pale' Eric Forbes.

Starting with the first signs of human settlement in the Marianas 3700 years ago to the present, the history, language and culture of the Chamorros, in all their major phases was covered, with pictorial and audiovisual aids.

The workshop closed with a description of the present cultural situation and different people's responses to the issues and questions of the day concerning the future of the Chamorro people.






JAPANESE INFLUENCE IN SAIPAN AND LUTA

Monday, November 5, 2012
Red Ginger
"Shoga"

The Japanese ruled the Northern Marianas from 1914 till 1944.  Thirty years.  Not only that; the Japanese population in Saipan was ten times bigger than the local Chamorro/Carolinian population; over 50,000 Japanese versus 5,000 Chamorros and Carolinians.  The locals were SWAMPED.

Besides Japanese, there were Okinawans and Koreans in the Northern Marianas to boot.

If someone visited these islands in the 1930s, they would think they moved to tropical Japan.  Everything was in Japanese.  Ninety percent of the people you bumped in to on the street were Japanese, Okinawan or Korean.  Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines everywhere.  In Tinian, there was no native Chamorro or Carolinian population.  The few Chamorros and Carolinians who lived on Tinian were originally from either Saipan or Luta and went over there for work.

Chamorro kids went to Japanese schools; limited, of course.  The Japanese didn't want all the Chamorros that educated.  But enough to speak basic Japanese in order to comply with orders.  These Chamorro kids all sang the Japanese national anthem and bowed to the Emperor.  Certain people were selected for advanced education and training; sometimes being sent to Japan or another Japanese-controlled island.

So, Japanese influence on the Chamorro (and Carolinian) culture was tremendous, in more than the food department.

FOOD

As pictured above, Saipan Chamorros sometimes put red ginger even in kelaguen and other Chamorro foods which we on Guam would never think of doing.



Saipanese Chamorros also eat ampan , a bean-filled bread, and manju ..  They make it themselves.

Sushi shows up a lot more in Saipanese parties than on Guam.  Though, I'd say, Guam Chamorros serve sashimi almost just as much as Saipan Chamorros do.

NICKNAMES

Some Chamorros who lived during Japanese times even had full Japanese names given to them by the government.  But, in Saipan, there were (and some still exist) women with Japanese nicknames like Mariko and Arinko .  These Chamorro and Carolinian women have Christian names, but no one ever calls them anything but their Japanese nicknames.

LANGUAGE

A whole book could be written on the Japanese words that made it into the Chamorro speech of Saipan and Luta Chamorros, but I'll point out some of the more prominent ones, used frequently.

Nangasi .  Sink, as in where you wash dishes.  In Japanese, nagashi .  But Chamorros have a hard time with the SH sound. In Guam, we retain the Spanish labadot ( lavador , from lavar , "to wash.")

Namaiki .  Fresh-mouthed, sassy, cheeky.  Same as in Japanese.  Of course, Chamorros turn it into their own word and say " Namaikeke-mo! "

Chirigami. Toilet paper.  Guam : P å ppet etgue (paper for wiping).

Denki. Light, flashlight.  But Saipan and Luta Chamorros also use k å ndet , as on Guam; from the Spanish candil , an instrument of lighting or illumination.

Shoganai. An expression of resignation meaning, "Well, what can we do?  What can be done? It can't be helped."  From the Japanese shouganai .

Debu '.  Fat.  Chamorros add the glota at the end of the word.

Soko' .   Pantry, food storage.  From the Japanese shoko (library or book storage).  Again, Chamorros change SH to S, and add a glota at the end.  Chamorros on Saipan probably heard Japanese talking about storing books and files in a shoko , and used the word to mean a storage for anything, particularly food.

Kakko' .  Looks, appearance.  Again, Chamorros add a glota.

Omake' .  Extra, freebie, bonus.  Don't forget to add a glota!  When you order 10 apigigi , and the seller throws in an extra one or two, that's omake' .

Hos .  Japanese hosu , which they got from the Dutch word hoos , pronounced hos .  In Guam, when rubber hoses first made an appearance with the Americans, it reminded Guam Chamorros of intestines, so they called a hose tilipas (intestines), which itself is a word borrowed from the Spanish word for intestines, tripas.

Denden .  Snail.  From the Japanese dendemmushi .  In Guam, the Chamorros say akaleha .

Kairu .  Frog.  From Japanese kaeru .  On Guam, we stick to the Spanish word for "frog," r å na .

There are many other words, related to modern tools, baseball and automobiles.  Many of these Japanese words are fading away from Saipan speech.  For example, old-timers may still use dengua' (Japanese denwa ) for phone, but most Saipanese use tilifon , as we do on Guam.  Other Japanese words used are kori (when a store is packed with customers), gobugari (bald haircut).



TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : MÅTAI

Friday, November 2, 2012


M Å TAI : dead, to die

M å tai gue'.  S/he died.  S/he is dead.

M å tai m å 'ho yo'!  I am dying of thirst!

M å tai ñ å lang yo'!  I am dying of hunger.

M å tai ginefli'e' gue'.  S/he died of love.

Ai, ya bai hu m å tai magof!  Oh, and I will die happily!

Todos hit para ta fan m å tai un dia.  All of us will die one day.

M å tai kanai- ñ a.  His hand is paralyzed.

M å tai gotpe.  To die suddenly.

M å tai derepente.  To die suddenly.

Poddong m å tai.  To drop dead.

M å tai siniente-ko.  My feelings are dead.

Kalan hao m å tai!  You're acting as if you're already dead!

Mamatai.  Dying.  Capable of dying.

Ti mamatai i guinaiya-ko nu h å go.  My love for you is undying.

Kematai.  Dying; on the way to dying.

Tayuyute i mangekematai.  Pray for the dying.

Finatai.  Death.

Asta i finatai-ho.  Until my death.  Until I die.


AUSTRONESIAN CONNECTIONS

Our word for "die" and "death" clearly shows our Austronesian roots and connections with other peoples of Southeast Asia and the Pacific who come from the same ancient roots.

Here is the word "to die, dead" in five different Austronesian languages spanning a large territory :


CHAMORRO

MATAI

BASAY (Taiwan)

MATAI

FIJIAN

MATE

BAJO (Indonesia)

MATAI

ILOKANO

MATAY





CHÅDA' GUERO : CHAMORRO HALLOWEEN

Thursday, November 1, 2012
harrypotter.wikia.com

When I was a kid in the 60s, some of the older kids prepared for Halloween a week in advance by taking eggs from the fridge and putting them aside to rot.

They became ch å da' guero , rotten eggs.

These rascal boys would go around the neighborhood singing, "Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat."

If they threw a ch å da' guero on someone's front door or car, the smell of rotten eggs would stick around for a while, unless the owners gave a good soapy washing.

Some of those boys liked Halloween, not for the candy, but for the chance to throw ch å da' guero around.

EARLY AMERICAN SCHOOL IN MALESSO'

Wednesday, October 31, 2012
locations.splocs.com
Malesso' seen from above

The transition from the small, limited Spanish schools on Guam to almost as small, limited American schools on Guam was not overnight.  The Americans took over in 1898, but it wasn't until Governor Dyer's time around 1904 that the government took more interest in organizing the public schools on a surer footing.

Take Malesso', for example.

When the American teacher went there in 1905 to relieve Pedro Cruz, the Chamorro teacher, he found a small building furnished with a desk and a stool.  Students had to sit right on the floor.  Under Cruz, the school basically taught the Catholic catechism.

Only two residents of Malesso' spoke some English, acquired when these two men spent some time sailing the seas and living in the U.S.   They were Felix Roberto, the gobernadorcillo (mayor) and Vicente D. Torres.

Even the American teachers weren't always professionals.  They were often recruited from the Navy and Marine units, or recently discharged servicemen and/or the wives of such.

SINAJAÑA HISTORICAL PHOTO EXHIBIT

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

This year's St Jude fiesta had to have a special touch.  Fifty years ago, the present church was dedicated.  So one of the special features of this year's observance was a historical photo display of the village.



The church built after the war.



The public school in Sinaja ñ a before the war.




Vice Mayor Robert Hofmann and Peter Onedera spearheaded much of the fiesta events, and William Paulino on the right took these photos for me.

CHAMORRON SAN DIEGO : BIBA SAN JUDE!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012


The Chamorro community in San Diego celebrated the fiesta of St Jude last Saturday in El Cajon.  Sinaja ñ a people, of course, were well-represented.




Pugua'!

TIT FOR TAT

Saturday, October 27, 2012


October 1915. Hag å t ñ a.

Ana Ulloa Aguon, living in the barrio of San Antonio in Hag å t ñ a, discovers that "her" bull had been stolen during the darkness of night.

According to her, one Vicente Dydasco comes to her later and asks, "Do you know what happened to your bull?"  She replied that she didn't, but that she would go to Upi and ask Don Pascual Artero whose bull he slaughtered and salted.

Artero not only raised his own cattle but slaughtered cattle and salted the meat for others, as well.  It was part of his business.  The salted meat was then sold by the owner of the slaughtered animal.

According to Aguon, Dydasco told her there was no need for her to ask Artero, as he was the one who took the bull to be slaughtered at Upi by Artero because it was rightfully his, not hers.

Aguon then took Dydasco to court and won.  Dydasco was ordered to pay the woman $30 (the market value of the bull) and another $75 in court fees.  Dydasco appealed the decision to the appellate court.

The higher court ruled that Aguon had indeed "bought" the bull from Dydasco, with deferred payment.  When she didn't come through with the payments, however, Dydasco simply took what was still his and made his money from the slaughter.  Dydasco won the appeal.  Aguon had the bull, but Dydasco never got his money.  It was legally, then, still his bull.

Round One : Aguon over Dydasco.
Round Two : Dydasco over Aguon.

CHAMORRO TEASING

Friday, October 26, 2012
blonde-designs.squarespace.com

A man named Jose was so dark-skinned, someone started calling him "Bu."

The reason?  He was so dark, he was scary.   Like bumping into a dark shadow in the night.

Boo!

Before you know it, both he and his children were better-known-as Bu.  Josen Bu.  Juan Bu.  And so on.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : PODDONG

Thursday, October 25, 2012
amarantapaz.wordpress.com

PODDONG : to fall

Poddong i taotao.  The man/woman fell.

Adahe na un poddong.  Be careful not to fall.

I peddong na h å gon.  The fallen leaf.

Mamoddong siha gi halom fache'.  They fell into the mud.

Poddong gi isao.  Fallen into sin.

Poddong t å tte.  To fall backwards.

Poddong m å tai.  To fall dead.

Pineddong.  Fall.  Can also mean "luck, fate."  As we say in English, "it befell him..."

M å no ha' pinedong-ta.  However it befalls us.  Whatever is our fate.

Pineddong can also mean "result, final effect."

Maulek pineddong i kuentos- ñ a.  His speaking had a good effect.

Poppodong.  Falling, tending to fall.

I peppedong na haligi.  The leaning pole or pillar.

Pipodong.  Habitually falling.

I Spell it as I hear It

You may notice sometimes I have a double D, or a double P, sometimes not.  Chamorro pronunciation of the same word changes depending on the changes in the word's use.

By itself, the word is poddong .  The tip of the tongue definitely rests a bit at the top of the upper teeth and the D is emphasized.  But when one says pinedong-mo , there is no rest at the D.

When one says poppodong , the rest is at the second P and the two lips stay together for a moment to give emphasis to the P.


secretdieter.com
Ayudo!  Poddong yo' ya ti si ñ a yo' kahulo'!



FIRST CHAMORRITA GLOBE TROTTER?

Wednesday, October 24, 2012
luxurylinerrow.com

Felisa A. San Nicolas from Malesso' could have been a helper, hired or not, of an American couple, Major and Mrs. Morse.  For they took her with them as they set out for the U.S., but by way of Europe through the Suez Canal (Egypt).

After Europe, it was across the Atlantic to the U.S.  San Nicolas parted ways with the Morses and went over land to the West Coast, and from there back to Guam, making a complete trip across the globe.  The year was 1925-1926.

We know that a Chamorro woman accompanied her Spanish employer when he moved to Spain in the late 1800s.  But she stayed in Spain and died there, and probably did not make a full circle around the globe.  Felisa did; apparently the first Chamorro woman to do so.

More than likely Chamorro men had circled the globe earlier, when Chamorro men were joining the whaling ships in the early 1800s.  Many of them never returned to Guam.

AN AMERICAN CONSULATE ON GUAM

Monday, October 22, 2012


US flag from the period of the US Consulate on Guam


There was a brief time, in the 1850s, that enough American whalers were stopping by Guam, and enough contact was going on between Guam and Hawaii, that an unofficial American "consulate" was set up on Guam.

Hawaii was then still an independent country, but American missionaries had a powerful influence over the Hawaiian monarchy in the early 1800s. Hawaii was a major Pacific destination for American whalers and proximity to California meant commercial ties to the US West Coast. From Hawaii, Americans made contact with the Marianas and the Bonin Islands north of us, too.

In March of 1855, nineteen American whaling captains wrote a letter to be published in various newspapers encouraging other American whaling ships to make visits to Guam. They said Guam was a convenient place to visit, among other reasons, to recruit new members for the crew. The captains also said that the Spanish government on Guam was good in getting runaway crew members back on board. But, the captains said, what made Guam even more advantageous to visit was the presence of an American Consul on the island. A newspaper in 1854 stated that a US Consul had been appointed and was waiting for an opportunity to sail for Guam.



HAWAIIAN NEWSPAPER ANNOUNCES "APPOINTMENT"


The "American Consul" in Hag åt ñ a was Samuel J. Masters, a New Yorker who had lived in Hawaii for some time.  At the time of his "appointment" as Consul, he was Police Justice (judge or magistrate) at Lahaina on Maui. One wonders if Masters was ever truly an official representative of the US government in the Spanish Marianas. A newspaper article in 1855 states that the Spaniards never allowed him to raise the US flag at his residence on Guam, because he had no official papers from the US government to show.

Masters was accompanied by Josiah Van Ingen, an American who had been operating a business in Maui in the past. Van Ingen was ostensibly Masters' secretary, but Van Ingen also tried to make money on Guam supplying whaling ships with various necessities and recruiting Chamorro crew members. He formed a partnership with Thomas Spencer, another American businessman in Maui at the same time. When things didn't work out on Guam and the whole enterprise died, Spencer ended his partnership with Van Ingen.

One cannot help but wonder what connection, if any at all, Masters may have had with his secretary's business venture on Guam. Was Masters quietly in on it, partly motivating his push to open a consulate on Guam? Or did Van Ingen's commercial activities create problems for Masters?



MASTERS' SECRETARY VAN INGEN OPENED A BUSINESS ON GUAM


Edward A. Edgerton, a traveling man tired of life on the seas, stayed on Guam to work for Masters.  Of great interest to me is the fact that Edgerton was a daguerrotypist, working with an early form of photography.  He says he took photos of Guam in the 1850s.  If they still exist, they might be the earliest photographs of Guam.  But if they exist, where are they?

Edgerton enjoyed Guam and wanted to remain.  He had control of the old priest's house; two storeys with balconies, a grand staircase, high ceilings.  Perhaps the priests had moved to a newer or smaller house and Edgerton rented the bigger, older one.  But, his permission to stay denied by the Governor-General of the Philippines, Edgerton left Guam some years later.


THE FINAL ARGUMENT

Masters was a thorn in the side of the Spaniards on Guam the whole time, lodging complaints and protest against the Spanish government's dealing with Americans on Guam. It probably irritated the Spaniards even more when an American warship came into Apra Harbor in 1855 with its captain scolding de la Corte on the same score.

The final straw came about in late 1855. In August of that year, the US whaler the Jireh Perry came into Guam with a problem on its hands.

The Captain, a Mr Lawrence, was facing a mutiny of his crew. Masters asked Governor Felipe de la Corte to arrest the ring leaders and participants, which included an American by the name of William Martin.

But Martin was suffering from some illness that required him to move from the prison to the hospital. When some time later Martin was found freely moving about Hagåtña, de la Corte threw him in prison again. Masters objected, but de la Corte said he allowed Martin to move from the prison to the hospital on the condition that he not move from the hospital. Masters said no such condition was made. Even though Martin asked for and was granted a pardon, de la Corte used Masters' intervention in Martin's situation as a justification to send Masters away in April of 1856.

When Masters left the island, some fifteen American residents left with him, including an American doctor who, it seems, treated sick whalers a lot of the time. Thus was the closing of the "American Consulate" on Guam.

American newspapers used this incident to decry the way the Spanish government treated Americans in the Spanish colonies and urged the US to put pressure on Madrid to do something about it. I can already hear the sounds of Spanish-American tension over Cuba in 1898 forty years later. In the war that resulted from that, the US didn't simply open another Consulate on Guam in 1898; they kicked out the Spaniards and took the whole island for themselves!

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS

Thursday, October 18, 2012
panoramio.com

I heard this the other day speaking with a Chamorro lady about a couple that divorced within weeks of getting married.

She said, " Fino' i man å mko' : ti mayulang trabia i palap å la, esta umayute' i dos !"

" As the old folks say : the p å lap å la wasn't even down and they were already divorced !"

A p å lap å la is a temporary structure, usually just a roof and a wooden platform, for parties or meetings.

What's funny is it usually does take a week or two for most people to take down the p å lap å la .  Hey, one has to rest after throwing a big party.

HIGHEST PAID TEACHERS IN 1938

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Seaton Schroeder Junior High School graduates in 1936




NAME
YEARS OF SERVICE
DAILY PAY GRADE

Lagrimas P. Leon Guerrero

13

$2.50

Manuel U. Lujan

11

$2.25

Cynthia J. Torres

6

$2.25

Ignacio P. Quitugua

13

$2.00

Teresa T. Sablan

15

$2.00

Rosa F. Mesa*

17

$2.00

Jane T. Gutierrez*

11

$2.00

Asuncion H. Santos

7

$1.80

William U. Lujan

11

$1.80

Ana F. Due ñ as

8

$1.60

Jesus C. Barcinas

13

$1.60


* Industrial teachers

First year teachers were making as little as 70 cents a day!

Source : Guam Recorder

PRAYING FOR THE DEAD AND FOR PEACE

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Every year, Buddhist monks and Catholic clergy take turns praying for the dead and for peace at the same memorial service at Mat å guak, Yigo, site of the last battle on Guam in World War II.


The man on the left fought on Guam during the war.  The man on the right was a civilian, still in school in fact, on Saipan and then was drafted into the service and sent to Guam for the war.


Buddhist monks preparing for prayer.




Sorry for the poor video quality in the beginning.  The focus kept auto-adjusting.

The event was surreal.  Black clouds hung over us, with peels of thunder and flashes of lightning.  Then United States Air Force jets from the nearby base roared through the skies.

CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN?

Friday, October 12, 2012


Ha estori å ye yo' este na palao'an na ginen kumuekuentos un bi å he gi telefon yan otro na palao'an ni dosse famagu'on- ñ a.

Bula buruka ha hungok gi telefon sa' manhug å g å ndo todo i famagu'on.

Ilek- ñ a i otro na palao'an, "Dispensa yo' un r å to.  Hei!  Jose!  Sang å ne eye siha na famagu'on i besino na u fan h å nao t å tte gi gima'- ñ iha!  Adda' t å ya' familian- ñ iha?"

Ilek- ñ a si Jose, "Iyo-ta ha', mom, todo este siha."

Ilek- ñ a i palao'an, "Pues t å go' i ma ñ e'lu-mo siha ya u fan malak i besino sa' mampos burukento ya kumuekuentos yo' gi telefon!"

A woman told me the story of talking one time on the phone with another woman who had twelve children.

There was a lot of noise in the background because she heard a lot of kids playing.

The other woman said, "Excuse me a minute.  Hey!  Jose!  Tell those children of the neighbor to go back to their home.  Don't they have families?"

Jose said, "They're all ours, mom."

The woman said, "Then tell your brothers and sisters to go to the neighbors because they're too noisy and I'm talking on the phone!"


EXHIBIT AT INALAHAN'S OLD FLORES STORE

Thursday, October 11, 2012

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Thursday, October 11, 2012


I akague na kannai-ho alun å n-ho sa' ti u y å fai;
ya i agapa' na kannai-ho un sinetbe asta ke un m å tai.


My left hand is my pillow because it will never tire;
and my right hand will serve you until you die.


Many verses of the K å ntan Chamorrita make reference to parts of the body as the tools with which love is expressed in either concrete or symbolic action.


This man might be so poor, that he sleeps on his own left hand for a pillow.  But he is young and strong, and will use his right hand to serve the needs of his sweetheart, despite his apparent poverty.  Just as his left hand won't tire from being used as a pillow, his right hand will never tire of taking care of her.

THE JAPANESE CHAMORROS

Wednesday, October 10, 2012


Tanaka, Shimizu, Shinohara, Yamashita and many more.  These are names we all recognize on Guam and we consider members of these families our fellow Chamorros.  But we also acknowledge their Japanese background.

In the last few weeks, it has been announced in the media that the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the Japanese settlers who moved to Guam over 100 years ago are forming a society.  There had been a Guam Japanese Association in the 1930s before the war, made up of these Japanese settlers.  But after the war, there was actually a bit of a stigma associated with being part Japanese on Guam.  Some Japanese-Chamorros dropped their Japanese names, as a matter of fact, and went by their mother's Chamorro maiden names.

Yet most Japanese-Chamorro families proved their loyalty to the U.S., or at least to their fellow Chamorro countrymen, during the war; and, after the war, Chamorro voters routinely elected people with names like Tanaka and Ooka.  Even some full-blooded Japanese, like Mrs. Dejima, were seen as having kept a clean record during the war.


Samuel T. Shinohara was an early Japanese settler, marrying a Chamorro from the Torres family, and opening a restaurant.  He was one of the leaders of the Guam Japanese Association before the war.


Mr. Suzuki (top) was a tailor.  But J. K. Shimizu (below) had an even more prominent business.  Shimizu was early in the game, probably right at the turn of the century (1900) if not a few years earlier.  He had boats that would go up and down the Marianas, as well as onto Japan.  His descendants continue the family's strong commercial activities.  Shimizu also had married a Torres.

The Japanese had a strong commercial presence here in the Marianas certainly by the 1890s.  Even in the early American administration of Guam, there were comments by Americans that too many shops were owned by Japanese.  But the large part of these Japanese settlers married local women and planted deep roots.

So from the 1930s we come to the year 2012 where we see candidates with Japanese names, but Chamorro in identity.



Did you know.....?

That there were Japanese settlers on Guam as early as the 1860s?

During the term of Spanish Governor Francisco Moscoso y Lara (1866-1871), a private company, the Sociedad Agr í cola , was founded to bring over Japanese farmers to hopefully exploit the agricultural potential of the Marianas.  The venture failed.  Some of the Japanese brought over died, and the rest all returned to Japan.

SECOND-HAND SHUTTERS

Tuesday, October 9, 2012


M å tto un taotao ni manbebende "typhoon shutters."

Ha sang å ne i taotao guma', "Se ñ ot, bai hu ofrese hao kab å les yan man nuebo na 'shutter' pot para an på kyo.  Dies mit pesos ha'."

Ilek- ñ a i taotao guma', "Ai.  Demasiao guaguan sa' man nuebo.  Kao t å ya' iyo-mo 'shutters' ni esta man ginen ginipu ni pakyo?"

A man selling typhoons shutters came by.

He told the man of the house, "Sir, I will offer you complete and brand new typhoon shutters.  Just ten thousand dollars."

The man said, "Wow.  They're too expensive as they're brand new.  Don't you have any shutters which have already been blown off by a typhoon?"

AN EARLY AMERICAN VISITOR

Monday, October 8, 2012



WILLIAM HASWELL


In early 1802, an American ship, the Lydia , contracted by the Spanish government to bring a new Spanish governor from Manila to Guam touched at Apra Harbor.  The ship had been in Manila and the Spanish Government was in need of a vessel to be sent to Guam for that purpose. Besides the new Governor and his family, some other officials and one friar were to be taken to Guam.

Although the Lydia was not the first American ship to visit the Marianas nor Guam, it was the first American visit that provided us with a good bit of information because on board the Lydia was the First Mate, William Haswell.  Lucky for us, Haswell liked noting down a lot of things in his chronicle. He eventually published a little book about his visit to Guam

Here are some things Haswell noted about Guam :




Chamorro women often went topless and would run and cover themselves only when they saw Europeans coming.



Not only did the Spanish Governor grow his own tobacco using Chamorro workers, private growers had to give him what they grew as rent, who would then sell it for high prices.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN...

Sunday, October 7, 2012

...you think church wine is the BEST on the market!

NOT!

The Catholic Church has some rules about the wine used for Mass.  It has to be made of grapes from the vine and not corrupt (for example, so old it's turning into vinegar).  It can be either red or white.

No additives are allowed, like adding sugar to sweeten the wine.

Thus, it is very dangerous for priests to go to Payless to buy wine for Mass.  For all they know, they could be using improper wine.  We get wine from companies making altar wine respecting Catholic guidelines.

However, since these Catholic altar wines are made for RELIGIOUS purposes (to become the Precious Blood of the Lord), and NOT for their quality as a drink, and also because they are made in vast quantities for Mass, so that priests need an affordable source of bulk orders, these altar wines generally are not, I repeat, not  TOP RANKING wines in terms of their vintage.

They generally sell for $5 a bottle, whereas good quality wines go for much more, from $10 to $50 a bottle.

But since we don't grow grapes on Guam, nor drink much (in the old days), we aren't familiar with these things, so I always hear from some old-times, "Eh Pale', you guys got the best wine at Mass, hah?  Hehehe."

If only they knew.

FAMILIA : HOCOG

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Paterno S. Hocog and his family in Luta
1959

It has been spelled over the years in a variety of ways, but Hocog is the Chamorro word hokkok , which means "depleted, exhausted, consumed" but it can also mean "total, complete, perfect" as in " hokkok minagof-ho ," or "my joy is complete."  It can also mean "the last," as in " hokkok finatoigue- ñ a nu siha ," or "it is his last visit to them."  The three meanings stem from the idea that one can go no further; when something runs out, when something cannot be any more complete than it already is and when something is ultimate and final.

Everyone knows that Hocog is a Rota (Luta) name, but there were Guam-born Hocogs, as in H å gat.  But this was in the 1850s and the name died out on Guam.

Some Humorous Stories

Because this last name is an actual word in Chamorro, some funny incidents and jokes have come from it.

An older gentleman, now deceased, told me many years ago that he was a government clerk after the war.  A man from Luta moved down to Guam and had to register with this clerk for some reason or another.  The clerk asked his name.  He gave his first name and his last name.  But the clerk also wanted his middle name.  The man said Hocog ("no more").  The clerk insisted, "Tell me your middle name!"  "Hocog!" the man from Luta repeated.  But the Guamanian clerk only understood him to mean hokkok ; "That's all!  No more!"

And then there's the old joke about the man from Luta who died.  Why did he die?  Hocog Manglo ñ a. Hokkok manglo'- ñ a. He ran out of wind (breath).  Both are Rotanese names that have meanings.

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS

Friday, October 5, 2012


Kalakas na uchan!

When the rain is this bad, that streets turn into lakes, Chamorros say " Kalakas na uchan !"  Literally it means "Filthy rain!"

Other cultures say "heavy rain," "raining cats and dogs," "raining like crazy" and so on.

Not us.  Heavy rain is "filthy rain."

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES OF YOÑA

Thursday, October 4, 2012

I was raised in Sinaja ñ a, but my father sent me to Saint Francis School in Yo ñ a for elementary school, from 1968 till 1974.  I was there 5 days a week for 9 months out of the year.  Since we weren't parishioners, monthly tuition was $35.  Our bus picked us up in Sinaja ñ a where we picked up Francisco and Rosa Santos' children, usualy 3 or 4 at a time; and Erwin and Genaro Gorostiza, one of the first Filipinos I ever knew.  We picked up a few more in Chalan Pago and then we got off at Yo ñ a.

Being mestisos to begin with, my haole dad wanted his three boys to grow up in a Chamorro environment where we would assimilate into the cultural mainstream.  Yo ñ a was the best place to do that.

Some memories...

There are more things I remember, but this is long enough.  I really treasure my six years in Yo ñ a.  My dad made a wise decision.




Sister Rose Marie Manibusan, SSND, was never my teacher, but that's how the Notre Dame sisters looked like when I first saw them in 1968.

KÅNTAN SAN FRANCISCO

Thursday, October 4, 2012
Sorry, non-Catholics but early October is loaded with saints, so here's another Chamorro hymn.


This was taken at a nobena in Saipan.  It was interesting because Saint Francis of Assisi is not as venerated there as on Guam.  When the Capuchins got to Saipan in 1907, there were already two churches with patrons, and the population was too small (5,000) to establish a third church, possibly under the patronage of Saint Francis, founder of the Capuchins.

Then the Jesuits took over in 1921.  When the Capuchins returned in 1946, no new churches were named after Saint Francis.

But since Francisco is a popular name among Chamorro men, as in the case of this elderly gentlemen who caries on this nobena tradition, some Saipanese know this hymn, although they sing it slightly differently from us on Guam.

What I absolutely love about this family, which is so typical of Saipanese church singing in general, is they belt it out at top volume.  You have to have good lungs, and they sing as if they mean it.  I love popular devotions done with gusto!  As an American missionary said of Chamorros back in the 70s, when Chamorros sing their traditional hymns, no written words are needed; they know it from memory, and when they sing, they raise the roof of the church.  I love it.

Lyrics

Mames na T å ta, ma sen gofli'e hao / sa' un fa'maulek i fumatoigue hao.
( Sweet Father, you are very much loved / because you bring out good things to those who come to you. )

O San Francisco!  Hungok i ginagao i linahyan taotao i umag å nge hao.
( O Saint Francis!  Hear the prayers of the crowds of people who call on you .)


Compare now with the Guam version...


TA FAN LISÅYO

Wednesday, October 3, 2012


In the Catholic Marianas, October is dedicated to the Rosary, just as in the Church the world over.  The main hymn for this devotion is Ta Fan Lis å yo ( Let us pray the Rosary ).  It is based on a well-known Spanish tune, which you can hear for yourself in the video below.

Just as the Guam version differs just a bit from this Spanish one, the Saipan version differs slightly from the Guam version.  But they are all recognizably the same tune.

Lyrics

Ta fan Lis å yo, k å da ha' å ne / sa' i S å ntos Lis å yo y å ben i Langet.
( Let us pray the Rosary, every day / because the Holy Rosary is the key to Heaven .)

Na'manman i Lis å yon S å nto Domingo / i tumaitaitai maolek ti u falingo.
( Wonderful is the Rosary of Saint Dominic / he who prays it well will not be lost. )

I Lis å yon manaitai isan i Langet / na para i anti-ta ma'lak na k å ndet.
( The Rosary prayed is the rainbow of Heaven / it is a bright light for our souls .)

Yagin k å da ha' å ne gefmanlis å yo / u ta hago' i gr å sia yan i minahgong.
( If we devoutly pray the Rosary every day / we will obtain grace and peace .)

I Lis å yon manaitai guaot i Langet / guihe nai si Maria ha å ' å gang hit.
( The Rosary prayed is the ladder to Heaven / there Mary is calling us .)

I Lis å yon Maria yagin un taitai / un dichoso gi bida yan gi finatai.
( If you pray Mary's Rosary / you will be blessed in life and in death .)

Yagin ya-mo ma ñ otsot nu i isao-mo / i Lis å yo nai gaige i malago'-mo.
( If you want to repent from your sins / the Rosary is where you find your desire .)




This version is by a marching band; no words.


I cannot get this blog to post the video which includes the Spanish lyrics, but here is the link (copy and paste) :

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiMRTBa2nQ8&feature=related

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Tuesday, October 2, 2012
chinesemedicinetimes.com

If a baby is born bottom first (breech baby), the child will grow up to be a fantastic masseur or masseuse.

betterworldbuzz.com

LÅPIDAN SUMAY

Monday, October 1, 2012

Gravestone of a Chamorro in Sumay
In Spanish

This l á pida has cracked in two, and some parts are missing from the very top.  But, from what we can read, it says :

Concepcion Perez que
falleci ó el 10 de agos-
to de 1913 a los 9 a ñ -
os de edad.

( Concepcion Perez who
passed away the 10th of
August of 1913 at 9
years of age .)

In the bottom half :

(Su) Padre y Madre le de-
dican este recuerdo.
Rogar a Dios por su e-
terno descanso.
R.I.P.

( Her father and mother
dedicate to her this memorial.
Pray to God for her eternal rest.
Rest In Peace .)


NOTES


CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS

Sunday, September 30, 2012


Jose : "Håfa na gof hihot si Pedro yan i mås påtgon na che'lu-ña as Maria?

Juan : "Sa' gi as Maria nai gaige i pupulu."



Jose : "Why is Pedro so close with his youngest sister Maria?"

Juan " "Because Maria's got the pupulu."  Money.  Green, like a dollar bill.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE ON GUAM WHEN...

Sunday, September 30, 2012



I desperately needed to meet with the bride and groom.  Their wedding was the very next day, and, due to travels, I wasn't able to meet them earlier.

I called the bride's cell phone late that night.  "Where are you?"

She : "At the hotel banquet hall, arranging the tables and chairs for the reception."

Me : "Where's the groom?"

She : "In Umatac killing the pig."

How many stateside brides can say that?

KÅNTAN SAN MIGET

Saturday, September 29, 2012


Above the noise of the people paying respects to the deceased ( reminder : when the church is used for the viewing of the deceased, it remains a church. Silensio !), these kantores and kantoras at San Miguel Church sang one of the Chamorro hymns to that great Archangel.

Ma tutuhon i tininan / i mat å tnga na Atk å nghet :
( The praise begins / of that courageous Archangel :)

San Miguel, hulong i langet / s å gue' i Iglesian-m å me.
( Saint Michael, chief in heaven /  defend our Church .)

1. I tutuhon i tano'-ta / man bonito i man å nghet
( In the beginning of our world / the angels were beautiful )
man maokte dinichoso / man manungo', man mal å te'
( firm in happiness / knowing, intelligent )
lao si Losifet i saguat / si Yu'us ha' ha sagu å te.
( but Lucifer the insolent / God alone he offended .)

2. Ti malago' i anite / na si Yu'us u ma'g å se
( The demon did not want / that God should rule )
i man å nghet ni man huyong / man mal å te' ya man faye
( the angels who departed / were smart and crafty )
Ya gef meggai giya siha / man lal å lo' ya ma ñ ahnge.
( and many of them / became angry and separated themselves .)

3. Si Miguel tumohge guihe / yan i palo ni man maulek
( Saint Michael stood there / with the others who were good )
ya ha momye i sobetbio / yan i palo ni mangamten
( and he fought the pretentious one / and the others who were wicked )
ya man afulo' sen fehman / giya hululo' gi langet.
( and they wrestled intensely / in the highest heavens .)

4. Sen ma hulat i takmomyon / ya ma dulak gi langet
( The rebellious one was completely defeated / and thrown out of heaven )
Si Miguel ma na' tag å hlo / na Kapitan i man maulek
( Michael was made the high / Captain of the good angels )
ya ma n å 'e espad å - ñ a / kalan hulong i man å nghet.
( and he was given a sword / as the head of the angels ).

Chamorro Catholic hymns were (are) catechetical.  They teach doctrine; they don't just appeal to the emotions.

NOTES

Hulong (also hulon ).  Some modern Chamorro dictionaries (e.g. Topping) don't include this word.  It can mean "judge, head, chief" and so on.  My own opinion is that the name Taijeron is actually tai + hulon which would become taihilon .

Momye .  From mumu + e .  To add an -e to a verb means to do that action for or to someone. S å ngan is "to say"; sang å ne is "to say to someone."  Sometimes you have to add a Y or some other letter to make the new word sound better to our ears.  Like k å nta becomes kant å ye . Mumu+e becomes momye .

Mangamten .  The root word is kamten , which can mean several things, from "in motion, wicked, perverse."  Some Chamorros only know the immoral meaning of the word, and chuckle when they hear that the baby Jesus was not kamten , meaning still, not moving about as babies do when awake. Kamten kanai- ñ a means "his hand is always moving" which means he's a thief (quick hands).

Takmomyon .  From the word momye . Tak means "very," or someone or something that frequently does the act or has the quality. Taklalo' means someone who is always lal å lo' (angry).



FAMILY NICKNAMES : DAMOA

Friday, September 28, 2012


Damoa is a clan of the Mendiolas in Saipan and Luta.  You can see this Damoa decal has the image of Saipan in the latte stone.

But the roots are in Guam.

Jose Arriola Mendiola from Guam moved to Luta and married a girl from Luta, Maria Taima ñ ao.  This would have been in the 1860s.

They had several children, one of them being Vicente Taima ñ ao Mendiola.  He married Vicenta Santos Mendiola from Guam and raised a family in Luta.  But then he moved with his wife and children to Saipan and thus the Damoa clan spread.  Now we have Damoas living on Guam.

It's interesting that both husband and wife were Mendiolas, and had the same first name, though one in masculine and the other in feminine form : Vicente/Vicenta.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : GÅTBO

Thursday, September 27, 2012
Add caption
GRETA GARBO

G Å TBO : beautiful, pretty

We borrowed this from the Spanish word garbo, which is a noun, not an adjective, and means "elegance, poise, grace."  To do something " con much garbo ," "with much grace."

Sen g å tbo i mat å - ñ a.  His/her face is very beautiful.

Ai na ginatbo!  My how beautiful!

Na' g å tbo fan i bestidu-ho.  Please make my dress pretty.

Greta Garbo

She was actually Swedish and Garbo is not her true last name.  She adopted it for her Hollywood name.


CAMPAIGN CHAMORRO

Wednesday, September 26, 2012



I would have spelled this " Maila' ta fan akubre ."

The word kubre means "to cover," and it can also be used for "help" in the same way we say in English, "I'll cover you."  It means that the ones who have will cover the needs of the ones who don't have.

In Chamorro, putting "a" before a verb means to do that action for or to each other. Guaiya is "to love." Aguaiya is "to love each other."

Kubre is borrowed from the Spanish cubrir , which means "to cover."

It's interesting that our ma ñ aina didn't change the pronunciation of this one too much, when they did change the pronunciation of cobre , which is Spanish for "copper" and also for "money" since money was often in the form of copper coins in the old days.

In Chamorro, Spanish cobre became kopble .  We don't like the letter R.  It becomes an L.  But that didn't happen with kubre .

FAMILIA : BENAVENTE

Monday, September 24, 2012


Benavente is a Spanish name.

There are several theories as to its meaning; possibly "good wind" or "good arrival."  Whatever the case, there is a town in the province of Zamora, Spain named Benavente and people were often called by their native towns.

In Spain today, around 5,000 people have Benavente for their surname.  Not a huge number, but Jacinto Benavente, pictured above, was a famous writer who had a square in Madrid named after him.

ON GUAM

The Benaventes show up early on Guam, in the 1727 Census.  A Manuel de Benavente is listed as a soldier in the Spanish company of troops.  As always, we cannot be sure if he was a Spaniard, or from Latin America.  If he was from Latin America, he could have been pure-blooded Spanish or a mix ( mestizo ).  We probably will never know unless some document from 300 years ago shows up.

Manuel was married to a woman named Agustina Tana.  Tana is not a Spanish name, and it could very well have been Tan ñ a, the Chamorro word for "taste."  Even if this is not the case, Agustina could very well have been Chamorro, since many of these soldiers came as bachelors and married local, Chamorro women.

Manuel is the only Benavente in the records, so it is safe to assume that all Chamorro Benaventes come from this soldier Manuel de Benavente who was from Spain or Latin America.  Manuel and Agustina had three boys and all three boys show up in the 1758 Census as married men.  These boys were born and grew up on Guam; mixed breed but Chamorro in language, customs and mentality.

One of the better-known Benavente clans on Guam is the Bobo clan.  Their ancestor was Mariano Garrido Benavente, who was married to Manuela Borja.  They would have been born around the 1860s.


ON SAIPAN

In the late 1890s, Fernando Mendiola Benavente moved from Hag å t ñ a, Guam to Garapan, Saipan.  There he married Dolores Castro Villagomez and began the Benavente clan in Saipan.  Two of his sons, Ignacio and Fernando, became well-known gentlemen.  Ignacio, for example, served as a judge and as Mayor of Saipan for a while.


Msgr. James LG Benavente
Guam


Ignacio Villagomez Benavente
Saipan

TYPHOON SHUTTERS???

Monday, September 24, 2012


I hope the politicians who own these campaign signs know what to do if, God forbid, we ever get into Typhoon Condition 2.  Take them down and hide them!

Because on Guam, these signs often become people's typhoon shutters!

People, remember the commandment of the Lord :  Thou shalt not steal! Cha'-mo fa ñ å ñ å kke!

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : MEGGAI

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Meggai na kopble

MEGGAI : plenty, many, much, abundant, numerous

Meggai siha.  They are many.

Kao meggai na taotao man m å tto?  Did many people come?

Memeggai.  The majority.

I memeggai- ñ a man gaige trabia gi eskuela.  The majority are still at the school.

Na' meggai.  To increase, multiply.

Si Yu'us ha na' meggai i guinah å -ho.  God increased my wealth.

Mungnga ma na' meggai!  Don't make it too much!

Mineggai.  Abundance.

Na' o'son pot i mineggai kuentos.  It is boring because there is too much talk.


Para h å fa ni meggagai?
Why be excessive?  Why make a big deal?

Possible Origin
P å le' Roman thought that meggai is a combination of two words. Mi (meaning "abundant") and gai (meaning "to have.")

Mi + gai = meggai

This is very plausible, because we see in other Chamorro words how mi becomes me when found in combination.

For example, mefno' ("eloquent") comes from mi + fino' (abundant words or speech).

KATESISMO #9

Sunday, September 23, 2012
27. H å f kumekeilek- ñ a na si Yu'us taihinekkok minaulek- ñ a?

Si Yu'us taihinekkok minaulek- ñ a kumekeilek- ñ a na si Yu'us ha gofli'e todo i mina'huyong- ñ a siha nu i taihinekkok ginefli'e, yan pot ennao ha na' fan ma ookte ni i ti man tufungon na minaulek.

28. H å f kumekeilek- ñ a na si Yu'us taihinekkok yine'ase'- ñ a?

Si Yu'us taihinekkok yine'ase'- ñ a kumekeilek- ñ a na si Yu'us ha ag å g å nge i ga' umisao para i penitensia, yan ges magof ha asi'e todo yuhe i ma ñ otsot gi korason- ñ a.

SKIPPING BENEDICTION

Saturday, September 22, 2012


Hag å t ñ a.  After the war, late 1940s.

Benediction was traditionally held Sunday afternoons, around 5pm or so.

Three sisters, all in the prime of their youth, left home as was their custom to attend Benediction at the Cathedral.

Or so their mother thought.

Instead, they met up with some men working for Pan Am who had a car.  Off they went on a joy ride.

They made sure to come home around the same time they normally would, had they in fact gone to Benediction.

But somehow the mother knew.  For there she was waiting at the door, with a t å ngant å ngan stick in hand.

As each passed her to go inside, the t å ngant å ngan stick went across their d å gan .  But the mother was so gentle, they couldn't feel it.

One of them said, " Para h å fa ennao, N å na?  Nichuka ti un na' fan puputi hame !"

"Why bother with that, mom?  You're not even hurting us!"

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : FAMÅHAN TALANGA-MO!

Friday, September 21, 2012
trademarkia.com

I heard this expression years ago when I was the last person to hear a certain news item that was being passed around by word-of-mouth.

Gu å ho : H å fa ma susede?  ( What happened ?)

Ful å no : Gaige si ful å na gi espit å t.  ( So-and-so is in the hospital .)

Gu å ho : Mag å het?  P å 'go hu tutungo'!  ( Really?  Only now I know !)

Ful å no : Fam å han talanga-mo!  ( Buy yourself ears !)

ÅNDAS - VERSUS - KAROSA

Thursday, September 20, 2012



QUIZ

Whis is the Å NDAS?
Which is the KAROSA?

ANSWER

An å ndas is something carried on the shoulders or with the use of the arms alone.

A karosa is a cart with wheels.

We get both words from the Spanish ( andas, carroza ).

So.....

The one on the left is a karosa (though the wheels are hidden by the skirt).

The one on the right is an å ndas .

FINO' GUAM, FINO' SAIPAN

Wednesday, September 19, 2012
paulaq.blogspot.com

What do you call this in Chamorro?
It depends, nai .

On Guam, we say latiya .

On Saipan, they say lantiyas .

They're both Chamorro modifications of the Spanish word natillas .



NATILLAS

First of all, remember that LL in Spanish is pronounced Y.  In old, old Spanish, it could also be pronounced LY.  Which is why we say Madeleine BordaLYO.

But Chamorro does not have the Y sound.  It becomes a DZ.  Think of Yo ñ a and Yigo.

And also why Quintanilla is Kintanidza.  And Tajalle is Tahadze.  And old-time Chamorros would say Madeleine Botdadzo.

Now the Spanish word nata means "cream." Nata de coco means "coconut milk" because coconut milk is so high in fat it's like a cream.

Natillas is literally "small creams" but it means "custard."

Simple as that.

Latiya or lantiyas is the Chamorro pronunciation for the Spanish word for custard - natillas .


BUT WHY THE SWITCH FROM N TO L?

Just how different languages prefer different letters, and the sounds they make.

For example, naranja is Spanish for orange. Naranjita is "small orange."

But Chamorros changed it to lalanghita .  We prefer starting off L words with an N.

And we don't like R; we prefer L. Guitarra becomes git å la .



BUT WHY DO THE SAIPANESE ADD AN N?  LA N TIYAS?

Because someone started pronouncing it that way and it caught on.

Just observe the world around you today.

Where do we get new slang words?  Someone thinks it up and it catches on.  Before you know it, the whole island is saying it.  No???


THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION ABOUT LATIYA.....
How do you make it?

http://guampedia.com/latiya-recipe/


Just to confuse you more...


I have heard some Chamorron Guam say natiya, latiyas, natiyas .  But lantiyas is a dead giveaway that you're from Saipan.
AND PLEASE.....IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS SACRED
Never, never, never spell it
LATIJA

UNITY AMIDST DIFFERENCES

Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Guam and Northern Marianas participants at a recent conference on Chamorro medicine


We are all Chamorros, but we are also different.  Saipan Chamorros, Guam, Luta and Tinian.

I am thankful for those differences.  It's a fact of life.  There's no one way of being French, or Japanese or Chamorro.

There are differences among Chamorros right here on Guam; between areas of the island; even within families.

But we are all one people.  We speak the same language.  We come from the same roots.  We basically think and act the same way and have the same basic values.

But I hope the Chamorron Luta never lose their accent.

And I hope the Chamorron Saipan never lose their strong communal singing and their unique customs.

And I hope the Chamorron Tinian keep their island pristine and rich in produce.

And I hope the Chamorron Guam never lose the things that make us unique.

And I hope Guam and the Northern Marianas continue to join forces in cultural things, as they did at this conference on Chamorro medicine.  We don't need to be one political unit in order to experience unity in other areas.

We just need to save enough money to pay for airline tickets from one island to the next!  Other than that, unity is possible.  Unity is imperative!

"GOD BLESS YOU" IN CHAMORRO

Tuesday, September 18, 2012


I have noticed from time to time that some people experience trouble saying "God bless you" in Chamorro.

It could be politicians ending a speech; priests in their remarks; ordinary comments made by just about anybody.

They all get "God" right.  That's easy. Si Yu'us .

Now comes the hard part.  "Bless you."

Bendise means "bless."  But when the act is to be done on someone, the verb form binendise is used.

Now comes the "you."  In Chamorro, that can come in three forms.

When speaking to just one single individual, the pronoun un is used.

So, "Si Yu'us un binendise" means "God bless you - the one person."

When speaking to two people, un becomes en .

So, "Si Yu'us en binendise" means "God bless you - two people."

When speaking to three or more people, keep the en but also add fan . Fan indicates that there are three or more people being addressed.

So, "Si Yu'us en fan binendise" means "God bless you - three or more people."


Keep this Handy


ONE PERSON

SI YU’US UN BINENDISE

TWO PEOPLE

SI YU’US EN BINENDISE

THREE OR MORE PEOPLE

SI YU’US EN FAN BINENDISE



God bless!

LETANIAS

Monday, September 17, 2012

If Hogwarts were on Guam



The ever-clever Lawrence Borja created this meme.

Talk about melding the past and the present.

Well, that's what you get with a 20-something who can say the Litany in Chamorro.

LÅTAN SATDINAS

Monday, September 17, 2012


Two men got up at 4AM to go out in their boat to catch atulai (mackerel).  After fishing for a few hours, they stand by the side of the road selling their atulai .  They made $40 and went to the mom and pop store and bought - cans of sardines.

Makm å ta dos na taotao gi a las ku å ttro gi chatanmak para u h å nao gi boten- ñ iha ya u fangonne' atulai.  Despues de pumeska unos ku å ntos oras, tumohge i dos gi kanton ch å lan, ma bebende i kinenne'- ñ iha atulai.  Mama'tinas i dos kuarenta pesos pues malak i tenda para u fam å han - l å tan satdinas.

HÅNOM FLORIDA

Sunday, September 16, 2012


For some reason, we always had to have a few bottles of h å nom Florida (flo - REE - da) at grandma's house.

My ma ñ aina kinda used it as a medicine; at least to rub or massage with.

Someone just told me last night that their grandma would pour h å nom Florida on pupulu and place it on someone's forehead if they had a headache.

I never liked the smell and, when I was older, balked at the thought that it was an eau de cologne , as the label said.

LA DOLOROSA

Saturday, September 15, 2012


Don't ever try to get between a struggling Chamorro mother and the Blessed Mother.  This is what keeps her sane and surviving.  The Mother of Jesus is a mirror of all she struggles with.  If Mary could do it, so can she.

There are many traditional hymns to the Sorrowful Mother, La Dolorosa, whose feast is today, September 15. But this hymn is one of the most loved.


MI PINITE HAO MARIA

Mi pinite hao Maria / sa' sinapet nu i taotao
( Mary, you are full of sorrow / because the people made you suffer )
Magof yo, N å na, sumaonao / guennao gi lago'-mo siha.
(I am happy, Mother, to join you / there in your tears .)

I pinite muna' t å nges / si Jesus gi trongkon h å yo
( Sorrow made Jesus cry / on a tree of wood )
sen mah å lang gi fion- ñ a / i Nan å - ñ a na guaiyayon
( despondent by His side / was His lovable Mother )
Maila' nihi ta fangasao / guennao gi piniten- ñ iha.
( Come let us weep / for their sorrows .)

H å go metgot na palao'an / muna' metgot si Jesus
( You, strong woman / gave strength to Jesus )
annai m å tai gi me'na-mo / ma at å ne gi kilu'us
( when He died before you / nailed to the cross )
Hame lokkue' in na'e hao / ni minagof-m å me siha.
( We, too, give you / our joys .)

I pinite as Maria / ha tohgiye i Lahi- ñ a
( The sorrowful Mary / braced up her Son )
ti ha hulat kumuentuse / sa' mah å lang i anti- ñ a
( she was not able to speak to Him / for her soul was downcast )
B å sta, N å na, de kumasao / nu i isao-m å me siha.
( Enough, Mother, of crying / over our sins .)

OBA SKOBA

Friday, September 14, 2012
guampdn.com

JESUS CHARFAUROS
"Our Jesus Chamorro"

Tonight there will be a tribute to an icon in Chamorro-language radio, Jesus Chamorro.

http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012209140323

Jesus invented the phrase "oba skoba," with which he often ended a joke or witty remark.

"Oba" is a Chamorro pronunciation of "over," as in "over the top" when we tell a joke.

"Skoba" is actually eskoba , the Chamorro word for "broom," which we borrowed from Spanish escoba .

We like to pair two unrelated words that sound the same.  We do the same in English, as in "see you later, alligator."

I used to listen to Jesus Chamorro's radio show growing up in the 70s.  He really did a lot to promote the language.  I learned a lot of words and phrases just by tuning in.  Some of the songs he played that stand out for me are "O Marikita" by Saralu because it reminded me of my grandmother, who was called Mariquita; and the Pepsodent/Kanta Babue song ("I wonder where the yeller went") and "Ga'-mo teddy bear" and "I'm moving on."  Yes, lots of English there but the singers would put 90% of these songs into Chamorro and keep an English refrain.

Didn't Jesus have a sidekick named Wolford?

laopiniondemalaga.es

JESUS CHAMORRO
But NOT ours
( He's from Spain )

Because Chamorro is also a Spanish last name, there are many people called Jesus Chamorro.  But they did nothing to promote the Chamorro language and music!

BIBA JESUS CHAMORRO FROM GUAM!

CHAMORRO ADMIRAL KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Friday, September 14, 2012

Rear Admiral Peter Aguon Gumataotao, USN
from Saint Jude Parish, Sinaja ñ a

This coming Saturday, the Keynote Speaker at the 2012 ASIAN HERITAGE AWARDS will be a Chamorro who went from a tanores at Saint Jude Church, Sinaja ñ a to Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy.  Someone I knew since I was 6 years old, Peter Aguon Gumataotao.

The event, to be held at the San Diego Marriot Marquis & Marina, will honor a dozen Asian individuals and organizations who have contributed significantly to the betterment of the community.  Gumataotao will talk about diversity as a key to finding the best talent out there.

You can find out more about his brilliant Navy career here :

http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/ccsg11/Pages/Bio1.aspx

But let me tell you about the man I knew from the time I was 6 till he left for the US Naval Academy (on scholarship) in Annapolis when I was 15.

The Gumataotaos come from good, Chamorro stock.  Very traditional.  Mom and dad went to Mass every day.  They were unassuming, humble, good-natured.  They valued family, ranching, sports, serving the church.  Mom and dad had five boys, no daughters.  The boys all went to Fr. Due ñ as and all were tanores .  One became a priest (Father Gus) but nearly all five boys were coached into thinking about the priesthood, but Peter's interest were clearly in the Navy.

Peter combined intelligence, humility, a good sense of humor and love for fun, responsibility and a good work ethic.  Who could ask for more?

Maolek yan onr åyo n este na kabayero, ya ti bai hu manman yanggen un dia u kahulo' si Peter gi m å s takkilo' na puesto gi Marino.



OLD FILIPINA IMPRISONED ON GUAM

Thursday, September 13, 2012


Does this look like a dangerous woman?

Well, apparently to the Spanish, she was.  Dangerous enough that she had to be exiled to Guam from her native Philippines.

Her name was Melchora Aquino, but, already in her 80s when she was arrested, she was known as Tandang Sora, "tandang" being a form of the Tagalog word matanda , or "old."

She was arrested by the Spaniards for aiding the Filipino revolutionaries fighting for independence from Spain.  She allowed them to hold meetings in her house; fed them and provided them supplies; gave them simple medical attention.  For that, she was arrested and exiled to Guam in 1896.  She may well have been on the same ship of exiles as my great-grandfather, also a Filipino political prisoner.

She had a fellow female political prisoner by the name of Segunda Puentes Santiago, which I believe is in the Spanish fashion of putting her father's surname first.

When they arrived on Guam in 1896, they were housed with a Filipino resident of Guam, Justo Bautista Dungca, rather than stay with hundreds of male prisoners at the cuartel (barracks).

She returned to the Philippines when the Spanish-American War was over in 1898, but some say she stayed till 1903 when Mabini and the others exiled here in 1901 returned to the Philippines. But Mabini never says so, and he wrote a diary.

She died at the age of 107.


CHEW ON THIS

Wednesday, September 12, 2012
sabotagetimes.com

"When I was a little girl, in Hag å t ñ a before the war, I used to spend a lot of time at the neighbor's.  There was an old lady, the grandmother, who ran the house.  She used to take care of me a lot.

Some years after the war, when I was a bit older, she would tell me, 'I made you live!  I fed you!'

According to her, I was so young and had no teeth, that she would chew food first and then give it to me to eat."

"Annai p å p å tgon ha' yo' trabia, giya Hag å t ñ a å ntes de gera, sesso yo' malak i bisino.  Est å ba un biha, i guella, yan guiya m å 'gas gi gima'.  Guiya pumulan yo' lokkue'.

Unos ku å ntos å ñ os despues de gera, annai esta yo' la amko', sesso ha sang å ne yo', 'Gu å ho muna' l å 'la' hao!  Gu å ho muna' chochocho hao!'

Segun guiya, pot i demasiao dikkike' ha' yo' trabia, ha ng å ng å se yo' ni nengkanno' ya despues de ha ng å ngas ha n å 'e yo' para bai hu k å nno'."

Note

This was the custom of the ng å ng å se , chewing food for a toothless child or even a toothless older person and then giving it to them to consume or, in the case of betel nut, to chew in softer form.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : NGINGE'

Tuesday, September 11, 2012
indianapublicmedia.org

NGINGE' : to smell, to sniff

Nginge' i flores.  Smell the flowers.

Hu nginge' i mannge' na fina'tin å s-mo.  I smelled your delicious cooking.

Kao m å nnge' ma nginge'?  Is it nice to smell?

Ya-ho munginge' gue'.  I like to smell him/her (as in a baby, for example).

Nihi ta nginge' i Ni ñ o.  Let us small the image of the infant Jesus ( Ni ñ o ).

We smell, we don't kiss

The use of the lips (kissing), whether on the mouth or cheek, is traditionally considered sensual and is reserved for romance.  We show affection and also respect by smelling with the nose.

Nginge' is the verb form that takes on a direct object (smell the flower, smell the food, smell the baby).

"To smell" in the sense of showing respect is mannginge' .

Fannginge' gi as n å na!  Reverence mama!

Ti ngingi'on na taotao.  S/he isn't worthy of respect.  Adding -on to a verb is like adding -able in English.  Respect+able = respectable.  Nginge'+on = worthy/capable of being shown reverence.

Austronesian Roots

As you know, Chamorro is one of hundreds of languages that have their roots in Southeast Asia (Austronesia).

These Austronesian languages can have words that seem to be identical from Indonesia all the way to Hawaii.

In the case of the word "nose," for example, many Austronesian languages have words for "nose" that include the i+ng sounds : guieng in Chamorro; ilong in Tagalog; hidung in Indonesian.

One smells with the nose, but there is greater variety among the Austronesian languages when it comes to the word for "smell."  The closest to Chamorro nginge' is ngingi in the Tanimbili language found in the Solomon Islands.  Other than that, there is a wide divergence of words for "smell," but the ng sound appears in a lot of them.



GUAM CHAMORROS AT LOS ANGELES CATHEDRAL

Monday, September 10, 2012


Chamorros from Guam were not missing at a Celebration of Cultures Mass at the Los Angeles Cathedral.

Among those representing Guam, dressed in mestisa, was my aunt Josephine Artero McKeever, mother of Sonya Artero of KUAM fame.  My auntie Jo is first cousins with my mama.

I know some of you readers will wonder about the "Guamanian" versus "Chamorro."  Wasn't that a tempest in a teapot some time ago with the Governor's speech?  I suppose one must keep in mind the context.  The huge crowd wouldn't have known what Chamorro meant.  "Guam" had to stand out as the quickly identifiable marker.  I suppose for next time (Chamorro) could be added to the sign to educate others about our ethnic identity, not just our geographical origin.  Another question.  Were people from the Northern Marianas represented?  If so, they might refer to themselves as Chamorro/Carolinian, keeping in mind the second ethnic group in Saipan that has been there since the 1820s.

SWEET MEMORIES OF A SURUHÅNA

Monday, September 10, 2012

TAN LUCIA
SURUHÅNA


Her name was Lucia Burkhart and she was from Malesso'.

When I was a young priest, and stationed in Malesso', I would often get the flu.  Without fail, two or three times a year.  Sometimes more.

And without fail, I would get gallons of å mot Chamorro (herbal medicine) from Tan Lucia to cure me.  Sometimes someone in the parish would go ask her to make me some; sometimes she would just hear that I was sinago (with flu) and would voluntarily make it.  She never sold it.

Her medicine didn't taste all that bad.  Sometimes I'd be cured after one or two days, and still have a lot of the medicine in the fridge.

I got to see Lucia every month at her home.  By the time I knew her, she was not able to leave her house.  As a matter of fact, I think if you look at the picture above, she's sitting, maybe on a wheel chair, but nonetheless sitting, because walking was difficult for her.

Thus, she couldn't get to Mass so I brought her Holy Communion every first Friday of the month.  She lived in very humble surroundings; wooden walls and tin roofing.  Pictures of saints and statues everywhere.  The smell of Vicks.  Reminded me of my childhood.

Most of all, I was touched by Tan Lucia's graciousness, gentleness and humility.  She always gave me an envelope with Mass intentions she asked me to say.  We would talk a little.  She told me she never asked for money from people for her medicines, because "God gave her the gift" of making medicines from plants that God Himself created.

She had her physical crosses, but she still thought of relieving the sufferings of others.

Tan Lucia's the kind of Chamorro who makes me proud of our faith and culture. U desk å nsa gi minahgong .  May she rest in peace.

DULCE NOMBRE

Sunday, September 9, 2012


The titular (patronal saint) of the Catholic church in Hag å t ñ a since it was first founded by Blessed Diego is the Dulce Nombre de Maria, the Sweet Name of Mary.

The most familiar Chamorro hymn to Mary under this title - her Name - is O Jesus Bai In Kant å ye .

The choir in this clip sings several verses into the hymn, and the words are :

H å go pulan i hinemhom / ya man i'ina gi tano'
( You are the moon in the darkness / which shines on the earth )
kalan å tdao talo' å ne / p å 'go ennao i in å -mo.
( As the noonday sun / such is your light .)
Nina'inan Yu'us Å tdao / as Jesus i fina'n å -mo .
( Illuminated by God the sun / Jesus whom you behold .)

N å nan Yu'us as Maria / u ma tuna i na' å n-mo.
( Mary, Mother of God / your name be praised .)

Gin in atan i tasi-ta / in hasuye i na' å n-mo
( If we look at our ocean / we remember your name )
yagin taichi i tase / taihinekkok i grasi å -mo.
( if the sea is boundless / your grace is without end.)
Yagin sahguan h å nom guiya / h å go sahguan i Saina-mo.
( If the sea is the vessel of water / you are the vessel of your Lord .)

MORE ON CHAMORRO MEDICINE

Saturday, September 8, 2012


Today, the Å mot Conference (Chamorro medicine) went to an herbal farm run by Mr & Mrs Nelson in Dededo.  They call it the Å mot Taotao T å no' Farm, or the Farm of the Medicine of the People of the Land.

Participants were able to see many differents plants and herbs and hear how they differ; even how they interact.  Some plants don't like to be placed next to certain plants, so Mrs Nelson changes their position. Suruh å nos and suruh å nas were there to demonstrate how to use some of these herbs to make local medicine.  But no recordings of these were allowed.




Fermina Blas from Luta shares a little about the medicine she makes for those afflicted with coughing ( lo'lo' ).  She uses h å le' m å tbas , ka'mang t å se , sibukao and flores ilang ilang .  She dries the ilang ilang flowers first because they are too fragrant when they are fresh.  Then she makes a tea out of the dried flowers.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN...

Friday, September 7, 2012



...you don't like it when people stare at you dishing food.

In some other cultures, I observe that you can stare all you want at them dishing food; it doesn't bother them.  Not us.

"H å fa un a'atan, ha?"

CHAMORRO CULTURE WORKSHOP IN L.A.

Thursday, September 6, 2012


I will be conducting a workshop on Chamorro culture in Torrance, CA (Los Angeles area) on November 3.  If you are in SoCal and would be intersted in coming, please use the contact info provided on this poster.  My last workshops were well-attended so the earlier you register the better.

This year, I want to present a view of where we've come from, where we're at and ask people where they want to go.

HAGAS

Hagas means "past," but can also mean "past and no longer present."  For example, one can say " i hagas guma' ," "the former house, now no longer existing."

In this section of the workshop, symbolized by the pre-contact artistic rendition of our ancestors, I want to talk about the way we where before we knew about European culture.  It is our "remote past." Hagas .  But the indigenous culture did not disappear entirely.  Traces of our hagas remain; some strong, some not as strong.

Å NTES

Å ntes means "before" and is a Spanish word, so it's a good word to use to describe what came just before us now.  We see in this photo Chamorro women dressed in the mestisa , adopted from the colonial dress of the Philippines.  This is the generation of our great-grandparents, who lived under the Spanish flag and were the new kind of Chamorro that was created from that interplay between the hagas and the å ntes .  Traces of this remain today, much of it still in strong condition, though it is weakening.

P Å 'GO

P å 'go means "now, today." This is a new kind of Chamorro even still.  Some traits of the past remain in them, but many of this new generation have little connection with the hagas and the å ntes ; raised in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural maze we call modern Americanized Guam and the modern Marianas.  We also a huge group of Chamorros who have never even seen the Marianas.  What do they want, if anything, from the hagas and the å ntes ?  Where do they want to go?  College graduates jump in the air for joy.  But what lies in store for them and their cultural identity?

AT THE ÅMOT CONFERENCE

Thursday, September 6, 2012


Today was the first day of a conference about traditional, Chamorro natural medicines; from plants, herbs, roots and the natural environment around us.  It is sponsored by the H å ya Foundation with the assistance of the Department of Public Health and Social Services and the Non Communicable Disease Consortium.

There are participants from the Northern Marianas, and some suruh å nos/suruh å nas and other practitioners.

I gave a talk today about how I lost 70 pounds by switching to a more natural diet based on local produce and fish.  And brought down my cholesterol and blood pressure.

There are two more days left and more information can be obtained by emailing Zita Pangelinan at : zpangelinan@ledgelight.com .


At the bottom right hand corner of this table is my good friend Carmen "M å mme'" Taima ñ ao, originally from Luta but long-time Saipan resident.


The man in the mwarmwar/korona is Manny Borja (familian Tuhu) from Saipan, who recently has done a lot of published research into traditional Chamorro medicine.  Also present from Saipan (but not pictured here) was my other good friend Lino Olopai, who brings his Refaluwasch/Carolinian wisdom to the discussion.  At the table also is Rosanna Barcinas, whom I've known since childhood.  And the guy with the sinahi goes by the name of Mames ("sweet") and he really is because he generously shared with me his supply of mam å 'on (betel nut).

MY GRANDMA'S DAILY CIGAR

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Chamorro Women tending the Spanish Governor's Tobacco Plants
Pal å syo, Hag å t ñ a

My grandmother, born in 1899, had an unusual daily habit; one that no one else in the family had.

Every day around 3pm she would go out to the laundry room.  In those days, washing machines were generally kept outside the main house.  She would unroll a large wad of newspaper wherein hid dried tobacco leaves.  She would take one, roll it up, and clip it to about a 2 inch cigar with a pair of scissors.

Then she would sit down, still outside, light it and smoke for about 5 minutes in blissful calm.  She wouldn't talk; she'd just puff and look at the sky.

She lived to be 81.

Was I surprised several years later while at UOG (she had died by then) to read the accounts of foreigners visiting Guam in the 1800s talk about how tobacco was grown on Guam and that the women, especially, were really into smoking cigars ( chig å lo in Chamorro, our version of the Spanish cigarro ).  My grandma was continuing a Hispanic Chamorro tradition from the 1800s!

Tobacco was imported to the Marianas by the Spaniards.

Grandma used to buy her dried tobacco leaves from a lady named Nining Guzman, who owned a bar in Mongmong.  I'd go sometimes with another aunt, who drove (my grandma didn't) to buy it.  We never went at night when the bar was in operation.  We'd go in the afternoon when Nining was getting the place ready.

When, for whatever reason, Nining didn't have tobacco, my grandma resorted to Micky Twist.


SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Wednesday, September 5, 2012
irunoninsulin.com
MEGGAI KUENTOS, MEGGAI LINACHE
DIDDIDE' KUENTOS, DIDDIDE' LINACHE
T Å YA' KUENTOS, T Å YA' LINACHE
( Much talk, many mistakes
A little talk, few mistakes
No talk, no mistakes )
Silence is golden.
I never regretted what I didn't say.
En boca cerrada no entran moscas.  (Flies don't go into a closed mouth)

ÅTBILES

Wednesday, September 5, 2012


Bumiabi å he dos na taotao gi chalan annai gotpe ha' m å tai i karetan- ñ iha.

Ma li'e na gaige i gas gi E.

Mamaisen i uno na taotao ni mat å t å 'chong gi pasahero na b å nda, "H å fa che'lu na ti un rep å ra na esta gaige i gas gi E?"

"Ai, che'lu," ilek- ñ a i draiba, "pine'lo-ko na kumekeilek- ñ a ENOUGH."

"Ya h å fa kumekeilek- ñ a i F?"

"FILL UP."

FINO' GUAM, FINO' SAIPAN

Tuesday, September 4, 2012
manofmystery24.hubpages.com

What do we call, in Chamorro, the spirits of the ancient people of these islands?

It depends....

In Guam....we call them the taotaomo'na ...the "people ahead," as in, "before us."

In Saipan....the usual word is birak .  And it doesn't apply just to the spirits of ancient Chamorros.  It can mean any ghost or spirit.  Although the word taotaomo'na is understood in Saipan, 99% of the time people there speak of the birak .

In my less frequent contact with Chamorros from Tinian and Luta, I find that those in Tinian, which is only several miles apart from Saipan, use birak more.  Those in Luta use taotaomo'na , but also birak , as well.

It's interesting that birak does not appear in some pre-war Chamorro dictionaries written on Guam, like Pale' Roman's and von Preissig's.

Very old Chamorros, a generation practically gone now, also know the word fantasma .  It is borrowed from the Spanish, and means any ghost or spirit apparition.

Our ma ñ aina also spoke of demonic spirits, which are different.  But that's a different post.

THE LEFT HAND IS BAD

Monday, September 3, 2012


This idea that the left hand is bad is seen in many cultures.  In fact, the word "sinister," for someone or something evil, comes from the Latin word for "left."

This man from Saipan explains how he is a lefty, but was always corrected by his grandfather whenever he tried to eat with his left hand, even though his mother was a lefty and the grandfather let that go when it came to her.

One of the reasons why older people tried to stop children from using their left hands is because the left is the evil side; the right is the good side. In many Western cultures, the bad angel stands on your left shoulder and whispers temptation into your left ear. The good angels stands on your right shoulder and whispers in your right ear not to give in to temptation.

His way of getting back at his grandfather was to refuse to be the ring boy at his older sister's wedding when his grandfather asked him to take that role.


Some Words in the Video

Akaggue = left
Agapa' = right
K å nnai = hand
Bihu = grandfather (literally, "old man")
B å ba = bad
Tailaye = evil
Masea M å no Fafayi-mo

Faye means "capable, skilled, proficient." Masea m å no fafayi-mo means "whatever you are good at," meaning "do it how it's best for you."

This also includes the idea that you use your left hand if you're a lefty.

THEY PLANTED TRONGKON NUNU

Sunday, September 2, 2012


Up in Saipan, I was impressed by these two huge trongkon nunu (banyan trees), feared by many as the sagan taotaomo'na (dwelling of the spirits of the ancients).

I was surprised when I learned from an elderly Chamorro lady that these trongkon nunu were deliberately planted by the family!

I asked the lady, " Pot h å fa na ma t å nom ?"  "Why did they plant them?"

" Sa' pot nuhong ."  "For the shade."

And shady it is.  The trees are so tall and their branches so expansive that the grass below can scarcely grow since the sunlight cannot reach the soil.




And do people in the house experience anything?

The lady said, " Guaha na man finattoigue ."  "It happens that they are approached."

But - the trees remain!

FAMILY NICKNAMES : CHILENKO

Saturday, September 1, 2012


In the Chamorro dictionaries, there is no word " chilenko ."

I am always suspicious that a nickname, unless obviously derived from other sources, is based on a Spanish word.

There is a lake in southern Argentina called Chelenco.  But that part of the country is so isolated that one wonders what possible connection it could have with the Marianas?

There is a Spanish word cholenco .  It means "a hybrid, a mix of two species, whether animal or vegetable."  Applied to a mixed breed dog, it means "a mongrel."

I wouldn't be surprised if chilenko comes from " i chilenko " from cholenco (hybrid).

Don't forget that our ma ñ aina were very much exposed to and influenced by the Spanish language as we are today by English.

But it's just a guess how this branch of the Arceos got this nickname.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : BENTÅNA

Friday, August 31, 2012
cinelasamericas.org

BENT Å NA : window

Borrowed from the Spanish ventana , which comes from the Latin word ventus or "wind."  Windows in Rome were for ventilation, not illumination.

Baba i bent å na.  Open the window.

Huchom i bent å na.  Close the window.

I remember as a child in the 60s that many houses on Guam, made of wood and with tin roofing, often had windows with no screens.  Some of them were held open with sticks bracing them up, or by hook and wire.  When it rained, you closed the window entirely.

LUTA : PÅLE' CORNELIO

Thursday, August 30, 2012


After the war, Luta (Rota) was under the care of the American Capuchin friars.  One of the longest-serving priests there was Father Cornelius Murphy, known to the Chamorros as P å le' Cornelio.

He is pictured in a white habit, standing with a visiting Trust Territory official.  In the background is the old konbento , under repair.

One of the things that made reconstruction of the island difficult was, besides the lack of imported material, the US military did not build up a military presence in Luta, as it did in Tinian.  When the military operations closed down in the late 40s, the people and the church in Tinian benefited from a huge amount of military equipment and supplies that the US didn't need anymore.  With those, they could build homes and a church.

Not so in Luta.  But P å le' Cornelio got the people going and they eventually built the present church of San Francisco de Borja in Songsong.

The Church of San Francisco de Borja, Songsong, Luta
Built under the leadership of Capuchin Father Cornelius Murphy

At times, in the late 40s and 1950s, the Capuchin priest on Luta (Fathers Marcian, Cornelius) was the only caucasian living on the island.

THOU SHALT NOT WHISTLE IN AGAÑA

Wednesday, August 29, 2012
en.wikipedia.com

During his term as Governor of Guam between 1918 and 1920,  William Gilmer issued the following law on Guam :

Executive Special Order No. 52

The practice of whistling is an entirely unnecessary and irritating noise which must be discontinued.

It is therefore ordered and decreed that no person shall whistle within the limits of the city of Agana.

The penalty for a violation of this order shall an executive fine not to exceed five dollars.

Apparently, one could whistle all day long in Yigo, or Talofofo or Sumay.  But not in Hag å t ñ a.

The Order was soon rescinded; Gilmer was relieved of his duty.  Gilmer left the Navy completely.  Even the New York Times called him "the Governor...who barred whistling."

By the way....

How do you say "whistle" in Chamorro?

Chefla.


"Whistle while you work!"
"Chefla mientras machocho'cho' hao!"

(except in Hag å t ñ a in 1920)

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN...

Wednesday, August 29, 2012


...you have three almost identical statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary all in a row on your home altar.

For us, more is better.  Food, prayers, statues.

MATDISION PÅLE'

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
(Mark 11:20)

Since my youth I have heard stories about priests in the Marianas many years ago who cursed a thing or things as a kind of corrective punishment for wayward people.  How much of that is just folklore, I cannot say.

It seems odd that a priest should wish "evil" on something, but there is a precedent.  In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus cursed a fig tree that bore no figs.  The curse had symbolic meaning, and the motive was to teach people a lesson.

In the same way, the several stories I have heard have at their basis a desire to teach people a lesson from which they will profit.

For example, here's one story an elderly man from Inal å han told me :

P å le' Inal å han este chumo'gue.  Si P å le' ha å gang todo i lal å hen Inal å han.  Gu å ha cho'cho' gi seputtura para u fan na' g å sg å s.  Ya en lug å t di man na' g å sg å s manh å nao para u fanmangonne' atulai. Ni un atulai ma konne'.  Pues apm å m å n Inal å han ti ma l å gua' i atulai.  Si P å le' nai ha matdise i tase.

( A priest in Inarajan did this.  He called all the men of Inarajan to clean the cemetery.  But instead of cleaning the cemetery, the men went to catch atulai or mackerel.  But they didn't catch even one fish.  So, for the longest time, no one could catch mackerel in Inarajan.  The priest had cursed the sea .)

Another story : A priest went to ask a villager for some lemons, which were growing in abundance on the man's tree.  There were so many lemons, that the branches of the tree were nearly touching the ground from the weight of the lemons.  Yet the man refused to spare the priest any.  So the priest cursed the tree.  From then on, not only that one tree, but all the trees of that specific kind of lemon bear no fruit.

I cannot find any evidence for a species of lemon tree on Guam that bears no fruit.  Maybe the story was invented to foster, through fear, respect for a priest's status.

Finally, there is this story, which doesn't quite fit since it has no verbal curse by a priest.  As the ni ñ o (little statue of the child Jesus) was going around a village in Saipan for people to venerate, a man refused to do so, saying that the statue was just made of plaster.  Within the year, his house burnt down, all was lost, except the concrete pillars, calling to mind the plaster of the statue.  Again, while I was in Saipan, I could never trace this story back to a known family or house. But the story serves the same purpose; to instill a fearful respect for religious people and things.

Notice that a person was never cursed; things were cursed in order to correct people.  So the intention was to save people - a blessing.  But there it is.  Many of our ma ñ aina did believe it was wise to be careful with the matdision P å le' , a priest's curse.  Whether they truly happened or not, perhaps we'll never know.

SEASON'S CHANGES

Monday, August 27, 2012
The same spot.....three months apart
FA Ñ OMNAGAN
Dry Season

May 2012


FANUCH Å NAN
Rainy Season


August 2012
It was so flooded I couldn't walk past those yellow drums to get to the exact spot I took the earlier photo showing the clearing in the woods.

I GUAKA

Monday, August 27, 2012


Cattle were brought to the Marianas by the Spaniards, probably from Mexico.

In traditional Guam of the 1800s, cattle were often raised with minimal attention.  A family might have several heads, with a few families raising decent-sized herds.  On Tinian, larger numbers were raisedby 20 or so men from Guam to support the government's hospitals on Guam and for the local market.  The men on Tinian would serve a few years and return to their families on Guam, while a new batch of men took their place.

The quality of cattle was lower than in other places of the world because there was no opportunity to cross-breed with better types of cattle.  At the same time, there was a lot of in-breeding among the local cattle, resulting in a decrease in their quality.

The stronger cattle were prized as beasts of burden, but in order to make them more docile, they were castrated.  That meant that the higher quality bulls could not breed and produce the next generation of stronger cattle.

Chamorros didn't obtain a lot of milk from their cows; usually no more than three quarts a day.  Besides being used for transportation and farming, cattle was a source of beef.

The one good thing about cattle in the Marianas is that they were generally free from the diseases found among cattle in other parts of the world.

( 1913 Agricultural Report )

FIESTAN HÅGAT : SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

Sunday, August 26, 2012

The Å tkos and the Karosa underneath
Fiestan Santa Rosa, H å gat


The patron of H å gat, Santa Rosa de Lima, is celebrated annually on her feast day which used to fall on August 30 in the old church calendar.  In 1899, August 30 fell on a Wednesday.  The first American Navy Governor of Guam, Captain Richard P. Leary, prepared Executive Order No. 4 on the Friday before, on August 25, prohibiting the public observance of patronal feasts in the villages.

Executive Order No. 4 stated :

"Public Celebrations of feast days of the patron saints of villages, etc. will not be permitted. The church and its members may celebrate their religious feast days within the walls of the church, chapel or private residence, in accordance with regulations for the maintenance of the public peace, and unless, otherwise ordered, the only public holidays recognized will be Sundays, and the holidays authorized by the United States Statute Laws, and by the proclamations of His Excellency, the President of the United States."

Just in time for the H å gat Fiesta!  The letter of the law thus forbade processions and the erecting of arches ( å tkos ) in the streets of the village.  Do your thing, he said, but inside the walls of your church.

The story goes that the Executive Order was hand-delivered to the people of H å gat the day of the fiesta.

After Leary left, this Executive Order was no longer observed, and we all went back to processing ( lukao ) in the village streets.

en.wikipedia.org

CAPT. RICHARD P. LEARY, USN
"No more lukao!  No more å tkos!"

KÅNTAN SANTA ROSA

Sunday, August 26, 2012

SANTA ROSA DE LIMA
Patroness of Hågat


The parish of Santa Rosa in Hågat has been around for almost 340 years, since 1680. That's a long time. How old is this Chamorro hymn to this saint? Certainly over 100 years old, but it may go back even further. The Chamorro in this hymn is certainly very old, with some words that are hardly used anymore.



Santa Rosa, bithen Yu'us, todos ham in kant å ye hao;
(Saint Rose, virgin of God, all of us sing to you;)

Refrain : Santa Rosa tayuyute hame ni fumal å ggue hao.
(Saint Rose pray for us who run to you.)

1. Sumen magof i Saina-ta annai ha na' ha' å ne hao,
(Our Lord was very happy when He gave life to you,)
lao maokte minagof- ñ a an monhan ma takp å nge hao.
(but firmer still was His joy after you were baptized.)
Ayo annai i grasi å - ñ a misen ha na' hinatme hao.
(When His grace entered you abundantly.)

2. Annai tres pulan maloffan håhånon ginefli'e' hao,
(When three months passed you were burning with love,)
mama' rosa i matå-mo gi fanåsson nai gaige hao. (1)
(your face changed into a rose in your repose where you were.)
Ya ma yå'ho hao as Rosa sa' sen rosa na flores hao.
(And they called you Rose because you a truly a rose flower.)

3. Annai kakaiha' lamoddong si Jesus umagånge hao,
(When you had barely grown Jesus called to you,)
ya ilek-ña, "Uho, Rosa, un aniyo hu nå'e hao. (2)
(and He said, "Take, Rose, a ring I give you.)
Na finattan i guinaiya, nai guåho hu gofli'e' hao."
(A show of love, that I love you.")

4. An mahatot chini'ot-mo si Jesus finatoigue hao,
(When your suffering worsened, Jesus came to you,)
man sen mames na finiho ekkahat sinangåne hao.
(and spoke gently to you very sweet words.)
Finakpo'-ña gi kanai-ña ha na' åsson yan ha konne' hao.
(In the end He took you to lie in His arms.)

5. Hågo agaga' na rosas yan sen tomtom bithen taotao.
(You are red roses and a very wise virgin person.)
I sensen-mo sensen tåno' lao magåhet na ånghet hao.
(Your flesh is the flesh of the world but you are truly an angel.)
I tutuhon-ña nai monhan si Yu'us ha na' sahnge hao. (3)
(The beginning now finished, God set you apart.)

6. Tåtan långet un ma tuna sa' Yu'us mina'åse' hao.
(Heavenly Father, you are praised because you are the God of mercy.)
Jesukristo un ma tuna sa' mama' che'lon-måme hao.
(Jesus Christ, you are praised, because you were made our brother.)
O Espiritun minaolek siempre un ma tuna hao.
(Oh Spirit of goodness, you will always be praised.)


NOTES

(1) The story is that her face transformed into a rose when she was newly born, so she was called Rose on account of that. She was a very beautiful woman.

(2) Rosa refused to marry any man, out of her devotion to love and serve Christ alone. He, in turn, appeared to her and offered her a ring in spiritual union.

(3) Rosa did many severe penances. Jesus came to her and gave her comfort.

Another recording of this same hymn :




The Peruvian Connection

Santa Rosa was a native of Lima, Peru, which was then part of the vast Spanish Empire.

Many of us think that when Spain ruled the Marianas, all the Spaniards were from Spain.  Not true.  Sometimes you could count on the fingers of one hand those in the Marianas who were born in Spain.  Even many of the priests were natives of Belgium or Italy or Austria.

One of the earliest governors of Guam, Damian de Espla ñ a, was a native of Peru.  So was Governor Juan Antonio Pimentel (1709-1720).

AYUDA - VERSUS - AYUDO

Saturday, August 25, 2012


The slogan for one of Guam's social service agencies is trying to say, in Chamorro, HELP FOR THE COMMUNITY.

They use the Chamorro word AYUDA.  This is the verb form.  The noun form is AYUDO.

Ayuda yo'! Help me! (Verb)

Hu nesesita i ayudu-mo .  I need your help. (Noun)

So AYUDO PARA I KOMUNIDAT would be correct.

***For those of us who pronounce it ayudo (and not ayudu ), we do change the pronunciation to ayudu when attached to the suffix (- mo ).

CHAMORRO MEDICINE CONFERENCE

Friday, August 24, 2012
pic2fly.com

From September 6-8, a conference will be held on Guam on Chamorro herbal medicine.

Sponsored by the Haya Foundation, along with the Inetnot Amot Natibu (Native Medicine Association), the Department of Public Health and Social Services and the Non Communicable Disease Consortium.

Some of the activities planned are talks on the art of Chamorro medicine, demonstrations of medicinal preparations and visits to places where these medicinal herbs grow.

For more information, email Zita Pangelinan at zpangelinan@ledgelight.com .
Note on the Pic Above

That's Mr. Margarito Tenorio, familian Supiano , whose father was a suruhano that I once visited.  He carries on his father's knowledge.

SHORT FILM ON PÅGAT

Friday, August 24, 2012

This is not the short film.  It's Dave Lotz's clip showing some of the latte stones found at P å gat.

This is from Joe Quinata of the Guam Preservation Trust :

We're proud to announce that "We Are Pågat," a short educational film about the community efforts to save Pagat Village, has been accepted by the Guam International Film Festival and will be making its big screen debut there. The short educational film will also be broadcast TOMORROW on PBS Guam, KGTF Channel 12 (Friday, August 24) at 8pm as part of "I Know Guam", a new local history program. If you miss the first broadcast, there will be repeat broadcasts at 8:30pm and again on August 27 (Monday) at 10:30pm.

THE CHAMORRO MILITIA

Friday, August 24, 2012


From the very beginning, the Spaniards recruited Chamorro men for military and paramilitary service.  Even in the fighting between the Spaniards/South Americans/Filipinos and the Chamorros, some Chamorros fought on the Spanish side.

Over the years, local men were formed into militia units.  Names and structures changed every so often, but basically the local militia did guard duty and police work.  The men usually had to pay for their own uniforms and supplies.
Chamorro Militia Members in 1837

The Chamorro militia was headed by a Sergeant Major, but that position was vacant in 1837.  The next in rank was the 1st Adjutant, who was none other than Silvestre Inocencio Palomo , the father of the future priest Pale' Jose Palomo.  The 2nd Adjutant was Cecilio Camacho , one of the patriarchs of the Camacho clan that gave us two governors (Carlos and son Felix) and other island politicians, professionals and businessmen.

Other high-ranking militia members were : Jose Joaquin Cruz, Jose Martinez, Jose Flores, Bernardino Lizama, Felipe Lizama, Jose Aguilar, Francisco Salas, Juan Salas, Jose Aguon, Ramon Borja, Alejandro de Leon Guerrero, Rosauro Cruz, Jose de Torres, Vicente Martinez, Joaquin de Torres .  The drummer was Zacarias Quitugua .

As can be seen, the overwhelming majority of these men were Hag å t ñ a mestizos ; people of mixed Chamorro and outside blood.  Only Jose Aguon, and the drummer Zacarias Quitugua, had Chamorro surnames and they were probably mestizos as well.  Even among the ordinary soldiers in 1837, only two had Chamorro last names : Jose Taisague and Tomas Mu ñ a.

These Hag å t ñ a militia men were fanned out to the outlying villages as well as Fort Santa Cruz in Apra Harbor for short terms; then they would return to Hag å t ñ a .  But some did stay in the outlying villages and that's how these Hag å t ñ a names took root outside the capital city.

( Note : The pic above is not of Guam, but of the Philippines.  It is just to give an idea what the Chamorro militia may have looked like in a general way. I have yet to come across a photo of Chamorro militia men during Spanish times. )

FAMILIA : ACFALLE

Thursday, August 23, 2012


Acfalle is a native Chamorro name.  But what does it mean?

AC (or ak) is a form of a'a .  For example, å sson means "to lie down."  Someone who lies down a lot can be called a'asson .  But one can change that and say akson .  Same thing for an ñ a , which is "to mistreat."  Someone who frequently mistreats others is a'an ñ a , or ak ñ a .

The falle part is the Spanish way of spelling the Chamorro word f å ye' .  It means "to be good in some skill."

But this is just a guess as to the meaning of Acfalle.  It may have nothing at all to do with the word f å ye' .
So, if Acfalle is derived from a'af å ye' (and that's a big if), what does a'af å ye' , or akf å ye' , mean?  It would mean "to be mutually good in some skill."

Malesso'

The heartland of the Acfalle name is Malesso'.

The biggest Acfalle family there was that of Jose Tedpahago* Acfalle, a Malesso' native, married to Tomasa de Leon Guerrero Cruz, daughter of a Hag å t ñ a father who moved down to Malesso'.

They had many children; perhaps half of the Acfalles named in the 1897 Census are his descendants.

There were just a few Acfalles in H å gat and Tepungan (Piti) in 1897.  Now, of course, there are Acfalles everywhere.
***Tedpahago was sometimes spelled Tedpahogo.  In the church records, the same individual was sometimes Tedpahago, Tedpahogo, Tedpaogo.  It was not a literary world back then.  Reading and writing were not things most people did a lot.

ANGRY MOUNTAIN

Wednesday, August 22, 2012


Yes, this is Angry Mountain, and it's right here on Guam.  When you drive down to Naval Station, Agat or Santa Rita, you're bound to see it.  It's the high peak to the north of Apra Heights.

On your maps, however, it will appear as Mount Tenjo.  And since many of you read Chamorro with American eyes, you'll say Mount TEN - JOE.

The Chamorro word is actually TENHOS.  And it means "angry, irritated, impatient" and nice things like that.  Nobody uses that word anymore; it is obsolete.

Tenhos was also the name of one of the months of the ancient Chamorro lunar calendar; more or less August.

The reason why it is spelled Tenjo is because the Americans, when they first got here, looked at Spanish maps of Guam, and, for the Spaniards, J sounds like an H.  You know - Jose and Juan?




Looking at Mount Tenhos (dead center) from Sumay

Around World War I, the Americans established a military installation there - Camp Barnett.  The German officers of the HMS Cormoran which was scuttled in 1917 were detained there.  The German sailors were sent to Asan Point instead.  The camp was later abandoned but there are still some physical remnants there of the camp.

We really ought to go back to spelling it Tenhos .  Why?  First of all, to get people to stop calling it Mount Ten Joe.

Secondly, there is another Mount Tenjo, in Japan, where it should be pronounced Mount Ten Joe.


villagehiker.com
Many people climb up Mount Tenjo in Japan to get a good look at the bigger Mount Fuji in the background here.

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

"So much for our sunny picnic, Myrtle."


I TAOTAO PRUMUPONE
LAO SI YU'US HA' DUMISPONE.

Man proposes, but only God disposes.

GERMAN REMAINS

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Memorial Marker to the German Dead
Navy Cemetery, Hag å t ñ a


This German visitor, after seeing what is left of the buildings and structures built by the Spanish (Malesso' konbento ), pre-war Americans (Merlyn G. Cook School) and even Japanese (some pillbox gun placements), asked me if there were any German remains on Guam.

I said, "Yes, come with me."

I think he was expecting a building, but instead I took him to the Navy cemetery in Hag å t ñ a where the skeletal remains of German sailors are buried - sailors who died in the scuttling of the HMS Cormoran ship in Apra Harbor when America declared war on Germany in 1917.

I don't think he was aware that Guam was never part of the German colonies.  Saipan and Rota were, but not Guam.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : GOLLAI

Monday, August 20, 2012
mmm-yoso.typepad.com

GOLLAI : vegetables

I have my suspicions about this word.  It is very close to some Filipino dialects (Tagalog gulay , Kapampangan gule and Cebuano gulayon ) but nothing like Indonesian ( sayur ) or Ilocano ( nateng ).

Is it truly pre-contact?  Or did Chamorros pick it up from the Filipino soldiers who moved to Guam under the Spanish?  Remember that most of the vegetables we now have on Guam were brought in from the outside : eggplants, green beans, tomatoes, okra, onions, pumpkin.

Ya-ho gollai.  I like vegetables.

Ti ya- ñ a gollai.  S/he doesn't like vegetables.

Gol å ye.  Add vegetables; make vegetables.

Gol å ye i mal å ngo'.  Prepare vegetables for the sick person.

Gol å ye i katne.  Add vegetables to the meat.

I gellai ha' debi di un kånno'.  You should eat only vegetables.


Gollai Monggos

For some reason, we don't just say monggos .  We have to say gollai monggos .


Vegetarian

How do you say "vegetarian" in Chamorro?

Try "minuscule minority?"

Sorry, that's still English.

Well, kakno' is "eater."  From kakanno' (eater).

So how about kakno' gollai ?  Vegetable-eater?

COMMUNITY FISHING

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Community Fishing in Inal å han
Late 1940s


Most of us are familiar with the small fishing net called tal å ya ; small enough to be thrown by one man.  But, to catch more fish, a bigger net, called the chenchulo , needs to be handled by a large group of people, usually men.  The outer ring of the net would be lifted, trapping the fish that had collected towards the center of the net.  The fish would then be distributed ( f å kkai ); a third to the net owner, a third to the people who helped and a third to the community (the sick, the elderly, the poor).

Although this technique is ancient, the word chenchulo is suspiciously close to the Spanish word chinchorro which means, surprise, surprise, "dragnet."  Remember that we usually change the R to an L.

More than fishing techniques and instruments, one feels when looking at this old photo the tight sense of community in the outlying villages of Guam at the time.  One can feel a bit of it even now in the southern villages.  Everyone knows everyone's family.  They interact with each other and have stories about each other.

ILEK-ÑA SI PÅLE'

Saturday, August 18, 2012

The Death of an Unrepentant Sinner

Despite the presence of the priest, the unrepentant man refuses to make his peace with God.  The good angel flees; the demon comes closer.  The wife kneels and weeps bitterly.  By his bed, a chest of goods and perhaps a bag of coins, with a serpent slithering by.  One demon holds up the portrait of a woman.  A mistress?

Excerpts from a Chamorro sermon about the death of the unrepentant sinner, written in 1873.

Ta li'e fan på'go håf ha susesede ni i ante na humuhuyong gine på'go na bida yan i ma'gas na isao. I desgrasiao na ånte u hungok este siha na fino' i Jesukristo : "Nå'e yo' kuenta ni i todo na bidå-mo;" ya ayo nai u po'lo gi me'nan i ante i sen såntos na tinago'-ña siha. I sånto na ånghet-ña u ålok : "Asaina Jesukristo, guåho hu pångpång gi anti-ña ya hu agånge meggai na beses para u gefkonfesat gue'; ya hu aprobecha håf na okasion, annai ha huhungok håf na setmon, pat annai måtai håye ya gumefmaå'ñao gue'; lao guiya ti ha osge i inagång-ho nu guiya, ha despresia ni i nina'i-mo na gråsia nu guiya, ya ha pokka' ni i tinago'-mo; ti gumefkonfesat ya måtai gi isao-ña; ennao mina' i petdision-ña muna' guiya ha'." I anite u ålok : ini na ånte iyo-ko ha'; sa' hågo, Yu'us, ma fa'taotao hao, sen maså'pet hao, un chuda' todo i hagå'-mo, sen matai hao para un na'libre gue', ya un po'lo gi iyo-mo na iglesia i sakramenton i kumonfesat para u ma na' funas i isao siha todo; lao ini na ånte ti ha atituye ni i todo na piniti-mo nu guiya; ha despetdisia ni i nina'i-mo na gråsia nu guiya; sumåga mahgong ha' gi ma'gas na isao ya ti kumonfesat, annai un nå'e gue' tiempo; ya måtai på'go yan må'gas na isao; muna' ennao, ini na ånte, i iyo-ko ha'. I mismo na isao-ña ni i ma'gas u ågang kontra i desgrasiao na ånte ya u ålok : Hågo muna' huyong yo', sa' guåho i nina'huyong-mo ha'; ennao mina' sen ti hu dingo hao nungka. Ayo nai, si Jesukristo u nå'e i sentensia-ña, sa' sen magåhet i ma faila'-ña, taiguine : "Apåtta giya guåho, matdito, ya hånao ni i siempre dura na guåfe." Ayo nai i desgrasiao na ånte u kinenne' ni i anite giya sasalåguan.

NOTES

  • Gine.  Todays ginen .
  • Bida.  Life.  From the Spanish vida .  Today it means mainly "action."
  • Beses.  Times.  Today we stick to bi å he , which is from the Spanish viaje . Beses is also borrowed from the Spanish word vez , or "time," as in "one time, two times."
  • Ini : Old word for "this."
  • Atituye.  To consider.
  • Nungka.  Never.  From the Spanish nunca .

GETTING OUR ORDERS RIGHT

Friday, August 17, 2012
No, not in a restaurant.

The history of the Marianas since 1668 is tightly bound with the history of the Catholic missionaries.  These missionaries came from different Orders which were in charge of the Marianas mission at different times.  They all wore different apparel, and this is where the confusion happens.  I have seen floats, for example, that has Sanvitores, a Jesuit, dressed as a Capuchin.

So, what were these religious Orders?

JESUITS (Society of Jesus)
1668-1769


The Jesuits were the first permanent Catholic missionaries in the Marianas and, indeed, we are called the Marianas because of a Jesuit, Blessed Diego Luis de Sanvitores, founder of the mission.

The Jesuits wore a black cassock, in Spanish a sotana (which we also use in Chamorro).  A black sash would often be worn around the waist.  They wore no hoods and the sash was made of cloth.


RECOLLECTS (Augustinian Recollects)
1769-1899


The longest-serving Order in the Marianas were followers of Saint Augustine, and wore a black habit (religious robe) with a hood and leather belt, with one strap dropping down towards the floor called the correa .


CAPUCHINS (Franciscans)
1901-present


The Capuchins wear a form of the very familiar Franciscan habit (robe) : brown, with a white cord, and a large hood.  Traditionally, they also wear beards and wear sandals, not shoes.



Jesuit Seal




Recollect Seal




Capuchin Franciscan Seal

AUTOMOTIVE CHAMORRO

Friday, August 17, 2012


I recently found out the background of this Chamorro decal that is seen on a few cars on Guam.

The word m å 'gas means "superior, great."

Notice that the A's are designed to resemble latte stones.

The crowned lion is carrying the flag of the Northern Marianas.

The lion is the mascot here because the designer, so I am told, is a de Leon Guerrero from Saipan.

"Leon Guerrero" is Spanish for "lion warrior."

BAI GALUTI HAO!

Thursday, August 16, 2012
3dgrafico.blogspot.com

Growing up, we heard the expression, " Bai galuti hao !"

All I knew was that it meant physical harm would be done.

But the word galuti comes from a form of physical harm that is cruel and harsh indeed.

It comes from the Spanish word garrote , and a garrote was what you see in the picture above.

It was a strangulation device, so that the victim died without the ability to scream.  It was thus called a weapon of silent assassination.

The Spanish used the garrote extensively till modern times.  In 1959, the garrote was last used for civilian executions.  In 1974, two civilians convicted in military courts in Spain were killed by the garrote .  In 1978, Spain abolished capital punishment.

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Wednesday, August 15, 2012
iamcecilia.tumblr.com

I SOTTERITA
The Adolescent Girl
La Solterita


I sotterita debi di u s å ga ha' gi halom guma'.  Ti guailaye na u ma eduka gue'.  Siempre ma na' p å ra umeskuela i palao'an yanggen esta monh å yan ha kumple tresse (13) pat katotse (14) å ñ os.  Yanggen i hobensita esta ha taka' taiguennao na ed å t, esta si ñ a gue' gumai patgon.  Pues menestet na u ma na' p å ra umeskuela ya u s å ga ha' gi halom guma' annai m å s si ñ a gue' ma pulan ya ti u f å tto gi h å fa na desonra para guiya yan para i familia.

As soon as a girl reaches adolescence, she must leave school and stay at home.  She is able at age 13 or 14 to bear children, so it is best to monitor her directly in the home and avoid any scandal to her or to the family.

Cuando una jovencita cumple trece o catorce a ñ os, tendr á que dejar la escuela y quedarse en casa.  Al tener trece o catorce a ñ os, la chica ya puede tener hijos, y por eso ser í a mejor vigilarla en casa y evitar los esc á ndalos para ella y para la familia.

THE 1974 WRITE-IN CAMPAIGN

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Calvo-Palomo Write-In Rubber Stamp

The 1974 Republican primary was a hotly contested race.  The sitting Governor, Republican Carlos Garcia Camacho, Guam's first elected governor, was being challenged in his own party by Paul McDonald Calvo, prominent businessman and senator.  Calvo's running mate was another GOP senator, Antonio Manibusan Palomo.  In the primary election, Camacho won by only 261 votes.

Spurred on by his supporters and the close results, Calvo launched a Write-In campaign for the General Election.  Voters could write in Calvo's name by hand, or use rubber stamps, like the one pictured above, on the ballot.  Due to the Republican split, Democrat Ricardo Jerome Bordallo went on to win the governor's seat in 1974.

I remember this split well.  It affected my family, but not too badly.  Family members did debate the topic, but at least they were talking to each other.  I was just 12 years old at the time, but very keen on listening to all that was being said.


guampdn.com
Paul M. Calvo
when he was Governor of Guam
( notice that Reagan was U.S. president at the time )


guammuseum.com

Antonio M. Palomo
in a more recent photo with Palomo as a member of the Guam Museum board
( Palomo moved from active politics to becoming a Guam historian )

LOST SURNAMES : SALUCNAMNAM

Monday, August 13, 2012


Back in 1897, there was a decent-sized Salucnamnam family in H å gat.

Juan Taia ñ ao Salucnamnam, age 29, was married to Apolonia de los Santos.  They had an infant son, also Juan.  Daddy Salucnamnam had half a dozen or so siblings (we assume) living with him; at any rate, they all were of his generation and they all were named Salucnamnam.

Ignacia, whose grave is pictured above, was born in 1907.  Then she married a Babauta.

Today, there are some people who have Salucnamnam as a middle name.  As recently as last November, a woman with the middle name Salucnamnam passed away.

But, as far as we know, and having checked with the parish and municipality of H å gat, there are no known persons today with Salucnamnam as their last name.

What does the name mean?

First of all, we can almost be positively certain it is an indigenous Chamorro name.  It is a H å gat name.  There was a similar last name in Malesso' : Saguanamnam. S å gua' in Chamorro means "channel," as in an ocean inlet. Namnam must have meant something, but it is now lost.  Those who want can spend all day conjecturing what it meant, but it will all amount to just that - conjecture.

S å luc (or s å luk or s å lug ) in Chamorro means "a narrow pass, ravine, gorge."  That word, too, was bound for extinction, and it does not appear in some recent Chamorro dictionaries, but thanks to P å le' Roman's older dictionary, we have its meaning still.

It's curious that the two Chamorro names that involve namnam both point to narrow, constricted geographical features (channel; ravine). Na' manman! Amazing!

UPDATE

Bernard Punzalan at chamorroroots.com says that he found in Levesque's collection of 17th century missionary writings that namnam means "courage."

This is a good find. I would still be cautious. Experience has shown that words spelled hundreds of years ago by Europeans may not sound (to our ears) the way they spelled them. There might be two different but similar words that could have both been spelled namnam by Europeans. Could namnam have meant more than one thing? In other words, the best source of information about what namnam means would be from a Chamorro living in the 1600s, and they are unfortunately all dead. What would be the connection between channel ( sågua ') and courage ( namnam )? Only someone living at the time could give us a solid answer. So, for now, unless we find stronger evidence, the best I think we can do is offer possibilities.


TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : TALO'ÅNE

Saturday, August 11, 2012
traveltoenlightenment.com

TALO' Å NE : midday, noon

P å 'go gi talo' å ne.  Today at noon.

Gi a las ku å ttro gi despues de talo' å ne.  At four o'clock in the afternoon.

Tumalo' å ne.  To arrive at midday.

Na' talo' å ne.  Noon meal.


I have found that the man å mko' are pretty definite about talo' å ne being dead-on twelve noon, when reckoning exact time.

11:45AM is still gi ega'an (in the morning).

12:15PM is gi despues de talo' å ne (in the after noon).

However...

I have heard many times people refer to the time around noon, in a general way, as still being talo' å ne .

For example, when a person speaks in public and says,

" Man gaige hit p å 'go na talo' å ne..." " We are gathered this mid-day..." and it doesn't have to be 12 noon on the dot.

I've heard people refer to the day as being talo' å ne and it was 1 or 2PM, or even 11AM.

People will differ about this.

Literal Meaning

Talo' = the middle

Ha' å ne = day

TALO' + Å NE = "mid day"

ISLAND HIGH RISE

Friday, August 10, 2012

Marine Life Impression on Cave Wall
Litekyan / Ritidian

There are signs in many places on Guam that remind us that much of the island was once below sea water many years ago.

How else would signs of marine life be found in impressions left on cave walls, like this one in Litekyan (Ritidian)?

A million years ago plus, Guam was rising and sinking.  Each movement modified the terrain in different ways.  Imagine!  At one time Mat å guak and Mount Santa Rosa in Yigo were like little islands, completely surrounded by the ocean.

Like the history of the people, the island itself has had its ups and downs.

I BEG TO DIFFER

Thursday, August 9, 2012


Many Chamorros believe that when adults find a baby na' magoddai , giving them the irresitible urge to pinch, smell, touch or hold the baby, parents better let them do it, or else the baby will get sick.  The adult's disappointment in not being allowed to express their affection for the baby creates bad feelings which will flow towards the infant and make it ill.

Not everyone subscribes to this belief, as seen with Tan Esco.  She thinks some people go too far and physically abuse the baby.  She tells of one lady who saw her baby daughter Linda in church and wanted to pinch Linda, and Tan Esco scolded her.  Linda didn't get sick.

LATTE DECOR

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Passing through H å gat, I came upon this huge latte replica.  Nice!

SAN DIEGO CHAMORROS HELP KIDS

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Chamorros in San Diego are organizing a fundraising event to help a Ronald McDonald house, which of course helps kids needing housing (with their families) while getting medical attention.

Some of the Chamorros involved are :


Robert Santos
Familian B å li Tres
San Diego TV newscaster/meteorologist


Carly Peeters
Ukulele player

In the band, these Chamorro musicians...

Janice Waller Bouffiou, Robert de Leon Cabrera, Tony SN Treltas, Rose Pangelinan Treltas, Benni Benavente Schwab.

STREET NAMES : FATHER FOLLARD

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Father Follard Street
H å gat

Why is one the central streets in H å gat named after a priest we don't hear about?

If you're an old-timer in H å gat, you did hear of Father Follard.  He may have baptized you; or officiated at your wedding.

Follard was one of the many Catholic military chaplains who went beyond the call of duty and helped the local people as much as possible, not just the guys in uniform, which was their essential obligation.

When the Americans occupied Guam again in 1944, there was ONE Catholic priest left on island - Father Oscar Lujan Calvo.  Father Due ñ as had been beheaded just before the liberation.

If it weren't for these military chaplains, poor Father Calvo would have been unable to handle it all himself.  There were about 20,000 Chamorros on Guam at the time.

More than any other chaplain, Follard became quite involved in the civilian population's needs and concerns.  As a sign of this close relationship, the people of H å gat had a main street named for him.


Father Follard in front of the original (wooden) street sign.

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Monday, August 6, 2012


Esta bente yo' fumaisen / h å go muna' bentiuno;
ya entre todos i pumalo / ti hu sodda' parehu-mo.

Twenty have already asked me / you make it twenty-one;
and among all the others / I haven't found your equal.


Anyone remember when we had 21 senators?  Maybe this song was about 21 incumbents asking a lady for her vote.

In reality, of course, it's about a girl being courted and she lets her favorite know who he is.

Then, again, maybe 20 other men never did court her and she was just making it seem that way to let the man of her dreams know that she was worth more than he may have thought.  Ah, the ways of love.

DIRECTIONS

Saturday, August 4, 2012
misskerrydance.com

An American was on Guam and went looking for his friend's house and got lost.  He saw a man pasturing his carabao and pulled over to him.

"Sir, do you know the way to Mr. Aguon's house?"

"Yes," the Chamorro man said.

"Can you tell me how to get there?"

"One way is by car," the Chamorro man said.

"No, I mean can you tell me the directions so I can drive there?"

The Chamorro man said, "Yes.  When you drive down this road, you will see a white, concrete house with a blue trim.  That's not it.  Keep going and make a left at the bus stop that's no longer there.  Stick to the road and you won't miss it."

ONE CHAMORRO WHALER

Friday, August 3, 2012
bbc.co.uk
In the 1800s, many young Chamorro lads, even in their early teens, joined the whaling crews just as soon as they could to see the world.

One young man did just that.  " Hum å nao bumayinero ," the elderly lady told me of her uncle.

He never came back.  Why?

" M å tai gue' giya New Guinea ," she told me.  "He died in New Guinea."  How so?

Apparently, while he was in New Guinea, he found a sweetheart.  When she found out he was going to leave New Guinea and return to Guam without her, she poisoned him.  " Ma benenuye ."

I guess the sweetheart was deadly serious about their relationship.

Bayena = Whale
Bayinero = Whaler

ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Friday, August 3, 2012
ADELUP / ADILUK


Å NTES
circa 1920s

That's the Atkins Kroll building at the crest of the hill.  Prior to that, Adiluk was used by the Spanish as a site for a leprosarium and by American Protestant missionaries.  It has been called Devil's Point (Punta del Diablo) and Missionaries Point, among other names, over the years.

Notice how the the road from Piti to Hag å t ñ a goes right along the shore.  It isn't paved either, but it is surfaced with kask å ho .


P Å 'GO

Not the same angle, but one can see the big latte stone now and the new building that was once the Guam Museum.

FAMILIA : QUINTANILLA

Thursday, August 2, 2012


Quintanilla is a Spanish name.  Its root word is quinto , which means "fifth" in Spanish.  Hundreds of years ago, when money was not in the hands of the majority of people, tenant farmers paid rent by giving a fifth of their harvest to the landlord.  This gave rise to names such as Quintana or Quintanilla.

genealogia.info
This coat of arms for Quintanilla features dice showing the number five .


Many towns in Spain are named Quintanilla.

The first Quintanillas on Guam that we know of show up in the 1758 Census under the list of soldiers from Pampanga, Philippines.

There are two men named Quintanilla in that census, both in Hag å t ñ a.

Mariano de Quintanilla was married to Maria Pablo.  They had nine children listed in 1758.

Andres Casimiro de Quintanilla was married to Maria Serafina de los Reyes.  He could have been Mariano's brother, or maybe not.  Maybe not even a relation.  This couple had three children listed in 1758.

By the late 1800s, there were many Quintanillas in Sumay.  In the 1900s, Quintanillas moved to H å gat, Inal å han and Luta.

Pronunciation

In Spanish, the name would be pronounced with the LL sounding like a Y.

But Chamorros don't have the Y sound.  It comes out sounding like DZ.

That's why the Spaniards used LL sometimes in Chamorro words and names that had the DZ sound.  Like Acfalle and Tajalle.

Does Anyone Remember Selena?


The Latina singer murdered at the age of 24 back in 1995?  Her last name was Quintanilla.  Her husband?  Perez!

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN...

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

...it's perfectly normal for you to use any old envelope at hand, even business envelopes, for chinchule' .

HAGÅTÑA'S ELITE IN 1900, part 2

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

William E. Safford, USN

In 1900, Hag å t ñ a's elite wrote a letter of farewell to Safford, who was Secretary to the Governor, functioning like a Lieutenant Governor.  Safford was well-loved.  Able to speak Spanish, of an academic background and personally interested in many aspects of island life, he was seen as a friend by many.

Part two of those principales or leading citizens of Hag å t ñ a who signed the letter :

Vicente Roberto Herrero - former Treasurer and prominent merchant.  Grandson of former Spanish Governor Jose Ganga Herrero.

Joaquin Cruz Perez - former Governor of Guam during a confusing transition from Spanish to American administration in 1899.  Every few months, someone temporary was Governor until the first full-fledge American Governor of Guam (Leary) arrived.  Safford was Leary's secretary.

Luis Diaz Torres - Justice of the Peace.  Brother of Juan and Jose. His wife was Padre Palomo's niece.  He served in more than one government position over the years, and was a teacher under the Spanish regime.

Jose Diaz de Torres - Court Interpreter.  Brother of Juan and Luis.

Henry Millinchamp - Government Pilot.  Millinchamp was not Chamorro, but was married to a Chamorro woman from a prominent family (the Andersons).  Millinchamp, once called "Milinchango" by a Spaniard, was part English, part Tahitian and was born in the Bonin Islands ( Boninas in Spanish and Chamorro).  He later moved to Guam, where he met and married his wife.  He served in the Spanish government in several ways, especially as government pilot, in charge of directing sea traffic from Apra Harbor to the landing dock at Punta Piti.

Jose de los Santos - prominent citizen

Antonio Cruz Perez - Teniente of Hag å t ñ a.  The teniente was second-in-command to the gobernadorcillo or mayor.  Patriarch of the Bo ñ o clan.

Demetrio Quitugua - City Clerk

ROLE REVERSAL

Tuesday, July 31, 2012
swedishseoul.com


Est å ba na kumuekuentos ham yan un palao'an ni esta gai ed å t diddide'.
( I was speaking with a woman who was somewhat elderly already .)

"H å fa si ñ a hu chuli'e hao agupa para na-ta an para ta a'bisita?" hu faisen gue'.
( What shall I bring you tomorrow to eat when we visit together?" I asked her .)

"T å ya', P å le'," ilek- ñ a i palao'an. "Si hag å -ho dumispopone yo' h å fa si ñ a hu k å nno' yan h å fa ti si ñ a hu k å nno'."
("Nothing, Father," the lady said.  "My daughter decides what I can and cannot eat.")

"Kulan mohon h å go i patgon yan guiya i nana!" hu sang å ne gue'.
(" It's as if you're the child and she's the mother!" I told her.")

"Hunggan adei.  Ha adopta yo'!"
("Yes indeed.  She adopted me!")

HAGÅTÑA'S ELITE IN 1900

Monday, July 30, 2012


Graves of Gregorio Cruz Perez (Goyo)
and his wife Rosa Aguon Flores (Kabesa)

In 1900, William E. Safford, the beloved Secretary to the Naval Governor, was assigned to another duty station.  The leading citizens of Guam tried to pursuade the government to keep him on Guam, but, when that didn't come to pass, they wrote him a farewell letter full of praise.

They stated in this letter that they were the "principals" of the city of Hag å t ñ a.  This was a direct translation of the Spanish term for leading citizens, or principales .  Who were they?

Gregorio Cruz Perez - he was the Gobernadorcillo, or mayor, of Hag å t ñ a in 1900; patriarch of the Goyo clan

Jose Martinez Portusach - he was billed the "Principal Merchant of Guam" in the letter.  During the Spanish regime, he was part of a company that leased some of the northern islands like Pagan to raise copra and make money

Joaquin Garrido Diaz - Secretary of the Treasury

Juan Diaz de Torres - Treasurer of Guam

Vicente Palomo Camacho - Assistant Registar of Lands

Jose Torres Palomo - Priest (Curate) of Hag å t ñ a; he was the only priest on Guam at the time, the Spanish priests having been expelled; and Palomo was elderly by now.  Poor guy.

Venancio Sablan Roberto - former Gobernadorcillo

Antonio Pangelinan Martinez - said to be the wealthiest planter on Guam at the time

Justo Sanchez de Leon Guerrero - former Gobernadorcillo

---Part II continues tomorrow---

DON'T MESS WITH THE CHRISTIAN MOTHERS

Sunday, July 29, 2012
vintagesleazepaperbacks.wordpress.com

Not long after the war, some bars opened up on Guam featuring something unheard of before on island : taxi dancers.

They were not so-called because they danced on top of taxi cabs, as some think!  The name comes from the fact that, like taxis, they are hired for a certain length of time.  The longer the ride, the more you pay.  These women were paid dance partners, but the situation was rife with immoral opportunities.

The local Church was up in arms about these taxi dancer bars and it was the Christian Mothers ( N å nan Kilisy å no ) who put the pressure to have these bars close.

In the 1970s, when casino gambling was first considered on Guam, again it was the Christian Mothers who showed up at public hearings and called up senators to have it voted down in the Legislature.  At least one senator said, "What could I do?  These were my mom and aunties calling me up!"

Such was the might of the Christian Mothers and Chamorro mother power.

Their patron saint, Santa Ana (Saint Ann) had her feast yesterday in the Santa Ana area of H å gat.

KÅNTAN SANTA ANA

Sunday, July 29, 2012


One of the traditional Chamorro hymns to Santa Ana (Saint Ann) includes a few rarely heard words.

Sainan i Bithen Maria / si Jesus p å tgon toyong-mo
( Parent of the Virgin Mary / Jesus is your grandchild )

Tayuyute ham as Yu'us ni Saina-mo yan nietu-mo.
( Pray for us to God your Lord and grandson .)

Man sen b å ba i Hudios / ayo i ma ñ ataotao-mo
( The Jews were very bad / those who were your own people )

ya i mampos na binaba / si Yu'us nina' lal å lo'.
( and exceeding evil / angered God .)

P å 'go h å go giya hamyo / sinantusan hinanao-mo.
( Now you among you (Jews) / your way was holy .)


Linguistic Notes


Theological Notes

THE GUAM SEAL : TWO LOVERS' POINT???

Friday, July 27, 2012

Design of the Guam Flag and Seal approved by Governor Roy Smith on July 4, 1917


I have heard and read that the cliff line seen in this Seal is Two Lovers' Point.  Puntan Dos Am å ntes.  I have my doubts.

The little river or brook that you see flowing out to sea by the lone coconut tree was in Hag å t ñ a, so the cliff line in the background is what can be seen from Hag å t ñ a.  One cannot see Two Lovers' Point from Hag å t ñ a.  The Oka peninsula blocks Hag å t ñ a's view of Two Lovers' Point.  Otherwise, we'd be able to see all the Tumon hotels from Hag å t ñ a.


liontravel.com
Oka Peninsula blocks Hag å t ñ a's view of Two Lovers' Point


What can be seen from Hag å t ñ a is the western cliff line of Guam, ending in Litekyan (Ritidian) Point.


From Hag å t ñ a, the Oka Peninsula, with its condos, is visible, and less clear farther back is the western cliffline that ends in Litekyan (Ritidian).  Notice we cannot see Tumon or Two Lovers' Point.



Notice the difference in look between Litekyan (Ritidian), which is visible from Hagåtña, and Two Lovers' Point, which is blocked by Oka Point (where GMH is) in most of Hagåtña.




A modern version of the Seal whose cliff, due to its height in relation to the shore, looks more like Two Lovers' Point.


Just to mix it up even more...

a modern version of the Seal whose jagged hilltops don't look anything at all like the straight cliff lines of western Guam.


But this is another story...

But did you know that there is something historically wrong with the canoe in the Seal?

CHAMORRO TEASING

Thursday, July 26, 2012
soundjunction.org

The Luta Chamorros are known for their sing-song accent.

In Saipan, a lady from Luta (Rota) was working in a government office.  Another worker saw her approaching his side of the building and he called out to everyone, " Enaogue' m å gi si flauta !"  "Here comes 'flute'!"

YOU KNOW YOU'RE ON GUAM WHEN...

Thursday, July 26, 2012


You can drive down a street and pick up a carabao if you feel so inclined.

IF YOU DON'T VOTE FOR ME, WE BOTH LOSE

Wednesday, July 25, 2012


Back in the 60s and early 70s, a car salesman and politician also had a talent show on KUAM TV.  Allen Sekt was something of a colorful character, whose commercial ads for his auto business always included the slogan "If you don't buy from us, we both lose."

When he ran in elections, this changed to "If you don't vote for me, we both lose."




BUSINESS SLOGAN TURNS....




POLITICAL SLOGAN


A Democrat, he served in the Guam Legislature a short while.  Did you know that there is a Senator Allen A. Sekt Endowed Chair in Law at Creighton University?  Sekt graduated from there in 1936 with a law degree in his hand.  He felt he had to pay back the University for his subsequent good fortune.

I appeared as a 5-year-old on the Allen Sekt Talent Show on KUAM; well, me and 20 other kids from Sinaja ñ a Elementary School.  I don't even remember what we sang.  All I remember is that the studio was cold (air conditioned).  Very few people had air conditioning in their homes in 1967.  We didn't.



In 1970, the Allen Sekt Show on KUAM started at 830PM, right after M Squad and right before Peyton Place.



SEKT IN 1968
He was an avid golfer

FRESKO NA PÅCHOT

Tuesday, July 24, 2012
castyournet.wordpress.com

Est å ba si Sister yan i famagu'on gi eskuela, ma e'egga' i estorian Moises gi video.

Ma rep å ra na annai kahulo' si Moises gi Ekso' Sinai, um å 'paka' i gaputilu- ñ a.

Finaisen si Sister ni un p å tgon, "Sister!  Sa' h å fa na um å 'paka' i gaputilu- ñ a si Moises?"

"Sa' ha li'e i matan Yu'us, iho," ilek- ñ a si Sister.

"Ya h å go, Sister, ku å nto bi å he un li'e i matan Yu'us?" mamaisen i patgon.


MUNGNGA YO'!

Tuesday, July 24, 2012
nhs.uk

1921 in Hag å t ñ a.

Maria Leon Guerrero, a kantora (singer) in the Cathedral and daughter of the techa Vicenta, went to the hospital complaining of abdominal pains.  The American doctor ordered an x-ray done.  Maria refused.

Why?  According to Maria, disrobing for an x-ray would "injure her modesty."

She finally consented to the x-ray on the condition that her husband remain at her side.  The x-ray revealed she had kidney stones.

THE INVISIBLE FENCE

Monday, July 23, 2012
US BUMED Library and Archives
Chamorro Nursing Graduates
1948

In traditional Chamorro culture, an invisible fence surrounded every Chamorro woman.  This fence meant that she could not go out on dates unless chaperoned by an aunt and such.  She was taken out of school when adolescence set in.  Parents did not jump at opportunities offered to their daughters.

One woman told me how, right after the war, she was approached by a Chamorro nurse who was recruiting young women to enroll in a nurses' training program.  This woman, just 16 at the time, was very excited about becoming a nurse.  As she and the recruiter were finishing their conversation, the father came home from work.  He asked what was the reason for the lady's visit.

When told the answer, the father looked at his daughter and said, " Yanggen para un enfetmera, h å nao ya un chule' i balut å n-mo.  Lao adahe na un bira hao m å gi, sa' ti un gatcha ni un eskaleran gu å ot para un li'e ta'lo si nan å -mo ."  (" If you're going to be a nurse, go and get your things.  But be careful that you don't come back, because you won't even set foot on the first step of the stairs to see your mother again. ")

The idea of never seeing her mother again was intolerable, so the recruitment died right then and there.  Her mother hugged her and, crying as well, told her daughetr, " Osge si tat å -mo, hag å -ho, sa' i osgon na p å tgon siempre binendise gue' as Yu'us ." (" Obey your father, my daughter, because the obedient child is surely blessed by God. ")

Years later, the father got ill with old age and the wife was not able to handle all of his physical needs.  So the daughter, now a mother herself, came one day to do for the father what her mother could not do.  When all was done, the mother marveled at her daughter's skill and said, " Ai hag å -ho, sa' un gef tungo' todo h å fa para un cho'gue ."  (" Oh, my daughter, you really know all you are to do. ")

The daughter looked at her father and said, " Atan ha'!  Isao-mo nai!  Sa' depotsi para bai enfetmera!  Ayo ha' tetehnan i para bai hu dulok hao !"  (" Look!  It's your fault!  I was supposed to be a nurse!  The only thing I haven't done yet is poke you with a needle !")

The reality is that, besides the fear many parents had that their daughters would be lead astray if they were not under their supervision, this woman in particular was the oldest daughter on whom her parents could rely.

KASSI NA KÅNTA

Monday, July 23, 2012


Chamorros can be great teasers, even though we can also be very sensitive.

I first heard this type of song about fifteen years ago.  You can throw in any village or island you want, the jabs remain the same.  I even asked him to take a stab at my home village, Sinaja ñ a.

One of his verses goes,

Bula guaka bula toro (Plenty cows, plenty bulls)
Dededo i man modoro. (Dededo the not-so-bright).

And...

Bula titiyas bula fadang (Plenty tortillas, plenty federico nut)
Sinaja ñ a man pao sadang. (Sinaja ñ a, well, smells like...to be as inoffensive as possible...the bathroom).

Another verse goes like this (not sung here, but from the first time I heard it sung)

Puro ha' suni yan chandiha (it's all taro and watermelon)
i famalao'an man pao biha. (the ladies smell like old women).

Yes, great kidders....

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : MAMES

Monday, July 23, 2012
sugarstacks.com

MAMES : sweet

Kao mames?  Is it sweet?

Hunggan, mames.  Yes, it's sweet.

Mames na n å na.  Sweet mother.

Minames.  Sweetness.

Kao nahong minames- ñ a?  Is it sweet enough? (Literally, "Is its sweetness sufficient?")

Ei na minames!  My but how sweet!

Sa' pot i minames-mo.  Because of your sweetness.

H å go minames-ho.  You are my sweetness.

Pinat mames.  Overly sweet.

Na' mames.  To make sweet.

Na' mames i kuentos-mo.  Make your speech sweet.

Fina' mames.  Dessert.

Mamise.  To be sweet towards someone or something.

Ya- ñ a manmamise taotao.  S/he likes to be sweet towards people.

Na' mamise.  To make sweet for another.

Na' mamise yo' ni kafe.  Make my coffee sweet. (Literally, "Make sweet for me the coffee.")


THOSE SECRETIVE MAN ÅMKO'

Sunday, July 22, 2012
theepochtimes.com
The man å mko' are notorious for keeping the family skeletons in the closet; not only the closet but maybe even under the floor board or above the ceiling inside the closet.
A young man was sitting watching the Liberation Day parade on TV with his mother.  Out of the blue, the mother says, "Oh yeah, n å na has a half-sister, you know?"
After years of it never being thoroughly discussed, she shares the fact that her grandfather had sired a child in his bachelor days before marriage.  The young man got up to get more of the 411 from the grandma next door.
Now what that had to do with the Liberation Day parade is beyond me. But don't question. Thank God she brought up this hidden fact at all!

SYMBOL OF CHAMORRO STRENGTH

Sunday, July 22, 2012

S å nta Marian K å malen had a prominent place in this year's Liberation Day parade.  She was on more than one float.  I don't remember her being this prominent in parades many years ago.


On the beauty queens' float, the earthly queens on the left, the heavenly Queen on the right.

Enough time has passed so that the idea has gotten stronger that S å nta Marian K å malen, who has survived a war, several major typhoons and thefts, is our mother who accompanies us through the ups and downs of life, just as she has gone through them.

UNCLE SAM

Saturday, July 21, 2012


The famous song that some Chamorros sang during the Japanese Occupation to keep their spirits up that the Americans would return.

Eight of December, 1941
people went crazy right here in Guam
Oh Uncle Sam, Sam, my dear Uncle Sam
won't you please come back to Guam.

"Went crazy?"  This describes the panic that emptied the city of Hag å t ñ a within hours of the Japanese bombardment of Sumay that morning.

I am so fortunate to have known the two people in this short clip.

Ton Pete Rosario (Seboyas) used to sing at many man å mko' events when I was working as a teenager at the Guam Legislature in the 1970s.  I will never forget his rendition of the song " Angelina Kolasa sen palak palak ."  I hope there is a recording of it somewhere.

Tan Maria Garrido lived just behind Bishop Baumgartner School.  I was her paper boy when I was younger, and then later in my 20s I would visit her and listen to her stories.  Though just a little younger than my grandmother, she would only speak to me in English, as she had been a school teacher and was one of that generation that tried to master English, which, in her case, she did.  She spoke very good English.

BECAUSE OF THE LIBERATION

Saturday, July 21, 2012
My family moved from their original home in San Ignacio district in Hag å t ñ a, to Sinaja ñ a.


The house would have been to the left of this photo of Pedro's Plaza, or what is now the Attorney General's Office building.  That would put it on the street, hardly ever used, that runs in between Pedro's Plaza and the Aga ñ a Precinct of GPD.  Before the war, our house was on Zaragoza Street.  It was a two-storey, concrete house.  But the American bombardment of Guam in July 1944 destroyed this house.  Even property lines were in a state of confusion when new streets were laid out that did not conform to the pre-war property lines.



Sinaja ñ a
After the war

My family moved to Sinaja ñ a and lived in a temporary house of thatched roofing until a wooden and tin-roof house was built.  That lasted till the early 1970s when, thanks to Urban Renewal, my grandmother moved to our present location and built a concrete house, next to my parents who lived in a two-storey home my grandmother had built.

Because of the American Liberation, the bombing that took place in order to achieve it, and the post-war re-settlement patterns, Hag å t ñ a people became Sinaja ñ a people, in my case.

But every time I pass that street in between the Aga ñ a Precinct and Pedro's Plaza, I glance at what once was Zaragoza Street and my ancestor's home.

BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS

Friday, July 20, 2012

One of the better homes in Hag å t ñ a

Here's a description of one of the homes of the Chamorro elite in Hag å t ñ a at the turn of the 20th century.  It is taken from William Safford's "A Year on the Island of Guam."

" Called on Don Juan de Torres, Auditor of the Treasury.  He lives in a large house of masonry not far from the beach; met his wife Do ñ a Juliana Perez.  The rooms of Don Juan's house are very large; the floors of polished Afzelia wood; some of the furniture is of island manufacture and the rest brought from Manila by some former governor; a piano of good tone and in remarkably good tune (Don Juan's brother is an accomplished musician); a good library, including the various codes - criminal, commercial and civil - of the Spanish colonies ..."

In the garden, many plants and fragrant shrubs.

FLORES ROSA

Friday, July 20, 2012
dreamstime.com


Flores rosa ni bonito
lamlam yan agaga';
h å nao yan este na katt å -ko
guato gi todo i guinaiya-ko.

Pretty rose flower
shiny and red;
go with this my letter
there to all my love.

Gupu duro fan
yan i gr å sia siha.
Chule' i minagof-ho
yan i fottun å -ho.

Fly intensely please
with all graces.
Take my happiness
and my fortune.

Written by Frank Lizama, 1975
DOE Chamorro Studies


The writer sends his loved one his happiness and good fortune through a rose which he sends enclosed in the letter.

VILLAGE PLAYS

Thursday, July 19, 2012


People used to put on a lot more plays in the past, compared to now.

Village fiestas used to feature plays, skits and musical numbers on stage after the religious ceremonies.

A lot of the dialogue was still in Chamorro, too.

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Thursday, July 19, 2012
survivaltipsforexpatsandspouses.com

MOFO'NA I ISAO, T Å T Å TTE I SINETSOT

First comes the sin, then the regret.


Fo'na, mo'na = ahead, before

Isao = sin, fault, misdeed

T å tte = behind, following

Sotsot = to regret, repent

FAMILY NICKNAMES : KÅDI'

Wednesday, July 18, 2012


According to one of the ma ñ aina in this family, the K å di' are descendants of Jose Cepeda Manibusan (born around 1857) and his wife Maria Pangelinan.  Apparently they had a lot of children, the majority of them boys, so the Manibusan name enjoyed much security of staying around.

But what does the nickname mean? According to the story told by the ma ñ aina , Jose liked to go the extra yard when entertaining guests.  Serving guests more fancy food and so on.   According to the story, " k å di '" means to show off, to be " ande '."  But a search of that word in the dictionaries turns up nothing.  So, it remains a puzzle.

WHEN THE JUDGE IS YOUR UNCLE

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Judge V.C. Reyes


Hag å t ñ a.  Late 1930s.

My mother's oldest brother Pedro is the son of Joaquin Aflague Limtiaco, the founder of Limtiaco's auto repair.  Joaquin also ran a taxi business and other allied enterprises.

So Uncle Pete got his own car at an early age; the envy of the neighborhood boys, I am sure.  And like an eager young man, had a bit too much bravado in Hag å t ñ a's narrow streets.  He got pinched by a police officer for some infraction and had to appear in court.

Though he was not a judge at the time but the Island Attorney, for some reason the "judge" sitting behind the gavel that day was his mother's brother-in-law, Vicente Camacho Reyes.  Maybe he had to fill in on cases of minor violations that day.

Uncle Pete was shaking in his pants when he saw that the judge was his own uncle.  He was even more frightened by the possibility that his uncle would inform his mother that he was in court.  But Uncle Ben never looked up from the bench.  He just kept glancing at the papers in front of him and said, "Mister Limtiaco; don't ever appear in my court again."

Uncle Pete said, "Yes, sir," and that was it.  I have forgotten whether Uncle Pete ever had to pay a fine or not.

But I think Uncle Ben probably didn't look up in order to keep from laughing.

MA SUSEDE UN DIA

Tuesday, July 17, 2012
onbloggingwell.com

A few weeks after Liberation Day.  1944.

Thousands of Chamorros were in temporary refugee camps.  American guards watched the perimeter of these camps because some Japanese soldiers were still on the loose, only too happy to take shots at Chamorro civilians and American soldiers alike.

Out of the blue, an American guard heard a rustle.  Looking in the sound's direction, he sees the figure of a man in the distance, but cannot make out who he is; friend or foe.

The guard shouts out to the man to identify himself.  Silence.  He calls out a second time.  Again, silence.  Finally a third time.  This time, no silence, but instead, the blast of the American guard's gun.  The man in the distance falls.  Now, silence - dead silence.

The guard carefully goes up to see who he has just killed.  The dead man is not Japanese.  He is Chamorro.  Why he never responded to the guard's shouts, no one knows.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : TÅFTÅF

Tuesday, July 17, 2012
ahikaa.co.nz

T Å FT Å F : early

T å ft å f hao m å gi.  You are here early.  Come here early.

T å ft å f gi ega'an.  Early in the morning.

Tat å ft å f.  Someone habitually early.  Early-riser.

T å ft å f demasiao!  Too early!

Taft å fgue.  To do something before the expected time.

Ha taft å fgue man ap å se.  He made an early payment.

Early Bird Special

I Taftaf na Paluma na Espesi å t

KOMUNISTA!

Monday, July 16, 2012
en.wikipedia.org

There was a time when one of the worst things you could be called on Guam or Saipan was a komunista (communist).

Now there weren't any real Chamorro communists at the time, in any organized or formal way.  But conservative Chamorros, some priests and pious lay people, looked on political "radicals" as komunista .

Take for example this letter, written in 1964, by a very religious woman to someone off-island :

" Kulan meggai na atboroto ni para i ma elihe bentiuno na Kongresista, kada dos å ñ os.  Ya guaha dos na pattida ." (There is perhaps a lot of commotion with the election of twenty-one congressmen*, every two years.  And there are two parties.)

The  she goes on to say about one of the parties :

" Ti maolek bidan- ñ i ñ iha para i pupbliko.  Komo Komunista ."  (Their actions aren't good for the public.  They are like communists.)

Up in Saipan, when political status talks were hot and heavy in the late 60s and early 70s, a few activists made some priests and active Catholics nervous when they made contact with Russia.  Keep in mind that Saipan was not part of the U.S. at the time, and the Cold War was still on.  These Saipan activists were branded komunista by one or two priests and by some lay people.

And one man told me of his experience in the 50s, when he and other members of a parish organization disagreed with the pastor.  The pastor labeled them bolsheviki (Bolsheviks, a term for Lenin's branch of Russian communists), even though they were all practicing and active parishioners.

*In the 50s and 60s, our senators in the Guam Legislature were called congressmen; kongresista in Chamorro.

ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Sunday, July 15, 2012
SANTA TERESITA CHURCH
MANGILAO


Å NTES
1950s


P Å 'GO

In the 1980s, the small post-war church built by Father Theophane was too small for the growing Mangilao population.  The orientation of the church was changed with the main entrance shifted to the side, and the original facade, pictured above, converted into a side window and the fancy Spanish-style bell and fronting moved to the new entrance.  In 2007, a brand new church was built and this structure became a social hall.  But this side of the hall is what remains of the original church of the 1950s.

KATESISMO #8

Sunday, July 15, 2012
25. H å f kumekeilek- ñ a na si Yu'us taihinekkok sinantos- ñ a?

Si Yu'us taihinekkok sinantos- ñ a kumekeilek- ñ a na si Yu'us ayo ha' ya- ñ a ya ha gofli'e i maulek, ya ha chatli'e todo i tinailaye.

26. H å f kumekeilek- ñ a na si Yu'us taihinekkok tininas- ñ a?

Si Yu'us taihinekkok tininas- ñ a kumekeilek- ñ a na si Yu'us ha preremia i maolek ya ha kastitiga i tailaye segun i mineresen- ñ iha k å da uno.

MAPAGÅHES GI KATMELO

Saturday, July 14, 2012


It's the Fiesta of Our Lady of Mount Carmel ( Bithen del Carmen ) in H å gat, and in Chalan Kanoa in Saipan.

This is one of the Chamorro hymns in her honor.  It focuses on the idea of the cloud ( mapag å hes ) of Mount Carmel.  What is the meaning of that?  I'll get to that later.  First, the lyrics in this video, which include the refrain and the last verse of the hymn.

Atan guihe gi san lago / a'annok i mapag å hes
(Look there towards the sea / the cloud is appearing)

Mapag å hes gi Katmelo / maila' ya un N å nan-m å me.
(Cloud of Carmel / come and be our Mother.)

Tayuyute ham Maria / gai Yius na mapag å hes
(Pray for us Mary / cloud containing God)

un ma' å se' nu i taotao / mames na Bithen del Carmen.
(have pity on the people / sweet Virgin of Carmel.)

Why clouds?

Carmel is a mountain in northern Israel.  It is associated with the Prophet Elijah, who fought against the loss of faith by many in Israel in the true God as they started to worship the pagan gods of their neighbors.  God punished the land by holding back the rain and a severe drought and famine set in.

It was on Mount Carmel that Elijah conducted a contest with the prophets of the false gods, to see which altar of sacrifice could light up spontaneously by the power of God.  All day long, the false prophets cried out to their god to light their altar, and nothing happened.  Then Elijah called on God and his altar caught fire, even though Elijah had poured water over the altar three times to prove the miracle even more.

Then Elijah prayed for the end of the drought.  Seven times Elijah's servant looked at the sea for signs of rain, and on the seventh, he saw a small cloud.  Elijah said the cloud would bring rain and end the drought.  You can read all about it in 1 Kings 18.

Mary - the Heavenly Cloud

The Church saw all of this which happened in Elijah's time as prophetic of Jesus and Mary.  Jesus is the Savior, whose coming ended the punishment all mankind suffered because of the sin of Adam and Eve.  Jesus is the rain that comes to the rescue of man's spiritual drought.  But how did Jesus come into the world?  Like rain falls from the clouds, Jesus the rain fell from the cloud called Mary, His Mother.

Clouds are formed from the water of the ocean, but without retaining the weight and saltiness of sea water.  Mary comes from the human race, but freed since the moment of her conception from the weight and bitterness of Original Sin.  Just as the water becomes drinkable and clean as it rises out of the sea to form a cloud, Mary rises out of sinful humanity pure and sweet.

The servant of Elijah who saw the cloud said it resembled a man's foot, and some translations render it a man's hand.  Either way, there is a spiritual metaphor.  If the foot, then Mary is that foot which crushes the head of the serpent, our Ancient Enemy who started this mess with Adam and Eve.

If the hand, then Mary is the hand that gives us our Savior.  In either case, the operative word in the passage is vestigium - trace, footprint, vestige - of a man, or, of a human being.  Mary is the one who gave Christ His human nature.

Finally, just as a cloud pours down its rain without human cooperation, Mary gives us Christ without the aid of a human father.  The image of the cloud rising from the sea is rich in meaning!

About a thousand years ago, Christian hermits started to live on Mount Carmel.  They eventually formed the Carmelite Order, men and women, and the Prophet Elijah is one of their patrons.  As they spread to Europe, the Carmelites spread the devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and from Spain, where Mary is very popular under this title, the devotion was brought to the Marianas.


I Mapag å hes gi Katmelo
The Cloud of Carmel

RESPETU -VS- RESPETA

Friday, July 13, 2012
pacific daily news

The periodic confusion between -a words ( respeta ) and -o/u words ( respeto/respetu ) can be cleared up with some understanding of the Spanish language, from which we borrow many words.

Respeta is the verb form.  It means "to respect."  "Respect the elderly" is correctly translated " Respeta i man å mko' ."

The reason is because the Spanish infinitive is respetar , "to respect."  Chamorros always take the conjugation of the 3rd person singular to come up with the Chamorro verb form; in this case, respeta .

It's the same with "help" or ayuda , from ayudar .  "Help the elderly" is " Ayuda i man å mko' ," not " Ayudu/ayudo i man å mko' ."

Now the noun form (respect/help) is respeto/respetu or ayudo/ayudu .  "He has no respect" is " Tai respeto gue' na taotao ."  "I need your help" is " Hu nesesita i ayudu-mo ."

Basic Rule
(normally)

-A is the verb
-O/U is the noun

(when it comes to Spanish loan words)

GEOGRAPHY LESSON

Friday, July 13, 2012
fserving.com

Mamaisen si Juan gi as Jose, "Kao maolek i hinanao-mo guato para Amerika?"

Ilek- ñ a si Jose, "Ei na minannge'!  Tres na states hu hanaogue!"

Mamaisen si Juan, "Tres?"

Ilek- ñ a si Jose, "Hu'u!  Hum å nao yo' para Los Angeles, San Francisco yan California!"

John asked Jose, "Was your trip to the U.S. good?"

Jose said, "Very good!  I went to three states!"

John asked, "Three?"

Jose said, "Yes!  I went to Los Angeles, San Francisco and California!"

SPOOKY

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Bile' Bay
Where Malesso' and Hum å tak meet

In the 1930s, a group of friends were driving in a jitney towards Malesso' after attending the Hum å tak fiesta in October.

They must have had a lot of fun, maybe with the help of some "silly sauce," as they were belting out at high volume "When it's springtime in the Rockies" in the dead of night on that lonely stretch of narrow road down the hill from Toguan down to Bile' Bay at the boundary into Malesso'.

Just before they reached Malesso' the jitney turned completely around, facing the opposite direction, all on its own.

Stunned and startled, after a moment of silence, the driver put the jitney into gear and turned back in the direction of Malesso'.  But this time the whole car was silent as they proceeded on their journey.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : OGA'AN

Wednesday, July 11, 2012
chrisdrogaris.com
OGA'AN : morning

P å 'go na oga'an.  This morning.

Nigap na oga'an.  Yesterday morning.

P å 'go oga'an.  It is now becoming morning.

Annai p å 'go oga'an.  When it was just becoming morning.

Gi ega'an.  In the morning.

Agupa' gi ega'an.  Tomorrow in the morning.

AUTOMOTIVE CHAMORRO

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Have you figured it out?

Ti bisnes-mu .  Not your business.

But the owner hears the Z in "business."

Whereas the traditional pronunciation would be bisnes , not biznes .

Bisnes , of course, is borrowed from the English.  But what would be the older Chamorro word for "business?"

Asunto .  That is borrowed from the Spanish.


Maila' ya ta kuentos pot este na asunto .  Let's talk about this business (issue, topic).

"Business" as in "making money" is kometsio or negosio , again both borrowed from the Spanish.

Fama' sal å ppe' is "to make money."

FAN NGINGE'!

Tuesday, July 10, 2012


In this short clip, we see and hear :

1. The Chamorro sign of respect is the man nginge'.

2. The power of the family matriarch to order people around and get things done!

MALESSO' ELECTIONS 1895

Monday, July 9, 2012

The municipal "elections" in 1895 involved just the principal men of the village; men who had either served or were serving in municipal positions.  They were to vote for the Gobernadorcillo , the "Little Governor" or mayor of the village.

Electors included Juan Chargualaf, Pedro Guzman, Lucas Naputi, Antonio Taijeron, Pedro Cruz, Felix Roberto, Leocadio Quinata, Jose Chargualaf, Ramon Baza, Jose Meno, Juan Warquin and Antonio Sanchez.  Quinata and Sanchez were Umatac men, but Umatac was a district of Malesso' at the time.

Also involved were the Malesso' warden Benjamin Meno and the Umatac warden Serafin Quinata.  Witnesses of the election were Antonio Cruz and Carmelo Acfalle.

Three men were nominated : Felix Roberto, Antonio Taijeron and Pedro Naputi.

As usual, the village priest, Father Cris ó gono Ort í n, was asked his opinion, which he submitted in writing.  He endorsed Felix Roberto, whom he called "excellent," a man of "notable Spanish patriotism" ( marcado espa ñ olismo ).

The vote of the men, on paper ballots, was purely consultative and Manila made the selection.  Roberto got the job.

Notes

In 1895, some Hag å t ñ a people who had moved down to Malesso' were already taking on leadership roles in Malesso', such as Pedro Guzman, Pedro Cruz, Ramon Baza, Juan Warquin and Felix Roberto.

Warquin was actually the way the Spanish spelled Watkins.  Warquin was part Chamorro, part Anglo.

DANDERO AND GALAGITO

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Billa Mu ñ a's Band

DANDERO



GALAGITO
Puppy

These two words are examples of Chamorro words with a Spanish twist.  It shows how Chamorros can take Spanish influence and apply them to native words.

Dandero .  The root word here is dandan , which is to play a musical instrument or even a CD player. Dandan can also mean the music being played, as in " M å nnge' i dandan ," "The music being played is nice."

In authentic Chamorro, the one who plays is the dadandan .  But, being exposed to Spanish, Chamorros started to add -ero after dandan to give us dandaner o , the word listed in P å le' Roman's dictionary.  In time, dandanero was shortened to dandero .

Filipinos have done this to a larger number of their indigenous words.  For example, there is lasinggero , or drunkard, from the Tagalog lasing (drunk).  The -ero is borrowed from the Spanish and attached to the native word.

Galagito .  There are some who believe that ga'l å go comes from the Spanish galgo , a word for dog in that language.  I am not one of them.  First of all, if Chamorros heard the Spaniards say galgo and tried to repeat it, it would have come out g å tgo , not ga'l å go .  The Chamorros borrowed the Spanish word alg ú n , which means "some" as in " å tgun dia ," "some day."  In Chamorro, we say å tgun , not a'lagun .

Secondly, there is a perfectly understandable origin for ga'l å go , the animal from the direction of the sea, as dogs were brought in by foreigners traveling on ships.

Third, having invented their own word for this foreign animal, it's not impossible for Chamorros to have, in time, wanted a word to describe a small dog or puppy.  Having been exposed to Spanish and its diminutives (- ito, -ita and other forms) it's not surprising that Chamorros used it to form galagito .

Just as Chamorros took a native word ( dandan ) and added a Spanish ending (- ero ) to it.


CHAMORRO THE AMERICAN WAY

Sunday, July 8, 2012


It's inevitable.  The predominant culture and language exerts its influence on the struggling but native one.  On Guam, at least, we live in an English ocean dotted with Chamorro atolls.

In Chamorro, there is no plural S. Un taotao (one person) does not become dos taotaos (two persons).

The root word in this political sign is ga'chong , which literally means companion , not friend .  In Chamorro, friend is abok (indigenous) or amigo/amiga (Spanish-borrowed). Agofli'e (mutual beloved) is another option, while atungo' can also mean friend but can also have the sense of an aquaintance .  But ga'chong is a companion, not necessarily a friend, though one normally is accompanied by someone at least friendly.  A grandmother traveling on the plane with a grand daughter is not technically a friend to her grand daughter, but the grand daughter is the ga'chong or companion of the grandmother on the journey.

Even food can have a ga'chong .  If someone is having steak for dinner, s/he can be asked, " Ya h å fa ga'chong- ñ a ?"  What are you going to eat it with?

If a tool is made up of two components and one is missing, one can ask, " Ya m å no gaige i ga'chong- ñ a ?"  "Where is it's partner?"

But, today, ga'chong can be taken to mean a buddy, one of the gang, supporter, and this is the sense I think that is used in politics.

To talk about a group of ga'chong (plural), you put the prefix man before the word, as is done here. I Man Ga'chong Ful å no or I Man Ga'chong Jose would have been sufficiently correct.  But one could also throw in the word siha at the end. Siha is a plural marker.


Other Examples of Americanized Chamorro


Che'lus .  "I'm gonna check on my che'lus ."  Brothers.  Correct : my ma ñ e'lo or ma ñ e'lu .

Man Å mkos .  The elderly.  Correct : the man å mko' .

The P å les .  The priests.  Correct : the mam å le '.

Our t å tas and our n å nas .  Our fathers and mothers.  Correct : our man t å ta and our man n å na .

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT NOT TO SAY MOO

Saturday, July 7, 2012
apeconmyth.com

When the Americans first took over Guam, they discovered an unusual law left over from Spanish times.

If a man's cow got loose and damaged a neighbor's property, they arrested the cow - not the man!

The arrested cow (probably not in handcuffs) was actually taken to the Hag å t ñ a Jail!  But it was put in an enclosure outside.

The rationale?  The owner could not take the cow back till he paid a nice fine.  A nice way for the government to make money.

UNTOUCHABLE

Friday, July 6, 2012

Driving around I noticed a fencing project going up, but every single trongkon nunu (banyan tree) was left intact while everything else was bulldozed to make way for the new fence.

Some Filipino workers were taking a break and I wondered if they had an explanation.  There are banyan trees in the Philippines and Hawaii, but in neither place do the people associate these trees with spirits.

But, sure enough, this Filipino worker was told not to bulldoze the trongkon nunu because they are "spirit trees."

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Friday, July 6, 2012
minirobertsclan.blogspot.com

Being washed in the kitchen sink, after the pots and pans.

Yes, it really happened.  One of my few very early childhood memories.  Maybe 4 or 5 years old.  For whatever reason, my grandma and grand aunts never washed me in the shower.  Every evening, I was washed in the kitchen sink.  Effective time management?  Maximizing resources?

KADUKO!

Thursday, July 5, 2012


Oh what a twisted route we take to get to the bottom of this word.  It's enough to make you kaduko .

Well, if you were raised in a traditional Chamorro home, you heard the word kaduko early and often.  You were probably called this by your parents, siblings or relatives. Kaduka if you're female.

For us, it means "stupid, crazy, idiotic, foolish."

But where did we get the word?

From the Spanish caduco , but caduco does not mean "stupid, crazy, idiotic or foolish."

Ah, but it can mean "senile" or "decrepit," as in an older person who has "lost it."

I think, in time, Chamorros just started applying this word to anyone who seemed to have "lost it."  And thus Chamorros gave a Spanish word a new meaning, at least in the Marianas.

But caduco , in Spanish, also means "outdated, expired, faded, outmoded, invalid."  You can see how this was applied to elderly people who had "lost it."

And all this because caduco comes from the Latin root cadere , which means "to fall."  To be outdated is to fall from the last time a thing was in fashion or in force.  To expire is to fall from the date of expiration.

Because Latin is the foundation for many other languages which affected English, our English word cadence comes from cadere . Cadence is the rising and falling of, let's say, someone's voice, for example.

Cadaver also comes from cadere .  It is the body of someone who has fallen....forever...as in "dead."

You see how Spanish, and its Latin foundation, connects us linguistically with people all over the world.

Kaduko , man.

CHAMORRO LIBERTY

Wednesday, July 4, 2012
"Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ..."
~~~Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

The Declaration of Independence was, on one level, words on paper.  Like writing a check out to yourself for a million dollars.  If there's no million dollars in the bank, it's just ink and paper.  The Americans, and not all of them, mind you, had to fight for that independence.

Unless it will be decided unilaterally by other people (ahem...."consent?"), the future political status of the Chamorro people is something we will have to work very hard for, whatever that status might be one day.  Overcoming some powerful internal obstacles is one priority off the bat.  May I underline that I said, "of the Chamorro people."  I didn't say, "of Guam."

How do you say LIBERTY in Chamorro?

I wish I knew the pre-contact word for this concept, assuming our ancestors had the concept, which would seem odd had they not.

But most of our current Chamorro words for freedom and the like are borrowed from the Spanish.

Libertad in Spanish becomes libett å or libett å t in Chamorro.

But I prefer linibre , the noun form of the adjective and verb libre , "free" and "to free" respectively, because libett å is normally understood as "free from work," in other words "off" or "on vacation or break."

I also like sotta , to "let go," which comes from the Spanish soltar , of the same meaning.  I've never heard sotta used in noun form sinetta , but I suppose there's no law against it.


KÅNTA : TRONGKO TRONGKO TRONGKO

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

One of my favorites; because Mike Lagua ñ a sings it, and because it is based on the livelier version of the traditional Chamorrita melody.  This rendition focuses on several verses about the coconut tree, but Mike ventures off into some traditional lines about romance and childhood.

Lyrics


Trongko trongko trongko ginen papapa' gi edda'
sige hulo' nai man råmas pa' u fan flores ya u fanokcha.


( The tree, tree, tree from down there in the soil
keeps going up as a branch to flower and sprout .)


Ai ya mungnga yo' ni flores, sa' u na' måncha magagu-ho
ayo ya-ho i tinekcha para u påtte mañe'lu-ho.


( But I don't want flowers, because they will stain my clothes
what I want is the fruit to share with my brothers and sisters .)


Ginen na man gunut ya despues de man espiga,
tinattitiye ni daddek, ai i applok yan i binga.


( From the fiber of the trunk and afterwards the ear,
followed by the young coconut and the shoot .)


Annai dikkike' u' na finañågo tåya' yo' kumonsidera,
på'go sa' esta yo' tagu'on manmanånågo' ha' kuatkiera.


( When I was young no one paid attention to me,
now that I can do errands anyone at all orders me around .)


Bai hu hatsåye hao gimå'-mo guihe huyong gi mattingan,
i te'lang-mo para tehas i gigåt-mo barakilan.


( I will build you a house out there n the reef,
your bones for shingles, your veins for rafters .)


Likido hao na finañågo kumastiga i korason-ho,
bai hu måtai gi hilo' tåno' ya ti un li'e ine'sson-ho.


( You, the unique child, punish my heart,
I will die and you won't see my weariness .)


Bai hu rekohe i lago'-mo bai hu sahguan para tinta,
i sanhalom korason-mo i na'ån-ho bai hu fitma.


( I will collect your tears and store them as ink,
inside your heart I will sign my name .)



Notes
  • Pa' u is a contraction of para u
  • Daddek and applok are both young, meatless coconuts
  • The line about making a house on the reef using body parts for roofing is beyond my modern frame of mind.  This is truly something only those raised in that older ethos can fathom.
  • Likido na fina ñ ago has been explained to me as meaning "my only one, my unique one"
  • kumastiga i korason-ho has another version which goes kumaotiba i korason-ho or "captured my heart."
  • "you won't see my weariness" means "I will die on this earth and never get tired of you."
  • the last line about collecting her tears to use as ink to write his name on her heart has got to be some of the most touching poetry I have ever come across.

MIKE LAGUA Ñ A

He had a style all his own.  Big advocate of the Boy Scouts.  He would pop up with his guitar at wakes or man å mko' functions and sing.  Rest in peace.

CHAMORRON YAP

Tuesday, July 3, 2012
The Yap Visitors Bureau website has a good array of pics from the Yap Homecoming Festival held there last month, with this year's theme being the Chamorro community that lived on that island under the Spanish, German and Japanese administrations.

Check it out at http://www.visityap.com/todo_homecom2-04.html

Some of the pics from their website I'd like to highlight :


That's Tony Ramirez on the left at the reception held for the guests coming to the festival


Chamorros like their processions and this one included local Yapese


Pre-war photos of the Chamorro community on Yap were on display for viewing

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : ANÅKKO'

Monday, July 2, 2012
lipstickandplaydates.wordpress.com
ANÅKKO' NA ISLA

ANÅKKO' : Long

Kao an å kko' pat å he'?  Is it long or not?

Demasiao an å kko' na seremonias.  The ceremonies are too long.

Fam å han an å kko' na bestidu-mo.  Buy yourself a long dress.

An å kko' i gapotilu- ñ a.  His/her hair is long.

An å kko' i palabr å s- ñ a.  His words are (speech is) long.

Na' la an å kko' i tali.  Make the rope longer.

Taimano i inanakko'- ñ a?  How long was (is) it?

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN...

Monday, July 2, 2012
You ask for one hard-boiled egg for breakfast, and they give you four.  Or five.  Or six.

Man geftao i Chamorro .  Chamorros are generous.

CHAMORRO LÅPIDA

Sunday, July 1, 2012

CELINA Q. CASTRO

ma'agang para i inet
non i man Angeles
gi anae 13 meses edad ñ a
gi 29 Sep 1964.
AMDG

Or

CELINA Q. CASTRO
ma å gang para i inetnon
i man Å ngheles
gi annai 13 meses ed å t- ñ a
gi 29 Septiembre 1964.
AMDG

Or

CELINA Q. CASTRO
called to be with the company of Angels
when she was 13 months old
on September 29, 1964.

AMDG are the initials of a Latin phrase : Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam.  For the Greater Glory of God.

Rep å ra.  Notice.

KATESISMO #7

Sunday, July 1, 2012
22. H å f kumekeilek- ñ a na si Yu'us etetno?

Si Yu'us etetno kumekeilek- ñ a na si Yu'us t å ya' tutuhon- ñ a ni u guaha uttimon- ñ a.

23. H å f kumekeilek- ñ a na si Yu'us taihinekkok finayi- ñ a?

Si Yu'us taihinekkok finayi- ñ a kumekeilek- ñ a na si Yu'us ha sen tungo' kab å les todo i guaha siha; ha lili'e yan ha tutungo' i man ma'pos, i man gaige yan i man mamamaila' sin u linaisen i m å s man a'atok na hinasso siha.

23. H å f kumekeilek- ñ a na si Yu'us taihinekkok nina'si ñ å - ñ a?

Si Yu'us taihinekkok nina'si ñ å - ñ a kumekeilek- ñ a na si Yu'us pot solo i minalago'- ñ a ha' ha fa'titinas todo i malago'- ñ a sin h å f na minappot.

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Saturday, June 30, 2012
skepticality.com

"Maolek- ñ a å gu å guat p å tgon ki ni å gu å guat å mko'"
A stubborn child is easier than a stubborn senior.

A grandmother talked to me recently about leaving the States to come back here for a visit, leaving her husband (in his 70s) in the hands of her granddaughter (in her 20s).  She said, "I have to go back soon, because my husband isn't obeying my granddaughter about taking his medicines and avoiding foods that are bad for his cholesterol and blood pressure. Maolek- ñ a å gu å guat p å tgon ki ni å gu å guat å mko' !"

FAMILIA : FEJERAN/FEJARAN/FEJARANG/FEJERANG

Friday, June 29, 2012


Today's last name is considered a truly indigenous Chamorro name.  It certainly isn't Spanish or Filipino.  Remember that these spellings come from the Spaniards who spelled it the way they heard the name and filtered what they heard through their ears.  Even the Spaniards spelled a name two or more ways : Fejeran, Fejaran, Fejarang, Fejerang.

As I often point out to help us understand why this is so, imagine if I asked you to start writing what you hear if I began speaking to you in French or Italian.  Chances are you will not spell it correctly, according to standard French or Italian (assuming you didn't take French or Italian classes).  The same thing goes for the Spaniards when hearing Chamorro.

Now, what does Fejeran mean?  The first thing that attracts my attention is the prefix " fe ."  We see it in the name Fegurgur.  Knowing that Fegurgur was spelled many ways, including Fegotgot, we look up the word gotgot and find out it does have a meaning, "gossiper, story-teller, blabbermouth."

And what about " fe ?"  No modern dictionary talks about it, and all P å le' Roman says is that it is a radical, meaning a root word, but gives us no meaning.  Is it possibly a variant of fa' , which means "to change, make, pretend?"

Perhaps the " jeran/jaran/jerang/jarang " ending are all variations of h å lang , since the Spaniards often confused, in Chamorro, the L and the R (think of Malesso' versus Merizo)  If so, then Fejeran/Fejaran/Fejarang/Fejerang might have something to do with a loss of heart, which is what h å lang means.

Now, in 1897, there are many Fejerans, Fejarans, Fejerangs and Fejarangs living in Hag å t ñ a proper.  But the good number of people with those last names in Asan and Piti (Tepungan) leads me to believe that those two villages are probably the ancestral homes of people with these names, and that in time some of them moved into the capital city, which at the beginning of the 1700s had few Chamorro male heads of households living in it but was home to all the newcomers with names like Leon Guerrero, Camacho, Pangelinan and so on.

Don't be confused by the multiple spellings.  They are all really one name and quite possibly descendants of the same ancestors, more than likely someone from Asan or Piti (Tepungan).

SAIPAN.  I do know that Fejerans from Guam went north, to Saipan for sure (I knew some of them) but perhaps also to Rota and Tinian.  Not sure.

ILLITERACY ON GUAM 1901

Thursday, June 28, 2012
From the records of William Edwin Safford, the Secretary to the first American Governor of Guam, we read the following data for the year 1901 :

Can read and write

3,439 (46% )

Can read and sign name only

70 (1%)

Can read only

2,440 (32.5%)

Can sign name only

16 (.25%)

Cannot read or write

1,506 (20.25%)

Children younger than 7

2,205


Fully 20% of the population of Guam aged 7 years and up could neither read nor write.

In addition, the total number of people aged 7 and up who could not even write their own names in 1901 was 3,946 or about 52% of the population.

That's why, in document after document, many a Chamorro just put a cross (+) next to their name, wirtten for them by a clerk.

Although this Spanish-era document involves Carolinians, as well as Chamorros, it still gives you an idea how a clerk would write out the person's name, and the person who could not sign his own name would mark it with a cross (+).

On the left column, you will see three names of Carolinians who have a cross (+) after their names.  Three Carolinians, Bernardo Santamaria, Jose Ogumoro and Jose Taman, could sign their names, and so could all the Chamorros in this document.  But there are many other documents where some Chamorros, especially women, could not sign their names but simply etched a cross next to their names.

This is how some people explain the prevalence of the surname Cruz or de la Cruz in the Marianas and the Philippines.  "Cross" in Spanish is Cruz.  Since so many Filipinos and Chamorros couldn't sign their names and just put a cross where their names were written, they were called "of the cross," in Spanish, "de la Cruz."

I don't buy this explanation completely because baptismal records of adult converts and illegitimate babies do show that Spanish priests often gave them religious last names (de la Cruz/of the Cross; de los Reyes/of the Kings; de la Concepcion/of the Conception; and so on).

HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Remains of a Pre-War Wall in Hag å t ñ a

Drive all around Hag å t ñ a (who walks?) and you will not see much that makes you think of the past.  The Plaza is pretty obvious.  The San Antonio Bridge, where Sirena is now, can easily be missed if you're not looking for it.  The Lujan House is very visible, but only if you happen to drive down that street.  And a few other places.

I wonder if anyone looks at this wall, for example, and remembers that it survived the bombing of World War II.

But will it survive two hard parents?  Father Time and Mother Nature?

DOCTOR'S ORDERS

Wednesday, June 27, 2012
leasinghouston.org

Mamaisen i mediko, "Juan, kao un osge yo' nigap annai hu t å go' hao para un baba todo i dos bentan å -mo gi ku å tto-mo?"

"Hunggan, dok," ilek- ñ a si Juan, "lao guaha problema."

"H å fa?" mamaisen i mediko.

"Uno ha' na bent å na guaha gi ku å tto-ko." ilek- ñ a si Juan.  "Lao hu baba dos bi å he."

The doctor asked, "Juan, did you obey me yesterday when I told you to open both windows in your bedroom?"

"Yes, doc," Juan said, "but there was a problem."

"What?" the doctor asked.

"There's only one window in my bedroom," said  Juan, "but I opened it two times."

En Castellano

"Juan, me obedeciste ayer cuando te mand é que abrieras las dos ventanas de tu habitaci ó n?" le pregunt ó el m é dico a Juan.

"S í , doctor," dijo Juan. "Pero hab í a problema."

"Qu é ?" pregunt ó el m é dico.

"En mi cuarto una sola ventana hay," dijo Juan, "pero la abr í dos veces."

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : GUÅFE

Tuesday, June 26, 2012
nmsu.edu
GU Å FE : fire

I guafe.  The fire.  (pronunciation changes from å to a with the addition of the definite article)

U ma songge gi guafe.  It will be burned in  the fire.

Ha songge i pappet gi guafe.  S/he burned the paper in the fire.

Taihinekkok i guafen sasal å guan.  Hell's fire is eternal.

GUYURIA WITH A TWIST...OR A ROLL?

Monday, June 25, 2012


Guyuria is a food we adopted from abroad.  We made it local by adding coconut milk and shaping it the way we do and cooking it till hard as a rock.

This young man makes the characteristic grooves on the guyuria using, of all things, a Japanese sushi roller!

flickr.com
CHAMORRO GUYURIA

sjcervo.multiply.com

FILIPINO GOLLORIA
No coconut milk


folklore.panamatipico.com

PANAMANIAN GOLLORIA
Made with bananas!  Cooked in sugarcane syrup.


The original Spanish word is

GOLLERIA

which means : exquisite food, delicacies

MA DÅSAI SAN VICENTE

Sunday, June 24, 2012
tebowzone.com
I came across this photo of current sports idol Tim Tebow's rookie hazing haircut.  Veteran players put rookies in their place by giving them "unique haircuts."

Among Chamorros, this kind of a hair cut is called ma d å sai San Vicente .  San Vicente's haircut.  Why?  Take a look.

flickr.com
San Vicente Ferrer

Saint Vincent Ferrer was a Spanish saint and was well-known in the Marianas.  Many Chamorro homes had images of him, with his characteristic wings (his angelic life) and finger pointing to heaven.  And his monastic hair style stands out, too.


Apparently, the ma d å sai San Vicente can come in and out of fashion through the years.

KATESISMO #6

Sunday, June 24, 2012
20. H å f kumekeilek- ñ a na si Yu'us taihinekkok kinabales- ñ a?

Si Yu'us taihinekkok kinabales- ñ a kumekeilek-ña na si Yu'us taichii todo i kinabales- ñ a ni man si ñ a.

21. H å f siha i m å s man prinsip å t na kinab å les Yu'us?

I m å s man prinsip å t na kinab å les Yu'us este siha : si Yu'us etetno, taihinekkok finayi- ñ a yan nina'si ñ å - ñ a, taihinekkok minaulek- ñ a yan yinease'- ñ a.

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Saturday, June 23, 2012
danaehrlich.com
MAOLEK- Ñ A MAMAISEN KE LINAISEN

It is better to ask than to be overlooked.

Perhaps it takes the swallowing of one's pride, which never tastes good, but if you want something really bad, sometimes all it takes is to ask for it.

You don't always get it, and then you're stuck with wounded pride.

But if you don't ask, you may just lose what you could have gotten.

NATURÅT

Saturday, June 23, 2012

ANNUAL MEETING OF THE


GUAM CLAUSTROPHOBIA SOCIETY



When : June 22, 2012

Time : 6PM

Where : George Washington High School

(In the middle of the football field)

ESTORIAN PÅLE' DUEÑAS

Friday, June 22, 2012

Segun un å mko' ni ginen tumanores gue' guihe na tiempo, est å ba gue' na ma ñ e ñ etbe gi Misa ni ha tataitai si P å le' Due ñ as gi tiempon Hapones gi Gima'yu'us Inal å han.

Gi dur å nten i Misa, hum å lom un Hapones na send å lo ya sige de ha lal å tde si P å le' yan i tanores, lao ti ma komprende h å fa ilelek- ñ a i Hapones.  Si P å le' Due ñ as ni sikiera ti ha atan i send å lo, lao pumåran ñ aihon si P å le' tumaitai i Misa.  Nahong ha' si P å le' i ha na' tekkon i ilu- ñ a ya bumendito gue'.

I send å lo ha se ñ as na u ma puno' i dos d å nges ni ma sosongge gi hilo' i attat.  Ayo na ma komprende na muna' lal å lo' i send å lo i si ñ a i Amerik å no na batkonaire ma li'e i ininan i dos d å nges gi halom Guma'yu'us, sa' hohomhom ha' trabia guihe na ora.  Ya mag å het na i tanores ha osge i Hapones ya ha puno' i dos d å nges.

Lao annai m å 'pos i Hapones, kontento yan satisfecho, t å ya' singko minutos despues ma songge ta'lo i danges ya si P å le' ha na' fonhayan i Misa.

According to an elderly man who was an altar boy at the time, he was serving Mass said by Father Due ñ as during the Japanese time at Inarajan Church.

During the Mass, a Japanese soldier came in and kept scolding Father and the altar boys, but they didn't understand what the Japanese was saying.  Father Due ñ as didn't even look at the soldier, but he paused saying the Mass.  All Father did was bow his head and fold his hands.

The soldier gestured that they kill the two candles that were lit on the altar.  That's when they understood that the soldier was angry because the American planes could possibly see the light of the two candles inside the church, as it was still dark at that hour.  And an altar boy did indeed obey the Japanese and killed the two candles.

But when the Japanese left, content and satisfied, it wasn't five minutes later they lit the candles and Father finished the Mass.

I CHALÅN-TA : PÅLE' GIL STREET

Friday, June 22, 2012


P å le' Gil Street
in Santa Rita

This street is named after one of the old Spanish Capuchin priests of Sumay in the 1920s and 30s by the name of Father Gil de Legaria.  Here's a photo :


Chamorros could not pronounce final L, so they called him P å le' HIT.  The G in Spanish, when it comes before I or E, is pronounced like an H.

Capuchin tradition is we don't use our family surnames; we are known by the town of our birth.  So P å le' Gil was from a town in Spain called Legaria.  So he was P å le' Gil de Legaria.

He was a very short priest, but very lively.  He was always on-the-go and very talkative; a real extrovert.  He was always getting something going.  I guess a live-wire.

Besides being priest of Sumay, he was at one time the priest of Malesso' and Hum å tak.  When I was priest there, I used to give communion every Friday to an elderly lady in Malesso' in her 90s.  She was totally blind by then, and when her family would stir her from her bed because I had arrived to give her communion, she would ask "P å le' Hit!  P å le' Hit!"  I would pretend to be P å le' Gil and speak to her in Chamorro to assure her.  It was easier to do that than to explain to her that she was no longer in the 1930s.

EAT AN ALLIGATOR

Thursday, June 21, 2012

ALAGETA

The mangoes have been so plentiful this year, people are paying you to take them.  It seems we also have more than enough avocados to go around this year as well.  We've been getting bags and bags of them.

The Chamorro word for avocado is alageta .  I have often wondered about that because we know it is native to Central America and so it had to have been brought to the Marianas.  There was no indigenous name for it.  But in Spanish it is called aguacate .  The Filipinos call it abukado .  But alageta ? Where did we come up with that?

For years it did strike me that alageta sounds like a Chamorro pronunciation of alligator.  Sure enough, "alligator pear" is another English name for avocado.

Then I checked Safford, an American Naval officer who was secretary to the Governor in the very first years of the U.S. occupation of Guam.  Safford was interested in everything; language, plants, history, you name it.  And he wrote a lot of it down.

According to Safford, he introduced avocados to Guam.  So there we have it.  No wonder we don't even call avocados by their Spanish name, as we often do with fruits and vegetables introduced by the Spaniards.  This was brought in by an American, and another English name for avocado is "alligator pear," or, as we would pronounce it with our accent - alageta !

huntbot.andrew.cmu.edu
William E. Safford

Next time you eat a local alageta , you have him to thank for it

PARACHUTE BRIDAL GOWN

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

How lucky I am to know Tan Estefania, age 91 years and still as sharp as a tack.

Born in Palau, one of the small colony of Chamorro immigrants there.

But in 1946 she married and remained in Saipan till now.  That's where the parachute, and her wedding gown, come in.

This was right after the war.  Things were hard to come by.  And people had the ingenuity to make things from what was available, including military surplus.


Tan Estefania holds a photo of her and her late husband on their wedding day in 1946.

Brides wore THREE different dresses.  One for the wedding Mass, which was early in the morning (5AM or so).  Next, a gown for the lunch, which had fewer people, mainly immediate family.  A third frock for the evening fand å nggo where many people were in attendance.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : KUKARÅCHA

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

gameshaper.net

KUKAR Å CHA : unfortunately, the roach we see everyday, everywhere

Taken from the Spanish word cucaracha .  Which leads me to believe they didn't exist in the Marianas until they came on the ships.

Before there was Raid

Traditional Chamorro Roach Control Apparatus



codigovenezuela.com

ZORI

manila-photos.blogspot.com

GRANDMA'S SLIPPERS


mylot.com

THE DAILY NEWS
(Rolled Up)

businessinsider.com

WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY
(This one looks like it survived Typhoons Karen, Pamela and Pongsona)





KÅNTA : I KAPIYA

Monday, June 18, 2012


"I Kapiya" is a song that goes back a long time.  This recording was made by the Four Winds, a singing group in Saipan in 1971 which included Guam's own Gordon Tydingco, who was in Saipan at the time, I believe as a teacher.  There was a Carolinian member, Luis Limes, and two stateside members, Howard Kerstetter and Fred Ekman.

Johnny Sablan has his own version of this song with minor differences in the lyrics.

I kapiya, i kapiya
( the chapel, the chapel )
gi ka ñ å dan guinife
( in the valley of dreams )
annai atmonio dumad å dandan guihe.
( where the organ plays.)
Guaha un kantora yan si p å le'
( There is a singer and the priest )
na sum å saga guihe
( who stay there )
gi kapiya gi ka ñ å dan guinife.
( in the chapel in the valley of dreams.)

Bobongbong i korason-ho
( My heart was beating )
annai ma d å dandan i kamp å na
( when the bells were ringing )
dumimo yo' gi me'nan i attat
( I knelt before the altar )
annai para ta asagua.
( when we were to be wed .)

Ya iyo-mo yo' ya iyo-ko hao
( And I am yours and you are mine )
sa' man hula' hit guihe
( because we made our vows there )
gi kapiya gi ka ñ å dan guinife.
( in the chapel in the valley of dreams.)



FOUR WINDS
Tydingco (far left) and Limes (far right)
Kerstetter and Ekman in center

THE TOBACCO RACE

Monday, June 18, 2012
featurepics.com
DRIED TOBACCO LEAVES


From the outer islands of Yap, whose islanders always had historic connections with the Marianas, comes this interesting tale that involves Guam and Saipan.

Back in Spanish times, the Chamorros of Guam and Saipan grew their own tobacco.  It was a luxury item for the islanders south of us.  Islands like Ifaluk, Satawal, Woleai and the others who knew the sea routes to the Marianas and who used to trade with the Marianas.

One night, a husband overheard his wife sing a song that said that "her man" was going to Saipan to bring her back tobacco.

The man knew she couldn't have meant him, because they had never discussed this.  So, he figured, she must be talking about another man - a lover besides him.  So the man gets his male relatives and says, "Get out the canoe.  We're leaving island."

"Where?" the relatives ask.

"You'll find out," the man says.

The man and his relatives sailed straight to Guam and traded for tobacco, beating his wife's lover who sailed farther north to Saipan for the tobacco.  Returning home first, he gave his wife the tobacco and said, "Here's your tobacco.  Tomorrow, wait for your boyfriend.  You and I are finished!"

CHAMORRON YAP

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Chamorro Family in Yap
Early 1900s

In honor of the Chamorro community that lived in Yap from the 1880s until 1948, which was the theme for this year's Homecoming Festival in Yap this past weekend, here are some photos of the grave sites of some of these Yap Chamorros who later moved to and died in Tinian.



HOFSCHNEIDER


FLEMING


ADRIANO

SANCHEZ


Chamorro and Yapese Boys in front of the Catholic Church

The Chamorro boys in shirts and pants

ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Saturday, June 16, 2012

GUMA'YU'US HUM Å TAK
Å NTES

The Umatac Church (San Dionisio) around 1830.  The boys in the bottom right-hand corner march in procession, all dressed in identical white shirts, under the watchful eye of probably the village maestro or teacher.  Teachers taught religion and the boys would have learned how to serve and sing at Mass.


P Å 'GO

The Same Spot Today

When the old church was ruined beyond repair in an earthquake in the 1800s, the priests stopped re-building the church and instead built a new one at its present location further inside the village.

Counter to one's expectations, the Spanish missionaries tended to build the churches at the extreme end of the village, not right smack in the middle of the village.  Even in Hag å t ñ a, in Spanish times there was hardly anything east of the present-day Cathedral, where the PDN building is now.  That was all jungle.  In Inal å han, we see the same thing.  That church was built at the far end of the village.  The same with Hum å tak.

The idea may have been to avoid homes and the noise and business of everyday domestic affairs happening right around the church.

The ruins of the old church lie next to what used to be F.Q. Sanchez Elementary School.

WILL CHAMORRO DISAPPEAR?

Friday, June 15, 2012
Meet Gyani Maiya Sen.  She has nothing to do with Chamorro.  But maybe she does.


WHEN SHE DIES, SO WILL HER LANGUAGE
She's the last speaker of the language, Kusunda, in Nepal

Like many extinct or endangered languages, a group of people learn a second language, more politically, socially and economically beneficial than their native tongue.  That's the bilingual generation.  Their children understand the native tongue, but use the acquired language more.  Then their children, the third generation, neither speak nor understand much the native tongue, speaking and understanding only the acquired language.

HOW CAN YOU TELL WHEN A LANGUAGE IS DYING?

According to one idea :


A LANGUAGE IS...                                              WHEN......



EXTINCT



No speakers left


MORIBUND



Small number of speakers, mostly very old


SERIOUSLY ENDANGERED



Youngest good speakers are older than 50


ENDANGERED



Few children learning, youngest good speakers are adult



POTENTIALLY ENDANGERED


Beginning to lose child speakers; socially and economically disadvantanged; losing ground to more powerful language



VIABLE BUT SMALL


Speakers number 1,000+ but strong community, or isolated and identity tied to language



VIABLE


Large and thriving number of speakers of all ages



In my estimation, we on Guam qualify as Seriously Endangered.  I am 50, and I don't count myself a good speaker, and few of my classmates speak it better than me.  The best speakers of Chamorro, in my experience, are over 70 years.  And very few children are learning it, and those children who do speak it speak a basic form of it.  I have seen some who were taught Chamorro as children and who spoke a basic form of Chamorro as children more or less abandon it by the time they reach adolescence when peer approval becomes king.   It might seem to a child to be useful to speak basic Chamorro at home when mommy and daddy are constantly encouraging it and speaking Chamorro to the child.  But when the child enters adolescence and the language is no longer the tool for interacting with peers, the language holds less value for them.

Many young people are catching some Chamorro, but at a very rudimentary level and I don't hear them use Chamorro as the norm among themselves in ordinary situations like when they eat out or go to the movies.

On Saipan, the situation may be less dire, and could be at the Endangered level.  The children are certainly no longer learning it and speaking it, from my interaction with them.  Those in their 20s are less proficient; those 30 and up are better in Chamorro.

I suppose the situation might be better in Rota and Tinian but I don't know, except for isolated visits there recently where I detected that the children were no longer speaking Chamorro, but the 20-something were, though mixing a lot of English in it, too.

WRITING IT ALL DOWN

The linguists and ethnologists are all running to Gyani Maiya Sen to record her and write down as much as they can about the language.  But when she dies, and all we're left with is a book or tapes, the soul will be gone.  The body (words) may be recorded, but languages are living things.  Imagine you learning all your Russian from a book, with not a single other person to speak with in Russian.  After mastering the book, and meeting a Russian, you and the Russian will still have some communication issues, compared to two people who learned the language from a lived context.

DELTA GOES CHAMORRO...SORTA

Friday, June 15, 2012


Couldn't help but notice this at the airport.

Sagan Bisita = place of visitors

MARIANAS HISTORY CONFERENCE

Friday, June 15, 2012

Many luminaries in the fields of history, culture and language are gathered in Saipan this weekend for the first Marianas History Conference.


One of the non-luminaries at the podium.

FALÅGO GUATO GI AS SAN ANTONIO

Thursday, June 14, 2012


Yesterday was Saint Anthony's feast.

Whenever older Chamorros lost anything, they would be told, " Fal å go guato gi as San Antonio!  Fang å gao gi as San Antonio ya siempre ha soda'e hao ni malingu-mo ."  "Run to Saint Anthony!  Ask him and he will surely find what you lost."

Here's a story from a woman named Antonia, after the saint, whose husband Francisco found something missing.  So who found it?  Saint Anthony?  Or Saint Francis?  It doesn't matter, they were both Franciscans.

ENGLISH THE CHAMORRO WAY

Thursday, June 14, 2012
toonpool.com

Juan : Kao ma aprueba nigap i para ma tulaika i lai?
Jose : Hunggan, ya todo todo anonymous i desision.
Juan : H å fa kumekeilek-mo Jose?
Jose : Todo i senadot nai mangonfotme na debi di u ma tulaika i lai.  Puro ha' anonymous .
Juan : Kaduko! Unanimous kumekeilek-mo!

Juan : Did they approve yesterday that the law be changed?
Jose : Yes, and the decision was anonymous.
Juan : What do you mean?
Jose : All the senators were agreed that the law be changed.  It was all anonymous.
Juan : Crazy!  You mean "unanimous!"

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : ÅGUAGUAT

Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Å GUAGUAT : stubborn, quarrelsome, obstinate

Gof å guaguat este na p å tgon!  This child is so obstinate!

B å sta um å guaguat!  Stop being stubborn!

Pot i umaguagu å t- ñ a na ti sinede gue' as tat å - ñ a hum å nao.  Because of his stubborness, he wasn't allowed by his father to go.

Aguagu å te.  To be obstinate towards.

Ha aguagu å te i ma'g å s- ñ a.  He was obstinate towards his/her boss.

SMART "ÅLOK"

Wednesday, June 13, 2012
saudeviver.com

He wasn't just a smart aleck.  He was a smart å lok .

A friend asked me where I was and I said I was passing through Tiyan.

He said, "Your belly area?"

TUYAN / TIYAN

Ever wonder why it's called Tiyan, and not Tuyan?

For the same reason why a road and an area of Dededo is called I Sengsong, and not Songsong.  The root word is Songsong, but when you put the definite article "i," which means "the," it changes the initial vowel in Songsong to Sengsong.

The same goes for tuyan . Tuyan becomes " i tiyan ."  In time, the definite article is dropped to shorten the name and it remains Tiyan.  I suspect the same thing happened with Piti, which was probably I Piti (from puti , meaning "ache") in the beginning.

BUT WHY THE BELLY?

I suppose maybe because Tiyan sits in the center of the island, what would be the abdominal region if Guam were a human body.  Not far is Barrigada, derived from the Spanish word barriga which means "tummy."

atumesa.com

IT STILL MATTERS

Tuesday, June 12, 2012


Thirty years ago, a lot more candidates would boldly state their "better-known-as" family names.  That was when it mattered more; when the people knew these family nicknames and who was connected to them and if THEY were connected to them.  Nowadays, few candidates make this a part of their campaign advertising.

Still, this candidate is running for the first time and, since every vote counts, he's throwing it out there that he is from these clans. Candido (San Agustin), Kueto (Taitano), Lencho (Santos), Kacha (Shimizu).

One election many years ago, one candidate went so far as to say : If you are a Perez, Torres, Rodriguez, Cruz, San Nicolas, etc, etc, then we are related!  I think he listed 20 last names.  And yes, he won.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM GUAM WHEN....

Tuesday, June 12, 2012
spiritspeakstruths.blogspot.com

....YOU NEVER USE AN UMBRELLA

I was speaking to someone and the subject of umbrellas came up.

She said, "I don't own an umbrella."

And I said, "Right?  We just wait till the rain lightens then we dash from the car to the store, or vice versa."

THE FAMINE OF 1849

Monday, June 11, 2012
royal-portraits.blogspot.com
ISABELLA II
Queen of Spain during the Guam Famine of 1849

There was a time on Guam when food was so scarce, food had to be shipped from Manila to Guam.

The cause?  Typhoons and flooding which destroyed the crops.  A lack of nutrition lead to an epidemic.  Then there was a severe earthquake.  Finally a plague of worms which attacked the food supply.

By the time the emergency supply ship arrived on Guam, the government had auctioned off the last small quantity of rice.

Nor did the ship just bring food.  In Manila, concerned citizens raised money by holding theatrical performances.  This money was distributed among the people, which was needed because they had to buy the food brought by the supply ship, though at reduced prices.

In gratitude, the Governor, Don Pablo P é rez, ordered a Solemn High Mass of Thanksgiving, something rarely seen on Guam.  The priest of Agat, Father Manuel de la Encarnaci ó n, preached about the generosity of Spain.  Mass was followed by the chanting of the Te Deum (a thanksgiving prayer) and Benediction.

Furthermore, Governor P é rez decided to act as godfather to the very next girl born on Guam, to be named Isabella after the Queen; the Lieutenant Governor did the same for the next boy born, to be named Narciso after the Governor General of the Philippines, Narciso Claveria.

On September 16, 1849, the baby girl Isabella and the baby boy Narciso were brought to the Aga ñ a Church for baptism, with a huge number of people in attendance.  The Chamorros, Governor P é rez, said, were to look at these two children and future adults and remember always the goodness of the Spanish Government.  The Governor and Lieutenant Governor gave their godchildren 50 pesos each and fitted them in the best baptismal gowns available.


NARCISO CLAVERIA
Governor-General of the Philippines
The Marianas were a Province of the Philippines


HOW DO YOU SAY "FAMINE" IN CHAMORRO?

Hailas

Ha - i - las

LÅNCHON KOTPUS

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Hag å t ñ a
Sagr å do Korason de Jesus


Asan
Ni ñ o Perdido



Maina
Sagr å do Korason de Jesus


Sinaja ñ a
Sagr å do Korason de Jesus

KATESISMO #5

Sunday, June 10, 2012
17. H å ye si Yu'us?

Si Yu'us un espiritu gue', taihinekkok kinabales- ñ a, Sainan l å nget yan t å no', na ginen guiya todo minaulek.

18. M å no na gaige si Yu'us?

Si Yu'us gaige gi langet, gi tano' yan gi todo lug å t.

19. Pot h å fa na ilelek-ta na si Yu'us un espiritu gue'?

Si Yu'us un espiritu gue', sa' gai tiningo' yan libre na minalago', sin u gai tataotao.



CHANGE COMES FAST

Saturday, June 9, 2012
z7.invisionfree.com
WOODES ROGERS
English privateer describes Guam in 1710

Rogers gained notoriety as a successful pillager of Spanish ships and ports around the world.  When he came to Guam in March of 1710, he had no desire to wage war on the small Spanish colony, but he did want provisions, and was willing to fight to get them.

The Spanish, on the other hand, under Governor Antonio Pimentel, could not fight, and treated the British like welcome guests.  Rogers describes how life had changed for the Chamorros in just 15 years since the last Chamorro-Spanish battle.

WHAT WAS DIFFERENT

Fruits brought in by the Spaniards : watermelons, lemons, oranges, melons.

Animals brought in by the Spaniards : cattle and hogs, the latter very tasty since they fed on breadfruit and coconuts.

People brought in by the Spaniards :  the 200 soldiers brought in from Latin America, the Philippines and maybe a few from Spain were marrying the native women.

WHAT REMAINED THE SAME

The men were still being described as tall and strong.

They were still expert stone-slingers, rarely ever missing their target.

They still wore the bare minimum in clothing.

They still were making the proas or sakman canoes.

THE FINANCIAL CRISIS

Saturday, June 9, 2012
meribakchodi.com

Ful å no went to his local bank to try and get money from the ATM.

When he slid his card in the slot, the card was rejected.

The ATM screen lit up saying "Insufficient Funds."

Ful å no scratched his head and said to the ATM, "Yeah, but who?  Me or you?"

LÅPIDAN SUMAY

Friday, June 8, 2012

Gravestone of a Chamorro in Sumay Cemetery
In Spanish

At the top of this l á pida are the initials R.I.P. for the Latin Requiescat In Pace , which means "Rest In Peace."

Then it reads :

Aqu í yacen los restos
mortales de D. Juan
de la Cruz que falleci ó
el d í a 28 de Marzo
del a ñ o 1910.

( Here rest the mortal
remains of Don Juan
de la Cruz who passed away
on the 28th day of March
in the year 1910 .)

At the bottom, barely legible, is written :

Su hijo D. Ygnacio
le dedica este cari-
ñ oso recuerdo.

( His son Don Ygnacio
dedicates to him this
loving memorial .)


NOTES




I LA TADDUNG NA FINO' CHAMORRO

Friday, June 8, 2012
A lady, who is leading the nobena in her family, asked me about a word in the nobena that she didn't understand.

The word is hainge .

It doesn't appear in the newer Chamorro dictionaries.

Hainge , according to P å le' Roman, means "to appear."

So, the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary. Si San Gabriel ha hainge si Maria .

Pale' Roman was always trying to re-introduce obsolete Chamorro words which the newer generations were dropping.

THE KIND PEOPLE OF SUMAY

Thursday, June 7, 2012


For three years in the 1990s, I would cover Santa Rita parish for 2 or 3 months.  It may seem like a short time but it didn't take me long to form close friendships with many wonderful people there.

There's always been something special about Santa Rita people which goes back to their roots in Sumay, where Naval Station is today.  Even the Spanish missionaries wrote about this special flavor of the Sumay people : very devout Catholics who took their religion seriously; kind, respectful, loving.

This is borne out in this lady's testimony of her life growing up in pre-war Sumay.

When I covered the parish in Santa Rita, weekday Mass, which is not obligatory, was always well-attended.  The pre-Mass devotions drew people to church an hour before Mass.  The people prayed the devotions and sang the hymns with fervor.  Santa Rita at one time had one of the largest Ni ñ o group on Guam for a middle-sized village.  Well over 100 people, of all ages, even the young altar boys, gave up their time on Christmas, New Years and other days to take the Ni ñ o around the village.

The people are generous.  All I needed to do was give a slight hint that I liked something, and by that afternoon or the next morning, I would find a bag or box of it at my door.  When I think about what is best about Chamorro people, I think of Santa Rita.

I miss my summers in Santa Rita.

FAMILY NICKNAMES : PINA'LEK

Thursday, June 7, 2012
capoto.com
PINA'LEK

A branch of the Lizama family in Saipan and Guam is called Familian Pina'lek .

Pina'lek is a condition of dizziness, headache, upset stomach and heartburn caused by something eaten or drunk.

I have no idea how this family got this nickname, but chances are someone in the family long ago ate or drank something and had a very bad reaction, and was called Pina'lek , and then his or her descendants were as well.

YOU LEARN SOMETHING NEW

Wednesday, June 6, 2012
aimdigital.com.ar

A woman came up to me after Mass and said, " H å fa na kl å sen gulusina ya-mo ?"

Now I have heard of golondrina , but it was the first time I ever heard gulusina .  So I asked her what it meant.

She said, " Fruta pat gollai ."  "Fruit or vegetables."

Curious, I looked it up in several dictionaries.  P å le' Roman says it means golosina , which is Spanish for "sweet treats," like the picture above.

Newer Chamorro dictionaries say it means sweet fruits like pineapple, watermelon, oranges.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE IN GUAM WHEN...

Wednesday, June 6, 2012
urnsnw.com

A departed Chamorro, who never wanted to be cremated, is mistakenly cremated by the funeral home, and the surviving family members - Chamorros - do NOT file a lawsuit.

This actually happened recently on Guam.

Times are changing, but Chamorros in the past generally hesitated to sue in court.



I KOTTE

T å ya' taotao.

FAMILIA : MESA

Tuesday, June 5, 2012
apellidomeza.blogspot.com
MESA

"Mesa" in Spanish means "table."  Two tables figure in the coat-of-arms above.

There is more than one possibility how this name originated.  It depends on what part of Spain the family came from.  There are different Mesa families scattered throughout Spain, and they didn't all come up with the last name Mesa in the same way.

For some, the family took as their last name the name of a village or town or area.

Even the spelling can differ.  Remember that for people from southern Spain, and for Spanish-speakers in the Americas, Z and S sound the same.  Zaragoza is pronounced Saragosa.  Perez is pronounced Peres.  So some people spell it Meza, but for many of them it sounds exactly the same as Mesa.

That's why in the Marianas, where the Spanish Z and S sounded exactly the same, in the old records, sometimes it was spelled Mesa, sometimes Meza, just as we see in Blas and Blaz.

Sometimes it was de Mesa , "de" meaning "of."  Many times, however, the "de" wasn't used and it was totally dopped by the time the Americans took over Guam.

Appears in the 1727 Census

The Mesas in the Marianas go back a long time.  Jacinto de Mesa appears in the list of Spanish soldiers on Guam in 1727.  As we always say, this doesn't mean he was definitely from Spain.  He could have been; but he could also have been from Latin America (a Mexican, Peruvian, Chilean) though more than likely, had he come from Latin America, he could have been a pure-blooded Spaniard born in Latin America or one with mixed blood (Spanish and something else).

Jacinto was married to Maria de Leon Guerrero.

In the 1758 Census, there is still only one Mesa listed, again in the list of Spanish soldiers.

He was Manuel Gonzalez de Mesa, married to Margarita de la Vega.  We cannot be sure if there is any link whatsoever between him and the earlier Jacinto, but there could have been.

By the 1897 Census, there were many Mesas, mostly in Hag å t ñ a, but some had moved down to H å gat by then.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : MALÅNGO

Tuesday, June 5, 2012
sickcerberus.com
MALÅNGO : sick

Mal å ngo yo'.  I am sick.

Kao mal å ngo hao?  Are you sick?

Mumal å ngo gue'.  S/he became sick.

An å kko' i malangu- ñ a.  S/he was sick a long time.

Mamalango.  Sickly.

Ti mamalango.  S/he isn't sickly.  Rarely gets sick.

Hamalango.  Frequently sick.

Hamlango.  A contraction of the same word (hamalango).

Na' malango.  Makes one sick.

Na' malango este na lug å t.  This place can make one sick.

Mal å ngon pulan.  Menses.  Menstrual period.  Literally "monthly illness."

Mal å ngon gineflie.  Love sick.

Malanguye.  Cause of illness.

H å fa un malangunguye?  What is making you sick?

Fanmalanguyan.  Hospital.  Place of the sick.  Infirmary.

AGAT IN 1827

Monday, June 4, 2012
nps.gov

ARROW : original Agat
X : present-day Agat

The original site of the village of Agat was north of the present-day village.  On the map, the long dark arrow point left shows the spot.  The map is of the 1944 American invasion of Guam.

After the invasion, Agat was so destroyed that the Americans decided to move everyone about a mile south to "New Agat."  It was really called "New Agat," where the present village is, where the big X is seen on the map.  I am old enough to remember some people still calling it "New Agat" in the late 60s and early 70s.  I think the fact that all of Orote Peninsula became a naval base also made it desirable (for the Navy) to move the village a bit farther away.

Manuel Sanz, a Spaniard, tells us what the original Agat (H å gat) looked like in 1827.


LIFE IS NOT FAIR

Monday, June 4, 2012
teachingmyfriends.blogspot.com

Dorn Hall.  Hag å t ñ a.  1926.

Demasiao burukento si Juan yan si Alejandro gi eskuela ya lal å lo' i maestra nu i dos.

Ilek- ñ a i maestra, "Eh!  Hamyo na dos!  Tohge gi me'nan pis å ra ya en tige' i na'an-miyo kab å les sien beses!"

Ilek- ñ a si Alejandro, "Ma' å se' Se ñ ora!  Ti husto ennao!"

"Hah?!? Sa' h å fa?" mamaisen i maestra.

"Sa' guiya, i kab å les na na' å n- ñ a si Juan Blas Cruz ha'.  Lao gu å ho si Alejandro San Nicolas Leon Guerrero!"

Juan and Alejandro were just too noisy in school and the teacher got mad at them.

The teacher said, "Hey!  You two!  Stand at the black board and write your full names a hundred times!"

Alejandro said, "Have mercy ma'am!  That isn't fair!"

"What? Why so?" asked the teacher.

"Because his full name is just Juan Blas Cruz.  But mine is Alejandro San Nicolas Leon Guerrero!"

CHAMORRO NOBENA WRITTEN BY A CHAMORRO

Sunday, June 3, 2012


Contrary to what many people believe, the Basque Spaniard P å le' Roman Maria de Vera did not write and translate into Chamorro every single novena or prayer book.

This nobena , to the Most Holy Trinity, was translated from the Spanish into Chamorro by a Chamorro, Don Juan Diaz Torres in 1918.  Many of the Torreses were originally "de Torres" and then they dropped the "de" during American times.

He was an educated man who knew Spanish well enough to translate the Spanish novena into Chamorro.  He uses the Spanish method of citing names; his father's last name comes first.  Juan de Torres y Diaz.  "Y" means "and."  His mother was a Diaz.

He also uses the Spanish method of citing dates.  First the day then the month then the year.  The 7th of April of 1918.


The hymn to the Trinity sounds like this.  I'll provide the chorus and at least the first verse :

Ta kant å ye i inino ( Let us sing to the oneness )
gi tres na Petsonan Yu'us . ( of the three Persons of God .)
S å ntos, S å ntos, S å ntos Saina ( Holy, Holy, Holy Lord )
tres yan uno ha' na Yu'us . ( three and only one God .)

Ma ta adora, manhengge , (Let us make adored, oh faithful ,)
i takkilo' yan taichii ; ( the high and infinite ;)
ennao i mina' fanhuyong ( He who brought forth )
todo i si ñ a ta li'e . ( all that we can see .)
Ta na' m å 'gas, ta na' lokka' ( Let us exalt, let us elevate )
i sen tag å hlo na Yu'us ...( the most high God ...)

Today happens to be Trinity Sunday.

ININO

Many Chamorros, even older ones, are at a loss how to understand the word inino, which appears in this hymn .  It comes from the word uno , meanng "one."

When you want to make this word (an adjective) a noun, you place the infix "in" within the word.

For example, ma'lak is Chamorro for "bright."  That's an adjective; it describes something.  To say "brightness," place the infix "in" within ma'lak and it becomes m in a'lak . A noun.

So, uno becomes inino .  "One" becomes "oneness."


JUAN DIAZ TORRES

From the prominent Torres family.  He was one of the small committee of elites, under Padre Palomo, who tried to run Guam during the chaotic transition from Spanish to American
governments.  He held civil positions under both administrations.

He was one of the early Chamorro teachers of P å le' Roman, since he spoke good Spanish.

TAICHI?

sinohotel.com
Why does this hymn talk about the Chinese form of exercise called Taichi?

It's not taichi but taichii .

Chii in Chamorro means "extent, limit, boundary."

Mano chii-mo ?  How far did you get?  How far did you go?  Where did you finally end up?

Tai means "without."

Taichii means "without limit" or infinite.

20 SOMETHING TECHA

Sunday, June 3, 2012


I had to drop something off at the Santa Ana Chapel in H å gat yesterday.

As I approached the door, I heard people praying in Chamorro.  I expected to open the door and see man å mko' .

What a surprise!  Not only was the techa young, but three of the four people praying with the techa were young.

Two of them are just 18 years old; the other two are in their 20s.

Two amazing things :

1. That young people were praying and leading the prayers;
2. That young people were praying in Chamorro.

There is hope, people!

SI CHAILANG YAN I TINANOM-ÑA SIHA

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Chailang is a vivacious, cheerful friend of mine from Saipan since the 1990s.

When I last visited her, we talked about many things but she also showed me the things she has growing around the house.

Sunin Honolulu .  Taro imported some time ago from Hawaii?

Mendioka .  Tapioca. The yellow kind ( amariyo ).  Which she says is considered tastier.

Ch å' guan Lemon .  Lemon Grass.  Stuff it in a roast pig to flavor the meat.

Alageta .  Avocado.  All the rage now in health circles.

Å bas .  Guava.  The leaves can be used medicinally.

Pap å ya .  One tree is p å smo (withered), the other as strong as the telephone pole, she says.  " Haligen telefon. "  I had never heard the word p å smo applied to a plant before, only to pneumonia in humans, so I laughed.  Now I know.  You can learn something new everyday if you just look and listen.

Lalanghita .  A kind of green orange.  From the Spanish naranjita , or "little orange."

Lemmai . Breadfruit. Lemmai Bal å ko to be exact. Bal å ko means "boar," or large male pig.  There's also the variety known as either Lemmai Palau (Palau Lemmai) or Lemmai M å hlos (Smooth Lemmai).  Some Chamorros (as you can hear Chailang say) pronounce m å hlos "m å slos."  Chailang says the Bal å ko variety is native to the Marianas, and the M å hlos variety from elsewhere (she says her sister's tree probably came from Ponape), hence the other name Lemmai Palau .

ATCHA BABY!

Chailang is known all over Saipan for her signature phrase, "Atcha baby!" which can mean anything, as long as it is positive.  She says it several times in the video.

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : MA ATAN BUÑUELOS

Friday, June 1, 2012

BU Ñ UELOS

For some reason, when someone gives you the googly eyes to send you the message that they think you're crazy, Chamorros say they are giving you the bu ñ uelos look. Ma atan bu ñ uelos .

kassonpubliclibrary.blogspot.com
MA ATAN BU Ñ UELOS

Why am I thinking maple syrup?

FALSE FRIENDS : PUEDE

Friday, June 1, 2012
False Friend : a word that sounds and looks the same in two different languages, but mean two different things

PUEDE

The Chamorro word puede means "maybe, perhaps, hopefully, possibly."

Puede si Yu'us ha bendise hit todos .  May God bless us all.

Kao si ñ a ma cho'gue?  Puede ha' .  Can it be done?  It's possible.

We got the word from the Spanish, but it means something slightly different in Spanish.

In Spanish, puede means "he, she, it can."  It's more definite.

GRANDMA'S AT THE MOVIES

Thursday, May 31, 2012
In Chamorro culture, grandma rules.


Gu å ho m å 'gas!
I'm the boss!

But who, in the 1930s, ruled grandma?

biography.com
SHIRLEY TEMPLE

According to an American visitor to Guam in the late 1930s, there was only one thing that could get grandma out of the house, besides church , and that was to see Shirley Temple in one of two movie theatres in Hag å t ñ a.

Elderly grandmas in their mestisas filled the theatres to watch Shirley, not understanding a word.  But who needed to, with her winsome smile, golden curls and cutesy singing and dancing?

Mothers took their girls to the beauty salons to give their daughters Shirley Temple curls.

CHAMORRO THEOLOGY

Thursday, May 31, 2012
stthomastheapostle.org

Humosme Misa dos na sotterita, ya annai esta m å kpo i Misa, mamaisen i un sotterita, "H å fa kumekeilek- ñ a si P å le' annai ilek- ñ a na annai umassagua dos na taotao, esta ti dos na uno ha'."

Manoppe i otro na sotterita, "Kumekeilek- ñ a si P å le' na yanggen ma ñ om i asagu å -mo, h å go lo'lo'."

Two young ladies attended Mass, and when Mass was over, one of them asked, "What did Father mean when he said that when two people get married, they are no longer two but one."

The other young lady answered, "Father means that when your husband has a cold, it is you who coughs."

ENGLISH THE CHAMORRO WAY

Wednesday, May 30, 2012
guam-style.com
Standing in front of me at the (long) check-out line at Kmart were a 10-year-old boy and his mom, who's in my generation.  Mom had more of a local accent; the boy less so.

The boy says to mom, "Mom, they have two ice cream machines over there."

She said, "Before, nothing!"

It occured to me that I just heard a real Chamorro-ism.  Something that I don't think you would ever hear from a statesider.

In Chamorro, she would have said, " T å ya' å ntes !"  "Nothing before!"  An inversion, but still - a statesider would have said, "There wasn't any before."  Or even, "Before, they had none at all."

"Before, nothing!"  Gotta love it.

SGAMBE

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Adolfo Camacho Sgambelluri
"Sgambe"

His story almost sounds as thrilling as a James Bond novel.

Adolfo C. Sgambelluri, also known as "Sgambe," found himself in an unenviable position as a police officer working for the Japanese during World War II.  To some Chamorros, Sgambe was doing the work of the enemy.  But the other side of the coin was that Sgambe used his position and knowledge to forewarn his fellow Chamorros.

This was ironic, in a way, because, prior to the war, Sgambe, already a policeman under the American administration, was tasked to observe and file reports on the Japanese residents of Guam, since war was already a possibility people acknowledged some years before the war actually broke out.

When the Americans returned to Guam, Sgambe was put in the stockade, along with the Japanese and their associates.  To some observors, this was almost a guilty verdict that Sgambe had collaborated with the Japanese.  What they didn't know was that Sgambe was in the stockade because he wanted to be there.  The idea was that he would learn as much as he could from the other detainees.  He would then pass on this information to the Americans.

Sgambe's undercover assistance in obtaining valuable evidence that was used in the prosecution of Japanese and other war criminals was noted by the American military.

Sgambe went on to be the first Chamorro sent for training by the FBI.  He returned to Guam from the FBI Academy and served in several government positions, his longest tenure as Chief of Customs and Quarantine.  After 16 years in that role, he retired in 1971 and passed away in 1985.




CHAMORRON REDONDO BEACH

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

So way across the Pacific Ocean in California, Chamorro was heard in the hallowed halls of Saint James Church last Sunday, which was Pentecost.

As you may remember, people from different parts of the world heard Saint Peter preach in their own languages on Pentecost.  So, this parish decided to have the General Intercessions prayed in different languages reflective of the congregation.

So my friend Joanne, from the Carbullido clan, asked me to help her with her intercession in Chamorro.  Here she is at church, in mestisa no less, with her tropically-clad granddaughter Anaya. Good job!

( Photo courtesy of Joanne )

YOU KNOW YOU'RE ON GUAM WHEN....

Tuesday, May 29, 2012



...you give the news vendor $2 even though the paper only costs $1 because "he's out all day in the hot sun."

Na' ma'ase' i kilisy å no!  N å 'e i taotao dos pesos !

Poor thing!  Give the guy two bucks !

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Tuesday, May 29, 2012
canstockphoto.com

Mungnga ma baba i payo gi halom guma'.

Don't open an umbrella inside the house.


Or else something bad will happen...

...someone gets sick, dies...

Chamorro word for superstition

CHAT HINENGGE

Hinengge comes from hongge , "to believe."

Chat is a prefix meaning "done badly, imperfect, defective."

Chat hinengge = defective, improper, wrong belief

CHE'CHO' KADUKO

Monday, May 28, 2012
juanst.com

Un Amerik å no m å tto Guam manbisisita ya hum å nao gue' para un kantit para u li'e i tase.  Est å ba un taotao segurid å t ya sinang å ne gue' ni Amerik å no, "Peligro este na kantit.  Debe de u guaha 'sign' pot no u famoddong taotao gi tase."

Ilek- ñ a i gu å tdia, "Ginen guaha 'sign' lao in na' suha."

"Sa' h å fa?" mamaisen i Amerik å no.

"Sa' annai esta sais meses ya t å ya' ni uno poddong gi tase, in na' suha."

An American came to Guam on a visit and he went to a cliff to look at the ocean.  There was a security guy there and the American told him, "This cliff is dangerous.  There should be a sign so people won't fall into the sea."

The guard said, "There used to be a sign but we removed it."

"Why?" asked the American.

"Because after six months and nobody fell into the sea, we removed it."

AN GUMUPU I....BATKONAIRE

Monday, May 28, 2012


Let me take you on a virtual flight from Tinian to Saipan, from the safety of your desk, chair or bed.

Air travel between Tinian and Saipan is regular and frequent....but unpredictable.

The small planes wait till there are enough passengers to justify using up the gas.  In my case, I waited and waited, and when it looked like I was the only passenger at least for a while, they put me on the plane as the sole passenger.  But they can always make money from cargo.

I used to sit next to the pilot at times back in the 90s when I was a priest in Saipan and would fly to Tinian.  He'd ask me to open and close the window on take -off.  I thought I should've gotten at least a few dollars off the fare for helping fly the plane.

Totally unrelated story.  Years ago I was helping cover a parish in Hawaii and a parishioner's boyfriend was a pilot who flew a small plane as this one in the video, taking small cargo to the small islands of Lanai and Molokai.  For the price of helping him carry cargo on and off the plane, he said I could go with him.  And that is how I saw two islands I probably never would have been to; Lanai and Molokai.

Back to Tinian.  In the 90s, I had a Healing Mass every Monday for the sick and I recognized an elderly man would always come for the blessing after Mass.  This elderly man was usually the pilot on these quick flights to Tinian and back.  I mentioned to him after Mass one time, "I really pray for you a lot when you come for the blessing."  "Why?" he asked me.  I said, "You know you're usually the one flying me to Tinian, right?"  "Yes," he said.  "Well, don't forget, there's no co-pilot!"

KAO UN HONGGE?

Sunday, May 27, 2012
hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com

Guam went through a horrible influenza epidemic in 1918.  The flu killed 858 people on Guam in just 2 months.  That was about 14 people a day.  Of course, at first there was a trickle of deaths in the beginning, and fewer as the flu abated, with as many as 50 deaths in one day at its peak.  With so many deaths in a day, bodies were hurriedly wrapped in sheets and buried in a common grave.

Here's a story about this episode of Guam's history, told by a woman, now deceased, who lived through it.  It is up to you to believe it or not.

Two men hired by the government to haul cadavers to the cemetery were carrying one body wrapped in a sheet when all of a sudden they heard a muffled voice say,

" Ti mamatai yo' !"  "I'm not dead!"

One of the men said,

" Esta ilek- ñ a i mediku na m å tai hao, pues m å tai hao ."  "The doctor already pronounced you dead, so dead you are!"

And proceeded to bury the person declared dead by the government.

Perhaps the men had such a tight schedule with all those bodies to bury that no unexpected resurrection was going to delay them.

Which reminds me, ever wonder where the expression "saved by the bell" comes from?  Google it.

LÅPIDAN SUMAY

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Gravestone of a Chamorro in Sumay Cemetery
In Chamorro

It reads :

LUIS C. SABLAN

Mafa ñ ago gi

Sept. 23, 1886

Matai

gi

Oct. 23, 1936

It is the grave of Luis C. Sablan, born in 1886 and deceased in 1936.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : MASAHALOM

Saturday, May 26, 2012
healthlifehuman.blogspot.com

MASAHALOM : to sweat, sweat, perspire, perspiration

Masahalom yo'.  I am sweaty.

Mungnga hum å lom sa' masahalom hao.  Don't go in because you're sweating.

Man masahalom i famagu'on.  The children are sweating.

Na' masahalom.  Make one sweat.

Na' masahalom este na lug å t.  This place makes one sweat.

Hamasahalom.  Frequently sweats.

Hamasahalom si Bob sa' mepplo gue'.  Bob sweats a lot because he's hairy.

Cooked on the inside

Masahalom is an interesting word because it is made up of two words : m å sa , which means "cooked," and h å lom , which means "inside."

To sweat is to seem to be cooked on the inside, and just as any cooked dish gives off steam, we sweat as we cook on the inside.

CHAMORRON SAN LAGO

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Check out what our ma ñ e'lo in Southern California are doing to promote our language among the famagu'on .

To showcase the progress these young ones are making, on May 20 at a theater in Long Beach, CA, the man hoben stood before their audience and showed their Chamorro-speaking skills.



Group Photo


The older ones (secondary class)


For more info :


Thanks to Heidi Chargualaf-Quenga for sending me this.

N Å 'E Å NIMO!

YOUNG CHAMORRO HYMN WRITER

Friday, May 25, 2012

Continuing the tradition of P å le' Roman
LARRY BORJA

This young man, for all his youth, is committed heart and soul to traditional Chamorro hymnology.  He tries to learn them all, and researches their origins.  Just a little digging reveals that the majority of our Chamorro Catholic hymns are translations of pre-existing hymns from Europe, mostly Spanish, some Basque and a sprinkling of others.

So it is in complete adherence to tradition for Larry to take a Basque-Spanish hymn and compose a Chamorro version.  He wrote these Chamorro lyrics for a song he is planning to have sung at the upcoming Sacred Heart fiesta in Chalan Pago.  The orthography (spelling) is his :

1. Matuna hao – Korason Santo;
Hago, Magas giya hame;
Minagof todo i manñantos;

Hulon , Rai yan Sainanmame!
Bendise ham, Asaina, - Mames Korason Jesus;
yan pulan ham Santa Maria. – Umageftuna-ha, hamyo;
yan pulan ham Santa Maria. – Umageftuna-ha, hamyo.
2. Taihinekog na Yuus Tata, -
umatuna i Nananmo.;
Asie ham, - i taotao haya ;
sa Hago ha’ sen takhilo!
3. Hago, ni matai gi Kiluus;
Nae ham ni bendisionmo.
Yoase na Kinilon Yuus,
todos ham famaguonmo!
4. In adora hao, Jesukristo,
gi sensantos na Ostia.
Umamaila i gobietnomo,

Magas Rai i man rai siha!
5. O Ininan si Yuus Tata,
I Santos na Espiritu;
Sainan manna nae linala;
Umatuna tai finagpo!
6. “Si Yuus gaige giya hago”
Santa Marian Kamalen,
Adahi ham yan i Lahimo;
Hago sen gasgas na Bithen.

Some Remarks

Hulon - this is an obsolete word, not used today, but this is a good way of reviving it.  Among its several meanings, here it means "someone in authority."

Taotao H å ya - was an older way of referring to Chamorros.  The people who came from the direction of the ocean were the Gi Lago or Taotao L å go .

Kinilo - means "lamb"  The problem is there were no lambs on Guam, so Chamorros borrowed the Spanish word for "lamb" - cordero .  But therein lies another problem; two, actually.  We Chamorros cannot pronounce an R or an L which come before another consonant.  It becomes a T, as in when we say K å tlos when we mean Carlos.  Second, we just have a hard time with R no matter where it is placed, so cordero becomes kotdelo , and in time it becomes kinilo .

A Good Example

That a man in his late 20s can do this is not only a tribute to his talent but also serves as an inspiration for other young people to cast off all self-doubt and try their hand at doing Chamorro versions of lyrics, poetry or prose.  Just make sure to have someone solid in the language look it over.

ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Friday, May 25, 2012

UMATAC BRIDGE
Going up in the 1980s


UMATAC BRIDGE
Today


Many people were beyond belief when they first saw this bridge going up in little ole Hum å tak.  But we've gotten used to it.

I knew one of the landowners who said that the government built one of the four towers on his private property.  "One of those towers is mine!" he used to tell me with great satisfaction.

LOST SURNAMES

Friday, May 25, 2012
ALEJANDRO

There once was a woman named Ramona Aguon Alejandro.  From the Aguon, we know she was Chamorro.  Alejandro is Spanish for Alexander, but we don't know if her father or grandfather was a Filipino, Mexican, Spaniard or what-have-you.

Ramona married Andres Camacho Castro.  They had at least three sons, maybe more :  Marcos, Jose and Francisco.  These three are listed in the 1897 Census, but Ramona had died by then.

There is also a widow listed in 1897 by the name of Josefa Alejandro.  She could have been Ramona's sister.

But there were no males surnamed Alejandro in the 1897 Census, and the name died out.

COOL CARABAOS

Thursday, May 24, 2012


Carabaos need to be in some form of water throughout the day.  Mud will do, too.

These carabao were refreshing themselves in the river that flows through Hum å tak.

Right after I shot this video, three older teenagers walked passed me and made small talk with me as they did.  My passenger, who remained in the car watching it all, told me after I got back into the car that the three teenagers hid their beer cans to their sides or under their shirts as they approached me.

Can't let P å le' see the beer!

ILEK-ÑA SI PÅLE'

Thursday, May 24, 2012
Excerpts from a Chamorro sermon written in 1873.

I mismo na momento na ma desåpatta i ante gine i tataotao taotao, ayo mismo na momento ma sodda' i ante na gagaige gi me'nan Jesukristo para u nina'e gue' kuenta ni i todo na bidå-ña, u sodda' guihe lokkue' i Sånto Ånghet ni i pumulan gue', yan i anite para u fa'aila' gue'. An ta sodda' na si Jesukristo ha a'atan hit yan i sen yo'ase' ya sen mames na inatan, na sen magof i såntos na ånghet-ta, ya sen lalalo' i anite, sen fiho na señåt na man måtai hit gi gråsian Yu'us; lao an ta sodda' na si Jesukristo ha a'atan hit yan i sa'pet na inatan, na ti magof i sånto na ånghet-ta ya sumen magof i anite, fiho na señåt na man måtai hit gi desgråsian Yu'us muna' i ma'gas na isao.

Boi på'go hu na' fanungo' hamyo håfa i tenhan i isao. An håye na taotao ha na' hånao yan i inanña' yan traision i bidan i otro, ma sentetensia na u ma puno'; lao guaha håf na empeño pat i mina'åse' i rai na maisa, ya humuyong i otden na ti u ma puno' uhe na taotao. Ti ma puno' ha'; lao ma po'lo gi presidio muna' i nina'mamahlao-ña ni i otro; pues ennao na ma popo'lo gi presidio muna' i nina'mamahlao-ña ni i otro ma fa'nana'an sen tunas ha' : i tenhan i isao-ña. Si Yu'us mananågo' ni i taotao-ña siha todo : Munga umabale', ya ini pat uhe na taotao umabale' ha'; ennao na taotao ha merese na u ma yoggua, sa' umisague si Yu'us må'gagas; lao despues gumefkonfesat i taotao as Påle' ni i isao-ña ya inasisi'e, ya ayo nai ma funas i sentensian i yinegguå-ña; lao tetenhan gue' i nina'mamahlao-ña as Yu'us, na debe u ma apåse as Yu'us guine na bida yan i penitensia-ña siha yan i induthensia siha, pat giya Putgatorio yan i sen makkat na minaså'pet.

NOTES

PUPULU

Wednesday, May 23, 2012



Today on Guam, the majority of people who even chew pugua' (betel nut) do so without adding pupulu , the pepper leaf.

But the real custom is to chew a combination of pugua' , pupulu and å fok (baked limestone).  Many man å mko' also added am å ska or chewing tobacco.

But how do you know which leaves of the pupulu bush to pick?  Terry and Frank explain this to me in the video.

PUPULUN YAP

In Saipan, there is another variety of pupulu called pupulun Yap (Yap pupulu ).  It more or less looks like Marianas pupulu but tends to be larger and the feel of the leaf just a tiny bit thicker and the texture just a tad bit more rubbery.  It's the taste that presents the biggest contrast; far more peppery ( pika ) than the Marianas variety.  Am sure it was brought to Saipan by our Carolinian brethren, who relish this variety of leaf.  I like it, too.

saymanmaw.20m.com
Pupulun Yap - looks the same but packs a meaner punch

PUPULUN ANITE
(Devil's Pupulu)

university.uog.edu
This is the only other traditional variety of pupulu on Guam.  It isn't chewed with pugua' , but it has medicinal usages.  It doesn't look like regular pupulu .  It is more rounded and has a duller color.

If I remember correctly, wetted pupulun anite can be placed directly on one's forehead to get rid of a head ache; after which, one might develop a "devil-may-care" attitude about the rest of the day.

SAKKAN!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Just one of three boxes or bags of mangoes we've received in the last day .
Keep them coming; we give them away to those who don't have them!

As I mentioned in an earlier post a month or so ago, the mangoes were so plentiful on the trees this year that we have an overflow of mangoes all over the island.

They're giving them away.  No one can make any money selling them; they're so available.  People are standing on the road side throwing them to passengers in cars.  Well, not really.  But you get the picture.

Really, this is when every household should learn how to make mango jam.

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1628,159167-227206,00.html

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : MAHÅLANG

Tuesday, May 22, 2012
nonaspensieve.blogspot.com
MAH Å LANG : yearning, lonely, to miss someone or something, to yearn for, to pine after

Mah å lang yo'.  I am yearning for someone/something.

Kum å k å ti sa' mah å lang gue' gi as nan å - ñ a.  She is crying because she misses her mother.

Na' mahalang.  Inducing of nostalgia, yearning.

Na' mahalang este na lug å t.  This place makes me nostalgic.

Mahal å nge.  To pine after someone/something.

H å ye un mahal å l å nge?  Who are you missing?

Minah å lang.  Loneliness, nostalgia

Hum å nao gue' para California lao ha bira gue' t å tte Guam sa' pot i minahal å ng- ñ a.  S/he went to California but came back to Guam because s/he missed Guam.

PITI IN 1827

Tuesday, May 22, 2012
In Spanish times, Tepungan was the village.  Piti was a part of Tepungan.

nps.gov

The large, dark circle shows the positions of Tepungan and nearby Piti, according to the 1944 maps used in the American invasion.

While most of the people lived in Tepungan, the pantal å n or pier was located at Piti (also known as Punta Piti; Piti Point).

A Spaniard (Manuel Sanz) described Tepungan in the year 1827.

COOL DOGS

Monday, May 21, 2012


It's been scorching hot lately, and even dogs need to be comfortable.

So why not wear a pair of shades and a palm hat?


But the poor carabao providing the transportation here, well he or she needs a stream, or at least mud, to be happy.

MAY : MONTH OF THE HOLY CROSS

Monday, May 21, 2012



Most of us associate the month of May with Mary.  But, in traditional Chamorro culture, May is also the month of the Santa Cruz (Spanish), S å ntos Kilu'us (Chamorro) or the Holy Cross.

Why May?

Prior to Vatican II, there were two feasts of the Holy Cross in the church calendar.  May 3rd was the feast of the Finding of the Cross, when, according to tradition, the Empress Helena searched for and found the cross upon which Jesus died, buried in Jerusalem.  The second feast of the Holy Cross was September 14, called the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, which commemorated the rescue of the True Cross from the hands of the Persians.  After Vatican II, May 3rd was eliminated and only September 14 remains on the calendar.

But traditions are traditions and many Chamorro families carry on the May devotion to the Holy Cross.

Tan Lourdes Crisostomo English of Sinaja ñ a keeps this tradition.  The wooden cross venerated here was carved by her grandfather about 100 years ago.

The Spanish-speaking world also keeps the May tradition, where it is called the Cruz de Mayo.

I MÅYO GIYA HÅGAT

Sunday, May 20, 2012


Every May is the month of flowers and Mary in the Marianas.

The custom is for children to dress up as angels (even the boys dress like the Archangels) and present flowers to Mary.

In H å gat (Agat) this year, the centuries' old tradition continues.  The children weren't dressed as angels, but they sang - loudly and clearly - in Chamorro.  Some of them as young as four years old.

Not just one song, but several.

What is learned in childhood is not easily forgotten.  Haven't we met the 80-year-old who can't remember what they ate for breakfast that day, but can recite a poem they learned in 3rd grade?

Just think; perhaps the four-year-old girl in this video will be singing these Chamorro hymns, in the year 2070.  Fantastic!

Some Lyrics

1. O Rainan M å yo, paopao yan mames; magof ya un ch å hlao i flores-måme .
O Queen of May, fragrant and sweet, be pleased to accept our flowers.

2. Ch å hlao N å nan-m å me (translated in the video)

3. Man m å tto ham O N å na man magof yan man dimo gi fi'on i Lahi-mo para in nene hao .
We come O Mother happy and kneeling beside your Son to honor you.

In na'e hao i flores gu å lo' siha, in na'e hao sa' N å nan-m å me hao .
We give you the flowers of the gardens, we give them to you because you are our Mother.

4. Matuna hao, N å nan Yu'us, matuna hao N å nan Jesus .
Blessed are you, Mother of God, blessed are you, Mother of Jesus.

I famagu'on-mo Bithen Maria, man m å tto p å 'go, bendise siha .
Your children, Virgin Mary, come today, bless them.




I PILAN S Å NTA MARIA
The Month of the Virgin Mary

This devotion takes place every day in May, not just the nine days/nights of a nobena .

FAMILIA : RIVERA

Saturday, May 19, 2012
fariva1998.blogs-r.com

RIVERA

A rivera , in Spanish, means "brook," or "creek."  Not quite a river, which is r í o .

There are no Riveras in the earliest censuses we have, the 1727 Census and the 1758 Census.
Yet the Rivera surname shows up in fair numbers in the 1897 Census.  Sometime after 1758, a Rivera, or perhaps 2 or 3 Riveras, whether relatives or not, showed up on Guam and started families.  Who they were; what ethnicity they had, is anybody's guess at this point.  The name is Spanish, but Spanish surnames can be found among South Americans and Filipinos.

The oldest Rivera in the 1897 census is Don Luis Rivera of Hag å t ñ a, aged 88 in 1897.  He was married to Juana Pangelinan.

Another elderly Rivera was a woman, Rufina Lujan Rivera, aged 65, also of Hag å t ñ a.  She married Tiburcio Arriola.

Manuel Rivera, aged 72, of Hag å t ñ a, was married to Ana de Leon Guerrero.

Jose Rivera, aged 74 of Hag å t ñ a, was married to Maria de Leon Guerrero.

These last two have my suspicions aroused, especially since they're just a few years apart.  It was not unusual for two brothers to marry two sisters, but until we find better evidence, we better not jump to unfounded conclusions.

Finally, we have the Agat Riveras, descendants of Jose Rivera, aged 57 in 1897, married to Josefa Delgado.

WORLD FAMOUS RIVERAS

mediabistro.com
TV personality
GERALDO RIVERA

elabnol.com
Mexican Painter
DIEGO RIVERA

CHAMORRON LONG BEACH

Friday, May 18, 2012

Chamorros on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, in Southern California to be exact, are completing a Chamorro language program this weekend and are hosting a celebration to crown the event.

www.KutturanChamoru.org

A NIGHT AT THE MOVIES IN 1950

Friday, May 18, 2012
butterybooks.com

An elderly man shared with me this story when he was a teenager in the year 1950.

Aga ñ a Heights had a little theatre, called the Majestic.  It was just a one-room building that served as a ping pong hall by day and a movie house at night.  At night when they wanted to show a movie, they just shoved the ping pong tables to the side, hoisted a little screen and lined up wooden benches for seating.

All the money made from the movies went to the parish, which was building a new church (the one that stands today).  P å le' Scot (Oscar Calvo), the pastor, not only had to approve each and every movie, he also announced them at Mass to drum up business.

So this man telling me his story says one night he and his friends waited till they turned off the lights and started the movie.  Going in, he purposely sat behind the girl of his fancy.  The girl was there with her mother and half a dozen siblings.  As it was dark, and he was strategically seated behind the girl, he put his hand on her shoulder.  Out of the blue, the mother of the girl put her hand on his!  In shock, the mother collected her half-dozen children and went straight out the door!

Such was the strictness of most parents in those days.  No daughter ever left home unaccompanied.

KATESISMO #4

Friday, May 18, 2012
7. Ginen m å no nai ha resibe i Iglesia Katolika ni finana'gue- ñ a?

I Iglesia Katolika ha resibe todo i finana'gue- ñ a pot i Eskritura Sagr å da yan i Tradision.

8. H å fa gaige gi Eskritura Sagr å da?

Gi Eskritura Sagr å da nai man gaige i minag å het siha, ni esta man ma tuge' pot taotao ni man inina pot i Espiritu S å nto.

9. H å fa gaige gi Tradision?

Gi Tradision nai man gaige i minag å het ni ti man ma tuge' gi Eskritura Sagr å da.

TODAY IN HISTORY

Friday, May 18, 2012
AMBUSH AT IPAO



On May 17, 1672, a month and two weeks after the killing of Pale' Sanvitores and Pedro Calungsod, a company of Spaniards, Latin Americans and Filipinos set out to Ipao to retaliate against the Chamorros who may have been involved in the death of Sanvitores.  The Chamorros of the area opposed to the Spaniards blocked the usual trails with felled trees.  The Spaniards cut through the jungle and headed towards the beach to proceed on their journey.

On their return back to Hag å t ñ a, they had forgotten about the tide, which was now rising.  Seeing the Spaniards in this vulnerable position, the Chamorros launched an ambush, throwing spears from the high ground above, from the beach ahead and from canoes in the sea.

Mat å 'pang, principal killer of Sanvitores, was involved in the fight and was wounded by a Spanish bullet.  His wound, in the arm, never properly healed.  The Spaniards lost men in the attack, like Pedro Basijan, a Visayan Filipino; Jose de Torres, a Mexican from Puebla de los Angeles; and Juan Beltran, also from Mexico.

YOUNG GORO' PRAYS IN CHAMORRO

Thursday, May 17, 2012


You gotta hand it to Goro'.

I forget how old he is, but he's young enough that we know there'll be at least one person when most of us will be dead who can still say his prayers in Chamorro.

STRICT DRESS CODE

Thursday, May 17, 2012


Can anyone help out on this one?

Does this mean...

If you're NOT in costume, you can't park here?  Or...

If you ARE in costume, you can't park here?

BEST-KEPT VILLAGE 1900

Wednesday, May 16, 2012
flickriver.com

Governor Seaton Schroeder really liked Malesso'.

He called it the best-maintained village on Guam; clean and orderly.  The villagers well-occupied and flourishing.

He credited all this to its capable and energetic gobernadorcillo , or mayor, Felix Sablan Roberto.  Other villages weren't so lucky, Schroeder said.

Schroeder visited Malesso' in 1900.  Nearly the entire village showed up, forming lines on both sides of the narrow road.  A few muskets were fired at the governor's approach, and some people made noise with bamboo poles sliced down the center so that the two sides clapped when shaken.

There were shouts of Viva el Se ñ or Gobernador !  And Viva la Am é rica !  An elderly lady dashed forward to kiss Schroeder's hand, and others followed suit.  A band composed of two fiddles and an accordion provided music.

ENGLISH THE CHAMORRO WAY

Wednesday, May 16, 2012
ontopinternetmarketing.com

Maria : Susa, eyague' na mamaila' m å gi si Ling . ( Susa, here comes Ling .)

Susa : Ei na ti yina-ho ayo na palao'an ! ( Boy do I dislike that woman !)

Maria : Ke sa' h å fa ? ( But why ?)

Susa : B å ba i iyon- ñ a altitude ! ( She has a bad altitude !)

TO BE FILMED ON GUAM

Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Well, at least a lot of it.



Suzette Ranillo (left) from Cebu is producing a film about the soon-to-be-canonized Blessed Pedro Calungsod.  Abigail Mangulabnan (right) works in the film project's marketing department.

everythinginbudget.blogspot.com
Tan Elena Benavente, Chamorro, stands in front of the karosa of Bd Pedro Calungsod, Visayan

Calungsod, it will be remembered, was slain together with Sanvitores at Tomhom (Tumon) on April 2, 1672.

The interesting thing is, in talking with Suzette, she wants the film to be historically objective, portraying the Chamorros accurately and fairly, while paying homage to their countryman.

Chamorros will be recruited to play the part of Chamorros; the script and details of the filming will be looked over by Chamorros.

And, as much as possible, the Guam scenes will be filmed - on Guam.

Suzette is an award-winning actress in film, TV and stage.  Mom and dad are also actors; Mat Ranillo, Jr. and Gloria Sevilla.  Suzette is from Cebu.

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Gu å ha para hita;
gu å ha ti para hita.
There is something for us;
somethings are not for us.


Don't expect the world.

Don't expect to always have your cake and eat it, too.

You can't have everything in life.

Be content with what you have; for you can't have it all.

photoree.com

FAMILY NICKNAMES : KARISO

Monday, May 14, 2012
selvanet20.blogspot.com

KARISO

One branch of the Villagomez clan is known as the Familian Kariso .

Kariso is the Chamorro form of the Spanish word carrizo . Carrizo refers to a variety of tall grasses, reeds and even canes.

Kariso on Guam grows in swampy areas and is usually a good indicator of fresh water. In a marshy area bordering the coast, where salty, brackish water can mix with fresh water found more in-land, kariso will not be seen in the brackish area, but only in the area of fresh water.

Our ma ñ aina would use kariso , splitting the reeds and weaving them into matting to use in the home as wall coverings, partitions and ceilings. The young kariso was used even as fodder for livestock.

Why did this family get this nickname?  I'd like someone in the family to offer a theory.  Was it because someone in the family worked with kariso ?  Carrizo is also a Spanish last name, and either a Spaniard, someone from Latin America or the Philippines with the last name Carrizo could have had some association with one of the Villagomezes.  Or, there may be another reason altogether.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : SEBOYAS

Monday, May 14, 2012

Someone asked me the other day how to say "onions" in Chamorro.

Seboyas .

From the Spanish cebolla (singular).

We can grow our own kind of onions in the tropics, what is called spring or green onions, or scallions.

growingvegetablegardens.com

SNAKE HISS-TERIA....AGAIN

Sunday, May 13, 2012


Watching the BBC this morning, I hear an upcoming story about Guam announced.  I wonder what it could be about?  Especially from the Brits.  What interest could they have in Guam?

Snakes.

I thought this stuff was 30 years old already.

Like we wake up with them every day.

I know they're there, but I haven't seen a snake on Guam (thank God) in years.  But I guess this story is news to the British.

In a class at UOG, the guest speaker taught us how to handle snakes if we found them.

He asked me, "What hand would you use to pick up a snake?"

My answer, "Somebody else's."

QUONSET HUT GRADUATION

Saturday, May 12, 2012

It is graduation time on Guam.

In nice air-conditioned halls, with hi tech lighting and audio/visuals.

Not in 1951 when Lourdes Lagua ñ a Perez graduated from George Washington High School - in a quonset hut.

THIS WAS GEORGE WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL
IN MONGMONG - NOT MANGILAO
IN THE 1950's

http://abt-unk.blogspot.com/2011_11_01_archive.html

All those quonset huts in a neat row in the middle of the photos is GWHS.

http://abt-unk.blogspot.com/2011_11_01_archive.html
GW Library in the 1950s
You can see the curved walls of a quonset hut.
NO AIR CONDITIONING, OF COURSE!

THE BURNING OF THE PDN

Friday, May 11, 2012
newseum.org

Lee Webber recently wrote about the time, in the 1970s, that the PDN was under fire for its English-only policy.  Not a single line in the Chamorro language was allowed in the PDN by then-publisher Bob Udick.  He recalls a protest staged right outside the PDN building, on the Academy side of the street.  I was there.

I was all of 15 or 16 years old, and not a participant, but a spectator.  Though, of course, my sympathies were with the Chamorro language advocates.


Monsignor Oscar Lujan Calvo
Chamorro Advocate

There were speeches made by several people, in Chamorro and English, from a make-shift platform.  There were placards and the shouting of slogans.

But what really stirred the emotions was watching someone pick up a copy of the PDN and light a fire underneath it.  With my own eyes, I saw Monsignor Oscar Calvo, still holding the mic, stand next to the guy holding the burning newspaper.  I don't know if I heard these words said, or not, but it seemed to me that the protesters were saying, "This is what we think of your newspaper, if that's what you think of our language."

Even then, as a teenager, I was a bit shaken by what I saw.  I had never seen a priest make such an assertive act.

Webber points out that, soon after, the PDN modified its policy and allowed things to be printed in other languages, provided there be an English translation.  Webber also says that another good thing resulted from this bit of history; the PDN Chamorro cartoon series Juan Malimanga was born, with the help of some of the protesters themselves, like Clotilde Gould.   Now, we have Peter Onedera's entirely CHamoru column in the PDN.

GOOD, BUT....

This would be better one day.  For Chamorro-speakers, that is.



GASETAN GUÅHAN

Kab å les na infotmasion pot todo i man ma susesede gi isl å -ta yan entero et mundo


Mietkoles, Måyo dia 11, 2045 na såkkan
$3.00


An entire newspaper in Chamorro.  We could have things printed in English and other languages, provided there be a Chamorro translation.

This is just a flight of fancy unless Chamorros teach the language, learn the language, speak the language.

Hita ha'  T å ya' otro .

THE RIGHT CLOTHES FOR THE RIGHT FOOD

Friday, May 11, 2012

Sometimes wearing orange is a smart thing to do.
Especially when eating Chamorro food.

I bumped into a friend during lunch and sat across him as he ate red rice and chalakilis while wearing a bright orange t-shirt.

I told him, " Amigo, t å ya' guaha yanggen un na' m å ncha i franel å -mo !"

" Friend, it doesn't matter if you stain your t-shirt ."

By the way, how do you say "orange" in Chamorro?

Kolot k å het .  Literally, the "color of an orange fruit."

GUAM WOMEN

Thursday, May 10, 2012
guampedia.com

Curious about influential women in Guam's history?

Check out the biographies of twenty-five such women, and one female in Chamorro lore, in www.guampedia.com .

Of course, at the top of anyone's list would be :

nps.gov
AGUEDA IGLESIAS JOHNSTON
Educator and civic leader

Her influence in Chamorro society was unquestionably strong for many decades.

Another Chamorro woman who made a big impact on Guam history, though she is less known than Mrs. Johnston, is :



SISTER MARY INEZ UNDERWOOD, RSM
Co-founder of the Catholic School System on Guam

The next time you see the Academy of Our Lady of Guam, or a Sister of Mercy, or a graduate of the Academy or Cathedral Grade School, think of Sister Inez.  Invited by Bishop Baumgartner, she was one of three pioneer Mercy Sisters to come to Guam after the war to get the ball rolling with private, Catholic education.  Think of the thousands of Guam students who passed through the halls of the Mercy schools on island ever since those humble beginnings.  Sister Inez, born on Guam in 1906, lived many years in the States before the war as a Mercy sister.  Later in life she left the convent and was known by her childhood name, Mary Essie.

Read up on the others at : http://guampedia.com/women-in-guam-history-2/

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Thursday, May 10, 2012
wendyusuallywanders.wordpress.com


MAOLEK- Ñ A POPBLE KE SAKKE
It's better to be poor than to be a thief.

An elderly woman was telling me this story.  Her husband worked for a local business.  He was in charge of the daily cash flow and was usually alone when closing up shop in the late afternoons.

These were the days long before hidden cameras or extra security.  People trusted employees a lot more then, rightly or wrongly.  So there he was one afternoon, all alone, looking at the safe full of cash.  He told his wife, " Ilek-ho entre gu å ho ha', komo ma ñ ule yo' un kostat ha' na sal å ppe', si ñ a yo' manh å tsa tres bibienda na guma' ."

" I said to myself, if I took just one bag of cash, I could build a three-storey house ."

The woman told her husband, " Mungnga!  Sa' yanggen un cho'gue ennao, siempre t å ya' t å tan- ñ iha i famagu'on.  Maolek- ñ a popble ke sakke ."

" Don't!  Because if you do that, the children will have no father (who would go to jail).  Better poor than a thief ."

NEWEST VILLAGE MURAL : AGAÑA HEIGHTS

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

It may be the newest.....

....but it also might be the longest!

And the art work is sennnnnnn bonitototototo !

The Aga ñ a Heights village mural was unveiled Monday right outside my bedroom window at the friary.  The head artist, Tina Chargualaf ( pictured above in black blouse ), did an excellent job, with the help of many volunteers, the Mayor's Staff, Benson Guam which donated the paint and supplies, and even Father George Maddock who checked on them everyday with drinks and snacks.



Check out more pics at
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Guam-Hawaii-Capuchins/281336101883291

MA SUSEDE UN DIA

Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Asan.  October 10, 1875.

Poor old man Francisco Champaco.  A Chinese settler on Guam, who became a Catholic and married a Chamorro woman, he had the misfortune of being attacked by three men believed to be some of the many deported convicts ( presidarios ) brought to Guam at the time.  They hit him with a club and stabbed him in the lower abdomen.  His wife was also attacked, but less seriously.

They stole some thirty pesos and a quantity of rice .

But he survived.

( P. Aniceto's Diary )

FINO' ENGLIS HA'!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012
wonkette.com

An elderly lady was telling me about the time she was in class in the late 1940s.  She was with a group of girls, all wanting to become teachers, and speaking with each other in Chamorro.

In walks the teacher, herself Chamorro, who says,

" Ha? Todos hamyo para en fan maestra ya ni sikiera ti en tingo' man fino' Englis ?"

" What? All of you are going to be teachers and you don't even know how to speak English ?"

" Mampos butlona ," the lady told me.

" She was such a tease."

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : HULO'

Tuesday, May 8, 2012
boards.elsaelsa.com
HULO' : up, on top of, above

Ha konne' gue' hulo' para i atof. S/he took him/her up to the roof.

Kao gaige hao guennao hulo'?  Are you up there?

Sanhilo'.  Above.

Gaige gi sanhilo'.  It's on the upper part.

Ma po'lo gi hilo' i lamasa.  It was put in top of the table.

Yahulolo'.  The highest/uppermost place.

Gloria as Yu'us gi yahulolo'.  Glory to God in the highest.

Ge' hilo'.  Higher, further up.

Humilo'.  To go above, on top of.

Humilo' t å se.  To navigate; literally "to go above the sea."

Lattilo'.  Higher.

ZDRAVSTVUJTYE : OR HELLO TO RUSSIAN FANS

Tuesday, May 8, 2012
af.wikipedia.org

How often do you and I (on Guam) think of RUSSIA???

I must admit, for myself, very rarely.  Until my blog started attracting a lot of hits from Russia in the last few months.

Here are the latest statistics about the people checking out this blog.  From the first day it started till now, these are the TOP FIVE places of origin of people viewing this blog :


UNITED STATES

15,075


GUAM

11,396


PHILIPPINES

1,090


RUSSIA

1,025


SPAIN

797




As you can see, Spain has been eclipsed by Russia.  And the Philippines could soon cede its third place to Russia as well.

Why all this interest in Guam from the Russians?

I'd like to think it may have something to do with tourism.  The Russians have already been going to Saipan on holiday, and the Saipanese think a lot more of Russia than we do.  Many shops in Saipan have signs in Russian.

jenandstaninsaipan.blogspot.com
This Russian sign in Saipan welcomes Russian tourists to Kinpachi Restaurant.  What looks like PECTOPAH to you and me is RESTORAN in the Russian (Cyrillic) alphabet.

We do not realize just how geographically CLOSE we are to Russia, which is a huge country, most of which is actually in Asia, not Europe!

Check out the map :


It's not much farther to Saipan from Vladivostok, Russia as it is from Japan!

My father, in the late 60s and early 70s, would ship his motorcycle from Guam to Vladivostok, then fly to Tokyo, take the ferry on the other side of Japan to Vladivostok and pick up his bike and ride the Trans-Siberian Railroad to Moscow and all points west.

So, I guess I'm doing part, maybe, per this blog, in promoting Guam tourism among the Russians! Molodyets !  Good job!

BAKALAO

Tuesday, May 8, 2012
shutterstock.com
" If it gets any hotter, I'm gonna end up being bakalao !"


BAKALAO = dried fish

It isn't a surprise that, back in the day, when we didn't have GPA to keep everything nice and frozen, people salted what would otherwise perish in our hot, humid climate.

Any large fish which is deboned, salted and dried can be called bakalao .  Like fish jerky.

It didn't need refrigeration; it could be easily taken to the ranch or beach; it didn't need seasoning as it was salted; and it didn't need to be reheated.  Fast food before the Golden Arches came to Guam.

And yes, bakalao is borrowed from the Spanish bacalao .

BAPTIZING FOOD

Monday, May 7, 2012
blogs.plos.org

I asked a lady yesterday if she could take some fresh vegetables I was given and make a dish for me.  I asked her to sprinkle some salt and garlic powder on it when she was done cooking it.

She said to me, " Pinelo'-ko na chaot-mo i asiga ." ("I thought salt was bad for you.")

I replied, " Hunggan, lao masea diddide' ." ("Yes, but even just a little.")

She said, with a smile, " O, bai takp å nge ha' ." ("Oh, I'll just baptize it.")

When a baby is baptized, just a little water is poured three times on his or her head.  Funny lady.

EVER HEARD OF "KUTTIDO?"

Monday, May 7, 2012
www2.hawaii.edu
Yesterday I heard a Chamorro word for the first time. Kuttido .

The lady was talking about pickled mango.

Looking up the Spanish curtido , it means tanned, like hide.  But in El Salvador it can also mean a kind of cole slaw dish.

One of you readers, in the comments section, provided the missing piece of the puzzle.  The Spanish encurtido means "pickled." Oba skoba !

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN...

Monday, May 7, 2012


........you're at a potluck luncheon, where there are 41 dishes, and everyone keeps coming up to you asking,

" How come you didn't try what I made ?"

LÅPIDAN SUMAY

Monday, May 7, 2012

Gravestone of a Chamorro in Sumay Cemetery
In Spanish

Starting from the very top, to the right of the angel, it reads :

Rogad por é l.
Sus desconsolados
esposa e hijos
dedican este recuerdo!

( Pray for him.
His inconsolable
wife and children
dedicate this memorial !)

Then the abbreviation : E.P.D. which stands for :

En Paz Descanse
( Rest in Peace )

At the bottom :

Aqu í yacen los restos mortales de
D. Pedro Borja Pangelinan
+25 Abril 1929
a la edad de 45 a ñ os

( Here lie the mortal remains of
Don Pedro Borja Pangelinan
Died 25 April 1929
at the age of 45 years .)



NOTES






KÅNTA : INUTIT YO'

Sunday, May 6, 2012


Tuhu i lago'-ho / kada hu konsidera / todo este siha / i hu padedese.
My tears fall / each time I consider / all of this / which I am suffering.

Ai na nina'ma'ase' yo' na fina ñ å go / inutit yo' na p å tgon / i mafa ñ ago-ho.
What a pitiable birth I had / a disabled child / I was born.

Olaria mohon  ya bai hu gefsaga / sa' gaige yo' p å 'go / gaige gi chatsaga.
I wish I could be rich / because today / I am in poverty.

WHY WE DIE

Saturday, May 5, 2012
Well, not in a philosophical or theological sense, but medical.

A History of Health on Guam (2010), edited by Dr. Robert Haddock, offers us a comparative view :


CAUSE OF DEATH

RANKING IN 2000

RANKING IN 1910


Cardiovascular Disease

1

7

Cancer

2

-

Stroke

3

-

Suicide

4

-

Diabetes mellitus

7

-

Chronic liver disease

8

-

Renal failure

9

-



We were dying for different reasons in 1910.  Of course, the statistics for 2000 include many, many
non-Chamorros, and different races have higher or lower incidences of any particular illness.

So why were we dying in 1910, a year which would reflect an almost completely Chamorro population?

The Big Three : tuberculosis, intestinal parasites, asthma.

For a lot more information on a whole range of health-related topics, pick up a copy of the book.

YAP REMEMBERS CHAMORRO COLONY

Friday, May 4, 2012
Yap Visitors Bureau
The Flores family in Yap
Circa 1900-1915

The Yapese government hosts an annual Homecoming Festival, and this year the theme is the Chamorro community that lived on Yap since about the 1880s till 1948.  The Homecoming Festival is a way to bring back to Yap people who used to live there, both Yapese and others.

The event will be held on June 16.

Email Don Evans at donyvb@mail.fm for more information.

I wish I could go!

WE DON'T ALL SOUND THE SAME

Friday, May 4, 2012
Chamorro? Chamoru? CHamoru?
P å le'? P å li'?
Ma' å se'? Ma' å si'?

Some people's blood pressure shoots up when discussing such questions.  If we keep this up, we'll then be debating whether it's m å tai or m å tae (dead).  Either way, the funeral home has the advantage.

The fact of the matter is that Chamorros don't all sound the same when they speak Chamorro.

Guam/Saipan/Tinian Chamorros say p å 'go .

Luta Chamorros say pa'go .

Guam Chamorros say trabia .

Saipan Chamorros say tarabia .

Some Chamorros say konne' .  Some say konni '.

Some say bonito .  Some say bunitu .

Nevertheless, we all understand what we're saying in the main.  Or, if the difference is greater, the confusion is eventually resolved.

Americans don't all sound the same.  Compare Boston and Houston.

Spaniards don't all the sound the same.  Compare Madrid and Sevilla.

Japanese don't all sound the same.  Compare Tokyo and Osaka.

It's not a problem. T å ya' guaha .

So, people will spell it the way they pronounce it, and we don't all pronounce it the same.

Do they want us all to spell it one way?  The U.S. and Britain/Ireland/Canada/Australia/NZ have been doing just fine even though it's either color or colour, center or centre, realize or realise depending on what country you're in.  Whereas academia may insist on standardized (aha! American) spelling, I worry about the civil law telling citizens how to spell.  Shall we start laying fines on those who don't conform?  Create a Language Police?  What about free speech?  It doesn't look right to me, no matter how you spell it.

Talk about non-conformity.  Every day I get texts that tell me "c u 2mrw."  Or, "idk. ttyl."  That's supposed to be English.  Shall we arrest them all?

Finally, while we're all arguing what's the right way to SPELL Chamorro, fewer and fewer people know how to SPEAK Chamorro.  Let's put our efforts and passion into the more important things.

A VISIT TO HUMÅTAK

Thursday, May 3, 2012

I have great memories of Hum å tak, where I was pastor back in the 90s.

Benny's mom went to Mass every day that there was Mass.  Sometimes it was just me and her at Mass, and, although she always walked to Mass, I always drove her back home, which took ninety seconds by car.

All my life I have heard that the three villages of the Deep South : Malesso', Hum å tak and Inal å han, all had the ton å da , or the sing-song accent.  But I actually heard it from just a tiny number of people, including Benny's mom.  Benny, too, has the accent which, I believe, is the genuine Chamorro way of speaking, as it is found in the south and in Luta; places which, historically, had less outside contact.

In this clip, Benny talks about his daughters and granddaughters, and about the importance of God and religion.

In Hum å tak, I learned how some people refer to the priest as i amko' (the old man), even if he was in his 30s, as I was!  And how some people refer to God as i amko' (Benny says this).  In human terms, God certainly is old.  But, strictly speaking, God doesn't age.  He's eternal.  But God is called i amko' out of respect, because, for Chamorros, everything old is respected.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : DINGA'

Wednesday, May 2, 2012
showbiznest.blogspot.com

DINGA' : double; twins of different sexes

Kao dinga' i dos chume'lo?  Are the two siblings twins?

Kalan ding å '-mo gue'!  S/he is like your twin!

Atan na mamaila' m å gi i dos dinga'.  Look at the two twins coming here.

Dinga' i pachot- ñ a.  His/her mouth is double.  Untruthful, a liar.

Dinga' i korason- ñ a.  His/her heart is double.  A traitor, disloyal.

Dinga' i mat å - ñ a.  His/her face is double (two-faced).  A hypocrite, fake.

Dinga' ch å lan.  Crossroads.

Rep å ra!  Notice!

Twins of the same gender are called gihen .  But this term has been lost in modern times.

When speaking about a matching pair, of shoes, or candlesticks and the like, one can ask " M å ngge i ding å '- ñ a ?"  "Where is its twin?"  In other words, the other shoe, or candlestick.

SAN JOSE I FAFACHO'CHO'

Tuesday, May 1, 2012
je-n-oeucume-guere.blogspot.com

SAINT JOSEPH IN HIS CARPENTRY SHOP
With Jesus and Mary keeping him company

Today, May 1st, is yet another feast of Saint Joseph, but somewhat different from the feast on March 19.  Today he is honored as "the Worker."  In Chamorro, " i fafacho'cho' ."

March 19 is the older of these two feasts.  The May 1st feast was instituted in 1955 by the Church to counter the leftist May Day festivities for industrial workers.  The Church held up Saint Joseph, the carpenter, as a manual worker himself.  One could be both a worker and a believer, the message of the feast announced.

The older feast on March 19 points to Saint Joseph as the patrosinio , the patron saint of the universal church.  Just as Saint Joseph watched over the first church - the Holy Family - we ask him to watch over the church all over the world.

CHAMORRO RELIGIOUS POETRY

HINAGONG I ANTE
( Aspirations of the Soul )

Hu fa' b å kulo hao
San Jose gi masa'pet-ho;
ti hu abak sa' kandet-ho
si Jesus, Yu'us taotao.

I make you a staff
Saint Joseph in my sufferings;
I will not be lost
because Jesus is my light, God and man.

Minagof taotao siha
gi tano'-ta yan i langet;
i minagof i man å nghet
i Nan å -ta as Maria.

Joy of the people
on our earth and in heaven;
the joy of the angels
is our Mother Mary.

Hu å gang siha i tres
adahen i finatai-ho;
minagof i korason-ho
Jesus, Maria, Jose.

I call these three
the guardians of my death;
the joy of my heart
Jesus, Mary, Joseph.

NOTES



Kånta = to sing

Kakanta = singer

Facho’cho’ = to work

Fafacho’cho’ = worker

Tuge’ = to write

Tituge’ = writer

Pulan = oversee, guard, watch over

Pipulan = guardian, overseer, supervisor

Setmon = to preach

Sisetmon = preacher



It becomes tituge' (rather than tutuge '), pipulan (rather than pupulan ) and sisetmon (rather than sesetmon ) because the definite article the ( i ) changes the pronunciation. I tituge', i pipulan, i sisetmon .  The writer, the guardian, the preacher.

TSUNAMIS ARE POSSIBLE ON GUAM

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

January 25, 1849
2:49PM

Guam is rocked by continuous, undulating tremors.

The earth opened in several places, with houses falling into some of the gaping fissures.

One life was lost, because the woman, Josefa Lujan, was standing near the beach, and a wave rolled in and swept her out to sea. Her 2-year-old niece was also swept out, but the waves threw her back on land, but unfortunately on rocks, bruising her face.

Some time later, Carolinian islanders arrived on Guam in their canoes, begging for permission to live in the Marianas.

The reason?  Their low-lying, tiny atolls had been swept over completely by enormous waves, around the same time as the earthquake on Guam.

CHAMORRON LOMPOC

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Capuchin Brother Ryan Charfauros lives in Santa Ynez but returns to Guam this summer .

The smell of lechon and red rice filled the California air as 20 Chamorro families in the Lompoc area gathered at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church.  It was a fundraising event and many guests came to enjoy the Chamorro fiesta food.



Many Capuchin friars from all over the U.S., England and Australia got their first taste of Chamorro fiesta food.

SEMENTEYON SUMAY

Monday, April 30, 2012


The village of Sumay is gone.

But not its cemetery.

Most of the l á pida (gravestones) are now nameless slabs of stone.  But a few remain, in Spanish, Chamorro and English, to the extent that we can come up with a list of the people buried here :


This list is long, but some names are missing, such as Concepcion Perez, whose Spanish l á pida I saw for myself, lying on the ground in this cemetery.

The Sumay baptismal records survived the war, so even if the cemetery did not survive, or even if it survived but most l á pida are unidentifiable at this time, those baptismal records provide us much valuable family information.

For us Hag å t ñ a people, we lost both the baptismal records and our cemetery (Pigo') to American bombardment. Ai ke l á stima !

CAMPAIGN CHAMORRO

Monday, April 30, 2012


In the south of Guam, Chamorro is still used in campaigns.

" Un hinasso, un inetnon, un taotao ."

"One mind, one community, one people."

Hasso = to think.
Hinasso = thinking, thought.

Etnon = to come together
Inetnon = association, group, community

NEVER MIND THE CARROT STICKS

Monday, April 30, 2012


Stuck at work and need to munch?

Other people turn to chips or apples.  Some of us reach for the fried ma ñ å hak .

CHAMORRO NURSES DURING THE WAR

Sunday, April 29, 2012
flickr.com

Very early in the American administration, Chamorro women were recruited to be trained as nurses.

When the Japanese occupied Guam in late 1941, these Chamorro nurses had to work under Japanese doctors and supervisors.  Local interpreters were provided, and occasionally a Saipanese interpreter came around.  One of the duties of these nurses was to treat Chamorros arrested and beaten by the Japanese.

In the photo, the Chamorro nurses are all in the three back rows; the two front rows are made up of Japanese and one Chamorro male.

Starting from the highest row in back, from left to right, are :

Josefina A. Meno, Magdalena San Nicolas, Cristina Lizama Parks, Rosa Farfan Mendiola, Soledad Demapan Tai, Petronila Materne Borja and Catalina Taitingfong Thomas .

In the 2nd row : Socorro Manalisay Rivera, Antonia L.G. Arceo, Maria Matanane Tuncap, Joaquina Siguenza, Ana S.N. Sanford, Rita Gogue James and Maria Flores.

In the 3rd row : Simplicia Salas Galinada, Rose Taitano, Maria Aguon Garcia, Catalina Santos Burger, Concepcion Santos Burger, Engracia Lujan Flores and Amanda Guzman Shelton.

( Identified by Amanda Shelton )

IT'S EARTHQUAKE NOVENA TIME

Sunday, April 29, 2012
powerfulstorms.com

Today is the 3rd Sunday after Easter.  In traditional Guam, especially Hag å t ñ a, that meant the finakpo' (conclusion) of the Nobenan Promesa - a novena prayed since 1835 against earthquakes.

Guam was rocked by a strong earthquake in 1825, and again in 1834, prompting the people to make a solemn pledge to pray to La Purisima (the Immaculate Conception of Mary) for protection.  This was a vow made by the whole city, not just the church or some of the faithful.  The Bishop of Cebu, responsible for the Marianas in those days, approved this promise in 1835. Even the civil government formally approved this vow in 1836.  The nobena was to begin on the Saturday before the 2nd Sunday after Easter, and end on the 3rd Sunday after Easter. The novena to the Immaculate Conception was used.

This promesa , or vow, was strongly observed but since the 1970s it has been kept by just a handful of old-timers.

AGAÑA BRIDGE PROJECT

Saturday, April 28, 2012
This bridge....



.....NOT this one.


Tollai Å tcho or San Antonio Bridge

A Chamorro man (Juan) living in the States called up his p å re (Jose) on Guam.

Jose : Pues, h å fa p å re un huhungok pot Guam? ( So what p å re are you hearing about Guam ?)
Juan : Na man ma huchom todo i chalan siha giya Hag å t ñ a.  ( That they've closed all the streets in Hag å t ñ a. )
Jose : M å no adai p å re na un chule' ayo na infotmasion?  ( Where p å re did you get that information ?)
Ayo ha' na ch å lan i ma huchom i gaige gi tellai. ( Only the street at the bridge is closed .)
Juan : Desde i mafa ñ agu-ho p å re t å ya' na hu hungok na guaha tollai giya Hag å t ñ a. ( Ever since I was born I have never heard of a bridge in Hag å t ñ a .)
Jose : Ya h å fa nai eye i Tellai Å tcho! ( And what then is the Tollai Å tcho ?)
Juan : Hu'u nai lao t å ya kareta maloloffan guennao!  ( Sure, but no car ever goes over it !)

The "Aga ñ a Bridge" they are working on now is so small that many people don't even realize they are driving over a bridge!  It blends in with the road.

LOST SURNAMES

Saturday, April 28, 2012
QUISALAO

In the 1897 Census, there are two women, both widows, with the last name Quisalao.  They are both from Aniguak.  Quisalao is a native Chamorro name, formed by Qui (Ke) like Quichocho and Quitugua. Salao is a word whose meaning is lost to history, unless we unearth something that tells us what it means.

Maria Quisalao had married a Merfalen.

Natalia Quisalao, possibly her sister, had married a Santos.

SINGING FOR YOUR DINNER

Saturday, April 28, 2012


At a confirmation party (of three brothers, singing in this clip), I was reminded of a custom in some families to give the singers money while they are performing.

CHAMORRO OFFICERS - 1848

Friday, April 27, 2012
The Spanish always recruited native Chamorros to be a part of the island military and police force.  In 1848, the following were the officers and some other positions of the Chamorro force :

Jos é Joaqu í n de la Cruz - Captain (Capit á n)

Jos é Mart í nez - Lieutenant (Teniente)

Jos é Flores - 2nd Lieutenant (Subteniente)

Bernardino Lizama - 1st Sergeant (Sargento Primero)

Felipe Lizama - 2nd Sergeant (Sargento Segundo)

Jos é Aguilar - 2nd Sergeant (Sargento Segundo)

Jos é Aguon - 2nd Sergeant (Sargento Segundo)

Jos é de Le ó n Guerrero - Drummer (tambor)

Mariano San Nicol á s - another drummer (otro)

Ram ó n Borja - Corporal (Cabo)

Alejandro de Le ó n Guerrero - Corporal (Cabo)

Rosauro Cruz - Corporal (Cabo)

Don Jos é de Torres - Corporal Cadet 2nd Lieutenant (Cabo Cadete Subteniente)

Don Vicente Mart í nez - Corporal Cadet 2nd Lieutenant (Cabo Cadete Subteniente)

Don Vicente de Torres - Distinguished Soldier (Soldado Distinguido)

Although there were no real wars going on in the Marianas in the 19th century, don't forget that the Marianas were often used as a place of exile for criminal and political convicts.  Sometimes their numbers were few, sometimes their numbers rose to the hundreds.  Guards were needed to keep an eye on them, supervise their labor and even run after them when a few would escape into the bushes or hills.

JUST ANOTHER DAY...

Friday, April 27, 2012


For all our locals who are now battling traffic on the 405 in LA.....look what you gave up!

Just teasing....

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN....

Thursday, April 26, 2012
An insect or bug or animal ( g å 'ga' )....


animals.howstuffworks.com

....can be used as a name for something else.

Jose : M å ngge i karet å -mo, Juan? ( Where is your car, Juan ?)

Juan : Gaige gi shop .  Ti malago' macho'cho' i ga'ga' . ( In the shop.  It doesn't want to work .)

At the office....

Rose : Terry, fa'tin å se yo' fan xerox copy . ( Terry, please make me a xerox copy .)

Terry : Lao haftaimano ma na' on i ga'ga' ? ( But how do you turn it on ?)

DOUBLE WHAMMY

Thursday, April 26, 2012


TRONGKON NUNU yan ÅT CHO!
Banyan Tree and Coral Rocks!

Either one by itself would be feared by many as being s å gan taotaomo'na , but to find both in the same spot? Fal å go !


WHEN THE MARIANAS WERE ONE

Wednesday, April 25, 2012
es.wikipedia.org
A Spanish Map of Micronesia
showing all the islands under the Spanish Flag

According to a Spanish book of geography in 1892, the Marianas were comprised of the following islands :

GUAJAN : the southernmost and principal island of the Marianas.

SAIPAN : the next in importance.

ROTA, TINIAN, SARIGUAN, PAGAN and AGRIGAN are the next in importance, the latter being the northernmost of these five.

The total population of the Marianas was 9,790 people, all Catholic.

AGA Ñ A had 6,379 residents, or 2/3 of the entire population.

AGAT came next with 1,089 villagers.

SAIPAN was third with 800 souls.  Saipan was counted as one village.  It actually had just two villages, but the second one, Tanapag, was a very recent settlement of Carolinians transferred from Tinian, and was considered a satellite of Garapan, the older and principal village.  Chamorros and Carolinians lived in separate sections of Garapan.

( Baranera, Francisco X. Compendio de Geograf í a de las Islas Filipinas, Marianas, Jol ó y Carolinas.  Manila : 1892 )

THE PLAN OF THE PLAZA

Wednesday, April 25, 2012


Last week I wrote about the PLIGHT of the Plaza.

In today's PDN, we read that the Government has a PLAN for the Plaza.  GovGuam is now taking bids on a project to rehabilitate this precious treasure of history, battered by war and the forces of nature.

http://www.guampdn.com/article/20120425/OPINION01/204250307/Preserve-GovGuam-must-ensure-maintenance-after-Plaza-de-Espa-fixed?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|p

An OpEd in the PDN rightly states that maintenance is key.  Without good maintenance, the whole thing will be a waste of money.

The Philippines realized the importance of Intramuros, the old colonial, Spanish section of Manila.  When that country celebrated the centennial of its first but short taste of independence in 1898, it began to pay more attention to Intramuros, the old Walled City.  Precious little remains there, like our own Pal å syo, due to World War II bombardment.  What does remain, like the church of San Agustin, is visited frequently by tourists and locals alike.

Here are some suggestions for the revitalization of the Plaza and Pal å syo site.

1. A Gallery.  Perhaps the much-hoped-for Guam Museum cannot be housed at the Pal å syo, as it once was many years ago.  But we could open a Gallery there, in the same small building where the museum was once housed.  Rotate the theme and displays showcased at this Gallery.  They don't all have to be items owned by the Guam Museum.  Open it up to private art collections, or school art work and so on.  This will bring people to the Plaza/Pal å syo.  Keep it affordable (local/tourist/student rates, etc), but charge admission to generate income.  The Gallery could double as a souvenir shop.

2. A Cafe or Restaurant.  One thing that attracts people to Intramuros are the restaurants; certainly not a huge number of them, but a few of them that blend with the colonial theme of the Walled City.  Even if you have to build a new structure, in the same architectural style, to house a Cafe or Restaurant, it will help bring people to the Plaza/Pal å syo.  Bid it out and there's a source of revenue to help pay for the maintenance.  Have the Cafe/Restaurant keep the colonial theme.  Chocolate!  Spanish/Chamorro foods.  It could be Empan å da Heaven.

3. Costumed Guards.  Intramuros does this.  Great for tourists.  Have guards represent the old Chamorro Compa ñ ia de Dotaci ó n (militia).  But in reality, these are real guards keeping an eye out for vandalism.

4. Kalesa.  We couldn't have horse-drawn carriages all over Hag å tna.  But perhaps one to take tourists on a short stroll around the Plaza and Pal å syo complex.

Just a few ideas.


The Pal å syo in its clean, pre-war condition.

OF LOVE AND NONSENSE

Tuesday, April 24, 2012


Uno dos tres yan un tres sais ( One, two, three and a three six )
dos na ku å ttro ocho yan un ocho diesisais ( two fours, eight and an eight sixteen )
yan un ocho bentiku å ttro yan un ocho trentaidos ( and an eight twenty-four and an eight thirty-two )
gi si Baza yan si Nena y'an humihita na dos. ( at Baza and Nena when the two of us are together .)

M å ngge si Daling? ( Where is Daling ?)
Am å nu nai gaige gue'? ( Where could she be ?)
Sa' esta yo' gof mah å lang ( Because I am already missing a lot )
sa' å pmam ti hu lie. ( it's been a while since I've seen her .)
Pinite i korason-ho ( My heart is aching )
sa' guiya hu hahasso. ( because I think of her .)
Yanggen un lie si Daling ( If you should ever see Daling )
t å go' fan ya u f å f å tto. ( tell her please to come by .)

Chamorro ditties can be whimsical and nonsensical.  It's not so much the meaning of the words, as it is the sound of the words, whether they mean anything when put together or not.

I remember in Saipan in the early 90s putting a song together which I thought was pretty funny.  But the audience laughed the most at the refrain, which was just a filler that went " tiru liru li, tiru liru la ."

The second song is one of romance and love forlorn.  Also quite prominent in Chamorro music.

KATESISMO #2

Tuesday, April 24, 2012
3.  H å fa i fine'nana na u ta fa'tinas para u ta tungo' yan ta setbe si Yu'us?

I fine'nana na u ta fa'tinas para ta tungo' yan ta setbe si Yu'us guiya i u ta hongge sen metton todo i ha na' ma tungo' si Yu'us.

4. H å fa na debe u ta hongge sen metton todo i ha na' ma tungo' si Yu'us?

Debe u ta hongge sen metton todo i ha na' ma tungo' si Yu'us sa' si Yu'us taihinekkok tiningo'- ñ a yan minagahet- ñ a, ti si ñ a dinage ni u dage hit.

TIEMPON MÅNGGA

Tuesday, April 24, 2012


They are still gada ' (unripe, green) but it seems in a month or so Guam will have a bumper crop of mangos.  They're coming out in great numbers all over the island in this hot and dry time of year.

Those who like them this green are already picking them and pickling them.

You can expect Agat to have their Mango Festival pretty soon.

ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Monday, April 23, 2012

BANK OF GUAM MAIN BRANCH EARLY 1970s


BANK OF GUAM FORMER MAIN BRANCH TODAY
Today called the Santa Cruz Branch

I remember the first mobile-home structure that housed the infant Bank of Guam in the early 1970s.  When the corporate headquarters moved to its present high-rise building on the east side of town, the former headquarters pictured above became the Santa Cruz branch.  Santa Cruz was the name of the pre-war barrio or district of Hag åt ñ a where this building is located.

By the way, the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of this building looked like this....


Look at the floral prints!

And the telephone numbers that began with 777.

Some of the faces I can identify are (beginning on the left) : Felino Amistad, Julie and father Tim Certeza, who owned the land before the Bank bought it, Judge Joaquin Perez, Speaker Florencio Ramirez, Jose Untalan, Bishop (at the time) Felixberto Flores, Msgr. Jose Leon Guerrero, John Kerr, Lt. Gov. Kurt Moylan, Francisco Leon Guerrero, Bank President Jesus Leon Guerrero and Joe Carlos (contractor).

AN OLD CHAMORRO LAW ABOUT COCONUTS

Monday, April 23, 2012


In old Guam, if you were walking along and got hungry or thirsty, you could climb any coconut tree and pick a coconut to drink its water or eat its soft meat ( m å nha ), without needing to ask anybody's permission.

But you were not allowed to pick up a fallen coconut to eat.  Fallen coconuts were ripe and the meat inside was firm, firm enough to dry and make into copra, which was a source of income for many families.

BANANA FESTIVAL

Sunday, April 22, 2012


Chiquita bananas just don't do it for me, compared to local bananas.

Every April, the Talofofo people host a Banana Festival.  This year I met Ben Meno, who explained to me some of the many varieties of bananas to be found on island.

If it's unripe banana, it's called chotda .

Aga' if it's ripe.

Some are for cooking; some for eating raw.

I buy local bananas usually once a week.  My favorite is the macau , because it keeps longer than manila , which I do like as well.  I also buy the cooking bananas and just steam them.  They're delicious just like that.

Other varieties are chotdan long , d å ma , tanduki , galayan , and p å hong among others.

SIEMPRE YA-MO!

Saturday, April 21, 2012


Nice to see Chamorro in some signage around island.

This one in a mom and pop store that serves a little buffet.

Chagi fan.  Siempre yamu !  Try it.  You'll like it!

FRIHONÅDAS NA SINANGAN

Saturday, April 21, 2012
Å NTES GU Å NTES



Å ntes means "before" (in time or sequence, not in geographic location).

Gu å ntes means "gloves," borrowed from the Spanish.

When you want to say, "That was before," and be funny about it, you say " Å ntes gu å ntes !"

noticias.cibercuba.com

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : CHO'GUE

Saturday, April 21, 2012
commons.wikimedia.org
CHO'GUE : to do

Bai hu cho'gue.  I will do it.

Ti gu å ho chumo'gue.  I didn't do it.

Ti si ñ a en che'gue.  You (plural) cannot do it.

H å fa un chocho'gue?  What are you doing?

H å nao ya un cho'gue!  Go and do it!

H å ye chumo'gue?  Who did it?

Ma cho'gue nigap.  It was done yesterday.

Cho'guiye.  To do for someone or something.

Kao si ñ a hu cho'guiye hao?  Can I do it for you?

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Friday, April 20, 2012


An un hasso yo' yumute' / yute' yo' gi oran las ocho;
sa' ti u dad å nd å n las nuebe / esta yo' ma ñ odda' otro.


A wonderful example of the sassy Chamorro comeback.

If you are thinking of dumping me, do it at eight o'clock.
The clock won't chime nine, and I will have already found your replacement.

So there!

KARETAN KÅHON

Friday, April 20, 2012

These kids reminded me of something we enjoyed as kids in the 1960s.

The karetan k å hon .

A k å hon was any old wooden crate that you found lying around.  It didn't cost any money to find.


etsy.com

You put wheels on it and handle bars, and you had a karetan k å hon to take kids for rides around the neighborhood.

We rarely bought toys from the few stores we had back then.  Our toys were the pieces of junk we found lying around the yard or the jungle.

CNMI ANTHEM'S GERMAN ORIGINS

Thursday, April 19, 2012
Our neighbors to the north went looking for a hymn or anthem for their new Commonwealth.  Two brothers, Jose and Joaquin Pangelinan, are credited with composing the Chamorro lyrics, and David Peter, better known as Taulamwar, with the Carolinian lyrics.

But where does the melody come from?  There's the surprise.  Or maybe not.

Here's how Goro' sings the CNMI Anthem :



Even as a teenager, I always thought the melody sounded suspiciously European and possibly German.  If the Carolinian-influenced bands like Rematau sang it, complete with ukulele, it could pass for something locally made.  But it still made one wonder.

Well, the melody is most certainly German - as the next video shows.  This clip combines both the CNMI Anthem in the first half, followed by the German melody which it borrowed in the second part.


The Germans ruled the Northern Marianas for a short fifteen years, from 1899 till 1914.  But even for that short span, they were more or less liked by the people, for all their strictness, and for many, many years, older people in Saipan and Luta told stories about German times, taught their kids a few words in German and sang a few German songs.

Judge Ignacio Benavente of Saipan, for example, still said his prayers in German forty and fifty years after the Germans had left.  But the German Capuchins taught him those prayers when he was a child and they stuck.

The German original is the song Im Schoensten Wiesengrund (In the Most Beautiful Valley) composed by Wilhelm Ganzhorn.  It is no coincidence that the original song talks about "home," and saluting home a "thousand times."  The German song talks about leaving home and the desire to die and be buried in one's homeland.  Just switch from valley to island, and you have the CNMI Anthem.

I KATUPAT

Wednesday, April 18, 2012
CHAMORRO KATUPAT


The katupat is a rice pouch made from the blades of coconut tree fronds.  The rice is boiled inside the katupat .  Thus, we have a ready-made container, in an amount sufficient for one person's meal, without the need or hassle of finding a means of taking rice with you to the fields or farm.

BUT, WAS I SURPRISED...

...when I was walking down the street in a town in Indonesia, and saw men selling katupat in their little lunch wagons on the sidewalk.  I pointed to the katupat and asked them what it was, and guess what the Indonesian said? Katupat !  Sometimes it is spelled ketupat . Pareho ha' .

As I've pointed out numerous times on this blog, our roots seem to go back to Indonesia or Malaysia.  So many of our words are nearly identical to their languages.

idoy-8facts.blogspot.com
INDONESIAN KATUPAT/KETUPAT

And just to point out the linguistic connections we have across the seas, in Ilocano it is called patupat , as well as in Pampanga, it seems.  Because there are many Ilocano speakers in Pangasinan, it is found there as well.  In the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, banana and other leaves can be used to wrap the rice, not just coconut fronds.



HOW TO WEAVE A KATUPAT

ESTAGUE' I KUTTURAN CHAMORRO

Wednesday, April 18, 2012
freelance-zone.com

There's always a lot of talk about Chamorro culture; what it means to be Chamorro.  And a lot of it, I think, misses the point.

It's not just, or even mainly, about necklaces and dances and chants, which are sometimes our own creations based partly on limited historic descriptions written by foreigners, and partly on our own imagination.

It's mainly, I suggest, about values and ways of thinking.

Take, for example, the elderly Chamorro man I visited last night in one of our southern villages.  We talked about his declining health, and he told me that some years ago, both he and another man from the same village, sharing the same first name, last name and middle initial, were both getting medical attention at GMH.  They had the same middle initial, but for two different names.

GMH sent this man the medical bills for both him and the other man!  The other man's bill, by the way, amounted to $3,000.

What did this man do?  He PAYED THE OTHER MAN'S BILL .

I asked him why, when he had his own bill to pay.

" Hu konsidera, P å le', na m å s diddide' salape'- ñ a i kilisy å no ki ni guaho ."  "I considered, Father, that the man had less money than me."

More than that, Chamorros of this man's generation, Catholic and Chamorro to the core, don't even think twice about doing something munificent like that.  They don't struggle and weigh the pros and cons.  They just do it; naturally, spontaneously.  They trust that God will make all things turn out alright.

THAT - to my mind - is Chamorro culture; at least what I saw in my grandmother and her generation, spiritually and psychologically formed at a time some people consider less pristine.

If only our "recovery" of the Chamorro culture today would include a recovery of such values.

FAMILY NICKNAMES : NGÅNGA'

Tuesday, April 17, 2012
thebabyduck.com
NG Å NGA'


One branch of the Rosario family is well-known as the Familian Ng å nga' .

Ng å nga' means "duck," as in the animal.

But I have heard of some of the Santos family, originating in Piti, also being called the Familian Ng å nga' , and I cannot find any connection between them and the Rosarios.

There may be no connection, as it is entirely possible that two unconnected families share the same nickname.  One example of this is the Pepero nickname, which is used by some of the Due ñ as family on Guam, but by some of the Sablan family in Saipan.

LIFE IS FUNNY

Tuesday, April 17, 2012
TRUE STORY



I bumped into former senator and funeral director Ben Ada a few days ago.

He said, "P å le', come over to the funeral home one of these days.  We just got a new priest's casket."

I'm sure he didn't mean it this way, but I just had to make a joke out of it, and replied, "And you want me to be the first occupant?"

THE PLIGHT OF THE PLAZA

Monday, April 16, 2012

Precious little remains of what once was the Pal å syo, the Governor's Palace and its adjunct structures which border the Plaza de Espa ñ a.  Built by the Spaniards, it was used even by the American governors and then by the Japanese till most of it was destroyed by American bombardment in 1944.

The data all show that our tourists are interested in our history and culture and express disappointment how little they see of these things when they are here.  The Plaza is always on our maps, and tourists visit it, but what the tourist maps don't show is how embarrassingly and deplorably abandoned and dilapidated the site is.  What a shock it all must be to them!

But what a shame it should be to all of us, as the Pal å syo and Plaza are ours - no one else's.  Where's the pride?  And the sense of responsibility?  The Pal å syo and Plaza sit on public land and belong to the government, so our government has first responsibility for them.  But the solution is not just with the politicians, but also with businesses, especially those connected with tourism and who benefit from it, civic organizations and private citizens.  If our political leaders take the initiative and rally these separate groups of people, we can do something about this.

HASSO SUMAY

Sunday, April 15, 2012


Yesterday we had Mass in Sumay.

Sumay was the second biggest village on Guam, after Hag å t ñ a, before the war.  Its vitality was linked to its location on Orote peninsula and Apra Harbor.  The Marines and Navy had their installations; the Trans-Pacific Cable Company and Pan American Airlines had their commercial presence as well.  When you first arrived on Guam, whether on a military or commercial transport, Sumay was the first place you touched ground.

If an ancient village once existed, we know next to nothing about it.  By the time the whalers were coming to Guam in significant numbers in the early 1800s, a village seems to have been created in Sumay by Hag å t ñ a transplants.  For years dependent on nearby H å gat for religious services, it was given its own parish, named after Our Lady of Guadalupe, which had been the patron of the now-defunct village of P å go, abandoned after the smallpox epidemic of 1856.

When the Americans took Guam from the Japanese in 1944, they did not allow the Sumay people to return.  This was the first large-scale military build-up in Guam history.  The entire peninsula was made a naval base.  The Sumay people were relocated to Santa Rita.

But the hearts of many Sumay people remain in their original village.  Several times a year, the Navy allows them to return and have Mass, visit the cemetery and have lunch.

WASP INFESTATION OF THE 1800s

Sunday, April 15, 2012
true-wildlife.blogspot.com

For about twenty years, beginning in the 1860's, from December till February, Guam was infested with wasps from about noon till five o'clock on hot, still days.  The bees were believed to have originated on a boat which crashed on shore and broke up.  The sting from these wasps was sharp and burning.

Chamorros bathed in water with tobacco leaves or vinegar to treat the sting.  The Spanish priest used camphorated oil and experienced immediate relief.

( P. Aniceto's Chronicle )

KATESISMO #1

Sunday, April 15, 2012
How good is your Chamorro?  I'll be posting short excerpts from an old Chamorro catechism without an English translation.

1. H å ye muna' fanhuyong hit yan pumo'lo hit gi tano'?

Si Yu'us Saina-ta ha na' fanhuyong hit yan pumo'lo hit gi tano'.

2. Para h å fa na ha na' fanhuyong hit?

Ha na' fanhuyong hit para ta tungo', ta gofli'e yan ta setbe si Yu'us guine gi tano' ya taiguine ta konsige i langet.

MOCHONG LATTE SITE IN LUTA

Saturday, April 14, 2012

MOCHONG IN LUTA
Not the biggest latte stones, but the largest number


At the very north of Luta is Mochong, which stands out as having the largest number of latte stones in the Marianas - about 50 of them.

Another Unique Feature here .... STONE WALLS....built by our ancestors


Perhaps the only place where walls built by our pre-Spanish ancestors can be found.


The latte stones here aren't very large, and, thanks to our frequent earthquakes, most if not all the capstones ( t å sa ) have fallen off the pillars ( haligi ), as is seen above.

ADAHE!  BE CAREFUL!

I went to Mochong with a Rotanese friend.  As we drove into the dirt trail, he told me that a Chamorro dance group from Guam came up to Mochong and did their dances all around the latte stone site.  By the next day, most of the dance group, he says, were sick.

As I got down from the car to survey the area and take photos, I noticed that my Rotanese friend stayed by the car, not approaching the latte stone site.  I said a prayer to my Guardian Angel to protect me from any spirits wishing to do me harm, and nothing unpleasant happened to me.

NOTHING SECRET HERE

Saturday, April 14, 2012
best-printable-invitations.com

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

What happens on Guam, is heard in Vegas, and LA, and San Jose, and Seattle, and....

So a family decided to hold a surprise birthday party for a member of the family.  Invitations were sent to many people, with the words SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY prominently and unmistakably printed at the top.

One woman got her invitation in the mail, and, seeing the date of the party, felt so bad that it was the same time as a prior commitment.

She felt so bad....she called the birthday boy and said...."So sorry I cannot make it to your surprise birthday party tomorrow!"

FAMILIA : UNGACTA

Friday, April 13, 2012

Ungacta is an indigenous Chamorro name.

It is derived from the Chamorro word ungak , which means "to knock off balance, to tilt, to bend to one side."

A Chamorro hymn about the Holy Cross says, " Ungak p å 'pa' i ram å s-mo ."  "Bend down your branches," referring to one side of the beam of the cross, so that the singer can kiss Jesus hanging there.

ONE FAMILY

From all appearances, anyone named Ungacta today is a descendant of Don Miguel Cruz Ungacta of Hag å t ñ a.  The fact that he is named "Don" in the 1897 Guam Census shows that he had held some civic position (former neighborhood leader or justice of the peace, for example).  "Don" is equivalent to "Sir."

He may have had a sister Maria, married to Pedro Baza.

Miguel was married to Maria de Leon Guerrero Perez, the daughter of Cesareo Aguon Perez and Nieves de Leon Guerrero.

The family is still very much associated with the capital city, with an Ungacta holding the position of mayor for many years.


YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN....

Friday, April 13, 2012
Watch Frankie's own video, and you'll understand how we often sprinkle the word "own" in our own conversations.

ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Plaza de Espa ñ a, Hag å t ñ a
Before 1930

I can tell this was taken before 1930 because the Saint Vincent de Paul Hall isn't built yet.  That Hall, with two floors, was built adjacent the Cathedral on the west side and would have been visible from this vantage point.  The little building that is seen next to the Cathedral in this photo was taken down to make room for that Hall.  My guess would be this photo was taken in the mid to late 1920s.

The Kiosko (built by the Americans, not the Spaniards) is on the left.  Some kind of group formation, more than likely from the schools rather than militia, is taking place.


Plaza de Espa ñ a, Hag å t ñ a
Now

The original Kiosko is still there, and much of the concrete foot path and the arches.  The new Cathedral is bigger and doesn't go as far back on the property as the pre-war one.  Instead of the konbento directly behind the Cathedral, today we have the Academy Gym in that spot.

DID YOU KNOW....?

That the Plaza de Espa ñ a wasn't always called the Plaza de Espa ñ a?

At one time it was called the Plaza de Magallanes.  What? Magallanes is the Spanish form of the name Magellan.  Chamorros pronounced it Ma - ga - y å - nes, with a Y as in Yigo.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : LÅ'LA'

Thursday, April 12, 2012
sidsavara.com
L Å ' LA' : to live

L å la'la'.  Living.  It is alive.

Ti l å la'la'.  It's not living.  It's not alive.

Lina'la'.  Life.

Gi todo i lina'l å '-ho.  In all my life.

Para todo i lina'l å '-ho.  For all my life.

D å ngkulo bali- ñ a i lina'l å '-mo.  Your life has great worth.

Na' l å 'la.  To make live.  To animate.

Si Jesus lum å 'la' ta'lo.  Jesus came alive again.

Ha ofrerese hit si Yu'us nu i taihinekkok na lina'la'.  God offers us everlasting life.

THE BIRTHDAY SONG IN CHAMORRO

Wednesday, April 11, 2012


How lucky am I to have the talented Ruby Aquiningoc Santos sing and play this for me?  And Lawrence makes a good birthday boy, even though his birthday is months past.

The Chamorro version of the Happy Birfday Song is quite simple, consisting of just one line of two words : Biba Kumple å ñ os .

Kumple å ñ os is borrowed from the Spanish word, and broken down it means "completing" ( cumple ) "years" ( a ñ os ).

Biba is also borrowed from the Spanish ( Viva !) and it literally means "may you, he, she or it live," as in "live long!"  But Chamorros use Biba ! as a celebratory exclamation of joy or glee.

Spaniards never say Biba Kumple å ñ os .  Instead, they say " Feliz cumplea ñ os ."  Call it "Spanish the Chamorro way" to say Biba Kumple å ñ os .

BE CAREFUL....

Kumple å ñ os , as we mentioned, really means "completing years."  "Anniversary" is a good synonym for it.  So, kumple å ñ os does not refer just to the anniversary of one's birth.  You can observe the kumple å ñ os of someone's death ( Kumple å ñ os Finatai ) or one's wedding ( Kumple å ñ os Umakamo' or Kumple å ñ os Kasamiento or Kumple å ñ os Umassagua ).

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Wednesday, April 11, 2012
playaweather.com

A pregnant woman shouldn't look at the moon during the first quarter...

...or else the baby will be born with a cleft palate.

MOUNT JAMALAMLAM

Tuesday, April 10, 2012


What a surprise many years ago when we were all told we had been climbing the wrong mountain.

For years people said we were taking the cross up Mount Lamlam on Good Friday, only to find out it wasn't Mount Lamlam.  It was called....Mount Jama....Jama....never mind.

The name is Humuyong M å nglo'.  Here's how the Chamorro language authorities spell it :

guampdn.com
Huyong means "to exit, to come out of."  But that can also mean "to result in, to become," as "You came out alive!"  So Mount Humuyong M å nglo' could mean "where the wind exits" or "what became wind."

So why does the PDN spell it...JUMULLONG MANGLO?

guampdn.com

Well...back in the good ole Spanish days, many places in the Marianas were spelled the way a Spaniard would spell it.  You know....Sinaja ñ a, Inarajan, Merizo.  The J in Spanish sounds like an H, like Jose and Juan.  The double L sounds exactly like a Y, which in Chamorro sounds like an English J.  As in Yo ñ a or Yigo.

That's why we have that double L thing going on in AcfaLLe and TajaLLe.  Those are Chamorro names, but for the Spaniards LL and Y sound the same.  And for Chamorros, LL and Y sound the same : like an English J, or better, like a DZ.

SO WHERE IS LAMLAM?


As you can see on the map, Lamlam is due north of --- there we go again --- Jumullong Manglo.

Due to the confusion - which mountain we're climbing on Good Friday - some young guy from Agat that I know calls it Mount Jamalamlam - a mix of Lamlam and how a young generation Chamorro thinks Jumullong is pronounced - the American way.

CHAMORRO TONGUE TWISTER : DRY SEASON

Tuesday, April 10, 2012
It rained a fair amount tonight, but from the looks of the humble Hag å t ñ a River today, it certainly is the dry season.  The river water is quite low, exposing those dry banks.



"Dry season" in Chamorro is fa ñ omnagan .  I have to slow down every time I'm about to say it.  A bit tricky for the lingually challenged.

FA + Ñ OM + NA + GAN

It comes from FAN + SOMNAK + AN. Somnak means "sunlight."  To the Chamorro mind, "dry season" is really "time of sunlight," meaning "abundant sunlight, little or no rain," which kind of dries things out, no?

BEST BEACH IN MARIANAS?

Monday, April 9, 2012

T Å GA' BEACH
Tinian

What's not to like?

Sand --- not sharp rocks and coral.

Warm, clean water that gradually deepens so you can actually swim, dive or float, and not just get your legs wet.


The beach is situated at an idyllic cove, free of pollution.  And the best thing - this is Tinian!  Which means - you can spend hours here and be the only person.  Your own personal beach.

Like these two Tinian boys roughing it up in that clean, clean water.

FELIS PÅSGUAN RESUREKSION!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Lum å 'la' ta'lo si Jesus!
M å tai i Finatai!

Gigon manana gi tetset dia, kumalamten un d å ngkulon laolao t å no', ya guihe mismo na momento humuyong si Jesus gi naftan yan bula i oriy å - ñ a nu i mina'gas l å nget.  Tumunok un å nghet gine i langet guihe mismo na tiempo.  I mat å - ñ a ma ñ i ñ ila' kalan i lamlam, ya i bestidu- ñ a siha man å 'paka kalan i niebe.  Ya ha na' susuha i acho nu i tum å mpe i naftan, ya mat å 'chong gi hilo'- ñ a.  I send å lo siha nu i man est å ba man mamumulan ni naftan, man laolao ya man matomba kalan man m å tai.  Ya annai mana'lo manhomlo', mangahulo' ya man mal å go sen chaddek para i siud å .

Niebe = "snow," from the Spanish nieve

Gine = older form of ginen , "from"

Siudå = "city," from the Spanish ciudad

TODAY IN HISTORY

Saturday, April 7, 2012
GERMAN SHIP BLOWS UP IN APRA HARBOR
April 7, 1917

en.wikipedia.com
SMS CORMORAN

Originally a Russian ship, the Germans captured it in 1914 and re-fitted it at their colony in Tsingtao, China, naming it after a prior ship of the same name.  There is a historical first associated with the Cormoran from the outset; it was the first naval prize won by Germany from the Russians in the First World War.

While sailing in the north Pacific, the Cormoran was pursued by Japanese warships.  Japan, at the time, was at war with Germany in the First World War.  Since the U.S. was, at the time, neutral and not at war, the Cormoran pulled into Apra Harbor to escape the Japanese, as the ship was running out of coal.

Governor Maxwell supplied the ship a small amount of coal and ordered the Cormoran to leave, but the Germans refused.  So the Cormoran was detained, and for two years, the German sailors lived on Guam, often very happily!  The Catholics on board even formed a choir to sing at the Hag å t ñ a Cathedral for Christmas.


German sailors of the Cormoran with a Chamorro boy

On April 7, 1917, however, everything changed.  The United States finally decided to enter the fight and declared war on Germany on April 6 (April 7 for Guam).  The Cormoran was now considered an enemy ship, subject to seizure by the U.S.  Rather than let his ship fall into American hands, the Captain of the Cormoran blew it up himself.  Before this happened, however, the Americans fired a shot over the ship - another first!  The first shot between Americans and Germans in the First World War.

Nine German sailors died as a result of their own scuttling, and are buried at the Naval Cemetery in Hag å t ñ a.

The Cormoran lies under water in Apra Harbor to this day, with a Second World War Japanese casualty, the Tokai Maru , resting on top of it - another rarity!  Two enemy ships, sunk in two separate World Wars, lying in the same watery grave.


A depiction of the Tokai Maru lying atop the Cormoran in Apra Harbor


Memorial to the fallen German sailors of the Cormoran
at the U.S. Naval Cemetery, Hag å t ñ a

The memorial is written in German and says

"The dead of the SMS Cormoran
7 April 1917"

SÅBALON LORIA

Saturday, April 7, 2012
clker.com

Today is the day, in the past, that weeping and wailing and the crack of the ku å tta (cowtail whip) were heard all over Guam.

All during Kuaresma (Lent), certain rules were supposed to be followed.  One was silence.  But if you punished the child for breaking silence, that would make him or her cry, and that in itself would break the silence.

So parents and grandparents waited till today - S å balon Loria - Holy Saturday - to dish out the spanking and whipping that was carefully calculated based on all the Lenten infractions mentally stored in the memories of the ma ñ aina .

It was called Loria because, in those days, Mass was said in the morning on this day, and the Gloria ( Loria ) was sung once more since the time it was forbidden in Lent.  In those days, Lent ended with this Saturday morning Mass and the penalized kids could cry all they want.

Some Chamorros could not easily pronounce Gloria, so they said Loria .  But other people could and did say Gloria.  That's why you'll hear it said both ways.



Martha and Elena recall experiences of S å balon Loria .  It was so associated with spanking, that Loria became a word on its own, meaning "to be punished on S å balon Loria ." Ma loria hao !  You were loria'ed !

Another custom, for some people, which is really a folk belief, is for the kids to jump up and down on S å balon Loria so they can grow taller.

Martha says her grandma would have the windows opened to allow the graces of the day to come in.  Why not?

She also says she would go out and shake trees so they would produce more fruit that year.  I wonder if shaking wallets might produce a similar effect.

It's interesting that S å balon Loria was both a fearful day (for those being punished) and an auspicious day of grace and blessing, since Easter, the resurrection of Christ, was already in the air.

KÅNTAN KUARESMA

Friday, April 6, 2012


Our last Lenten hymn till next year.

ATITUYE KILISY Å NO

Atituye Kilisy å no i sinantos kilu'us
( Reflect O Christian on the most holy cross )
Annai m å tai ma at å ne i mag å het na Yu'us .
( Where the true God died by crucifixion .)
Mames lulok, mames h å yo ni umuma si Jesus .
( Sweet nails, sweet wood which carried Jesus .)

The song borrows from the ideas sung about in a Latin hymn, "Crux Fidelis."  One of its verses talks about the cross being the noblest tree in the world, which produces the best fruit, our redemption through Christ's sacrifice on the cross.  It speaks of " dulce lignum, dulces clavos ," "sweet wood, sweet nails," just as in the Chamorro version.

SILENSIO!

Friday, April 6, 2012
friki.net
IT'S GOOD FRIDAY!  SHHHHH!

In my grandma's generation, strict rules governed all 40 days of Kuaresma (Lent) : no parties, dances, picnics and so on.  During Sem å na S å nta (Holy Week), the rules got more severe : no loud talking, no music from radios or phonographs, no laughing and playing in the streets and yards.

Americans living on Guam before the war remarked how Hag å t ñ a came to a standstill on Bietnes S å nto (Good Friday).  Nothing was open; no one was on the streets.  People were all mainly in the churches (Hag å t ñ a had two Catholic ones) and even the religiously indifferent who didn't go to church stayed in-doors.  The Americans were a bit put off by this, as they had nothing to do on Good Friday, and not by their choice.

As Martha and Elena in the video recount, people were warned not to go into the ocean during Kuaresma , or else they would drown.  Of course, there was the Babuen Kuaresma , but I posted on that last year.  Today, a few people still keep the old custom of being soft-spoken and abstaining from TV and music on - at least, of all days - Bietnes S å nto , the day Jesus suffered so much.

BIETNES SÅNTO

Friday, April 6, 2012

Gi para talo' å ne d å ngkulo na hinemhom tum å mpe i tano' pot tres oras na inapmam, ya i uttimon- ñ iha m å tai si Jesus.  Para u gef siente si Jesus i minalaet i pinite, si Tat å - ñ a gi langet nina' apattanguan nu i manakkalom na konsuelo siha gi hinalom- ñ a.  Este na abandono era sen d å ngkulo na totmento para si Jesus, na umugong a'gagang, "Yu'os-ho, Yu'os-ho, sa' h å fa na un abandona yo'?"

Despues ti å pmam ilek- ñ a si Jesus, "M å 'ho yo'."  Entonses un send å lo ha chuchule' un espongha, ni ma supok gi binakle; ha sahang gi un piao, ya ha n å 'e si Jesus para u gimen.  Despues de monh å yan gumimen, ilek- ñ a si Jesus, "Todo esta kab å les."

Pot uttimo, ilek- ñ a si Jesus a'gagang, "T å ta, gi kannai-mo nai hu enkomienda hao nu i anti-ho."  Ya ha na' tettekon i ilu- ñ a, ya ha entrega i anti- ñ a gi Saina.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : PUTE

Thursday, April 5, 2012
horsesmouth.typepad.comleng

PUTE : pain, hurt, ache, sore

Pute! It hurts!

Kao pute?  Does it hurt?

Pute yo'.  I am hurt.

Puten tuyan.  Stomach ache.

M å no piti?  Where does it hurt? Piti because the original is m å no i piti ?  Where is the pain?

Mamute.  Extensive pain of the whole body or a large part of the body.  From man + pute = mamute . Mamute todo i tataotao-ho .  My whole body is in pain.

Pinite.  Pain.

D å ngkulo i piniti- ñ a.  His/her pain is great.

Piniten n å na.  A mother's pain.

Na' pinite.  Pitiable.  One feels pain over something.

Na' pinite na k å nta.  A painful song.

Na' pute.  To make hurt.

Ha na' pute i korason-ho.  He/she/it made my heart ache.

Pinitiye.  To feel pain for someone/something.

Pinitiye si nan å -mo.  Feel your mother's pain.

PUTE? OR PUTI?

There is a system of spelling (orthography) endorsed by the local government, and until they make alternative spelling a criminal act, we are free to use it or not in private publications.  I prefer to spell it the way it sounds, and one solitary word in Chamorro can be pronounced more than one way by Chamorros.  Just listen to the recordings, both audio and video, I have on this blog and hear the different ways different Chamorros pronounce the same word!  I grew up with an older generation (my grandma was born in 1899) that truly said pute , not puti .  If you pronounce it puti , then spell it puti .  Just don't spell it it pooty , because now that's an American way of spelling.

NAPUTI

The Chamorro last name Naputi comes from pute and means "to make hurt, painful, sore."

PITI

It is believed that the village of Piti was once called I Piti, The Pain.

PUTI TAI NOBIO

Guam's official flower is the bougainvillea, also known as the Puti Tai Nobio , which means "it hurts to lack a boyfriend."  Though some women could say, "Good riddance."

I UTTIMO NA SENA

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Si Jesus ha chule' i p å n gi man sen s å ntos yan man sen kons å gra na kannai- ñ a, ya ha na' ng å ng å ha' hulo' i mat å - ñ a gi langet, ha n å 'e gr å sias si Yu'us Tat å - ñ a, ya ha bendise i p å n, ya ha n å 'e i apostoles- ñ a siha, ilelek- ñ a, "Chile', ya en kanno'; guiya este i tataotao-ho, ni para u ma entrega pot hamyo."  Taiguihe na modo ha chule' lokkue' i k å lis yan bino, mann å 'e gr å sias, ya ha bendise, ya ha n å 'e i disipulu- ñ a siha, ilelek- ñ a, "Chile', ya en fangimen todos nu guiya; este i k å lis i hag å '-ho, i haga' i nuebo na testamento, na pot hamyo yan pot meggagai u ma chuda' para i apas i isao siha.  Che'gue este pot en hahasso yo'.

THE CHAMORRO MILITIA

Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Not the Guam Militia which was formed during American times, but the Chamorro militia during Spanish times when all the Marianas were united.

esacademic.com
The Spaniards, from the very beginning, utilized native Chamorros as part of the local military force.  Since, after the last Spanish-Chamorro battles were over, there were no wars fought on Guam till World War II, this military force also policed civilian activity.  They were organized in various ways over the years, but one that lasted pretty much for most of the 1800s was the Compa ñ í a de Dotaci ó n.

Compa ñ í a meant, as one could guess, a "company," in a military sense. Dotaci ó n has more than one meaning, but here it would mean, more or less,  a "patrol."  The Compa ñ í a was made up of Chamorros and would have dressed, more or less, like the Filipino soldiers above.  Sometimes Chamorro guards watched over the presidiarios , or exiled convicts, some Filipino, some Spaniards, when Guam was used as a penal colony by Spain.

The Compa ñ í a was not always the most loyal or dependable!  In 1884, some members of the Compa ñ í a ambushed and killed the Spanish Governor, Angel Pazos Hidalgo, right at the Pal å syo (Palace) in Hag å t ñ a!  The Chamorro ring leaders were eventually tried and executed.

KÅNTAN KUARESMA GIYA SAIPAN

Wednesday, April 4, 2012


This hymn is in the Guam Lepblon K å nta (church hymnal) but it isn't sung much on Guam today and is largely forgotten.

But they still sing it in Saipan, and frequently.  A song about the sorrowful Mother, it isn't just for Lent, but for funerals and for feasts of the Bithen Dolorosa (Lady of Sorrows).

Lyrics

N å nan pinite, N å nan ma guaiya
Po'lo ya gu å ho hu s å ngan a'gang
I masapet-mo piniten n å na
Nu i lahi-mo ni i ma kl å ba.
( Sorrowful Mother, beloved Mother
let me tell loudly
your suffering, a mother's pain
for your Son who was nailed .)

Si Jesukristo, Yu'us yan taotao
L å hen Maria guiya na maisa
Ma konne' preso kalan ataktak
Ya ma sentensia para u m å tai.
( Jesus Christ, God and man
the only son of Mary
was taken prisoner as if a rebel
and He was sentened to die .)

Ma konne' hulo' nu i linahyan
Ma na' ma tomba sesso gi chalan.
Annai tinaggam nu i Nan å - ñ a
I na pinite maulek- ñ a m å tai!
( He was taken up by the crowds
they made Him fall frequently on the road
When He was met by His Mother
oh what grief, it would be better to die !)

Ya i Katb å rio nai ma sen an ñ a'
Ma na' tai dahok i tataotao- ñ a
Ya ma at å ne addeng kannai- ñ a
Gi trongkon h å yo kalan gue' g å ’ga’.
( And it was on Calvary that they truly beat Him
they stripped His body of His clothing
and they nailed His feet and hands
on a piece of wood, as if He were an animal .)

Ayo nai h å go mames na N å na
Humihot guihe gi echong ñ å - ñ a.
Hokkok mala’la’ hulo' yan p å pa'
Ya gi me'n å- mo tum å nges a'gang.
( That is why you, sweet Mother
came closer there by His side.
He was thoroughly skinned, above and below
and He wailed loudly before you .)

Ilek- ñ a guihe, "Adios, palaoan;
Lahi-mo ennao, h å go Nan å - ñ a."
Bula pinite, tumekkon m å tai
si Jesukristo i Lina'l å' -ta.
( He said there, "Farewell, woman;

There is your son, you are his Mother."
Full of pain, He bowed His head and died,
Jesus Christ, our Life .)

N å nan pinite, N å nan ma guaiya
po'lo ya gu å ho hu t å nges a'gang
si Jesukristo gi finatai- ñ a
yan h å go lokkue' mames na N å na.
( Sorrowful Mother, beloved Mother
let me weep loudly
for Jesus Christ at His death
and for you Sweet Mother .)

CHAMORRO APRIL FOOLS

Tuesday, April 3, 2012
blog.foodnetwork.com

Dispensa yo', sa' kalan atrasao diddide' este, lao gi painge ha' na hu hungok este na estoria ni, segun gi ma sang å ne-ko, mag å het na ma susede.

Å ñ os yan å ñ os t å tte, est å ba na katna ha' t å ya' esta pugua' giya Guam sa' man m å m å tai i trongkon pugua' siha.  Lao u ñ a se ñ ora, ni gof mamama', guaha amigu- ñ a taotao Malojlo ni bula pugu å '- ñ a.  I palao'an ha å gang i taotao gi telefon.  "Kao guaha pugu å '-mo ni un bebende?"  Man oppe i taotao, "Hunggan.  F å f å tto agupa' ya bai hu n å 'e hao.  Lao, na' seguro na un f å tto å ntes de las sais gi ega'an, sa' yanggen atrasao hao m å gi agupa', si ñ a hokkok!"

Mag å het na, sigiente dia, t å ftat å f gi chatanmak, i palao'an ha t å go' i che'lu- ñ a yan i ki ñ adu- ñ a para u h å nao p å pa' Malojlo ya u ma f å han i pigua'.  M å tto i dos å ntes de las sais ya ma sodda' i taotao, ilek- ñ iha, "Ha na' h å nao ham guine m å gi i che'lun-m å me ni un kuentuse nigap gi telefon.  Estague' na m å tto ham para in fahan i pigua'."  Nina' manman i taotao yan um å ' å ', pues ilek- ñ a, "AH - PRIL FOOL!"  Gi mag å het, t å ya' ni h å fafa pugu å '- ñ a desde i tutuhon!

Years ago, there was hardly any pugua' on Guam as the trees were dying.  But one lady, very much a chewer, had a friend in Malojlo who had a lot of pugua' .  She called him on the phone asking, "Do you have pugua' you are selling?"  The man answered, "Yes.  Come tomorrow and I will give you.  But, make sure you come before 6AM, because if you are late coming here, it may all run out!"

The next day, very early before dawn, the woman sent her sister and brother-in-law to go down to Malojlo to buy the pugua' .  The two arrived before 6AM and found the man, saying, "Our sister with whom you spoke yesterday on the phone sent us over here.  Here we are to buy the pugua' ."  The man was taken aback, mouth wide open, and then said, "AH - PRIL FOOL!"  In reality, he never had any pugua' to begin with!

ADAHE I ILU-MO!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012
e.wikipedia.com


Hag å t ñ a.  Christmas Eve.  1887.

A new bell in a new tower was dedicated and blessed.  In all the excitement of ringing the bell for the midnight Mass for Christmas, too many people went up the tower, there was too much commotion, and the bell hit someone in the head.

His name was Vicente Alejandro Nego and he died from this injury.

JESUS TATÅ-HO MAMES

Tuesday, April 3, 2012


Jesus Tat å -ho mames, i mina' s å fo yo'
( Jesus, my sweet Father, who saved me )
Gos didok i piniti-ho, gos didok i piniti-ho
( my sorrow is very deep, my sorrow is very deep )
Jesus, asi'e' yo'; Jesus asi'e' yo'!
( Jesus, forgive me; Jesus, forgive me !)

In this Lenten song, Jesus is called "Father," just as we saw in other Chamorro hymns.  This is a characteristic seen in Spanish religious prayers and hymns.  Catholicism is trinitarian; we believe that there are three distinct persons in one God; three persons who are not the same person, but who are one and the same God.  How, then, can Jesus be understood as "Father."

Jesus is God the Son, not the God the Father.  But, even as Son, He has fatherly traits.  As Son, He resembles His Father so much, that Jesus says "he who sees me, sees the Father."  Many scripture passages point to the unity between Father and Son that, although being two different persons, they are so united in all other ways that to see the Son is to see the Father.  So the Son has fatherly traits; He provides for us, sacrifices for us, works for us - His greatest work being His dying and rising for our salvation.  Even in the book of the prophet Isaiah, the Messiah, whom Jesus was, will be called "Everlasting Father." (Isaiah 9:6)

The other verses are :

Gi me'nan i kilu'us, mañotsot, puti yo'.

(Before the cross, I repent sorrowfully.)


Si Yu'us ma atåne ya ti tumånges yo'.

(God is nailed, and I do not weep.)


Humomhom i ha'åne, sa' ti mañotsot yo'.

(The day became dark, because I didn't repent.)


Mahatot na sina'pet, annai ma saolak hao.

(It was bitter suffering, when you were scourged.)


Mañulon gi fasu-mo, lago'-mo dångkulo.

(Your large tears dripped from your face.)


Ya måtai hao pot guåho, ni baba na taotao.
(And you died for me, a wicked person.)



The Basque Original

This Chamorro hymn uses the melody of a Basque hymn to Jesus.  The Basques, who have their own language completely unrelated to Spanish, are found in both Spain and France, and many of the Spanish missionaries to the Marianas were Basques from Spain.  Many of these priests spoke both Spanish and Basque, and some of them spoke Basque as their mother tongue, like Pale' Roman.  The Basques were, at one time, some of the strongest Catholics in the world, producing countless priestly vocations.  So, it isn't surprising that, at times, they used their own Basque hymns to translate into Chamorro.

I have included a part of the Basque original in the video.

I GUAFAK

Monday, April 2, 2012

The gu å fak is a mat woven from dried pandanus leaves.  Besides sleeping on it, our ma ñ aina would spread the gu å fak on the ground outside to dry crops, for example.

Today I heard a story about Hag å t ñ a before the war, that a husband and wife were sleeping at home, curled up in their gu å fak .  A thunderstorm came along while they were still asleep.  Lightning struck them, bouncing them right out the window and onto the top of a tree, still enveloped in their gu å fak .  Can I get a "wow?"

This gu å fak was woven by Chamorros in Luta for the visit of Pope John Paul II to Guam in 1981.  I'm not sure how it was used at that event.  But now it hangs at the Luta Man Å mko' Center.

CHAMORRO BIRTHDAY GREETINGS

Monday, April 2, 2012
latestgifts.co.uk

At a recent birthday party, it was nice to get a few birthday cards in Fino' Chamorro .

One said, " Biba Kumple å ñ os P å le'!  Si Yu'us Ma' å se' nu todo i fina' che'cho'-mo para i taotao siha ginen i bendision yan gr å sian Jesukristo !"

Another said, " D å ngkulo na Si Yu'us Ma' å se' pot inayuda-mo as Marikita i che'lun-måme.  Na' gof magof hao gi fina ñ agu-mo sa' 50 å ñ os hao gi tano' !"

Finally, " Hu n å 'e si Yu'us gr å sia sa' p å le' hao!  Hu tayuyute si Yu'us na sige ha' un nina'e å nimo yan maolek na salut para sige ha' un setbe Gue' !"

I PÅTMA BENDITA

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Chamorros have old customs concerning the palms that are blessed every year on Palm Sunday.


Tommy points out that the palms were burned inside the house in cases of typhoons ( p å kyo ), earthquakes ( linao ), natural calamities ( iran Yu'us ) and evil spirits ( manailaye na espiritu ).

Tan Maria shares how the man å mko' would burn the blessed palms when there was thunder and lightning ( hulu yan l å mlam ).  The man å mko' would get all the kids to sing :

S å ntos, S å ntos, S å ntos Saina
tres yan uno ha' na Yu'us!
( Holy, Holy, Holy Lord
three persons and one God !)

The houses in Hag å t ñ a were so close to each other that, sometimes, one house would answer the other house when this song was sung or prayers said when the weather turned bad.

How bland our society is now compared to those days of palpable Christian culture.


To keep the p å tma bendita (blessed palms) close at hand, we put them around crucifixes and religious statues in our homes.

Superstition?  Or prayer?

There is a big difference between superstition and prayer.  Superstition and magic place confidence in man's mechanical works; do this or that and this or that will happen.  Prayer has nothing to do with that.  Prayer places confidence in Almighty God.  But prayer can be done with physical acts, like the time the sick woman reached out and touched the hem of Christ's garment.  Or when the early Christians used cloths touched by an Apostle for healing, or when Saint James told the elders of the church to lay hands on the sick.  When we pray, we have no guarantee that our will is done, but that God's will be done.  Superstition and magic are ways people (mistakenly) try to control the outcome of things, and have nothing to do with prayer.

AS I SAID....

Sunday, April 1, 2012
Old-timers didn't have names for typhoons (Karen, Pamela, Pongsona).  Instead, they just called them by the year they hit the island.  I posted on this before, and you can read about that here :
http://paleric.blogspot.com/2012/03/typhoons-before-they-had-names.html

It seems the P å kyon Katotse (the Typhoon of 1914) hit Luta as well, and this man recalls what he was told by his ma ñ aina who were there.


According to his dad, when the 1914 typhoon blew the debris, rubble, sand and pebbles in-land, it connected Taipingot (also known as the Wedding Cake) in Luta with the island proper.

DAMENGGON RÅMOS

Saturday, March 31, 2012

I disipulo siha man h å nao ya ma sodda' ayo i man sinang å ne as Jesus, ya ma kokonne' guato i patgon buliko, ma po'lo gi hilo'- ñ a i bestidon Jesus ya ma na' fat å 'chong gue' gi san hilo'.  Nai ch å ch å go' ha' trabia si Jesus giya Jerusalen, man etnon d å ngkulon linahyan taotao gi uriy å - ñ a, ma å gang ñ a ñ aihon gue' yan man e'essalao en se ñ å t de minagof.  Unos ku å ntos ha yuyute' i bestidon- ñ iha gi edda', para u maloffan si Jesus gi san hilo'- ñ iha.  Palo siha man manuutut gi atbot siha p å tmas yan r å mos, ya i linahyan taotao man h å h å nao mamomokkat gi me'n å - ñ a yan i tatte- ñ a man å gang, "Hos å na nu i Lahen David!  Bendito i Rai Israel, na mamaila' gi na'an i Saina!"

Gi entalo' i linahyan, man est å ba palo fariseos, na pot enbidia yan chinatli'e- ñ iha as Jesus man mandaddalalak yan man manespipia nu todo i pasusu- ñ a siha.  Nai ma li'e este na minagof i sengsong, man nina' maipe ma agoddai- ñ iha ya ilek- ñ iha as Jesus, "Maestro, lal å tde i disipulu-mo siha."  Lao man ineppe as Jesus, "Hu sang å ne hamyo, na gin siha ini u fan mamatkilo, i acho siha u fan å gang."

scpc.org.au

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : UMA

Saturday, March 31, 2012
photosearch.com
UMA : to carry on one's shoulder

Ha uma i piao asta ke m å tto gi lancho.  S/he shouldered the bamboo till s/he got to the ranch.

Uma fan para un r å to.  Carry (it) please for a short while.

Inima.  What is being shouldered.

Meggai esta inim å m å -mo.  You are carrying a lot already.  You have enough burdens.

H å fa ennao i un u'uma?  What is that you are carrying?

Um å ye.  To carry something for someone.

Kao malago' ya bai hu um å ye hao?  Would you like me to carry it for you?

***Pale' Roman's 1932 dictionary says uma means "to carry," not exclusively on one's shoulders.  He gives an example of someone carrying something on one's tummy!  Our more recent Chamorro dictionaries limit uma to carrying on one's shoulders.  Languages evolve.  On their own.  All the time.

CHAMORRO RECYCLING

Friday, March 30, 2012
In case the basulero (garbage man) doesn't speak Chamorro, we've graciously provided an English translation on the garbage cans, showing we are doing our part to keep betde (green) and separate our trash.




PLASTEK???
Hu'u nai!  Plastek!

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Friday, March 30, 2012
pancakedispenser.co.uk

TODO MAMPOS TI MAOLEK

Too much of anything is bad.

CHAMORRON SAN DIEGO : CULTURAL FEST A SUCCESS

Thursday, March 29, 2012

For three years now, a Chamorro Cultural Fest has been held in the San Diego area, spearheaded by a group called CHE'LU : Chamorro Hands in Education Links Unity.  Every year it gets bigger and bigger.

Keep up with these happenings at http://chelusd.org/events.html

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN...

Thursday, March 29, 2012
YOU LOSE MONEY AND YOU SAY, "IT'S OK, WHOEVER FINDS IT MUST NEED IT MORE THAN ME."


P å le' : Yanggen sal å ppe' ha na' falingo i taotao, ya hum å hnanao ha' ti ha sodda', i Chamorro, gu å ha na bi å he na ilek- ñ i ñ iha i Chamorro, "Po'lo, sa' i sumodda' buente guiya m å s munesesita."
( If someone loses money, and as time goes on he doesn't find it, sometimes Chamorros say, "Let it be, because the one who found it probably needs it more .")

Tan Didang :  Hunggan, mag å het ennao gu å ha na bi å he nai na taiguennao ta s å ngan.  Sa' ombres hame guine gi halom guma', hu sang å ng å ne ennao, gu å ha na bi å he nai na yanggen in sedda', nai, taiguihe esta singkuenta pesos, pues kumekeilek- ñ a eyo nai, famaisen sa' nu esta no kalan d å ngkulo nai na kantid å i singkuenta pesos para u pinedongguan i taotao.  Pues, sa' este ha' mag å het gi halacha ta'lo, nai hum å nao ham yan si Idung para i tenda, pues isao-hu ha' nai sa' ti ya-ho eye mangingili' purse, pues hu botsa, kalan si Tan Elisa yo' ni hu botsa ha', ya annai m å tto 'u m å gi para bai tulaika i magagu-ho, annai hu tataka' ya hu laknos taigue i fifty dollars.  Pues, duro mag å het in aligao lao hum å hnanao ha' ti hu sodda'.  Ilek-ho, "Po'lo,  po'lo sa' yanggen h å ye sumodda', seguro para guiya."
( Yes, it's true that sometimes we say that.  Because even here in the house, I am saying that, sometimes if we find, like fifty dollars, well that means ask around because that's somewhat a big amount fifty dollars for someone to drop.  So, because recently only, I went with Idung to the store, and it's my own fault because I don't like to carry a purse, so I pocketed it, like Tan Elisa I pocketed it, and when I came here to change my clothes, when I reached for it and took it out, the fifty dollars was missing.  So, we kept looking for it but I never did find it.  I said, "Let it be, because if anyone found it, for sure it's for him/her.")


UPDATE

www.kuam.com/story/33456860/2016/10/24/piti-mayor-says-vandals-were-poor-and-desperate

If you go to the KUAM link above, you'll read a story about how Mayor Ben Gumataotao responded to a break-in at the Piti Mayor's Office. It goes right in line with this idea among many older Chamorros that those who steal must be desperate and needy.

"They must  be desperate, they must be so poor, must be homeless. Section 8 is not giving them enough money. They are poor - they should have come to my office whatever they ask I normally give it to them," he promised.


FAMILIA : LUJAN

Wednesday, March 28, 2012
lujanfamily.wordpress.com
LUJ Á N

In the province of Huesca in the region of Arag ó n in the country of Spain, lies the little village of Luj á n.  So some people were named after this town.  People named Luj á n moved around Spain, then to the Spanish colonies in America, spreading the name.  Eventually, someone named Luj á n came to the Marianas.  The name does not appear in the 1727 nor in the 1758 censuses, so the first Luj á n came to Guam after 1758 and all the Luj á ns probably come from this one and the same person, though we can't be certain about that as we lack documents.  And I cannot tell you if this first Luj á n on Guam was a Spaniard, Hispanic from Latin America or Filipino.

lafueva.com
The tiny hamlet of Luj á n (population 15) sits in the Pyrenees Mountains in northern Spain

Luj á n used to have a bigger population, but, like many small rural villages, people left in the 60s and 70s for "a better life" in the bigger towns and cities.  Well, at least it's gone up from a population of 3 to that of 15.

HAG Å T Ñ A

The Lujans come from Hag å t ñ a, although family members eventually moved south, which we'll get to soon.  The heads of Lujan families in Hag å t ñ a in 1897 were :

Mariano Peredo Lujan married Luisa Perez Diaz.  He seems to be the founder of the Kapili clan of Lujans.  Joaquin Diaz Lujan, married to Ramona Ulloa Castro, may have been Mariano's son.

Salvador Diaz Lujan , by oral tradition, is the son of Mariano, but there is some question about his mother.  He is the founder of the Å tdot clan, which are the well-known Lujan of Aniguak. Å tdot would be a Chamorro nickname of Salvador.

Virtud (Tainatongo?) Lujan .  He was a widower by the time of this census, and I don't know his deceased wife's name.  But he is the founder of the Bittut clan of Lujans.  Virtud=Bittut in Chamorro pronunciation.  I cannot confirm that Tainatongo was his middle name, but it must have appeared in some document if I made this notation.

Then we have some male Lujans on whom we have little information or who never married : Luis (whose mother was a Taitano), Matias, Jose, Silvestre, Vicente (the possible brother of Ana Rosario Lujan)

From the women, we comment on a few for various reasons.

Jose Lujan married Paz Santos, but those Lujan children became "better-known-as" Familian Paz because of her, the mother.

Paulina Lujan married Miguel Iglesias.  These two became the grandparents of Agueda Iglesias who married William Johnston and became known to us as Agueda Johnston of DOE fame.

Two Lujan sisters, Vicenta and Dolores, had as their middle name Tano ñ a ( tano'- ñ a ; his/her land).  One or both of them had several children out of wedlock, carrying on the Lujan name.

MALESSO'

Jose Aguon Lujan (from Hag å t ñ a) married a Malesso' girl, Manuela Espinosa, and settled in Malesso'.  The Malesso' baptismal records survived the war (lucky them) so we have much more data on them.  Jose Aguon Lujan was the son of Joaquin Watkins Lujan, a mestiso with English blood, and Magdalena Aguon.  Manuela was the illegitimate daughter of Barbara Eguiguan Espinosa of Malesso'.  Eguiguan is a truly Chamorro name.  The Malesso' Lujans come from Jose Aguon Lujan.

INAL Å HAN

The Inal å han Lujans come from Jose Baza Lujan (from Hag å t ñ a), married to Maria Cepeda Benavente.  Jose's sister Martina married a San Nicolas from Inal å han.

LUHAN?  OR LUJ Á N?

Some people think that the Lujans have a name that means luhan , Chamorro for "frightened."  But the two words are not pronounced the same.  Lujan has the stress on the second syllable; i.e. loo-HAN.  While the Chamorro word luhan has the stress on the first syllable, i.e. LOO-han.   It's pure coincidence that someone showed up on Guam having a Spanish last name that is similar in sound to a Chamorro word.

OUR LADY OF LUJ Á N

trialx.com
BASILICA OF OUR LADY OF LUJ Á N
Argentina

In Argentina is the city of Luj á n, where a famous statue of Our Lady is kept.  There she acquired the name Our Lady of Luj á n.

TWO LUJ Á NS, BUT NOT CHAMORRO

boxnews.com.ua
Argentinian boxer Sebasti á n Luj á n

bgca.org

Former US Senator from New Mexico Manuel Luj á n

KÅNTAN KUARESMA : MA KANA' GI KILU'US

Wednesday, March 28, 2012






This hymn, equally appropriate for either Lent ( Kuaresma ) or for the Sorrowful Mother ( Dolorosa ), is in the traditional Guam hymnal but is now forgotten.  The people in Saipan have preserved it and sing it often.  The recording is of the Kristo Rai choir in Garapan, Saipan from the 1990s and is taken from an old cassette tape, so pardon the glitches.  Some of my notes and observations follow, but here are the lyrics :

Ma kana' gi Kilu'us, ma s å 'pet fehman Gue'.
( He was hung on the cross, He suffered intensely .)

I maolek na Nan å - ñ a, tumatacho' guihe;
( His good Mother stood upright there ;)
ilek- ñ a sen pinite, "Nan å -ho ennaogue'
( He said mournfully, "My mother, there is )
si Juan fina' lahi-mo, kuent å -ko konne' gue'."
( John your foster son, my proxy, take him .")

Linachai minalaet, i sen N å nan Yu'us
( Consumed by bitterness, the true Mother of God )
gi mappot sumag å - ñ a, umafana' i dos
(in her difficult presence, the two of them faced each other )
ma kl å ba gi tres lulok, gi halom kilu'us
( He was nailed with three nails, on the cross )
i mames na Lahi- ñ a, i maolek as Jesus.
( her sweet Son, the good Jesus .)

Um å gang i Saina-ta, ilek- ñ a "M å 'ho yo'."
( Our Lord cried out, saying "I thirst .")
I taihanom na N å na, yinengyong takkalom
( the waterless Mother, shook intensely within )
mamichao gi mat å - ñ a, dos l å go' d å ngkulo
( gushing from her eyes, two large tears )
ya ayo ha atue, i m å 'ho na p å tgon.
( and that is what she offered, her thirsty child .)

O Bithen mipinite, ma' å se' pulan ham
( O Virgin full of sorrow, kindly watch over us )
taiguihe as Jesus-mo, annai un pupulan
( as you did your Jesus, when you watched over Him )
gef hasso i fino'- ñ a, na un gofli'e' ham
( remember well His words, that you would love us )
fa' N å nan-m å me, N å na, ya gef adahe ham.
( make yourself, Mother, our Mother, and protect us well .)


NOTES

N å na .  There is perhaps no stronger or more evocative word in Chamorro as the word N å na .  Mother is source of life, sustainer, protector, provider, abundant font of love.  She always loves, always gives, always sacrifices.  So Chamorro women see in Mary an image of themselves, suffering for (and sometimes on account of) their husbands and children, or for single women, for their families.  Men see in Mary a replica of their earthly mothers, to whom they can run in time of trouble.

Fehman. Rarely heard today.  It means "strongly, seriously, intensely." Nihi ta fanman å yuyut fehmaman !  Let us fervently pray!

Fina' lahi-mo . Fa ' means "to make."  Thus it connotes that the "thing made" is not original; we made it so. Fina' denne' is donne' (chili pepper) made into something. Fina' lahe is someone not your son ( l å he ) who has been made your son.  Look at the last stanza, as well. Fa' N å nan-mame .  "Make yourself our Mother." Saint John the Beloved Disciple was given Mary to care for as his mother now that her only son Jesus would die; Mary became John's mother and ours as well.

Kuenta. Borrowed from the Spanish cuenta .  It means a "substitute, representative, proxy." H å nao kuenta-ko .  "Go as my representative."

I taihanom na N å na .  Perhaps the most gut-wrenching part of this hymn :  a mother who is unable to relieve the sufferings of her son.  She is powerless, so she does the little she can.  She gives her son her tears to drink.

Mamichao .  Rooted in the word petchao , which means "to dart, spurt."

WOULD YOU BELIEVE....

Tuesday, March 27, 2012
songkick.com

There's a boy band named

MARIANAS TRENCH?

And they're Canadian.

JAMES CAMERON AND THE LUBRICATED MARIANAS TRENCH

Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Hollywood director James Cameron is bringing some attention to our part of the world with his recent journey to the bottom of the Marianas Trench, the first since 1960.

National Geographic
The Trench is the deepest part of the ocean floor.  How deep?  Seven miles.

If you put Mount Everest in the Trench, there would still be 5,000 feet of water over it.

You can stack the Empire State Building five times in the Trench.

IT'S LUBRICATED

But one if the neatest things about the Trench is that it's lubricated.  As we all know, earthquakes happen when two opposing plates of earth meet up and press on each other.  When one gives way and slips, the earth shakes.  The Trench is part of that dynamic.  Being so deep, why aren't there more earthquakes in our area, and severe ones at that?

Scientists say that the western plate is made up of softer material.  As that soil gets crushed as the two plates press on each other, the softer soil is mashed even more, providing a kind of lubricant between the two plates.  More lubrication; less energy needed to slip; less severe rattling of the earth.  Interesting.  And gr å sias a Dios !

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN....

Tuesday, March 27, 2012
You pick a trait, often embarrassing, seen in someone else, and make it his or her nickname.


Like the poor guy who had larger-than-normal ears.  So guess what he was called?  Josen Talanga. Talanga =ears.

Or feisty Tan Maria.  For all her fearlessness, the woman lost her eyesight in her old age.  Still, she walked with a cane all over the island and went on her business as if she had complete vision.  She was "better-known-as" Marian B åt chet. B åt chet =blind.


en.wikipedia.com

Or up in Saipan, dear old Ton Jose used to work for the light company during Japanese times. Denki is Japanese for electric light.  Never to his face, he was called Ton Josen Denki.

This is how some family nicknames got started.  The personal nickname gets applied to all of his or her descendants.

MAHONGANG

Tuesday, March 27, 2012


In Luta, you can get the best mahongang .  Lobster.

This was served at a small, impromptu dinner.  Just one of 20 other dishes served on the table.

THE LUTA ACCENT

Monday, March 26, 2012

Antonia does not believe in taotao mo'na , the spirits of our ancestors who many believe dwell in the jungle and who will physically hurt you if you disrespect them or their environment.  If they make you sick, it is called chetnot maipe , which literally means "heat sickness," because the usual sickness is some sort of inflammation : bruises, swelling, infection, sore, rash and the like.

More on her story follows below, but let me first get to Antonia's way of speaking Chamorro.

I believe that the accent (in Chamorro, ton å da , which means "tune" or "melody") most commonly associated with Luta, but which was also prominent in Hum å tak, Malesso' and Inal å han at one time, reflects the original, pre-contact accent of all Chamorros.  I have no evidence for this, as there were no recordings of people's speech and no written descriptions, as far as I know, about different accents at the time of western contact.  However, look at the facts.  The villages (and island, in the case of Luta) farthest away from Hag å tna, which was overwhelmingly mixed with outsiders marrying Chamorro wives, all have this in common : the sing-song accent.

Three Features

Intonation .  In the Luta (and southern Guam) accent, there is a marked rising of intonation, especially at the end of sentences, where others conclude speech by descending in intonation.

A versus Å .  In many words, what is said as an Å in Guam, Saipan and Tinian is said as an A in Luta.  The Å sound takes on the sound of "paw" or "saw."  In the rest of the Marianas, p å 'go ("today" or "now") is pronounced like "paw - go."  But in Luta, it sounds like the "pa" of "panic."

While many Chamorros of Luta no longer keep the sing-song accent, a dead giveaway that the person is from Luta is this flat A sound where other Chamorros say the rounded or open Å sound, and many on Luta still keep this feature, even when they no longer keep the sing-song intonation.

Softer Consonants .  Another trait that stands out among many Chamorros from Luta is the way they soften consonants in some words.  As an example, whereas others will say sodda' (to find) or p å ddet (cement), extending and intensifying the D sound,  many in Luta soften the D and will say soda' and padet.

Word Usage .  Chamorros in Luta use words and phrases unknown or rarely used on the other islands in the Marianas.  Antonia talks about the man asaina , for example.  We understand what she means; asaina denotes someone of higher status.  But it's not a way of speaking heard outside of Luta.

She also uses the word palacha , a word known to all Chamorros in the past, but not used as much today by Chamorros on Guam.  It means to "to trick or swindle" but, in terms of one's behavior in the jungle in the midst of the spirits, it carries the connotation "to be disrespectful, to tease, to make trouble."

Back to Her Story

She says her nephew went looking for ayuyu (coconut crab) in the jungle, and finding only one, small ayuyu , complained to the taotao mo'na why they didn't allow him to find enough food (totche ; main, animal or protein food).  In his anger, he threw his pack of cigarettes at the trongkon nunu (banyan tree), the supposed dwelling of the taotao mo'na , saying, "So take my cigarettes and smoke!"  Well, on his return home he got the chetnot maipe .  He was taken to the American doctors and, of course, they couldn't find anything or do anything.  So he was taken instead to a suruh å no (Chamorro herb doctor) on Saipan and was cured.

Although she doesn't believe and has never seen taotao mo'na , when she does go into the jungle, she explains to the taotao mo'na that she means no disrespect if she answers nature's call in the jungle as her house is too far and she won't get home in time. Pot siakaso .  Just in case.

TRONGKON ATGIDON

Monday, March 26, 2012

Cotton in the Marianas?

Absolutely.

But not the kind grown in Alabama.  Spaniards imported a tropical variety of cotton that comes from these tall, slender trees with branches that normally shoot out horizontally.  I find them to be handsome trees.

Algod ó n is "cotton" in Spanish.  In Chamorro, it is atgidon , or atgodon .  So, the tree ( trongko ) is called Trongkon Atgidon .

The cotton from these trees (scientific name, Gossypium barbadense , after the Barbados Islands in the Caribbean) can be of excellent quality, commanding a higher price than regular cotton, and so silky in texture that it was sometimes blended with silk.


This particular tree is replete with bulbs opening up with white cotton.

But our ma ñ aina didn't know how to spin and weave, so the cotton from these trees was used just for stuffing pillows and cushions, and as swabs I imagine.

I'll have to check if suruh å no and suruh å na used any part of the tree for medicinal purposes.


Cotton, from trees growing wild in the Marianas

During Spanish times, there was an attempt to grow these Trongkon Atgidon commercially and make lots of money.  Japanese workers were brought to Guam to do this.  The project failed and the Japanese who didn't die on Guam sailed back to Japan.

FAMILY NICKNAMES : KABESA

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Spanish document from Rota in 1873

KABESA

Many people have heard of the Kabesa branch of the Flores clan.  So many Chamorro leaders in government, education and religion come from the Kabesa family.

The Spanish word cabeza means "head."  It can mean the literal head of a person, or symbolically the head of a household or the head of a business or what have you.

In the Marianas during Spanish times, villages were divided into neighborhoods called barangay .  The head of each barangay was called the cabeza de barangay .

In the Spanish document from Luta (Rota) seen above, you can see that two cabezas de barangay , Francisco Manglo ñ a, and Benigno Manglo ñ a, signed the document.  Francisco abbreviated his name in the usual manner; Fran.co.

It is possible that someone from the Kabesa family was so-called because he was a cabeza de barangay .

I also heard another version that the first man nicknamed Kabesa had a big head.  But I am less inclined to believe that story.

ILEK-ÑA SI PÅLE'

Sunday, March 25, 2012
marmolnatural.com.mx
Excerpts from a sermon about death preached in Chamorro around 1873.  This Chamorro is old; it contains usages we don't hear anymore.

I kumomemetsio, gin lache una bes, umadaddahe para mungnga lalache gue' dos beses; ya muna' ennao umalulula para u remedia i hagas lachi- ñ a.  Lao i taotao sen u m å tai una bes na maisa, un bi å he ha'.  Gin lalache i taotao ennao na bes ha' na m å tai, yesta ti si ñ a ma remedia i linachi- ñ a, sa' an mohon i taotao u m å tai dos beses, å ntes de i mina' dos na matai- ñ a, u remedia i fine'nana na linachi- ñ a.  Lao ti si ñ a, sa' pine'lo as Yu'us na u m å tai i taotao una bes ha', ya un bi å he ha' u m å tai.  Dia ha', famagu'on-ho, h å f mina' sen guailaye, h å f mina' sumen kombiene ni i taotao fumunas p å 'go yan i gumefkonfesat todo i linachi- ñ a siha å ntes de u m å tai, sa' despues de i finatai- ñ a, ti u ma funas h å f na isao ni i ma'gas.

The businessman, when he makes a mistake one time, he is careful not to make a mistake a second time; and because of that he hastens to rectify his prior mistake.  But man will surely die one time alone, only once.  If a man is in error that one time only he will die, and he cannot rectify his error, because if only man could die twice, before his second death, he would repair his first mistake.  But he cannot, because God has decreed that man die one time alone, and only once will he die.  There you see, my children, why it is so profitable, why it is so proper that man wipes away now by confessing well all his past sins before he dies, because after his death, no great sin whatsoever will be absolved .

Rep å ra!  Notice!

Kumomemetsio . Kometsio comes from the Spanish comercio , which, you can guess, means "commerce."  Another word for "businessman" in Chamorro is kometsi å nte , also coming from comercio .

Gin .  Means "when."  Our more familiar word yanggen is made up of yan (and) and gin (when).

Una bes .  "One time."  Taken straight from the Spanish una vez .  Today, we stick to un bi å he , which also comes from Spanish.

Un bi å he . Bi å he , from the Spanish viaje , means "trip" or "journey."  But, in Latin America, it can also mean "time," as in "one time, two times."  Goes to show how we were influenced by Latin America, not just by Spain.  Don't forget that Spain brought Mexican and other Latin American soldiers to live on Guam, who married Chamorro women.

Maisa .  "Alone."  It is related to the Ilocano word for the number "one."  The number "one" does indeed stand alone.

Yesta .  Apparently a now-obsolete contraction of "ya est á " or "and now" or "and already."

Dia ha' .  An old phrase, rarely heard nowadays, meaning "You see?"

H å f .  An apocope of h å fa .  An apocope is the dropping of an ending sound or vowel in a word.  It's really just a shortcut.  We see this in words like h å ftaimano (how), which is really h å fa taimano .

Guailaye .  Worthwhile, profitable, useful.  Today we mainly hear the opposite, ti guailaye . Ti guailaye na un sang å ne gue' .  It's useless to tell him/her.

GONE FISHING

Saturday, March 24, 2012


Why the piao (bamboo)?

These guys were going fishing, and using the piao as fishing poles.

THREE HALVES

Saturday, March 24, 2012

This is Ray.  His heritage is made up of three halves.

WORDS I LEARNED IN LUTA

Friday, March 23, 2012
On a recent trip to Luta, I learned the following words in casual conversation.  These words are heard either mainly or exclusively in Luta.  Some are Spanish, some are Chamorro.

Malahente .  Something of a trouble-maker, disobedient, rebellious, discourteous.  What we would also call disatento .  The word is Spanish, " mala gente ," "bad person."

Tammong .  Big, as in d å ngkulo .

Fasisa .  Same as tammong, d å ngkulo .  Big!

Po'yet .  Pee-wee.  Small.

Hatgo .  To go into the jungle looking for d å go, nika, fadang (foods) and so forth.

GERMAN INFLUENCES IN LUTA

Friday, March 23, 2012
Luta (Rota), like the rest of the Northern Marianas, was under German administration from 1899 till 1914, when the Japanese took it over in World War I.

But, unlike Saipan,where there were never more than just a handful of German residents, there were even less Germans living in Luta.  For a lot of the time, just one German lived there - the Catholic priest.  His name was P å le' Corbinian, in Spanish and Chamorro Corbiniano.  The Japanese allowed him to stay in Luta till about the beginning of 1919.

P å le' Corbiniano left some influences on Luta.  His are really the only German touches that ever lasted on Luta.


He built this small chapel, under the title of Our Lady of Lourdes, in a place in Luta called P å tten Gogue .  It's the only German-era structure still around, and it is still used by the faithful.


The interior of the Kapiya (Chapel)

P å le' Corbiniano, as priest, could influence the choice of names when children were baptized, with a decidedly German slant.


I'm sure P å le' Corbiniano was happy this man, which he himself baptized in 1915, was christened with his name.  Corbiniano Ayuyu's son grew up to be a priest himself.


Walburga, born and baptized during P å le' Corbiniano's tenure, also sports a nice German name.


As does Anscar.

There was also a Fritz Mendiola, one of two Luta Chamorros sent to Guam in World War II as interpreters.  It's true that Fritz was born just a year after P å le' Corbiniano left Luta, but the German influence lingered.


"Fritz" is a shortened form of the German name Friedrich (our English Frederick).  Fritz moved to Tinian after the war and there he is buried.

Structures, personal names and several church songs (which I still have to track down) are all part of the small German legacy left on Luta, all thanks to P å le' Corbiniano.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : LÅHE

Thursday, March 22, 2012
http://www.myspace.com/kutturanchamoruperformers

L Å HE : male, son

L å he na p å tgon.  A male child.

Ai lahi-ho.  Oh, my son.

I lahi-mo as Jose.  Your son Jose.

I lal å he.  The men.

Bula taotao, lao puro ha' lal å he.  There are (were) many people, but they are (were) all men.

Håye gai' lahe este?  Whose son is this?

LAI

The expression lai is a contraction of l å he .  So, it isn't strictly correct to say lai to a woman.

H å fa, lai? What's up, man?

More than biological son


L å he can be applied to males who are not one's biological sons, but who have a son-like relationship with someone older.


So, there used to be a custom for the village priest, sometimes, to have a young man live as a companion and worker in the parish church.  He was called the l å hen P å le' , the priest's son.

Or, supervisors at work, or businessmen, sometimes called the young men working under them their sons or lalåhe .

T å go' i lahi-mo ya u yute' i basula. Tell your "son" (employee) to throw out the trash.

Austronesian Connections

L å he is connected with a number of languages who are part of the Austronesian family, which stretches from Madagascar near Africa all the way to Hawaii.

"MALE"

CHAMORRO L Å HE
TAGALOG LALAKI
ILOCANO LALAKI
INDONESIAN LAKI-LAKI
PANGASINAN LAKI

UN DIA, UN DIA : KÅNTAN ENTIERO GINEN SAIPAN

Wednesday, March 21, 2012


This funeral song from Saipan is sure to get the emotions going.

Un dia ta hungok u ma k å nta
( One day we will hear it sung )

ginen i Satbadot-ta
( from our Savior )

ta fanohge gi me'nan i Saina as Jesus
( we will stand before Jesus the Lord )

pot todo i bid å -ta siha
( for all the things we did )

guine gi tano' .
( here on earth .)

Un dia, un dia, un dia, un dia
( One day, one day, one day, one day )

Un dia, un dia ta fan hita gi langet
( one day, one day, we will be together in heaven )

as Jesus i Sainan todos
( with Jesus the Lord of all )

guato gi tronon i Saina-ta.
( there at the throne of our Lord .)

LATEST JOKES FROM SAIPAN

Wednesday, March 21, 2012
---What do you call a group of Carolinian boys?
---Aghurub (a guroup).

---What do you call a group of Filipino boys?
---SiniGANG.

Explain a joke, kill a joke

Aghurub was a Carolinian chief who is revered as the pioneer leader in the settlement of Carolinians on Saipan around the year 1815.  Every year, Carolinians honor him on Mañagåha Island where he is believed to be buried.

dipity.com
Chief Aghurub holding the cane and hat given him as signs of authority by the Spaniards

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN...

Tuesday, March 20, 2012
There's a difference between SOLID FOOD and non-solid food.

Jose : Juan, ti para un falak i gipot?

Juan : H å fa na kl å sen gupot?  Puro ha' sandwich yan soup.

Jose : Å he', che'lo!  Para solid food!


full-proof.blogspot.com
SOLID FOOD


These are NOT solid food...

themixedstew.blogspot.com
SOUP

reelandgrill.blogspot.com
SANDWICHES

edelalon.com
FINGER FOODS, SNACKS

HINENGGEN I MAN ­ÅMKO' : YANGGEN TODO KÅTMA

Monday, March 19, 2012

barkbgone.com
 Ilek-ñiha i man åmko' : Yanggen todo silensio, tåya' månglo', kåtma - ya ma tutuhon man haohao i ga'lågo siha, señåt na para u guaha måt tiempo.  Siña linao pat otro.  Ensegidas man tinago' todo i taotao guma' gi as Nånan Biha para u fandimo ya u fan manåyuyut.  Ma songge, lokkue', i ma bendise na påtma.

If the air is still, all is calm and there is complete silence, and the dogs start to bark for no apparent reason, there will be an earthquake or some other disturbance.  That's when grand ma tells everyone in the house to kneel down and pray.  And blessed palms are burned.

Si no hay brisa ni ruido, y todo el entorno está en perfecta tranquilidad, pero de golpe empiezan a ladrar los perros, cuídese, porque habrá al poco rato terremoto u otra adversidad.  Toda la familia, por orden de la abuela, se ponen de rodillas y empiezan a rezar, quemando también la palma bendita.

TYPHOONS BEFORE THEY HAD NAMES

Sunday, March 18, 2012
trendsupdates.com

Giving official names to typhoons didn't start until 1945.  And when they first started christening typhoons, they were all given girls' names (a custom started by sailors and navymen who named them after their girl friends), until male names were added in the 1970s. Then, all human names were avoided and typhoons started being named after flowers, or birds or what have you.

So, before that, how did Chamorros label the typhoons that hit our islands?

I know from one source in Saipan that they remembered each particular typhoon by the year it struck.  It was rare for more than one typhoon to hit the islands each year, so tagging them by the year they came was convenient enough.

One particularly bad one that hit Saipan in 1914 was spoken of by the man åmko' even sixty years after the fact.  That's how bad a typhoon it was.  And the man åmko' simply called it the Påkyon Katotse .  The typhoon of '14, meaning 1914.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is how all Chamorros identified each particular typhoon.

But in pre-western times, I wonder how our ancestors called each typhoon, if they did at all?  They didn't count years, as far as we know.  Maybe typhoons back then weren't big deals at all, as things could be easily re-built, and were soon forgotten in ordinary conversation.  But I would assume some typhoons did some pretty long-lasting damage to some crops that was followed by some food shortage, or to landmarks that changed the landscape or planting and fishing areas, and would have been remembered.  So how did they name them?  Curious.

FEEDING THE NEW GOVERNOR

Saturday, March 17, 2012


What do you serve, in the year 1939, at a banquet held in honor of the Governor of Guam, US Navy Captain James T. Alexander?

Well, we have a copy of the menu.  The chef for the occasion was J. G. Eustaquio - Chamorro.

MA Ñ Å HAK on toast.  As an appetizer.

PICKLED PAPAYA.

SALTED KAKAGU Å TES or peanuts.

MENDIOKA BISCUITS. Mendioka is tapioca.

FRIED FISH TARAKITO.

LEMMAI FRITTERS.  Breadfruit.

BONELESS LECHON.  A pork roast I suspect.

GREEN KALAMASA STEW.  Squash.

SCALLOP KAMUTE.  Sweet potatoes.

LEMONSITO and LAGUAN Å SHERBET. Laguan å is sour sop.

GUAM COFFEE.  Yep, we used to grow our own.

Look how much they relied on local ingredients.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : SIÑA

Friday, March 16, 2012
archives.gov
SI Ñ A : able, possible

Kao si ñ a?  Is it possible?

Si ñ a ha'.  It is certainly possible.

Kao si ñ a hao?  Can you?

Ti si ñ a yo'.  I cannot.

Ti si ñ a.  It can't (be done, happen).

Ti si ñ a ma baba.  It can't be opened.

Ti si ñ a ma s å ngan.  It can't be said.

Ti sumi ñ a.  S/he wasn't able.

Kao si ñ a hao manaitai?  Can you read?

Na' si ñ a.  To make possible.

Ti hu na' si ñ a.  I wasn't able to make it happen.

Sisi ñ a.  Ability.  Power.

Ennao ha' sisi ñ å - ñ a.  That's all s/he can (could) do.

I sisi ñ an i tataotao.  The ability of the body.

Nina' si ñ a.  Power, ability.

Bula nina' si ñ å - ñ a.  S/he has great power.

Todo ha' ha na' si ñ a na Yu'us.  Almighty God.

Taimano na chinaddek nai si ñ a.  As fast as possible.

From the Creed in Chamorro

Maså'pet gi papa' i sisiñan Ponsio Pilåto .  He suffered under the power of Pontius Pilate.

KIDNAPPED BY THE DUENDES

Thursday, March 15, 2012


A story about a little girl from Aga ñ a Heights who liked to play with what she thought were dolls, but who were duendes who kidnapped her, shrunk her and put her in a little shoe box.

Palao'an : Ginen å ntes dos umasagua guaha hagan- ñ iha, ya k å da puenge este na p å tgon gos ya- ñ a humug å ndo gi Gima'yu'us Aga ñ a Heights lao an humug å g å ndo fiho ha' chum å lek yan kalan taiguihe guaha hugandodo- ñ a.  Pues un puenge malingo i patgon, lao i duendes hugandodo- ñ a ya ha konne' i duendes ya ma pega gi kahita, ni dikkike' na kahita, ya ha na' dikkike' i patgon.  Pues hum å nao i dos å mko' guato gi as P å le', ya ma sangane si P å le' Osk å t.  Ma sodda' i patgon- ñ iha lao gaige gi kahitan sap å tos na gos dikkike'.  Si P å le' Osk å t ha t å go' i dos umasagua na u ma chule' i sinturon S å nta Maria gi Gima'yu'us Aga ñ a Heights ya ha na' p å kp å k tres bi å he i patgon ya pues dum å ngkulo i patgon lao ginen i duendes na b å nda na kinenne'.

Gu å ho : Ya pine'lo- ñ a i patgon na mu ñ eka.

Palao'an : Na mu ñ eka.  Pine'lo- ñ a i patgon na hugandodo- ñ a mu ñ eka.  Ya k å da dia humug å g å ndo gi oran a las ku å ttro asta i a las singko gof ya- ñ a humuyong ya para u hug å ndo este siha na duendes. Lao i patgon hinasson- ñ a na mu ñ eka hugandodo- ñ a lao å he'.

English

Woman : A wife and a husband once had a daughter, and each night this child really liked to play at Aga ñ a Heights Church, but everytime she played she would always laugh as if she had a playmate.  One night the child went missing, and it was the duendes she was playing with, who took the girl and put her in a small box, and made the child shrink.  So the husband and wife went to the church and told P å le' Osk å t (Oscar Calvo).  They found the child but she had shrunk and was in a shoe box.  P å le' Osk å t told them to go get Our Lady's belt at the church and made them spank the child three times with the belt and the child grew back to size, but it was the duendes who had taken her.

P å le' : And the child thought that the duendes was actually a doll?

Woman : A doll.  The child thought her playmate was a doll.  And every day she would go out and play from 4pm till 5pm to play with the duendes .  The child thought her playmate was a doll but it wasn't.

ILEK-ÑA I MAESTRA

Thursday, March 15, 2012
ronblackradio.blogspot.com

Finaisen si maestra ni estudi å nte, "Se ñ ora, kao si ñ a yo' malak i kemmon?"

Ilek- ñ a i maestra gi fino' Englis, "No!  N - A - O, no!"

KÅNTAN KUARESMA : DIMUYE MANHENGGE

Wednesday, March 14, 2012


" Dimuye Manhengge " is another well-known Lenten hymn in all the islands of the Marianas. It is also often sung at a funeral or wake.


Chamorro Lyrics

Dimuye, manhengge, i S å ntos Kilu'us;
adora si Yu'us nai m å tai guihe.
( Kneel, oh believers, before the Holy Cross;
adore God who has died on it .)

Dichoso i ante ni gaige gi fi'on
i sen gofli'ion na Nana'libre .
( Blessed is the soul who is at the side
of the most lovable Savior .)

Tekune manisao i S å ntos Kilu'us,
i mames na Yu'us ma puno' guihe .
( Bow before, o sinner, the Holy Cross,
to the sweet God who was killed there .)

Gi S å ntos Kilu'us i pepblen i anti-ho,
yan i ha'ani-ho boi na' linangle' .
( In the Holy Cross is the poverty of my soul,
and I will guard my life in It .)

Ti si ñ a ta yute' ennao na se ñ å t-ta
annai i Tat å -ta umakalaye.
( We cannot abandon this our sign
wherein our Father was hung .)

Interesting Words and Ideas


THE SPANISH ORIGINAL



Like many Chamorro hymns, it is based on a Spanish original. You hear some little differences in the music, even between Saipan and Guam. Sometimes a word or two is changed even in the Spanish original. But the Spanish version usually starts with :

Venid, oh cristianos, la cruz adoremos;
la cruz ensalcemos que al mundo salv ó .
( Come, oh Christians, let us adore the cross;
let us exalt the cross which redeemed the world .)

CHAMORROS IN RABAUL

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

AQUININGOC FAMILY IN RABAUL, PAPUA NEW GUINEA IN 1959

In 1959, four Chamorro political leaders, two from Guam (Richard F. Taitano and Vicente B. Bamba) and two from Saipan (Olimpio T. Borja and Elias P. Sablan), went to Rabaul, a city on the island of New Britain in the country of Papua New Guinea, to attend a meeting of the South Pacific Commission.

There they met Chamorros who had been living in Rabaul for sixty years or so. In the group photo, Bamba, Borja and Sablan are identified. The rest are Chamorros, their non-Chamorro spouses and their mixed-blood children.

Rabaul had been a German colony and the Northern Marianas and the rest of Micronesia, excluding Guam, had also been German from 1899 until 1914. So some Chamorros from Guam and the Northern Marianas moved to Rabaul, often after first spending time in Yap. Most stayed there and married Germans, Chinese and people from other places. Their children grew up speaking English, since the Australians took over Rabaul in 1914. They spoke English, with an Australian accent that is.



One elderly Chamorro woman, Dolores Borja (familian Catalino) was still alive when the Guam and Northern Marianas politicians met her in Rabaul. She had been in New Guinea since 1913, but still could speak Chamorro in 1959. Other Chamorro families in New Guinea were from the Aquiningoc , Cruz , Charfauros and Guerrero clans. But another Chamorro, born in Rabaul, did not know what race he was or where Guam was.   He even wrote to the Philippines government asking where Guam was.

In a World War II diary, a store owner named Leo Aquiningoc in Karlai, south of  Rabaul, is described as being Filipino.  Since the Marianas were unknown to many people in those days, Chamorros could easily be mistaken for Filipinos, and many are up to today!  But Leo was the son of Juan Aquiningoc from Hågat and his wife Juana Cruz who moved the whole family to New Britain after living in Saipan for a while. Leo did well for himself in business because the store he owned in World War II became, by 1959, a 50 hectare plantation employing 80 workers. That's his clan pictured above.

Some Chamorros in Rabaul and that whole area of Papua New Guinea returned to Guam or the Marianas.

* You can search online for the Leo Aquiningoc citation in "New Britain Anabasis" by JCH Gill.


GUAM ON MAINLAND TV

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Guam made it on a segment of the popular Pawn Stars program.  Binoculars found on Guam during World War II.

I was pleasantly surprised that Rick knew as much as he did about Guam and the war.  I mean, I knew the guy knew a lot, but about Guam?  Nice.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : NIFEN

Monday, March 12, 2012
knowabouthealth.com

NIFEN : tooth, teeth

I nifen-ho.  My tooth; my teeth.

Guesgues i nifen-mo!  Brush your teeth!

Austronesian Roots

Nifen has many similarities with other languages who share our Austronesia roots.

"TOOTH"


CHAMORRO

NIFEN

TAGALOG

NGIPIN

MELANAU (Borneo, Malaysia)

Ñ IPEN

CHUUKESE

NII

SAMOAN

NIFO

SAISIAT (Taiwan)

NEPEN

FAMILY NICKNAMES : SA'I

Monday, March 12, 2012
fansmeme.com
SA'I

There is a branch of the Babauta clan who live in Saipan who are called the Familian Sa'i .

The family themselves tell me that the origin of this family nickname comes from an ancestor who had six toes.


Well, in Chamorro, "six" is sais .  The man, to make up an example, would have been called Josen Sais, as in "Six Toed Joe."

In time, sais became sa'i , either because someone just wanted to give it a twist, or perhaps because sa'i hid the fact that an ancestor had six ( sais ) toes.



Former CNMI Governor Juan N. Babauta
Member of the Sa'i Clan

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES : EMPANÅDA!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

When I was a kid, families would send their children house-to-house in the village selling treats they made at home.  It could be p å stet (turnovers), buchi buchi (fried turnovers), bu ñ uelos (donuts) but, most of all, empan å da .

Really good empan å da had crispy edges, but not the whole shell was hard to the bite.  The filling was moist, with the taste of toasted rice.  You wouldn't find chunks of chicken, but rather strings of chicken meat.  And the filling was a bit pika (spicy).

Empan å da is definitely an imported food with Mexican roots, what with the corn, tortilla and achote ingredients.  Although empan åd a versions span the Hispanic world, with even Filipino varieties (some called empanaditas , or "small empanadas"), I've never seen the Chamorro version anywhere else.  Have you?

Here's just one of many cooking videos for Chamorro Empan å da


Young boys and girls going up and down the village streets selling Chamorro snacks almost every day of the week : T å ya esta !  No more!

LOST SURNAMES : CÁRDENAS

Sunday, March 11, 2012
In 1897, there was an elderly man in Hag å t ñ a named Jose Aguilar de C á rdenas.  He was in his 50s and married to Maria Quitugua.  He also had a brother Nicol á s.

Jose must have occupied some municipal position, as he was called "Don Jose" in the Census of 1897.

But Jose and Maria apparently had nothing but daughters, so the C á rdenas name was not to last in the Marianas, though the blood of Jose runs through the veins of his grandchildren who had the last names Salas and Cruz.

There was also a Rosa Torres C á rdenas, who was married to Ignacio Blas Perez.  And an old widow named Luisa C á rdenas Quitugua.  So, at one time, there was a C á rdenas family on Guam, but it has since disappeared.  Any C á rdenas living on Guam today is more than likely someone who moved to Guam in the last fifty years or so.

FÅHA

Saturday, March 10, 2012

F å ha is the "heart" or kernel found inside a coconut that has sprouted.  It is formed by the coagulation of the water inside the nut.  The older the nut, the drier the f å ha becomes.

It makes a great treat, especially when made cold in the fridge.

KAO DOG PAT DUCK?

Saturday, March 10, 2012
flickr.com
Malak Hong Kong si ful å no ya hum å lom gi sagan bumoka sa' ñ å lang.

Finaisen gue' ni waitress : H å fa, se ñ ot, malago'-mo?

Ilek- ñ a si ful å no gi fino' Englis : " Duck ."

Ai sa' annai m å tto i nengkanno', ha li'e si ful å no na ga'l å go ma pl å nta gi me'n å - ñ a.

LENTEN POETRY

Friday, March 9, 2012
gmatrimoniosasuncionntrasra.blogspot.com

The following is really a Lenten hymn, but I call it poetry because songs are often poems set to music.  Unfortunately, nobody knows the melody to this song anymore.  So the danger is that it will be ignored forever.  This is my attempt to preserve it, at least as religious poetry.

I Yu'us na pastot yan i pastor å -mo
ina'agang hao, taotao, m å gi as Tat å -mo.
( The God who is a shepherd, and your shepherdess,
are calling you, O man, here to your Father .)

Si Yu'us Lahi- ñ a, gaige as Maria;
nihi ta fal å ggue si Jesus yan guiya .
( God the Son is with Mary;
let us run to Jesus and her .)

Tiempon mina ñ otsot yan i piniti-ta;
nihi ta fa'g å se g å sg å s i anti-ta .
( It is a time of repentance and our sorrow;
let us wash clean our souls .)

I ta fa'aila' hit - ennao ha' fa'g å s-ta;
gi halom i Haga' Jesus i Ma'g å s-ta.
( To accuse ourselves - that is our cleansing;
within the Blood of Jesus our Lord .)

Yagin i ma ñ otsot humuyong pinite,
ti si ñ a ma konne' nu i manganite .
( If the repentant becomes contrite,
the devils cannot take him .)

Gi ma ñ otsot-ho, h å go ninangga-ko;
N å nan Mina' å se' yan i guinaiya-ko.
( In my repentance, you are my hope;
Mother of Mercy and my love .)

Interesting Words

Pastor å -mo : Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd.  Mary is called in this song a shepherdess.  We had to borrow the Spanish words for shepherd ( pastor ) and the female form of that word ( pastora ).  There were Chamorro men with the first name Pastor, some of them named after a Spanish Capuchin priest who was stationed on Guam before the war, P å le' Pastor de Arr á yoz.

Ma ñ otsot : Means "repentance" or "regret."

Fa'aila' : Means "to accuse."

Yagin : An older form of yanggen .  It means "when," referring to a future, expected event and thus sometimes means "if,"  because the future is not certain.   It is formed by two words : ya (and) and gin (when).

Ninangga-ko : Means "my hope."  "Hope" is ninangga . Nangga means to "wait," and theological "hope" is a waiting with faith and certainty.  When someone talks about the future death of someone, I sometimes hear them say, " Ti ilelek-ho na hu nanangga ennao !"  "I'm not saying I'm hoping for it!"

Is this the melody P å le' Rom á n had in mind?


P å le' Rom á n often did a helpful thing in his Lepblon K å nta (hymn book). He would cite the name of the composer, or the original title of the song, which had been translated into Chamorro.  For the above hymn " I Yu'us na Pastot ," he cited the Spansh song " A Misi ó n ."  This was a traditional Spanish hymn calling the people to a "mission."  A "mission" was a series of sermons and devotions, done over several days, with the purpose of stirring up the religious fervor of a particular parish or town.

Thanks to LB for his usual perspicacity in catching what lies hidden to others.

MA SUSEDE UN DIA

Friday, March 9, 2012
militaryrifles.com

GUAM.   SEPTEMBER 23, 1874.  L Å LO (Barrigada)

Na'masi si Antonio Garrido Pangelinan.  He was walking just in front of Jose Cruz Perez, who was carrying a rifle, pointing downward toward the ground.  The two men were with two others, all four of them spending the day hunting in L å lo, Barrigada.  The brush must have been thick because a branch got caught in the trigger, setting the gun off.  The bullet blew Antonio's foot to bits and he died of that injury not long after.  ( P. Aniceto's Chronicle )

NINE YEAR OLD UNCLE KNOWS HOW TO FANNGINGE'

Thursday, March 8, 2012


Steven (Esteban) is nine years old, and already an uncle.

So I teased him and said I had better fannginge' to him, and lo and behold - he says " Dios te ayude ."

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : MÅFFAK I PLÅTO

Wednesday, March 7, 2012
ibeatyou.com
M Å FFAK I PLÅTO = the plate is shattered

This expression beautifully (or sadly) describes a broken relationship.  When two people, previously close, become irreparably separated, it is like a plate that has fallen to the ground, shattering into pieces that will never come back together again in quite the same way, if ever at all.

Triste, lao mag å het. Sad, but true.

WHAT PIGAFETTA SAW

Tuesday, March 6, 2012


Antonio Pigafetta was a member of Magellan's crew.  He survived the voyage and we learn from his journal what he saw in these islands they called the Ladrones on account of some Chamorro men stealing ( ladr ó n is Spanish for "thief") a small skiff (boat) from Magellan's ship :

TODAY IN HISTORY

Tuesday, March 6, 2012
mrdowling.com
FERDINAND MAGELLAN ARRIVED WHERE?
March 6, 1521

As far as we know, Magellan was the first European to lay eyes on our islands.  But which island did he actually land at?  He himself didn't know.  How could he?  What maps of these islands did he have?  None.  The reports of those on board mention seeing several islands.

So, it's all due to tradition that we say Magellan landed at Hum åt ak.  Well, if we don't know for sure, we need to choose one place.  Otherwise, we'd be having re-enactments and festivals happening at several places.  With the price of gas today, that's too much driving around.


In Hum å tak, they've got a mini-Spanish ship ready for the re-enactment.


The pre-war Magellan monument in Hum å tak put up by the American government to mark where Magellan landed.  Maybe.

Our ma ñ aina didn't know of any Ferdinand Magellan.

They knew of Fernando de Magallanes.  Magellan's Spanish name.  Even though Magellan was Portuguese and his original name was Fern ã o de Magalh ã es.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : GUAIFON

Tuesday, March 6, 2012
lingue.altervista.org
GUAIFON : windy

In keeping with the current climate (last time our word was m å nglo' , wind), we now look at "windy."

Guaifon na ha' å ne.  A windy day.

Ei na guinaifon!  My, how windy it is!

I mohon ya u guaifon.  If only it were windy.

CAMPAIGNING IN CHAMORRO

Monday, March 5, 2012

Bota!  Bota!  Bota!

It's only March but the campaigns have started, especially the mayoral ones and the seat in the U.S. Congress.

This candidate in Inal å han is campaigning in Chamorro, as far as her signs go.  After a hundred years of Americanization.  When the majority of Chamorros under 50 can't speak the language.  The language persists in some quarters.

Besides appealing to Inalahan voters as a "daughter of the village - hagan Inal å han ," she tells us her clan identities : Cabesa (Flores), Capili (Lujan) and Liberatu (Guerrero).

It's all about relationships; with the village, with the clans.

CHE'CHO' KARIDÅT

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Driving through Hum å tak, I saw Benny taking care of the grounds of San Dionisio Church.  If you want to find Benny, you look around the church.  He's always taking care of its grounds.  He's been doing it since I was stationed there first in 1990, and maybe even before that.

He does it out of pure devotion.  He'd probably not be happy I videotaped him, but he never saw me filming the whole time, and I don't think he uses the internet!

Che'cho' karid å t. An act of charity.

This is what being Chamorro means to me.

BAPTIST BELL

Sunday, March 4, 2012

The bell in front of the familiar General Baptist Church in Aga ñ a Heights was the only thing that survived World War II from the prior church which was situated in Hag å t ñ a proper.

You can see vintage footage of the General Baptists on Guam before World War II at :

http://vimeo.com/10169621

ÅNTES YAN PÅ'GO

Saturday, March 3, 2012
Å NTES


This photo was taken sometime in the 1960s.  This was the heart of Guam, with the Administration Building in the upper part of the photo still the site of the Governor's Chambers.  Pedro's Plaza (where the AG is now) has not been built yet.  The Cathedral stands in its original form, without the additional wings added later.  The rector of the Cathedral had his offices and living quarters in a small, temporary structure immediately behind the Cathedral.  The Academy and Cathedral Grade School are still using temporary structures in addition to the permanent, two-storeyed building which still stands today.  What we call the PDN Building (officially the DNA Building now) was not built yet, and one can see the commercial buildings that are no more, for the most part.  Notice, too, how one could still drive one's car onto the Plaza de Espa ñ a by the arches.


PÅ'GO


It's impossible for me to replicate the photo from the 60s, as it was taken, no doubt, from the vantage point of a plane or helicopter, which I can't afford on my (non-existent) salary.  So, from the DNA Building we can see something of what that shot looks like today.  An expanded Cathedral.  The Academy's gym.  A more wooded Plaza.

KÅNTAN KUARESMA : ASAINA JESUKRISTO

Friday, March 2, 2012

This standard Chamorro hymn is based on the Spanish " Amante Jes ú s m í o ."  The words are totally penitential and written for Lent.

The Spanish original : " Amante Jes ú s m í o / oh cu á nto te ofend í / perdona mi extrav í o / y ten piedad de m í . "  Oh Jesus my Love / oh how much have I offended Thee / pardon my waywardness / and have mercy on me.



You can hear in the Spanish versions that the hymn is sung slightly differently from the Chamorro.  There are even tiny differences between the Guam version and the Saipan version.

Chamorro Version

Asaina Jesukristo / sen Yu'us yan taotao
asi'e yo' Jesus-ho / sa' hu gofli'e hao (twice).

Haye si ñ a un li'e / gi Santos Kilu'us?
Makakana' gi lilok / i sen Lahen Yu'us!
Ma ñ otsot gef ma ñ otsot / pinite yo' mampos
sa' i inisague-ko / i mames as Jesus.

English Translation of the Chamorro

Lord Jesus Christ / true God and true man
have mercy on me, my Jesus / because I love Thee.

Who can you see on the holy cross?
Hanging by nails / the true Son of God!
Totally repentant / I am exceedingly sorrowful
because I have sinned against / the sweet Jesus.

Traducci ó n Espa ñ ola del Chamorro

Se ñ or Jesucristo / verdadero Dios y hombre
Ten piedad de m í , Jes ú s m í o / porque te quiero.

A qui é n puedes ver en la Santa Cruz?
Pendiente con clavos / ¡ el verdadero Hijo de Dios!
Me arrepiento completamente / lo siento de veras
porque he ofendido / al dulce Jes ú s.

Although originally meant for Lent, the Chamorro version is often sung at funerals, which also have - traditionally - a penitential flavor.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : MÅNGLO'

Thursday, March 1, 2012
cksinfo.com

M Å NGLO' : wind


It's been windy lately, no?

T å ya' m å nglo'.  There's no wind.

Metgot na m å nglo'.  Strong wind.

M å m å nglo' i tase.  The sea is windswept.

P å chot m å nglo'.  The direction from which the wind comes.  Literally, the "mouth of the wind."

O'm å nglo'.  To look for the wind, as in to aerate something.

Minanglo'.  Aerated, full of wind.

Minanglo' yo'.  I am gassy.

Na' minanglo' i ku å tto.  Aerate the room.

Mount Humuyong M å nglo'

flickr.com
South of Mount Lamlam is Mount Humuyong M å nglo', where the crosses are erected every Good Friday.  It means "Where the wind exits," or "where the wind originates."  Some older maps might spell it "Humullong M å nglo'" because, in Spanish, LL has the same value as Y.  Like Acfalle or Aflleje.

Manglo ñ a and Taimanglo

In Luta, there is the Manglo ñ a family.  The name can mean "his or her wind," or "windier."  In Guam there is the Taimanglo family.  That name means "without wind."  If a Manglo ñ a married a Taimanglo, opposites truly attract.

YOU PROBABLY WEREN'T WONDERING

Wednesday, February 29, 2012
wildernesscommittee.org


But....today is February 29.  Something that doesn't happen every year.  As a matter of fact, we get a February 29 only every "leap year."

So...how do you say "leap year" in Chamorro?

Well, "leap year" would have been an idea introduced by the Spaniards, so å ñ o bisiesto would have been "leap year" for our Chamorro grandparents.

Bisiesto means twice-six.  I've read up on it, and can't make heads or tails of it.  Google it yourself : bissextile.

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Wednesday, February 29, 2012
scenicreflections.com
Ilek- ñ iha i man å mko' na yanggen aredondo i tiy å n- ñ a i mapotge' na palao'an, kumekeilek- ñ a na para u l å he i patgon- ñ a.


Lao yanggen akadidok i tiy å n- ñ a, pues siempre para u palao'an i fina ñ agu- ñ a.

If a pregnant woman's tummy is rounded, the child will be a boy.

If her tummy is pointed, it will be a girl.

AHEM....

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

In yesterday's PDN, the Fino' Chamorro column stated that words borrowed from English should retain their English spelling, unless that word is modified by Chamorro usage.  So "picnic" would be spelled just like that : Man gaige gi "picnic ."  "Picnic" keeps its English spelling, the Commission says, because it is not changed from its original English form.

But it becomes " Manpipiknik i famili å -ko ." "My family is picnicking."  English "picnic" has become Chamorro "pipiknik" and so the spelling changes as well, from English to Chamorro.

Then the column provides another example with the word "eksplika."  And it says that "eksplika" means "explain."

But "eksplika" is not borrowed from English.  The English word for "explain" is, well, "explain."

"Eksplika" is borrowed from the Spanish word explicar , which means "to explain."  The X in explicar is pronounced S.  Older Chamorros who were truer to the original Spanish form would say esplika , not "eksplika."  Adding the K comes from American influence; "explain, eksplika."

SMALLPOX EPIDEMIC OF 1856

Monday, February 27, 2012
scq.ubc.ca

LATE FEBRUARY IN 1856

SMALLPOX EPIDEMIC BEGINS -
AT LEAST HALF OF GUAM DIES

In late February of 1856, an American ship, the Frost , arrived on Guam from Manila.  That very day, a passenger died of smallpox and was buried at sea.  The government medical officer believed there was no cause for concern and that a three-day quarantine of the passengers would be sufficient.  But some passengers managed to come ashore the following day.

By early March, another passenger became ill and it was found to be smallpox.  The government moved quickly to isolate all the passengers by moving them to the hills.  Food was provided them from a distance and no one was allowed to go near them.  But it was too little, too late.  In the days prior to the second passenger falling sick, other passengers had mixed freely with the island population.

At the height of the epidemic, in the fall months, as many as eighty people were dying daily.  Carts going from the city of Hag å t ñ a to the burial grounds at Adilok (Adelup) went back and forth all day long.

Vaccines from Manila would be sent, but would arrive spoiled.  Finally, good vaccine arrived and those not infected were given inoculations.  Hospitals for the sick were erected in several rural areas, to isolate them from the general population.  But the numbers of sick grew so much that many of them stayed at home, where a little sign was placed to warn others that a sick person lived there.

Government inspectors looked for the sick, but the family members often hid them in order to keep them at home, rather than see them leave for the rural hospitals.

On the other hand, some families and neighbors were not so conscientious of the state of the sick and carted them off to the burial ditches even though they were not "completely dead."  Sometimes even the living members of the family were so weak from the disease that they had no strength to bury their dead and let others come and take away the cadaver.

Different sources give different numbers, but, when the epidemic was over, Guam had lost between 50-60% of its 8,000 residents.  It would take years before the 4,000 or so survivors would recover.

Years later, when construction was needed in Hag å t ñ a or Asan, trenches three feet deep were discovered with 50 or more bodies, all piled up on top of each other.  People were buried without ceremony.

Many conjecture that the epidemic dealt a devastating blow to the more indigenous families; the ones with more Chamorro, and less outside, blood.  The idea that the more purely Chamorro population died off at a higher rate seemed to be strengthened by the kind of bones found in these common graves.  The bones indicated a race of people bigger boned than the present-day Chamorro.

This also may have had an impact on the language, in that perhaps the more indigenous families used many native words which were then lost when they died in the epidemic.  These are just suspicions of history.

HOW BAD WAS SMALLPOX?

Most of us are familiar with chicken pox.  Smallpox is worse.  You can look up images yourself; they are hideous.

Smallpox is believed to have been eradicated in the entire world since the 1970s.  Vaccinations against it stopped.  Those vaccinated a long time ago may no longer be protected.  That leaves a lot of people vulnerable, but they say smallpox does not exist anymore.  But the virus has been kept alive in some laboratories.  There is some fear that terrorists could get a hold of them and use them as a biological weapon against whole populations.

AN UNFORTUNATE OVERSIGHT
The Balmis Expedition of 1803-1806

In 1803, a Spanish doctor named Balmis took the smallpox vaccine, and live hosts of it, to half a dozen Spanish colonies, including the Philippines.  He reached Manila in 1805.  Most of the population was thus inoculated.  But Balmis never made it to the Marianas.  Perhaps the smallpox epidemic of 1856 would never have occurred on Guam had he come.

AIRPORT CHAMORRO

Sunday, February 26, 2012

What's that naughty little glota ( ' ) doing there?

Putting the glota ( ' ) all over the place sure makes things look more Chamorro, doesn't it?  But the glota has an actual orthographical function.  Properly placed, it informs the speaker to close the back of the throat sharply (a glottal stop).  One can only do this after a vowel. Glotas after consonants (as in the sign above) are a mistake, then.  Try closing the back of your throat after making the L sound.  See?  Not that easy, no? Sa' lache ennao, nai!


Now here, we see that the glota has indeed been properly placed.  One does, in fact, close the back of the throat sharply after the AO sound, which is formed by vowels.

Score 1 for the famalao'an , 0 for the "lal' ahi" - I mean lal å he .

MISAN GAGO'

Sunday, February 26, 2012
churchformen.com
MISAN GAGO'
Mass for Lazy People

Our mañaina were early risers, as mentioned in a previous post.  This was considered normal; a virtue.  Late-risers were considered gago' , lazy.

So, on Sundays before the war when there were usually two Masses, at least in Hagåtña or Garapan, the two respective capitals of Guam and Saipan, the second Mass (also called the Misan Tåtte , or "behind Mass") was often called the Misan Gago' , the Mass for lazy people - even if this Mass was at 8AM!

The first Mass was just called the Misan Mo'na , the "ahead Mass."

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : TOHGE

Saturday, February 25, 2012
stand-at-attention.funnypart.com
Tumotohge i kato!

TOHGE : to stand

Tohge!  Stand! (When telling one or two people)

Fanohge!  Stand! (When telling three or more people)

Ti si ñ a yo' tumohge.  I cannot stand.

Na' fanohge siha.  Make them stand up.

Mungnga tumohge gi hilo' i kattre.  Don't stand on top of the bed.

An aside or two

*** Tohge is not used the way we use "stand" in English for something bearable or unbearable, as in "I can't stand it."

***The first stanza of the Guam Hymn is well-known and starts with the plural, third person imperative :

Fanohge Chamorro pot i tano'-ta
kanta i matun å - ñ a gi todo i lug å t.
Para i onra, para i gloria,
abiba i isla sin par å t.

( Stand Chamorros for our land,
sing her praises in every place.
For her honor, for her glory,
extoll the island without ceasing .)

CHAMORRO FOOD IN 1792

Friday, February 24, 2012
jorgesanchez.es
ANTONIO DE PINEDA
Visited Guam in 1792

Guess what?

We didn't always eat fried chicken and red rice.


Antonio de Pineda describes for us, in a diary he kept when he visited Guam in 1792, what Chamorros ate in those days.


He says the main food was atule . Atule is any available grain or root (corn, rice or even gapgap or arrowroot flour), cooked in water to make a kind of gruel or porridge.  Salt is added and maybe some coconut milk.  Otherwise, it would rather tasteless.

Corn was brought to the Marianas by the Spanish, probably because of the significant number of Mexican soldiers stationed on Guam, some of whom married local women. Atule comes from the Mexican word atole .

The Chamorro diet was also heavy into the other roots and fruits of the island : d å go , suni , lemmai , nika , fadang and so on. Kamute , by the way, or sweet potato, was also imported to the Marianas from South America and was not eaten by our ancestors before contact with the West.

A special treat was a dish made of finely ground rice, coconut meat and coconut water.

I doubt you could get our young people today to eat these dishes on a regular basis.


Lemmai
M, m, m å nnge'!

FAMILIA : RIOS

Thursday, February 23, 2012
tpino.netfirms.com
RIOS

The Spanish surname Rios was originally "de los Rios," or "of the rivers."  The family coat-of-arms depicts this.  The name is found mainly in the south of Spain :

plusesmas.com
The red spots indicate a higher incidence of the last name Rios in Spain.

Spaniards named de los Rios or Rios moved to Latin America (Mexico, Peru, etc) and from there to the Marianas and the Philippines.

In the Marianas, there was a Rios family from the early part of the Spanish conquest.  In the 1727 Census, there is a Sergeant Francisco de los Rios.   He is listed among the "Spanish" troops, but that can also mean he was from Latin America, where many people had mixed blood (Spanish and native).  Francisco married a Chamorro woman, Rosa Taihimas.  "Tai" means "lacking, without," and we don't know what "humas" means.  "Humas" would become "himas" if "tai" goes before it.

They had a son and three daughters, and maybe more after the census was taken.

There's also, in the same census and Spanish, a Miguel de los Rios, married to Marcela de la Cruz.  There is no indication what connection, if any, Miguel has with Francisco.  They, too, had children.

Then there's a third Rios, also Spanish, named Juan Antonio de los Rios, married to Josefa de la Cruz, of unknown connection to the others.  They had at least four sons (and a daughter) by 1727.  Plenty of Rioses to keep the name going.  Rioses show up again in the 1758 Census.

1897 Census

1. Felipe Rios.  From Hag å t ñ a.  Possibly the son of Vicente Rios and Josefa de la Rosa.  Married Rosa de los Santos, and after her death, Antonia Megofna Salas.

2. Brigido Rios.  From Hag å t ñ a.  His mother was a Filipina with the last name Ayuban.  Married Josefa Garrido de Leon Guerrero.  Their son Jose was a Guam educator and businessman for whom Jose L.G. Rios School is named.

3. Benigno Castro Rios.  From Hag å t ñ a.  Married to Gregoria Campos de Leon Guerrero.  Now one of Benigno's sons, Casiano, has Ayuban as a middle name.  So Gregoria is possibly the 2nd wife of Benigno, and that Benigno is the father of Brigido in #2 above.

4. Vicente Rios.  From Hag å t ñ a.  Married to Josefa Cepeda.

TODAY BEGINS THE MONTH OF MAIMO

Thursday, February 23, 2012
In the western, Gregorian calendar, today is February 23.  But our ancestors looked at the phases of the moon, and tonight the new moon starts its cycle, taking on more and more light till it becomes full many days from now.  So a new lunar month has begun, and our ancestors called this month Maimo .  Unfortunately, we don't know what it means anymore. Lastima.

ASH WEDNESDAY 2012

Wednesday, February 22, 2012
MY HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED

NOW...




ASH WEDNESDAY AT CHAMORRO VILLAGE 2012

BEFORE...

IS CHICKEN MEAT? GUAM WANTS TO KNOW

Wednesday, February 22, 2012
perdue.com
Does Webster get to answer?

Not if the question is asked in the Catholic context of Lent.

Since abstinence from meat during some days in Lent is a Catholic law, the definition of meat must come from the same lawmaker enjoining the abstinence from meat - that is, the Church.  Not Webster.  Nor you, nor the National Chefs Association. When it comes to abstinence in the Catholic Church, "meat" is what the Catholic Church defines it to be.

How does the Church define "meat?"

For thousands of years, in law and in practice, the Church has defined meat as the flesh, marrow and blood of animals and birds as constitute fleshmeat (viand).  As proof that the Church's definition of meat included fowl, remember that, many years ago, even the products of such animals - cheese, butter and eggs (aha!) - were also prohibited during certains days of Lent.

If one couldn't eat the eggs of chickens, then how could the Church say the chicken itself could be eaten?

Furthermore, at one time, even on non-fast days in Lent, one could not mix meat and fish in the same meal.  In Catholic mentality, there are only two categories : meat and fish.  Chicken is not a fish; it is a meat.

Common Sense

The 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia says that the definition of meat comes from what intelligent people normally consider meat.  Ask yourself this, if you wanted to buy chicken one day, went into the supermarket and saw only two signs - left for meat, right for fish - would you turn left or right, to find the chicken?

Even Webster isn't helpful

Even if one wanted to get all definitive answers from Webster (who made that dictionary the ultimate law?), you get different answers.  Why?  Because dictionaries don't mandate meanings; dictionaries describe meanings.  Word meanings are derived from people's usage.  So, every now and then, there are new editions published of each major dictionary as words die, words are born and words change.

So good old Webster has multiple definitions for meat, because people use that one word with a variety of meanings :

1. As the edible part of something, as opposed to its husk or shell.  So, there's even something we call coconut meat, though it isn't prohibited in Lent by the Church, because that's not what the Church means by "meat."

2. As solid food, as opposed to drink.

3. As animal tissue, used as food.  Thus we can even say that a certain fish is very meaty, as opposed to another kind of fish which is less meaty.

4. The flesh of mammals, as opposed to fowls or fish.  But this isn't what the Church means when it speaks of meat.

5. The flesh of domesticated animals, as opposed to wild ones, like jungle boars or tigers.  Yet everyone would agree that a wild boar pork chop is meat, or that tiger steak is meat.

Let's Face It

The doubt about chicken as meat never came up till the 1970s.  Let's be honest.  Changing definitions from what was once understood and unquestioned concerning poultry is just our way of getting out of giving up all meat on abstinence days in Lent.

CAN I GET AN "AMEN?" - IN CHAMORRO?

Wednesday, February 22, 2012
wpclipart.com

The word "amen" comes to us from the Jewish religion and the Hebrew language.  It means "may it be so," or "truly."  It is used to affirm or agree with the prayer just said, or a statement made.

Some languages have translated "amen" literally and use it at the end of their prayers in place of the word "amen."  So, in Italian, one might hear a prayer concluded with "Cosi sia," meaning "may it be so."  The same thing in French, "Ainsi soit-il."

Pale' Roman translated it " taiguennao mohon ." Taiguennao means "like that."  " Mohon " means "may it be so." Taiguennao mohon means "may it be so like that," meaning, "as we have just prayed."

In Chamorro, either " amen " or " taiguennao mohon " are appropriate conclusions to prayers.

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Tuesday, February 21, 2012
iamthemusicindustry.com

YANGGEN GUAHA MINALAGO',  SIEMPRE GUAHA NINA'SI Ñ A

Where there's a will, there's a way.

An adage found in many other cultures.  There is nothing you cannot do, if you really want it.

Although someone told me recently, " Yanggen guaha testimonio, siempre guaha plaiton familia ."

"Where there's a will, there's a family quarrel."

PRESIDENTS' DAY. HOW MANY OF THEM VISITED GUAM?

Monday, February 20, 2012
I am working only from memory.  If anyone knows of any others, let me know.  But how many sitting presidents of the United States have ever, even ever so briefly, visited Guam?


flickr.com
President Lyndon Johnson at Guam Airport
March 19, 1967

LBJ came to Guam that year to have talks with the South Vietnamese leadership; Chief of State Nguyen Van Thieu and Premier Nguyen Cao Ky.  The Vietnam War was in full swing.

There was a big crowd of Guam residents, civilian and military, at the airport.  See footage at :

http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675061794_Lyndon-Johnson_strategy-conferences_South-Vietnam-leaders_crowd-gathers .

janeresture.com
President Richard Nixon (and wife Pat) on Guam
July 25, 1969

At a famous press conference on Guam that day, Nixon stated what became known as the Guam Doctrine , wherein he promised assistance to allied nations fighting communist aggression, but placing primary responsibility on these countries for their own defense.  It was a way the U.S. could slowly, and without embarrassment, pull out of the unpopular Vietnam War; something Nixon campaigned on and helped win him the election.

Sleep Over at Nimitz Hill

Then, on February 20, 1972, while on the way to China to be the first American President to ever visit that communist country, President and Mrs. Nixon flew to Guam to spend the night at the Admiral's place on Nimitz Hill.

You can see footage of the 1969 visit (on a wet runway) at :

http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675073760_Richard-Nixon_Ferdinand-Marcos_visit-to-Guam_crowd-to-welcome .


blogs.telegraph.co.uk
President Bill Clinton
November 23, 1998

Hillary came as well, and she returned to Guam years later as Secretary of State.



President Barack Obama
November 19, 2011

But he just needed gas.

clker.com

An aside

Besides sitting presidents, Dwight Eisenhower visited Guam as a president-elect when, in December of 1952, having won the race for the White House, he stopped on Guam on his way back to the U.S. from a trip to South Korea.

George Herbert Walker Bush was a Navy pilot on the USS San Jacinto , which made stops at Guam during WWII.

HOW CHAMORRO ARE YOU? SURVEY RESULTS

Monday, February 20, 2012
Well, 18 of you voted.  More of you could have.  But, here are the results.

72% of you would have saved your CHILD if your boat had capsized.

22% of you would have saved your MOTHER .

And ( na' mase' i asagu å -mo ) just 5% of you would have saved your SPOUSE .

Cultural / Psychological Interpretation

According to one theory, we all should have saved our MOTHER .  Why?

If our child had perished, we could always have another child.
If our spouse had perished, we could always marry again.

But we have only one mother.  She's irreplaceable.  And should be saved.  She gave us life.

Which is more Chamorro?

So is it more Chamorro to want to save your mother?  Or your child?

Although in some cultures, mother is the most sacred thing on the planet, most Chamorro people I talk to say, and it shows in this survey, that even mother finds the meaning of her life in giving up her life for the sake of her child.  A capsized mother or father would save the child more than save anyone else.

My response

My response to this survey was with the 72%.  I would save my child.  When I was asked why, I was accused of being very American in my mentality.  Would you agree?

I said I would save my child because my child still has a future to enjoy; whereas my spouse and my mother have had those opportunities.  I was told I was very pragmatic; that everything boils down to practicalities.  And thus very American, and not Chamorro.

But on further reflection, I think my strongest motive for saving my child above anyone else is the fact that I (with my wife) brought the child into the world; I owe that child all the protection and safety I can give.  I am responsible for that child's life.

What do you think?

DICK TAITANO

Monday, February 20, 2012

RICHARD FLORES TAITANO
1921-1997

A man with a small frame, but a political dynamo.

He was universally acknowledged as smart.  Valedictorian of his graduating class at George Washington.  Prior to that, a student at the pre-war private school, the Guam Institute.  Educated in the mainland at Berea College (Kentucky) and the Wharton School, a part of the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania.

He held some important positions.  Director of Finance (GovGuam), 1952-1961.  Deputy High Commissioner of the Trust Territory, 1964-1966.  He served six terms (12 years) in the Guam Legislature in the late 60s and early 70s.  Notably, he was the first and only islander to serve as head of the Office of Territories in the Department of Interior in Washington in the early 1960s.


He was a candidate in the first election for Guam's Governor and Lieutenant Governor.  That was in 1970.  He was running mate to Ricky Bordallo, who was running for Governor under the Democratic banner.

I remember that election.  The Bordallo campaign had mystic, or religious, overtones.  The campaign was called New Day, and the jingle said, "Hey, a New Day is coming, coming."  How could I forget?  The Bordallo pick-up trucks would go throughout the village with the jingle playing on loud speakers.  In contrast, I also heard the Camacho-Moylan jingle, "Keep Camacho Governor!"


A NEW DAY

The torch, and motto, "Never in Darkness," lent the campaign a semi-religious aura.

WHAT I HEARD ABOUT DICK

Older people would say that Dick was smart because he was a Kueto, a branch of the Taitanos.  My mother worked for him at both the Department of Finance and at the Trust Territory office, and she said he was smart and a good administrator.  During the 1970 campaign, I was told that Dick was a savvy campaigner, one of the main strategists.  It was he who went after the opponents, while Ricky stuck to the lofty agenda proposed by the New Day.  Others would say that, despite his aggressive campaign style, Dick was a man of principle, whose word was as good as gold.  As a senator, it was said he stood by his convictions, even when his stance was unpopular.

WHAT I SAW

By the time I came along and became active in politics (Guam Youth Congress), Dick was a senior senator.  I would see him during legislative sessions, wearing a sweater.  He was very thin all his life and probably felt the cold more than others.  By that time he also had respiratory issues and sometimes needed to leave the session hall to get fresh air.  After he retired from politics, his breathing became more of a challenge.

In his younger days

The Micronesian Area Research Center at UOG is named after him because he authored the legislation that created MARC.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN...

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Your real kitchen is outside the house...

...and is as big as half the house.

We cook a lot, and big.  We feed hundreds of people, and sometimes thousands.  Not a parish; not an association. Families feed hundreds and sometimes thousands.  So big kitchens, outside the house proper, is the rule.


Cooking for hundreds can be messy.  So - outside cooking makes sense.

As for the indoor kitchen.  Well, maybe we could consider it a museum.  Look, but don't touch.

ILEK-ÑA SI PÅLE'

Sunday, February 19, 2012
tulanelink.com

A tiny bit from a Chamorro sermon preached in the 1870s.

I mismo na momento na ma desap å tta i ante gine i tataotao taotao, ayo mismo na momento ma sodda' i ante na gagaige gi me'nan Jesukristo para u nina'e gue' kuenta ni i todo na bid å - ñ a.  U sodda' guihe lokkue' i Santo Å nghet ni i pumulan gue', yan i anite para u fa' aila' gue'.  An ta sodda' na si Jesukristo ha a'atan hit yan i sen yo'ase' yan sen mames na inatan, na sen magof i Santos na Å nghet-ta, ya sen lal å lo' i anite, sen fiho na se ñ at na man m å tai hit gi gr å sian Yu'us.  Lao an ta sodda' na si Jesukristo ha a'atan hit yan i sa'pet na inatan, na ti magof i Santos na Å nghet-ta ya sumen magof i anite, fiho na se ñ at na man m å tai hit gi desgr å sian Yu'us muna' i ma'gas na isao.

The very moment that the soul separates from the body of a person, the soul finds itself before Jesus Christ to give Him an account of all his deeds.  He will also find there the Guardian Angel who watched over him, and the devil who will accuse him.  If we find that Jesus Christ is looking at us with a most kind and sweet look, that our Guardian Angel is very happy and the devil is very angry, it is a sure sign that we have died in the grace of God.  But if we find that Jesus Christ is looking at us with a pained look, that our Guardian Angel is not happy and the devil is very happy, it is a sure sign that we have died in God's displeasure due to great sin.

Some Interesting Words

Desap å tta : today we say adesp å tta ; "to separate."  Languages evolve!  They are both forms of the Spanish word apartar , to move away, separate.

Gine .  "From."  An older form, now replaced in practice by the more common ginen .

Fa' aila' : an old word hardly used today.  Pure Chamorro.  "To accuse."

Fiho : today, it usually means "often."  But in the 1870s, it still meant something closer to its Spanish original fijo , which means "fixed, sure, certain."  How did fiho go from "sure" to "often?"  Well, I suppose, if something happens often, it is sure to happen!

CHAMORRO WHALERS

Saturday, February 18, 2012
mysticseaport.org
The Charles W. Morgan
in Mystic, Connecticutt

The Charles W. Morgan has survived to this day as one of the best examples of the wooden whaling ships that traveled from New Bedford, Massachusetts to the waters of the Pacific in search of whale blubber which was converted into oil right on her decks in huge try-pots.  Underneath were the cramped quarters of the crew, who lived on the ship for years at a time.

The Charles W. Morgan first set sail in 1841 and lasted till 1921.  Guam was often visited by these whaling ships, and Chamorro names, and Chamorro-sounding names, appear on the crew lists of the Morgan.  Mind you, it isn't very easy to pick out the Chamorros from the crew list.  Many Chamorros have Spanish surnames, so we can't be sure if Joe Castro, for example, is Chamorro, Portuguese, Spanish or Latin American.  Americans often gave the Chamorro an English name (like John) or nickname (like Joe or Pete).  People were also very informal about accuracy; the names listed may not be complete or spelled right.

But in 1886, there is a Juan Quitugua on board.  That is definitely a Chamorro name.

In 1888 : John Sablan and Jose Taitano.  For all we know, Jose Taitano could be Jose Mendiola Taitano, the founder of the Kueto clan and one of Guam's first Protestants.

In 1889 : Ignacio Sablan and a man named John Saipan.  You see, names were often nicknames.

In 1891, there's a Enos Chaco.  "Enos" could be "Inas," the Chamorro nickname for Ignacio.  There's also Felix Sablan and Joseph Sablan.  Also one Joaquin Quinata.  There's an Enos de la Cruz, which raises the possibility he is a Chamorro, with a nickname like Enos/Inas.  There's a Vicente Guantanilla, which could be Quintanilla misspelled.  There's a Domingo Blas, Ben Castro, J. Dela Cruze, Vicente de la Cruze, Felix Martinez, Peter Peres and Jose Santos.  Never mind the misspelling, they're really Cruz and Perez.  But are they Chamorro?  Very likely, but we can't be sure.

On the same crew, there's Manuel Rose and Vicente Rose, possibly de la Rosa.  There's a Bernabe Enecencio.  I would guess this is really Inocencio, a family that lived in Hum å tak.  Finally, there's a Jose de San Nicolas.  That's a Spanish name, but common in the Marianas and not so common elsewhere, so I'd say he was Chamorro.

If our guesses prove right, that's a heck of a lot of Chamorros, roughly 1/4 of the crew!  I can just hear a lot of Chamorro being spoken on that ship, among themselves.

In 1892, we see a Tilge Aflague.  Tilge is some nickname.  There's also a Joseph Sablan.

In 1893, there's a Felix Aflague and a Luis Gumataotao, Jose Manalisay and Felix Sablan.

In 1894, Luis Gumataotao appears again, and a J. Luhan, probably Lujan.  On that voyage, a John Sablan died at sea.

In 1895, there's a Nicolas Aflague.

The following year, an Enos (Inas) Aflague and a Peter Taitano.

Even after the U.S. took Guam, a few Chamorro names appear on the crew list; even someone nicknamed Jerry Guam.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : GUSSE'

Saturday, February 18, 2012
picgifs.com
GUSSE' : hurry, rush, speedily, quick, fast, immediate, prompt

There is a difference in nuance between chaddek and gusse' .

Chaddek means fast, speedy, quick in the actual movement. Gusse' means fast in the timing of the action.

One can be late to a meeting and be running quickly to arrive ( chaddek ), but not be gusse' in making it to the meeting.

Remember to pronounce this in the Chamorro way, not in the English way. U in Chamorro (as in Spanish) sounds like "oo"  in English.

Gusse' ya un falak i eskuela.  Hurry and go to school.

Gusse' nai ya un f å tto m å gi.  Hurry then and come here.

Gusse'!  Hurry!

La gusse'!  Hurry up even more!

Lakse'.  A contraction of la gusse' .

Gusse' å nglo'.  Quick to dry.

Gusse' manhasso.  Quick-minded.

Gussie'.  To be quick for something.

Hu gussie' chumo'gue.  I did it promptly.

Ginisse'.  Promptness.

Ma guaiya si ful å no sa' pot i ginisse'- ñ a.  So-and-so is liked for his promptness.

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : BENGBENG GI TALANGA-HO

Friday, February 17, 2012

In English, we have the rather plain statement, "I've been hearing," or "Someone told me."

But, in Chamorro, we say " Bengbeng gi talanga-ho ," "It buzzes at my ear," like a bee buzzing around the ear.

Bengbeng = to buzz, or hiss. Talanga = ear.

P å le' Jose in the clip talks about how a man says he's been hearing that the Pope was coming to Guam.

Or, a man complains to his friend about the price of gas on Guam.

Then his friend says, " Cha'-mo inestototba sa' bengbeng gi talanga-ho na ti apmam para u ma reb å ha i presion i gasolina ."  "Don't be upset because it's buzzing in my ears that soon they will reduce the price of gas."

If only! I mohon !

CHAMORROS WERE EARLY RISERS

Thursday, February 16, 2012
dipity.com

I don't recall anything in the written record about the bedtime rising of the pre-contact Chamorros.  Of course, there's a lot to go through so maybe there is mention of it somewhere.

But what is easily called to mind is the description, by missionaries and others, that the Spanish-era Chamorros were early risers and were proud of it.  How early? Try 4AM !

Even today, from Guam to Saipan, if you go to a 6AM Mass in church, you're likely to see many man åmko' .  I know of senior volunteers who opened churches at 5AM or earlier - in the recent past, not ages ago.

Reasons for such a habit?

1. Agriculture

fineartamerica.com
Farming on Guam
Early 1800's

Nobody wants to be out in the fields past 10 or 11AM in the boiling sun.  Spanish-era Chamorros did much more farming than their ancestors, who did more gathering and fishing.  So our forebears tried to get as much of the outdoor work over with before midday.  Tilling the soil as soon as the sun rose (6AM or so) meant being up by 5, if not earlier.  During the hot part of the day, one ate, took a siesta, worked in the shade.  Then, one could resume more outdoor work when the sun was less brutal towards the end of the day.

2. Religion

dipity.com
The agrarian context of the Spanish Marianas jived well with the rhythm of church life.  In those days, anyone intending to receive communion had to fast completely from midnight on.  That meant one wanted Mass as early as possible!  Because priests had to receive communion every day, since they said Mass every day, priests said Mass as early as possible, even as early as 4:30AM.  Most people would not receive communion every day, or even every week or month, but many went to Mass every morning nonetheless before heading out to the ranch.  So, one got up at 4AM to make it to the 4:30 or 5AM Mass.

The routine of the day was regulated by the church bell.  At the first bell ( å tba) got people up, to get started preparing for Mass.  That bell was rung at 4AM, something which the first American governor did not appreciate.

SAKMAN IN SAN DIEGO

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

THE CHAMORRO SAKMAN
A vessel of admirable speed and agility

Known to westerners as the "flying proa," the sakman awed European explorers as their huge ships were greeted by hundreds of sakman that seemed to fly on the waters surrounding the Marianas.  These European ships would be surrounded by the sakman on all sides with our ancestors yelling at the Europeans to trade, especially asking for lulok (iron).

Though simple in material and design, the sakman was expertly suited to seafaring.  They could be as long as 40 feet and sail as fast as 20 knots (that's 23 mph for us land lubbers).

With the steep decline in population and a new focus on land cultivation under the Spanish, the use of the sakman declined.  They were still around, though, in 1742 when the British Lord Anson visited Guam.

In San Diego, which has a large (perhaps the largest?) concentration of Chamorros in the U.S. mainland, a group of Chamorros have built a sakman .  The CHELU organization gave it full support.



The San Diego Sakman
in achote red!

It took several years for this project to realize its dream.  But there was a lot of support and pride involved, and in 2011 the sakman was completed.  It was featured at an event in Long Beach and also at the San Diego Maritime Museum.


Mario Borja, Fred Blas and Joey Cepeda


Chamorro Sakman in California Waters

Para m å s infotmasion, atan guennao gi

www.sakmanchamorro.org

Para todos hamyo ni Chamorron San Diego - Enorabuena yan Biba Chamorro!

~~~San Diego Sakman photos courtesy of Tara Blas

FIRST CHAMORRO VALENTINES

Tuesday, February 14, 2012
underconsideration.com

In February 1903, Jose was assisting his boss Harvey at the Navy Public Works shop in Hag å t ñ a.

"What are you doing, boss?" Jose asked.
"Writing my Valentine," Harvey answered.
"What's a Valentine?" asked a puzzled Jose.
"Here.  Look."  Harvey showed Jose the card he had just written.

"My dear miss,
I send thee a kiss."

Later that afternoon, Jose put pen to paper and wrote his own Valentine to his sweetheart Amparo, who went by the nickname Pau :

"Guaha minaulek-ho,
guaha lokkue' isao-ho.
Yanggen kombiene para h å go,
malago' yo' na h å go para i Pau-ho.
Yanggen gu å ho i trongko,
pues h å go i hale'.
Maila' ya ta assagua agupa'
yanggen konfotme si p å le'."

(I have my good points,
I also have my faults.
If it's OK with you,
I'd like you to be my Pau.
If I am the tree,
then you are the roots.
Let's get married tomorrow,
if the priest agrees.)

Jose folded this note up just as tiny as he could get it, not like the pretty card trimmed with lace that Harvey had.  No; if Pau's parents ever saw his note, the little lady would have gotten a nice scolding.

Instead, Jose went to Pau's house with the gift of a basket of young, green mangoes for the parents.  As he turned to walk out the door, he let the little note drop next to Pau's foot, unnoticed by anyone but her.  With her one foot, Pau swept the note under the living room bench for later retrieval when everyone was asleep on the gu å fak (mat).

Unfortunately, Pau's mother was always the last to sleep, and she saw the piece of paper under the bench.  Unable to read or write, Pau's mother simple threw the paper the following morning in the fire in the outside kitchen where she was boiling al å guan (rice gruel) for breakfast.

And thus, the first Chamorro Valentine ever written was never read.  It didn't matter.  A year later, Jose and Amparo were married, and all was well.  Love conquers all.

~~~A fanciful story born in my imagination at 7AM, Valentine's Day

AN INTERESTING QUESTION

Monday, February 13, 2012
I was recently asked this question to test how Chamorro I am in my thinking.

If your mother, wife or husband, and child were all capsized on the high seas, and you could save only one of them, which of the three would you save?

Your answer (supposedly) will reveal how Chamorro you are, or are not, in your mentality.

TAKE THE POLL AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE!

I will share with you my answer, and the psychology behind the question and answers, when the survey is done.

MA SUSEDE UN DIA

Monday, February 13, 2012
panoramio.com

GUAM.  FEBRUARY 8, 1862.  ASIGA (between Inal å han and Talofofo).

For six days, a boat full of Chamorros, twelve in all, tried to leave Hag å t ñ a for Luta (Rota).  Bad weather constantly impeded their voyage, forcing them to seek shelter in some bay or cove along the northern coast of Guam, or blowing them off-course.  On the night of February 8, the boat had been blown towards the southeast of Guam and hit the reef at Asiga.  The boat broke up, and these unfortunate souls drowned : Francisco de Castro, his wife Manuela de la Cruz, Rosa Cepeda, Crisanto Hocog, Pedro Manglona and Jose Suarez.

Manuela was married to Castro, but the Chamorros at the time followed the Spanish custom of the wife keeping her last name.

Rosa Cepeda had been banished to Luta because of her bad conduct. La pobre , she ended up dying in the sea instead.

Jose Suarez was just a child, the son of the alcalde (mayor) of Luta.

( P. Aniceto's Chronicle )

TODAY IN HISTORY

Sunday, February 12, 2012
fbbva.es
A Chamorro from Guam drawn by an artist on the

MALASPINA EXPEDITION

which arrived on Guam
February 12, 1792

marenostrum.org

Alejandro Malaspina was an Italian, born into the provincial nobility.  Parts of Italy were then ruled by Spain, and he entered into service in the Spanish Navy.  He undertook voyages around the world, taking artists and scholars with him to record their findings in various lands, from botany to local culture to animal life.  Thanks to these people, we have artistic sketches and some information about life on Guam in 1792.

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' : I DIKNITÅRIO HA FA' BABA I OTDINÅRIO

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Si Jesus ha fa'gåse i addeng i man apostoles

Istorian i tano', desde ke umisao si Adan yan si Eba.  Desde ke ti man afa'maolek si Yu'us yan i taotao siha pot i isao-ñiha, ti siña umafa'maolek i taotao yan i prohimu-ña.  Che'lo kontra i che'lu-ña, besino kontra i besinu-ña, un råsa kontra otro na råsa.

Pot los uttimos, annai sige ha' de ma aumenta i guinahan tåno', unos kuåntos na taotågue man huyong mås man gefsaga, mås man riko, mås man gai podet ke ni pumalo siha na taotågue.  Åmbres entre i man mofo'na siha na Chamorro, takkilo'-ña i matua ke ni mangåchang.

Eståba na guåha åmo yan muchåcho, rai yan takpapa....lao på'go, fuera de riko yan popble, solo guåha diknitårio yan otdinårio.  Ma tulaika i sisteman gobietno, ya ta elilihe pat ta bobota i diknitårio siha på'go na tiempo, lao i kostumbren taotao ti ma tulalaika.  Asta på'go, meggai beses, i diknitårio ha fa' bababa i otdinårio.

Si Jesus, ni guiya Låhen Yu'us, Saina yan Rai, dumimo på'pa' ya ha fa'gåse i addeng i takpapa na disipulo.  Giya Jesukristo nai ta lili'e na i diknitårio ha fa' mamaolek i otdinårio.

It's the story of the world.  Those who have, beat down those who haven't.  It used to be kings over people, lords over servants.  Besides rich and poor, now we just have dignitaries and ordinary people; and, what's more, we elect our dignitaries.  But human nature seldom changes.  At times, the dignitary gets the advantage over the ordinary citizen.

In Christ, who washed the feet of the student disciple, we see that the dignitary served the ordinary.

AN INDIAN AMONG CHAMORROS

Friday, February 10, 2012

spicelines.com

An old map of the Malabar Coast of India
(look to the left side of the map)

It just goes to show how unisolated the Marianas were 400 years ago when you stop and consider that someone from India had been living among Chamorros since 1638!

In that year, the Spanish galleon, the Concepción , sunk off the southern shores of Saipan.  There were many survivors, from a variety of races as would be expected on a ship owned by an international empire as Spain was in those days.  Some remained in our islands and became part of the local scene.

One of them was a man identified as being Lorenzo from Malabar.  Malabar was the name of the southwest coast of India, where Portuguese and then Dutch traders set up shop.  Lorenzo ended up sailing on the Concepción , perhaps as a slave, and stayed in the Marianas after it sunk.  There were thousands of Indian Christians from ancient times living in Malabar, so it wouldn't be a surprise if Lorenzo was a Christian from birth.

When Sanvitores settled on Guam in 1668 (thirty years later), Lorenzo joined as a missionary and was killed by anti-missionary Chamorros in 1669 on Anatahan.  Imagine living with Chamorros for 30 years, learning the language and culture, then being killed by some of the people you've been living with for that amount of time.  We don't know if Lorenzo fathered children in those 30 years, or if some of us have his blood flowing in our veins.


en.wikipedia.com
ANATAHAN
Indian blood was spilled there in 1669

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO'

Thursday, February 9, 2012
nlm.nih.gov

Tåya' higadu-ña.

(Literally : S/He has no liver.)

It's not just the Chinese who believe that different organs are associated with different emotions.  Our mañaina also believed that the liver ( higado ) is the seat of anger.  So, when our mañaina said that someone had no liver, they were metaphorically speaking of that person's inability to get angry.

Un tungo' si Fulåno?  Tåya' higadu-ña!  Puru ha' para u chåchålek.  Ti ha tungo' lalålo!  Tåya' lalaet-ña!

Do you know so-and-so?  He has no liver!  He's all for laughing.  He doesn't know how to be angry!  He has no bitterness.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN...

Thursday, February 9, 2012
BEING THIN = SICK


theage.com.au


How often have dieters, after losing 20 pounds, heard this from someone Chamorro :

Ful å no : Hey, are you sick?

Dieter : No; why?

Ful å no : You're so thin now!

THE LAST GOVERNOR OF THE SPANISH MARIANAS

Wednesday, February 8, 2012
delcampe.net
Document signed in Saipan by Eugenio Blanco, in his capacity as Governor of the Marianas

Juan Marina was the last Spanish Governor of Guam, but not of the Marianas.  When the United States took over Guam in June of 1898, they didn't want and they didn't take the rest of the Marianas.  Those islands continued to be Spanish possessions until Spain sold them to Germany in 1899.  For the first time in modern history, Guam and "the Marianas" became understood as two distinct entities, isolating Guam from its historical, linguistic, racial and cultural brothers to the north.

Marina, however, couldn't go up to Saipan or Rota to continue being governor of what was still the Spanish Marianas.  He was taken to Manila, courtesy of the U.S. Navy.

So the Spanish Marianas (and American Guam) continued under local officials, doing the best they could, until a formal governor could be appointed in both places.  For the Spanish Marianas, that would be a challenge.  How could Spain govern the Marianas after having lost the Philippines?  Yet, Spanish they still were, for the moment.

A mestizo Filipino from Macabebe (Pampanga) in the Philippines, whose father was Spanish and whose mother was of mixed blood, Eugenio Blanco y Leison, had fought on the Spanish side and was stranded, with several hundred soldiers under him, in Manila.  To flee the victorious Americans, Blanco and his men high-tailed it to the Pacific, where the Carolines and the Northern Marianas were still Spanish.  Blanco was made Governor of the Marianas, based in Saipan.

Things weren't so nice for the Saipanese when the Macabebe soldiers and their families moved there.  Lacking military housing, the Macabebes moved in with the locals.  Food was harder to come by.  Anyone who caused the Macabebes problems were dealt with using punches and kicks, even by Blanco himself.  The Saipanese were glad when the Germans finally arrived late in 1899 to take over.

Blanco returned to the Philippines and died in Macabebe, according to a 1926 Madrid newspaper, El Debate .

But, there we have it.  The last Governor of the Spanish Marianas was a Filipino mestizo, Eugenio Blanco y Leison.



Eugenio Blanco y Leison

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : ÅNGLO'

Tuesday, February 7, 2012
yourdictionary.com

Å NGLO' .  Dry.

It's supposed to be the dry season by now.  You couldn't tell from all the rain we've been having.

Kao fotgon pat å nglo'?  Is it wet or dry?

Å nglo' na t å no'.  It is dry land.

Na' å nglo'.  To make dry.

Ha na' å ' å nglo' i magagu- ñ a si Jose.  Jose is drying his clothes.

Inanglo'.  Dryness.

Ti si ñ a hu sungon i inanglo' giya Arizona.  I cannot bear the dryness in Arizona.

Fanangluan.  Fan+ å nglo'+an.  A place where things are dried.

en.wikipedia.org
FANANGLUAN MAG Å GO?  Pat NANA' Å NGLO' MAG Å GO?

LUTA : THE RIVALRY OF TWO WIDOWS

Monday, February 6, 2012
intheflatfieldidogetbored.blogspot.com
Georg Fritz, the German District Chief of the Marianas, speaks about Luta (Rota) and the rivalry he found there between two high-placed widows.

One was Maria Manglo ñ a, whom he says is the widow of the "king."  There was no king, of course, so he must be speaking of a past mayor or local official.  Whatever his position, it was enough to build for himself and his wife a solid house of stone, with a wooden veranda.  It must have been two storeys high, since there was staircase on the side.  Maria, Fritz said, had rings on her fingers.  But the house was not the best kept, and dogs, chickens and pigs were surprised when Fritz would not allow them to enter the house.  Fritz rented the house from Manglo ñ a while he was in Luta.

There are two Maria Manglo ñ as in the 1897 Census, but one stands out.  She is a widow, aged 56 years.  She lives alone.  And she is called Do ñ a, or "Lady," a title of respect.

Her rival was Maria Gogue, whom Fritz said was "beautiful."  She appears in the 1897 Census, at age 31, much younger than her supposed enemy.  She had been the wife of Jose Barcinas, now deceased.

The fight seems to have been about land.  Fritz gave both women equal amounts of the land, less than what they were claiming.  And both seemed happy with the decision.

MAINA : THE VILLAGE OF TWO LADIES

Sunday, February 5, 2012
This weekend is the fiesta of the small community of Maina.

The village name - ma ina - means "to illuminate, enlighten, shed light on."  Why this area, among the hills and valleys near Hag å t ñ a, should be so-called, no one knows.

What is certain is that the parish was named after the village, and not the other way around.  There was no parish in Maina until many years after the war.  When they decided to build a chapel and give it a name, they chose a patroness inspired by the Chamorro village name.

Years ago, there was a church ceremony practiced much more than today.  It was called the "Churching of Women."  A woman, sometime after giving birth, would come to church, with a candle, to give thanks to God for a successful delivery and to be blessed.  The use of a candle is a connection with the Chamorro word ma ina - "to illuminate."

The ceremony recalls the time Mary brought the Child Jesus to the Temple for present Him to God and to purify herself after childbirth.  The Jewish custom was to do this, bringing a candle.  In Spain, Our Lady under this title became known as Candelaria .  In English, she would be called Our Lady of the Purification.


Maina's Patroness - La Candelaria
Holding a candle, the Child Jesus shows us the meaning of ma ina

Maina was not the only place women were churched after childbirth, but the name of the village is connected to that religious ceremony.

THE OTHER LADY

Besides Our Blessed Lady, Maina is also known for a different kind of lady - the White Lady.  As far as I can tell, this is a new legend developed after the war.  It doesn't go back that far, then.  It probably originated in people's imaginations as a reaction to the scary-looking valley and bridge on the road that connects Maina with Aga ñ a Heights.  Different versions of the myth exist, but they all center on the ghost of a woman who appears at night on this bridge.  I think it may not be purely coincidental that this ghost is a white lady, when the area's Chamorro name and its Catholic patroness , La Candelaria , all bring the "light" to mind. Maybe it sparked the imagination.

But he don't believe...


Agapito is a life-long resident of Maina.  He says his mother saw spirits, but not at the White Lady Bridge.  As far as he's concerned, there is no White Lady.  He even says some people he knows light candles down there at night to give drivers a thrill at night.  I jokingly add that maybe the White Lady legend helps boost tourism to the village.

CHURCHING - or MA INA

showerofroses,blogspot.com
The woman holds a candle ( ma ina ) and is lead by the priest to the altar for a blessing.

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Saturday, February 4, 2012

"Brown" was a word we used in the 70s for "dude," "man," "guy."

"Hey, brown!"  "Slow down, brown!"  "Hurry up, brown!"

The expression died in the early to mid 1980s.

AUTOMATIVE CHAMORRO

Saturday, February 4, 2012


MAPUS.  Gone.  Departed.

An alternate spelling is m å 'pos .

Not sure who left, though.  It seems the driver is telling us he left, but if we can read it, how far, then, could he have possibly have gone?

TODAY IN HISTORY

Friday, February 3, 2012
marc.uog

FIRST GUAM CONGRESS MEETS
February 3, 1917

The American Governor at the time, Roy Smith, decided it might be good to gather prominent people of the Chamorro community, all appointed by him, to form an advisory council with no powers, but with the grand name of the Guam Congress.  They met once a month, with no pay.  Many of Guam's elite, like Tomas Anderson Calvo (great grandfather of today's Governor Eddie Calvo) and Jose Martinez Torres (grandfather of former First Lady Geri Gutierrez), were members.  By 1930, the group had lost nearly all of its energy, and Governor Bradley dissolved it in favor of a more purposeful body, although still consultative.

The usual agenda?  The pot holes in that village.  The stray dogs in another village.  Yes, village problems.

But this seeming participation in the civic affairs of their own homeland nurtured the desire of some Chamorros to one day take a greater role in making decisions that affected them and their island.

Governor Smith wasn't doing anything particularly new.  The Spanish had always some sort of local council made up of Chamorros, to offer advice and to vote, consultatively, for village officials. But this was the first time such a body was formed on an island-wide basis.

PICTOGRAPHS IN LITEKYAN

Friday, February 3, 2012
Where is Litekyan?  What Ritidian is to others, to Chamorros is Litekyan.

From the abundance of latte stone sites in the area, Litekyan was once a very populated part of Guam.  But there are also fantastic caves in the area where one can still find pictographs or wall art put there hundreds (thousands?) of years ago by our ancestors.


This is thought to be a full moon.

Gual å fon


A spear.

Fisga.


This seems to be a representation of a turtle.  The cave had many similar turtle images.

Haggan.
university.uog.edu
LITEKYAN
The northern-most point of Guam

FAMILY NICKNAMES : ALIMÅSAK

Thursday, February 2, 2012
pinoyexchange.com

There is a branch of the Leon Guerrero clan called the familian Alim å sak .

But it could be that this branch of the Leon Guerreros were so-called because of their Borja ancestor. As seen in this court document from 1902, a Manuela de Borja was better-known-as Alimasag.

Then, someone we know for sure was better-known-as Alimåsak, Juan José de León Guerrero, had Borja as a middle name; meaning, his mother was a Borja. It's possible Juan José's mother was sister to Manuela de Borja, known as Alimåsak. It does happen that a family takes on the mother's family nickname over the father's.



The alimas å k is a species of crab.  The story I heard says that one of the family ancestors had a little too much of the good stuff to drink, and was with others socializing on the beach.  When he got up to walk, he didn't have much of a balance and started to sway to and fro as he walked.  This reminded the others of the way the alim å sak walks sideways, and they laughed and started calling him alim å sak .

But, according to pre-war author Laura Thompson, the nickname came from a member of the family waving his arms while dancing in a way that reminded an onlooker of an alimåsak crab.

TODAY IN HISTORY

Wednesday, February 1, 2012
members.virtualtourist.com
AMERICAN FLAG FLOWN OVER HAG Å T Ñ A FOR THE FIRST TIME
February 1, 1899

The Spanish Governor of the Marianas, Juan Marina, surrendered Guam to American Captain Henry Glass on June 21, 1898.  Glass was in such a hurry to leave Guam and proceed to Manila that he didn't even bother to leave the ship and go into Hag å t ñ a.  Instead, he had the Spanish officials and troops march down to Piti.  They didn't even know there was a war going on.

On June 21, Glass did leave his ship, but just to go to Fort Santa Cruz, an old and abandoned Spanish fort in the shallow waters of Apra Harbor.  There, he raised the American flag for the first time over the island.  The flag was later taken down and went back on Glass' ship which went on to Manila.

There wouldn't be another raising of the American flag until February 1, 1899, and this time in Hag å t ñ a for the first time.  Commander Edward Taussig had landed on Guam some days prior and started to make a few decisions about the local government.  Then, he had the American flag raised in front of the Governor's Palace in Hag å t ñ a.  A band made up of volunteers on the American ship played the "Star Spangled Banner," and a battalion of Marines gave the 21-gun salute.

The Spanish priests were invited to attend this ceremony.  They declined.  In seven months' time, those Spanish priests would be sent away on orders of the U.S. Navy.

U.S. Naval Historical Center
Edward D. Taussig, USN
First to raise the U.S. flag over Hag å t ñ a

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : YUTE'

Tuesday, January 31, 2012
momproductreviews.org
YUTE' .  To throw away, drop down, dump, discard

Yute' hao p å pa'!  Throw yourself down!

Ha yute' gue' gi tase.  She threw herself into the sea.

Yute' gi basula.  Throw it in the garbage.

Ha yute' i relihion- ñ a.  He gave up his religion.

Kao si ñ a hu yute' este?  Can I throw this away?

Bai hu yute' i asagu å -ho.  I am going to divorce my spouse.

A'yute'.  To mutually throw away, drop down, discard.

Uma'yute' i dos.  The two of them separated, or divorced.

Manyute'.  To throw something away.

B å ba manyute' sal å ppe'.  It's bad to throw money away.

Yinite'.  Abandonment, divorce, what is discarded.

Anyute'.  What is left over from being thrown away or discarded.

Fanyutian.  A place where things are thrown away.  A dump.  Fan + yute' + an.

panoramio.com
I HAGAS FANYUTIAN GIYA OTDOT
For decades the people of Ordot were tired of being the site of the island's waste disposal landfill

ÅFOK

Monday, January 30, 2012

Å FOK
No å fok , no buzz!

For many years already in the recent past, people chew pugua' without pupulu and without å fok .  But our ma ñ aina could never have done so.  They chewed all three, and added when available am å ska or chewing tabacco.  When pugua' was used as a gift, å fok was always included.

Å fok really provides the buzz in chewing mam å on - the whole package.  It brings out the bloody red juices in mam å on .

It's made from coral rocks!  But the rocks are baked for a long time over an intense, slow fire on a hotnon å fok ( å fok oven or lime kiln).  Coconut logs are criss-crossed and stuffed with leaves.  The rocks are thrown on top and over time the fire makes the whole pile crumble.  The baked stone is extracted.

Lime wasn't just used for the pleasure of adding it to mam å on .  It was used in mortar to seal stones used in building or to caulk timbers, and å fok was also used in pottery and as a lye to soften corn and to make konsetba (candied papaya).

As a kid I heard that å fok contains quinine, which is used in the treatment of malaria.

Å fok really does make your pugua' chewing experience much more pleasant.  Especially after a meal, there's nothing quite like mam å on , complete with å fok , to rid the palate of the aftertaste of your lunch or dinner.

WARNINGS

If you're able to find å fok and want to start adding it to your mam å on , be careful.

1. Å fok , for the novice, is pretty strong.  Use it sparingly as a beginner.  If your head starts to spin and you feel nauseous, the man å mko' taught me to drink some sugared water.  That should take care of it.

2. Since it's made of rock , åfok will slice up the inside of your mouth pretty good until it becomes accustomed to the lime.  The man å mko' say linassas ; the inside of your mouth is skinned.  Again, use just a little when starting out.

NOT JUST CHAMORROS

Å fok is used all over the Pacific and Southeast Asia, in the same way we use it with mam å on .  And the word itself is Austronesian; it has nothing to do with Spanish.  The Tagalog word for å fok is apog .

CHAMORRO SURVIVAL KIT

Monday, January 30, 2012

When you leave the Marianas, the above items are essential to maintaining your sanity. Pugua', pupulu, åfok, am åska, tiheras pugua' and l åta .  Believe it or not, all the above are owned by a Chamorro person living in the U.S.


Tiheras Pugua'
Betelnut Scissors

In the old days, you got these from a local blacksmith, or from Dejima's on Guam and Esco's on Saipan.  Notice the åfok -stained tip.  That's because you can use the point of the tiheras to scoop out åfok from its container.


It used to be Sour Cream

Never throw anything away.  This plastic container makes a great depository of your to'la or spittle.  Just line it with a sandwich bag, as above, and discard the bag.


Pupulu thriving in a secret location far from the Marianas.


One day they're going to grow up to be nice pugua' trees and make some stateside Chamorros very, very happy.

PRIDE VERSUS CONCEIT

Sunday, January 29, 2012
schoolofthinking.org

The word "pride" is sometimes very confusing in English.  Sometimes pride is a bad thing, sometimes it's a good thing.

We say that a certain man suffers from pride.  We tell people to swallow their pride.  Pride is one of the seven capital or deadly sins.  Satan fell from pride.

And yet....when someone behaves badly in public, we ask them, "Have you no pride?"  In that sense, pride is something good, something everyone should have.

In Chamorro, there is a big difference between two Spanish words we adopted.

BANIDOSO

Banidoso means "pride."  It comes from the root word vanidad (in Spanish) or banid á (in Chamorro). Banidoso and banid á are related to the English word "vanity." As with English "pride," banidoso can be a bad thing or a good thing.

If a woman walks into a room full of airs, she is called banidosa (-a for the female) and that is a bad thing.

If we say we're proud of being Chamorro, we say " Banidoso yo' pot i ras å -ho !"  "I am proud of my race."  That's a good thing.

OTGUYOSO

Otguyoso is a different kind of pride and it's never a good thing.  It means "conceit."  Or "arrogance."  It is pride above healthy limits.  It comes from the Spanish orgulloso , and the root for that is orgullo .  But, in Spanish, orgullo can be a good thing, as in the case where a child is the pride of the family. Es el orgullo de la familia.

You see how we borrow from Spanish (or anywhere else) and give it our own pronunciation, spelling and sometimes meaning.  You can never automatically tell what a Chamorro means if you just know the Spanish meaning of the word used.  You need to check it out first.  Otherwise you might be guilty of being otguyoso , or otguyosa !

WHAT MONTH IS THIS?

Sunday, January 29, 2012
gwit.org
Unlike the sun, which always stays the same, the moon waxes and wanes.  This is a great way for ancient peoples to mark time, according to the phases of the moon.  Is it any wonder, then, that the word "month" comes from the word "moon?"  Even in Chamorro, pulan means both "moon" and "month."

Our ancestors had a calendar made up of thirteen moons, or months.

Last January 24, we began a new annual cycle with the first glimmer of a new moon.  This first month is called Tumaiguine .  The root for this word is taiguine , which means "this way."  We're not exactly sure why our ancestors gave it this name, but maybe it had something to do with showing others how to plant or fish "this way" at this time of year.

ÅGGON YAN TOTCHE

Saturday, January 28, 2012
In the Chamorro mind, foods fall into two main categories : å ggon and totche .

Å ggon : a plant source of carbs to go along with....

Totche : an animal protein source

Å GGON


Hineksa, of course
(Rice)


P å n
(Bread)


Gollai Å ppan Aga' (Saibok in Saipan)
Plantains


Titiyas (Arina on the left, mai'es on the right)
Flour and Corn Tortillas

TOTCHE


K å tnen Guaka
(Beef)


Atulai
(Mackerel)


M å nnok
(Chicken)

NEITHER HERE NOR THERE


Lumpia
(Thanks, China)

OK time to go eat. Ñ å lang yo' lai!

MAIPE NA KUENTOS

Friday, January 27, 2012
pl8s.com

Chamorro politics, whether on Guam or the Northern Marianas, was not for the weak-hearted.  It was often rough and heated.  Families would not speak to each other for years because of politics.

In Saipan, two political parties formed after World War II representing two different views about Marianas Reunification.  The Popular Party was all for reuniting with Guam; the Progressive Party was against it.  The majority of the Chamorros on Saipan supported reunification.

Among the many papers I have come across was this undated and anonymous letter, aimed at some unknown Progressive Party politician, written by an unknown supporter of reunification.  It is written in that heated and passionate style seen in Chamorro politicians at the time.


Guåho uno yo' gi takpapa na siudadånon Saipan ya tåya', mañe'lu-ho yan mañaina-ho, na hu hungok pat hu tataitai taiguine na inapplacha' propagånda i ma praktitika ni i Progressive Party, i pattido ni kumokontra i dinanña' i Islas Marianas siha. ( I am one of the humble citizens of Saipan, and, brothers and elders, I have never heard or read this kind of filthy propaganda done by the Progressive Party, the party which opposes the union of the Mariana Islands .)

I nina' huyong i Progressive Party na propagånda ma insutta klåroro i Atkåtde-ta.  I Mayot mismo ti nina' kalentura nu este na åttilong påpet siha lao ha po'lo i hinengge-ña yan che'cho'-ña siha para i Tatå-ta gi langet u hinisga.  I Mayot ha tungo' na ti ha bebende i manunas na taotao Saipan, lao gof seguro yo' na hågo ni uminsusutta gue' ha bebende låla'la', sa' hågo mampos hao dañao yan mampos bineno para hame ni man na' mase' na taotao Saipan.  Rekohe todo ennao siha i produkto-mo ya un saosao gåsgagas yan lamlam åntes de un bende guato giya hame ni pupbliko. ( The propaganda produced by the Progressive Party clearly insults our Mayor.  The Mayor himself is not fired up by this black literature but puts his faith and efforts in our Father in heaven to judge.  The Mayor knows that he isn't selling the righteous people of Saipan, but I am very sure that you who insult him are selling them alive, because you are very harmful and very poisonous for us the poor people of Saipan.  Gather all your wares and wipe them clean and shiny before you sell them to us, the public .)

Ha na' gof pinite yo' sa' achataotao-ho ha' hu kokontra, lao i dinanche todo i tiempo bai hu dalalake ya båsta yo' ma fa'gaga'.  Ti hu laknos este para bai hu propagånda pat para bai hu tulaika i minalago'-miyo, lao este ha' bai hu sangåne hamyo', "Adahe i ga'lågo siha giya Saipan ni kumeketucho' i pupbliko gi derecho yan pribilehion-ñiha."  ( It really pains me because I am opposing my fellow man, but I will always follow the right thing and I am done being fooled.  I do not bring this out for propaganda or in order to change your will, but only this will I tell you, "Beware of the dogs in Saipan who try to devour the rights and privileges of the public .)

Yanggen malingo este na oppottunidåt i ma baba på'go pot i dinanña' i Islas Marianas, bai asegura hamyo na ni ngaian na u fåtto ta'lo mågi giya hita.  I direkto guato America imposipble. ( If this opportunity is lost which is opening up now for the union of the Mariana Islands, I assure you that it will never come back to us again.  It is impossible to go directly to America. )

This anonymous writer was no prophet.  The exact opposite happened.  The Northern Marianas did negotiate directly with the U.S. and formed a Commonwealth separate from Guam, after Guam itself rejected unification in 1969.


IT TAKES A VILLAGE

Thursday, January 26, 2012


In today's society, everyone is afraid they'll get slapped with a lawsuit or even get arrested for disciplining a minor in any way.

That wasn't the case in traditional Chamorro culture.   As a matter of fact....

1. Any adult was expected to discipline a child, if they saw the child doing something wrong.  The adult didn't even have to know the child, much less be a relative, teacher or some other public authority.

2. When a stranger disciplined a child, the parents of the child thanked him or her for it.

3. If an adult saw a child misbehaving and didn't do anything about it, the parent scolded the adult for it!  "You saw my child doing something wrong, something that brought shame to our family, and you let it happen!"

4. If you were the child, and went home to complain to your parents that so-and-so disciplined you, you got disciplined again for having gotten into trouble in the first place!  So the thing to do, when a teacher, priest or even stranger disciplined you, was to keep quiet about it when you got home!

In olden times, everyone was a policeman!

Back then : What did my child do wrong this time?

Today : What did the teacher do wrong this time?

Ai adei!

A HUNTING WE WILL GO....

Wednesday, January 25, 2012
guaminsects.net

PDN SAYS : TOO MANY WILD PIGS ON GUAM

I guess it's easier to get our pork chops from Payless, but the babuen h å lom t å no' population on Guam has become a problem.

These wild pigs are damaging roads and property, crops and even the eggs laid by turtles on our beaches.

So a pig hunt is being organized for this coming April.  Maybe we'll see a lot more frit å da after Easter.

BABUE

According to all the sources, no swine were found in the Marianas when the Europeans first came.  They were brought in later by the Spaniards when they settled our islands.  But...it's interesting that we didn't adopt the Spanish name for an animal brought in by Spaniards. Cerdo or puerco would be "pig" or "swine" in Spanish.  Instead, our word is babue , which is similar to Tagalog baboy and Indonesian babi .  Many Pampangan soldiers settled on Guam in the early 1700s and married Chamorro women, and their word for "pig" is babi .

PATRON SAINT OF HUNTERS


Eustace was out hunting deer and saw one, with a cross hovering between its antlers.  Eustace was converted to Christianity.  In Spanish, Saint Eustace is San Eustaquio.  The Eustaquios from Yo ñ a might want to know that.  He is just one of the patron saints for hunting.

TODAY IN HISTORY

Tuesday, January 24, 2012
ns.gov.gu
JAPANESE STRAGGLER YOKOI DISCOVERED
January 24, 1972

I was old enough to remember the day.  "They found a Japanese soldier in the jungle!"  we all told each other in the 4th grade at Saint Francis School, Yoña, even more excited that the straggler was found not far from us.

Not every Japanese soldier surrendered to the Americans when Guam was re-captured in 1944.  Some hid in the jungles even into the 1960s.  Some were eventually found; others died.

One who managed to go undetected for almost 28 years was Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi.  It is a tribute to his survival skills; two of his companions, who lived on their own, died of apparent starvation. Yokoi was by trade a tailor, which came in handy as he fashioned clothing out of natural fibers he found in the jungle.  In the jungle of Talofofo, he survived on coconuts, papaya, breadfruit, rats, frogs, snails, shrimp and eel from the river.

wanpela.com
Yokoi's Handmade Coat

On the evening of January 24, two Chamorro men, Jesus Dueñas and Manuel De Gracia, were in the jungles of Talofofo checking their shrimp traps by a river.  They stumbled upon a surprised Yokoi who tried to evade them, but they overpowered him and brought him out of the jungle.  He had been well-taught to despise surrender and to prefer death.

His attitude towards capture softened as he was treated with kindness.  He was checked by doctors, met the Governor and Japanese Consul and given all the necessities he had lacked for almost three decades.

nps.gov
Yokoi meets Governor Carlos Camacho
soon after his capture

Upon his arrival in Japan, he apologized to his Emperor and country for not returning to Japan as a victor.  "It is with much embarrassment," he said, "but I have returned," a phrase which became a popular saying in Japan at the time because of Yokoi's remark.

Later, I was told by Father Timothy Kavanagh, the Capuchin pastor of Talofofo at the time of Yokoi's discovery, that one of the first people contacted after the event was a Talofofo resident named Manuel Borja Kosaka.  Kosaka was half-Chamorro, half-Japanese and was perhaps the first person to speak to the captured Yokoi in his native language.

wanpela.com
A visitor at what is called Yokoi's Cave.
Tours are given there now.

20,000+ HITS

Monday, January 23, 2012
20,248
visitors in less than a year

In a few months, we'll be celebrating our first anniversary blogging.  And we have alreadry crossed the 20,000 hits mark.

WHERE ARE YOU VIEWING THIS?
Top Ten

United States
8,127

Guam
7,286

Spain
584

Philippines
574

Russia
397

Japan
362

Germany
263

Peru
228

Northern Marianas
179

Malaysia
170

FALSE FRIENDS : BUEN PROBECHO

Monday, January 23, 2012
809guia.com
A false friend is a word that looks the same in two languages, but means two different things.

Buen probecho is Chamorro for "you're welcome."

But it is borrowed from the Spanish phrase buen provecho , which means "good appetite!"

I would have loved to be there the moment one of our ancestors decided that "good appetite" would become "you're welcome" in Chamorro!

As none of this is documented, we'll never know how this got to be.

ILEK-ÑA SI KILILI'

Sunday, January 22, 2012


GREGORIO SABLAN, better known as Kilili', was born on Guam in the late 1800s but went as a child with his mother to Saipan at the end of the Spanish regime.  He was a strong Catholic and lead the church community for several years when there were no priests on Saipan.

He visited Guam in 1921 and shared some things with the Spanish priests on Guam :

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Saturday, January 21, 2012


Some man å mko' believe that a father must avoid immediate contact with his infant child when he returns home after work.  After spending all day at the office, work site or farm, he has the heat, the stress and the energy of that place and he is bringing it home with him.

He must stay in the kitchen, living room or even outside in the garage or patio, and allow that energy to dissipate before seeing the child, who would get sick if that energy were taken inside.

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Friday, January 20, 2012
N å na lao na g å tbon nene / i gumuhu gi bent å na;
ya bunecho ya u g å tbo / sa' inadora as nan å - ñ a.

My what a cute baby / the one looking out the window;
and it's all very well that she's a cute baby / because her mother adores her.

All cultures, I believe, adore their children, albeit in different ways.  In our culture, we always have to hold, hug, pinch, pet and play with our babies, trying to make them laugh.

Nåna lao = literally, the two words separately mean "mother" and "but," but this phrase is used to express surprise, disapproval or even dismay, or some reaction.

Gåtbo = from the Spanish garbo , meaning "beautiful."  Greta Garbo was, indeed, beautiful.

Guhu = to look out a window.

Bunecho = from the Spanish " buen hecho ," though the more correct Spanish form is " bien hecho ," "well done."  But Chamorros use the phrase sarcastically, as when a child is warned to stop running around and then falls and scratches a knee.  The parent will say, " Bunecho !"  "Very good!  I told you so!"

FAMILY NICKNAMES : KOKORA

Thursday, January 19, 2012
thevelvetrocket.com

In Colombia, there is the C ócora Valley.

A branch of the Cepeda family is better-known-as the familian K ókora .

The word is Spanish, c ócora , and it means "an irritating, annoying or fussy person."

Chamorros love to tease, and pick on a particular trait, physical or personal, of another person.  It's possible an ancestor in this family had this trait, or was just humorously picked on and tagged with this label.  It certainly does not describe the whole clan, any more than everyone smells of onions in the Seboyas family or everyone is blind in the B å tchet family.

We have to allow also for other possible origins of this nickname.

Cócora is also a slang word in some parts of Mexico. Also in Portugal and Brazil.

There is also a valley in Colombia named Cócora.

Is it possible that Cócora is Chamorro, and not borrowed from Spanish or Portuguese? It's possible, but unlikely in my opinion since Chamorro seems to lack the R sound (at least our language usually changes the R to an L). Our language usually stresses the penultimate (next-to-the-last) syllable, not the first as in Cócora. And, since there are numerous examples of Cócora appearing in other languages, there's a better chance, I think, that the word is from these other languages.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : PO'LO

Thursday, January 19, 2012
PO'LO : to place, to put, to leave in its place, to set, to arrange, to establish

Po'lo ya gu å ho.  Leave it to me.

Po'lo guennao. Put it there.

M å no un po'lo?  Where did you put it?

Kao h å go pumo'lo?  Are you the one who put it?

Po'lo!  Leave it be!  Never mind!

Po'lo ya u h å nao.  Let him go.

Po'lo gi lista.  Put it on the list.

Si ñ a ma po'lo na ti malago' yo'.  It's possible they will think (literally place ) that I don't want to.

Mamo'lo.  Man + po'lo = mamo'lo.

Mamo'lo yo' sal åp pe' gi lamasa.  I put money on the table.

Hu po'lo i sal åp pe' gi lamasa.  I put the money on the table.

Pine'lo.  The thing placed, put, set.

Pine'lo-ko na h å go.  I thought (literally placed ) that it was you.

Po'lon ñ aihon.  To put aside for a while.

B å sta ya ta po'lon ñ aihon ennao.  Enough and let's put that aside for now.

Po'luye.  To put aside for.

Bai hu po'luye hao na'-mo?  Shall I put food aside for you?


In the T å tan-mame (Our Father)

Ya cha'-mo ham pumopo'lo na in fan basnak gi tentasion.

Literally :
And do not dare to place us that we fall into temptation.

Or :
And do not lead us into temptation.

THE FIREMAN SONG

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Listen to the lyrics and you'll see it's actually a tribute to them!

Boka, video, maigo' / tiningo'- ñ iha i fireman
( Eating, video, sleeping / is what the firemen know )
uno gi halom kommon / i otro mulannannan
( one is in the bathroom / the other is snoring )
otro gi lamasa / i otro gi telefon
( another is at the table / the other on the phone )
ya gaige nai i ma'gas-m å me na humug å g å ndo ping pong.
( and our boss is playing ping pong .)

Gi masea m å no guato / na ahensian gobietno
( In whatsoever / government agency )
ti si ñ a na un na' fangontento este siha i pupbliko
( you cannot please the public )
ai man machocho ham tolanoche yan retir å da gi sigiente dia
( we work the whole night and don't get off till the next day )
ya boka, video, maigo' i fireman masang å n- ñ a.
( and eating, video and sleeping is what people say about the fireman .)

Ma ñ aina-ho yan ma ñ e'lu-ho / ekkungok yan komprende
( My elders and my brethren / listen and understand )
na masea h å fa na desgr å sia siempre este siha u fan gaige
( that in whatever calamity these men will be there )
kimason pat aksidente / m å tmos pat minal å ngo
( in fire or accident / drowning or sickness )
para asegura hamyo todos na man gaige mangilisy å no.
( for your safety these people are there .)

BLACKS IN THE MARIANAS

Tuesday, January 17, 2012
writespirit.net

It's MLK Day and today's holiday got me thinking about people of African descent in the Marianas.

We can't exclude the possibility that people of African descent made it to the Marianas before the Europeans came, but we don't know about it as things weren't written down back then.


BLACK CREW MEMBERS

When the Spaniards made contact with the Marianas, it wasn't unusual to have people of African descent among them on board, some slave, some free.  A Franciscan friar who hung around the Marianas long before colonization began, Juan Pobre de Zamora, wrote about blacks who were living in the Marianas, having once been members of the crew of a Spanish vessel. Zamora's observation comes from his stay in the Marianas in 1602. Yes, that long ago.


BLACK MEXICANS



A Mexican of African descent


In the 1727 Census of Guam, there are three men described as "negros de la costa," "negroes of the coast."  What coast?

Along the shore of the Mexican states of Guerrero and Oaxaca is a strip of land, facing the Pacific Ocean, called "La Costa Chica," "the Little Coast." Here, many black Africans were settled during Spanish colonial times. Their descendants remain to this very day and it is common for them to say "Somos negros de la costa." "We are blacks from the coast."

The great port city of Acapulco also lies in the state of Guerrero, not far from "la Costa Chica." It's not hard to imagine black Mexicans from Guerrero and Oaxaca joining the Acapulco galleons, sailing to the Marianas and settling there.



The shaded area is the Costa Chica, home to many Black Mexicans, close to Acapulco



PHILIPPINE NEGRITOS

In the same Guam census of 1727 there is a man described as a "negro of Sanbal."  "Sanbal" is more than likely a clerical error in the transcription and should be Sambal, modern-day Zambales province in the Philippines, where there are aetas , an ancient and dark-skinned people of that country.  Short, black-skinned people were called negritos by the Spanish, and the word means "small black people."

Negritos share a lot of genetic traits with the Austonesian people among they have lived for thousands of years, but it is possible that they descend from a very ancient migration from Africa eastward towards Southeast Asia.


An aeta family from Zambales, Philippines


MORENO

Some seventy years later, in censuses towards the end of the 1700s, some residents of Guam are listed as "moreno."  "Moreno" can mean several things in Spanish but, in colonial Latin America, it also meant a "free black man," meaning "not a slave."

In 1797, for example, there were 10 morenos in Hag å t ñ a; 5 in Hum å tak and 13 in P å go.

Even if only half of these black men had children with Chamorro women, that would be 14 men! That's a lot of black blood entering the Chamorro blood stream!



A Spanish colonial census showing the use of the word "moreno"
Spanish censuses separated people according to race



FAMILIAN WHITE




White Street
in Mangilao

Finally, there is consistent oral tradition that a certain family, many of whom live today in Mangilao, are descendants of a black man who came to Guam in the 1800s aboard one of the whaling ships. His name was Henry (Enrique, in Spanish) White and he was from the United States. When he settled permanently in Guam around 1860, he married the Chamorro María Dueñas Palomo and had a good number of children with her, whose descendants live today, many in the Mangilao area. Henry White died on Guam in 1896.


Jose White and wife Ana
Grandson of African American Henry White


So, yes, there were people of black African heritage living in the Marianas for at least the last 300 years and some Chamorros today are their descendants.  Many more Chamorros have African blood in them now since Chamorros have spread all over the globe.

In quite a number of Chamorros doing their DNA analysis, genetic connections with Africa are showing up and surprising them. Hopefully, after reading this blog post, they won't be so surprised when they understand more the history of our connections with Latin America and their connection with Africa.


BAKUKU

Knowing now that black people have been visiting the Marianas for hundreds of years, with some of them staying in the Marianas and marrying Chamorro women, it shouldn't surprise us then that Chamorros have a nickname for black people - bakuku .

But where did the word bakuku come from?  If you think it came from a Spanish source, we find the word in the Caribbean and in Brazil (Portuguese) where it can mean a black mollusk or clam; or a word of African origin meaning "banana."  A Caribbean boogey man named baku (short and black) probably got its name from Africa and is probably linked with "banana" or bakuku , since the baku was supposed to live on bananas.

At the end of the day, we'll probably never know where Chamorros got the word bakuku to describe black-skinned people, but my guess is that they picked it up from slang they learned from the foreigners who visited our shores in Spanish times.


MUL Å TO

Now mulato was a word the Spaniards used to describe a person of mixed black and white ancestry.  Usually, black features would be apparent in a mulato .  In Chamorro, mul å to means frizzy or very curled hair.  It's almost certain Chamorros used this word because of its connection with people of African descent.



MRS. DEJIMA

Monday, January 16, 2012

A JAPANESE WOMAN WHO KNEW WHERE SHE WAS


Riye Dejima moved from Japan to Guam around the year 1930 with her husband Tanejiro (sometimes rendered Tomochiro), to try their hand at doing retail business.  She was a widow by the time the Japanese invaded Guam in 1941, her late husband being 20-some years older than her.  The bombing started on the morning of December 8, but the Japanese did not occupy the island until the morning of December 10.  For those two days, all the Japanese civilians on Guam, including Mrs. Dejima, were rounded up by the Americans and put in the Hag å t ñ a jail.



MRS DEJIMA'S PREWAR STORE AND GAS STATION


Once released by the Japanese, Mrs. Dejima helped as an interpreter between the Japanese military and Chamorros.  Then, she was ordered by the military to re-open her retail business.  All throughout the war, Mrs. Dejima walked carefully the fine line between not alienating the Chamorros of her adopted island, and upsetting her fellow Japanese who now wielded power.  She quietly helped Chamorros, when able, to avoid problems during the war.  Out of concern for her neighbor and friend, Agueda Johnston, Mrs Dejima advised her how to best behave in order to save her life. She told Agueda Johnston to keep her feelings in her heart, and not on her lips.  "This is war," she said. Mrs Dejima helped save the Johnston home from being raided by telling the Japanese soldiers to go elsewhere.

According to George Tweed, the lone American hideout, a Chamorro woman wanted to get cigarettes and other things for the Americans held up under the Japanese at the Cathedral in the early days of the Occupation. Other Japanese store keepers turned her away, saying "Nothing for the Americans," but Mrs Dejima sold her what she wanted.

Tomás Santos Tanaka, better known as Tommy, was one of Tweed's benefactors, bringing him canned goods and whatever else he had. He was getting them from Dejima's Store, where he worked as a clerk. Mrs. Dejima turned a blind eye to what he was doing. Tweed said that Tanaka told him that Dejima knew all along, and told him to help himself to whatever he needed.

Mrs Dejima probably saved Tanaka's life, too. It's well-attested that Tanaka was beat up almost to the point of death to get information on Tweed. Dejima went to the Japanese police when she knew how bad the beatings were. She promised the Japanese that she would get information out of Tanaka if they allowed her to bring him home and nurse him. While she did that, she got information about Tweed that she knew the Japanese already knew, and fed them the same lines as if coming from Tanaka.

When the Americans invaded, she went north, as ordered by the Japanese and ended up in Yigo.  The Japanese military was ordering all Japanese, even the civilians like Mrs. Dejima, to commit suicide.  Instead, Mrs. Dejima was found by U.S. troops and confined in the stockade for captured Japanese at Aga ñ a Heights.

While at the stockade, another Japanese looked at her angrily and said, "You supported Americans!" She gave it right back to him and screamed, "What did you say? You bastard!"

When she was released, Mrs. Dejima was fortunate to have something to rebuild on.  Mrs. Dejima had the idea to bury her valuables - jewelry and watches in one can, and half a mile at another spot, a big can containing a smaller can with thousands of American dollars. Mrs. Dejima herself said that after the war she borrowed money to restart her business.



NEW YEARS 1968

She reopened her store and lived a long life.  Her store became known as a place for fishing supplies, and for betel nut scissors.

In 1978, now in her seventies, Mrs. Dejima sold her business and retired, but the new owners kept the store name, Dejima Store. She had been a store keeper for 48 years or so.

She died in 1997 at the age of 92.

Though Japanese, she knew that her life was here, among the Chamorros, and she played her cards right.  She advised and helped the Chamorros as much as she could, and stayed out of trouble.



DEJIMA SELLS HER STORE IN 1978



"I AM AT PEACE FOREVER ON THIS ISLAND I LOVE
AND THE PEOPLE I TREASURE"

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Monday, January 16, 2012
dontgetmewrong.org
Some man å mko' believe :

When everyone in the home gets sleepy at the same time, someone in the family, but living elsewhere, has died.

Scary.

I SEDULA

Sunday, January 15, 2012

MY GRANDMOTHER'S CEDULA


Someone doing his family history came across some pre-war documents and asked me what CN meant, which he found on a document identifying his great-grandfather, with a series of numbers following the CN.  Without seeing the document, I suggested that it meant "C é dula Number."

C é dula is a Spanish word.  Originally it meant a royal order or law.  In time, it was used as a tax document and eventually a personal identification document (the c é dula de identidad ).

Even under the early American Naval Government, the term c é dula was kept.  Every adult had to have one.  It made sense.  The people of Guam had no passports; few had drivers licenses.  The sedula (Chamorro spelling) was the only document of identification most people had. When necessary, such as for marriage, people got a baptismal certificate from the church but baptismal certificates were special whereas the sedula was the ordinary form of ID, even though there were no photos attached.



SEDULA OF EUGENIE FLORES JAMES, LATER AFLAGUE


Eugenie was born in 1900 in Palau, the daughter of a Chamorro woman (Dolores Aguon Flores) who was part of a clan that settled in Palau, and an Irish father named Joseph Henry James. By 1907 or so, the James family moved to Guam. On Guam, Eugenie married Inocencio Santos Aflague.

Both Guam sedula above are signed by Antonio Crisóstomo Suárez, the Chief Commissioner of Guam in 1920. Suårez was half Spanish, half Chamorro. My grandmother's is a post-war copy so his original signature is not seen.




This C é dula from the Philippines in 1890 may have been similar  to (if not exactly the same as) what was used on Guam since the Marianas were a province of the Philippines at the time.

THE MESTISO IN THE CHAMORRO COMMUNITY

Saturday, January 14, 2012
The mestiso occupies an interesting place in the Chamorro community.  S/he is half-Chamorro, half-something else.  Some mestisos quite effortlessly consider themselves nothing other than Chamorro, and that everyone else feels the same way.   Other mestisos feel a burden of answering what they perceive as the silent question being asked about them : is s/he in or out?  Some work hard to make it known that they're in; that they identify with their Chamorro heritage.

This is not unique to Guam.  Many of the strongest nationalists in other countries were people of mixed blood.


Our history is full of mestisos/mestisas who became leaders in politics, religion, business and the professions.  Here are just some .

flickr.com

Congressman Antonio Borja Won Pat
Chamorro-Chinese

bisitaguam.com

Archbishop Felixberto Camacho Flores
Chamorro-Filipino

nps.gov
Baltazar Jerome Bordallo (on left)
Political, Business and Civic Leader
Chamorro-Spanish

flickr.com
Ambrosio Torres Shimizu
Businessman
Chamorro-Japanese

flickr.com
Ignacia Bordallo Butler
Businesswoman
Chamorro-Spanish




Sister Inez Martinez Underwood, RSM
Co-Founder of the Catholic School System on Guam
Chamorro-American*

justice.gov.gu
Hon. Alberto C. Lamorena III
Presiding Judge, Superior Court of Guam
Chamorro-Filipino

justice.gov.gu
Hon. Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson
Judge of the Superior Court of Guam
Chamorro-American*

flickr.com
Antonio Carbullido Yamashita, EdD
President, College of Guam and UOG
Chamorro-Japanese


Adolfo Camacho Sgambelluri
1st FBI-trained Chamorro detective
Instrumental in police work during and after WWII
Chamorro-Italian

* Although there is no American "race," except for the Native Americans, I use the term to denote a caucasian born in the United States to simplify matters.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : TALANGA

Friday, January 13, 2012
chicagoparent.com

TALANGA : ear

This word is common to many Austronesian languages throughout the Pacific.


"EAR"


CHAMORRO

TALANGA


MAORI (New Zealand)

TARINGA


SAMOA

TALIGA (but pronounced talinga )


TAGALOG

TAINGA


INDONESIA

TELINGA



Talanga-ho.  My ear.


Talanga-mo.  Your ear.


Puti i talanga-ho.  My ear hurts.


D å ngkulo i talanga- ñ a.  His/her ear is big.

LOST SURNAMES : BAE

Friday, January 13, 2012


The headstone says :

Mahåfot guini si
( Buried here is )

JOAN BAE CRUZ

I am pretty sure that Joan is actually Juan. Spelling mistake.

This Juan actually appears in the 1897 census in Sumay as the son of Juan José Cruz and Tomasa Bay.

The name Bae was spelled several ways; Bae, Bai, Bay.

People were casual about spelling in those days because people didn't write much; many couldn't read or write and people didn't have a need to write much at all. So, they spelled it the way it sounded to them, many times spelling the same name in different ways. One way this year, another way a few years later. It didn't matter. Bae, Bai and Bay sound the same when pronounced in the Spanish way our mañaina were schooled under.

We don't hear the surname Bae anymore on Guam because, apparently, no one carries the last name anymore. This is because, at some point, the family produced only daughters, with no males to carry on the name.

All the Baes found in the 1897 census are from Hagåtña except for one woman.

The oldest Bae was Andrea Quintanilla Bae from Hagåtña who was 74 years old. She is probably the Andrea Bae listed in a record of births in 1823, who would have been 74 years old in 1897 when the census was taken, though ages were also casually given and often not exact. Andrea was married to one Ignacio Guerrero.

The next oldest Bae is Tomasa Bay of Sumay, married to Juan José Cruz. She is aged 52, so she could be a younger sister of Andrea but we cannot be sure.

The next Baes are all women and live in Hagåtña.

Juliana, aged 48, who is married but whose husband is missing from the census. He could have deserted her or he could have been off-island on a whaling ship or on some other endeavor. She was living with Angela, aged 44 and probably her sister.

Ramona Bae, aged 47, could also be a sister of Juliana and Angela, but she was living on her own and had a daughter out of wedlock, Maria, aged 16.

And that's it. No male Baes to carry on the name.

And yet, although the last name Bae died out, it was used to identify some people who had Bae as a middle name. Bae was not a common name, as opposed to Cruz, for example. So if people asked what kind of Cruz you were of which Guerrero you were, the answer was often Bae!

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Friday, January 13, 2012
en.wikipedia.com

When I was a kid, some people didn't even need to signal for a ride.

For many Chamorros back in the day, if they saw someone walking down a major road, they would automatically pull beside the person and ask if they wanted or needed a ride.

Not advisable today, I'm afraid.

MA SUSEDE UN DIA

Thursday, January 12, 2012
telegraph.co.uk

GUAM.   AUGUST 6, 1871.

Miguel Blas, husband of Maria Asuncion, went looking for his bull ( toro ).  Word got to him that the toro got loose and was freely roaming.  He never returned that day to his worried wife.  The next morning, people were sent out to look for Miguel.  They came back to inform Maria that she was now a widow.  The toro had gored poor Miguel to death.  ( P. Aniceto's Chronicle )

CHAMORRO CURE FOR THUMB-SUCKING

Thursday, January 12, 2012
sciencebuzz.org

I PROBLEMA


blog.guamportal.com

I REMEDIO

(Smear generously on the thumbs of the 20-year-old thumb-sucker)

People tell me that an old custom was to put donne' or something bitter on the thumbs of children thought too old for thumb-sucking.  Poor kids.

BÅSTA FUMINO' ESPAÑOT!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012
burrohall,blogspot.com
A Picador in a Bullfight

P å le' Roman tried to stop Chamorros from praying in Spanish for more than one reason.  First of all because most Chamorros didn't understand what they were saying.  But secondly, because most Chamorros weren't saying the Spanish correctly and were thus inadvertently saying things they didn't mean.

For example, the opening words of the Act of Contrition in Spanish are " Yo, pecador ..."  meaning, "I, a sinner..."

But P å le' Roman heard many Chamorros say, " Yo, picador ..."  meaning, "I, the horseman who spears the bull in a bull fight."

MUNGNGA MA CHIKO I NENE

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Feel like kissing that cute, adorable baby?

Better be careful, some man å mko' say.

You'll make the baby ugly!

freakingnews.com
Ha chiko i nene si Don.

TODAY IN HISTORY

Tuesday, January 10, 2012
hlj.com
ARGENTINA MARU
(1939 postcard)

AMERICAN COLONY AND OTHERS DEPORTED TO JAPAN
January 10, 1942

On January 9, 1942, the American internees, both military and civilian, were told to prepare for transport to Japan.  Some of the things they packed were not allowed on board, or were confiscated at the whim of a guard.  At three o'clock in the morning on January 10, the Americans were awakened and told to start walking to Piti.  The older and the sick among them were driven there.  Once in Piti, they rode on small boats to a large luxury liner, the Argentina Maru, which was now in the service of the Japanese government to transport people.

Although built to be a comfortable, modern ship for civilian passengers, the Americans were placed in cramped and hot quarters below deck, sleeping on wooden planks.  When the weather turned colder as they moved north, they covered themselves with the one blanket they were given.  Their daily fare was rice and onion soup.  One day they were given small fried fish, which had gone bad and had almost everyone sick.  By the time the ship reached Japan, it was freezing winter.

The American civilians interned, most of whom had Chamorro wives on Guam, were Chester Butler, James Underwood, Hiram Elliott, William Johnston, Elmer Gay, Albert Manley, James Nelson, William Payne, Arthur Jackson, William Hughes, Marcello Sgambelluri (Italian-born), James Nelson, William Notley, Wallace Vaughan, Harland Wolford, James Barbour, Euell Olive, Albert Kerner, Otto Cox, Giuseppe D'Angelo (Italian-born), James Hudson.

On board were the 10 American Capuchin priests, and one American Capuchin brother.  The two Spanish Capuchins, Bishop Olano and his secretary, Fray (Brother) Jesus de Bego ñ a, were also on board, although Spain was not at war with Japan.


William Gautier Johnston
Husband of the former Agueda Iglesias
Unfortunately passed away while in POW camp in Japan

Others, however, allowed to stay

Many non-Chamorros were allowed to remain on Guam during the Japanese occupation.  Obviously, all the Japanese residents, most of whom were married to Chamorros, stayed.  Some even assisted the Japanese administration.  A German married to a Chamorro, Scharff, also stayed, as Germany was an ally of Japan.  Pascual Artero, a Spaniard married to a Chamorro, was allowed to stay as Spain was a neutral country.  Besides Tweed and the other Americans who fled into hiding but did not survive, there was another American allowed to stay on Guam by the Japanese, but I forget who he was.

GRANDMA SAID...

Monday, January 9, 2012
ORAL HISTORY

The Value and the Risk

When doing family histories, many people rely on information passed down to them from older generations.  This can be a good thing, even a very invaluable thing!  Sometimes, we would never know something had it not been for oral information.

At other times, oral information is risky.  Oral information often has a grain of truth to it, but other layers of misinformation are often built on top of the truth. We can barely relay, with 100% accuracy, what we just heard yesterday from someone else .  Can you imagine trying to keep information accurate that is 100 years old, by using our memories alone?

Passing down information orally is necessarily limited by people's understanding, or lack thereof.  Sometimes an older informant had an opinion, but by the time it gets to the grandchild, opinion has turned into fact.  And lastly, some people are not above making things up, which make the person or the family look better than what s/he is or they are.

A case where oral tradition and documented fact blended well

Many years ago, an elderly grand aunt told me the name of one of my ancestors.  She only knew it from what she heard when she was a child, and retained it in her memory.  She wasn't even sure of the spelling or precise name.  Then, some years later, I came across an original document, not even looking for it, which had the very name she said.  The document proved that the person truly existed.  Later, I found dozens of other original documents, spanning many years, with that person's signature.  The proof became more convincing.

A case where oral tradition and documented fact collided

But in another case, I was told that so-and-so was born here or there.  That was the family's belief for generations.  Then I came across the actual baptismal record of the person.  It contradicted the family legend.  Now, it is also important to know that documents and records are not always fool-proof .  Records are written by human beings, who sometimes make mistakes or record things wrongly on purpose.  But, in this case, I had other evidence that validated the baptismal record.  The family still hung on, though, to what they believed all these years.  And it is understandable if they did so.

My basic principle in history is : MAYBE, MAYBE, MAYBE.  Proof is so hard to find with our local history, and oral tradition has its value, but also its limitations.

FAMILIA : ADA

Monday, January 9, 2012
As far as we can tell, the Ada families of the Marianas come from ancestors who had a Chamorro surname which the Spaniards spelled "Ada" but which, in Chamorro, is pronounced " adda '."  It means "Is it so?  Could it be?"

The Adas seem to have been based in Hagåt ñ a.  One of the Adas in the 1890s lives in Tepungan, which is now Piti, not far from Aniguak.  Another Ada, according to oral tradition, was a Materne, which is an Aniguak name.  I wouldn't be surprised, then, if some of the Adas originated in Aniguak, which was the barrio where more "pure" Chamorros lived in the Hagåt ñ a orbit.  Inner Hagåt ñ a (San Ignacio, Santa Cruz) was the residence of the more mixed Chamorros, since the Hispanic and Filipino soldiers who intermarried with Chamorros lived in those barrios .

We do have documented evidence of a rather widespread Blas Ada clan; meaning, people whose father was an Ada and whose mother was a Blas.  Oral tradition says that they are children of one Ignacio Materne Ada and his wife Ana Blas.  Both Materne and Ada are Chamorro names, while the name Blas was brought over by settlers.

Some of the Blas Ada daughters married Tainatongo men from Hagåt ñ a who moved down to Malesso'.  A brother, Nicolas Blas Ada, also moved down to Malesso'.

But the ancestors of the better-known Adas in the Marianas was a probable brother of theirs named Ramon Jose Blas Ada, married to Maria Pangelinan (whose middle name may have been Flores, which may be connected to the Kotla or Flores-Pangelinan clan).

PANGELINAN-ADA CLAN

Ramon and Maria had a son, Pedro Pangelinan Ada.  He married Maria Crisostomo Martinez.  Pedro was, at times, an official in the local government, such as teniente , or assistant, to the Hag å t ñ a mayor.  He also engaged in commerce, which took him to Saipan and Hong Kong, where he died and was buried.

His son Jose Martinez Ada is the patriarch of the Ada branch that gave us Governor Joseph Ada; former Senator Ben Ada (of Ada's Mortuary) and his son, current Senator Tony Ada; Senator Thomas Castro Ada is yet another descendant.  This particular branch of the Adas moved back and forth from Guam to Saipan and back again, and some stayed in Saipan.  A former mayor and judge of Saipan, Juan Martinez Ada, was from this branch of the family.

Another product of this family was Monsignor Jose Ada Leon Guerrero; born on Saipan, educated on pre-war Guam and sent to a mainland seminary after the war.  After ordination, he served his entire priesthood on Guam till his death.

Finally, also members of this prominent branch of Adas are the family of Pedro Martinez Ada.  Born in Saipan but in his youth a resident of Guam, he married Maria Roberto Palomo.  Ton Pedro and Tan Maria began a business of their own before the war that enjoyed greater success after the war.  For many years in the 50s, 60s and 70s, Ada's Market had many branches on the island.  The descendants of Ton Pedro and Tan Maria continue in a variety of businesses, especially with their real estate holdings.

This branch is known by the nickname Boddik .  We know of the disease now called Lytico-Bodig.  The family is not postively certain how they got this nickname.  No one in the family in recent memory had this disease.  One member of the family thinks that Boddik is really a shortening of the word bodega , or basement.  I suppose we'll never know for sure, but the nickname is well-known, especially in Saipan.

flickr.com
PEDRO MARTINEZ ADA
Born on Saipan; major Guam businessman


JUAN MARTINEZ ADA
Even though he lived nearly his entire life on Saipan and was one-time mayor and judge on that island, because Juan was born on Guam, he had to be sworn as a citizen of the Trust Territory in 1958.
That's him on the left.

nps.gov

JOSEPH FRANKLIN ADA
Two-term Governor of Guam

guambusinessmagazine.com
VICENTE DIAZ ADA
Former Guam senator and current businessman



THOMAS CASTRO ADA
Guam Senator



ANTHONY ADA
Also a member of the Guam Legislature



ASUNCION MARTINEZ ADA
Married Saipan doctor Jose Diaz Torres

flickr.com
1909 wedding of Jose Martinez Ada and Maria Perez Torres

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN...

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Father George from New York is an honorary Chamorro.  Why?

For one, he's lived on Guam since 1965 (I was three years old) and has educated thousands of Chamorro men at Father Due ñ as and baptized hundreds of Chamorro babies in Yo ñ a.

Secondly, he feeds the chickens rice every morning and evening.  Just throw it out on the grass.  Notice the opened coconuts, too, so the m å nnok can eat the coconut meat.

We are taught never to throw away leftovers ( sopbla ), especially rice.  Instead, feed them to the chickens.  Sinks with an automatic food disposer would never sell in old-time Guam.  We would be shocked, even outraged, to see people dump good sopbla into the disposer, when it can go to feed God's creatures.

In Saipan, I even heard one lady talk about the family dogs as famagu'on (children).  She excused herself and told me she had to go feed the famagu'on .

LUMUT FROM LAMLAM

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Lumut (moss) can be found in greater abundance in the limestone north of Guam.  But the lumut in this belen above was actually harvested on top of Mount Lamlam!  There is some coral rock up there, and lumut to be found.

The belen reminds me of my childhood belen .  This one happens to be an outdoor one.

The family lives in Santa Rita.  Mount Lamlam is just down the road.

NIÑO PERDIDO

Sunday, January 8, 2012

The "Lost" Child Jesus in the Jerusalem Temple

Once again, the Spanish stand out as having a devotion to Jesus, under the mystery of His remaining three days behind in Jerusalem, without Joseph and Mary's knowledge.  The devotion is present in other Catholic countries of Europe, but not to the extent it is in Spain.

There is even a town named after the Ni ñ o Perdido : Alquer í as del Ni ñ o Perdido (Valencia).

He is the patron saint of Asan, which celebrated its fiesta last weekend.


Asan Church

Since the devotion is virtually unknown in the States, an American Capuchin, new to Guam, made the following mistake.

He saw the list of Mass intentions he was supposed to read out before Mass.  First on the list was "Misan Å nimas," for the departed souls.  Next was "Ni ñ o Perdido."  He had never seen that before and thought it was the name of the Mass donor.  Imagine the shock and a few giggles from the older ladies in church when the priest announced "Misan Animas, offered by Ni ñ o Perdido."

kulone.com

ADIOS PÅTGON YU'US

Saturday, January 7, 2012

When we end a nobena to the Ni ñ o , it is customary to sing this song bidding farewell to Him.  A similar custom exists when ending a nobena to the Blessed Mother, as well.

Lyrics

Adios P å tgon Yu'us yan S å nta Maria,
Rai i man rai siha, adios, adios, adios.
( Farewell, Son of God and Son of Mary,
King of kings, farewell .)

Ennao na ginatbo, pinentan Yu'us
muna' a'abok hit...yan si Jesus.
( That beauty, painted by God
made us friends with Jesus .)

I Lahen Maria, sa' ha guaiya yo'
chume'lo yan gu å ho...iyon- ñ a yo'.
( Because He loved me, the Son of Mary
became my brother, I am His .)

Vocabulary Lesson

Rai = King.  From the Spanish rey , which in turns comes from the Latin rex .

Ginatbo = beauty. G å tbo means beautiful.  From the Spanish garbo .

Pinenta = painting.  From penta , "to paint."  From the Spanish pintar , "to paint."

Abok = friend.  I posted this term earlier on this blog.

GUPOT TRES REYES

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Three Kings, Tres Reyes - the end of the Christmas Season (traditionally) in the Marianas and elsewhere.

As the lady in the video says to the Ni ñ o , " Esta otro s å kkan ta'lo !"  "Till the coming year again!"

TODAY IN HISTORY

Friday, January 6, 2012
flickr.com

FIRST PUBLIC EXECUTION ON GUAM BY THE JAPANESE
January 6, 1942

On Three Kings Day ( Tres Reyes ), the Japanese publicly executed two Chamorro men.  One was caught passing a hidden note to an American internee.  Alfred Leon Guerrero Flores was visiting an American colleague from work, who was then confined at the Hag å t ñ a Cathedral, which was used by the Japanese to house the American prisoners arrested after the fall of Guam to the Japanese.  Flores was asking the American what to do with dynamite that had been left behind at work.

The second man arrested was Francisco Borja Won Pat, half-Chinese, half-Chamorro, the brother of future U.S. Congressman Antonio Borja Won Pat.  Won Pat was an employee of the Pomeroy company and one side of the story is that the company managers told employees they could help themselves to the company inventory since war had broken out.  The Japanese, however, considered it theft, perhaps, since they said this to others, it all belonged to Japan now.

The two men were brought to Pigo Cemetery, and a crowd of local people were ordered to attend.  After having been blessed by P å le' Oscar Calvo, the two stood blindfolded in front of open graves and were shot by a firing squad of five Japanese soldiers.

Flores' mother screamed, " Adios lahi-ho; si Yu'us ga'chong-mo !"  (Farewell, my son; God be your companion.)

TRES REYES

Friday, January 6, 2012
studioporto.com
January 6 is the traditional feast of the Three Kings, or Tres Reyes .

The Reyes family of the Marianas are really the de los Reyes family.  It literally means "of the kings."  In American times, most of them dropped the "de los."  A few in Saipan still keep "de los Reyes."  The name is in honor of the Three Kings, and many with the Reyes last name throw a feast on January 6.

In times past, this was the feast that ended the Christmas season.  Some families end their Christmas nobena today.

The Other Three Kings

pimentelguitars.com
A Mexican singing trio

MA SUSEDE UN DIA

Thursday, January 5, 2012
sanderus.com.pl
GUAM.  AUGUST 2, 1868.  HAG Å T Ñ A.

The priest of Hag å t ñ a went in to say morning Mass.  He opened drawers - caramba !  Someone had stolen the paten.  A paten is a metal dish used to hold the large host used by the priest, as seen in the above picture.  The priest investigated, but could not discover the identity of the thief.

Two days later, on August 4, Don Ignacio Aguon came to inform the priest that Vicente Charsaga was found hanging from a tree in the district of Muyao.  The stolen paten was found in the same place.  Perhaps the poor man took his own life because he stole a sacred object.  He was buried in the same place he was found dead.

TOP TEN VILLAGES IN 1960

Thursday, January 5, 2012
1960 Village Populations

1. SINAJA Ñ A (4,800)

2. TAMUNING (4,232)

3. BARRIGADA (3,727)

4. AGAT (3,001)

5. AGA Ñ A HEIGHTS (2, 582)

6. DEDEDO (2,400)

7. YO Ñ A (2,139)

8. MONGMONG-TOTO-MAITE (1, 995)

9. SANTA RITA (1,786)

10. INARAJAN (1, 753)

ILEK-ÑA SI PÅLE'

Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Palo gi setmon para i Å ñ o Nuebo
( Sermon excerpts for the New Year )

Ha s å ngan este na setmon si P å le' Lee gi 1961 na s å kkan
( Preached by Father Lee in 1961 )

I un å ñ o kalan mohon sen an å kko' na tiempo.  Lao yanggen tumalak tatte hao, i un å ñ o kalan mohon un dia ha'.  Meggai gi atboroton-miyo gi ma'pos na s å kkan, ti man atdet p å 'go.  Si Yu'us nina' fan l å la'la' hamyo, mientras palo siha ha å gang na u fanhuyong guine na lina'la'.  Palo siha na taotao, ni en sang å ne "Felis Å ñ o Nuebo" gi ma'pos na s å kkan, man m å 'pos ha dalalak ayo siha i mangaige gi sementeyo.

Gi halom este na s å kkan i para u huyong, buente guaha nai man mamadese hamyo minal å ngo, nina'mamahlao pat tentasion ni man fehman.  Lao resibe este siha komo reg å lon Yu'us nu hamyo.  Man nina' fattuye hamyo as Yu'us para en nina' fang å sg å s para en faninayuda manhuyong ma ñ å ntos.  Ti en tingo' h å fa u guaha para hamyo gi halom i sesentai uno na s å kkan.  Lao una kosa ta tungo' na seguro : si Yu'us ha gofli'e k å da uno giya hamyo.  Fa ñ å ga hihot as Jesus ya si Jesus u s å ga hihot giya hamyo.  Yanggen gaige si Jesus hihot giya hamyo, h å fa mina' para en fanchathinasso?

One year seems like such a long time.  But when you look back, one year seems like just a day.  Many of your troubles last year, aren't so serious today.  God makes you alive, while some He has called out of this life.  Some people, whom you greeted with a "Happy New Year" last year, have left to follow those who are in the cemetery.

Within this year which is beginning, perhaps there will be among you those who will suffer sickness, shame or fierce temptation.  But receive these as a gift from God.  God brings these to you to cleanse you, to help you become holy.  You don't know what 1961 will have for you.  But one thing we know for certain : that God loves each one of you.  Stay close to Jesus and Jesus will stay close to you.  If Jesus is close to you, what will make you worry?

SI DOÑAN TERESA

Wednesday, January 4, 2012
This is an example of the whimsical, nonsense kind of ditty often found in pre-war Guam.  The song is interesting because it shows some residual Spanish influence (Do ñ a) as well as more recent American influence (today/tonight).  Because of the English added to it, the song could have been made up in the 1920s or 30s.



Don't expect the song to have any meaning whatsoever.  It's meant to be light-hearted fun.

Ginen Espå ñ a si Do ñ an Teresa
Ginen Sina’ n ñ a si Marian Ramon
Ginen Hagåt ñ a as Teresan Kapapot
Ya as Labucho' et primet bailadot.
Lunes måttes kakaguåtes
Biringhenas yan bakalao
Un boteya na setbesa
Ya un media na meksao
Alapatingting today
Alapalapatingting tonight
Ginen Sina’ n ñ a si Marian Ramon
Ginen Hagåt ñ a as Teresan Kapapot
Ya as Labucho' et primet bailadot.

Do ñ a Teresa is from Spain
Marian Ramon is from Sinaja ñ a
Teresan Kapapot is from Hag å t ñ a
and Labucho' is the number one dancer.
Monday, Tuesday, peanuts

Eggplants and salted dried fish

a bottle of beer

and a half of mixed alcohol.

Alapatingting today

alapalapatingting tonight

Marian Ramon is from Sinaja ñ a

Teresan Kapapot is from Hag å t ñ a

and Labucho' is the number one dancer.


Interesting Words

Do ñ a : A Spanish title of respect for a woman. Don for a man.  It is always followed by the personal name, never the last name.  Do ñ a Maria, Don Pedro.  Some Chamorros made it more Chamorro by adding the final -n : Do ñ an Teresa.

Sina' n ñ a : Is really Sinaja ñ a, but in the song it is shortened.  Sinaja ñ a is not really how we would spell it according to the Chamorro sounds.  It would be Sinah å n ñ a.  But we're used to the way it was spelled by the Spaniards many years ago.

Marian Ramon : A woman named Maria, who has some relation to a man named Ramon, probably the spouse; fewer times a father/daughter connection.  We clarify which person we're talking about by connecting them to someone else, like the person's spouse or parent.

Teresan Kapapot : Kapapot would be a nickname given to the woman or her family.

Labucho' : Sometimes some people were known mainly by their nickname.  There wasn't even any need to add the personal name; just saying the nickname was good enough.

Meksao : does not appear in the older dictionaries.  It might be a recently coined term, coming from the English word "mix."

"FRIEND" IN CHAMORRO

Tuesday, January 3, 2012


ABBOK

Believe it or not, our ancestors knew what friendship was long before their descendants borrowed the Spanish word AMIGO , for male friend, and AMIGA , for female friend.

And so they also had an indigenous word for "friend." ABBOK .

People usually ask, "But how is that word SAID?" Here it is :





But, like many Chamorro words, abbok slowly faded away. Much older speakers know the word, and those who are well-acquainted with Chamorro hymns have seen the word. But speakers even 50 years old are often unfamiliar with the word abbok .

Here are some examples from our Chamorro hymns using the word abbok . In the old days, the word was spelled abog . I will spell it abbok .




MAMES GA'CHONG, MAMES ABBOK . "Sweet Companion, Sweet Friend," speaking about Jesus.




ABBOK YU'US, APOSTOT YAN MÅTTET. "Friend of God, Apostles and Martyr," speaking of Blessed Diego Luís de Sanvitores.




SEN MASÅMAI HAO ABBOK-HO . "You are very beautiful, my friend," speaking of Mary.

I have an aunt, now in her 70s, who says, whenever she wants to say she is close with somebody, " Gof umabbok ham ." " We are very good friends. "


AMIGO / AMIGA

Our mañaina (elders) borrowed Spanish words, even when we already had Chamorro words for the same thing. Why not? We do the same with English today. People like finding new ways of saying the same thing. We may need only one pair of shoes, but we have two or three pairs. Variety is the spice of life, even in language.

So, for the word "month," we can say Chamorro pulan or we can say Spanish mes . Our mañaina used either word. If you get injured, your injury can either be called dåño (from Spanish daño ) or chetnudan (Chamorro).

So our mañaina also borrowed the Spanish word for "friend," even though they already had abbok . Since Spanish nouns have gender, either male or female, a male friend is amigo and a female friend is amiga . And this became the dominant Chamorro word for "friend." Many people prefer to spell it amigu .


CHAMORRO SONGS WITH "AMIGO / AMIGA"

Dozens of Chamorro songs use the words amigo or amiga , even in the song title. Here are just a few :


The Guam Sirenas recorded a song entitled : Mungnga Yo' Ma Fa' Amiga . It means, "Don't make me a friend." This same song can be changed to amigo if a male is singing. It means the singer wants to be more than a friend. He or she wants romance!

Here are some other song titles and their singers :

HA DINGO YO' I AMIGU-HO (My Friend Left Me) by Perry Borja

ADIOS AMIGU-HO (Farewell My Friend) by KC de León Guerrero

AMIGU-HO (My Friend) by Glen Paulino

AMIGU-HO (My Friend) Frank Bokkongo' Pangelinan

And there are more. As for abbok , I could not find a single song with the word abbok in the title. If there is one, please let me know. I am more hopeful the word abbok is used in the lyrics of a song, but at the moment I can think of none.




Many people think GA'CHONG means "friend." Not quite.

The precise meaning of ga'chong is "companion or accompaniment." Something or someone that goes along with, that is present with, that is joined to someone or something else.

Now, many times the people who accompany us ( ga'chong ) are also our friends ( abbok, amigo, amiga ). But not always.

That is why ga'chong is applied to non-persons, as well.




The food that goes with your main dish can be called its ga'chong . It accompanies the main dish. The rice or vegetables that go along with your salmon can hardly be called its friend.

Even when applied to people, ga'chong essentially means companion or partner, not friend.




So if you are worried this older woman is living by herself at home, you might ask who her ga'chong is at home, so that someone is there if she has an emergency. Suppose you find out a grandson is living with her, we would hardly call the grandson her "friend." He is her grandson and also companion at home.

If the teacher is dividing the class into pairs to partner up for some exercise or activity, she may pair you up with someone you don't get along with at all. But, like it or not, that person is your ga'chong (partner) for the activity. Not your friend; your partner.

And here's another good illustration of the true meaning of ga'chong . The placenta is a kind of organic wrap that surrounds the baby in the womb. When the baby is born, the placenta is expelled from the mother. There are two words we can use in Chamorro for the placenta. One is påres , which we took from Spanish. And the other is Chamorro : i ga'chong påtgon . The placenta goes along with the baby. This is true inside the womb, and once the baby is born there is no need for the placenta anymore so even that comes out after the baby. The placenta truly is the "companion" or "accompaniment" ( ga'chong ) of the baby. Even the other word, påres , comes from the Spanish word par which means "pair" or "couple," since the placenta always goes along with the baby, inside and outside the womb.




So here we can see that an organic wrap made of human tissue that supplies nutrients and oxygen to the baby, as well as remove waste, and which does many other things, can hardly be called the baby's "friend" in the ordinary sense of "friend."

BECAUSE YOUR NOBENA HASN'T ENDED YET

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

I present to you another carol whose lyrics are very much requested by you.

Koro : O P å tgon Belen / in na'e hao dias
sa' h å go si Jesus / yan i Mesias.
( O Child of Bethlehem / we give you greetings
because You are Jesus / and the Messiah .)

I gailanget yan t å no' / dumikkike' gue'
i tehnen i langet / lumadaffe' gue'.  Koro...
( He who owns both heaven and earth / makes Himself small
He who is the strength of heaven / makes Himself weaker .)

M å tfit yan flores rosa / i dos f å su- ñ a
ma guaiya ma atan / i ataddok- ñ a.  Koro...
( Ivory and roses / are His two cheeks
they love to look / at His eyes .)

Hinilat ginefli'e / nu i taotao- ñ a
kumasao chum å lek / gi fanagon- ñ a.  Koro...
( Overcome with love / of His people
He cries, He laughs / in His shelter .)

Interesting words

Dias : literally means "days," as in Ku å ntos dias ?  How many days?  But here it is understood that we give the Child Jesus "Buenas Dias," or "Good Morning" greetings.

Tohne : really means a support or a brace.  But here it refers to Christ as the strength of God who supports us.

Daffe' : weak, dull, lifeless

FIRST BABY OF 2012

Monday, January 2, 2012
guampdn.com

....IS A DESCENDANT OF THE SPANIARD JOSE TUDELA

By a matter of a few seconds, Jenna Carly Tudela became the first baby born on Guam at 12:01 on January 1 this year, beating another baby also born at 12:01.

The Tudelas of the Marianas trace their lineage back to a Spaniard, Jose Tudela, who held various positions in the local government.  He married a Chamorro, Francisca Ramirez.  At the time of the American capture of Guam in 1898, the bulk of the family moved to Saipan, still under Spanish control.  One son stayed on Guam, whose descendants are mainly in Talofofo.  Some of the Saipan Tudelas moved to Guam in the last few decades.

FAMILY NICKNAMES : CHAROT

Monday, January 2, 2012
cristaldance.com

Charol.  See how shiny it is?

One branch of the Taitano clan is called Charot .

Charol is a Spanish word with several meanings.  It can be either lacquer/varnish, patent leather or, in some Spanish-speaking countries, a tray.  The root meaning is something that is permanently shiny or varnished.  In that sense, a patent leather shoe is a zapato de charol in Spanish.

Family lore says that an ancestor of this branch of Taitanos was given a gift of shoes, zapatos de charol .  Chamorros could not pronounce final L, so it became charot .

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : TUTUHON

Sunday, January 1, 2012
spicyipindia.blogspot.com

As we BEGIN the New Year

TUTUHON : to begin, to start

Tutuhon!  Begin!

Ta tutuhon.  Let's start.

Ha tutuhon kum å ti.  S/he started to cry.

Annai hu tutuhon bumisita Guam.  When I began to visit Guam.

Ngaian ma tutuhon?  When did it begin?

A ke ora para ma tutuhon?  What time will it begin?

Para ma tutuhon gi oran a las dos.  It will begin at two o'clock.

Ma tutuhon p å 'go i nuebo na s å kkan.  Today begins the new year.

Tinituhon.  Beginning.

Desde i tinituhon i t å no'.  Since the beginning of the world.

Taitutuhon.  Without beginning.

Si Yu'us taitutuhon yan taihinekkok.  God is without beginning and without end.

NEW YEAR'S SONG

Saturday, December 31, 2011


From Saipan, we get our one and only traditional Chamorro New Year's song.





Ta fan magof todos / mientras man l å l å' la' hit
ta n å 'e mit gr å sias / i muna' fanhuyong hit.
Esta m å tto i nuebo / na s å kkan ni para hita
ta propone de nuebo / umarekla i ha'ani-ta.
Ta fan magof todos...

( Let us all rejoice while we are still living
let's give a thousand thanks to the one who created us.
The New Year has come already to us,
let us propose once again to reform our lives .)

Jesus Yu'us-m å me / gi nuebo na s å kkan
gai'ase' nu hame / ap å tta i da ñ o.
N å 'e nu i desk å nso / i man gaige esta gi naftan
ya an gu å ha sea k å so m å tai na s å kkan.

( Jesus, our God, in the New Year
have mercy on us, remove what is harmful.
Give rest to those already in the grave
and on those who may die this year .)

Ta fan magof todos...

Fan adesea de nuebo / ginen i korason-miyo
felis na å ñ o nuebo / todo i ha' å nen-miyo.

( Wish each other once again from your hearts
a Happy New Year all your lives .)

Ta fan magof todos...


THE GERMAN AND RUSSIAN ORIGINALS


The Saipan song is based on two different European songs blended together.

Saipan's Catholic missionaries from 1907 to 1919 were German Capuchin friars, who more than likely had a hand in composing Ta Fan Magof Todos , basing the first part of the song on a German one they knew so well.

The German song is called Freut Euch des Lebens , which can be translated "Enjoy Life." This song goes all the way back to the 1790s! It's a song about enjoying the goodness of life while we still have it. As one line of the German song goes, to "pluck the rose before it wilts."




The short part concerning praying for the dead comes from a Russian hymn going back to the 1830s which was picked up by British hymnologists and given English lyrics and the title God, the Omnipotent.




Si Yu'us ma'åse' to Guam's premier hymnologist

LAWRENCE BORJA

for finding these originals.

FISH DOCTOR

Saturday, December 31, 2011
petfishdoctor.com

Juan : Jose, h å ftaimano masang å n- ñ a "fish doctor" gi fino' Englis?

Jose : Mediko para guihan, nai.

Juan : Å he', lache ennao.

Jose : Pues h å fa nai?

Juan : Fishishan.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR" IN CHAMORRO

Friday, December 30, 2011
elcamaleondaltonico.wordpress.com

Yup, we use the Spanish phrase (after all, we use a Western calendar introduced to us by the Spaniards)  :

FELIS A Ñ O NUEBO!

Or we could localize it even more and say BIBA A Ñ O NUEBO , which the Spaniards don't normally say.  Just once in a while; as ¡ Viva A ñ o Nuevo!

THE FORGOTTEN LITTLE Ñ

Friday, December 30, 2011
es.wikipedia.com

I was reminded recently just how overlooked an important little letter is in our language.  It is the Ñ.

It is called the en ñe and makes the nye sound.  You may be one of those who call it "the n with the little curly thing on top."  The "curly thing" is officially called the tilde .  We got it from the Spanish.

The other day I went to a parish to tape their ma nginge' Ni ñ o activities.  This parish also has a youth leader who is godfather ( nino ) to so many people that his godchildren are organized as a group.  When I got down from the car, I saw a young man and asked him if he's part of the Ni ñ o Group .  He said "yes."  So I asked what time they planned on heading out with the Ni ñ o .  He looked puzzeled.  He said they weren't going out.  I said, "You don't bring the Ni ñ o to the homes on Christmas?"  He laughed.  He thought I had said Nino (godfather) and not Ni ñ o (Child Jesus).  The young man was indeed a member of Nino's group, but not the Ni ñ o Group .

Time and time again I see Aga ñ a, Sinaja ñ a and Yo ñ a spelled Agana, Sinajana and Yona.  Then we laugh or correct newcomers who ask directions to A - ga - na, not Aga ñ a.  I know some members of the Mu ñ a family who always put in the ~.  It is needed in other names like Mu ñ oz, Manglo ñ a and Due ñ as.

In writing, it makes a big difference.  There's the island D å no (Cocos Island) and there's d å ñ o (to injure).  There's puno' (to kill) and pu ñ o (fist). L å na (oil) and la ñ a' (expletive).

Finally, pot fabot , there's a big difference between

THE NINO (Godfather) and THE NI Ñ O (Christ Child)

guampdn.com

That's the Ni ñ o on the left
That's Kevin, who is Nino to many godchildren, on the right

DON'T FORGET YOUR

taringa.net

MAJOR LEAGUE TECHAS

Friday, December 30, 2011
Just some techas I know who have years of experience leading prayers and devotions in the community.


Annie has been a techa since at least the 1970s.  She is asked here and there to lead devotions in private homes, like this one, which prays the Nobenan Ni ñ o each year.  The elderly lady in the bluish dress sitting in the very front is 97 years old!  She lost her husband at the tail end of the Japanese occupation.


Tan Lourdes

Tan Lourdes is a retired techa now, but, back in the day, she was a techa All-Star.  She lead the rosary and devotions before Mass DAILY (seven days a week) and was one of the singers ( kantora ) during Mass.

For many years, Tan Lourdes would go to a dozen or more homes each day in December to lead the Nobenan Ni ñ o .  Her daughter, who accompanied her, enjoyed eating a little at the different houses and seeing the variety of food each had.  From the start of the Nobena Season, Tan Lourdes basically spent the whole day leading the nobena in other people's homes.  Only when Christmas was over was she able to get to know her own house all over again.

There's a special place in heaven for many a Chamorro techa .

MA SUSEDE UN DIA

Thursday, December 29, 2011
fmpulso.cl
GUAM.   NOVEMBER 28, 1876.  HAG Å T Ñ A.

At four o'clock in the morning, while it was still dark, everyone was awoken by the ringing of the alarm bell.  The Korincho (Perez) house was on fire.  The fire was quickly put out, but how much of the house was damaged was not reported.  What they did find out was that apparently a mouse had taken the burning wick of a lamp up to the thatched roof and set it ablaze. Tailaye na ch å ka !

supercoloring.com

I BELEN

Thursday, December 29, 2011
Building a belen is an old Chamorro custom adopted from the Spaniards.  In English, it's called a creche or nativity scene, but we call it a belen because Belen is Spanish and Chamorro for Bethlehem.  Properly speaking, a belen is supposed to look like Bethlehem, with houses, roads, trees, wells, streams, carts, animals, townspeople and whatever else you can obtain.  Typically, though, most people were satisfied with, and could afford, to buy a ni ñ o , a statue of Mary and Joseph, an angel usually placed at the entrance, a cow and a donkey, shepherds and others.

The belen usually had to be finished by December 16 or 17, depending on when the family began their nobena .

The belen was often indoors, but some families erected their belen outside in the carport because the inside of the house was too small to accommodate the number of people attending the nobena .


A typical Chamorro belen.
With the Ni ñ o


Without the Ni ñ o

Some people don't believe in placing the ni ñ o in the belen until Christmas day, since "Jesus isn't born yet."  Others don't put out the statues of the three kings ( Tres Reyes ) until January 6, the traditional day of the Three Kings.


A belen where the scene takes place in a cave ( liyang ) rather than a house.


This family has collected a wide variety of belens , only some of which are seen here.  Can you count how many separate sets are in this picture?

LUMUT

While many families could not afford to buy many statues or build a town resembling Bethlehem, there was one thing we Chamorros always took pride in - the lumut . Lumut is the moss collected in dark, dank places with a lot of tree coverage and coral rocks.  The lumut simulated the verdant grass covering the ground in and around the belen .  The more lumut there was, the better.  While in northern countries the smell of pine in the house announced the arrival of Christmas time, in the Marianas, the musty smell of lumut told everyone in the house that it was time for Christmas.


THE ORIGIN OF THE BELEN


The tradition is that Saint Francis of Assisi, while ministering as a deacon at Christmas Mass, was inspired to set up a replica of the nativity scene.  From the Franciscan friars, the custom of setting up the nativity scene spread throughout the Catholic world.
THE SPANISH BELEN
In Spain, the belen can also be called the portal , the pesebre or the nacimiento .  In many cases, the belen really does replicate the entire town of Bethlehem, with flowing water and moving animals.
The belen is a BIG deal in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries.  They even form associations who are responsible for erecting the belen in a church or a town.
People who are skilled at putting up a belen are called beleneros ( belenera , for a woman).  People who study the belen in a serious, academic way ( belenismo ) are called belenistas .

SAIPAN NIÑO, GUAM NIÑO

Wednesday, December 28, 2011
kirida.com
In Saipan, the N i ñ o is considered incomplete without a gown.  I remember buying a few more ni ñ os for our parish, and the people wouldn't even think of using them until gowns were sewed for them.


In Guam, gowns are not sewn for the N i ñ o .


But they both use
chanel.com

THE MA NGINGE' NI Ñ O IN SAIPAN IS ON A WHOLE DIFFERENT LEVEL




YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM GUAM

Wednesday, December 28, 2011
btlc.com

When you ask someone to turn on or turn off the AIR CON.

To me, it makes perfect sense to shorten "air conditioner" to "air con."  But, in the mainland, people look at me as if I were from Mars when I say it.  For them, it's the AC.  I found one person born and raised in California who didn't think "air con" was a weird word, and he was Filipino by blood.

Sometimes I call it the " air con d å kd å k ," something I learned from somebody else. D å kd å k is an actual word and it means "to knock,"  so linguistically it doesn't fit.  Still, it sounds funny.  And Lord knows we all need a reason to smile day to day.

TÅKE' BIHA

Wednesday, December 28, 2011
maggiesgarden.com
T Å KE' BIHA
(Cassia Alata)

T å ke' Biha is not to be ingested internally, but is for external use only.  Pounded or boiled, it is used as a remedy for fungal infections of the skin and ringworms.  I wonder if a local entrepreneur could market it as a treatment for athlete's foot.

It is native to Mexico and is called, in fact, Akapulko in the Philippines.  Acapulco is a city in Mexico.  More than likely, the plant was brought to the Marianas and the Philippines from Mexico.  Why it is called Old Woman's Excrement ( T å ke' Biha ) is anybody's guess, but it points to the foreign origin of the plant, since part of its name is Spanish. Biha is the Chamorro form of vieja , which is Spanish for "old," in the feminine.

PASTORES A BELEN

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

This is the LAST Spanish song which a good number of people on Guam still sing.  Despite not knowing much of what it says, older Chamorros absolutely love this carol because of its liveliness.  They can make out some of the words, which are the same in Chamorro : Bel é n, quesos, mantecas, noche.  You can tell from the video clip how much these singers enjoy the song.  I got carried away, too.

Lyrics

¡ Pastores a Bel é n!
( Shepherds to Bethlehem !)
¡ Corramos en tropel!
( Let us run together !)
¡ Quesos, mantecas, turrones y miel
( Cheese, butter, nougat and honey )
llevad pastores a nuestro Emmanuel!
( bring, shepherds, to our Emmanuel !)
Que es hoy la noche hermosa de Israel.
( For now is the beautiful night of Israel .)

Vamos pastorcillos,
( Let's go little shepherds )
vamos a Bel é n.
( let's go to Bethlehem )
Que ha nacido el Ni ñ o
( for the Child has been born )
para nuestro bi é n.
( for our benefit )
Vamos pastorcillos,
(Let's go little shepherds )
vamos a Bel é n.
( let's go to Bethelehem .)
Quesos y mantecas
( Cheese and butter )
turrones y miel,
( nougat and honey )
llevaremos todos
( we will bring all of them )
para nuestro bi é n.
( for our benefit .)
quesos...

¡ Marchemos todos a Bel é n, a Bel é n!
( Let us all go to Bethlehem !)
tra la la...

TURRONES

buscorecetas.com

Spanish Christmas Turrones
Made of sugar, honey, eggs and toasted almonds

A SECOND RENDITION

ESTA KINENNE'

Tuesday, December 27, 2011
guampdn.com

M å tto si Se ñ ot Fred Quinene guine m å gi gi Friary un puenge, sumisiha yan i asagu å - ñ a as Cecilia.

Despues de ma ega' i Christmas Village, ilek- ñ a si Fred.

Fred : Para in dingo hamyo esta, P å le', sa' depotsi ti para u huyong i asagu å -ho an puenge.

P å le' : Esta, Fred.  Maolek- ñ a un konne' gue' p å 'go t å tte gi gima'.

Fred : P å le', esta kinenne'!

JESUS, MANUEL, SALVADOR YAN NATIVIDAD

Monday, December 26, 2011
Why are some Chamorros named after Jesus?

flickr.com
BANK OF GUAM FOUNDER
Jesus Sablan Leon Guerrero


CHAMORRO PRIEST
Father Jesus Baza Due ñ as

pacificworlds.com

BELEMBAOTUYAN MASTER
Jesus Crisostomo

The Spanish stand out as the only Europeans who take the name of Jesus as a personal, or baptismal, name.  The neighboring Portuguese often add the name of Jesus to theirs', but it comes out as Maria de Jesus, or Pedro de Jesus.  The Portuguese don't have "Jesus" as a stand-alone, personal name.  But the Spaniards have no hesitation at all giving a son the name Jesus.


Some (not all) American missionary priests after World War II had a problem with Chamorros giving the name "Jesus" to their baby boys.  Instead, they suggested naming the baby "Jesse."  Thus, we have many fathers named Jesus having sons named Jesse.

Perhaps most Chamorros named Jesus were so-named because their fathers were named Jesus, or some other male relative.  A few were named Jesus because they were born on (or close to) Christmas day, when Jesus was born.

CHU / SUSA

The nickname for Jesus is Chu.  Other forms are invented based on Chu, like Chumbai.  The female form of Jesus is Jesusa.  From that we get Susa, and some women become Susan!

MANUEL and SALVADOR

Besides Jesus, there are two other names that stand for Jesus.  Jesus is also called Emmanuel, and the Spanish form of that is Manuel.  Jesus is also the savior, salvador in Spanish.  Chamorros would say Manet and Satbadot.  One family is known as the Atdot family because their patriarch was named Salvador.

The female form of Manuel is Manuela, and from that we get Lela' or Lelang.

Again, sometimes a boy was named Manuel or Salvador because they were born on, or near, Christmas day.

NATIVIDAD

But the women had a third option besides Jesusa or Manuela.  It's Natividad, which means "birth" in Spanish.  From that we get Da' or Daling.  But, if you wanted an Americanized pet name, that would be Naty or Natty.  I'm going to a party today hosted by one Naty.  Yes; she was born on December 26 and named after Jesus' birth.

SA' POT YA-HO HA' (JUST BECAUSE I LIKE IT)

Monday, December 26, 2011

Chamorro verse at 42 seconds

The Carolinians of Saipan are great singers and they defy the ridiculous idea many of us believed back in the 1950s and 60s, when we stopped teaching our children Chamorro, that a child cannot learn to speak more than one language well.

This Carolinian lady sings the same song in four languages!  Including Chamorro, and the lyrics are :

Hum å nao hao gi batkon aire ti hu despide hao;
koron å -mo ginen gu å ho ti un chule'.
Tumohge yo' gi kanton pl å sa
tumekkon, tum å tanges
sa' ni ke ni un dingo yo' guihe na ha' å ne.

The following verse is sung in English so you'll figure out the meaning.  Then she ends the song in Tagalog.  The first verse was in Carolinian.

Interesting Words

B å tkon aire : literally, "air ship."  By the time airplanes came around the Spaniards had gone, otherwise we might be saying eropl å no (from the Spanish aeroplano ), or abion (from the Spanish word avi ó n ).  So, the Chamorros took two words and made up their own word for airplane.  Just the same, both b å tko and aire are borrowed from the Spanish barco and aire .

Korona : means "crown."  Jesus' "crown of thorns" is koronan l å ktos .  But the Saipan Chamorros also use this word to describe the floral garland used to crown the head, called mwarmwar in Carolinian.

Pl å sa : On Guam, we think of the Plaza de Espa ñ a when we hear the word pl å sa .  But pl å sa means any cleared, flat land used in a public way, and a runway pretty much fits that description.  Even a baseball field could be called the pl å san bola , or a basketball court the pl å san basketbot .  When I lived in Saipan, when I needed a ride to the airport, I would say, " Konne' yo' fan para i pl å san batkon aire ."

decision2005.blogdrive.com
A Chamorro wearing a korona ( mwarmwar )
Former Saipan Mayor Juan Borja Tudela

DÅNDAN I PANDERETAS

Sunday, December 25, 2011

PANDERETAS


Pandereta means tambourine in Spanish. Panderetas is the plural and was adopted into Chamorro.

This song is one of the more familiar ones but it should only be sung on Christmas Day or after, because the whole point of the song is that the Old Testament promise of a Savior is fulfilled only when He is born on Christmas.

That is why play the tambourine and make merry to express our joy that the Savior has finally come.




LYRICS

D å ndan i panderetas / na' fan pal å ngpang
todo i profesia / esta monh å yan.
( Play the tambourines / make a noise with them
all the prophecies / have been fulfilled .)

Popble i patgon-ta / gi liyang Belen
ng å san i ason- ñ a / kulan g å 'ga' gue'.
( Our child is poor / in the cave of Bethelehm
he lies on straw / as if he were an animal .)

Popble i patgon-ta / nina' fotgon gue'
nu i lago' n å na / sa' tinangse gue'.
( Our child is poor / he is wet
from the tears of a mother / who cries for him .)

Hunggan, esta monhåyan!
( Yes, they are fulfilled !)


There is another verse, not found in the original, that goes :

Nihi ya ta fan magof / minagof ni dopble!
Todo i profesia / monhåyan ma kumple!
(Let us be merry / twice the merry!)
(All the prophecies / have been fulfilled!)


THE SPANISH ORIGINAL

Go to the 1 minute mark to hear the Spanish original



Toquen las panderetas / ruido y m á s ruido!
Porque las profec í as / ya se han cumplido!
( Play the tambourines / noise and more noise!
Because the prophecies / have now been fulfilled! )

S í , s í , ya se han cumplido!
( Yes, yes, they are now fulfilled !)

MA NGINGE' NIÑO

Sunday, December 25, 2011

The Ma Nginge' Ni ñ o Team
Donation Box - Ni ñ o - Bell

HISTORY

According to one elderly Chamorro priest, now deceased, the custom of taking the Ni ñ o Jesus from house to house started with Pale' Rom á n, who was the pastor of Santa Cruz Church in Hag å t ñ a (located near the Santa Cruz Bank of Guam).  He needed to raise funds for church renovations.  So he sent out teams of people to bring the Ni ñ o to the homes to venerate and to sing carols.  The custom grew after the war and spread to all the parishes, including the Northern Marianas.


Kamp å na (Bells)
They are cheerful, and advise the homes from a distance that the Ni ñ o is near

AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE

Continuing this custom today is full of challenges.


Ma Nginge' Ni ñ o in Mangilao


In Toto, an improvisation.  Carolers stay in the pick-up truck while several teams visit the homes.

By the way, the carolers are singing Sen Bonito.  Here are the words of the refrain caught on the video clip :

Sen bonito O Maria / i patgon-mo as Jesus
( How very beautiful, O Mary / is your child Jesus )
i mat å - ñ a ha na' annok / na guiya i Lahen Yu'us.
( His face shows / that He is the Son of God .)

Here is the Spanish original of that song :


Compare the refrain in Spanish with the refrain in Chamorro :

Ay qu é lindo, ay qu é bello, ay qu é hermoso, ay, ay, ay
(Oh how lovely, oh how beautiful, oh how handsome, oh, oh, oh)
que el amor a sus ovejas del cielo lo hizo bajar.
(that love for His sheep from heaven made Him descend.)

LUMUT

Saturday, December 24, 2011

LUMUT
Jungle Moss

becomes grass for the belen (Nativity Scene)


A lumut -covered belen
from roof to floor

Lumut thrives on limestone rock, and the north of Guam is made up of limestone.  The south is volcanic, so there is less lumut to be found there.  One of the best places up north to get lumut is Urunao.  But the land there is generally either private property or military reserve, so be careful.

fcc.gov

URUNAO
is in the northwest of the island


My Uncle Vic talks about lumut .  He has land up in Urunao.

PICKING LUMUT

One woman's story

"A week before December 8, my husband and I would pick moss at our land in Urunao.  I have always enjoyed picking moss especially during the early 60s.  Upon entering the jungles of Urunao, I would hear different birds chirping and then see a tottot , or a kingfisher; or smell the scent of a bat, hanging.  It was just something!  My greatest joy were the chichirikas .  These were small, colorful birds which tended to fly close to the ground.  They flew in front of me or beside me, making their beautiful sounds.  There were times when I tried to touch them, but they flew right away.  I surely miss these beautiful creatures.

Picking moss is really complicated as sometimes we found the moss to be too dry, too thin or most recently picked earlier by others.  Because of this we had to go deeper into the jungle, beyond the cliff, down the rugged and sometimes slippery slopes.  Mosquitoes were buzzing all around and biting us oftentimes, despite applying mosquito repellant.

By the time we finished and were out of the jungle, we were tired, thirsty and hungry.  Our perspiring bodies were sweltering from the heat.  Our clothes and hair were soaking wet.  It was a lot of hard work, but then, we were always very happy and thankful to Ni ñ o Jesus for the many bags we filled with thick, long and green moss." ( By Naty Calvo, Aga ñ a Heights )

TA FALÅGGUE SAHYAO

Saturday, December 24, 2011

One of my favorite, cheerful K å ntan Ni ñ o .

TA FAL Å GGUE SAHYAO

Koro : Ta fal å ggue sahyao i patgon Belen;
( Let's quickly run after the child of Bethlehem )
ta li'e i Bithen yan si San Jose.
( let us see the Virgin and Saint Joseph .)

Faisine ham N å na haftaimano gue'
( Ask for us, Mother, how will He be )
kao yagin tumoa u ma'g å se hit?
( when He grows older will He rule over us ?)
Sang å ne ham lokkue' kao i Dikkike'
( T ell us also if the Little One )
guiya i ma s å ngan na L å hen David?
( is the foretold Son of David ?)

Pastores fatoigue i Sainan Pastot
( Shepherds come to the Shepherd Lord )
maila' fan manriko gi Sainan Se ñ ot
( come, you rich, to the Lord .)
Fal å ggue gue' todos kalan Redentot
( Run to him, all of you, as Redeemer )
ya in fan mannginge' nu i Satbadot.
( and venerate the Savior .)

Jesus ni mesias in dimuye hao
( Jesus Messiah we kneel before you )
i minaulek-m å me muna' m å tto hao.
( you came for our well-being .)
I ga'-m å me g å 'ga' in chuli'e hao
( We bring you our animals )
sa' iyo-mo h å me g å 'ga' yan taotao.
( for we are yours, animals and people .)

Ta tungo' gi lai-ta esta gos å pmam
( We have known in our law for a long time )
na guiya u huyong na'-ta na' manman.
( that He would become our wonderful food. )
M å n á chiup l å nget na' fanh å spok ham
( Manna dew from heaven make us full )
å gon i man å nghet yiniusan p å n.
( bread of angels, divine bread .)


NOTES

Sahyao : a rarely-used word nowadays meaning "fast, speedy, quick."

Toa : to become mature.  Applicable also to fruit.

M å n á : is borrowed from the Spanish word for "manna," the food God gave the Israelites in the desert.  The second syllable is stressed, i.e. ma-NAH.

Chiup : when was the last time you heard that word?  It means "dew."

Å ggon : å ggon is really whatever food can be classified as a staple; some carbohydrate eaten with the protein source ( totche ) like meat or fish.  Since pre-European Chamorros didn't have bread, å ggon was often used as a word for "bread."  The last name Aguon could be the word å ggon .

OUTDOOR NOBENA

Friday, December 23, 2011

Having the nobena outdoors, in the garage or under a p å lap å la (a covered deck), is a great idea.   More people can attend the nobena outdoors than indoors.  It is usually cooler than indoors, if held at night. What's the use of indoor air-conditioning if the living room has 50 people crammed in it for the nobena ?.

In addition, an outdoor nobena is a great way of evangelizing others, like the irreligious neighbor or passerby.

As seen in the video, the only thing is the family ga'l å go (dog) might want to join the nobena , but you just have to react to this the Chamorro way.  What is that?

Look at what the women do in the video clip.  Give the ga'l å go brief attention.   Look at it or swoosh it away for no more than 3 seconds. Then pretend it's not even there. That's how Chamorros deal with wandering ga'l å go .

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Friday, December 23, 2011
THE NOBENAN NI Ñ O

My grandmother's sister was a techa .  We had a Nobenan Ni ñ o every year.  First went up the belen .  The musty smell of lumut (moss) filled the house.  Our belen was a hodge-podge collection of Spanish pieces from over the years.  Many were chipped, but nothing too serious.  Many pieces didn't match, as newer statues were bought to replace damaged older ones.  "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" was one of the first Latin lines I learned, as it was written on the scroll carried by the angel we hung on the roof of the belen .

Many kids from the neighborhood came to our nobena ; kids I didn't even know.  Word just spread among them.  In Sinaja ñ a before Urban Renewal, the houses were a whole lot closer; the streets more narrow.  Kids were always playing in the street.  "Let's go!  That house is having a nobena !"  They knelt, fidgeting, for the whole nobena , even though it was in Chamorro, which, by my generation, they didn't understand much.

The draw?  The rock-hard candy that was passed out every night after the nobena .  Candy that was saved year-to-year.  Candy that stayed the rest of the year in a hot closet, melting one into the other.

houseofstirfry.com
Some may say the kids came just for the candy.  Of course.  But it got them exposed to some religion, which is a good thing, IMHO.  Sanvitores passed out European cookies and trinkets to attract children to his catechism classes.  Yesterday I saw an 8-year-old texting someone.  I doubt today's kids would be attracted to anything with candy and cookies as bait.

Sanvitores also made up religious songs in Chamorro to draw them in.  Even though I didn't understand Chamorro as a kid growing up at my grandma's house (except the Chamorro words used for scolding me), the Chamorro Christmas carols always stuck in my head.  I could sing " Ta nginge', ta adora " by the time I was 5.

Music has a way of touching the soul, beyond words.  Some elderly people at the point of death, who can barely say anything, hum a childhood hymn just before sighing their last breath.  The visual is also important.  I would gaze at the little figurines in the belen , imagining what it would be like to be a shepherd in Bethlehem, or feel the goodness of the baby Jesus.  These Catholic traditions can have great impact, especially on the young.  Too bad many people have ignored them.

The older I get, the more I realize I am basically who I am now because I grew up in Sinaja ñ a in the 1960s.

SAIPAN CHRISTMAS CAROL

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Belen Nochebuena / ma selebra p å 'go
( Christmas Bethlehem / is celebrated today )
pe'lo hamyo i sena ya ta fan mal å go.
( put dinner aside and let us run .)
Duro sin desk å nso / u ta fan mal å go
( Hurriedly, without rest / we will run )
ya ta li'e i Ni ñ o ni esta mafan å go.
( and we will see the Child who is already born .)

Koro : Na' magof, nana' magof, nana'magof na puenge!
( Happy, happy, happy night !)

I kantan man å nghet / mames melodia
( The song of the angels / sweet melody )
Gloria as Yu'us gi langet sa' m å tto i Mesias.
( Glory to God in heaven because the Messiah is come .)
Sen ma'lak na estreyas / ayogue na annok
( Very bright stars / that is where it is seen )
para gi å -ta guato ya t å ya' u m å hnao.
( as our guide there and no one will turn back .)

Koro...

D å ngkulon minagof / todo ta abandona
( With great joy / we will foresake all )
t å t ti hum å nao guato para u fan adora.
( No one will not go there to adore .)
Sen popble na p å tgon / yan Kotderon Yu'us
( Very poor child / and Lamb of God )
pot hame un m å tai un dia gi kilu'us.
( to die for us one day on the cross .)

Koro..

O atan ham m å gi / guine gi sagan-m å me
( O look here at us / here in our place )
nu i yo'ase' mat å -mo gai'ase' nu hame.
( with your kind eyes have mercy on us .)
S å tba todo i man m å tai / guine p å 'go na s å kkan
( Save all the dead / in this present year )
ya gi pettan i langet h å go ham un taggam.
( and at the door of heaven you will greet us .)

Koro...

HOW TO SAY "MERRY CHRISTMAS" IN CHAMORRO?

Thursday, December 22, 2011



SHORT ANSWER

Felis P å sgua

or

Felis P å sguan Nochebuena

or

Magof Nochebuena

or

Felis Nabidåt





LONG ANSWER


Greeting people on certain holidays wasn't always done

First of all, not all cultures have an old custom of using specific greetings for special occasions.  The phrase "Merry Christmas" is an American/British custom.  The phrase appeared in some English writings many hundreds of years back, but didn't become popularized till Christmas cards started using them in the early 1800s.  In times past, "merry" meant "pleasant" or "agreeable."  But it also can be understood to mean "tipsy" or "drunk," and that is why, it is believed, many in England prefer the phrase "Happy Christmas."  This is what you hear a bit more in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

"Christmas" itself comes from the phrase "Christ's Mass."  Back when England was Catholic, some feast days were named after the Mass of that day's feast.  So, on the feast of Saint Michael, they celebrated Michaelmas.  On the feast of the Purification, when candles were blessed, it was Candlemas.  On the day of Christ's birth, it was Christmas.


Spain, not US

Now the Marianas were influenced by Spain and its customs, and the Catholic religion.  What we call Christmas in English is called the feast of the Nativity of the Lord in the Catholic Church.  "Nativity" is a fancy word for "birth."

"Nativity" in Spanish is Natividad .  Applied to Christmas, it is simply Navidad .  Thus you have heard of Jose Feliciano's famous song Feliz Navidad (Merry Christmas). Feliz means "happy" or "merry." Many older Chamorros will say Felis Nabidåt for "Merry Christmas."


Påsgua

But an older name for the feast of the Birth of Jesus is Pascua . Pascua is the term for one of three great events in the religious calendar : the Birth of Jesus, the Resurrection of Jesus and finally the coming of the Holy Spirit or Pentecost.  All three feasts are considered pascua .

In order to distinguish these three, Christmas became known as Pascua de Nochebuena ; Easter as Pascua Florida (or, "Flowery Pascua" on account of the Easter flowers that come out in spring) and Pentecost as Pascua de Pentecostés .



This court record on Guam in 1905 shows how people called Christmas "Pascua de Navidad" in Spanish or Påsguan Nochebuena in Chamorro but based on the Spanish


Nochebuena

Nochebuena literally means "good night" and refers to December 24th, Christmas Eve, when the Birth of Jesus is first celebrated in church.

During Spanish times, December 24th, or Nochebuena , got much more attention than Christmas Day on the 25th. The 25th was a day of rest, or some would go to Mass who did not attend the Midnight Mass. But the 24th was the day of celebration. Families would try to put out the best they could for dinner, then they would go off to Midnight Mass ( Misan Gåyo ), which was sung with as much merriment as possible. Choirs involved instruments like the tambourine and castanets. It got so exuberant that later missionaries had to curb the use of instruments that were not technically allowed in Mass.

Since Nochebuena was the real "party" day, many people said Felis Nochebuena or Magof Nochebuena .




Magof Nochebuena


Believe it or not, despite all this linguistic technicality that may have you scratching your head, if indeed you are still reading, many man å mko' knew all of this! They were well-trained.

OK, now pascua became p å sgua in Chamorro.  So what is Feliz Pascua in Spanish becomes Felis P å sgua in Chamorro.  You can add Nochebuena in there, too, to make it clear (remember, for the Spanish and the man å mko' Chamorro, there are three pascuas ).  So, Felis P å s guan Nochebuena.

As an alternative to all this, I lean toward Magof Nochebuena .  This phrase keeps Nochebuena to denote Christmas, but uses magof instead of felis . Magof is pure Chamorro and means the same thing as felis , which is "happy."  One could also say I suppose Magof P å sguan Nochebuena , but I think the shorter version accomplishes the same task.



A GOVERNMENT OFFICE SAYS "FELIS PÅSGUAN NOCHEBUENA!"
Guam Preservation Trust


THREE WAYS - ALL "CORRECT"



MÅNGLO' KRISMAS

Thursday, December 22, 2011
givejonadollar.com
Lately we've been experiencing what is typically known as "Christmas weather."

Windy, dry.  No rain, less humidity.  Cooler.  Sunny. M å nnge' !

Just the kind of weather you want for outside activities, like taking the ni ñ o all around the village .

I've heard people even call this wind M å nglo' Krismas .  Christmas Wind.

This is the start of the dry season. Fa ñ omnagan .  FAN + SOMNAK + AN. Somnak means "sunny."

It was getting pretty rainy late in the year last week.  But one man, who lives in the south right by a river, says that it takes the river nine times to overflow before the rainy season ( fanuch å nan ) ends.  The river overflowed for the ninth time last week.  Yay!

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN...

Wednesday, December 21, 2011
greenupgrader.com
YOU CAN'T KISS THE NI Ñ O UNLESS YOU SPRAY IT FIRST WITH PAOPAO

We "kiss" with our noses, not our lips.  So making the ni ñ o smell nice with paopao (perfume, cologne) is essential.  We buy one bottle and use it just once a year.  Some bottles have lasted for 25 years; some go back to Governor Guerrero's administration.  It's perfume that is used just for the ni ñ o ; nothing else.

HOW TO KISS THE NI Ñ O....THE CHAMORRO WAY

1. As you approach the ni ñ o , take a hold of at least the head or the foot; many hold on to both.
2. Put your nose to the head of the ni ñ o and take a big whiff, the more audible the better.
3. As the priest or tanores (altar boy) attempts to bring the ni ñ o back and away from you, thinking you are happy with one whiff, give him a menacing look.  He will offer you the ni ñ o again.
4. Put nose on ni ñ o's hands, knees and feet and take more whiffs.
5. Put your limosna (donation) in the basket.

NOBENAN NIÑO

Wednesday, December 21, 2011
The Nobenan Ni ñ o in Chamorro probably did not come about until the 1920s because, as Pale' Roman and others have said, Chamorros prayed mainly in Spanish until that time.  Prayer books in Chamorro were few in number until Pale' Roman started translating dozens and dozens of them.


This family puts up a huge belen in their carport.  Mom leads the nobena as techa .  The nobena is in Chamorro and the children can say the basic prayers in Chamorro.  Mom began praying the Nobenan Ni ñ o the very first year she was married, as her husband had bought a nativity set from Butler's for $50.  That's in 1958 dollar value.  Since then, especially as some pieces got chipped or broken, she has augmented her belen with new statues bought over the years from the Carmelite Nuns, who got them from Spain.  She has been tempted four times all these years to skip a Christmas novena, in order to travel to the mainland.  She has turned down those trips every time.  Her Nobenan Ni ñ o is a priority.


At her nobena , they sang "Si Jose yan si Maria" in the older melody.  Compare this with the other melody posted on December 13 : http://paleric.blogspot.com/2011/12/si-jose-yan-si-maria.html

WHEN DOES THE NOBENA START AND END?

That depends on the people holding it.  First you decide when you want to end the nobena (the finakpo ).  Then you count nine days back.  Most people want to end it on December 25, so they start the nobena on December 17.  But others want to end it on January 1, or January 6 (Three Kings; Tres Reyes ).  Other families end theirs on other days, too, for their own reasons.

WHY NINE DAYS OR NIGHTS?

On Ascension Thursday, Jesus told His Apostles to wait and pray and they would receive a great grace promised them - the Holy Spirit.  Nine full days exist between Ascension Thursday on the one hand and Pentecost Sunday on the other.  So the custom developed to pray nine days for a needed grace, in imitation of the Apostles waiting and praying in the Upper Room as Jesus instructed them to do.

PUSHING THE BOÑUELOS

Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Maria was frying the bo ñ uelos d å go....


....while the young men promoting their consumption were racing from the kitchen to the crowd eagerly awaiting a fresh, hot batch from the frying pan.


Before the war, people didn't have maple syrup.

They used sugared water, tuba syrup or honey.

DÅGO

Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Every December in the Marianas, this...


D Å GO

turns into this...

dnj.com
BO Ñ UELOS D Å GO

The d å go , or yam, is harvested (uprooted; ma h å lle' ) in the first week of December after being planted in March.  So, in December, the d å go is plentiful and is made into fritters or bo ñ uelos .

I wanted to find out more about the root itself, so I interviewed this gentleman who grows d å go at his ranch in Mogfog, Dededo.


Listen to some pretty classy Chamorro about d å go , and other things.

HOLY CEMENT?

Monday, December 19, 2011
wpclipart.com

S å ntos na Semento?

anundis.com
S å ntos Nasimiento

There is a Chamorro Christmas carol in Saipan that uses a Spanish word in a Chamorro phrase : s å ntos nasimiento .  It means "holy birth."

Older Chamorros, more in touch with Spanish, probably had less trouble understanding that phrase, which is why it probably made it into a Chamorro song without notice.

But one woman in Saipan, with no Spanish language background, once asked me, " P å le' , kao magå het na guå ha så ntos na semento ?"  "Father, is it true that there's such a thing as holy cement?"

To be funny, I answered, " Solo yanggen ma bendise ."  "Only if the cement is blessed."

After she explained that the Christmas carol was the source of her confusion, I understood where she got the idea and was able to help her distinguish såntos nasimiento from ntos na semento ; holy birth from holy cement.

En Espa ñ ol

Los ancianos conoc í an la palabra "nacimiento," pero los j ó venes hoy en d í a no la conocen y la confunden con la frase en chamorro "santos na semento," que quiere decir "cemento santo," que, por supuesto, no existe.

NA GUINAIYAYON

Sunday, December 18, 2011


One of the best-loved Chamorro Christmas songs in all the islands of the Marianas. Here it is sung by a group in Saipan :




Lyrics :

Na guinaiyayon ennao na p å tgon / sen mames, m å hgong, yan ti kamten.
Hu fa' Yu'os-ho i Satbadot-ho / yan i pastot-ho giya Belen.

( How lovable is that child / very sweet, peaceful and still.
I acknowledge my Savior as my God / and my Shepherd in Bethlehem .)

I Patgon Yu'us hamamatkilo / kalan kinilo gi sag å - ñ a
gi liyan g å 'ga' sen ti umugong / sa' gos ma ñ ungon yan man ñ a ñ a'.

( The Child God is silent / like a lamb in its place
in a cave for animals he whimpers not / because he truly endures it and is tender .)

L å hen i Bithen ginen i langet / Rai i man å nghet yan i taotao.
Hu sen gofli'e yan hu dimuye / sa' hu hassuye nguminge' hao.

( Son of the Virgin, from heaven / King of the angels and people.
I truly love and kneel before you / because I intend to venerate you .)


Interesting words...

Kamten : it means "restless, constantly moving, quick to move or act."  The word kalamten (to move, stir about) is related to it.  Unfortunately, the word kamten has come to exclusively mean in recent years "someone always on the move romantically."   A philanderer certainly cannot stay still, but kamten means "quick to act, constantly moving" in more than one way. Kamten kanai- ñ a means someone has a quick hand, like a thief.  More knowledgeable speakers of Chamorro don't have to smirk every time kamten is used in a sentence.

M å hgong : don't confuse with m å gong . M å hgong means "peace, peaceful." M å gong means "healed, recovered."

Kinilo : lamb.  But there aren't any lambs in the Marianas.  Where did we get the word?  It's a Chamorro pronunciation of the Spanish word for lamb, "cordero."  We avoid the "r" so it would first come out as kotdelo .  But that's still a little hard on our tongues so we soften it to kinilo .

Hamamatkilo . Mamatkilo is to "be quiet, say nothing."  Putting the prefix ha before an adjective or verb means "always" or "frequently." Hamalango means "always sick." Hamaleffa means "habitually forgetful."  Make sure you put the stress on the ha .  HA-maleffa.  Not hama-LEF-fa.


Original Song

Pale' Román says that the Spanish original from which this song is taken is " Ni ñ o Divino ," but I haven't been able to find it.

TODAY IN HISTORY

Sunday, December 18, 2011

M Å TAI SI BISHOP BAUMGARTNER
Died on December 18, 1970

If you go (or went) to Father Due ñ as, the Academy and several other Catholic schools; if you read the church weekly, the Umatuna si Yu'us; if you were ordained a diocesan priest between 1950 and 1970; if you attend Mass at the Cathedral - you have Bishop Baumgartner to thank for it.

He arrived in 1945 with a gargantuan task - to lay the foundations for a diocese on an island devastated by war; where almost everything had to be shipped in; without a huge population with enough local money to pay for it all; with one Chamorro priest at the time; no Chamorro sisters; where the Navy had to be appeased at almost every turn to get the necessary permissions.

What he had going for him was the strong Catholic faith of the majority; his network of mainland friends and contacts; and a robust Capuchin province in Detroit and then New York that could send missionaries and cover part of the expenses.  The friars manned almost all the parishes, which included the Northern Marianas after the war.  The Stigmatines came to staff Father Due ñ as.  A minor seminary was opened and young Chamorro men began priestly training.  The Mercy Sisters came, followed by the Notre Dame Sisters, and staffed the parochial schools and recruited Chamorro sisters.  The church newspaper was founded; a Catholic clinic eventually came about.  By 1965, we became a diocese.

Baumgartner was burdened with hypertension since the day, more or less, he arrived.  Some of his letters in the 1950s speak about his blood pressure being in the neighborhood of 190/120.  But his health did not seriously decline till the late 1960s.  On December 9, 1968, Baumgartner was relieved of his administrative responsibilities, which were transferred to Bishop Pearce of Fiji and then to Monsignor Felixberto Flores.  In May of 1970, Flores was consecrated a bishop, with Baumgartner remaining Bishop of Aga ñ a while Flores managed the actual administration of the diocese.

He was a no-nonsense, stoic, administrator who was weak on the personal connection with people and even many clergy.  He never learned to speak Chamorro.  But he knew its value and would have Monsignor Calvo, and later Flores, follow his English remarks with a Chamorro summary.  He made sure Chamorro articles were put in the church weekly.  Like all the authorities at the time, including the civil and professional ones, he promoted the advance of English.  He wasn't the kind of bishop who went out among the people, not even among the elite.  When he wanted, he called you to his residence.

But he got things done and the results of his efforts are still visible today.

U s å ga gi minahgong.
Requiescat in pace.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : FATÅ'CHONG

Sunday, December 18, 2011
flickr.com
Mat å t å 'chong i nene gi sof å .
The baby is sitting on the sofa.

FAT Å 'CHONG : to sit

T å 'chong means "seat." Fa' means "to make." Fa' + t å 'chong = fat å 'chong .  To make something a seat by actually sitting on it!

Fat å 'chong pot fabot!  Please sit down!  ( When speaking to one or two people )

Fanmat å 'chong pot fabot!  Please sit down!  ( When speaking to three or more people )

Bai hu fat å 'chong.  I will sit down.

Kao si ñ a yo' mat å 'chong guennao?  Can I sit there?

Ti malago' mat å 'chong.  S/he doesn't want to sit.

O'son yo' mat å 'chong.  I am tired of sitting.

Mat å t å 'chong si Pedro gi halom kosina.  Pedro is sitting in the kitchen.

Manmat å t å 'chong i estudi å nte siha.  The students are sitting.

Na' fat å 'chong.  To make sit.

Na' fat å 'chong gue' gi sanhiyong.  Make him/her sit down outside.

HU PAKI I BENÅDO!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Little "Peskadot" is just THREE years old, and listen to him speak Chamorro!

PARA TODO I HA'ANI-HO

Saturday, December 17, 2011
livinglifetodfullest.blogspot.com

Un biho, ni 70 å ñ os ed å t- ñ a - biudo, lao gefsaga - ha hasso umassagua yan un hoben na palao'an ni sen b å ba kostumbren- ñ a.  Taklalo', tailaye, interesao, deskar å da na palao'an, masea bonita.  Sesso ha essal å gue i biho, yan sesso ha na' fang å sta i salape'- ñ a i bihu gi masea h å fa malago'- ñ a i palao'an para u ma fah å ne, achok ha' ti presiso.

Gi ha' å nen i umakamo'- ñ iha i amko' yan i palao'an, finaisen i bihu nu i amigu- ñ a, "Che'-lo, kao siguro na malago' hao umassagua yan este na kl å sen palao'an? Hasso na siempre un sang å ne si P å le', 'Para todo i ha'ani-ho asta i finatai-ho.'  Todo i ha'ani-mo, che'lo!  Hasso ennao!"

Ilek- ñ a i amko', "Che'lo, cha'-mo chachathinasso pot gu å ho. Gi taiguine na ed å t-ho ni 70 å ñ os yo', para ku å ntos å ñ os m å s i ha'ani-ho?"

ILEK-ÑA SI PÅLE'

Friday, December 16, 2011
webstockpro.com

The following sermon reflects a time when the husband was the bread-winner, and the wife managed the household.  It was preached in Tinian in 1963, at a time when most people worked their own farms for a living.

I palao'an ni umassagua nesesita u yodahe yan tomtom na manehånten i sal å ppe' i familia.  Lao i palao'an debi de u yodahe lokkue' gi ma desean i sal å ppe' yan pot todo i kosas siha ni si ñ a finahan nu i sal å ppe'.  Yanggen i palao'an ha despetdidisia i sal å ppe' gi ti man neses å rio yan manaisetbe siha na kosas, guiya siempre u ma ach å ka yanggen mumeggai i dibe gi tenda siha ni ti man e'empas.

Un tiempo annai est å ba yo' giya Guam, manbisita yo' gi un guma'.  Gi halom ayo na guma' est å ba un foggon elektrisidat ni sumen nuebo, yan nuebo na k å hon ais.  Lao ayo na guma' t å ya' elektrisidat sa' ti nahong siha sal å ppe'.  Ma g å sta i sal å ppe'- ñ iha gi ayo i menos impott å nte, ya ti man nahong siha sal å ppe' para i m å s impott å nte.  Pues h å fa ma susede?  Ayo na familia ha popo'lo i sap å tos- ñ iha gi halom i feggon!  Hengge yo' sa' hu li'e nu i propio mat å -ho.

The married woman needs to be a careful and wise manager of the family money.  But the woman also needs to beware of the desire for money and for things which money can buy.  If the woman wastes money on unnecessary and useless things, she will be blamed if unpaid bills at the stores increase.


One time when I was on Guam, I was visiting a house.  In that house was a brand new electric stove, and a new refrigerator.  But that house did not have electricity because they didn't have enough money.  They spent their money on the less important, and didn't have enough money for the more important.  So what happened?  That family were putting their shoes inside the stove.  Believe me because I saw it with my own eyes.

Interesting terms :

Yodahe = careful.  Root word is adahe , "to be careful, to care for"

Manehånte = manager.  From maneha , "to manage."  Borrowed from Spanish manejar .

Despetdisia = to waste.  From the Spanish desperdiciar , "to waste, squander."

Achåka = to blame.  From the Spanish achacar , "to attribute, lay blame."

K å hon ais = literal translation of "ice box."  There is no indigenous term for "ice," and Chamorros didn't borrow the Spanish word for it.  So ais is "ice." K å hon means "box."

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Thursday, December 15, 2011


Some man å mko' say that if a baby has a bald spot, s/he will be an unruly child.  If the baby has two bald spots, s/he will be holy terror!

D å kngas = bald.  Don't confuse with dokngos , which means "burnt, toasted."

Aguaguat = unruly, misbehaving.


FAMILIA : GUZMAN

Wednesday, December 14, 2011
guzman.ws

The Guzmans do not appear in the 1727 Census but they do appear in the 1758 Census.  To confuse us, though, they appear in both the Spanish list and the Filipino (Pampanga) list.

The name, of course, is Spanish.  But, even so, the name is believed to be of German origin.  Germanic tribes (the Vandals and Goths) moved into Spain in the 400s AD.  Guzman is believed to be from the German words for "good" and "man."  Goodman=Guzman.  Remember John Goodman, the actor?  If he was Chamorro, he would be Juan Guzman.

On Guam in 1758, there is one Eleuterio de Guzman, a soldier in the Spanish company.  Whether he was from Spain, Mexico, Peru or what have you, is anybody's guess.  He was married to Francisca de Castro.  They had several sons; more than enough to get a family going for a few generations.

But there is also a Pampanga soldier named Domingo de Guzman in the same census, married to Manuela Domingo.  They have no children listed, but maybe they did have offspring after the census was completed.

The Guzmans started in Hagåtña but a few moved eventually to Sumay and grew, such that when one hears Guzman nowadays one wonders if they are from Santa Rita (where the Sumay people moved after the war).

SUMAY / SANTA RITA

Ramon Guzman and Rufina Santos of Hagåtña moved to Sumay.  Their son Vicente Santos Guzman married Manuela Campos Santos and had many children.

Also living in Sumay was Juan Santos Guzman, maybe a son of Ramon and Rufina as well.  He married Agueda Due ñ as.

There was also in Sumay one Antonio Guzman, married to Dolores de la Concepcion.

MALESSO'

Two brothers, quite elderly by 1897, moved from Hagåtña to Malesso'.  They were Pedro Lizama Guzman (married to Maria Diaz Cruz) and Serafin Lizama Guzman (married to Maria Quinene Eguiguan).

HAGÅTÑA

Most of the Guzmans living in Hagåtña in 1897 were women.  Some of them married into the Borja, Sablan, Untalan, Toves, Cruz, Mesa and Mendiola families.

But there were two male Guzmans with families in the capital city.  Juan Guzman was married to Luisa Mendiola and had a little boy in 1897.  Francisco Guzman was married to Juana Diaz and their son Francisco had a family of his own.


Did you know that Saint Dominic's last name was
GUZMAN ?

SI JOSE YAN SI MARIA

Tuesday, December 13, 2011


Si Jose yan si Maria is one of the first songs you'll hear during the Christmas season in the Marianas.  It is always sung as part of the Nobenan Ni ñ o , which starts nine days before Christmas, and that is why you always hear this song long before we sing all the other carols which tend to be sung closer to Christmas day.  Of course, with the commercialization of Christmas in modern times, one hears Christmas carols the day after Thanksgiving.  Unthinkable in times past!

Si Jose yan si Maria is all about the child Jesus, who is a God who cannot find a home on earth.  He is a pilgrim God, wandering from place to place seeking an open door.  The idea comes from the Gospel story that there was no room in the inn at Bethlehem.  The world has no room for God.  He has to find refuge in a place not meant for human habitation, laid in a manger, which was a food trough for animals.  Joseph and Mary, too, suffer, as they struggle to find a safe place where she can give birth.

In the song, we tell Jesus that He can find a home with us.  Especially touching is verse 6, which alludes to Chamorro hospitality.  Chamorros always welcome the stranger; how much more will they open their doors to God-made-man?  For these reasons, Si Jose yan si Maria is the song par excellence as we prepare to receive Jesus on Christmas day by praying the Nobenan Ni ñ o .

Si Jose yan si Maria

Si Jose yan si Maria / esta guennao man mas å 'pet
( Joseph and Mary / are suffering there )

Koro : O Yu'us na pelegrino / sugo' m å gi giya hame.
( O pilgrim God / stop and stay with us .)

1. Taitutuhon na Tiningo' / taihinekkok na Finaye / takkilo'- ñ a i ta'chong-mo / ke i sagan mapag å hes.  H å fa na un dingo p å 'go / i ginefsagan i langet?  Koro...
( Knowledge without beginning / endless wisdom / your seat is higher than the clouds.  Why now do you leave / the riches of heaven?)

2. Saina hao, Yu'us Lahi- ñ a / ni i bula mina å se' / mama'taotao yan humuyong / Yu'us Taotao, che'lon-m å me.  I Mesias hao, i Kristo / hagas ham man ma sang å ne.  Koro...
( You are Lord, God the Son / full of mercy / you were made man and became / God and man, our brother.  You are the Messiah, the Christ / which was told to us from of old.)

3. An hum å lom i chatanmak / ya ma chakchak i ha' å ne / un na' sulo' gi san kattan / i atdao-mo, bula gu å fe.  H å go i ma'lak na å tdao / i ma ñ i ñ ila' na k å ndet.  Koro...
( When the dawn comes / and the day breaks / you make shine in the east / the sun, full of fire.  You are the bright sun / the shining light .)

4. Cha'-mo chåch å go' Asaina / guine gi fan å gon-m å me / gos manengheng i san hiyong / meggai lokkue' i ma ñ akke.  Maila' h å lom, P å tgon Yu'us, sa' yan-m å me dinan ñ a'e.  Koro...
( Don't go far, Lord / from our shelter here / it is very cold outside / there are many thieves as well.  Come inside, God Child, because we would like to join together .)

5. Guai fanhakman i gim å '-ta / yagin magof hao hum å tme.  Maila' h å lom giya hame / sugo' ya un ma adahe / kalan i ma'gas i gima' / yan Rai i lekka' na l å nget.  Koro...
( Our house has a door / if you would like to enter.  Come inside among us / visit and be cared for / as the head of the house / and King of heaven exalted .)

6. Nangga n å ya gofliion / in sang å ne hao mag å het / i taotao-mo hao yumute' / sa' ma ñ å guat manmandage.  Ti u cho'gue i Chamorro / sa' ti ennao p å yon-mame.  Koro...
( Wait for a while, beloved / we tell you truthfully / your people abandoned you / because they are insolent liars.  The Chamorro will not do that / because that is not our custom .)

7. Sugo', dikkike' na p å tgon / maila' ya un ma dand å ne / ni man na' magof na d å ndan / guine gi å tpa yan l å bbet.  Hago ha' si ñ a dum å ndan / sa' manungo' hao yan faye.  Koro...
( Stay, little child / come and we will play for you / joyful songs / here with harp and violin.  You alone can play / because you know how and you are capable .)

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : KATSÅDA

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

KATS Å DA : road

Almost everyone is familiar with ch å lan .  That's a more familiar term for "road" or "street" because we use it more often, as in Chalan Pago or Chalan Kanoa.  You will often find village streets called Ch å lan this-or-that, but I have never seen a street called Kats å da this-or-that.

Ch å lan is purely Chamorro and is related to the word for "street" or "road" in many Austronesian languages.

Kats å da is borrowed from the Spanish word calzada , meaning "road."  Even in Spanish, calzada usually refers to a gravel road, and in Chamorro, some people (not all) think of a road, rather than a proper street, when saying kats å da .

Calzada itself comes from the Latin word calceus , meaning shoe.  We tend to think of Chamorro as being influenced by Spanish, but forget that Chamorro is also influenced by Latin, by way of Spanish.

Ha totpe i karet å -ho gi kats å da.  S/he hit my car on the road.

M å tai si ful å no gi kats å da.  So-and-so died on the road.

Chule' i kats å da para luchan.  Take the road going to the left of the sea.

Gaige i gim å '- ñ a gi otro b å ndan i kats å da.  His/her house is on the other side of the road.

PRE-WAR FOOTAGE OF GUAM IN THE PLAZA

Monday, December 12, 2011

Despite the rain, on a cool, breezy night, seventy years to the day that the Japanese occupied Guam on December 10, the National Park Service presented film footage of Guam before the war to a small crowd in the Plaza de España, where the surrender to the Japanese took place in 1941.

The footage was just a portion of what the Park Service has.  Some of it was in color.  The video was accompanied by recordings of Chamorros singing various songs in the 1940s.


The Kiosko in the Plaza  de Espa ñ a
(band stand)

We don't do enough things in the Plaza de Espa ñ a.

It was somewhat surreal being in the Plaza last night; watching footage of the same Plaza seventy years ago.  Most of what surrounded the Plaza is gone, but at one point in the film we could see the kiosko on the screen and at the same time look to the left of the screen and see the actual structure.  Imagine all the things that happened in that Plaza over three hundred years.  If there was a historical heart of the Marianas, I think this would have to be it.

TODAY IN HISTORY

Sunday, December 11, 2011
images.mitrasites.com

RICARDO JEROME BORDALLO
Born in Hagat ñ a on December 11, 1927

No matter what your opinion may be about Ricky Bordallo the politician or the person, it is undeniable that he was a huge figure in Guam's political landscape for forty years or so.  Like most very strong personalities, he had his fervent followers, and his ardent detractors.  There was little middle ground when it came to Ricky Bordallo.

Few people would contest that he was gifted - intelligent, industrious, visionary, charismatic and eloquent.

When I was a teenager, only two public speakers were able to keep me glued to their speeches - Bishop Flores and Ricky Bordallo.  Both of their Chamorro oratory soared.

Ricky was the grandson of a pure Spaniard from a small, humble hamlet in Salamanca province called Saucelle.  He was the son of BJ Bordallo, also a political and civic leader who helped lead the campaign for U.S. citizenship.  Ricky entered politics at a very young age and sat in the Guam Legislature year after year.  He was central to the evolution of the Popular Party into the Democratic Party of Guam.  He was governor twice; 1974-1978 and 1982-1986.

He certainly had a passion for the island and the Chamorro people, language and culture.  I will never forget a speech he gave, when I was 16 years old, when he described how he, as a young boy, looked over the wall into the stateside children's play ground in Hagat ñ a near the Cathedral, and wished he, too, could play on their swings.  The playground, he said, was segregated.  He said it was his life-long commitment to redress the historical wrongs done to the Chamorro people.

I remember seeing him prune and trim the mansanita trees along the streets of Hagat ñ a; part of his Green Revolution.  His Inauguration in 1983 was held in the Plaza de Espa ñ a and he had the hostesses dress in mestisa .  In 1976, he was governor when the worst typhoon since Karen hit Guam.  Everyone called it Typhoon PA-mela.  Ricky called it Typhoon Pa-MAY-la.  He always managed to stand out in some way.  Most people would also say Hafa a-DAY.  Ricky would say Hafa a-DIE.  He was also governor when thousands of Vietnamese poured into Guam after the fall of Saigon.

After he lost in 1978, I went to see him at his insurance agency.  We sat there for 2 hours; me, a high school kid and him, the former Governor of Guam.  He did most of the talking, and why not?  There was much to learn.   I am sorry he's not here for me to interview some more.

TODAY IN HISTORY

Saturday, December 10, 2011
THE BATTLE AT THE PLAZA DE ESPA Ñ A
GOVERNOR MC MILLIN SURRENDERS GUAM TO THE JAPANESE
December 10, 1941

The Japanese landed at Dungca's Beach (besides other places) in Tamuning sometime around 4AM on Wednesday, December 10 and made their way down towards Hagat ñ a, shooting at anyone in their path.  By 445AM, they were in San Antonio district in Hagat ñ a.  They came towards the Plaza de Espa ñ a from the northeast, by the front of the Cathedral.  The Guam Insular Force Guard (Chamorros) opened fire.  It was enough to keep the Japanese still for a little while, but the superior numbers of the Japanese made all opposition futile.  At around 545AM, three blasts from the horn of a car near the Governor's Palace sounded the end of all fighting.  Within the hour, Governor McMillin signed the papers surrendering the island government to the Japanese.

guamsliberation.com
Pedro Guerrero Cruz (left), Insular Guard member who manned one of the machine guns in the Plaza de Espa ñ a on December 10, 1941.

nps.gov
Capt. George McMillin, Governor of Guam, and family



For the next two-and-a-half years, the Japanese flag would fly over
Guam or Omiya Jima (Great Shrine Island)

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : A'GANG

Saturday, December 10, 2011
hollermarketing.com



A'GANG : loud

A'gang demasiao i dandan.  The music is too loud.

Ilek- ñ a a'gang.  S/he said loudly.

La' a'gang.  Louder.

Na' la' a'gang.  To make louder.

Na' la' a'gang hao, Maria!  Be louder, Maria!

Maolek hao manucha sa' kl å ro yan a'gang.  You are good at leading prayers because you are clear and loud.

SPANISH HYMN - WRITTEN BY A CHAMORRO

Friday, December 9, 2011

Hymn in honor of the Immaculate Conception composed by Padre Palomo


Father José Bernardo Palomo y Torres, also known as Padre Palomo or Pale' Enko', was ordained a priest in 1859 - the first Chamorro to be raised to the priesthood.

Five years earlier, Pope Pius IX had solemnly defined the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception.  At some unknown time, but certainly during the 19th century and during the Spanish administration of the Marianas, Padre Palomo composed - in Spanish - a hymn extolling that dogma.  The elite of the Marianas spoke Spanish, some better than others.  The vast majority of the Chamorros did not speak Spanish.  The fact that Padre Palomo wrote this in Spanish is a sign that the language of prestige at the time was Spanish, not Chamorro.  Chamorros prayed and sang in Spanish; Latin, of course, being the exclusive language of the official liturgy.  Sermons were preached in Chamorro; we have copies of them.  But Spanish was also used in sermons, even though most people in church could scarcely understand a word.  It was the Spanish Capuchins, especially Pale' Román, who turned this situation around and actually hammered the last nail on the coffin of the Spanish language on Guam.


The Spanish lyrics are :

Mil albricias al siglo presente / Pío Nono se llena de honor.  Pués proclama del trono docente / toda pulcra es la madre de Dios.  Disputaban los siglos el hado / de escuchar la divina sanción; que fijase cual dogma sagrado / la impoluta sin par concepción.  El tesoro celeste sellado / este arcano divino encerró.  Pero al fín Pío Nono inspirado / con sus célicas llaves lo abrió.  Once lustres contaban centuria / cuando Pío los sellos rompió / y al clamar que María era pura / todo el orbe de luz se inundó.  Suenan arpas de eterea harmonía / el abismo al oir los bramó.  Mas la tierra aclamaba a María / ¡toda pura más bella que el sol / más bella que el sol / más bella que el sol!


English Translation

A thousand cheers to the present century / Pius the Ninth is filled with honor.  For he proclaims from the teacher's throne / all pure is the mother of God.  The centuries debated the fate / of hearing the divine sanction; that such a sacred dogma be observed / the unequaled unstained conception.  The closed heavenly treasure / this mysterious foreseer closed shut.  But in the end Pius the Ninth, inspired / with his heavenly keys opened.  Eleven lights numbered a hundred / when Pius broke open the seals / and on proclaiming that Mary was sinless / the whole world was filled with light.  Harps sounded with heavenly harmony / the abyss of hell howled.  While the earth acclaimed Mary / all pure, more beautiful than the sun / more beautiful than the sun / more beautiful than the sun!


Preserving this Hymn

As far as I know, this is the first time this hymn has been translated into English, and the first time it has been recorded.  The hymn does not appear in the Chamorro hymnal that Pale' Roman put together to be used on Guam.  He was certainly aware of the song, but was opposed to all Spanish songs and prayers since the Chamorros did not understand them.  But the song appears in the religious literature printed for the church in Saipan.  They had different missionaries (German Capuchins then Spanish Jesuits) who did not oppose Spanish hymns and prayers as much, and Saipanese Catholics until very recently prayed and sang in Spanish at times.  On Guam, this hymn, written by a Guam Chamorro, is totally forgotten.

It is apparent in the video that the Saipanese woman, who has known this hymn since childhood, struggles a bit with it, since it is not sung much at all even in Saipan today.  But when I was a priest in Saipan in the 1990s, the man åmko' easily sang this song, some from memory.


En Español

En este video, se oye una chamorra de Saipán cantando un himno a la Purísima, escrito por el primer sacerdote chamorro, el P. José Bernardo Palomo y Torres (1836-1919).  En los 90, cuando yo era párroco en Saipán, los ancianos lo cantaban con toda facilidad.  Pero ahora, como es obvio en el video, le cuesta a la señora cantarlo por no ser cantado mucho en la isla.  Oiga como la señora pronuncia castellano "a la chamorra."



Padre José Bernardo Palomo y Torres
1836-1919

Besides Chamorro and Spanish, he spoke Latin, English, some French, Italian and a dialect of Carolinian from his contact with the Carolinians living in Tamuning (Guam) and Saipan

LUKAO LA PURISIMA

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Most people associate December 8th on Guam with Our Lady of Camarin ( S ånta Marian K åmalen ), a statue revered since Spanish times.  But the day is really the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.  The two things have merged on Guam; the feast and the statue.

TODAY IN HISTORY

Thursday, December 8, 2011
SAIPANESE INTERPRETERS ARRESTED

flickr.com
Ritidian Beach
Five Saipanese Interpreters landed here on December 8, 1941

On December 6, 1941, ten Saipanese men, mostly in their 20s, were sent by the Japanese to secretly land on Guam in order to act as interpreters between the Japanese and the Chamorros of Guam.  One group of five men landed at Ritidian, and a second group of another five landed in Inarajan, in the dark pre-dawn hours on December 8.  Of the Ritidian group, three were arrested by the Americans and were put in the Hag åt ña jail until they were liberated by the Japanese on December 10.

Different sources have slightly different details, but one list, composed by a Saipanese interpreter himself, gives us the names of the first group of Saipanese interpreters sent to Guam :

Martin F. Borja
Jose P. Villagomez
Jose SN Cabrera
Segundo T. Sablan
Jose C. Cabrera
Juan SM Manibusan
Francisco P. Sablan
Jose S. de Leon Guerrero
Antonio A. Camacho
Silvestre Torres

These interpreters did not volunteer for this extremely problematic mission.  They knew that they would be caught between their Japanese masters, and their fellow Chamorros - even relatives - on Guam.  In many cases, the Saipanese (and a few Rotanese) interpreters actually helped the Guam Chamorros when that was possible; tipping them off with valuable information, turning a blind eye to infractions, warning others of impending dangers.  At other times, the Saipanese interpreter faced the choice either to inflict punishment on a Guam Chamorro or be punished himself with greater severity.  As with any group of people, there were a small handful who seemed to enjoy their position and flexed their muscles.  Some of them were tried after the war and served their sentences; some went "missing" during the American invasion and were never found.

One Saipanese interpreter, after the war, related how he was "recruited" by the Japanese to be an interpreter on Guam.  A few weeks before the war, the Japanese police started to pay him a lot of attention that made him nervous; asking him questions about his activities and movements, as if they suspected him of wrongdoing.  On December 6, he was summoned to police headquarters.  Other Saipanese recruits were there.  They were told they could not refuse what they were being asked to do, which was still not clear to them.  It was understood that to refuse would be considered treason, which was usually punishable by death.  They were put on a boat and were told they were to land on Guam to warn the civilians to stay away from the fighting.  They were given arm bands that read "Navy Interpreter" and a flashlight.

The Inarajan group successfully evaded detection and hid in caves until a few days after the Japanese had already secured the island.  One of them was actually driven to Hag å t ñ a by none other than Pale' Jesus Due ñ as, beheaded by the Japanese two and a half years later.

LEST WE FORGET

Thursday, December 8, 2011
DECEMBER 8 IS ALSO SUPERTYPHOON PONGSONA DAY




My life would never be the same because of December 8, 2002.  Super Typhoon Pongsona damaged my friary home that had stood solid for fifty years; through Typhoons Karen, Pamela, Omar, Paka and all the rest.  But the wear and tear of those fifty years enabled Pongsona to tear off a third of our asbestos tile roof.  Water poured in; there was not a dry spot in the entire friary, which was large enough to house thirty residents.  For hours, we looked for any tiny space where dripping water was not falling.  The worst thing for me about Pongsona was its unrelenting, unending battering.  The winds never died down; we never experienced an eye.  It lasted for about ten hours.  The pressure in the air ringed in your ears.  It was mental torture.


GERA! GERA!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Skip to the 1 minute mark on this video to see scenes of Guam just before the Japanese attack on December 8, 1941; of the attack on Sumay; of life on Guam under the Japanese.  Keep in mind that the purpose of this film was to celebrate the American victory; it can be considered to be propaganda.  So the spirit of the clip is very nationalistic; some scenes are not even of Guam or of Chamorros, since the American audience would probably not be able to tell.  But we can!  Still, some scenes are of Guam and the Chamorros.

SEVENTY YEARS AGO....

It was towards the end of Mass at the Hagat ñ a Cathedral on the morning of December 8 that news broke out in the capital city that Sumay had been attacked by Japanese planes flying from Saipan.  Someone whispered to Bishop Olano at the altar, " Gera! Gera !"  ("War! War!") Bishop Olano did not need to decipher this one-word message.  For months, everyone knew that war with Japan was a possibility.  The American civilians had been evacuated from Guam just that past October.  Olano turned around to dismiss the people, who, crying, sighing and praying, left the bishop alone with just a few people to finish the Mass.

Not since the initial Spanish colonization of Guam, or the 1856 smallpox epidemic that wiped out half the island, did Guam experience such trauma.  Our little island was made to suffer the political rivalries of two global powers.

PROPHETIC?

Three months prior to December 8, in September, Pale' Rom á n de Vera was told to board a ship for Manila.  The American Navy did not want Spanish missionaries on Guam anymore; American Capuchins were replacing them.  Pale' Rom á n was not happy about it, and he was not pleased that a handfull of Chamorro Catholics were among those wishing to see American priests replace the Spanish friars.  Days before he left, he was telling the people, " Hame in sasaosao i lago'-mame ni pa ñ o, lao un dia, ti u nahong i saban å s-miyo para u sinaosao i lago'-miyo ."  "We wipe our tears with our handkerchiefs, but one day, your sheets won't be enough to wipe away your tears."  That December, many Chamorros felt that Pale' Rom á n had prophesied the bitter war that was to come.


Pale' Rom á n de Vera

CHAMORRO CASUALTIES BEYOND GUAM

Wednesday, December 7, 2011


MEMORIAL TO CHAMORRO WAR CASUALTIES
OUTSIDE OF GUAM
Skinner Plaza, Hagat ñ a


Not all the Guam Chamorros who died in World War II died on Guam.

Growing up on Guam in the 1960s and 70s, all we heard about were the Chamorros who died during the war right here on island. No one talked about Chamorros who died during the war outside of Guam.

So imagine my surprise years later in the 1980s when I visited the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and saw Chamorro names on the wall listing the victims who died in that Japanese attack. Unmistakable Chamorro names like Mafnas and Fegurgur! Why hadn't I heard about them before? It turns out there were TWELVE Chamorro men who died at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, hours before the Japanese attacked Guam. These, then, were the first Chamorro casualties of World War II.


PEARL HARBOR HAWAII
December 7, 1941



On the USS Arizona the following died :

AGUON , Gregorio
FEGURGUR , Nicolas
MAFNAS , Francisco Reyes
MENO , Vicente Gogue
QUINATA , Jose Sanchez
RIVERA , Francisco Unpingco

On the USS Nevada :

MAFNAS , Andres Fránquez

On the USS Oklahoma :

FARFÁN , Ignacio Camacho
GARCÍA , Jesús Francisco

On the USS West Virginia :

FLORES , José San Nicolás
MATA , Jesús Manalisay
MENDIOLA , Enrique Castro



A CHAMORRO NAME AT PEARL HARBOR
Gregorio SN Aguon, US Navy



WAKE ISLAND
December 8-23, 1941




Even lesser known were the TEN Chamorros killed when the Japanese attacked Wake Island. Wake is on our side of the International Dateline, so that attack began on December 8, 1941, the same day as Guam.

The Wake attack began at 12 noon Wake time, when it was 10AM Guam time. Guam's attack was already in progress for an hour and a half by the time the Japanese struck Wake, so Guam's Chamorro casualties come in second, after Pearl Harbor, followed by Wake, on the first day of the war. Teddy Cruz and Larry Pangelinan, civilian employees at the Pan American Hotel in Sumay, were killed in the Sumay bombing that morning.

Forty-five Chamorro men were working on Wake when the Japanese attacked on December 8.  It took a while, but the Japanese finally occupied Wake on December 23.  Chamorros were among the casualties there, too.

An eye witness of the Japanese attack on the first day says that some of the Chamorro hotel employees were so shocked by the attack that they just stood there looking at the shooting Japanese planes. Others yelled at them to take cover, but at least several Chamorros were killed when Japanese bombs exploded, and other Chamorro workers were injured. An American construction worker who was supposed to escape Wake on the one and only Pan Am Clipper leaving the island right after the Japanese attack missed his flight because he voluntarily helped transport some of the injured Chamorros to get medical help.

One Pan Am Clipper could not evacuate the military and civilian population on Wake on December 8, which numbered over a thousand people. So they all waited for the next round of Japanese attacks, which came, and lasted till December 23 when the Japanese finally succeeded in landing troops on Wake and took it over from the Americans.

Ten Chamorros on Wake died in that time period. According to a survivor, Francisco Chaco Carbullido, the ten Chamorros died within the first two days of the Japanese attacks, meaning December 8 and 9.

The Wake casualties were :

BLANCO, Francisco M
BLAS, José R
CABRERA, Juan M
FLORES, James William
GUERRERO, Felipe C
MAFNAS, José S
MANALISAY, Francisco T
MANIBUSAN, Vicente C
QUAN, Gregorio C
SABLAN, Silvestre C

After the Japanese were in control of Wake, it was only a matter of a few weeks when the Japanese shipped almost all the Wake prisoners to China and Japan, leaving behind a work crew of 98 men whom the Japanese massacred in 1943. The 35 surviving Chamorro workers on Wake were all sent to POW camps in China and Japan.

Two of them died while in prison in the Shanghai (China) POW camp under the Japanese :

CAMACHO , Jesús P died on August 20, 1942 from cancer of the tongue. It seems he was cremated there.

TAIJERON , Gerónimo S died on September 19, 1944 as a result of liver cancer. He was buried in Shanghai.

The Chamorro men on Wake in 1941 were civilians, employees of Pan American Airways. But in 1988 the US Congress gave these men veteran status, with accompanying benefits.


mvguam.com
Francisco Chaco Carbullido
Chamorro Survivor of the Battle of Wake Island and POW camps in China and Japan


PHILIPPINES
1941-1945


* Some sources, such as the War in the Pacific website, mention a Filomeno Santos as being a Guam casualty at Pearl Harbor. No citation is given. The Guam censuses for 1920, 1930 and 1940 do not have a Filomeno Santos, and other records state that a Filomeno Santos who was in the Navy and who died in Pearl Harbor was from the Philippines and enlisted in California (where his wife resided as well). Perhaps the confusion comes from the possibility that Filomeno re-enlisted on Guam while he was on duty there before World War II.

ESPIRITUN CHAMORRO

Monday, December 5, 2011

It's not just a Chamorro Christmas carol - it's an insight into the Chamorro spirit to see these Chamorros from Southern California spontaneously break into song while waiting for lunch after a Mass in honor of Santa Marian Kamalen at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles.  They sang from memory; when it comes to our traditional Chamorro hymns, many people don't need the lyrics on paper.  They went on to sing three or four more carols.  Everyone in the room felt like one people, one language, one culture and one faith.  That's the power of our traditions - which should not be lost.

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' : MIENTRAS MÅS TIENE, MÅS KIERE

Sunday, December 4, 2011
Mientras mås tiene, mås kiere.
The more one has, the more one wants.

From the Spanish "Mientras m á s tiene, m á s quiere."

When the mere possession of things is the goal and the value, when is enough enough?  Never.

Like the stranded man at sea drinking salt water; the more he drinks, the more he is thirsty.

Påtgon : Nåna, hu repåra na guåha na biåhe na man ambiento i man gefsaga.
(Child : Mom, I notice that sometimes those who have are very greedy.)

Nåna : Mientras mås tiene, mås kiere.
(Mom : The more one has, the more one wants.)

FAMILY NICKNAMES : GAYEGO

Saturday, December 3, 2011
pescamar.es

GAYEGO

A branch of the Díaz family in the Marianas is known as the Familian Gayego .

When something in Chamorro sounds awfully close to Spanish, one has to wonder if there is a connection.

The nickname Gayego differs in only one sound from the Spanish word (and name) Gallego. The double L in Spanish (LL) sounds like a Y, and Spanish Y becomes Chamorro DZ. The Chamorro letter Y sounds like DZ. Listen to Yigo and Yoña.

Spanish mantequilla (butter) becomes Chamorro mantekiya .

The Spanish name Quintanilla, pronounced KIN - TA - NI - YA is pronounced KIN - TA - NI - DZA in Chamorro.

So Chamorro Gayego could very well be based on the Spanish word (and name) Gallego.

"Gallego" in Spanish means "someone from Galicia."  Galicia is a region of Spain, famous for the shrine in Compostela to Saint James (Santiago), its cooking and the many Galicians who took to the high seas. Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's paternal roots are Galician.  Famous actor Martin Sheen's real last name is Estévez and his father was born in Galicia, Spain.

"Gallego" is also a last name, just like in English there are people who are ethnically French, Fleming or Turk but there are also people with the last name French, Fleming or Turk.

Once again, it is a mystery why a Chamorro family should have Gayego as a family nickname.  Did this Diaz family originate in the Marianas from a Galician named Diaz who settled on Guam?  We know of some Galicians (Gallegos) who moved to Guam, including a priest. We even have a word ( fosiños ) for a farm implement based on the Galician language. So we have evidence of some Galician influence in the Marianas. Was there a Chamorro Díaz who was given Gayego as a nickname for some unknown reason?

rgenneroriganti.wordpress.com

THE REGION OF GALICIA IN SPAIN


"LOVER"

Some people define gayego as a "lover" of some sort.

This meaning has appeared only very recently.

An online Chamorro dictionary says it means the lover of a widow (female) or widower (male), or a mistress (that means, a female lover). This online dictionary credits as sources Topping's dictionary and Von Preissig's dictionary, but neither dictionary has an entry for gayego so one wonders what is the source for this definition.

In the latest Chamorro dictionary, the one authored by Dr Katharine Aguon in 2009, gayego is defined as the "lover or admirer" of a married woman, differing from what the online dictionary said about gayego being the lover of a widow (a married woman whose husband has died).

So even in the only two modern sources for this meaning of gayego the definitions do not entirely agree.

Older dictionaries say nothing about gayego . Was this an oversight in all those many dictionaries? Or did gayego become a slang word for "lover" only recently?

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : ÅTTILONG

Friday, December 2, 2011

Å TTILONG : black

Å ttilong i kolot- ñ a.  Its color is black.

Fam å han å ttilong na mag å go.  Buy black clothing or fabric.

Na' la å ttilong i gapotulu-ho.  Make my hair blacker.

ANCIENT FISHING CUSTOMS

Thursday, December 1, 2011
flickr.com

The Spanish missionaries in the 1660s observed that the Chamorros believed the spirits ( aniti ) obliged them to keep silent during certain periods of fishing.  Breaking this code of silence during the fishing would result in a bad catch, or some other punishment.

They also noted that Chamorros did not eat fish from the river.  Safford thinks that this refers only to the fresh water eels ( asuli ).  Many Chamorros looked down on the Spanish missionaries who ate these eels.

CHAMORROS IN HAWAII IN THE 1800s

Wednesday, November 30, 2011
mocfa.org
Anthony Zablan playing the ukulele in 1901

The Zablans (Sablans) of Hawaii are descendants of two Chamorros named Sablan who moved to Hawaii in the 1800s.  Usually, Chamorros went to Hawaii (and other places) as crew members of the whaling ships that stopped by Guam.  So many young Chamorro men were joining the whaling ships that the government tried to prevent them from leaving the island.  Most never came back to Guam, but some did, bringing with them a little proficiency in English, experiences of the wider world and sometimes ideas that did not jive with the Spanish Catholic environment of the island.

For Spaniards living in the south of Spain, and for Spanish-speakers in all of Latin America and the Philippines and Marianas, Z and S have the same sound : S.  Zablan and Sablan sound the same, so much so that at times the same person would spell his name Zablan or Sablan depending on the mood of the day.

JOAQUIN PANGELINAN ZABLAN was born around 1843 on Guam and died in Hawaii in 1932.  Arriving in Hawaii in 1869 aboard the Daniel Webster , he married twice during his lifetime.  His first wife was Hawaiian, Ane Keaweamahi, who died in 1887.  With her, he had five children.  He had ten more with his second wife, a Portuguese woman named Maria Botelho.

Joaquin was a rancher on the Big Island, in Halawa (Kolawa district). He also ran a store for a time there.

In 1892, Joaquin is listed as an auctioneer in Lahaina on the island of Maui.




SILVESTRE CASTRO ZABLAN.  He was in Hawaii by 1873, where he appears in some documents. He was involved in business and was a member of the Good Templars, a fraternal organization which Catholics, at the time, were forbidden to join.



JOSE PEREZ.  Took the name Joseph when he moved to Hawaii, which he did in 1870.  Became a carpenter in Hamakua on the Big Island and married a Hawaiian named Leleo.

NICOLAS PEREZ.  Arrived from Guam in 1876.

BEN PANGELINAN.  Arrived in Hawaii in 1860.  Became a storekeeper in North Kohala on the Big Island.  He married a Portuguese named Margarita.

IGNACIO AFLAGUE.  He worked as a clerk and salesman for various enterprises and may have been Deputy Registrar General in North Kohala (Big Island).  His wife was Portuguese, Mary de Rego Souza.

BASILIO GUERRERO.  Born around 1840 on Guam.  Married in Hawaii to a woman from Singapore named Nicolasa.

Two brothers, JOSE and LUIS CASTRO ( Kaban ) changed their last name to Custino.  They became Protestant, perhaps the first Chamorro Protestants, and returned to Guam right after the Americans took possession, in order to establish a Protestant congregation in their birthplace.  Eventually they returned to Hawaii, where the Custino family survives in its several branches.

findagrave.com

NICHOLAS K. ZABLAN'S GRAVE
His father Joaquin was a Chamorro from Guam who moved to Hawaii in 1869.

Chamorros were often listed in the Hawaiian records as being Spaniards and even Caucasians!  One very early Chamorro settler in Hawaii was simply known as John Paniolo, paniolo meaning "cowboy" but coming from the word español , which the Hawaiians pronounced paniolo .

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : TO GIVE YOUR CAR A DRINK

Tuesday, November 29, 2011


Est å ba na ma ñ u ñ ugon si Ful å no gi chalan annai ha li'e na esta kumekehokkok i gasolina.  "Gaddai gas este i karet å -ho," ilek- ñ a si Ful å no.  "Para m å no hit p å 'go," mamaisen i pasahero, annai ha sugon i karet å - ñ a si Ful å no guato gi gas station.  "Para bai na' gimen i karet å -ho gas," ilek- ñ a si Ful å no.

Fulano was driving on the road when he noticed he was almost out of gas.  "My car uses up a lot of gas," Fulano said.  "Where are we going now," the passenger asked, when Fulano drove the car into the gas station.  "I'm going to make my car drink gas," said Fulano.

En Guam, se dice, "Voy a dar de beber al coche," cuando le falta gasolina.

MAN MA DISPENSA

Monday, November 28, 2011
philcrowther.com


TINIAN DOCKS IN 1945

These announcements by Father Lee in Tinian in the early 1960s reflect the pace of life in that small and quiet community.  The people depending on many goods coming from the supply ship, so when it came, whenever it came, that was the priority.  So on this occasion, Father Lee dispensed the men working to unload the supplies from Sunday Mass obligation when the ship came on a Sunday.  Others, probably mainly the women, would cook to feed the loading crews.  The community also depended heavily on sports to fill in the hours of TV-less nights and weekends.


Hu dispepensa todo i taotao "loading ship" p å 'go na oga'an ginen i obligasion S å nta Misa, kon todo i taotao kusina yanggen ma ñ å tsaga siha.  Yanggen si ñ a, debe de u fan hosme Misa dur å nte i sem å na.  Malago' yo' hu sang å ne i taotao MDC sen dangkulo Si Yu'us Ma' å se' pot i che'cho'-miyo nigap gi pl å san basketball.  Deb å tde ha' todo i che'cho'- ñ iha, sa' para i Gima'yu'us yan i famagu'on-ta.


I am dispensing all the "loading ship" people this morning from the obligation (of attending) Holy Mass, including the kitchen crew if they are unable (to attend Mass).  If they can, they must attend Mass during the week.  I would like to tell the MDC people thanks very much for your work yesterday on the basketball court.  All their work is free, because it's for the Church and our children.

CHAMISSO'S CHAMORRO WORD LIST OF 1817

Saturday, November 26, 2011
kunst-fuer-alle.de
Adelbert von Chamisso

As mentioned earlier, Chamisso was part of the Kotzebue expedition that visited Guam in 1817.  Chamisso wrote a list of Chamorro words which was later published.  Chamisso wrote in German, and spelled these Chamorro words in the way it would sound to his ear, and an ear influenced by the German language.  So, the Chamorro Y sound ( Yigo, Yu'us ) he spelled DJ - the way Germans would spell that sound.  Our CH sound he spelled TJ.  Just think of the word "champagne."  We say it with an SH sound because, in French, CH is our SH sound.


Keep in mind that people hear a sound, then have to think of how to represent that sound with letters.  Believe it or not, people don't always hear exactly the sound somebody speaks.  We make those errors even when two people are speaking the same language; imagine when one is hearing an unfamiliar language.  So, "mistakes" are bound to happen, in the sense that the speller did not hear the spoken sound accurately.  Secondly, we, the reader, are "hearing" written sounds the way we are accustomed to interpreting the letters, so that adds to the puzzle.


Most of the words Chamisso listed are completely identical to the words we use today :


Addau (atdao) : sun
Amku ( åmko') : old
Dankulu (d ångkulo) : big
Dikiki (dikkike') : small
Guafi (gu åfe) : fire
Tjodha (chotda) : banana


Some of the words have changed in meaning over the years :


"Sahadjan" is almost positively sahyan , which today means any type of mode of transportation, but in Chamisso's time it meant only a "boat" or a "ship." Sahyan , by the way, is hardly ever used in Guam but in Saipan I heard it frequently when speaking about a car.


Poksai today means "to raise" as in to raise a child, or animals or even to grow a beard!  But in Chamisso's time it meant "to suck."  I suppose one can see how raising a child, or a young mammal, includes nursing at the breast.


Some of the words we no longer use at all, but take us back perhaps to the original Chamorro word.


For example, for "milk," everybody now borrows the Spanish word leche .  But Chamisso says the Chamorro word for "milk" is tschugususu ( chugo' susu ) or "juice from the teet."


Chamisso says that the Chamorro word for "tree" is uddunhadju .  Today, we say trongko , which is borrowed from the Spanish word tronco . Uddunhadju seems to be a combination of uddu (unkown meaning) and hadju or h åyo (wood).


"North, south, east and west" in Chamorro are timi, seplun, manuu, faniipan respectively, which are not used anymore in Chamorro.  It makes for a great discussion, if these words really indicated compass points.  Our terms san lago, san lichan, san haya and san kattan refer to directions towards, away from and to either side of the sea (not true compass points).


Chamisso confirms what earlier explorers said, that chamorro referred to the chiefs or nobles.


Finally, keep in mind that Chamisso, like all of us, could have made mistakes in hearing, remembering what he heard, and writing it down.  Even the printers could have made typos.

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Friday, November 25, 2011
accountable2who.blogspot.com
You know you're from the 60s when your dad tells you and your siblings to stop everything they're doing and get in the car, with no further explanation.  In twenty minutes, your dad stops by the road in Apra Heights or, after another twenty minutes, near Mount Lamlam, to do what?  To view the grass fires that often came in the dry season - January to May, more or less.

I think he would hear about the fires on the radio and off we went!  In the 1960s on Guam, when we had one TV channel, which didn't last all day and night either, watching grass fires for some people like my dad was something to do.  Can you spell "bored?"

AMERICAN YES, SPANISH NO

Friday, November 25, 2011
particracy.wikia.com

Rejecting everything Spanish in Chamorro culture - words, customs, religion - is much in fashion nowadays among some Chamorro culture revivalists.  But we all took off from work yesterday and feasted without so much as a peep about the holiday being thoroughly American - from Abraham Lincoln who, in 1863, was the first to proclaim a national holiday called Thanksgiving, to the Plymouth Colony pilgrims upon whom the tradition rests.  Interestingly, the "Americans" who started thanksgiving day practices (there were many such days, at different times of the year depending on the colony) were actually English settlers who displaced the native Americans.  But we observe their traditions on Guam, where the indigenous people struggle to maintain their place in their native land.

Think of other things we accept as "normal," but which are notions and practices unknown to our ancestors but which we have grown up with since 1898.

I just find it curious that some reject everything from one outside influence, and live in practice the influences of another outside source, all the while claiming to reject everything external.

De momento, entre muchos nacionalistas chamorros, es muy de moda rechazar todo lo espa ñol que se encuentra en la cultura e idioma de las Marianas, mientras ellos mismos creen en ideas y guardan costumbres norteamericanas.  Muy curioso para m í.

TODAY IN HISTORY

Thursday, November 24, 2011
it.wikipedia.com
OTTO VON KOTZEBUE VISITS GUAM

On November 24, 1817 a Russian scientific expedition arrived on Guam.  The Rurik was commanded by Otto von Kotzbue.  Scientists and artists were on board to investigate and record what they found in the South Seas.  From them, we have much information about life on Guam almost 200 years ago.

By then, Hum å tak was no longer the port of call for ships coming to Guam.  Ships now anchored in Apra Harbor, called back then by its full name, San Luis de Apra.  Orote also had a fuller name, San Carlos de Orote.  Cabras Island was still called Apapa, its Chamorro name ( cabras means "she-goats" in Spanish).

Robert Wilson, an Englishman, was pilot of the port, which meant he was responsible for guiding ships into the harbor, which was so shallow in many areas as to be dangerous.  The Spaniards had already built a fort, Santa Cruz, on a shallow platform in the harbor.  Wilson's position in the Spanish administration shows that the whalers had already been established on Guam, some of them leaving the seas to settle and marry on Guam.  Wilson married a Chamorro woman; one of his daughters married into the Castro (Siket) family.  They carry his blood to this day.

The Rurik brought to Guam men like Chamisso and Choris whose writings and sketches provide us with a glimpse of Guam in the 1800s.  Chamisso also wrote down a fairly long list of authentic Chamorro words, including the pre-Spanish counting system.  His lexicon (word list) shows that the Chamorro language we speak today is very much the same as the Chamorro spoken almost 200 years ago, with some differences, of course.

THE FIRST CHAMORRO THANKSGIVING

Thursday, November 24, 2011
amoeba.com

November, 1905.  Jose sat in class, third grade, listening to Mrs. Vandercutt, wife of the navy quartermaster who cured her boredom by teaching in Aga ñ a's schools.

"Children, there's no school tomorrow because we must celebrate Thanksgiving."

"What is Thanksgiving, teacher?" Jose asked.

"We eat turkey and mashed potatoes and give thanks to God for being good to the pilgrims who landed on Plymouth Rock," said Mrs. Vandercutt.

"What's a turkey?" a mystified Jose asked.

"It's like a big chicken," she said, caught off-guard by the question.

"OK," said Jose.

The next day, Jose took his family took his puzzled mom, dad and siblings on pilgrimage to Inarajan, Merizo, Umatac, Sumay and Agat churches, finished at Camel Rock, made k å ddu of the biggest chicken they could find on their ranch and mashed a pot of boiled kamuti.

"Jose, h å fa bid å da-ta?"  asked Jose's mom.

"Fana'an assimilation ma å ' å lok," said Jose.

"Ai, gr å sias a Dios na umeskuekuela hao, Jose!" said mama.

MAGOF HA' ÅNEN MAN N Å'E GR ÅSIAS!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Wednesday, November 23, 2011
flickr.com

Esta guiya yo' na måtto! / Håfa tatatmanu'ao nene?
Kao pareho ha' yan åntes / annai guåho'ao mumantiene?

Here  I am; I have come! How are you, darling?
Are you the same as before, when it was I who held you?

Ei na inande' !  What a flirt!  And no lack of self-confidence!

He means to say, "Surely, darling, you regret my absence; you long for my embrace.  Needless to say you are worse off now than before, when we were together.  But cheer up -  I have returned!"

Words had to be shortened to fit them into the melody. Hao becomes 'ao .

Pareho = from the Spanish parejo , which means "even, uniform, neutral, fair."  From the Latin par , meaning "equal," as we say in English, "to be on par with someone."

Mantiene = from the Spanish mantener , which, you won't be surprised, sounds very much like the English maintain , meaning "maintain, hold, keep."  In all those forms, the word comes from two Latin words "manus" or "hand" and "tenere" or "to hold."  A tenet is a belief you hold on to, and comes from the Latin tenere , as well as almost all words ending in -tain (obtain, retain, sustain, contain, etc) and words such as tenant (someone holding a place) or tenor (someone capable of holding the voice) and tenacious (someone who strongly holds onto something).  Maintain/mantener mean "to hold in one's hand."

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : PÅKKAKA'

Tuesday, November 22, 2011
laur-ence-chixx.skyrock.com
PÅKKAKA' : to keep silence, to be quiet

How many times did our ma ñ aina yell at us kids, "Fam å kkaka'!"

If you ask one or two people to be quiet, it's "P å kkaka'!"

Three or more and it's "Fam å kkaka'!"  Fan+p å kkaka' = fam å kkaka'.  The N+P combination is changed to an M.

Pale' Roman has an interesting phrase : Ga'o-ko mohon na ginen hu p å kkaka' .  I wish I would have kept quiet.

KEEPING TRACK OF DEATHS

Sunday, November 20, 2011

This is a list of (mostly) deaths of people connected with my family, from late 1963 till late 1965, so for about 2 years.  It was written in Chamorro (except for the dates, oddly enough) by my grandmother's sister, Rita Perez Torres, who never married.  We all called her Nina, because she was godmother to a whole bunch of people.

Nina didn't speak much English.  But she could read and write Chamorro, as you can see.  She was also one hard-core Catholic.  She was the Mother Superior, really, of the family, though my grandmother was the oldest and had the power to veto Nina's decisions if necessary.

Nina made sure that all the deaths of relatives and family friends were recorded on this paper, even the amount of ika , or funeral donation, given.

In the Chamorro way, she lists people sometimes by their better-known-as (Titires, Pedan, Aliag, Makaka) or by a second person (usually a spouse or parent) such as "Marian Petra" or "Jesusan Tomas."

The list has a few wedding dates and a birth.

Speaking little English, when Nina worked, it was in the public school cafeteria and she was home by mid afternoon.  She was the heart of the family, while the others went to their 8-5 jobs.  She cooked, cleaned and washed - and made sure everyone practiced the Catholic faith daily.  And this list shows that she thought that the deaths and other big events in people's lives were very important to remember.  She kept people's death anniversaries this way, including them in her many, daily prayers.  Makes me proud.  This is virtue.

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : MA HÅFOT I TOAYÅ-HO

Saturday, November 19, 2011


A long time ago, a man and I were talking, and he said that his loyalty was to the village where he grew up as a child, not the village where he actually spent most of his life as an adult.

When I asked him why, he said, " Siempre nai sa' guihe nai ma h å fot i toay å -ho !" " Certainly, because that's where they buried my towel !"

The meaning of his strange speech escaped me until sometime later someone explained that, in days past when children were born at home, with the help sometimes of a pattera or midwife, the child's placenta was wrapped up in a towel ( to å ya ) and buried underneath the house ( p åpa' s åtge ) , as most houses were built on stilts ( haligi ).

The man was pointing to the physical and emotional connection he had with the soil of his native village; something intimately connected with his life in the womb was buried there.  In his mind, he literally became part of the soil of his village.

I talked to Tan Esco about this and she taught me the word p å res , the Chamorro word for placenta which we borrowed from the Spanish word for the same thing.  I looked it up in Påle' Roman's dictionary and he says that a more Chamorro term for it is ga'chong i patgon - the baby's companion.  It makes sense, doesn't it?  After the baby, out comes the placenta.  The baby's p åres is wrapped in a to åya and buried.

Recently, another man, sensing his time on earth was coming to an end, kept asking his children to drive him past his childhood home which no longer exists, though the spot is still there. The house was destroyed in World War II, but the man remembers the place where his childhood home is. But, even more than that, the place has special meaning for the man because that's where his placenta, or påres , was buried after he was born.

I LA TADDUNG NA FINO' CHAMORRO : PÅSO

Friday, November 18, 2011
Gi mag å het, fino' Espa ñ ot i "p å so" ya kumekeilek- ñ a, i man mapos siha na bid å - ñ a pat ma cho'guen- ñ a i taotao.  Pot ehemplo, si ñ a ta å lok na i "p å son Jesukristo" kumekeilek- ñ a todo i ha s å 'pet i Saina-ta, annai ma aresta gue', annai ma kastiga gue', annai ma at å ne gue'.

O sino, yanggen ilek-ho na si ñ a hu s å ngan este pat ennao na estoria pot si ful å no sa' gof umamigo ham yan guiya, yan ennao mina' hu tungo' i pasu- ñ a.

P å so is borrowed from the Spanish language and one of its meanings is the "past deeds and experienes" of a person; his or her life story.  During Lent, it was the custom to read about the sufferings of Jesus and this was called the P å son Jesukristo .

One could also say that you knew a person so well you could tell all the stories of that person's life - i pasu- ñ a.

I think, therefore, that if one were to write a biography of someone in Chamorro, it could be called I P åson Antonio B. Won Pat, I P åson Felixberto C. Flores , and so on.


theflyper.com

PRONUNCIATION CHANGES WITH GOF AND SEN

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Sen and gof both mean "very."  Placed before a word, sen and gof will normally change the pronunciation of that word.

LÅPIDA

Wednesday, November 16, 2011
We're still in November, the month of the Holy Souls.  Many of the graves and niches still show signs of their recent annual cleaning and decorating .

These l åpida in Saipan show strong attachment to Chamorro, and Spanish-influenced, wording.


"Requerdon i Familia"
Remembrance or Memorial from the Family

The Spanish word is recuerdo, and different l åpida spell it recuerdo or requerdo .  Many people today would spell it rekuetdo , since we would pronounce it with a "t," not the "r." Recuerdo means "memorial," or "souvenir," or "remembrance."


At the bottom of the l åpida , it says Pas Deskanso , meaning "peace" and "rest."  The Spanish originals are paz and descanso .


"Requerdon i Asagua ña yan i Famaguon- ña"
Memorial from his Wife and Children

A good example of the blend of Spanish ( recuerdo ) and Chamorro ( asagua and famaguon ).


Uncommon Symbols of Birth and Death

In this l åpida , the birth and death of the person are noted with symbols.  The shell indicates his birth because the shell represents his baptism.  People were very often baptized the same day they were born.  Even if they were not born and baptized on the same day, the birth was represented by the baptism.  The priest scooped up the baptismal water using a shell - even a metallic one - or some other instrument.  The cross represents the person's death. Though the cross is a common symbol for death, it is not usually seen on a l åpida .


Notice that this particular person died on his or her birthday, November 10. Na'masi, no ?


Chamorro name for the month
A Plea to the Visitor

This l åpida shows a rare example of using the Chamorro (Spanish) name for the month.  In most l åpida , even the ones with no other English writing, the English names for the month are used.  Here, we see that it is M åyo , or May.  "Sept" could still be Septiembre , for September, but it isn't clear.


Secondly, we see here a very Catholic trait : asking the visitor to pray for the deceased.  " Tayuyute gue as Yuus ," or "Pray for him/her to God."  You see this inscription a lot in Spanish cemeteries, and even in Spanish death announcements in the newspapers : Rogad por su eterno descano .  Pray for his/her eternal rest. Rogad por su alma .  Pray for his/her soul.

Notice also that Chamorro words are used for "born" and "died." Maf on the l åpida is the abbreviation for mafa ñ ågo or "born," and Mat is the abbreviation for m åtai or "died."



An old l åpida entirely in Chamorro

You can barely make it out, but it reads from the top " Mahafot guini i tataotao - Jose M. Aguon " and at the bottom " Requerdon i Famaguonna Siha ."  "Here is buried the body of Jose M. Aguon."  "Memorial from His Children."


"Here is buried..." echoes the Spanish custom of beginning the l åpida with the words " Aqui yacen ..."  or "Here lies..."

FALSE FRIENDS : SIEMPRE

Tuesday, November 15, 2011
False Friend : A word that looks the same in two different languages but means two different things .

In Chamorro, siempre means "surely, certainly, definitely."  But in Spanish it means "always."

If a Spaniard asks if you will be going to the market today, and you answer " Siempre ," the Spaniard will think you always go to the market, and you will have thought you were telling the Spaniard that you were certainly going to the market that day.

"Always" was the original meaning of siempre in Chamorro, since we borrowed the word from the Spaniards.  Consult the older Chamorro dictionaries and you will see this.  But it doesn't take much analysis to see how "always" evolved into "certainly."  If something always happens, it is certain that it will happen.

Our mañaina used different words to say "surely, certainly, definitely."  They also used Spanish words to express these ideas. Seguro was one.  Even today we can say seguro when we want to say "surely, definitely, certainly."

Another word for "certainly" was fiho .  We got that from the Spanish fijo , which means "definite, permanent, stable."  The meaning of fiho changed and it now means "often" in Chamorro, although one can still use the original meaning as in, " fiho na hinasso ," or "unchanging thinking or mentality."

Sen magahet literally means "very true" but it can also be used to express the idea that something is certain or definite. Sen magahet is also purely indigenous Chamorro; not an ounce of Spanish there.

We can also still say siempre when we want to say "always," although most of us will say " todo i tiempo ," which is still borrowing from Spanish.

The changing meanings of siempre and fiho , which changed just within the space of a hundred years, show that languages evolve, even without outside influence.  There is no language that is fiho throughout its entire history, even if there is no colonizer who introduces changes.

ESTORIAN UN SONGSONG

Monday, November 14, 2011

There was a village where the first homes you saw upon arrival, all in a row on the same street, were the following families in order of geographical precedence :

The P åkp åk (explode) family; the Palakse (slippery) family; the B ådo (hunchback) family; the D åkngas (bald) family ; the Sab åna (mountain) family; the B åchet (blind) family and finally the M åddok (hole) family.  These were their better-known-as names.

So people used to tell others traveling to this village :

Gigon hum ålom hao gi ayo na songsong, gof adahe sa' siempre un hungok i pap åkp åk.  Yanggen esta monh åyan hao guennao, gof adahe na un sulon sa' siempre un sodda' i palakse.  Pues an kahulo' hao, adahe na un fina' ñ ago nu i bado.  Pues, yanggen esta sige hao, adahe na un totpe i dakngas.  Pues siempre an sige hao mo'na, un hotde i sab åna.  Yanggen tumunok hao ginen i sab åna, adahe na un totpe i batchet.  Pues an sige hao mo'na, adahe na un poddong gi maddok!

As soon as you enter that village, be very careful because you will surely hear something explode.  When you're done there, be very careful not to slip because you will surely find something slippery.  When you get up, be careful not to be frightened by the hunchback.  Then, when you keep going, be careful not to bump into the bald person.  Then surely as you keep going forward, you will climb the mountain.  When you come down from the mountain, be careful not to bump into the blind person.  Then when you keep going forward, be careful not to fall into the hole!

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : BULA

Sunday, November 13, 2011
flickr.com

BULA NA'-TA SPAM!

BULA : plenty, abundant, many, full

Bula salape'-mo.  You have a lot of money.

Bula na lepblo ha f å han.  She bought a lot of books.

Bulala.  Replete.

Bula somnak.  Much sunshine.

Bulan t ås e.  High tide.

Na' bula.  To fill.

Binila.  Fullness.

Bula seems to have originally meant full , while meggai referred to many .   For example, bumula means "to become filled up."  Or, the Hail Mary in Chamorro, " Si Yu'us un gineggue Maria, bula hao grasia.. ." "full of grace."

An anecdote

I once traveled with a fellow priest to visit the seminary in Fiji.  All over Fiji, this priest saw the word BULA written on signs at every turn.  In Fijian, bula means " hello."  But, in the Fijian alphabet, "b" has the sound of "mb."  In Fijian, bula would be pronounced EM-BU-LA.  But this priest kept going around Fiji saying " Bula!  Bula !"  He thought it was funny that he was greeting everyone in Fiji with the same word he knew in Chamorro meant "A lot!  A lot!"

It was only on the day we left Fiji that he began to realize that the Fijians weren't saying "bula" but "em-bu-la." Ai adei.

THANKS, BUT...

Sunday, November 13, 2011
apriliani.com

Ilek- ña si Ful åna gi as P åle' : P åle' estague' na'-mo sena, lao p å'go na bi å he hu n å'ye carrots pot para u guaha diddide' kolot.

Ai i palao'an sa' ti ha tungo' na ti si ña si P åle' manli'e kolot! ( color blind )

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO'

Saturday, November 12, 2011
Yanggen maolek hao, maolek- ña yo';
yanggen tailaye hao, tailaye- ña yo'.

(If you are good, I am better;
if you are bad, I am worse.)


The saying is meant both as a comfort and a warning.

It basically means : If you are good to me, I will outdo you in returning the favor.  But if you cross me, you won't know what hit you.

Suffice it to say, I have seen this philosophy lived out concretely before my very eyes.

TODAY IN HISTORY

Friday, November 11, 2011
TYPHOON KAREN DEVASTATES GUAM
November 11, 1962

95% of the island's homes damaged or destroyed

vw1assoc.tripod.com
Karen's Path of Destruction

The worst typhoon to hit Guam, up till that time, since after World War II was Typhoon Karen.  It hit Guam around 9pm on Sunday, November 11, 1962, striking the southeastern coast first.  Thankfully, the speed of the typhoon actually picked up to about 18mph so its unusually fierce winds (sustained 150mph-175mph; gusts up to 200mph) would not do even more harm.  The eye (there were actually two eyes) passed around 9:45pm.  People knew, even in the darkness, that it was a bad typhoon, as they saw their very roofs rip off, walls come crashing in, water pour into rooms.  Only till the light of the new day were people able to see the horrific disaster.

https://picasaweb.google.com/114246741950282683574/TyphoonKarenNov196202 #

Due to its location, just north of the path of the storm, Yo ñ a was the hardest hit of the villages; about 97% of its homes and buildings destroyed.  The roof at Saint Francis Church went flying, as can be seen above, damaging the interior, including the paintings of the Life of Saint Francis series that lined both sides of the nave, painted by Capuchin Father Marcian.

For more on the typhoon, check out http://www.drallea.com/1962Typhoon%20Karen/


Black and White video clip of the aftermath of Typhoon Karen

Guam Changed Forever

Because of the immense devastation wrought by Typhoon Karen, the local government created a brand-new agency, the Guam Housing and Urban Renewal Authority (GHURA).  With federal funds, Urban Renewal was brought to two villages which opted for it : Yo ña and Sinaja ña.  This began the trend, "cemented" by further typhoons, of turning the whole island into a concrete jungle.

Before Typhoon Karen...

Typical house, on stilts, to cool things down

After Typhoon Karen...


Typical house, a concrete fortress, or oven if there's no AC
A personal note
I was just about 8 months old when Typhoon Karen struck.  We lived in a two-storey residence in Sinaja ña , the ground floor being made of concrete, where we lived, with two separate apartments on the second floor, made of wooden walls and a tin roof, which were rented out.  Parts of the roof flew and the whole building was drenched.  According to my mother, at some point, when the winds were really bad, she hid me in the fridge.  I've had a weight problem ever since.
flickr.com

FAMILY NICKNAMES : ARAGON

Thursday, November 10, 2011
finanzzas.com
A branch of the CAMACHO family goes by the nickname Aragon .

Aragón is the name of a region in Spain, made up of the provinces of Zaragoza, Teruel and Huesca.

Why should this one branch of the Camacho clan be called after this region?  It's anybody's guess, unless someone in the family knows the answer, and learned it from a credible mañaina .  Perhaps there was a connection with a Spaniard from Aragón; a friend or perhaps even a biological father outside of wedlock.  Did someone in the family work for a Spaniard from Aragón?  Was it part of the name of a song he or she sang a lot?  The name of a ship he or she sailed on?  A good number of the Spanish priests who were missionaries on Guam in the 1800s came from Aragón.  The possibilities are many.

panisnostrum.blogspot.com
A better idea where Aragón is in relation to the whole of Spain.

Una rama de los Camacho en las Marianas es más conocida como la familia Aragón.  En verdad, los chamorros dicen áragon , con el acento en la primera sílaba.  En las Marianas, hay que distinguir a cual familia Cruz o familia Torres se refiere, porque muchas familias tienen los mismos apellidos.  Por eso, la mayoría de las familias chamorras tiene sobriquet o apodo.  ¿Por qué tiene esta rama el apodo Áragon?  No se sabe.  Quizás tiene esta rama progenitor aragonés, aunque sea fuera del matrimonio.  O trabajaba alguien en la familia para un aragonés, o cantaba una canción aragonesa.  Sabe Dios.

AIRPORT CHAMORRO

Thursday, November 10, 2011

AUTHORIZED.  We have a challenge with borrowed words beginning with "au." Automóvil , for example, the Spanish word for "automobile," becomes tomobit in Chamorro, dropping the "au" altogether.

Spanish aumentar ("to increase" or "augment") becomes umenta (although some older Chamorros kept the Spanish pronunciation and said aumenta ).  Older Chamorro dictionaries like Father Aniceto's (1865) and von Preissig's (1918) keep the "au" diphthong.

So "authorized" can be aturisa , as seen above, or auturisa , autorisa ...depending on how you prefer to pronounce it, either closer or farther from the original Spanish pronunciation.

You don't like auturisa , no matter how it's spelled?  How about ma konsede ? Konsede means "to grant, agree," as in "to grant a request."  From the Spanish conceder .  Like the English "concede."

If we we're thinking in the plural, that only authorized person s could go through this door, we might want to add the plural marker "man." Man ma aturisa .

HA'.  Only.  Here the glota ( ' ) is properly placed. Ha and ha' are two different words.

NO.  Clearly a mistake. NA is meant.

PERSONNEL.  We've borrowed once again from the Spanish personal , which can mean "personnel" in terms of "staff."  It can also mean "personal," in Spanish and Chamorro.

A Spanish-speaking person could walk by this sign and know that it was talking about "authorized personnel."  But s/he wouldn't understand the rest.

Este letrero es ejemplo de la dependencia fuerte del idioma chamorro al castellano para expresar ciertos conceptos, tal como "autorizar" y "personal."

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : FULÅNO

Wednesday, November 9, 2011
laneuronalight.blogspot.com

FULÅNO : What's-his-face; so-and-so

When you don't know the name of a person, or you know it but don't want to mention his name, you say fulåno .  Like we say in English, "What's-his-face finally arrived."  " Måtto pot fin si fulåno ."

We got the word from the Spaniards, who also use mengano and zutano for the same thing.  So, in Spanish, if you wanna say, "Tom, Dick and Harry" you say " fulano, mengano y zutano ."

Håye gai iyo este ?  Whose is this?
Iyon fulåno .  Somebody's.

If you are referring to a woman, it's fulåna .

DANGEROUS PLACES

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

TRONGKON NUNU
Stay away!

The banyan tree, or trongkon nunu , is popularly believed to be inhabited by taotaomo'na , or ancestral spirits.  They do not like to be disturbed, so it goes.  I once saw a construction team bulldoze everything on a field to make way for new buildings - everything but one trongkon nunu .  Workers claimed the bulldozer's engine would simply die as soon as it neared the tree.

The tree produces figs, but people don't eat them.  Birds and fanihi (fruit bat) do.  They must have special dispensation from the taotaomo'na .

Filipinos and Chamorros share a common fear of the trongkon nunu .  Many Filipinos avoid the tree and teach their children not to even point at a fully mature trongkon nunu , or balete in their language.

But Buddhists believe that the Buddha achieved enlightenment while sitting under a banyan tree.  It's also the national tree of India, and a banyan tree figures in the national coat-of-arms of Indonesia.  I am in Hawaii at the moment, and Hawaiians (they tell me) have no belief in spirits living in their banyan trees.  Different housing arrangements I guess.

FINO' GUAM, FINO' SAIPAN

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

GUAM : P ÅPPET ETGUE
(paper used to cleanse oneself)

SAIPAN : CHIRIGAME
(Japanese)

Of course, one could always use another word often heard in both places...

PAPER TOILET

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO WHEN...

Sunday, November 6, 2011
costumeshopper.com

You're a 50-year-old man but people older than you still call you BOY.


N åna (80 years old) : Boy, h ånao fan ya un fam åhan l å tan k åtne . (Boy, go buy canned meat).

Boy (60 years old) : Esta, nang !  (OK, mama!) 

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO' : FANMATÅYAN I ESPITÅT

Saturday, November 5, 2011
flickriver.com
" The Hospital is a Place of Death "
Susana Hospital, Hagåtna , Early 1900s

Many old-time Chamorros had a fear of the hospital.  First of all, they weren't used to hospitals.  The first real hospitals didn't start on Guam until the American period.  Before that, the Spanish government maintained homes for people with Hansen's Disease (leprosy) or conditions thought to be leprosy, but no hospitals for general medical care.  Under the Spaniards, there was often one military doctor or medical officer.  At times there was also a practitioner of sorts; for example, someone who had previously served as a kind of doctor on a whaling ship then settled on Guam.  Still others were just in charge of giving people vaccinations.  Delivering babies was the work of midwives or pattera , and this was done in the home.  Many people were also used to going to the suruh åno and suruhåna (herbal doctors).

When the first hospital went up in Hagåtña, Chamorros did not avoid it entirely.  Many gladly went to it for medical attention.

But some didn't.  They reasoned that they saw many people go in, but not all of them come back out, except in a wooden box.

They said, " Fanmatåyan i espitåt ."  The hospital is where you go to die.

FAN+MATAI+AN = fanmatåyan .

Of course, many people did go to the hospital, only to die, because they waited till it was too late to profit from medical attention.

To this day, there are those who refuse to see doctors, much less go to the hospital.  And there are still others who would rather see the suruhåno and suruhåna , than see someone with an MD after their name.  One lady who lived past 100 told people the secret of her long life : avoid doctors.  She only drank Chamorro herbal medicine.

I see doctors all the time.  But I have also benefited from åmot Chamorro (herbal medicine).  I like using both approaches.  But then, again, I am mestiso .

FAMILIA : MENO

Friday, November 4, 2011


This is an Inalåhan name.

It is also an indigenous name, but its meaning is uncertain.  Påle' Román's dictionary has one definition for "meno" and he says it means "basura" or "trash." But since Påle' Román did not use the glota, it is unclear if this word is the same as the last name Meno, which has the glota sound, though it is not written with a glota.  Or, perhaps, Påle' Román's word is me'no, or menno', neither of which are Meno (with its final glota sound). So although there was a Chamorro word for "trash" which Påle' Román spelled "meno," we can't be totally sure how the word sounded and if it is the same as the last name Meno.

There are Menos listed in Spanish records as far back as 1835; one Pedro Meno is the teniente (vice mayor) of Inalåhan that year.  The village only had around 260 inhabitants at the time.

One of the village teachers (usually there was just one for the whole village) was Jose Meno, listed in the roll of school teachers in 1869.  The U.S. was still feeling the effects of the Civil War then!

By the 1897 Census, these were the branches of the Meno clan :

INALÅHAN

JOAQUIN NAPUTI MENO
married to Alejandra Santos Crisostomo

FELIPE NAPUTI MENO
married to Soledad Aguon Paulino

VICENTE CHARGUALAF MENO
married to Candelaria Mendiola Delgado

JOSE MENO
married to Genoveva Delgado Naputi


MALESSO'

JOSE ALELAJE MENO
married to Francisca Nasayof Chargualaf

Jose was born in Inalåhan and moved to Malesso'.  His wife Francisca was from Malesso'.  Jose's middle name (his mother's maiden name) is possibly, in Chamorro, Håle' (root) Låhe (son, male).  In those days, spelling was not uniform and I have seen this named spelled Jalelage in Spanish records, which the Spaniards would have pronounced ha-le-la-he .


HAGÅTÑA

FELIX BLAS MENO
married to Amparo Benavente

There are a few other Menos scattered here and there in the 1897 Census but they are either women or bachelors who wouldn't be considered the founders of surviving branches of today's Meno clan.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : TUNOK

Thursday, November 3, 2011
descendandmaintain.blogspot.com
Tumutunok i batkonaire.

TUNOK : to descend, to come down

Tunok p å pa'!  Come down!

Kao para en fanunok hamyo?  Are you getting down?  (Plural; three or more people)

Na' tunok.  To take down.

Na' tunok, fan, i litr å to.  Please take down the picture.

Ti si ñ a ma na' tunok.  It cannot be taken down.

Tunokgue.  To come down upon.

From a Chamorro hymn to the Holy Ghost :

Tunokgue ham / Espiritun guinaiya
( Come down upon us / Spirit of love)

yan songge ham / nu i guinaiya-mo.
( and enflame us / with your love .)

TODAY IN HISTORY

Wednesday, November 2, 2011


Map of the Marianas based on information obtained by the
Jesuit Missionaries in the Marianas



THE JESUITS ARE EXPELLED FROM THE MARIANAS


On November 2, 1769, a small schooner, the Nuestra Se ñ ora de Guadalupe arrived on Guam, bringing Spanish authorities sent to round up the small group of Jesuit priests and one brother in the Marianas and remove them.  Their crime?  Being Jesuits.  The Marianas were given over to another missionary group - the Augustinian Recollects.

What did the Jesuits do to merit this expulsion, when it was the Jesuits who founded the mission in the first place, shedding much blood to do so?

The Society of Jesus, its formal name, was by the 1760s, a very large and powerful organization.  It had much prestige and influence, running schools for the elite in Europe, as well as for ordinary students.  It was responsible for many missions all over the world.  Jesuit chaplains and spiritual directors walked the halls of palaces and government offices, with the ear of important political people.  All this would be naturally resented by some, who also turned the wheels of European politics.  None of this had anything to do with the work of the majority of ordinary Jesuits teaching classes and working in far-flung missions.  But they were all made to pay the political price.  One by one, Catholic kings banished the Jesuits from their realms, including their colonies.

Communications with the isolated Marianas were so slow that the royal order from Spain did not reach Guam till two years' time.  The Jesuits were to be put in custody and removed from the Marianas within 24 hours, taking with them only their personal effects and prayer books.

The Jesuit superior of Guam, Father Franz Stengel, was in Rota when the schooner came.  So a canoe was dispatched there to fetch him and bring him to Guam immediately.  A Jesuit on the list had died after the list was composed, and a certification of death had to be written to explain why the dead man was not brought to Manila with the others.


JESUITS IN THE MARIANAS IN 1768
The weren't all Spanish priests!

The Jesuits in the Marianas were down to four men in 1768, a year before they were expelled; three priests and one brother.

Fr. Franz Stengel was Superior (Vice Provincial) and pastor of Hagat ñ a.

Fr. Franz Reitenberger was Rector of the College (San Juan de Letrán).

Fr. Rafael Canicia was in charge of the south - Humatak, Malesso' and Inalahan.

Br. Placido Lampurdanes ran the pharmacy in Hagat ña and was a medical practitioner of sorts.

Who was in charge of Rota, the only other inhabited island?  Since none is mentioned, we would assume one of the three priests went up to Rota periodically, as we can see when Stengel was in Rota when the schooner came to Guam to deport him.

Reitenberger had just died that very year of 1769.

Notice the German names of Stengel and Reitenberger. They were from Bohemia, then part of the Habsburg Empire which also ruled Spain.  Father Canicia was a Spaniard (Valencian) and so was Brother Lampurdanes (Aragón).

Thus ended a 100 year history of the Jesuits as the missionaries of the Marianas which had begun in 1668 with Sanvitores.  They put into Recollect hands two islands, Guam and Rota, their churches, one school (Colegio de San Juan de Letrán) and the several ranches the school ran and a pharmacy.



A Jesuit in typical and distinctive Jesuit garb of the 1600s
Claudio Aquaviva, Jesuit General

PRAYER FOR THE DEAD

Wednesday, November 2, 2011


Here's an easy and short prayer you can learn in ten minutes to lift up the souls of your loved ones to the merciful judgment of God.  This prayer is rendered in the plural .

Na' fan m å hgong na taihinekkok minahgong- ñ iha, Asaina
(Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord)

yan i ti mamatai na mina'lak u fan inina.
(and let perpetual light shine upon them)

Ya u fa ñ å ga gi minahgong.
(May they rest in peace)

Taiguennao mohon.
(Amen)

ALL SOULS

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

A l å pida (headstone) with abbreviated Chamorro inscriptions.

Maf = mafa ñ ågo (born)
Mat = m åtai (died)

Every year on November 2, Catholic Chamorros remember in a special way their deceased.  Days before All Souls Day, they spruce up the graves of their family members; weeding, painting, placing fresh flowers.  Masses are said in all of Guam's cemeteries.

Many families have to divvy up who goes to what cemetery Mass.  You go to that Mass; I'll go to the other Mass.


Libera Me Domine

This Latin chant was sung at the Responso at a funeral or any Mass for the Dead (Requiem Mass), at the church, cemetery and even the home where all wakes ( bela ) took place before the 1970s when families started to hold them at the church.  The Libera Me fell into disuse, except for a few priests like me who sometimes chant it today.

Our Chamorro people, especially the older women, used to be able to sing this chant purely from memory.  They would sing it loud and clear and raise the church roof top.  I was a small boy, but it made a big impression on me.

Libera me, Domine / de morte aeterna
(Deliver me, Lord / from eternal death)

in die illa tremenda / cuando caeli movendi sunt et terra.
(on that awesome day / when the heavens and earth are moved).

Dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem.
(When you come to judge the world by fire).

ANCIENT CHAMORRO MOURNING

Wednesday, November 2, 2011
casketstores.blog.com

The great emotional displays at Chamorro funerals we sometimes see today have their roots in the past.  Our ma ñ aina manifested their grief when loved ones died.  They wept, wailed about the deceased, refused to eat, rattled shells, laid their dead on woven mats and adorned them with flowers, palm fronds and sea shells.  This went on for six or more days, depending on the affection people had for the deceased.  Women cut off a lock of hair of the deceased, and women also counted the days since the death by making knots on a cord which they wore around their necks.

If the deceased was of high status, there was even more ceremony.  Arches were erected in the village, garlands strewn along the paths.

Destroying things was also another way of mourning.  They would smash houses and canoes, fell trees, rip up their sails and hang the shreds around the house to express their sorrow.  In their chants and songs, they would say how life is not worth living now that the deceased is gone.

Demolishing personal effects as an expression of grief seems to be a trait common to Micronesian peoples.  When I was living on Saipan, I saw how the Carolinians still express their grief this way which our pre-Spanish ancestors manifested as well.  A Carolinian is completely overwhelmed with grief at a funeral.  They lay the body right on the floor on the best mats they have.  They sit right up alongside the body, touching it, kissing it.  Tears, wailing, shouting and screaming at high pitch all happen; it is all expected!

At some point, a person skilled in chant gets up and performs a chant for the dead.  It goes by a set formula, but there is room for adding special verses specifically compised about the deceased and his or her life.

Some time after death, the family takes the personal belongings of the deceased and buries, burns or throws them into the sea.  One Carolinian even told me, with amazement at her own culture, that she even saw a family take a sewing machine into a canoe and dump it in the sea.

Although much has changed in the Chamorro way of mourning, much remains.  Often, the more traditional the family, the more emotion displayed at a funeral.  As a priest in Malesso', Humatak and Saipan, I have seen multiple, simultaneous faintings of females at the grave sight; attempts at jumping into the grave along with the casket; cries of "Take me, too, Lord!  I don't want to live without him or her!"

At one funeral, three women of the family fainted onto the ground, one right after the other.  One to the left, one to the right and one at the head of the grave, in a perfect triangle of commotion.  The other family members were so busy attending to their fallen women that for a few minutes it was just me and the casket paying attention to each other.

SPANISH THE CHAMORRO WAY : ALL SAINTS

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

NOVEMBER 1 : TOLOS S ÅNTOS
ALL SAINTS

In Spanish, "All Saints" is "Todos los Santos."

But our ma ñaina pronounced it " Tolos S åntos ."

FELIS TOLOS S ÅNTOS!
HAPPY ALL SAINTS!

FRIHONÅDAS NA SINANGAN : BULAN LETANIAS

Tuesday, November 1, 2011
mundabor.wordpress.com
Letanias means "litany," a list of sacred names or sacred titles that are invoked in prayer, each ending with a common response, such as "Have mercy on us," or "Pray for us."

Litanies repeat these responses, and they can last a good few minutes.

So one expression I've heard, when someone is known for repeating him or herself a lot, is that s/he is " bulan letanias " - "a lot of litanies."

FIESTAN SAN JUDE - SAN DIEGO STYLE

Monday, October 31, 2011
SINAJA ÑA COMMUNITY KEEPS FAITH AND TRADITION ALIVE


The lukao (procession)

For many years, the people in San Diego with roots in Sinaja ña have held a very successful Fiestan San Jude, usually one of the biggest Chamorro religious events in California.  Don't forget that, after the war, Sinaja ña, together with Barrigada, was one of the most populated villages on Guam.  Check the Guam censuses of the late 1940s and 1950s and you'll see that.  Evidence of this is still seen in the large church that was built in 1962, and the fact that Sinaja ña still has a Vice Mayor, even though it has been surpassed in population today by many other villages.


The Choir sings "Ayud ånte gi Chinatsaga"

It's interesting how a melody takes on unique features village to village, sometimes choir to choir.  Here we see how a tune changes slightly after crossing the Pacific Ocean.


In San Diego, they still pray the Nobena - in Chamorro! Commendable!


There was a lot of pride, too, in being an alumnus/alumna of Saint Jude Thaddeus School (SJT).  What is now Bishop Baumgartner Memorial School was founded in the mid 1950s as a parish school, run by the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (La Crosse, Wisconsin).


Beloved Father Kieran, long-time pastor of St. Jude, was coming every year to San Diego to celebrate the festal Mass until travel became more difficult for him in recent years.  He lives in Wisconsin.

I DUENDES

Sunday, October 30, 2011
Since it's close to Halloween :

conmishijos.com
DUENDES = FAIRY
From the Spanish word "duende" meaning the same thing

As far as I know, none of the early Spanish accounts talk about a Chamorro belief in little fairies living in the jungle.  The accounts are very clear about belief in the spirits, the anite ; but there is no mention of the duendes , nor the stealing of babies, nor little lights or glowing mushroom.

The name itself, duendes , is Spanish.  Perhaps it is reasonable to assume that belief in the duendes was a later development of hispanicized Chamorro folklore influenced by the newer settlers to the island.

Basically, the duendes live in the jungle and play little tricks on humans, like kidnapping their babies and little kids.  They are said to live under multi-colored mushroom and carry little candles.  They are mainly seen by little children who are lured into the jungle by such attractive lights, or see in the duendes a possible playmate.  Adults see them less, but the duendes can shrink an adult to punish them.

When a child is kidnapped by the duendes and is found, the child has usually been made mute by the duendes .  The only remedy is to whip the child with the koreas , the religious belt used by the kofradia , the old, Spanish version of the Christian Mothers women's association.  It is hard now to find a koreas , but I have one in my possession and I know of another lady who has one; an heirloom from her grandmother.


The Koreas
Your Best Defense against Duendes-induced Muteness

Here's a conversation I had with an 80-some year old lady about the duendes :

Gu åho : "H å fa i duendes?"


Guiya : "Dikkike', kalan mu ñ eka.  Ilek- ñ a si nan å -ho taiguine.  Ennaogue' si Ritan Jose.  Ti hu tungo' ku å nto a ñ os- ñ a si Rita.  Lao dikkike' si Rita, esta p å 'go m å tai ha' lao ti dum å ngkulo.  Dikkike' yan masoksok.  Pues eyague' nai ilek- ñ a na kinenne' nu i duendes yan ninana' gi halom trongkon chotda. Pues annai ma sodda' si Rita ti si ñ a hun kumuentos.  Pues asta ke ma saolak ni koreas kofradia, yan atan ha', eyague' muna' kuentos.

P å 'go si tat å -ho, sa' å ntes, sum å s å ga gi lancho desde lunes asta s å balo, no, sa' para u hosme misa gi damenggo.  Pues ha hohokka' meme'- ñ a gi un b å tde, pues eyague' hun an bula i b å tde ha chuda' hun huyong gi halom gu å lo' sa' ti yan- ñ iha i duendes ni pao me'me'.  Ennao p å 'go ti hu tungo' kao mag å het lao ennaogue' si tat å -ho ha s å s å ngan.  Ha sang å ng å ne hame, sa' eyo nai ilek-ho gu å ha nai, 'H å fa este na ti ma chuchuda' i me'me'-mo, T å ta?'  Ilek- ñ a, 'Po'lo sa' asta ke bula hu rerega huyong para i duendes sa' eyague' mal å l å go sa' ti yan- ñ iha i pao sadang.'"

Gu åho : " Lao t å ya' p å tgon kinenne' ni duendes ya ti ma sodda'?


Guiya : "Hunggan, todos man ma sodda'.  Estague' ta'lo gi tiempon Amerik å no.  Dos umasagua este ya gu å ha uniko p å tgon- ñ iha.  Ilek- ñ iha lokkue' na kinenne' ayo na p å tgon, buente annai singko å ñ os ha'.  Lao pine'lo ta'lo, nina' fat å 'chong hun ni duendes gi hilo' acho' ayo i alutong, nai ti si ñ a lokkue' kumuentos.  Pues ennao nai ma s å ngan na ma nesesita ma saolak ni eye koreas kofradia."

Me : "What is the duendes ?"

She : "They are small, like dolls.  My mother said it like this : there was this Ritan Jose.  I don't how old Rita was.  She was young; she's died now but she didn't grow up.  She was small and thin.  My mother said she was taken by the duendes and hidden in a banana tree.  When she was found, she couldn't talk.  But until she was whipped with the koreas of the kofradia , that was what made her talk.

Now my father, before, lived at the ranch from Monday to Saturday, because he would go to Mass on Sundays.  Well, he collected all his urine in a bucket, and when the bucket was full he would throw it out into the ranch because the duendes don't like the smell of urine.  Now that I can't say if it's true, but that's what my father would say.  He would tell us this, because at times I would say, 'Dad, why aren't you throwing out your urine?' and he'd say 'Leave it because when it's full, I sprinkle it for the duendes because they don't like the odor."

Me : "Are there no kids taken by the duendes who aren't found?"

She : "Yes, they are all found.  Here's another during American times.  There was this couple and the had an only-child.  They also said that that child was taken, maybe when he or she was only five years old.  But the child was put, made to sit on a coral rock by the duendes , and the child could not talk either.  So that's why they said the child needed to be whipped by that koreas of the kofradia ."

DUENDES HUNTERS

PRE-WAR SICKNESS

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Notice the word for "prescription" is reseta .  It's the same word for "recipe."
"Bed pan" is arinola .
She uses " papá " for "grandpa," just as my family called grandma " mam á ."  This was common among her Spanish-influenced generation.

According to Tan Esco, pre-war Chamorros were not as susceptible to today's widespread diabetic and cardiac conditions.  We talk about tabatdiyu (tabardillo/typhoid), beriberi (caused by a lack of thiamine in the diet) and mames me'me' (diabetes).  Perhaps the fewer incidences of cardiovascular disease in pre-war Chamorros was due to a healthier diet (fresh, organic) and hard work (ranching).

But Chamorros did, in fact, face serious health issues, especially periodic epidemics of smallpox and influenza, which wiped out huge numbers of people.  An early American Naval Medical Officer stated at the turn of the century that many people on Guam suffered from "tuberculosis, leprosy, gangosa (possibly congenital syphilis), typhoid and whooping cough."

cid.oxfordjournals.org

From around the year 1817

The artist Arago, a member of the Freycinet expedition, drew this sketch of a Chamorro man from Guam suffering from elephantiasis , an inflammation of tissues and skin, especially in the lower extremities.  Notice the swelling of the right elbow and left ankle.

But I think we'd be better off eating this...

cvminck.wordpress.com
Kamute (Sweet Potato)

Rather than this ...

healthjockey.com

I HAGGAN KARETAN-MÅME GUAM!

Friday, October 28, 2011
featurepics.com

Estorian un palao'an ni ma eduka san lago

Est åba sesso ma butlea Guam åntes na tiempo gi annai est åba yo' gi kolehio giya Colorado.  Duru yo' ma faisen, "Kao gu åha bent åna gi gima'-miyo?"  "Kao gu åha na chumocho hao steak ?" yan todo kl åse.

Un dia, un amerik åna fumaisen yo', "Yan h åfa karetan-miyo Guam?"

Pues hu oppe i palaoan taiguine sa' pot i na' bubu na finaisen- ña , "O, i haggan karetan-m åm åme Guam."

Amerik åna : "O? H åftaimano yan i dinikike'- ñ a i haggan?"

Ilek-ho, "Ai, sa' ti pareho nai i haggan-m åme Guam yan i haggan-miyo Amerika.  Dangkulololo i haggan-m åme Guam.  Nahong ha' i un haggan para u na' fan ma udai siento na taotao!"

PARA TA FAÑÅLEK HA'

Friday, October 28, 2011
EKKUNGOK!

True Story...

Some Chamorro Capuchins took an American Capuchin, who looked like he could be Chamorro, to a Chamorro party in the US mainland.  A Chamorro lady sat next to the American Capuchin.

Chamorro lady : Are you from Guam?

American Capuchin : No.

Chamorro lady : What village?

BIBA SAN JUDE!

Friday, October 28, 2011

My grandmother (3rd lady from left) walking in the Saint Jude procession in Sinaja ñ a
Early 1950s

Prior to the war, Sinaja ñ a had a small chapel dedicated to the Dulce Nombre de Maria, the Sweet Name of Mary, just like the Hagat ñ a Cathedral.

But after the war, the little hamlet with a small population grew to the largest village on Guam for a while, as many displaced Hagat ñ a residents (including my own family) settled there.  A large church had to be built.  For some reason, a new patron saint was also selected.

We have (so far) no documented evidence why Saint Jude was chosen.  Saint Jude, even in the States, was not well known.  As the story goes, his counterpart Judas Iscariot gave Jude Thaddeus a "bad name" for many centuries.  Both men, the good one and the bad one, really have the same name - Judas.  That's why one had to be called a second name, Iscariot, and the other Thaddeus.  To further distinguish the good Judas from the bad, the good Judas became better known as Jude.

Still, he was not a very popular saint for hundreds and hundreds of years.  Few churches in his name, hardly any devotion to him at all.

Then came the Dominicans.  They promoted the devotion to Saint Jude because of their long missionary contact with the people of Armenia, where Saint Jude is thought to have worked and where he is highly venerated to this day.

But what connection do the people or priests in Sinaja ñ a in the late 1940s have with the Dominicans?  None, except that, through oral history, whose accuracy cannot always be guaranteed, says that Francisco de la Cruz (Paco) introduced the novena to Saint Jude to Sinaja ñ a after the war.  Before the war, Paco lived in both Manila and Hong Kong, with Dominicans working in both places. I wouldn't be surprised if Paco had more contact with the Dominicans in Hong Kong than those in Manila, since the Catholic Church was a small minority in Hong Kong and the Dominicans would have stood out more there than in Manila, with its huge variety of Catholic orders.

Whatever the case, Saint Jude became the patron of Sinaja ñ a.  Since it was a post-war devotion, there was no novena in Chamorro until someone finally typed one up.  It took many more years for a Chamorro hymn to be composed to Saint Jude.  And I was "there," so to speak, when it happened.

Stationed at Saint Jude's one summer while studying for the priesthood in the States was one Jesus Sonoda from Saipan.  Being a fluent Chamorro speaker, he was asked by the pastor of Sinaja ñ a to compose a Chamorro hymn to Saint Jude.  He did; both the music and the lyrics.  And I was present when he taught it to the kantoras (singers) and techas (prayer leaders) of the parish, guitar in hand.

I was a kid, but I remember it.  This was in the ealry 1970s.  The song was a hit and it took off.  So did the devotion, and now many parishes have a weekly devotion to him.

Ayud å nte gi chinatsaga / patron i man tai esper å nsa
(Helper in difficulty / patron of the hopeless)

Tayuyute ham San Jude Thaddeus / hame nu i ma ñ e'lu-mo.
(Pray for us, Saint Jude Thaddeus / we your brethren.)

saipanquinn.blogspot.com
JESUS SONODA
Still with guitar in hand

Composer of the Chamorro Hymn to Saint Jude "Ayud å nte"

Not long after, Jess felt a different call from God, to married life - and began a family with his wife Anicia Castro.  The couple is strongly involved in Marriage Encounter and the Church.

YOU CAN TAKE ME OUT OF GUAM, BUT YOU CAN'T TAKE THE GUAM OUT OF ME

Thursday, October 27, 2011

She's been living in the US mainland for fifty years or so, but this Chamorro lady gets her pugua' stash by mail from family still on Guam.

Thanks to modern technology, they now come vacuum packed in small pouches so not too many are opened and exposed to the air and become hard as marbles.  When I was living in the US mainland in the 1980s, I'd have to soak the pugua' in water to soften it a little, and that method didn't really work all that much.

I remember my grandmother sending her oldest son in San Diego pugua' every so often in old Foremost milk cartons, wrapped in brown paper bag and stringed.  She'd have to peel as much as possible before packing the pugua' .

flickr.com

CHAMORRO PUGUA' MAILING CONTAINER

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : HIHOT

Wednesday, October 26, 2011
HIHOT : near, close by

Hihot yan siha.  Close to them.

Kao hihot i lug å t?  Is the place nearby?

Humihot i dos.  The two became close.

Na' la hihot hao m å gi.  Come closer.  (Literally "Make yourself closer here.")

Hihot ayo kontra i gima'.  That is close to the house.

Akihot.  Friend, neighbor, someone close to you.

Hihihot.  Coming closer.  Proximate.  Imminent.

Hihihot na finatai.  Impending death.

TODAY IN HISTORY

Wednesday, October 26, 2011
LAST SPANISH BISHOP DEPARTS
October 26, 1945



A few days after American Bishop Baumgartner arrived, Spanish Bishop Olano left Guam on this day 66 years ago.  That marked the end of 277 years of Spanish missionary presence on Guam!  To this day, though, all those years of Spanish influence can still be seen in our Chamorro-style Catholicism, though it has weakened over the years.


Bishop without a Diocese...

When Olano left Guam, there was some difficulty where he should go next.  He was a Spanish citizen, but a Basque in ethnicity.  Many of the Basques, though fervent Catholics, opposed the government of Francisco Franco in Spain, who supported the Church against the anti-clerical leftist parties in Spain.  These Basque nationalists wanted either an independent Basque State or one with much freedom from Madrid.

One of Olano's brothers, also a Capuchin priest, was such a promoter of the Basque cause that he had to flee Spain when Franco took power.  Although Bishop Olano was not involved in these political issues, his blood ties with his well-known brother made him hesitant to return to Spain.  Perhaps even the Spanish government would have pressured the bishop to look for another residence elsewhere.

Bishop Olano went to Manila, where he was of some assistance in a post-war country where American bishops and priests had been imprisoned by the Japanese.  He did confirmations and helped in other ways, but he was, for the rest of his life, a bishop without a diocese.  That couldn't have been easy for him.

I was only 8 years old, but I remember meeting him the one and only time in my life.  He returned to Guam in 1970 for the consecration of Bishop Flores and my elderly granduncle and grandaunt took me to the ceremony.  Afterwards, they went up to greet Bishop Olano and they told me who he was.  He looked at me and I looked at him, and that was it.

TODAY IN HISTORY

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

I Se ñ ot Atsobispo as Felixberto Camacho Flores
yan i ti å -ho as Tan Chong Kit å 'an

Archbishop Felixberto Camacho Flores, the first Chamorro bishop, passed away today in 1985.  He was just 64 years old, but had serious health issues that went all the way back to wartime conditions he faced under Japanese occupation in Manila where he was studying for the priesthood.

Right after the beatification of Blessed Diego Luis de Sanvitores in Rome, Archbishop Flores went to San Francisco to look after his medical needs.  It was there that he passed away.

Besides the beatification, Archbishop Flores saw many things accomplished before his death.  The elevation of the diocese to an archdiocese; the first papal visit to Guam; the erection of the Northern Marianas as a separate diocese are just some of them.

More than these, he was well-respected and certainly loved by many.  He was considered one of the best public speakers in either English or Chamorro.  He was politically savvy.  He was refined and cultured and very intelligent, yet charming, affable and put the humblest person at ease in his presence.  A biography ought to be written about him.  Chamorros can be proud that he was one of our own.

Being a mere youth, I rarely interacted with him, but I once had to see him all by myself as a 22-year-old, to ask his blessing to join the Capuchins.  I was a bit nervous, for I knew that in his heart (quite naturally) he would want as many young men to join the diocesan clergy as possible, and here I was joining a religious order instead.  But he was gracious and supportive and at the end of our five-minute interview, he said to me, "And now I will give you my blessing."  I rose from my chair, knelt before him, and he blessed me most formally.  I rose again and kissed his ring and that was that.  I was relieved but also honored that he would spare me five minutes.  He honored me a second time attending my first vows as a Capuchin in August of 1985.  Little did I know he would die less than two months later.

I will never forget his inspiring sermons; his dignified air when saying Mass.  I used to attend the Cathedral 6AM Mass on Saturdays just to hear him lead in the singing of the Salve Regina with its accompanying Latin prayers which he chanted ever so well, and then kneeling for the Chamorro hymn " O Se ñ ora Nanan-mame " with its plaintive cries for Mary's protection.  What a thrill on special occasions when he would end Mass by saying to the crowd, "And now I will impart to you my Apostolic Blessing" and then break into Latin " Sit nomen Domini benedictum !" "May the name of the Lord be blessed!"

Requiescat in Pace.
U s å ga gi Minahgong.

THE GODCHILD'S OBLIGATIONS

Monday, October 24, 2011


My 80-year-old grandmother was assisted daily for one year by her 60-year-old godddaughter

A man recently told me, "You priests always talk about the duties of the godparent.  But I never hear you talk about the obligations of the godchild."

As a matter of fact, according to Chamorro custom, there are some obligations of the godchild to the godparent.

The obligations of the godparent get more attention because it is more often the child that needs help.  But here are some obligations of the godchild toward the godparent(s) :

I saw this last cultural value lived out before my eyes.  My grandmother was 80 years old and weakening, spending almost all day in bed.  Without anyone telling me who she was, an elderly lady showed up one day and spent all day with my grandmother until my grandmother's sister came home from work after 5pm.  All the adults in the house worked 8-5, so this elderly lady spent the day with my grandmother, feeding her, taking her to the bathroom, talking to her, making sure she was okay.

She did this every weekday (the rest of us were home during the weekends) for a year.  As far as I know, she wasn't asked to do this.  She was my grandmother's goddaughter, and when she heard that her godmother needed this kind of help, she stepped forward.

The photo above was taken on my grandmother's 81st birthday in 1980, and that's her goddaughter behind her.  It was she who was at my grandmother's side when she quietly passed away one Saturday morning.  Though we were all home on the weekend, by that time, we all knew grandma wouldn't live long because she was so weak, so the goddaughter decided to come everyday anyway, since grandma could die at any moment.

She was a good goddaughter.  God reward her.

This is the kind of thing that makes me proud to be Chamorro. Yine'ase'.  Ginefli'e.  Hinimitde .  Kindness.  Love.  Humility.

TODAY IN HISTORY

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Bishop Apollinaris W. Baumgartner, OFM Cap
First Bishop of Aga ña
ARRIVES ON GUAM ON OCTOBER 23, 1945

Guam came under American control in 1898, but the Church on Guam continued under Spanish leadership till 1945 when Guam received its first - and so far only - stateside bishop.

The US Navy had wanted to replace Guam's Spanish bishop with an American one, but World War II put that idea on hold.  But as soon as Guam was liberated, the wheels were put in motion to replace Bishop Olano with an American.

Prior to 1965, Guam was not a diocese.  It was still considered an infant local church, reliant on outside missionary help.  So it was an Apostolic Vicariate, lead by an Apostolic Vicar.  The Apostolic Vicar had the rank of a bishop, but he couldn't be called Bishop of Aga ña until Aga ña became a diocese.  That happened in 1965, and Baumagrtner, who had been Apostolic Vicar since 1945, became first Bishop of Aga ña.

Baumgartner is rightly credited for many accomplishments, with the help of the missionaries, sisters and lay people : the founding of Catholic schools, bringing out Catholic sisters who in turn formed Chamorro sisters, the establishment of a local minor seminary, the building of churches, chapels and a medical center, the start of a Catholic weekly newspaper.

A Baumgartner Anecdote
that gives insight into his leadership style

Not long after he took the helm of the Church on Guam in the late 1940s, Bishop Baumgartner called a meeting of his consultors, a small group of priests who acted as the bishop's advisors.  He started by saying, "I think it is time to start Catholic schools on Guam.  The question is, shall we build elementary schools first, or begin with high schools?"

It was a provocative question, with some favoring one or the other.  After some discussion, Baumgartner interjected, "Those in favor of starting with elementary schools, raise your hands."  Some did.  "Those in favor of starting with high schools, raise your hands."  Others did.

Baumgartner said, "OK, that settles it.  We'll begin with both elementary and high schools."

AIRPORT CHAMORRO

Sunday, October 23, 2011


FAN+PULAN = to watch over

The p is dropped.  Don't ask for a logical reason.  It just sounds better.  Trust me.

Pulan also means "moon."  I suppose the idea is that the moon watches over us at night.  Except, of course, when there's a new moon.

Now I wonder if famul ånan neni might not be a better phrase.

Famulan neni means "to watch over a baby."

Famul ånan neni means "the place to watch over a baby."

A nursery such as we find in an airport is really a place primarily for changing diapers or pa ñ åles .

FALSE FRIENDS : BOKA

Sunday, October 23, 2011
maxgrace.wordpress.com
False friend is a word that is the same in two languages but mean two different things.

BOKA in Chamorro means "food" or "to eat."  It seems pretty obvious that we got it from the Spanish word BOCA, which means "mouth."  Boca Raton, Florida is a town named for a rat's mouth.

But if you go to Spain or Mexico and tell someone " boka, boka ," instead of eating, they will think you're talking about someone's mouth.

FANIHI : THINGS I REMEMBER, THINGS I JUST LEARNED

Saturday, October 22, 2011
In 1985, on a trip to Saipan, I ate part of this fanihi .  I was a young friar all of 23 years of age.
You can't see much of the fanihi ; it was mostly eaten by the time we snapped this photo.

I remember...
What I have just learned...
From the year 1831...
coinquest.com
A 4 reales coin from 1812, a little more than what one fanihi would have cost in the year 1830.  These coins would have been used in the Marianas at the time.

CHAMORRO NICKNAMES

Wednesday, October 19, 2011
BASIC RULE : traditional Chamorro nicknames are derived from the END of names.

In other cultures, the nickname is taken from the BEGINNING of names.

Joseph becomes Joe.
Michael becomes Mike.
Jennifer becomes Jenny.

Or, among Filipinos :

Remedios becomes Remy.
Felicidad becomes Fely.

Modern, Americanized Chamorros do the same.  They take it from the beginning of names.

Francisco becomes Frank; Concepcion becomes Connie; Teresita becomes Terry.

But...our ma ñ aina took it from the end of names.

Francisko becomes Kiko', from the -cisco ending.

Teresa becomes Checha, from the -esa ending.

Miguel becomes Ge', from the -guel ending.

Josefa becomes Epa', from the -efa ending.

Jose becomes Pepe, from the -se ending.

Soledad becomes Da', from the -dad ending.

Jesus become Chu', from the -sus ending.

Rosa becomes Chai, from the -sa ending.

Gregorio becomes Goro', from the -gorio ending.

Maria becomes Lia, from the -ria ending.

Antonio becomes Nono', from the -onio ending.

Remedios becomes Medo', from the -medios ending.

Joaquin becomes Kin, from the -quin ending.

Dolores becomes Lole', from the -lores ending.

Felix become Lele', from the -elix ending.

Ana becomes Nena', from the -na ending.

Tomasa becomes Bacha', from the -masa ending.

CHONG

Any female name ending in -cion becomes Chong.

Concepcion, Consolacion, Asuncion are the main -cion names, but there are a few others like Anunciacion, Purificacion and so on.

Nicknames turn into new nicknames.

Josefa becomes Epa, but Epa often becomes Pai, from the -pa ending.

Joaquin becomes Kin, but Kin often becomes Kindo.

Maria sometimes becomes Mariquita/Marikita, which sometimes become Kita' or Kitalang.

Felix become Lele', but Lele' can become plain Le'.

Soledad becomes Da', but Da' often becomes Daling.

Jose becomes Pepe, but Pepe can become Peling or Pepito.

All the Chong nicknames can become Chongki'.

There are always exceptions...

Inas is the traditional nickname for Ignacio.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : MAKKAT

Tuesday, October 18, 2011
m1t.co.uk
MAKKAT : heavy, serious, grave

Demasiao makkat!  It's too heavy!

Å he', ti makkat.  No, it's not heavy.

Makkat mat å - ñ a.  His face is grave.

Makkat palabr å s-mo.  Your words are serious.

Makkat na kastigo ma n å 'e gue'.  They gave him a heavy or serious penalty.

Minakkat.  Heaviness (literally) or weight.

Dies libras minakat- ñ a.  It is ten pounds heavy.

P å le' Roman says it can also be used to signify the effort of a person. "Ti mamakat gue'" literally means "he isn't being heavy" but the idea is that the person isn't bearing his load, or exerting force in the effort.

It can also be used to express the idea that something is or isn't serious.  "Ti hu na' makkat ennao," literally means, "I don't or wouldn't make that (thing, person, event) serious or grave."

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : SI DIOS KIERA

Monday, October 17, 2011
Si Dios Kiera

If God wants it

This is taken from the Spanish "Si Dios quiera," "If God wants it."

Formed in a more Catholic ethos, our elders were more conscious of the divine will.  Nothing happens without God's knowledge, without God's consent.  Either God directly wills something to happen, or God passively allows things to happen on their own, without His interfering with it, in order to allow a good thing to come about in time.

So, many conversations went like this :

Jose : Ngaian para un falak Hag å t ñ a, Maria? (When are you going to Hag å t ñ a, Maria?)
Maria : Agupa', si Dios kiera.  (Tomorrow, if God wants it.)

FAMILIA : BAZA

Monday, October 17, 2011

Coat of Arms of the Town of Baza, Spain
"Ayuntamiento" means "town council"

Baza is the name of a town in Spain, in the Province of Granada, and has about 21,000 residents.

It is an old family on Guam, appearing in the 1727 Census, with one Agustin Baza from Pampanga, but he was still a bachelor.  He appears again in the 1759 Census, this time as a married man, but, surprise surprise, he is married to a woman with similar names - Juana Agustina Baza !  What are the chances?

By the 1897 Census, we have the following Bazas, all from the capital city unless otherwise noted :

Pedro Baza, married to Maria Ungacta.  Their son Sebastian moved to Saipan, where many of the Bazas spell it Basa.  In Latin American and Filipino pronunciation of Spanish, z and s have the same sound - Baza and Basa would sound the same (just as Blaz and Blas would sound the same).

Juan Baza, married to Luisa Aguon.

Manuel Leon Baza, married to Maria Asuncion Blas.

Luis Martinez Baza, an elder bachelor.

Jose Baza, married to Ramona Ortiz Camacho.

Luis Baza, married to Antonia Martinez.

Tito Quichocho Baza, married to Carmen Camacho Sablan.

Telesforo Quichocho Baza, married to Margarita de la Cruz.

Juan Baza, married to Manuela Ada.  They lived in Asan.

Joaquin Lujan Baza, married to Josefa Duenas Palomo.

Nicolas Regargar Baza, a widower at age 52.  His middle name is unusual.  Reminiscent of Fegurgur but I wouldn't jump to that conclusion right away.

Ramon Baza, the founder of the Malesso' branch.  He was from Hagåtña, the son of Francisca Baza.  He married Dolores Tedpahogo Taijeron from Malesso'.

IF YOUR NAME IS ROSARIO

Saturday, October 15, 2011

cnrosary.en.ec21.com
If your name is Rosario, it means, as most people know, "rosary."

Lest we forget, there is also a family named "Rosario" or "del Rosario."

I imagine a woman named Rosario once married a man from the Rosario family.  She's be Rosario Rosario.  That's why it's sad when we drop the "de," "del," "de la" or "de los."  Rosario del Rosario sounds kinda nice.

October is the Month of the Rosary, and October 7 was the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

For its background, check out www. newadvent.org /cathen/13184b.htm

LIS Å YO

The Spanish word "rosario" would have been hard for our ma ñ aina to pronounce.  First of all, there's the R, which we normally change to L (as in gitåla , instead of guitarra ; or kuchåla , instead of cuchara .)

Then there's the Y sound in the "rio" part of "rosario."  So, we make it a Chamorro Y (as in Yigo).  That's also how Spanish "Dios" or "God" became Yu'us.

Chamorro Hymns about the Rosary


Ta Fan Lisåyo

Probably the best known Chamorro hymn concerning the rosary.  The melody is taken from a traditional Spanish hymn to the rosary, and to Saint Dominic Guzman, the Dominican founder who promoted it.  Listen to the Spanish melody in the video clip above.

Ta fan lisåyo / kåda ha'åne
sa' i Santos Lisåyo / yåben i langet.

(Let us pray the rosary / every day
because the holy rosary / is the key to heaven.)

Na' manman i lisåyon / Sånto Domingo
i tumataitai maulek / ti u falingo.

(Wonderful is the rosary / of Saint Dominic
he who prays it well / will not be lost.)

But there is also this little ditty of a hymn to the rosary.  It speaks about Mary as mother of the angels, those on earth and those in Purgatory.

O gai lisåyo Bithen Maria, mames na Nånan i Anghet siha;
opan gi langet : Å be Maria, åbe bula hao grasia.

(O Virgin Mary of the rosary, sweet mother of the angels;
it resounds in heaven : Hail Mary, hail full of grace.)

O gai lisåyo Bithen Maria, mames na Nånan i Taotao siha;
opan gi tano' : Å be Maria, åbe bula hao grasia.
(O Virgin Mary of the rosary, sweet mother of the people;
it resounds on earth : Hail Mary, hail full of grace.)

O gai lisåyo Bithen Maria, mames na Nånan i Ante siha;
opan gi guafe : Å be Maria, åbe bula hao grasia.
(O Virgin Mary of the rosary, sweet mother of the souls;
it resounds in the fire : Hail Mary, hail full of grace.)

THE FULL-BLOWN CHAMORRO ROSARY

Unfortunately, most people today don't realize the full Chamorro tradition of singing a verse before every decade of the rosary.  There were even two different versions one could sing, adding variety to this custom.  These verses explained the meaning of each separate mystery of the rosary.

Give me time and I'll record them and put them on the blog.


LIS Å YO? PAT MISTERIO?

Here's something that will show if you're from Guam or Saipan.  In both places, the prayer of the rosary is called lisåyo .  But on Guam, both the beads themselves and the prayer are called lisåyo , while on Saipan, just the prayer itself is called lisåyo .  The beads are called misterio .  On Guam, you both pray the lisåyo and buy a lisåyo .  On Saipan, you pray the lisåyo but buy a misterio . Misterio , as you have guessed, means "mystery" or "mysteries," meaning the mysteries of the rosary.


CHARO

That's the Chamorro nickname for Rosario.  Ro - SARIO becomes CHARO.

BATTLE OF LEPANTO

An interesting story about how the praying of the Rosary was credited for the Catholic victory over the invading Turks in 1571.

flickr.com
Check it out at en.wikipedia.org /wiki/ Battle _ of _ Lepanto _ (1571)

TODAY IN HISTORY

Friday, October 14, 2011
FIRST PASSENGER FLIGHT ARRIVES ON GUAM
October 14, 1936


A year and a day after the first "test run" of the Clipper, the first airborn passengers arrived on Guam on a Pan Am flight from the States.  The airlines had built a small hotel in Sumay earlier in the year.  Prominent members of the American press were on board to write the story.  This first flight was made up of free passengers then.  But only twelve days later, on October 26, the first true, paying passengers arrived on Guam aboard the Pan Am flight.

The effects of commercial aviation to Guam were tangible.  The number of people on Guam mailing letters trippled.  Important Americans who could have an effect on Guam traveled through Guam as Pan Am flew passengers from the States to Manila and back.  Guam's isolation was greatly reduced.  Chamorros who could afford it also flew via Pan Am.

WAS GUAM ALWAYS PARTY ISLAND?

Friday, October 14, 2011
flickr.com
"This island revolves around food."
~~~quote from a stateside visitor

But was this always true?  Is this penchant for throwing a party at the drop of a hat deeply rooted in Chamorro culture?

Our ancestors, before the Spaniards came, certainly did feast and, when they did, they served all that was available.  But how fresh and healthy it all was!

Under the Spaniards, some things stayed the same; other things changed.  Many older foods remained (fish, d ågo , suni , lemmai , etc) but newer foods were introduced.  Many of these new foods required more intense labor in either farming or raising (corn, cattle, pigs, etc).  Conservation of these hard-won foods was now a value.  Some of them now had a price tag on them (so many pesos a head for cattle, for example).

Real poverty became an issue.  Even the early Spanish accounts speak of poorer and richer Chamorros before the Spaniards settled the Marianas, but the gap, I think, became sharper because there came about a greater variety of commodities to be had, or to lack.  Land values also differed; land where corn could be grown had a higher value than land where it could not be grown.

Whatever the socio-economic reasons for it, our ma ñaina before the war do not speak of Guam or Saipan as "Party Island."

Here's what one saina told me about times before the war :

" Å ntes nai na tiempo h å ssan na gu å ha gupot.  Solo an gu å ha umassagua.  Manfand å nggo.  Lao ti pareho yan p å 'go na tiempo ni todon kl å sen gupot gu å ha.  Gi bautismo, t å ya' gupot å ntes.  T å ya' "birthday."  T å ya' å ntes ma "bibirthday" gupot.  Hokkok ha' ni humosme misa.  Ennaogue' tiningo'-ho. An birthday-mo, hanao ha' humosme misa para i kumplea ñ os-mo.  Gi å ntes na tiempo sen popble ."

" Before, rarely were there parties.  Only when there's a wedding.  People will have a fandango.  But it wasn't the same as today where there are all kinds of parties.  Before, at a baptism, there was no party.  There were no birthday parties.  When it was your birthday, they didn't have a party.  All you did was go to Mass.  That's what I know.  When it's your birthday, go and hear Mass for your birthday.  Before, times were very poor ."

Even at the nine nights of rosaries for the dead, many man åmko' have told me that they never served meals at these rosaries, except on the last night.  On all other nights, mam åon (betel nut and its accoutrements) was definitely passed around. Broas (sponge cake) might also be available, or some other very light fare.

A few years ago, the bishop of Saipan had to direct his people to stop serving food at the nightly rosaries, except at the end ( finakpo' ).  He said it was getting out of hand; a lot of waste, a financial burden on the family, a feeling of competition among families.  He even pointed out the harm much of the food does to our health.

As long as the stores sell food, I think frequent, big parties are here to stay.  But it wasn't always that way.

TODAY IN HISTORY

Thursday, October 13, 2011
THE CLIPPER ARRIVES ON GUAM
October 13, 1935

Commemorative mail stamped on the day the Clipper arrived on Guam

On October 13, 1935, the first transpacific airplane flight from the West Coast arrived on Guam.  Pan American Airways sent the Clipper from San Francisco to Guam, via Honolulu, Midway and Wake, to survey the route, as Pan Am was ambitiously planning to "fly the Pacific."

The flight from San Francisco to Guam took 8 days to complete.  That meant that mail could reach either place in just a week and a day's time.

Within a year, commercial aviation would start on Guam.  One could fly in and out of Guam for the first time in history.

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : MA BASIA HIT GI CHALAN

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Ma basia hit gi chalan!
We are emptied into the street!

This reminds me of something I cannot do in the States, but have to do on Guam.  On Guam, I cannot throw away food in the garbage.  I have to basia tupperware, food containers, zip lock bags - not onto the street - but onto the ground at a distance from my home and the neighbors, but close enough where the animals can eat the food.

You can't do that in the States - unless you live in the desert or the woods.  In suburbia, there's not a speck of dust on a single blade of grass.

I know, I know - throwing food into the back yard invites rats and possibly snakes.  But my hope (well-grounded, I think) is that the chickens and dogs will get to it first, and I just can't stomach wasting food when it can feed God's animals.  I just try to avoid making the back yard a junk yard.

Basia .  To empty.

AIRPORT CHAMORRO

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

By the time our current airport was built in the early 1980s, the Chamorro language revival movement was in high gear.  So, many airport signs were bilingual from the get-go.

Here's one example.  It doesn't literally translate "food court." Fa ñ ochuyan means "place of eating."  It uses the FAN+WORD+AN formula I've been talking about "since ever since," as some say.

FAN+CHOCHO+AN = FAÑOCHUYAN

Chocho = to eat

Usually, but not always, wherever there is an N+CH combination, it become Ñ.

The Y is inserted because it fa ñochuYan sounds better to the Chamorro ear than "fa ñ ochuan."  Many languages do that.  Add, drop, substitute or change the pronunciation of letters because "it sounds better."  Think, in English, of the difference between "the eye" and "the sky."  "Thee eye" versus "thuh sky."

My only suggestion would be to make it Ñ, not N.  The poor little Ñ is virtually ignored nowadays.

FALSE FRIENDS : FRANELA

Wednesday, October 12, 2011
psdgraphics.com
*** False Friend : a word that is the same in two languages, but means two different things.

In Chamorro, the picture above is a franela . Franela is a Spanish word, but it usually doesn't mean T-shirt.

In most of the Spanish-speaking world, the picture above is a camiseta .  To most Spanish-speaking people, franela means "flannel."  Or, a vest.  Or, a sweatshirt.  In a few Spanish-speaking places, if you ask for a franela, you will get a T-shirt . But it isn't their normal word for it.

STICKER BURR STREET

Monday, October 10, 2011


Inifok means "sticker burr."

I'm glad that the sign doesn't say "Chalan Inifok Street"

wildflower.org

INIFOK

CHAMORRO HOSPITALITY

Sunday, October 9, 2011

We invite anybody.  Even people we met 5 minutes ago.

I had to go down to Malesso' for a funeral and stopped by Fort Santa Soledad in Humåtak.  There I met this gentleman, who I remembered as my parishioner.  He always sat on the left side of the church next to his wife.  Nowadays he can be found at the Fort, entertaining visitors with his conversation, offering coconut drinks and bananas.

He remembered me and, as we were talking, he started to invite these statesiders whom he had met just a few minutes prior.

We see over and over again in our culture.  It doesn't matter who you are or who you know.  You gotta pulse?  Come in and eat.

BIBA SAN DIONISIO

Saturday, October 8, 2011

This weekend there will be parties in Humåtak celebrating its patronal feast of San Dionisio.

The village, of course, is an ancient one.  Tradition has it that Magellan landed here in 1521 and replenished his ships with water and food.  The Chamorros in turn took things from his ships and Magellan burned down some of the houses of the village and took off.

By the time Sanvitores was in the Marianas, Humåtak was called San Antonio by the Spaniards and was the usual bay used by visiting ships.  In 1680 (eight years after Sanvitores' death), the Jesuits started a church in Humåtak, dedicated to San Dionisio Areopagita, a favorite devotion of the Duchess of Aveiro, a major benefactor of the Marianas mission.

Who was San Dionisio?  He was Greek; an official of the Areopagus, a court in Athens.  In the Book of Acts it is recorded that he was converted to Christianity by the preaching of Saint Paul.  He later became the second bishop of Athens.  His name in Latin is Dionysius; in French Denis and in English Dennis.

From the Chamorro Hymn to San Dionisio

Gi siudå giya Atenas / ma fanå'gue i saina-ta;
an un hungok si San Pablo / i anti-mo gef magmåta.
Ennao mina' un sen yute' / i linachen hinengge-mo.

(In the City of Athens / our patron was taught;
when you heard Saint Paul / your soul was truly awakened.
That is why you truly abandoned / your erroneous beliefs.)

thefierymind.wordpress.com

Like many early Christians, San Dionisio lost his head during the persecutions of the Christians.

MEMORIES OF HUMÅTAK

Saturday, October 8, 2011

I was Acting Pastor, September 1990-February 1991
Pastor, January 1997-April 1998

Twice I was assigned to Malesso', and both times I knew I was responsible for two different flocks, Malesso' and Humåtak.  They are neighbors and separated by just a couple of miles, but they are two different communities.

Things I remember about Humåtak :

I enjoyed being pastor of Humåtak, as well as of Malesso'.  I was there a short time, but I got to know people and up to now remember many of their names when I see them.  It's the advantage of being in a small village.  The joke (told by their own people) was Humåtak had 800 official residents and 1200 registered voters.


One thing I left behind.

In late 1997, I was standing on the platform in front of the church before a weekday Mass, as I always did, with Jesus Pat Quinata.  We looked at the bay and I mentioned to him, "Wouldn't it be nice to have a big white cross there?"  He agreed and that was that.  I bought the cement, and Jesus Pat built this cross.  I asked Archbishop Apuron to bless it at the 1997 Humåtak Fiesta as our Millenium Cross.  The Church was preparing for the year 2000, the New Millenium.  Three years prior, starting in 1997, this preparation was to begin.

Jesus Pat has since died.  He was his wife Pat were also very dedicated to the parish.  May he rest in peace.

CHAMORROS IN PALAU

Friday, October 7, 2011

CHAMORROS IN PALAU
During German times in the early 1900s


As soon as they could, many Chamorros packed their bags and left the Marianas on ships for all parts of the world.

In the early 1800s, the number of young Chamorro men leaving Guam as whalers was significant. Most never came back.

In 1886, Spain established a colonial government in the Caroline Islands for the first time, even though Spain had claimed these islands hundreds of years before. The threat of German commercial activity, and to a less extent American Protestant missionary work in the eastern Carolines, spurred the Spaniards to action.

Some Chamorros in the Marianas saw the beginning of a Spanish colonial government in Yap and Palau as an opportunity for them to move there and engage in trade or work for the Spanish government as teachers or middle-men between the Spaniards and the native Yapese and Palauans.

Yap received more Chamorro settlers in the 1880s and 90s, but Palau also attracted a few. Some of these early Chamorro immigrants to Palau were from the Borja, Aguon and Flores families.



MOVED TO PALAU FROM GUAM
Mariano de León Guerrero Borja and his wife the former Ana Aguon Flores
(photo from Borja family)


CHAMORRO ENCLAVE IN NGATMEL

Many of the Chamorros in Palau decided to confine their life and activities to the remote northern tip of Babeldaob, the main island. The area was called Ngatmel. The Catholic missionaries always remarked how devout the Chamorros were in their religion, and how some Chamorros were a big help to the missionaries in their work with the Palauan community. In time, a church was built in Ngatmel for the Chamorro families there.

The German missionaries said that the Chamorro community in Ngatmel did very well in "their lonely seclusion." By 1911, a Chamorro teacher (one for the entire, small community) had built a school and it was doing well.




NGATMEL


AGUON-BORJA-FLORES

The pillars of the Chamorro community in Ngatmel were from three main families, and there was a bit of intermarriage between them. One person would be the first to go to Palau, and then an in-law or sibling might follow. Most of this movement happened during the late Spanish times, in the 1880s and 90s.

The AGUONS who settled in Palau were the children of JOSÉ CEPEDA AGUON and his wife MARÍA DUEÑAS BORJA. You can see right there that the Aguons and Borjas were already combined.

María's brother SIMÓN DUEÑAS BORJA also moved to Palau.

A nephew, JOAQUÍN AGUON FLORES, also moved to Palau.

Most of the Chamorros moved back to the Marianas after World War II. But many of the ones who had Palauan blood tended to stay.



A BORJA IN PALAU

Theodoro, for example, has the Chamorro last name Borja, but is considered Palauan, having Palauan blood.



EMILIO BORJA
was Chamorro / Palauan



AGUON FROM PALAU

Saipan's Bishop Tomás Aguon Camacho was the son of a Chamorro lady born in Palau, María Borja Aguon, born in Palau in 1905, the daughter of Juan Borja Aguon and Vicenta de León Guerrero Borja.




VICENTE VIDAL AGUON and his wife CONCEPCIÓN CAMACHO BORJA
(photo from Borja family)


This Chamorro couple were both born in Palau around 1900. Vicente was the son of Ramón Borja Aguon of Guam and Regina Vidal. Concepción was the daughter of José de León Guerrero Borja and Rosario Cruz Camacho (familian Yeye') also of Guam.

This dear old lady, Tan Estefania Flores Camacho, was born in Palau but then moved to Saipan as a young woman when she married a man from Saipan.  She is 90 years old and still speaks Palauan, as well as Chamorro.  Her father Joaquin Aguon Flores was one of those Chamorros, born on Guam in the 1800s, who moved to Palau and died there.  Joaquin married a woman who was half-German, half-Chamorro.



ESTEFANÍA FLORES, MARRIED CAMACHO
Born in Palau



ANGAUR

Georg Fritz Collection, MARC

PHOSPHATE MINES IN ANGAUR
Many Chamorros worked here during German and Japanese times


Angaur is one of the islands of Palau, situated at the south of the island chain. Phosphate was discovered there and the Germans, who came in 1899, decided to mine it. They needed workers, and they got workers from all over Micronesia.





Some of the Chamorros living in Ngatmel moved to Angaur to work the mines, but other Chamorros from Saipan, and a few from Luta, also came to Angaur. Remember that the Northern Marianas were now under the Germans, so it was easy from Chamorros from Saipan and Luta to move to Palau.

Other Chamorros from the Northern Marianas later came in the 1930s to work for the Japanese Administration offices in Palau, or even to study.




CHAMORRO GRAVE IN ANGAUR
Baby Cecilia Camacho Cabrera 1923


After world War II, the majority of the Palau Chamorros moved back to the Marianas.  But, to this day, there are people in Palau with the last names Borja and Aguon.


NGERCHUR, OR "AGUON ISLAND"



At the very top of Babeldaob, the main island of Palau, lie two tiny islands. The smaller one is called Ngerkeklau and the bigger one is called Ngerchur.

Both islands are not far at all from Ngatmel, the Chamorro colony in northern Palau.

The story goes that David O'Keefe, an Irish-American adventurer, bought Ngerchur from the Palauans and in turn gave the island to a Chamorro settler in Palau named RAMÓN BORJA AGUON. Ramón was part of the Aguon clan that moved to Palau.

Ramón's family basically lived on Ngerchur, and there are even Chamorro graves on the island till today. After the war, many of the Aguons moved away from Palau, going back to either Guam or the Northern Marianas.

But many of the Aguons who had Palauan blood remained in Palau. One of them, named Tobias Aguon, even became Governor of Ngarchelong, the state where Ngatmel is located.



A PALAUAN NAMED AGUON

Ismael Aguon, a descendant of Ramón Borja Aguon who owned Ngerchur Island, is now Director of the Bureau of Public Safety in Palau, more or less what we would call a Chief of Police.



AN AGUON CAN TAKE YOU TO "AGUON ISLAND"

Swing Aguon, a Palauan descendant of Ramón Borja Aguon, operates Swing's Palau Tours and can be hired to take you on his boat to Ngerchur (Aguon) Island or wherever else you might want to go in Palau.




In this video I talk to residents of the northern tip of Babeldaob, near where the prewar Chamorros lived in Ngatmel, about the Chamorros and the Aguons of Ngerchur Island.

MALOLOFFAN SI SÅNTA MARIAN KÅMALEN

Wednesday, October 5, 2011


Ilek-ñiha i man åmko' giya Hagåtña, na åntes de gera, kåda chatanmak, gigon ma dåndån i åtba, siempre u faloffan si Sånta Marian Kåmalen gi siudå.  Håfa na ha cho'gue este si Sånta Maria?  Sa' pot famagu'on-ña todos i man Chamorro, ya ha bendidise todo siha mientras lumålao taiguennao na tinaftaf ora gi chatanmak.  Ennao mina' mansangan na, guåha na biåhe, i taotao siha ni manhosme Misa gi chatanmak, ma repåra na fotgon yan gai inifok i imåhen Sånta Maria gi Katedrat Hagåtña.  Sa' håfa?  Sa' maloffan si Sånta Maria gi katsåda annai fofotgon ha' i cha'guan sa' trabia ti mananana si Yu'us.

Lao ti gi chatanmak ha' nai maloloffan si Sånta Maria gi halom i siudå, na kontodo gi annai esta para u homhom gi minachom i atdao, åntes de i oran orasion.  Ennao mina' ilek-ñiha i mañaina gi famagu'on-ñiha na cha'-ñiha fanbåbålli yan mungnga ma baba i payo gi halom guma', o sino ti u sugo' si Sånta Maria guato gi gima'-ñiha para u fan nina'e nu i bendision-ña.

There was a deep belief among many people of Hagåt ñ a before the war that Our Lady of Camarin walked the streets of the city in the early morning when it was still dark to bless her people.  Some who went to the pre-dawn Mass claim they saw that her image was wet, with sticker burrs clinging to it, as evidence of her early stroll through the streets of the city.


But she was also supposed to make the same passage through the city at dusk.  You were not to open an umbrella or sweep the house at this time, or else Our Lady may not stop in front of your house to give you a blessing.


40 CENTS AN HOUR

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Just nine months after liberation from the Japanese, my grandmother's sister, Asuncion, was hired by the Naval Government to work as clerk for the Land and Claims Commission.

Her pay was 40 cents an hour.  Assuming she worked 8 hours a day, that was $3.20 a day.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : POTTA

Tuesday, October 4, 2011
janettelarobina.wordpress.com

POTTA : door

Borrowed from the Spanish puerta , meaning the same.

I petta.  The door.

Baba i petta.  Open the door.

Huchom i petta.  Close the door.

Kand å lo i petta.  Lock the door.

Dångkulo na potta.  A large door.

Did pre-Spanish Chamorros have doors?  There is a difference between an entrance and a door.  An entrance is simply an opening that allows access and departure.  A door is a physical object that actually blocks the entrance when desired.

If our ancestors never used doors, then borrowing puerta is understandable.

But even without doors, entrances to homes, caves, lagoons and so forth certainly existed.  Pale' Roman thinks sågua' served the purpose of naming any entrance. Sågua' is now almost exclusively used to refer to a channel, which is an opening or entrance in the reef allowing access in and out of shallow water as opposed to the deep sea.

Pale' Roman also makes use of the FAN+WORD+AN formula and proposed fanhaluman as an indigenous term for "door."  FAN+HALOM+AN.

But hålom means "to enter" (and also "inside") so fanhaluman essentially means "entrance."  But Pale' Roman uses it when translating "Gate of Heaven." Fanhaluman i Langet .

A very common trait in Chamorro is to shorten words by dropping sounds and letters at the beginning, or end or within a word.  So, another form of fanhaluman is fanhakman .

From a Chamorro hymn :

I pettan i sagr å rio / Påle' babaye ham
( The door of the tabernacle / Father, open for us )

Na' huyong i Saina-ta / yan nå'e ham!
( Bring out our Lord / and give Him to us !)

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO' : ADAHE I SIRENO

Monday, October 3, 2011
Sireno is taken from the Spanish word sereno , which means several things, but one of them is "the night dew."  For Chamorros, the sireno is that time after sunset all the way till dawn, when the cool night air is said to bring illness.

Chamorros are very aware of the differences between the heat of the day and the cool of the night, and believe that moving from one extreme to the other is bad for our health.  Even today, going from the air conditioned car or room to the heat of the outdoors is routinely blamed for colds, coughs and flus.

In pre-war Guam, the night really could be cool.  Just go south where there is less traffic, asphalt and housing and you can detect the coolness of the night air, especially in the hills.  One January evening on Capitol Hill in Saipan, at a social gathering held in the lawn, it got so cool I actually wanted a sweater.

The man åmko' tried to avoid going out in the sireno .  If one went out, you were ordered to " tåmpe i ilu-mo !"  Cover your head!

fineartamerica.com
"Båba i sireno!
Tåmpe i ilu-mo!"

SALAMÅNGKA

Monday, October 3, 2011
One often hears, in Chamorro, the threat, " Adahe, o sino bai na' salamångka hao !"  "Watch out, or I will make you trip!"

The word puzzled me, because there is a well-known Spanish city called Salamanca, home of a famous and very old university.

But salamångka also means to outwit, to outmaneuver, to trick.  It can also mean to somersault, or to lose one's balance and fall.

How did any of this come from the name of a Spanish city?

A look into a Tagalog dictionary offered some surprises.  In Tagalog, salamangka means to trick, by magic or slight of hand.  It can also mean to juggle.  These all have connections with the Chamorro meanings.  With so much contact between Filipinos and Chamorros during Spanish times, I wouldn't be surprised if this where it all started.  But where did Filipinos get salamangka ?  Maybe it has nothing to do with the City of Salamanca.

salamanca-world-guides.com

LOST SURNAMES : CORTES

Sunday, October 2, 2011
fotolog.com

There was until about 100 years ago a Cortes family on Guam, and a branch of the Torres family to this day is known by this name.  There is a Juan Blas Cortes in the 1758 Census and he is listed among the Filipino (Pampanga) soldiers.  But he married a Chamorro, Agustina Tatmaulek. Tatmaulek means "never good."  Maybe she should have married one of the Namauleg boys ( Na'maulek means "make good.") instead.

Because there are no census records after 1758 until much later, we cannot say for certain that Juan Blas Cortes is the patriarch of the Cortes family that lived on Guam in the 1800s.

There is also in the records one Don Juan Cortes living on Guam in 1771, who is described as a Spaniard from Latin America (not Spain itself).  I know nothing more about him.  But he, too, could have settled on Guam and married a Chamorro woman and he could be the patriarch of the family, rather than Juan Blas Cortes of Pampanga.

In any event, a Cortes woman married into the Torres family and by the 1830s we have one Luis Cortes Torres.  This branch of the Torres clan became better-known-as the familian Kottes, and now you know why.

Luis married Joaquina Palomo Espinosa.  Some of their children married into the Kabesa Flores clan and became some of the first Chamorro Protestants around 1899/1900.

In Malesso', one Joaquina Espinosa Cortes, already 60 in the year 1897, was the widow of a Chinese man named Agustin Diotengco.  They had three daughters so the Diotengco name died out, but there are people in Malesso' today who are their descendants.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : ÅGANG

Sunday, October 2, 2011
thinkfun.com
Nåna!
ÅGANG : to call

* Be careful not to confuse with a'gang , which means "loud."

Ågang si Jose.  Call Jose.

I patgon ha å'ågang si nanå-ña.  The child is calling her mother.

Hu ågang hao gi painge.  I called you last night.

Inagang hao as Maria.  Maria called you.

Agånge.  To call for, to invite.

Ti måtto yo' sa' ti un agånge yo'.  I didn't come because you didn't invite me.

Meggai siha i man ma agånge.  The invited were many.

Inagang.  Call.

Bai hu nanangga i inagång-mo.  I'll be waiting for your call.

Ti ha nangga i inagang Yu'us.  She didn't wait for the call of God. Said of someone who took his/her own life.

Ma ågang.  To announce.

Historical Anecdote

Only until recently, all couples intending to get married in the Church had their names announced in Mass many weeks before the wedding, several times.  This was done so that if anyone had any information about either bride or groom that would prevent the wedding (for example, if either bride or groom was actually married already but no one in the town knew about it except the informant), that information could be obtained.

These announcements were called wedding banns in English, and amonestasion in Chamorro.  But they were also called ma ågang : i finena'na na ma ågang-ñiha, i mina' dos ...  ( their first announcement, second...).

LUKAO ENTIERO : Funeral Procession

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Today I officiated at a funeral Mass in my old parish of San Dimas in Malesso'.  The family decided to walk from the church to the cemetery, about a third of a mile, I'd say.  This was, of course, standard procedure in the old days when cemeteries were always local, within the village.  Even in Hagåtña, the funeral procession walked from the church to Pigo'.

KÅNTAN SAN FRANCISCO

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Today, the village of Yoña celebrates its patronal feast in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi, in Chamorro, San Francisco de Asís.

There are several hymns to him, but the most commonly sung is " Mames na Tåta ."  The above clip has part of the hymn.  It begins,

Mames na tåta, ma sen gofli'e hao,
( Sweet Father, you are very loved ,)

sa' un fa' maolek i fumatoigue hao.
( because you make well those who come to you.)

O San Francisco!  Hungok i ginagao,
( Oh Saint Francis!  Hear the plea ,)

i linahyan taotao ni umagånge hao.
( of the crowd of people who call to you .)

SELLING TO THE WHALERS

Friday, September 30, 2011
informatik.uni-hamburg.de

During the 1800s, many whaling ships, mostly British and American, stopped by Guam to get food and to allow the crew to rest a bit.  According to one of the doctors on board a whaling ship that stopped on Guam in 1831, this is what the ship bought while docked on Guam :

Oranges (50 cents for 100)
Coconuts
Plantains (cooking bananas)
Lemons
Bananas
Pineapple
Breadfruit

Yams
Sweet Potatoes
these roots sold for 3 or 4 reales for a 20 pound basket

Bulls ($12-$18 each)
Pigs ($3-$4 each)

homewineschool.com

IT'S LALANGHITA TIME

Friday, September 30, 2011

Lalanghita
Tangerine
Citrus nobilis

We've been getting BAGS and BAGS of lalanghita in the past couple of weeks.  This year they seem to be so much more juicy and tasty.

Safford says that the fruit was of recent introduction to Guam when he was writing in the early 1900s.  He said that several trees of it were growing in the garden of the home of Don José Herrero in the barrio of San Ramon in Hagåtña.

He also says that it was called " kåhet na dikkike' " (small orange) by the Chamorros. Lalanghita comes from the Spanish naranjita , or "small orange," as naranja is Spanish for "orange."  The letter R was always a problem for our mañaina so they substituted it with an L.  And some Spanish words beginning with N were also changed in Chamorro to L.  For example, our word latiya comes from the Spanish natilla , which means "little cream" or "custard."  Filipinos also have their own modification of the Spanish name of this fruit, calling it dalanghita .

PATRONON TALOFOFO : SAN MIGET ATKÅNGHET

Thursday, September 29, 2011

September 29 is the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, Patron of Talofofo.  Well, I guess it is only fitting that God's Archangel be patron of God's Country .

"Michael" is Hebrew, derived from the question "Who is like God?"  The El in Micha-el is the Hebrew generic term for the deity or God.  Notice how -el pops up frequently in names like Daniel, Gabriel, Israel and so on.

This angel has that name because he did battle with Lucifer who claimed to be equal to God.  Michael opposes this hubris with the question : Who is like (equal to) God?  The answer : No one.

This theology is reflected in one of the Chamorro hymns to San Miget Atkånghet.

Håye si Yu'us?  Taichilong si Yu'us.
( Who is God? God is without equal .)

San Miget Atkånghet, hungok magogof
( Saint Michael the Archangel, be pleased to hear )

i in sangan på'go na tinayuyut.
( the prayers we now say .)

San Miget Atkånghet, chomma si Satán
( Saint Michael the Archangel, push back Satan )

sa' i manganite ti yan-ñiha ham.
( because the demons do not love us .)

Before the war, Talofofo was a mission chapel under Inarajan parish.  I'll have to dig more to verify or debunk, but if the first chapel was built after 1935 and if the devotion started only then, I wouldn't be surprised if Saint Michael was chosen to be the patron because the new bishop at the time was Bishop Olano, whose first name was Miguel Ángel, or Michael Angel.

Chamorro Prayer to San Miget Atkånghet
( this was said after every Low Mass back in the day and to this day in the traditional Latin Mass )

San Miget Atkånghet, goggue ham gi mimu, pattang ham gi tinailaye yan i ginadde' i manganite siha.  Si Yu'us u tinago' gue', in tatayuyut hao man umitde, ya hågo, må'gas i ehetsiton långet, dulalak nu i yiniusan minetgot-mo guato sasalåguan si Satanås yan i pumalo na man chatante ni i manailaye, na manlalayao gi tano' ha na' kekefanailaye i ante siha.  Taiguennao mohon.

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.  May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.  Amen.

goggue = defend
gi mimu = mumu means "fight" or "battle"
pattang = to block or shield
ginadde' = gadde' means to "ensnare, trap"
manganite = anite means "demon." Man+anite = manganite = demons (plural)
ehetsiton = ehetsito means "army," borrowed from the Spanish ejército .  Stress is on the 2nd syllable : e-HET-si-to.
dulalak = chase away
yiniusan = divine.  From " Yu'us " or God. Yiniusan = godlike
chatante = ånte means "spirit." Chat means a defect in quality.  So, "bad spirits."
na' kekefanailaye = tailaye means "evil." Ke means "to try to, to attempt." Na' ketailaye = trying to make evil.

One of our faithful readers points out where to hear the original Spanish version of this hymn :

THE LUTO STILL AROUND

Thursday, September 29, 2011

This woman lost her sister almost a year ago.  She practices the old custom of the luto , wearing black to church for one whole year till the first death anniversary.  The custom is rarely practiced now, but some are keeping the tradition.

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO' : I PATGON HA ESPIPIA I SAINA

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Ilek- ñ iha i man å mko' : Åhe' ti i saina para u espia i patgon, na i patgon para u espia i saina.

The elder does not go looking for the younger; the younger has the obligation to look for the older.  If the nephew or grandson complains that the uncle, aunt or grandparent never visits him, his grievance is without merit in our eyes, because it is his obligation to visit the saina , not the other way around.

El viejo no busca al joven; es el joven que tiene la obligación de buscar al viejo.  Los sobrinos buscan al tío o a la tía; los nietos buscan al abuelo o a la abuela.  Pasan años y los viejos no van a buscar a los jóvenes.

WHERE - DELICIOUS - WRITE

Tuesday, September 27, 2011
A SHORT LESSON ON SPELLING WHAT YOU HEAR

The following three words are somewhat close in pronunciation and are notoriously (mis)spelled in any number of ways.  Hearing closely what is said will help you enunciate them clearly and spell them more accurately to avoid miscommunication.

MÅNGGE?  WHERE?

Separate the syllables.  MÅNG + GE
The Å is the open "a."
There is no glota ( ' ) after "ge."

MÅNNGE'!  DELICIOUS!

Separate the syllables.  MÅN + NGE'
Pronounce both syllables separately.
Notice the glota.

MÅNGE'.  TO WRITE.

Separate the syllables.  MÅN + GE'
It has the same first syllable as in månnge' .
It ends with a glota, as in månnge' .
But there is no "ng" sound as there is in månnge' .
You hear instead a hard "g." Ge' .

It comes from the root word tuge' . Write.
But when you use tuge' as a general action, as in "to write a letter," you put " man " in front of tuge' .
Månge' yo' kåtta .  I wrote a letter.
"A letter" is not specific; it is indefinite and general.  We're not sure what letter.
Saying "the letter" is specific. Not "a" letter but "the" letter.  Here you switch to tuge' .
Hu tuge' i katta .  I wrote the letter.

MAN + TUGE' = MÅNGE'

The " tu " is dropped.  It becomes månge ' .

PS - Many will spell some or all the above with an "i" at the end instead of an "e." Månggi?  Månngi'!  Mångi' .

ÅNTES DE "HEART ATTACK"

Tuesday, September 27, 2011
wellness.nku.edu

Jose : Juan, kuåttro na kosas masusesedi åntes de un "heart attack."  Håfa siha?

Juan : Uno, siempre bobongbong i korason-mo; pues, putititi i haof-mo; pues, chatsaga siempre i hinagong-mo; pues, siña puti i kanai-mo, pat apagå'-mo pat tatalo'-mo.
Jose : Åhe', Juan.  Lache hao.

Juan : Pues håfa siha nai?
Jose : Uno, chumochocho hao fritåda; pues, gumigimen hao setbesa; pues, chumuchupa hao; pues umåsson hao ya un maigo'!

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES : DUKDUK!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Walking past this hole in a field near a beach the other day, I was reminded of this :

flickr.com
THE DUKDUK!
Which hides in holes in the sandy soil like the one above.


When I was a kid, it was all the rave to pick up the dukduk and say " dukdukdukdukdukdukdukduk " into it as close as you could get your lips to it.  Sometimes the crab would come out and tickle your lips with its legs.

This is a Chamorro word that should be pronounced with Chamorro vowels; as in dook dook , not duck duck.

OVER 10,000 HITS!

Monday, September 26, 2011
10,076 HITS
as of September 25

In descending order :

GUAM
4284

USA
3645

SPAIN
333

PHILIPPINES
232

PERU
203

MALAYSIA
170

NORTHERN MARIANAS
164

GERMANY
144

JAPAN
119

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO : SHOES

Sunday, September 25, 2011
http://www.meeru.com/
You know you're Chamorro when you take your shoes or slippers off before you enter a home.  It prevents bringing dust and mud into the home and, personally, I feel more comfortable walking around in socks.  I do it even in the States, and there's not a few mainland Chamorros who tell me not to do it, and I respond with a Chamorro "Ha?"

Guåha probechon-ña este na kostumbren Chamorro, i para ta pula' i sapatos-ta pat changkletås-ta åntes de ta fan hålom gi gima'.  Man applacha' i sapatos-ta, piot yanggen kafache pat potbos.  Mutcho mås yanggen ta gatcha' i take' ga'lågo pat otro na klåsen inapplacha' gi katsåda!


Åmbres gi san lago hu pupula' ha' i sapatos-ho åntes de hu hålom gi gima' yanggen iyon Chamorro na guma', sa' mannge'-ña para guåho mamokkat sumin sapåpåtos ke ni para bai usa i sapatos-ho gi halom guma'.  Meggai biåhe kontodo i gai gima' na Chamorro sumangångåne yo' "Påle'! Mungnga ma pula' i sapatos-mo!"  Lao siempre bai hu sangåne gue' "Ha?  Maipe i addeng-ho ya ga'o-ko hu pula'!"

This family is nice enough to provide a shoe horn for you and neatly stack your shoes on shelves!

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : ÅBE MARIA PURISIMA

Sunday, September 25, 2011

I was taught to say " Å be Maria Purisima " when calling at the door of any house.  It's a Spanish phrase meaning "Hail Mary most pure."  The person or persons inside would respond, " Sin pekådo konsebida ," "conceived without sin."

Tan Esco greets me this traditional way in this clip, and signs herself, too.  Then she proceeds to tell me that she knew I would be visiting her that day because she saw me on the televised Mass that morning.

" Å be Maria Purisima " is also the traditional Chamorro way of ending any prayers.  And it can also be used as an exclamation, as in "Oh my!"

SOME CHAMORRO OFFICIALS

Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Colegio de San Juan de Letrán
Hagåtña

Blessed Diego Luís de Sanvitores established a school in Hagåtña, the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán (named after Saint John Lateran in Rome). Colegio did not mean "college" in the modern, American sense (like a university).  A colegio in those days simply meant "school."  It was financed through a grant from the Spanish Queen María Ana de Austria, from whom we get the name Marianas for all our islands.

The colegio maintained two ranches at one time, to earn some income and to train students.  One ranch was at Agofan and the other at Toto.

As early as 1786, which is just 118 years after Sanvitores arrived, some of the colegio's officials were Chamorros.  The rector of the colegio was the Spanish priest of Hagåtña, but the mayordomo , teacher and ranch managers were all Chamorros, with mainly indigenous surnames.  The mayordomo was a kind of superintendent, looking after the daily affairs of the school.

From a salary list of 1786, we know who these officials were :

Basilio Taitiguang - Mayordomo
Pedro Ñauta - teacher
Francisco Quitugua - manager, Agofan ranch
Luciano Guerrero - manager, Toto ranch

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : LAMASA

Wednesday, September 21, 2011
homepages.sover.net
LAMASA : table

This is a word we borrowed from the Spanish word for "table," mesa .  In Spanish, "the table" is " la mesa ."  Our mañaina pronounced it " la masa " and that's where we got lamasa .   So, yes, the Mesa family has "table" for a family name.

To "set the table" is plånta i lamasa .

Pale' Roman de Vera, Capuchin, always trying to get back to an indigenous term, though he was a Spaniard himself, offers us the word fañahangan for "table."

Remember the FAN+WORD+AN formula?  It makes a word become the "place of" or the "time of" that word. Sahang means "to place something above the floor."  A table does exactly that.

FAN+SAHANG+AN = fañahangan.

It would be nice to find out if Pale' Roman got fañasahang from an older Chamorro or missionary who remembered it as another word for "table," or if he read it in an older book (less likely) or if he just used logic to come up with the word.

UMASSAGUAN TÅTTEN POTTA

Tuesday, September 20, 2011
damascusroadministry.org
Umassaguan Tåtten Potta
To be Married behind the Door

Before the war, if parents discovered that their unmarried daughter was with child, they often looked for the father of the child.  Both sets of parents would talk.  As with many cultures, the two families felt that they had to "make things right" between the boy and girl, and for the baby on its way.

Since all of this was a huge embarrassment to both families, the priest usually agreed to marry the two of them in a quiet way, avoiding the use of the main church.  Since bride and groom can marry without Mass, the priest often took the bride and groom "behind the door," that is, inside his sacristy (the priest's dressing room behind the sanctuary) or sometimes inside his rectory (office) and performed the exchange of vows there.

The newlyweds would live under the same roof now, be seen publicly as husband and wife and, hopefully, no one would notice that the mother gave birth a little less than nine months after the quiet wedding.

ROTA ELECTIONS 1893

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Luta (Rota) under the Spanish had its own mayor ( alcalde ) as well as a district leader ( gobernadorcillo , or "little governor").  Every two years (by the late 1800s) the principal men of the community ( principales ) would vote for a gobernadorcillo , but the vote was purely consultative.  The Governor of the Marianas selected the man.  The priest also put in his opinion, which was not always followed.

In 1893, the electors were Julian Borja Songao, Gregorio Jocog Mangloña, Mariano Inos Mangloña, Leocadio Jocog Taimañao, Vicente Jocog Mangloña, Benito Angoco Atalig, Mariano Maratita Ayuyu, Francisco Taisacan Mangloña, Braulio Songao Mangloña, Pedro Cruz Taitano, Domingo Maratita Ayuyu and Castulo Jocog Mangloña.  Jose Blas Mendiola was the outgoing gobernadorcillo .

Vicente Jocog Mangloña got the most votes and was also endorsed by the priest.  He was the one selected by the Governor.

If your name was Songao, Mangloña, Inos, Jocog, Taimañao, Atalig, Maratita, Ayuyu or Taisacan, you had roots in Luta.  If you were a Borja, Angoco, Taitano, Mendiola - you were either born on Guam or had a parent that was.

MAÑAINA

Monday, September 19, 2011
flickr.com
Here's what William Safford, Navy official on Guam in the early 1900s, said about the way we treated our parents in his day :

"On their part sons and daughters show the greatest respect and affection for their parents, recognizing their authority as long as they live.  It is not unusual for a man or woman of 40 or 50 years to ask permission of his parents before engaging in a business transaction, and the spectacle of old women, abandoned and forgotten by their children, acting as water carriers, etc., so common in Samoa and among our Indian tribes, is unknown in Guam.  Parents are tenderly cared for in their old age, treated with deference even when in their dotage, and depart this life accompanied by the prayers of all their family, all of whom leave their occupations and come from the most distant parts of the island to be with them during their last moments."

"Onra si tatå-mo yan si nanå-mo."  I mina' kuattro na Tinago' Yu'us.

THE BIG FISH

Monday, September 19, 2011
funny-potato.com
WHY IS GUAM SO NARROW IN THE MIDDLE?

destination360.com
It really is just 4 miles or so from Hagåtña to Pago Bay.  That's narrow!

According to legend, a really big fish started eating Guam, biting out big chunks of it.  Maybe that explains the perfect bite-sized shape of Pago Bay (if you had a big mouth).


The men couldn't do anything about the big fish, so the women came to the rescue!

superstock.co.uk
The women used their long, flowing hair to weave a giant net to capture the big fish and Guam was saved.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : HÅSPOK

Friday, September 16, 2011
prongersmithmedical.com
HÅSPOK : full (satiated; full stomach)

Håspok yo'.  I am full.

Kao håspok hao?  Are you full?

Ei na hinåspok yo'!  Boy am I full!

Na' håspok.  Satisfying, capable of making one full.

Ti na' håspok i aga'.  Bananas don't make one full.

Håspok can, in fact, be used figuratively or poetically to denote emotional satisfaction.

Na' håspok yo' minagof!  Make me full of happiness!

Håspok yo' pinite.  I am more than full of pain.

Here's a saying that is true enough :

Puti ñålang; puti håspok.

The tummy hurts when it's hungry; it hurts when it's full.

I PAYESYES

Friday, September 16, 2011
wikipedia.com
An Extinct Species?
More than likely on Guam, at least.

The payesyes (Pacific sheath-tailed bat; emballonura semicaudata) is a smaller bat than the fanihi .

The last sighting of it on Guam was in 1972.  In 1984, they were discovered living on Aguiguan, whereas they had disappeared from the larger islands of the Commonwealth by then.

In the Malojlo area, there was an area called Liyang Payesyes (Payesyes Cave).  A Malojlo woman told me she was born there at the end of World War II where her family had taken refuge from the bombing during the American return in July 1944.

There is also a family that goes by Payesyes as it's "better-known-as."

Perhaps because they were too small to offer much in the way of eating, our mañaina didn't hunt payesyes .  They stayed in caves during the day and only came out in the dark to eat insects.  Habitat disturbance, and perhaps the brown tree snake, account for its disappearance.


AGUIGUAN
South of Tinian, North of Rota
The last home of the payesyes

If the U.S. military still uses Aguiguan for bombing practice, what will become of the payesyes and other critters unique to the Marianas and otherwise?

FRIHONÅDAS NA SINANGAN

Friday, September 16, 2011
savorsa.com

Arekglådo kon champulådo!

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Thursday, September 15, 2011
focus.commercialappeal.com

Guåha ga'-ho galagito / si Menggåno i na'ån-ña;
ti manlili'e sa' båtchet / ti manhuhungok sa' tangnga.

I have a pet puppy / Menggano is his name;
he doesn't see because he's blind / he doesn't hear because he's deaf.


Gof na'masi si Menggåno, no?

In Chamorro, you don't say "I have a dog" or "I have a cat."  You say "There is my animal dog" or "my animal cat" or whatever animal you may have. Gå'ga' means "animal," but when it becomes someone's possession, gå'ga' becomes ga' . Ga'-ho , "my animal." Ga'-mo , "your animal."

Galagito .  A Chamorro word transformed in a Spanish way. Ga'lågo (literally, "animal from the direction of the sea" because dogs came with the European ships) takes on the Spanish diminutive -ito.  Any word changed to -ito makes it a smaller thing. Galagito means "small ga'lågo " or "puppy."

Menggåno is also Spanish; it isn't a real name.  It is one way of calling someone "so-and-so," or "what's his name."



IF YOUR NAME IS DOLORES...

Thursday, September 15, 2011
spanishcolonial.com
TODAY IS THE FEAST OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS
"DOLORES"

Dolor is Spanish for "pain" but has also been used to mean spiritual "sorrow." Dolores means "sorrows."  Our Lady of Sorrows.  So many Chamorro girls were baptized with the name Dolores.  Why the plural?  Seven sorrows, nai.  Not just one.

Nicknames for Dolores are Lole', but that sounds too much like an elderly lady's nickname, so Loling was another favorite pet name for Dolores.  Then...just to complicate things...Loling sometimes becomes Ling.

Some ladies, following Americanized tastes, become Lolly rather than Lole' or Loling.

FAMILY HEIRLOOMS

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

TODAY IS THE FEAST OF THE HOLY CROSS
Not many years ago, Chamorros erected many roadside crosses all over the island

This wooden cross ( Såntos Kilu'us ) is fast approaching 100 years old.  It was made in 1918 by the present owner's grandfather.  The lady still keeps the family promesa , the novena to the Holy Cross ( Nobenan Såntos Kilu'us , or Santa Cruz) every year.

In Spanish times and even into American times, Chamorros had the custom of erecting shrines of the Såntos Kilu'us all along the roads.  Only in the last twenty years did I see some of these shrines fall by the wayside.  Prior to this, I remember seeing a wooden or concrete cross on the roadside here and there.

I believe one of the reasons for this custom was to claim the land for God, and to abate the fear people had of the taotaomo'na .  People had a fear of the unpopulated areas because of the spirits, so to see the Holy Cross here and there along the quiet, dusty roads was re-assuring.

CROSS -VS- CRUCIFIX

A crucifix is a cross with the figure of Jesus (called the corpus) on it.  If there's no corpus, it's called a cross.

en.wikipedia.org

This is a crucifix ( krusifiho ), not a cross, because it has the body (corpus) of Jesus on it.

historicguam.org

ATANTÅNO SHRINE
is an example of the many roadside crosses that were erected on Guam

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : OMBRE

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

PAUL NEWMAN STARRING IN THE MOVIE HOMBRE


OMBRE!



The word comes from the Spanish "hombre."  The H in Spanish is silent; it isn't said.  "Hombre" means "man" and is used just like we would say in English, "C'mon man!"

One could also spell it ÅMBRE, but not UMBRE, because, in Chamorro, U is pronounced like OO as in TamUning.  You young folks out there are so used to seeing everything through English lenses that, when you see U, you think UH as in UNderstand.

Ombre is often used in combination with other words, like :

Ombre, ga'chong!
Ombre, lai!
Ombre, pot fabot!
Ombre, iya'!

Or at the end of phrases, like :

Maila', ombre!
Båsta, ombre!
Nihi, ombre!

At times, ombre denotes a sign of exasperation.  "I'm tired of you kidding around, wasting my time, let's get on with it, man!"



From a 1913 court case

In 1913, a witness quotes someone speaking Chamorro, who starts off saying, "Ombre," but spelled in the original Spanish.

THREE CHAMORROS IN MANILA - 1671

Wednesday, September 14, 2011
en.wikipedia.org
Three years after establishing the Catholic mission in the Marianas, Påle' Sanvitores decided to send three Catholic Chamorros to Manila so that they could grow stronger in their new convictions by seeing the larger picture of the Church.  They would come back to the Marianas, then, and tell the others what they saw in Manila.  I wonder, though, if Sanvitores also saw this as a way he could win more support for the Marianas mission from Spanish authorities in Manila by showing them the fruit of their labors.

The three Chamorros sent were all from the nobility.  Two were brothers, Pedro Guiran and Matías Yay.  The third was Ignacio Osi.  Two things to mention right away :

The pre-contact Chamorros, like everybody else in the beginning, had personal names only.  They did not have last (or family) names.  When they were baptized, they received a Christian name as well.  Their original Chamorro name then became like a last name.  So, a Chamorro named Taimañao, for example (meaning "fearless") might be given the name Jose at baptism.  He'd now be called Jose Taimañao.

That's how two brothers, Pedro and Matías, had two different "last" names, Guiran and Yay.

Secondly, I wonder if Guiran and Yay truly represent the Chamorro names, or if Spanish ears heard it their own way.  We're not totally sure but we think Chamorros did not have the R sound, so Guiran may not have been the actual sound of that name (was it Gilan?).  Chamorros also didn't have the Y sound, making Yay problematic.

The three men arrived in Manila in 1671 and, according to the Spanish historian, were very impressed.  Matías was so impressed he stayed longer than the other two, who after a year in Manila left for Mexico with Guam as the final destination.  Ignacio got stranded on an island when he missed the ship leaving for sea, but that proved providential since the ship got lost and Pedro was never heard of again.  Ignacio made it back to Manila, connected with Matías and both of them made it to Mexico.  But after Mexico, we lose all trace of them.

Just as many Chamorros in the Marianas have Mexican blood, I think there are a few people running around Mexico with Chamorro blood, thanks to Ignacio and Matías, if in fact they remained in Mexico and raised families.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : FOTGON

Tuesday, September 13, 2011
funnydogsite.com

Ai sa' fotgon i ga'l å go!

FOTGON : wet

Fotgon!  It's wet!

Kao fotgon i talåpos?  Is the rag wet?

Fotgon todo i magagu-ho!  My clothes are all wet!

Adahi, sa' un na' fofotgon yo'!  Watch out, you're making me wet!

Finetgon.  Humidity.

Metgot na finetgon guine mågi giya Guåm.  Guam has strong humidity.

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO' : TÅYA' BÅSTON SAN JOSE

Monday, September 12, 2011

TÅYA' BÅSTON SAN JOSE
Saint Joseph has no walking stick.

What?

I MATLINÅ-HO : 9-11

Sunday, September 11, 2011
EUGENIA "JEANIE" McCANN PIANTIERI
was the only person from Guam to die in the 9-11 attacks

She was my baptismal godmother .

Her mother, Auntie Beck, is from the Perez "Boñao" family, related to my branch of the Perez clan.

Here are some links to her story :

http://videos.sacbee.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=110534921

http://www.guampdn.com/article/20110911/NEWS01/109110316/Uncle-remembers-9-11-victim-princess-?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage

Na' måhgong na taihinekkok minahgong-ña Asaina;
ya i ti mamatai na mina'lak u inina;
ya u såga gi minahgong.
Taiguennao mohon.

AMERIKÅNON PAO ASU

Sunday, September 11, 2011


An American that smells like smoke.

That is the literal meaning of Amerikånon pao asu .

Amerikåno is "American." Pao means "smell." Asu means "smoke."

Now, what is an Amerikånon pao asu ?

He or she is a Chamorro who acts, whether well or not, like an American.

When a Chamorro sheds their Chamorro accent, even when speaking Chamorro. When a Chamorro can't speak Chamorro. When a Chamorro observes American standards of clothing or behavior. Those are all examples of Amerikånon pao asu . These Chamorros are judged as thinking themselves "too good" for island ways.

It's just human nature, no matter the race or culture, to poke fun at the pretentious. Chamorros who are brown (in varying degrees) like everybody else but who act like they're not Chamorro will be targeted for ridicule or mockery.

So the description "smokey" or "smoke-smelling" is that dent in the armor, that poke in the balloon. For all their American ways, the Amerikånon pao asu still smells like smoke. Is that a reference to the brownness of their skin? Like smoked meat? Or is it a reference to being from the farm, as all Chamorros were at one time? Cooking over wood or coconut husks? Burning trash outdoors? Take your pick. Whoever invented the term didn't explain him or herself in writing.

The Amerikånon pao asu still smells like smoke (remains a Chamorro), despite their American airs, because they are still brown like a Chamorro and still have the facial features of a Chamorro and still descend from Chamorros.




ILEK-ÑA SI PÅLE' : POT I YINE'ASE' PARA I PROHIMU-TA

Saturday, September 10, 2011
coloica.com
Setmon Påle' Lee :

" Un dia eståba si Påle' na pumaseseo gi halom i sengsong-ña.  Umasodda' yan un biha na dikkiki'.  Pues si Påle' ha tungo' na este na åmko' palao'an era sumen yo'åse' kontra kuatkiera na taotao.  Finaisen i biha nu i Pale', 'Håfa mina' taiguennao atendidå-mo kontra kuatkiera?  Guåha nai un chagi umåguåguåt yan håye?'

Chumålek i biha, ya ilek-ña, 'Kåda umasodda' ham yan håye na taotao, tåya' nai ti hu hasso tres kosas : Si Yu'us muna' huyong este na taotao; si Yu'us ha gofli'e este na petsona; si Yu'us muna' låla'la' este na petsona.  Yanggen hu hasso este siha na kosas, ti mappot para guåho i hu fanatiende masea håye i asodda'-ho.  Este magåhet na guåha siha na taotao uminsutta yo'.  Guåha yuhe i ha bibira gue' yanggen umasodda' ham gi chalan.  Guåha siha na taotao asta ma såsångan ti man bonito siha na kosas pot guåho.  Lao pot i si Yu'us siha muna' fanhuyong, man ginefli'e as Yu'us, si Yu'us siha muna' fanlåla'la', siempre guåha håfa na minaolek gi sanhalom-ñiha na si Yu'us ha' lumili'e.'

Cha'-miyo fan mangondedena, ya hamyo siempre ti en fan makondena.  Si Yu'us ti u mahettok gue' para hamyo, yanggen ti en na' fan mahettok hamyo para i man achataotao-miyo ."

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : DIKKIKE'

Friday, September 9, 2011

freakingnews.com
 DIKKIKE' : small

Nå'e yo' pot fabot ni dikkike' na båso.  Please give me the small glass.

Dikkike' na guma'!  Small house!

Ai si Jose yan i dinikike'-ña!  Oh Jose and his short stature!

Na' dikkike'.  To make small.

Na' dikkike' fan este na kopia.  Please make this copy small.

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Friday, September 9, 2011
SUKI

In the late 60s and early 70s, if you wanted to say that something was lousy among us kids on Guam, the word to use was suki .

Your new toy is suki .  Your bag is suki .  Your shoes are suki .

We said it all the time at Saint Francis School in Yoña, where I went to school from 1968-1974.  Among us kids, I mean.  Never in front of the teachers.

In the 3rd grade I asked my grandma or her sisters what suki meant.  They told me never, ever to say that again.  I found out later it's a genuine Chamorro word, for a certain type of venereal disease.  How kids in the 60s ever made that a slang word for lousy is beyond me.

Like a lot of slang from the 70s (brown, bogart, mullert), suki has disappeared from the mouths of the man hoben .

GENDER RIVALRY IN PRE-SPANISH MARIANAS

Thursday, September 8, 2011
redbubble.com
Wow.  Read this description of the power of women in pre-Spanish Marianas.  The author is Fr. Francisco Garcia, a Jesuit, who never set foot in the Marianas but based his writing on the letters and reports sent to Spain by the Jesuits who were here.  So, we keep that in mind when reading this, but I don't think it wise to dismiss it altogether.

"If a man leaves his wife, it costs him a great deal, for he loses his property and his children. But women can do this at no cost, and they do it often out of jealousy, because if they suspect some unfaithfulness, they can punish them in various ways. Sometimes the aggrieved woman summons the other women of the village. Wearing hats and carrying lances they all march to the adulterer's house. If he has crops growing, they destroy them; then they threaten to run him through with their lances. Finally they throw him out of his house. At other times the offended wife punishes her husband by leaving him. Then her relatives gather at his house, and they carry off everything of value, not even leaving a spear or a mat to sleep on. They leave no more than the shell of the house and sometimes they destroy even that, pulling it all down. If a woman is untrue to her husband, the latter may kill her lover, but the adulteress suffers no penalty.

In the home it is the mother who rules, and the husband does not dare give an order contrary to her wishes or punish the children, because if the woman feels offended, she will either beat the husband or leave him. Then, if the wife leaves the house, all the children follow her, knowing no other father than the next husband their mother may take."


I ÅTBA

Thursday, September 8, 2011
skmecca.com
This term is so old that, out of curiosity, I casually asked not one, not two but three Catholic Chamorro nuns born in the late 1920s and early 30s if they ever heard the term.  Not one of them did!

The åtba (taken from the Spanish word alba , meaning "daybreak") is the first church bell of the day.

Before the war, it was more accurate to say, the first church bell of the still-dark, pre-dawn, because it was rung at 4AM!  The first Mass of the day was at 430AM.

One sister remembers the bells being rung at 4AM and she said you could hear the bell of the Cathedral in San Ignacio clear down to Santa Cruz.  Everybody heard it.

Then again, a lot of people were already awake by then.  The Spanish missionaries mention in their letters and reports that many Chamorros prided themselves in waking up early.  You can still see this trait if you are ever zesty enough to go to the 6AM Masses that still exist today.  The majority at Mass will be older Chamorros who learned this trait from their parents.

It makes sense.  Who wants to farm the fields at 12 noon?  So they headed for the ranch while still dark to work in the cool morning, get into the shade by mid-day and finish up when the sun was less unforgiving.

FAMILIA : PANGELINAN

Wednesday, September 7, 2011
flickr.com
Juana Campos Pangelinan (sitting in front, with baby)
Saipan, early 1900s

The Pangelinans of the Marianas can trace their ancestry back to three soldiers in the Pampanga (Filipino) regiment on Guam in 1758.  It is not known if these three Pangelinans were brothers or somehow related, but it does raise that possibility.  There were no Pangelinans listed in the earlier, 1727 Census.

The three Pangelinan soldiers were :

Antonio Pangelinan - he married Petronia Arceo.  Petronia is listed in the 1727 Census as the daughter of a Filipino soldier (Pampanga troops) named Andres Arceo.  Andres was married to Juana Dama.  We don't know who Juana Dama was, whether she was Chamorro (the sound of the name allows for this possibility) or not.  But it is more probable is that Petronia was born on Guam.

Next comes Francisco de Borja Pangelinan.  The "Borja" in his name should not be confused with the last name Borja.  You can see my earlier post paleric.blogspot.com/2011/05/familia-borja.html about the Borja family, but just remember that there was a saint with the last name Borja - Saint Francis Borgia (in the original Spanish, San Francisco de Borja, the patron of Rota's Songsong church) and Francisco de Borja was the full first name of this Pangelinan.  Francisco was married to Dominga de Leon Guerrero.  Now Dominga is also listed in the 1727 Census as the daughter of a Spanish soldier (from Spain? Latin America? Philippines?) named Antonio de Leon Guerrero, married to Petronila de los Rios.  Rios (meaning "rivers") is a Spanish surname and there were three men named Rios in the Spanish list of soldiers on Guam and she could be related to them, but we can't be sure.

But you can see in his case how a Filipino married a woman considered Spanish and their children are included in the Filipino list, yet they are mixed blood.  In time, separating people on Guam into races was useless, because in time almost everyone, especially in Hagåtña, had a touch of the three main races : the pre-contact Chamorro, some Filipino and some Hispanic of some kind (whether "pure" Spaniard straight from Spain or from a Spanish colony, or Spanish mixed with other bloods : Indian from Central and South America, African and other).

Despite all this mixing, two things survived.  First, the identity.  Even people with mixed blood identified themselves as Chamorros.  Second, the language, even though many indigenous words were dropped and forgotten and many loan words adopted.  Still, a distinct language which neither Spaniard nor Filipino could understand fully until they learned it remained.

Finally there was Manuel Antonio Pangelinan, married to Maria Magdalena Taitiguan.  She was almost certainly Chamorro.  Many Chamorro names begin with tai , meaning "without" or "lacking."  Although lacking a final "g," the last part of her surname is very probably tiguang which means "neighbor" or "fellow man."  Spelling was very random and inconsistent in those days, even when a Spaniard was writing in Spanish, how much more in a language not their own like Chamorro. (See my earlier post about the difference between tiguang and tengguang .) paleric.blogspot.com/2011/06/si-yuus-tiguang-mo.html

Manuel Antonio, in particular, had three sons (maybe more later on after the 1758 Census), and the Pangelinans married into other families and the mixing continued.

By 1897, the Pangelinans had became a numerous and widespread family.  Some of the better known clans were :

MALI
The descendants of Pedro Torre Pangelinan and Nieves Mendiola Taitano (sister of the founder of the Kueto clan).

KOTLA
The descendants of Juan Flores Pangelinan and Maria Mendiola Borja.

This is a huge clan, with ties to the Bordallos, Carbullidos and other families.

"Kotla" could be the Chamorro pronunciation of the Spanish word corlar when conjugated corla , which means to "put on gold varnish."  Many Chamorro family nicknames are taken from Spanish words (Kueto, Charot, Budoki).

SAIPAN
One of the larger Saipan Pangelinan families are descendants of Lino Flores Pangelinan, born on Guam and supposed brother of Juan Flores Pangelinan (Kotla).  He married Joaquina Campos, also of Guam.  The couple moved to Saipan, bringing with them their children.  They are linked to some of the Tenorio and Villagomez families in Saipan.

PANGELINAN -VS - PANGILINAN


We all know about a famous Filipino but long-time resident and businessman on Guam, Marciano V. Pangilinan, who married a Chamorro and whose children are Chamorro.  People wonder about the slight difference in spelling.

Remember that the name Pangelinan came to the Marianas from three Filipino soldiers.  The name is Filipino and probably has something to do with the FAN+WORD+AN formula I have explained in earlier posts.  This formula means "place of" or "time of," as in the rainy season fanuchånan (fan+uchan+an).  Well, being from the same linguistic family, Filipino dialects also use the fan+word+an formula, but using "pan" instead of "fan."  I have yet to come to the bottom of the question what does "pangelinan" mean but I'll bet my last two pennies it has something to do with "place of" or "time of."

For all it being a Filipino word, it was Spaniards who wrote it down, according to the way they heard it.  For the Spaniard, the sound we would spell in English "he" or "hi" could be written either with "gi" or "ge."  It made no difference to the Spaniard; they would both sound like "he" or "hi."  So, sometimes the Spaniard spelled it Pangilinan, sometimes Pangelinan.  Spaniards did the same with many other names (Sablan/Zablan, Rivera/Ribera) because many times two different letters give the same sound in Spanish, or the Latin American type of Spanish used by many Spanish-speaking people who came to Guam.

SOME WELL-KNOWN PANGELINANS


Senator Ben Pangelinan
of the Lino (Saipan) branch


Former Senator Toni Pangelinan Sanford
of the Kotla branch


Lou Pangelinan
former Chief of Staff of Governor Joseph Ada
and Director General of the Secretariat of the South Pacific Community
in New Caledonia

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO' : UMAKAMO' YAN ENTIERO

Tuesday, September 6, 2011
www.telegraph.co.uk
This is the LAST thing you want to see pulling up to the church if you're one of these :

http://www.goldsboroughhall.com/
MÅLA SUETTE YANGGEN FINAKCHA'I MÅTAI YAN UMAKAMO' GI GIMA'YU'US
It's bad luck for a funeral and a wedding to meet each other at church.

TRUE STORY

This didn't happen when I was a priest, but when I was an altar boy ( tanores ).

As often happens in a bigger parish, both a wedding and a funeral have to be scheduled the same Saturday.  This one Saturday, the deceased was scheduled to arrive at the church at 1pm for the funeral Mass.  A wedding was scheduled for 11am and not earlier because the kids from Eskuelan Påle' needed to use the church from 9 to 10.  But if the wedding starts at 11, there should be no problem, right?

Well, the bride was late!  Very late.  She came to the church close to 12 noon.  The priest had to preach a short sermon.  Even with that, it was already 12:45 and communion was just finishing up.  There was still the floral presentation to Mary.  When all was done, it was 12:53.  The priest told me to run to the entrance of the church and, if I saw the hearse coming, to run to it and hold it back.

As it turned out, the hearse, too, was late, but just by minutes.  Bride and groom got in their white limousine, and when they pulled out from the curb to the street down to the intersection, the black hearse made its right turn onto the street in front of the church.  Talk about a close one!

PARA TA FAÑÅLEK HA'

Tuesday, September 6, 2011
zazzle.com

Jose : Juan, håfa na uno ha' sapatos-mo un u'usa?

Juan : Ai che'lo.  Mamåhan yo' dos na sapåtos, lao annai hu atan gi san papa' gi sapåtos, ilek-ña "Tai wan."

STREET NAMES - GOV. BRADLEY

Monday, September 5, 2011

Why is this street in Tamuning named after someone named Bradley?

The Bradley named here is former Governor of Guam Willis Bradley, a Commander in the U.S. Navy.  Bradley was Governor of Guam from 1929 till 1931, just about wo years.  But, in those short two years, he made a name for himself mainly by writing the so-called "First Bill of Rights" of the Chamorros on Guam, defining them as citizens of Guam (up till then, the Chamorros on Guam were considered by Americans and other foreigners as citizens of nowhere).  He also advocated granting U.S. citizenship to the Chamorros on Guam.

Bradley reorganized the consultative Guam Congress and allowed the first free elections (under the American Navy) of the members of the Guam Congress as well as the village commissioners.

Since the U.S. Post Office would not make deliveries of mail to individual homes and businesses, Bradley created the Guam Guard Mail for the internal delivery of mail.  This lasted only a short while since the U.S. Post Office finally agreed to provide this service.

Bradley was a progressive, liberal-minded American who knew Guam before he was appointed Governor, having been commanding officer of the USS Gold Star which was based on Guam, from 1924 to 1926.

For these actions, Bradley was frowned on by his fellow Navy officials but was considered by leading Chamorros to be a friend of the native people; one who showed some respect for the people of the land.  I wouldn't be surprised if the late Frank Perez, the developer of Perezville where this street is located, knew Bradley when Ton Frank was a youngster and heard enough about him to consider him a friend of the Chamorro people and worthy of a street in Perezville.

Prior to World War II, a park (baseball field) in Aniguak was named Bradley Park by the local government in his honor.

wikipedia.com
GOVERNOR WILLIS W. BRADLEY, USN

Check out this silent video of Gov Bradley on Guam 1929-1931
http://vimeo.com/6805141

CHAMORRON YAP

Sunday, September 4, 2011
CHAMORRO BAY
YAP
By the 1930s, many, but not all, of the 300-some Chamorros living in Yap had Saipan roots, especially those who had moved to Yap only during the Japanese period.  Those who had moved over during the Spanish period were mainly from Guam.

They were a small community and missed home, as can be gathered from this little ditty composed at the time :

Todos hit ni Chamorron Yap / nihi ta fan malak Saipan
ya ta bisita i ma ñ aina-ta / si ojii-san yan si obaa-san.

All of us Chamorros in Yap / let's go to Saipan
and visit our elders / grandpa and grandma.


Japanese influence is evident in the use of the Japanese informal titles for grandfather and grandmother : ojii-san and obaa-san.  But they do rhyme with "Saipan," so ke ya h å fa ?

Chamorros pronounced Yap the Chamorro way, with the Y as in Yigo and Yo ñ a.

BULA I SADDOK

Sunday, September 4, 2011


I am happy to report that the Hag å a River will not overflow today and flood the area behind Paradise Fitness Center. Back in the mid 2000's, maybe 2004 or 2005, heavy rains made the river overflow and flood the area, including our temporary Capuchin offices in what was called the Ada's Commercial Complex.  Yesterday, the rains were so heavy all day that the river was about to overflow.  Sirena would have had an easy time hiding in these deep waters.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE CHAMORRO : LAST PIECE

Saturday, September 3, 2011

You know you're Chamorro when no one wants to take the last piece.  In this case, the last slice of garlic bread.

Håfa na man gof ma'åñao hit chumule' i uttimo na pedåson nengkanno'?  Ilek-ho na man ma'åñao hit na u ta fan ma husga na man ambriento yan man paduk; na ti ta konsidedera na siña guåha taotao ni ñañalang ha' trabia ya ha nesesita i nengkanno' mås ke hita.


Maolek ha' ennao na klåsen siensia.  Lao, yanggen todos esta man håspok, ya guåha uno ha' na pedåson nengkanno' ni sosopbla ya taya' malago' ha kånno', kanno' ha' sa' guåha otro hinengge-ta - i mungnga ma despetdisia i gråsian Yu'us.  Isao i ma na' lålåstima i nengkanno'!

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : NAHONG

Saturday, September 3, 2011
desertpeace.wordpress.com
NAHONG : enough

Kao nahong hao ni gimen-mo?  Do you have enough to drink?

Nå'e siha man nahong na nengkanno'.  Give them enough to eat.

Esta yo' nahong.  I have enough.

Ti u nahong un mes para u ma cho'gue ennao.  A month won't be enough to do that.

Kao nahong?  Is it enough?

Mås ke nahong!  More than enough!

Interestingly, we use both the indigenous nahong and the Spanish båsta , which both mean "enough, sufficient."

Kamarero : Bai nå'ye ta'lo mås asukat?  ( Waiter : Shall I add more sugar ?)
I chumochocho : Båsta!  Nahong! ( Diner : Enough!  Enough !)

I ITAK

Friday, September 2, 2011
freeclipartpictures.com
I have no idea what an utak looks like, because it's a legendary bird, like the phoenix.  But a crow (like the one above) is as good a substitute as any, especially since the utak was not considered a lovable bird.

I have heard two versions of the myth.  The more prominent one is that the utak could be heard crying at night when a woman (often unmarried) was pregnant.  The utak was announcing the secret.

The less frequent version is that if you heard the utak at night over your house, someone in the family was going to die very soon.

wettropics.com
Taya' na ma lili'e pat ma huhungok esta i itak.
Kao guiya este i rason?

MASETAN FLORES

Friday, September 2, 2011

mauiweddingplanner.com
Listen to this sweet song here :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiweLl6roEE


Or here :



Hu hanaogue hao masetan flores, nene,
yan kontodo i fondon korason-ho.
Sa' pot håfa nene nai sige de un eskusa hao?
Ai sa' buente guåha ha' otro.

Ti un hasso guihe na puenge gi annai humihita na dos,
ya sige de ta sångan estorian guinaiya?

( I sent you, darling, a floral bouquet,
along with the bottom of my heart.
Why, darling, do you keep excusing yourself?
Oh, perhaps there is another.

Don't you remember that night when we were together,
and we kept on telling stories of love ?)

***"Hu hanaogue" should be "Hu na' hanaogue hao..."

MA PO'LO TÅTTE SI SÅNTO PÅPA

Friday, September 2, 2011

Eståba yo' Hagåtña gi ma'pos na Såbalo annai hu li'e na ma na' tatachu ta'lo i button i Sånto Påpa as Juan Pablo Segundo.  Unos kuåntos meses tåtte ma konne' i butto guato para Bangkok para u ma fa' maolek.



Estague' si Sånto Påpa annai esta monhåyan ma na' tachu gi sagå-ña.

I was at the Papal Mass which Blessed Pope John Paul offered on this very spot on February 23, 1981.  I was a seminarian and about to turn 19 years old.  I was tasked to drive some dignitaries to the airport and was told to proceed onto the tarmac.  Then I was told to line up with the other drivers and a few others.  Then the Pope's limousine pulled up and the Pope got out and shook the hands of all of us standing in line - about 50 of us.

MÅNGGE I FANIHI?

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Down to about 35 on the whole island of Guam!
According to the poster above, you can be awarded $1000 for reporting fanihi hunting.

Listen to US Fish & Wildlife Service agent Emily Sablan talk about the current situation of Guam's fanihi , or fruit bat.


The Chamorro word fanihi is related to the word for "bat" in many Austronesian languages.  The word for "bat," for example, is paniki in more than one Filipino dialect, and is paniki in the dialects of Sulawesi, Indonesia, where it is also eaten as a delicacy.

flickr.com
The Welcome Sign of the Town of Paniqui in the Philippines has a nice bat (or paniki ) on it to remind us that their word for bat and our word fanihi come from the same Austronesian roots.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : METGOT

Wednesday, August 31, 2011
flickr.com
METGOT : strong

Metgot kannai-mo.  Your arm (or hand) is strong.

I metgogot-ho i agapa'.  My strength is on the right (hand).

Metgot manguåddok.  Tirelessly, vigorously, determinedly digging.

Minetgot.  Strength.

Asaina, nå'e yo' ni minetgot-ho!  Lord, give me strength!

Na' metgot.  Make strong.

Na' metgot hao macho'cho'.  Work hard.

DOCTOR METGOT
My UOG English professor in 1981, Dr. Dianne Strong, later tutored DOC clients in English.
They christened her Doctor Metgot.
She continues to advocate strongly for client rights at DOC.
Metgot macho'cho'cho' si Doktora Metgot para i adelånton DOC.

MÅTAN KATO

Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Annai ta li'e este (when we see this)...

schitzpopinov.com
ta hahasso este (we think of this)...

wallpapersbuzz.com
When our mañaina wanted to describe someone with green or hazel eyes, they didn't use the word "betde" for "green."  They simply said "måtan kato," "cat eyes."

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' : IMBILIKERO

Tuesday, August 30, 2011
mrmen-books.co.uk
Kuånto biåhe ha sangåne yo' si bihå-ho pat i tiå-ho siha : Imbilikero!


Naturåt, no, i famagu'on para u fan imbilikero?


I patgon : "Nåna, håfa ennao un tataitai?"
Si nåna : "Imbilikeru-mo!"

Imbilikero is an example of a Spanish word used in Chamorro that is hardly ever used by the Spaniards themselves.

The root word in Spanish is embeleco , which can mean "fraud, delusion, imposition, humbug."  It can be used as a slang word for someone irritating.

Different Spanish-speaking countries use embelequero to mean different things.  In Chile and Puerto Rico, it means "frivolous, silly."

In other places, it can mean "overly emotional, fussy."

Somehow, our mañaina gave the word their own meaning : nosey, intrusively curious.

My great-grandmother (born 1874) could not speak English, except for a few words (yes, no, etc.) which included a response she gave her grand kids (who told me this story) when they were acting imbilikero .  She would snap back " Marrón bisnes !"  Which meant, "Mind your own business!"

LOST SURNAMES : AGUILAR

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

AGUILAR

To this day, there is a branch of the Torres family called the "Agilat" family.  "Agilat" is the Chamorro pronunciation of the Spanish surname Aguilar, which used to exist on Guam.

As far back as 1727, there was a Spanish soldier on Guam by the name of Bernardo Aguilar.  By the 1758 Census, this Bernardo, now thirty years older, was married to Ignacia Usuni. Usuni is a Chamorro word, which means "to persevere," and it is safe to say Ignacia was Chamorro.  Their mestiso children (in 1758) were Juan Bonifacio, Jose, Francisca and Teresa : two boys and two girls.

By 1897, there was only one person on Guam with the last name Aguilar.  She was Ana Pangelinan Aguilar, aged 53 or thereabouts, married to Antonio Crisostomo de Leon Guerrero.  They lived in Hagåtña.

But prior to this, another lady named Aguilar had married a Torres.  The "Agilat" Torres family keeps alive the memory of this now-forgotten Chamorro Aguilar family by maintaining their clan nickname.

BASIC GRAMMAR : MAN

Tuesday, August 30, 2011
"Man" in Chamorro serves more than one function.

One of them is to put some verbs into action, just as "um" puts some verbs into action.

Gimen = to drink
Gumimen yo' = I drank
Gumigimen yo' = I am drinking; I drink

But some verbs require "man."

Guife = to dream
Manguife yo' = I dreamt
Manguiguife yo' = I am dreaming

Låkse = to sew
Manlåkse yo' = I sewed
Manlålåkse yo' = I am sewing; I sew

Oppe = to answer
Manoppe yo' = I answered
Mano'oppe yo' = I am answering; I answer

Many of the verb forms using "man" refer to actions without a definite or specific object.  For example, if I wanted to say "I see the man" I would say "Hu li'e i taotao."  I am pointing out one, specific man.

Or perhaps five specific men.  "Hu li'e i singko na taotao."  "I see the five men."

But if I wanted to say "I see a person."  No one specifically or definitely identified; just a person; I would say "Manli'e yo' taotao."

So...some other examples.

Manhåtsa yo' guma'.  I built a house.  (As opposed to : Hu håtsa i gima'.  I built the house.)

Manyute' yo' basula.  I threw away trash.  (As opposed to : Hu yute' i basula.  I threw away the trash.)

AUTOMOTIVE CHAMORRO

Monday, August 29, 2011

This car owner reveals to us his or her family nickname.

The Kadi family is a branch of the Manibusan clan.

MALESSO' POLITICS 1876

Monday, August 29, 2011
flickriver.com
In 1876, the Gobernadorcillo (mayor) of Malesso' (Merizo), Luis Sablan, resigned due to poor health.  A successor was needed and three names were proposed for the Governor's selection.

Arcadio de los Santos, a Filipino but Guam resident, married to a Chamorro, received the most votes from Malesso's political elite, the principalia, made up of former and current village officials.

In second place came Pedro de Guzman, born in Hagåtña and immigrant to Malesso'.

In last place came someone with original roots in Malesso', Domingo Babauta.

The Governor of the Marianas, Manuel Brabo, chose Guzman over Santos because at the time there were many Filipino convicts deported to Guam and many of them would escape into the hills.  Village officials, like a gobernadorcillo, would be tasked at times to help in the search.  Brabo may have thought that Santos, a Filipino, would go soft on his fellow countrymen turned fugitives.

"COCOS ISLAND" IN CHAMORRO?

Sunday, August 28, 2011


"Cocos" comes from "coco," as in "coconut."  It has nothing at all to do with the Chamorro language.  What others call coconuts, we call niyok .

So what is the original, Chamorro name for what is called Cocos Island? Dåno' .

When I was priest in Malesso', no one ever said to me "Cocos Island" if they talked to me in Chamorro.  Even the Malesso' people who worked at Cocos Island told me that they worked on Dåno' .

In an old Chamorro hymn telling the story of Our Lady of Camarin, whose image was found in Malesso' Lagoon, it says :

Gi tase giya Malesso' / yan hihot giya Dåno'
( In the sea by Malesso' /  and close by Dåno' )

hagas un bendise sesso / i yan-mame na tåno' .
( all the while you often bless / our beloved land .)

That's a nice piece of Chamorro poetry, by the way. Malesso'/sesso; Dåno'/tåno' .

Before the true name for this little isle is no longer used, let's resolve to call it Dåno' .  When someone says, "Ha?" we can enlighten them.




This map of Guam from the 1700s shows Dåno' off the coast of the island. The I stands either for Isla in Spanish or Île in French, both meaning "island," since sometimes the map was put out by a Spaniard or a Frenchman.

The map is not completely accurate. Dåno' (Cocos Island) is not right outside Humatak, spelled Umatag in the map, with Malesso' just below (spelled Merico). But in 1700 they didn't have what we have now to make more accurate maps.

MA GACHA'!

Sunday, August 28, 2011
connect.in.com

In 1797, a married woman, Rosa, from Hågat, was found to be having an adulterous liaison with Rafael Achuga of Sinajaña.  Rosa's aggrieved husband took the matter to the parish priest of Hagåtña.  The civil government took over the case.

The result?

Rosa was sent to live with Ignacio Javier de Castro and his wife.  The couple were to supervise her.

The man, Rafael Achuga, was sentenced to work at the government farm, San Pedro de Dandan.  Gaspar Pangelinan was overseer of that farm.  So down in Dandan, not far from Malojlo, the Spanish Crown once owned farm land.

INOSENTE LAO DINANCHE

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Åntes di gera, giya Hagåtña, eståba un taotao ni ma gof tungo' komo inosente na taotao.  Esta gai edåt este na taotao, lao kulan mohon iyon påtgon ha' i hinasosso-ña.

Un dia, ma aresta este na taotao ni polisia sa' tuminane' gue' gi kanton chålan ha' gi f'i'on un luga.

Finaisen gue' ni Señot Hues, "Señot, håfa na me'me' hao kontra i lai?"

Manoppe i inosente, "Åhe', Señot Hues.  Ti me'me' yo' kontra i lai.  Me'me' yo' kontra i liga."

LAWSUITS 1873

Saturday, August 27, 2011
freedomsphoenix.com
Even in 1873, we were taking each other to court to recover financial losses.  Here were that year's lawsuits :

Vicente Calvo versus Heirs of Petrona Tuason

Luis de Torres versus Jose Perez

Joaquin Portusach versus Froilan Blanco

Andres Castro versus Ricardo Millinchamp

Father Aniceto Ibáñez versus Heirs of Rita Acosta

PA Schaefer and Company (Honolulu) versus Joaquin Portusach

photoblogster.com
The case between Andres Castro and Ricardo Millinchamp was over the rescued cargo of a sunken boat.

EARTHQUAKE PRAYER

Friday, August 26, 2011
catastrophe.org

My grandmother's sister taught me to say this prayer, in Spanish, every time the earth shook ( linao ).  She learned it from her mother, born in Hagåtña in 1874.

Aplaca, Señor, tu ira,
por tu justicia y tu rigor;
dulce nombre de María;
¡misericordia, Señor!
Jesús, José y María,
Joaquín y Ana,
no me desamparen,
ni de noche, ni de día.

( Placate, Lord, your anger, because of your justice and rigor;
sweet name of Mary; mercy, Lord!
Jesus, Joseph and Mary, Joachim and Anne,
do not abandon me, neither by night nor by day .)
My mañaina (elders) only said that prayer when the earth started to rumble, but in other families it was said before a typhoon or some other natural calamity or threat.

Esta oración me enseñó la hermana de mi abuelita para rezar cuando haya terremoto.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : LINAO

Friday, August 26, 2011
Torrey Smith runs when the earth starts to shake

LINAO : earthquake

With the (for us on Guam) average-strength earthquake recently hitting the Eastern coast of the U.S., linao might be a relevant word to learn today.

I feel sorry for all the people we're going to ridicule now for reacting on video so frantically to the earthquake, as in the case of athlete Torrey Smith.  People like him are going to be all over the internet now, while millions laugh and chuckle.  As someone pointed out, Smith was probably in the safest place to be in an earthquake : an open field where trees, power lines and buildings cannot topple on him.  Where was he running off to?  Into a building?

We get linao all the time on Guam, but most of the time so lightly that they go unnoticed.  But we sit in a very active and potentially dangerous seismic zone, so we better pray hard and learn the right things to do annai ma yengyong i tano' .

For safety tips : www. fema.gov /hazard/ earthquake /eq_ during.shtm

SLEEPING WATER

Friday, August 26, 2011
lorla.com
I was talking with a lady about the recent downpours and how one road was so flooded that I had to drive on the opposite side.  I was telling her that the water formed a lake on one side of the road and she said, " Mamaigo' i hanom ."  The water was sleeping.  This idiomatic expression is used for any stagnant or unmoving fluids.  It is used also, for example, for thickened or coagulated blood. I haga' ni mamaigo' .

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : CHATTA-AN

Thursday, August 25, 2011

You can see the rain moving from east to west, from Tamuning/Barrigada towards Hagåtña.

CHATTA-AN : a rainy, stormy day

It's a gloomy, dark and rainy day on Guam today.  What better word to learn than the word describing the day.

I know the linguistic powers spell it chata'an or something nearly identical to that.  But I'd like to invite them to consider the suggestion that there are two t's there.  We don't say cha - ta - an.  We say chat - ta - an.  Notice how we pause at the t to give it that good strong emphasis.  And, try as I might, I don't feel the back of my throat close in between the two a's.  They are two, distinct a's to be sure; but the back of my throat feels fine.  It's the dilemma of Chamorro orthography yet to be resolved.  It appears in other words, like li'e .  We put a glottal stop there because we need to separate the i and the e when we say the word.  But do we really say li' + e?  Or do we simply say li + e?  Or the word to'a .  Is the glottal stop really there in the pronouncing of the word?  We might want to consider the usefulness of a dash (-).  Well, enough quibbling.

Chatta-an or chata'an comes from two root words : chat and ha'åne .

Ha'åne means "day." It can also mean "life."  In chatta-an , the first meaning is referenced.

Chat is a prefix meaning "imperfect, badly, inadequately."  For example, guiya means "him" or "her" or "it." Chatguiya means "he's not himself," as in, "he's not feeling well."

Chatta-an thus literally means "an imperfect day" but is used to describe a day of inclement weather.

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' : MÅS PRIMA, MÅS ARIMA

Wednesday, August 24, 2011
moviepostershop.com

Mientras mås prima, mås arima.
The more a cousin, the closer one gets.

The saying actually uses Spanish words, but our mañaina understood them perfectly well.  The proverb cautions against the assumption that, just because the boy and girl are relatives, the two of them will never develop feelings for each other.  Close blood lines do not always prevent romance.  So, the proverb teaches, keep your eyes on them!  Danger, danger!

In English, the phrase is "kissing cousins."  Generally speaking, people of many cultures frown on first cousins becoming romantically linked.  It's just too close for comfort.  Then there is the belief that the children of parents who are first cousins have a greater chance of suffering mental deficiencies.

The Bible (Leviticus) talks about avoiding relations with close relatives.  But this has generally been interpreted as forbidding marriage between siblings.  Isaac and Rebecca are a well-known biblical example of marriage between first cousins once-removed.

In Catholic Church law, first cousins cannot marry unless the permission of the local bishop is first obtained.  So there is no absolute restriction in the Church against cousin marriages, and some of our mañaina did marry their first cousins, but it was always looked on with some discomfort by most people.

In the United States, it depends on what state you live in.  In Massachusetts, you can marry your first cousin.  Drive a few miles into neighboring New Hampshire, and you cannot.  In some states, you can marry your first cousin but only if you are too old to bear children or otherwise cannot have them.  All states allow the marriage of second cousins.

Albert Einstein married his first cousin, and so did Queen Victoria of England.  Charles Darwin married his first cousin, too.

As for traditional Chamorros, it doesn't matter that such illustrious people married their first cousins.  For many of our mañaina , even marrying a 2nd or 3rd cousin is taboo.

For this reason, in the past, grandparents always asked the new girlfriend or new boyfriend, " Håye tatå-mo?  Håye nanå-mo ?"  "Who is your dad?  Your mom?"  just to make sure they weren't 2nd or 3rd cousins.

FAMILIA : PALOMO

Tuesday, August 23, 2011
todobanderas.com
In Spanish, "palomo" means a male dove or pigeon.  Thus the bird in the coat-of-arms above.  There are around 16,000 people in Spain who carry this surname, mainly in the south : Sevilla and Malaga.

The Palomos don't show up in a Guam census until the 1758 census, and under one man - Bernardo Ignacio Palomo, who is listed as a Spanish soldier.  Whether he was from Spain, Latin America or the Philippines is unknown.  But people with Spanish blood, whether they were "pure" Spaniards from Spain, or either "pure" or mixed blooded from Latin America or the Philippines, would have been listed as "Spaniards."

Bernardo married Maria Teresa Tenorio.  There are three Tenorios listed in the 1727 census, all in the Spanish list.  One of them married a Chamorro by the last name Taimaktos (meaning "unending") and the other two married a Cardenas and a Benavente.  We don't know which of these is Maria Teresa's family.

I wouldn't be surprised if the famous Padre Palomo was the grandson or great-grandson of Bernardo Ignacio, because Padre Palomo's full name was Jose Bernardo.

By 1897, there were three big clans of Palomos :

PALOMO-RODRIGUEZ

Silvestre Inocencio Rodriguez Palomo (the father of Padre Palomo)
and his wife Rita Cruz Torres

Juan Rodriguez Palomo
and his wife Florentina de Leon

some of their descendants married into the Sablan family (Sablan-Palomo clan)

PALOMO-DUEÑAS

Luis Dueñas Palomo
and his wife Dolores Blas

they had many children, especially daughters

PALOMO-QUINTANILLA

Luis Quintanilla Palomo
and his wife Rosa Duenas Palomo (relatives!)

Vicente Quintanilla Palomo
and his wife Ana Ramirez Roberto

two of their daughters married into the Perez (Boñao) family
another daughter, Maria, married Pedro Ada
a son, Jose, was the first Chamorro to obtain a PhD

There were other Palomos in the 1897 census, but I cannot identify yet their inter-connections.

SOME BETTER KNOWN PALOMOS

guampdn.com
ANTONIO MANIBUSAN PALOMO
Former senator and historian/author

ccuguam.com
BENIGNO MANIBUSAN PALOMO
Former senator, GHURA director, civil servant
and brother of Antonio


PATRICK PALOMO
Pianist Extraordinaire
composer and recording artist



FATHER JOSE BERNARDO TORRES PALOMO
First Chamorro Catholic Priest
1836-1919

HÅFA MUNA' YA-HU GUAM

Monday, August 22, 2011

No - it's not just the food that makes me like my island.  It's the fact that our people support each other with great generosity.  We had a death anniversary in our religious family and, each night of the rosary, people came forward with overwhelming abundance in supplying the refreshments after the rosary :


Biringhenas - Salad - Gollai H ågon Suni - Corn Soup in pastry cups - Potato Salad - Fruits - Bu ñuelos - Madoya - Cookies - Poto - Latiya - Donuts - Cakes - Lumpia - Tam åles Gisu - Pancit - Kelaguen M ånnok - Ham Hocks and Monggos - Corn on the Co b - Fried Chicken - K åddun Ham Hocks - BBQ ribs - Bread - Titiyas Arina - Titiyas Mai'es - Vegetable Soup - Hineksa - Hineksa Agaga' (Balensi å na) - Åhu


We have in our blood this drive to go all out when people need to be fed.

COMMON MISTAKES : SIN OR SEN?

Monday, August 22, 2011
A common mistake is made mixing up the words sin and sen .

Sin is borrowed from the Spanish and means "without."  It is equivalent to the indigenous Chamorro word tai .

Hum ånao hao sin adios.  You went without a goodbye.
Mamomokkat gue' sin sap åtos.  She is walking around without shoes.

There is a traditional song that uses it in its opening lines :

I puenge sin pulan / i ha' å ne sin somnak; ( The night without the moon / the day without sunshine )
i batkonaire sin piloto / i dos ni mayamak. ( The plane without a pilot / two people who have broken apart ).

But many people pronounce it sen .  I puenge sen pulan...

But, in Chamorro, sen means "very."  Sen maolek!  Very good!

In the Guam Hymn (Fanohge Chamorro), we are told to "exalt her praises forever more" - " abiba i isla sin paråt !" Sin paråt - without ceasing. Not sen paråt ; that would mean "really ceasing."

Sin can also mean "tin" but it is borrowed from the Spanish word for zinc, which can be either "zinc" or "cinc."  We had a hard time pronouncing the "k" sound at the end of "zinc" so our word for it is sin .  By the end of the 1800s, the Spanish were using zinc sheets for the roofing of some important buildings, including the church in Hag åtña.

I KAOHAO

Sunday, August 21, 2011
My Grandma's Kaohao

Not too long ago, many homes had a family chest - a kaohao .  My grandma's was store-bought after the war.  Before the war, most kaohao were locally made by carpenters.  Those who could afford it got theirs from Manila, where Chinese-made chests were sold.  One thing one looked for, if one could afford it, was to get kaohao made of scented wood, so that the fragrance of the wood could get on what you put inside the kaohao .

The purpose of the kaohao was to safeguard things you didn't want damaged by exposure to the elements.  Some things would be :
My auntie Ana showed me once one of her special kaohao .  Inside were the clothes she sewed for her husband Uncle Ben during the war.  She showed them to me in the early 1980s, forty years after the war.  The clothes were fragile and falling apart.  My biggest regret - after she passed, I did not go looking for the kaohao and to this day I don't know what happened to it and its contents.

From a song :

Nene asta p å'go / i prenda-mo nu gu åho ( Darling up to now / your gift to me )
gagaige ha' / gi fondon kaohao-ho. ( still remains / at the bottom of my kaohao ).

Yan i litratu-ta na dos / ni hu pega gi liga ( And the photo of the two of us / which I put on the wall )
para hu atan nai nene / anai suspiros yo' ( for me to look at darling / whenever I sigh )

kulan mohon mag åhet nene / na gaige hao gi fi'on-ho ( it's as if darling / you truly are next to me )
sa' hu totoktok maolek alunan-ho ( because I really hug my pillow ).

KÅNTAN GUMA'YU'US SAIPAN

Saturday, August 20, 2011

The people of Saipan sing many of the same church songs we do on Guam.  And they have their own songs which we don't sing, since they started to have their own priests, separate from Guam, in 1899.  Some of their songs were brought over by the German Capuchins who worked there from 1907 till 1919.

And they play the ukulele a whole lot more in Saipan than on Guam.  More of an island flavor.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : BÅSTA

Friday, August 19, 2011
flickriver.com
BÅSTA : enough

One of the first Chamorro words I learned as a kid, because the manaiña were always saying it to us!


B åsta!  Enough!


Can be said when someone is misbehaving, or pouring you a drink, or dishing you food, or whatever action you want stopped.


Kao b åsta hao chumocho?  Are you done eating?


B åsta hit!  Slang, meaning "Are you kidding?"  Sometimes, just saying "b åsta" conveys the same message.


B åsta can also mean "never mind."
Kao para ta fan malak i tenda?  ( Are we going to the store ?)
B åsta.  Atrasao esta.  ( Never mind.  It's too late .)


B åsta de...  Enough + verb
B åsta de tum ånges, n åna!  Stop crying, mom!
B åsta de um åguaguat!  Stop being unruly!


B åsta yo'!   I'm done!  (as in, I'm done eating)
Depending on the tone, "B åsta yo'!" can also mean "I've had it!  I'm outta here!"


B åsta ke...  It's enough that....


Jose : Kao un tungo' na m åtai si Juan, asaguan Lole'?  ( Did you know that Juan died, Lole's husband ?)
Maria : B åsta ke meggai famagu'on-ña i palao'an.  ( It's enough that she has a lot of children .)
Meaning : On top of him dying, she has all those kids to look after.


P åle' : Ana, dispensa yo' sa' ti siña yo' matto ta'lo agupa'. ( Ana, forgive me as I can't come again tomorrow ).
Ana : T åya' gu åha, P åle', b åsta ke m åtto hao p å'go na ha' åne. ( That's OK, Father, it's enough that you came today ).


Båsta ya!  Enough already!


Luis : Miguel, ina'agang hao ta'lo as Kiko. (Miguel, Kiko is calling you again.)
Miguel : Båsta ya! (Enough already!)
Meaning : Can't he leave me alone?!?


Or...as a transition in a conversation.  For example, at the end of a joke or a story, one can transition away from that to a new topic by saying "Båsta ya!" in a cheerful way.


From the Spanish word "basta" which means "enough."

A BRIDGE WITH NO RIVER

Friday, August 19, 2011

Here's the bridge;
but where's the river?

The Spanish bridge in Hag å t ñ a was built in 1800 by Governor Manuel Muro, who was also responsible for quite a number of other public projects on Guam.  The official name of the bridge is San Antonio, but it has also been called Tollai Å cho, or Stone Bridge, in Chamorro.

But why build a bridge over dry earth?



The bridge when there was a river

There was a river that went straight across Hag å t ñ a, up until at least 1944.  It started in the swamp lands east of Hag å t ñ a, through Minondo, then in between San Antonio and San Nicolas districts, through San Ignacio and then emptied into the sea right about where the Corn Building is now in Aniguak.


The Hag å t ñ a River before the war

It was in this river that the legendary Sirena turned into a mermaid.  Her statue stands now by the Tollai Å cho.


Sirena of the Hag å t ñ a River

Here's a map of Hag å t ñ a in 1915, showing the course of the river through the different barrios or districts of the city.


And to think that a river flowed down the middle stretch of this picture below, underneath the present-day Bank of Hawaii building.  Some years ago, there was some digging east of that bank and they found the remains of a bridge, I believe, that crossed over the river.


The American military government filled in the river after the war with the debris of the ruined city.  The river was diverted to empty to the east of the Paseo.


The Hag å t ñ a River
which used to flow right through Hag å t ñ a all the way to Aniguak

Was Sirena turned into a mermaid here?

BEDTIME PRAYER

Thursday, August 18, 2011


A cousin of my grandma, Carmen Cruz Guzmán, born in 1900, taught me this bedtime prayer, in Spanish :


Cuatro esquinas tiene mi cama,
cuatro ángeles me acompañan.
Jesús, María, José,
Joaquín y Ana.
En vida y en muerte
amparad mi alma.
(Four corners has my bed;
four angels accompany me.
Jesus, Mary, Joseph,
Joachim and Anne.
In life and in death
protect my soul.)


When Auntie Carmen taught me this prayer, she was lying down and she pointed to the four corners of her bed as she said the words "Four corners has my bed."

She came from that generation of Chamorros who said many prayers in Spanish. I learned a lot from her : genealogy, vocabulary, stories. She was never at a loss for things to talk about. We could go on for hours.




Auntie Carmen was my grandmother's cousin on the Gåga (Cruz) side, which is Pérez Cruz (my grandmother was also a Pérez). In this funeral notice, Gåga is misspelled Gaugau. She lived from 1900 to 1989.

It was said that she knew so much that all you had to do was mention your parent's or grandparent's names and she could tell you more about your family and who you were related to than what you knew already.

DILUBIO I TANO'

Thursday, August 18, 2011

A Flooded Hag åt ña in the early 1900s

We've been having a lot of rain lately during this year's fanuch ånan .  It sometimes makes for a muggy day, but sometimes, like today, it makes for a cool day.

Last Sunday it rained so much that a portion of Marine Corps Drive, from Atant åno' to Piti, was impassable.  I was on it and was lucky, but another car got stuck in the lake that formed on the northbound lane.

UMO'MAK NGÅNGA'

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

treknature.com
Jose : Maria! Na' lachaddek hao gi båño!  Esta para ta atrasao humånao!

Maria : Nangga un råto!  Esta yo' listo!

Humuyong si Maria gi petta, areklao yan kabåles i magagu-ña :

Jose : Ei na chinaddek hao umo'mak!

Maria : Hu tungo' na atrasao esta i ora, ennao mina' umo'mak ngånga' ha' yo'!

FALSE FRIENDS : INUTIT

Wednesday, August 17, 2011
viphealth.org

FALSE FRIEND : A word that looks and sounds the same in two languages, but means two different things.

The Chamorro word for "handicapped" or "disabled" is inutit .  When I got older, I figured out it came from the Spanish word "inútil."  That word is derived from útil , where we get our English word utilities, or utilize.  The base word is "use."  To utilize something is to use something. Inútil , in Spanish, therefore means "useless."

So when I was in California back in the 80s, driving with a Hispanic American, and we saw a disabled man in a wheelchair, and I said, " Mira!  Un inútil !"  my Hispanic friend got upset at me.  I thought I was saying, "Look!  A disabled person!" but to my Hispanic friend I was saying, "Look! A useless person!"  That was something I certainly did not intend to say.

These false friends in the world of languages are very treacherous.

MATÅGUAK : LAST BATTLE STAND

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Japanese Caves in Matåguak, Yigo

I discovered the Peace Memorial in Matåguak, Yigo back in the 1980s.  But it started in 1966 as the brain child of the late Monsignor Oscar L. Calvo and interested Japanese parties.  The site was the last headquarters of the Japanese during the American re-occupation of Guam in July/August of 1944.

After the battle here, there was no organized Japanese resistance to the Americans.  But Japanese soldiers did flee into the jungles and shoot at Americans all the way till December of 1944.  Besides this, some remained in the jungles for a very long time, the last being Shoichi Yokoi who was discovered in 1972.

Back in the 80s, I went down into the valley next to the Memorial and saw a thick bone sticking out of the soil.  It looked human to me.  But who knows?  In the video I mention "cartilage."  I meant "bone marrow."

There used to be a Buddhist priest living on the premises.  He used to say he would see soldiers in full battle gear at night.  I don't remember if he said they looked American or Japanese.

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Tuesday, August 16, 2011
czestochowa.us

Gaige i piniten nåna, an hu chochopchop sisu-ña;
siempre guå'o u pinitiye, sa' guåho finañagu-ña.

There is a mother's pain, when I suckle at her breast;
naturally she will be in pain over me, for it was she who gave me birth.

The mother-child bond is universally sacred.  This verse points to more than the just the bond when the child is still young, nursing at her breast.  She - the mother - will always suffer when her child is in trouble, even if the "child" is 30 years old.

In the first line, the verse admits that it is the child who inflicts pain on the mother when the child suckles; and the child will be the cause of even more pain for the mother when the child is an adult.  But the second line justifies this; the mother willingly endures the pain because, after all, she gave the child life and her life is intimately connected with the child's.

ATAN BITHEN DEL CARMEN

Monday, August 15, 2011

We don't need accompaniment when we sing our traditional hymns.

We don't need microphones, either.

And, for many of the man åmko' , we don't even need the words on paper.  They're memorized.



WHY FOR THE DEAD

This hymn, Atan Bithen del Carmen , is one of the standard songs sung for the dead, at rosaries or Masses. Of course it can also be sung simply in honor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.  The version sung above is sung slightly differently in Saipan.

The reason why it is often sung for the dead is due to the scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (or Brown Scapular), which has a special promise for those who die in the state of sanctifying grace wearing it. Hundreds of years ago, Our Lady appeared to Pope John XXII and said, “I, the Mother of Grace, shall descend on the Saturday after their death and whomsoever I shall find in purgatory I shall free so that I may lead them to the holy mountain of life everlasting.” Mary attached certain conditions to this promise, as well, so it is best to do more research on this by going to the link provided at the end of this post.



LYRICS

Atan Bithen del Carmen, i man guinaiya-mo
( Look, Virgin of Carmel, on your beloved )

ya pulan ham, Maria, ånte yan tataotao!
( and watch over us, Mary, soul and body )

Tayuyute ham, N åna, guennao gi patgon-mo,
( Pray for us, Mother, to your child ,)

hame i ma ñ e'lu- ñ a, yan famagu'on-mo.
( We, His brethren, and we your children .)

1. Tåya' si Jesukristo sen ginefli'e'-ña, na ennao as Maria yan i binithen-ña.
(Jesus Christ loves nothing more than Mary and her virginity.)

2. I taotao-mo Maria hågo gumogogue, i Lahen Yu'us lokkue' hågo humohogue.
(Your people, Mary, you protect, the Son of God you also hold in your arms.)

3. Na' maguaiya magåhet si Jesus patgon-mo, ya in fañåga guine fi'on i tronu-mo.*
(Your child Jesus is truly lovable, and we will remain here beside your throne.)

4. Ga'yi'us i mañule' eskapulårio sa' guse' u ma laknos gi Putgatorio.
(Those who take the scapular are devout, because they will quickly be released from Purgatory.)

* The third verse can also be translated as "Make your child Jesus loved..."



THE MELODY

The tune used for this hymn is borrowed from a Spanish hymn to Our Lady of Mount Carmel called Virgen del Carmen Bella . Here is a video clip of it:





For more information on the Brown Scapular, go to http://www.sistersofcarmel.com/brown-scapular-information.php

HINENGGEN I MAN ÅMKO'

Monday, August 15, 2011
iowntheworld.com
Don't drink coffee before taking a shower.

The heat of the coffee in your stomach and the water from the shower are a bad combination and will make you sick.

timkanebooks.wordpress.com

I LÅÑAN NIYOK

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Låñan Niyok / Coconut Oil
from Saipan

Coconut oil figured much more in daily life years ago.  Our mañaina made their own låñan niyok ; they never had to buy it.  It's important that, when making it, enough time is given to boil it so that all the water evaporates and all impurities are strained out.  Otherwise, the oil becomes rancid in a few months.

Yanggen ti nahong maså-ña, u gagai hanom i låña, ya tåya' tres meses esta mutung, ya siempre sumåga i applacha'-ña gi san papa' .

Lånan niyok had the following uses :

1. To fry with, and for other cooking uses.

2. As a lotion when massaging someone.

3. For oil lamps.

3. To relieve certain ailments, especially those associated with stomach problems ( putin tuyan ).

Some people would warm the l ånan niyok and rub it on the person's stomach and apply pupulu leaves on the tummy.

Another treatment was to take a coconut shell ( ha'iguas ), take off all the fiber, shave the shell a little and mix the powder from the shavings with lånan niyok and put it in the navel of the child with a tummy ache.  Some people called this " ma buga ."

tonicsuperfoods.com.au

PARA TA FAÑÅLEK HA'

Saturday, August 13, 2011
H åye na' ån- ña eyi na taotao ni ya- ña mamokkat gi chalan?  Si Walking (Joaquin).

H åye na' ån- ña eyi na taotao ni malingo karet å - ña?  Si Car Loss (Carlos).

PÅLE', HÅFA "STRAW" GI FINO' CHAMORRO?

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Two guys at the Guam Legislature were drinking sodas.  One wanted to ask the other, in Chamorro, for a straw.  But he was stumped.  How do you say "straw" in Chamorro?

I happened to be passing by.  "P åle', how do you say 'straw' in Chamorro?"

Thinking they meant the kind of straw that cows eat, I said, " ng åsan ."  Don't you remember the Christmas song, " Dandan i panderetas ?"  One line goes " Popble i patgon-ta, gi liyang Belen; ng åsan i ason- ñ a, kulan g å'ga' gue' ."

"No," they said, " not that straw.  To drink with!"

After some research, there is no Chamorro word for straw, the one to drink with.  I suppose one could describe it as "a small tube to suck with." Dikkike' na tubo para ma ñ opchop .  Somewhat long.  How about, tubon ma ñ opchop ?

TUBON MA ÑOPCHOP?

ALL ABOARD

Thursday, August 11, 2011

In the early 1900s, crossing the Pago River meant taking a raft across.  But a bull cart?  Was it dropping off passengers and cargo?  I can hardly believe it rode the raft as well!  "Raft" in Chamorro is b åtsa .

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' : BÅTCHET YAN TANGNGA I SAINA

Thursday, August 11, 2011

BÅTCHET YAN TANGNGA I SAINA
The parent is blind and deaf


I'm hearing from more and more school teachers that more and more parents are in denial of their children's faults and failings in school.  The blame is put on the teachers, more and more.  "My child can do no wrong," so they say.  This old Chamorro proverb seems to apply.

TODAY IN HISTORY : CHAMORRO LEADERS THANK NIMITZ

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

On August 10, 1944, the U.S. forces declared Guam secured from organized Japanese resistance.  On the same day, half a dozen Chamorro leaders sent a letter of thanks to the American commander, Admiral Chester Nimitz.  They said that, had the Americans delayed, the Chamorros would have suffered more from Japanese cruelty.

The signers were :  Francisco B. Leon Guerrero, politician and advocate for American citizenship; Vicente P. Camacho, a judge; Pedro P. Martinez, a prominent businessman; Agueda I. Johnston, leading educator; Jose C. Manibusan, another judge; and Jose Roberto, who held several prominent government offices during his lifetime, from judge to assistant to the naval governor.

FAMILIA : SALAS

Tuesday, August 9, 2011
diablosrojos.eu
The name itself is a Spanish word, the plural of sala , which means "hall," a large room.  In Chamorro, the living room of a house is called the såla .

It seems that all the Salases in the Marianas come from one ancestor, Ignacio Salas, a member of the Spanish troops on Guam listed in 1727.  Again, "Spanish" could have meant a Spaniard from Spain, a Spaniard born in Latin America, or a mestizo (mixed blood) person from Latin America with part-Spanish and part-Native American blood.  Unless better documents are discovered, the specific identity of Ignacio Salas will remain a mystery.

Ignacio married Isabel Meriña.  Meriña is not a Spanish name.  Merina is, but not Meriña; and with a prevalence of Chamorro names ending in -ña (Mangloña, Mantanoña, Finoña, etc) one must leave open the possibility that Isabel was Chamorro.  But we can't be sure.

Ignacio and Isabel had at least three sons to carry on the Salas name : two sons both named Domingo and one named Angel.  The first Domingo married a woman named Maria Magdalena, but we're not sure what her last name was.  The second Domingo married a woman most definitely Chamorro, whose name was Lucia Mansangan. Mansangan is a Chamorro word meaning ma såsångan , or "it is being said."  Angel married Barbara Fernandez, of uncertain origin.

Since the Spanish and Filipino troops lived in Hagåtña, their descendants, like the Salases, were mainly Hagåtña residents.  Some of the major Salas families in Hagåtña in 1897 were : Dionisio Aguon Salas, who married Maria Quitugua.  He had many sons; one of them was Jose who married Ramona de Leon Guerrero.

Felipe Salas married Rosa Delgado.  Their son Javier married twice; the first one, who died young, was Josefa Blas, and the second was Rosa Reyes.

Juan Perez Salas married a distant relative, Maria Blas Perez.

Pedro Cruz Salas married Rosa Pangelinan Cardenas and had many children, including sons Jose, Antonio and Francisco.

Ramon Salas married Vicenta Indalecio and they had two sons : Jose and Juan.

Vicente Salas married Rita Dim and had two sons : Vicente and Antonio.

Vicente Evaristo Salas, living in Aniguak, married Dolores Nauta and had two sons : Agapito and Ignacio, and two daughters.

AGAT

The Agat branch of the family traces their roots to two men : Doroteo Salas, who married Maria Diaz.  They had two sons : Jose (who married Ana San Pedro Cruz) and Juan (who married Manuela Taeñao Santos).

Another Agat Salas, who may or may not have been related to Doroteo, was Hilario, who married Maria Nego and had a son Jose.

SAIPAN

Joaquin Manajane Salas from Hagåtña moved to Saipan and married Rosalia Aurora Fausto (part-Chamorro, part-Carolinian) from Saipan.

His sister, Teresa Manajane Salas (born in Hagåtña), whose husband seems to have left the Marianas leaving her behind,  was the matriarch of a number of descendants carrying the Salas name.

Pedro Salas from Hagåtña moved to Saipan and married Maria San Nicolas Campos, also born in Hagåtña.


pibbaindigenouspioneers.blogspot.com

DR. MARILYN SALAS
UOG
guampedia.com
DR. JOHN SALAS
Founding President GCC



wallpapers.soccerfansnetwork.com


FAMOUS CHILEAN SOCCER STAR
MARCELO SALAS

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : TULAIKA

Tuesday, August 9, 2011
dancinginthedarkness.wordpress.com
TULAIKA : change

Tulaika ennao!  Change that!

Kao siña un tulaika i progråma?  Can you change the program (or channel, or show)?

Ti siña ma tulaika.  He, she, it cannot be changed.

Kao guåha tulaika-mo?  Do you have change?

Tulaikaye.  To change for, on behalf of someone.

Tulaikaye yo' fan salape'-ho.  Change my money, please.

Tulaikayon.  Alterable; able to be changed.

Ti tulaikayon i Dies na Tinago' Yu'us.  The Ten Commandments are unalterable.

Tinilaika.  Change.

Gof dångkulo na tinilaika hu lili'e giya hågo.  I see great change in you.

Comes from the Spanish word trueca , which means "change."  Our mañaina a hard time with "r" and preferred the "l" (e.g. guitarra becomes gitåla ).

ILEK-ÑA SI PÅLE' : I ANGHET DE LA GUÅTDA

Tuesday, August 9, 2011
catholictradition.org
Sumetmon si Påle' Lee pot i Anghet de la Guåtda gi 1962 na sakkan :

" Meggai siha na taotao man maleleffa nu i Anghet de la Guåtdan-ñiha, i anghet ni pumupulan siha.  Si Yu'us man nina'e hamyo kåda uno annai mafañågo un ånghet para u pinilan.  Este na Ånghet de la Guåtda para hamyo ha' na maisa.  I Pipulan-mo na Ånghet prinetetehe hao gi meggai siha na peligro.  Guåha nai un susede aksidente ya katna ha' måtai hao, lao umeskåpa i lina'lå'-mo, gråsias na i prinitehen i Pumupulan hao na Ånghet.

På'go mismo, annai man matåtå'chong hamyo gi halom Guma'yu'us, man gaige gi fi'on-miyo i Anghet-miyo ni pumupulan hamyo.  Siña ilek-mo, 'Ti siña hu li'e i anghet ni pumupulan yo'.  Håf taimano tungo'-ho na gaige guine?'  Si Yu'us sumangåne hit na guåha Ånghet pipulan-ta, kåda uno giya hita.  Ti un lili'e i elektrisidåt, lao yanggen un mantiene un maipe na alåmle, siempre un siente i elektrisidåt.  Ti un lili'e i manglo', lao siña un siente i manglo' gi matå-mo; siña un li'e i chaochao na tåse yanggen duro guinaifefe-ña i manglo'.  Yanggen un hongge na guåha elektrisidåt yan månglo', håfa mina' mappot ma hongge na gaige i Anghet de la Guåtda gi fi'on-mo?  Taitaye sesso i Anghet-mo de la Guåtda ya guiya siempre un prinetehe gi meggai na aksidente yan minalångo. "

TODAY IN HISTORY : MASSACRE SITE DISCOVERED

Monday, August 8, 2011

Sixty-seven years ago today, American soldiers stumbled upon dozens of dead bodies, many of them beheaded.  They turned out to be Chamorro civilians.  The massacre, in an area of Yigo called Chagui'an, certainly happened days before August 8, but this was the day the gruesome event was discovered.  They were mainly young people, and families knew that some of their members were missing, having been called by the Japanese to work on military projects, never to be seen again.

The Americans, as you know, entered the island from the southwest (Asan and Agat) and pushed north through Nimitz Hill (Libugon/Fonte Plateau).  So by early August, most of the action was in the Yigo area, where Chagui'an is.

But identifying these victims has been very difficult.  But some local officials are trying their best to put more pieces of the puzzle together.  One of them is Yigo mayor Robert Lizama, whom I interviewed in this video clip.

EDUCATION IN HAGÅTÑA - 1845

Saturday, August 6, 2011
phillisremastered.wordpress.com
From the Spanish records stored in Manila comes this information about the school in the capital city of Guam in 1845 :

TEACHERS
Jose Gogue
Juan Taitano
Francisco de Castro
Juan de la Cruz
Maria de Rivera
Lorenza de Rivera
Maria Yonson (This was really Johnson .  Her mother was Chamorro.)

STUDENTS
Boys 492
Girls 311

WHAT DID THEY LEARN?

IF WE DON'T HAVE, WE MAKE

Friday, August 5, 2011

Chamorro Church Bell

Visiting one of our local chapels, I came across something I saw in my younger days when some of our churches were small and humble, lacking everything but the most essential.  For a bell, some of our churches used an empty oxygen or LP gas tank and banged it with a hammer.

It reminded me of a story I read in the Spanish records.  It was the 1910s on Guam, and Bishop Olaiz made the unintended mistake of anointing the patlino or godfather of the boy, instead of the boy to be confirmed.  Realizing this and needing cotton to wipe the oil off the patlino , Olaiz asked for a ball of cotton.  There was none.  So he asked for some bread instead.  None.  Some paper?  None.  Then someone finally found a bit of cotton and all was well.

But the priest told Bishop Olaiz, that on Guam, " si no lo tiene, lo hace ."  "If they don't have, they make."  Like the church bell.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : KÅTTRE

Friday, August 5, 2011
cardcow.com
I Kattren George Washington giya Mt Vernon

K Å TTRE : bed

Mamaigo' si Juan gi hilo' k å ttre .  John is sleeping on the bed.

Arekla i kattre pot fabot .  Fix the bed, please.

The origin of our word is the Spanish catre , which means "cot," not an actual bed.

K å ma is another word for "bed," and it also comes from Spanish - cama - which means "bed."

THE QUONSET HUT

Thursday, August 4, 2011
The Bank of Guam in a Quonset Hut
after the war

I am old enough to remember Guam's quonset huts.  There were at least two across the street from my house in Sinajaña.  I was told they were used by the government as a dispensary at one time, and then I think I remember the Boys Scouts using one of them.  They are long gone.  But there used to be quonset huts all over Guam; so many, in fact, that Guam could have been called Quonset Island.

Our young people don't realize just how militarized this island was right after Liberation.  With Japan still at war, the U.S. used Guam as one of the main launching pads of the attack against the Japanese homeland.  Some 200,000 American military personnel worked on Guam supporting naval and air operations against Japan.  The Navy base at Apra and air bases in the central and northern parts of Guam were thriving with activity.


This is where the quonset hut came in.  It was cheap, light-weight, easy to assemble and easily moved.  At least 150,000 of them were manufactured during the war.

After the war, quonset huts were sold to private hands, given away or taken over by local government. The first convent of Mercy Sisters in Hagåtña was made of - quonset huts!


Enough people are old enough to think of the quonset hut as a post-war cultural icon of Guam, as seen in the photo above.  But there are so many younger people who've never even seen one.  You say to them "quonset hut," and they go "huh?"

SINANGAN I MAN ÅMKO'

Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Meggai kuentos, meggai linache.
Diddide' kuentos, diddide' linache.
T å ya' kuentos, t å ya' linache.

Lots of talk, lots of mistakes.
Little talk, few mistakes.
No talk, no mistakes.

I agree with the first two lines.  God gave us a mouth for some purpose.  So, never to use it, I think, would be a mistake.  There are times that not saying anything at all in a given situation would make things worse.  So I vote for the middle sentence as the safest policy.  And with that, I say no more.

GOING COCONUTS

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Gimen m ås chugo' niyok! Drink more coconut water!

Only recently have I gone back to consuming anything from a coconut.  For some time I had been swayed by the anti-coconut propaganda that anything remotely connected with the niyok would clog your arteries with cholesterol.  Now I am swayed by the pro-coconut water party.  It is full of all kinds of natural goodness, and hardly anything unhealthy, which you can research at your leisure.

In the Philippines, it is pushed all the time.  You are constantly asked, "Buko juice? Buko juice?"

With a coconut tree every 20 yards on Guam, it's a shame we have to buy chugo' niyok for $4 a can at a store; or $3 a pop from a street vendor - $5 if you come from the Land of the Rising Sun.

POST-WAR ENTERPRISE

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Rita Perez Torres (left) and her sister Maria Torres Limtiaco (right)
Sinaja ñ a, 1945

Jobs connected with the military were readily available right after the American return during and after the war, with Guam serving as a major base of operations in the war against Japan.  Still, some people tried to make money running their own businesses.

My grandmother (Maria Perez Torres Limtiaco, on the right in the photo above) had run a small store before the war, and made some money selling locally-made arts and crafts, like the shell purses seen in the picture.  She was doing this before the war, selling them to Atkins Kroll who mainly sold them to U.S. military and civil service personnel as island souvenirs.  After the war, my grandmother continued doing this for a few years.  The lady on the left is her younger sister, Rita Perez Torres, who never married and who ran the kitchen and the family altar.

My grandma would hire teenage girls in the village to help her with this enterprise and earn some money.

As a kid I remember one or two big barrels (like the ones used for diesel fuel) of shells left over from the 1940s stored in the p å pa' s å tge (underneath the raised house) of my uncle's house which was next door to mine.

My grandma and auntie never wore the mestisa as their usual attire, so I'm sure someone (government? military?) asked them to pose for this photo.  Those are some pretty snazzy mestisas , though.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : SIYA

Tuesday, August 2, 2011
drdimes.com
SIYA : chair

From the Spanish "silla," or "chair."

Fat å 'chong, pot fabot, gi siya .  Sit on the chair, please.

Mam å han yo' tres na siya. I bought three chairs.

T å ya' siy å - ña si Jose .  Jose has no chair.

THE BEST KNOWN AUTOMOTIVE CHAMORRO

Monday, August 1, 2011

FÅKKAI

Everyone has seen this Chamorro word on many a car driving on Guam, the Marianas and abroad.  Not many people know the original meaning of this word which has taken on a new connotation in modern times.

The original word in Chamorro means "to distribute, to divide."  Simple as that.

A hundred years ago, our people used this word quite freely, and nobody giggled.  Its meaning was simply to distribute or divide something.

When fishermen caught fish, they would distribute the fish among the community.  The boat owner, the net owner, the fishermen and the whole community, especially the poor and the sick, got their shares of the catch. Man ma fåkkai i taotao siha ni guihan .  Fish was distributed among the people.

Ti siña ma fåkkai. It cannot be divided, or distributed.  The Three Persons of the Holy Trinity are separate persons but one God, not three. Ti siña ma fåkkai . In terms of their divinity, they cannot be divided.

Na' gai fakkai yo' .  Give me a share of the distribution.  They're passing out free titles to surplus military land.  " Na' gai fakkai yo' pot fabot !"

Fast forward to today, hundreds of years after the word was originally used by our mañaina .

The modern meaning is "to beat up."  One modern dictionary defines it so.

Like many words that became slang, the origin of the modern usage remains a mystery.  Slang often begins with one, anonymous originator.  It catches on, becomes widespread, and the explanation of the word's origin takes on the nature of an urban myth.

The company that uses a stylized spelling of the word has also come up with their own definition of the word, as can be seen in one of their logos : exhaust the body, proceed the mind, cultivate the spirit .  My how far we've come.

I PATRONON HAGÅTÑA

Sunday, July 31, 2011

SAN IGNACIO DE LOYOLA
Patron of the City of Hagåtña


Why is there a statue of Saint Ignatius of Loyola in the Hagåtña Cathedral?

Most have forgotten, even Catholic clergy, that Saint Ignatius is the patron of Hagåtña.

"What?" I hear you say?  "But I thought it was the Dulce Nombre," one says.  "Or the Immaculate Conception," another says.

The patroness of the church is Dulce Nombre de María, the Sweet Name of Mary.  But Blessed Diego chose Saint Ignatius (in Spanish and Chamorro - San Ignacio) as the patron of the city.

Hagåtña was, in fact, called San Ignacio de Agaña by the Spaniards.  Its central district, where the seat of power was, both civil (the Governor's palace) and ecclesiastical (the church), was in the district of San Ignacio.  The district of San Ignacio today would include the Cathedral, the Administration Building, the Agaña Post Office, Skinner Plaza and all the way west to just before the Julale Shopping Center.


An old Spanish document from the early 1800s shows how the City was called San Ignacio de Agaña
In Spanish, I and Y sound the same, so it was sometimes spelled Ygnacio.

Before World War II, the people of Hagåtña celebrated the annual fiesta of San Ignacio, with a novena ending on July 31st with a procession.  In the Chamorro hymnal, the Lepblon Kånta , there are seven Chamorro hymns to San Ignacio - seven!  That means the people were singing a whole lot more to Saint Ignatius than we are today.  Today, as a matter of fact, one has to search high and low for someone who even knows the melody to any of these hymns.

One of the hymns opens with these words,

" Tuna, Hagåtña, i nina'en Yu'us ..."  "Praise, Hagåtña, the gift of God..."

A second hymn says,

" O San Ignacio, Gogguen Hagåtña, i inagång-ña ekkungok !"  "O Saint Ignatius, Guardian of Hagåtña, hear her cry!"

It was only after the war, when even the name of the district, San Ignacio, was forgotten, that the feast day was no longer observed as a parish event.  I hope we can reclaim this part of our Chamorro-Catholic heritage.




This depiction of Hagåtña in 1800 shows the official title of the city in Spanish : SAN IGNACIO DE AGAÑA.


En Español

Patrimonio olvidado de nuestra historia Hispano-Chamorra, ya no se celebra la ciudad capital de Guam su fiesta patronal del santo guipuzcoano, Ignacio de Loyola.  Eligido patrón de Agaña por el misionero fundador, el P. Sanvitores, jesuita, la ciudad se llamaba "San Ignacio de Agaña" por la mayor parte de su historia bajo la bandera española.  El barrio más importante de la ciudad, donde residían las tropas españolas y donde se encontraban la iglesia parroquial y el palacio del gobernador, fué él de San Ignacio. Lamentablemente, no queda ningún recuerdo de todo esto, salvo una imagen del santo en la Catedral actual.  Apenas saben la gente por qué existe esa imagen en ella.


VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA
(traducida por Manuel Rodríguez)

SAN IGNACIO, PATRÓN DE AGAÑA

San Ignacio de Loyola, Patrono de la Ciudad de Agaña, 31 de Julio

¿Por qué hay una imagen de San Ignacio de Loyola en la Catedral de Agaña?

La mayoría ha olvidado que San Ignacio es el patrón de Agaña, incluso parte del clero católico lo desconoce.

"Pero pensé que era el Dulce Nombre de María", dice uno. "O la Inmaculada Concepción", dice otro.

La patrona de la iglesia-catedral de Agaña es el Dulce Nombre de María. Pero el Padre Diego Luis de San Vitores, evangelizador de las Islas Marianas, eligió a San Ignacio como patrón de la capital de Guam.

De hecho, Agaña fue llamada “San Ignacio de Agaña” por los españoles. Su distrito central, donde estaba la sede del poder, tanto civil (el Palacio del Gobernador) como eclesiástico (la iglesia), se encontraba en el distrito de San Ignacio. El distrito de San Ignacio hoy incluiría la Catedral, el Edificio de la Administración, la Oficina de Correos de Agaña, Skinner Plaza y todo el camino hacia el oeste hasta justo antes del Centro Comercial Julale.

Antes de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el pueblo de Agaña celebraba la fiesta anual de San Ignacio, con una novena que finalizaba el 31 de julio con una procesión. En el himnario chamorro, el Lepblon Kånta, hay siete himnos chamorros a San Ignacio, ¡siete! Eso significa que la gente cantaba mucho más a San Ignacio de lo que cantamos actualmente. Hoy, de hecho, uno tiene que buscar por todas partes a alguien que sepa siquiera la melodía de cualquiera de estos himnos.

Uno de los himnos comienza con estas palabras:

"Tuna, Hagåtña, i nina'en Yu'us..." "Alabado sea, Agaña, el regalo de Dios..."

Un segundo himno dice:

"O San Ignacio, Gogguen Hagåtña, i inagång-ña ekkungok!" "¡Oh San Ignacio, Guardián de Agaña, escucha su llanto!"

Fue después de la guerra, cuando se olvidó incluso el nombre de este distrito de la ciudad, San Ignacio, y cuando la fiesta dejó de observarse como un evento parroquial. Espero que podamos recuperar esta parte de nuestra herencia chamorro-católica.

LOST SURNAMES : SOYOÑA

Sunday, July 31, 2011
SOYOÑA

This was an Aniguåk name.  By 1897, there was one person on Guam left with this last name.  She was Maria Soyoña, married to Pedro Terlaje.  She had at least one son Vicente, who married Josefa Salas and had children, so there is a branch of Terlajes on Guam with Soyoña blood.

Aniguåk used to have its own municipal officials before it was united with Hagåtña and became just a district of the capital city.  When it had its own officials, there was an Ignacio Soyoña and a Manuel Soyoña serving in various positions in Aniguåk in the 1840s.  But by the 1890s, the male members of the family had all died out and eventually the surname did as well.

The name is probably Sohyoña. Sohyo means to "encourage."  I used this word a lot when I made announcements or preached in Chamorro :

I encourage you to confess during Lent. Hu sosohyo hamyo para en fangonfesat gi durånten i Kuaresma .
I encourage you to bring your kids to CCD. Hu sosohyo hamyo para en kekenne' mågi i famagu'on-miyo para i Dottrina.

And so on.

PRAYER TO A HOLY SHEET???

Saturday, July 30, 2011
smalltowngems.com
Many people know that såbanas means "sheet," the kind you put on your bed.  So some people wonder why, at a Chamorro rosary, there is a prayer to the Holy Sheet, the Såntos na Såbanas .  When the rosary is prayed in English, using Chamorro prayers rendered in English, the term "holy sheet" is actually used.  I suggest a change.  Why?

Såbanas is a word borrowed from Spanish.  In Spanish, s á banas means "sheet" or "altar cloth."  So when Spaniards talk about the Holy Shroud of Turin, the one with (it is believed) the image of the body of Christ, they talk about the Santa S á bana de Tur í n .

So, when used in reference to Turin, såbanas in Chamorro should be translated as "shroud."

SHROUD OF TURIN
The Chamorro prayer goes like this :

Asaina Yu'us, ni i un po'luye ham nu i fegge i masa'pet-mo gi Såntos na Såbanas ni muna' ono i Sen Såntos na Tataotao-mo annai nina' tunok hao gi kilu'us as Jose, nå'e ham, Asaina, na i finatai-mo yan i ma hafot-mo u na' fan ma konne' ham guato i mina'lak i lina'la' ta'lo, annai sumåsåga hao yan mama' sasaina hao yan si Yu'us Tåta, man hahamyo yan si Yu'us Espiritu Sånto, gi todo i manaihinekkok na ha'åne.  Amen.

Lord God, who has left us an image of your suffering on the Holy Shroud which wrapped your most holy body when Joseph took you down from the cross, grant us, Lord, that your death and burial may take us to the glory of the resurrection, where you live and reign with God the Father, together with God the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever.  Amen.

It should be clear from the prayer why it is said for the deceased.  The Holy Shroud is a visible reminder of the death and burial of Christ, who rose from the dead, and we pray that the deceased who has died and is, or will be, buried be given the grace of rising, too, from the dead.

Note

* The Joseph spoken of here is Joseph of Arimathea (not Joseph the husband of Mary), who buried Jesus' body.

Is this the Face of Jesus?

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : LÅNCHON KUERO

Saturday, July 30, 2011
coconutroads.com
Literally, " lånchon kuero " means "leather ranch."


But the phrase was used by people to be humble about one's home.

For example, someone might say, " Fanmamaila' mågi manbisita gi gima', achok ha' lånchon kuero ."
"Come here to visit at the house, even though it's nothing special."

SENT BY JAPAN : JAPANESE CATHOLIC PRIESTS

Friday, July 29, 2011


BISHOP DOMINIC SENYEMON FUKAHORI
at the groundbreaking of the Peace Memorial in Yigo, 1967

The Japanese knew very well that the Chamorros of Guam were very attached to their Catholic faith.  It is for this reason that two Japanese Catholic priests were sent to Guam at the behest of the Japanese Navy, with the task of winning the Guam Chamorros over to Japanese loyalty.  After all, how bad could the Japanese be, if , not only were some Japanese Catholics, but there were Japanese Catholic priests as well?

Of the two priests sent, the more important was Monsignor Dominic Senyemon Fukahori.  He was no ordinary priest.  Earlier in January 1941 he was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Fukuoka, Japan.  An Apostolic Administrator is a temporary leader of a diocese, when there is no bishop.  Because of impending war, the Japanese government became more nationalistic and turned against foreign missionaries acting as bishops of Japanese dioceses.  Many of the Catholic bishops in Japan were French, as was the bishop of Fukuoka.  He, and many other foreign bishops, resigned.  Fukahori took his place, becoming full-fledge bishop in 1944.

He was accompanied by a Tokyo priest, Father Petero (Peter) Komatsu.

Fukahori was not welcomed at all by Father Duenas, who called him and Komatsu spies for the Japanese.

Fukahori spent only a matter of months on Guam during the war.  He later came back in 1966 to celebrate with Monsignor Oscar L. Calvo, whom he knew during the Japanese Occupation, the groundbreaking of the Peace Memorial in Yigo which Monsignor Calvo spearheaded.

We need to remember that Fukahori faced the possibility of imprisonment or death if he refused to go to Guam.  While on Guam, Fukahori had at least one chapel re-opened by the Japanese, and perhaps did some good.  He filed a report about church conditions on Guam and sent it to the Vatican authorities.

One telling anecdote my mañaina told me about him was, whenever he would speak to the people about the war or about the government, he would take off his cross from around his neck and lay it on the altar.  After the talk, he'd put it back on.  The Chamorro Catholics did not need any other sign to understand that Fukahori was telling them, in so many words, "I am about to speak, but not as a representative of the Church."




FATHER PETERO KOMATSU
While detained in civilian Prisoner of War camp by the US on Guam


Father Komatsu did stay on Guam for the duration of the Japanese Occupation, right up to the American Liberation.  He avoided as much involvement in civic affairs as possible, except that he wrote a letter to Tweed to give himself up, as many Chamorros were getting in trouble with the Japanese on his account.

I knew a woman from a family Father Komatsu befriended, calling the matriarch of the house "mother," in English, a language Komatsu knew.  According to her, Komatsu didn't talk war-time politics, telling the family, "We are in a time of war."  Even when asked by a Chamorro, "I guess we're all going to be Japanese now," Komatsu said, "The sky is so big."  These enigmatic comments showed that Komatsu may have been alluding to the impermanence of political situations, such as the war.

Komatsu was captured by the Americans at the re-capture of Guam and sent back to Japan.  Monsignor Calvo visited both Msgr. Fukahori and Fr. Komatsu on a trip to Japan many years later.

En Español

Durante la ocupación japonesa en Guam, las autoridades japonesas enviaron dos sacerdotes japoneses a Guam para mostrar una cara católica y japonesa a los chamorros de Guam, en su mayoría católicos fervientes.

STILL SOME SPANISH INFLUENCE

Friday, July 29, 2011
guam museum
This band, which was active in the 1950s, made up of Chamorros, went by a Spanish name - Recuerdos de Ayer , or Memories of Yesterday.

Todavía en los años 50 se ve la influencia española en Guam.  Recuerdos de Ayer, una banda de música.

I LA TADDUNG NA FINO' CHAMORRO : EMPAS

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Fine'nana, ta atan i "empas" gi bandan dibe.  Guåha na ma sångan, "Maila' ya ta na' empas i dibi-ta." Yanggen hu dibe hao singkuenta pesos ya hu nå'e hao kuarentai nuebe ha', pues ti e'empas.  Lao yanggen hu nå'e hao tåtte ni singkuenta pesos, pues empas hit na dos.

På'go gi bandan isao.  Ennao i "empas isao," ti hita muna' fan e'empas i isao, na si Jesukristo chumåhlao i isao-ta.  Yanggen para u empas i isao-ta, debi di ta asi'e i prohimu-ta.  Yanggen ti ta asi'e i prohimu-ta, pues ti siña empas i isao-ta sa' klåro gi Saina-ta as Jesukristo na ha sångan, "Yanggen ti un asi'e i prohimu-mo, ni si Yu'us ti inasi'e i isao-mo.

Guåha na masusedi na yanggen un dommo' yo', pues hu dommo' hao tåtte, para un dommo' yo' ta'lo otro biåhe.  Lao siña ha' hu sangåne hao, "Cha'-mo, sa' empas hit!"  I Antigo na Testamento ha fanånå'gue hit nu i "Attadok pot åttadok, nifen pot nifen."  Lao annai måtto si Jesukristo, ha na' attrabisao ennao ya humuyong på'go i finanå'guen-ña, "Bendise ayo i mumatdise hao, tayuyute ayo i muna' lålåmen hao, cho'gue maolek para ayo i chumocho'gue i baba para hågo, guaiya i enemigu-mo."

I palåbra "empas" ma chuchule' ginen i fino' Españot "en paz," ni kumekeilek-ña "gi minahgong."  Yanggen gaige i dos taotao "en paz," kumekeilek-ña na esta ti mumumu i dos - pot dibe, pat pot isao pat pot otro na plaito.

TODAY IN HISTORY - JAPANESE COMMANDER KILLED

Thursday, July 28, 2011
ibiblio.org
LT. GENERAL TAKESHI TAKASHINA
Military Commander of Guam 1944

Killed on Guam
July 28, 1944

In March of 1944, the Japanese suspected that the Americans, having captured the Marshalls, had their eyes next on the Marianas.  They sent to Guam the battle-hardened 29th Infantry Division of the Imperial Japanese Army, under the command of Takashina.  These soldiers had served in China, where war had been raging between the Japanese and Chinese for a long time.  These soldiers had war in their veins.

Takashina was up on the Fonte Ridge, what is now called Nimitz Hill, trying to organize his troops to evacuate to the north of Guam when he saw that the Americans were successful in taking Asan, Apra Harbor and Agat.  He was killed by an American bullet.

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' : PÅPÅ'GUAN

Wednesday, July 27, 2011
rice.edu
På'guan means "to give off a scent."  Its root word is pao (scent).

I was speaking with an elderly lady about a possible event.  She told me she wasn't sure if it was really going to happen, but she said, " Påpå'guan! "

Sometimes you walk into a kitchen and you can't be exactly sure what it is you are smelling; what food was cooked.  But you can be sure that something was cooked.  Why?  Because the room is giving off an odor - påpå'guan .

In the same way, we can't always be sure about some event or some news, but we see signs, there are some clues, something in the air - like an odor. Påpå'guan .

MARINE VET OF THE GUAM INVASION

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Of additional interest to me - he comes from my dad's home town in Illinois.  Small world.

BALUTAN

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

True story.

I was standing in front of the fridge with a friend, looking at what leftovers we might want to eat.

He said, "Påle', you know what's my favorite food?" as we stood there looking at all the leftovers.
I said, "What?"
Says he, "Balutan."

We all know that, at least in today's common speech, balutan means the food you take home from a party.

But the original meaning of balutan means "to wrap up, to bundle." Un balutan pugua' is a parcel of betel nut, for example.  So balutan does not necessarily mean food you take home from someone else's party.  You can wrap food up in aluminum foil and put it right in your own fridge, at the site of the party, or no party at all, and it can still be called balutan .

Balutan is a part of Chamorro life.  You almost can't leave a party without it.

When I was priest of Malesso' and Humåtak, I would get between 5 and 10 plates of balutan most weeks.  This was food left over from the nightly rosaries held at the church for a funeral or anniversary.  Some weeks, it cold get as many as 20 plates.  All for one person.  I didn't want to waste it (sin; isao ), so I often dropped off the balutan to.....well....I better not say.  But it didn't go to waste.

By the way, the word balutan is also used by Filipinos, for the same thing.

I was getting so many balutan outside my parish, too, that I had to devise a way to transport the balutan and avoid spillage in the car.  Nothing worse than the smell of kelaguen uhang on the carpet that lasts for weeks.  So I bought a deep, plastic tub, with a cover, and put the balutan in it.  If there was a spill, the juices stayed in my plastic fanbalutånan ( balutan container), which was easily rinsed clean.  People would look at the trunk of my car and go, "What's that?"  I'd say, "For balutan, nai ."

When I just couldn't eat at a party, the one way to satisfy the hosts and not upset them that you didn't eat was to say, " Balutåne yo' fan ya bai hu chule' hanao !"  "Wrap it up for me and I'll take it along."  Then all was well.

Balutan can be abused.  We all see some people, barely invited to the gupot or fiesta (feast) and take home enough balutan for a week.

THE BANZAI CHARGE

Tuesday, July 26, 2011


The Japanese military code of honor did not allow for surrender.  Surrender meant disgrace.  One either won the victory or died trying to achieve it.

So, when backed into a corner, the Japanese commander prepared his men for a banzai attack.  They drank liquor as much as they could, breaking the sake cups into pieces, and, usually after midnight, they raced out of hiding towards the Americans, screaming and yelling "Banzai!",  waving their swords wildly above their heads.  If they had guns, they shot continuously, moving back and forth from one side to the other, stepping over the dead bodies of their Japanese comrades.  These Japanese soldiers knew they were going to die; they just wanted to take as many Americans as possible with them.

In earlier battles, such as in China, the Banzai Attack actually proved successful at times.  But success was due to the slower re-loading guns used by the enemy, giving the wave of oncoming Japanese soldiers an advantage.  But in the case of Guam and Saipan, the Banzai Attacks failed.  In a sense, the Americans both dreaded Banzai Attacks, and loved them.  A failed Banzai Attack meant fewer Japanese to deal with the next day.

The word "banzai" is a Japanese form of the Chinese expression "ten thousand years."  It was originally used a salutation for the Emperor, wishing him a long life.  It was also used for the Japanese Emperor.  When the Japanese soldiers shouted "banzai," it was a patriotic slogan as well as a reference to the Emperor.  But "banzai" does not always refer to the Emperor, or to a suicidal attack.  It can be used today in a general, celebratory way; like when your team scores at a game.

THE STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF NIMITZ HILL

Monday, July 25, 2011
caltrap.org

Soldiers of the 3rd Marine Division transport their wounded down Nimitz Hill
On July 25 - this day - sixty-seven years ago, the Japanese and the Americans were still duking it out on what the Americans called "Fonte Ridge," what we call today "Nimitz Hill," and what Chamorros called, before any of these others got here, Libugon.  Lt. General Takashina, highest Japanese commander on Guam, assembled 5,000 soldiers on Nimitz Hill by July 25 to launch a counter-attack against the ascending Americans, slowly moving up from the Asan beach head.

American control of Nimitz Hill was absolutely necessary for the Americans to push north.  Had Nimitz Hill remained in Japanese hands, they would have commanded the high ground over-looking Apra Harbor and Orote Peninsula, as well as central Guam.

caltrap.org
Advance of the 3rd Marine Division
July 22-26

Progress was made by yards, not by miles, on a given day in those first days, as seen in the map above.  The Americans had to fight their way up hill, and the mud created on that reddish clay soil from heavy rains did not help.  At one point, the Japanese broke through a weak spot in the American lines and got within firing range of a U.S. field hospital.  Wounded Americans trying to get stitched back together leapt off operating tables to grab their guns and fight back the charging Japanese.

The Japanese would often drink all afternoon and evening and then attack in the dark of night, drunk as a skunk.  These tactics were called "Banzai Attacks."  On the night of July 25-26, the Japanese launched a Banzai Attack against the Americans on Fonte Ridge (Nimitz Hill/Libugon).  In the morning, most of them were dead.

This video clip of a biker enjoying the trails of Nimitz Hill (Libugon) gives you an idea of what the terrain looked like this time sixty-seven years ago, minus the bombs and bullets and dead bodies.

IS IT CLEAR NOW?

Monday, July 25, 2011

NOW we know which Anita you're talking about!

When I was a kid, my mañaina would often call their sister Ana "Anan Vicente."  Likewise, their brother-in-law was "Vicenten Ana."  Otherwise, there are just too many Anas and Vicentes to know which one you're talking about.

So we attach the name of your husband or wife, mother or father to your name, and now it's clear that we're talking about you .

When I was a priest in Malesso', one of the ladies always referred to her husband Juan as "Yannek-ko."  I spelled that the way it's pronounced.  It's really "John-neh-ko," as in "Johnny-ko."  " My Johnny."

That's another thing we can do.  Si Rita-mo, si Titde-mo, si Kiko-mo. Your daughter Rita, your wife Titde, your husband Kiko.  Now we know which Rita, Titde or Kiko we're talking about.

JORGE CRISTOBAL

Sunday, July 24, 2011
nps.gov
JORGE "GEORGE" CRISTOBAL
Chamorro participant in the Liberation of Guam

Imagine seeing your home island of Guam being re-taken from the Japanese, but from behind American lines.  Jorge "George" Cristobal, born in Hagåtña in 1918, the son of Adriano and Carmen Untalan Cristobal, had spent several years at Waseda University in Tokyo, having been fascinated by Japanese language and culture, and then joined the US Navy.  Many people knew him as "Boy Cristobal."

JAPAN

Boy Cristobal was interested in studying porcelain making. Accompanied by his mother and an uncle, who was a dentist, Boy sailed for Tokyo in 1935. He was just in time. Had he waited a few more years, it would have been harder for him to move to Japan, as relations between Japan and the U.S. grew more and more tense.

U.S. NAVY

By 1939, things became very worrisome. The war in China against the Japanese was well underway. Japan was entrenched in Manchuria and skirmishes broke out even between the Japanese and the Russians.

Boy was advised to return home to Guam.

When he returned he enlisted in the U.S. Navy.

Unlike almost all the other Chamorro men who joined the Navy, Boy did not end up being a mess attendant, cleaning tables and dishes. Because he was fluent in Japanese, Boy was assigned other work. He was to work in intelligence, using his Japanese language skills to assist in monitoring activities in Japan. Obviously, he could not do that work on Guam so off he went overseas.

He was at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed on December 7, 1941.  When the U.S. was making plans to re-capture Guam, they knew they could profit from Boy's knowledge of the terrain of his native land and of the Japanese language.  He was transferred to the Marines and was with them during the liberation.  Always on the lookout for his family, he was with a search patrol one day and convinced a Marine not to shoot at a suspected Japanese figure in the distance.  It turned out to be Cristobal's father, who looked surprised at Jorge's Marine uniform, asking, "Son, I thought you joined the Navy!"  Jorge was an interpreter on Guam during the war crimes trials following the war.  Jorge passed away in 2009.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : HÅNOM

Sunday, July 24, 2011
flickr.com
HÅNOM : water

Another word with deep Austronesian roots, seen in just a few other Austronesian languages below that have similar words for "water."

CHAMORRO
HÅNOM

ILOKANO
DANUM

KAPAMPANGA
DANUM

VARIOUS INDONESIAN LANGUAGES
DANUM


Hånom maipe .  Hot water, used to brew coffee, for example.

Hånom sinaga .  Rain water collected in a barrel or tank.

Hånom ais .  Ice water.

Hånom grifo .  Faucet water.

Hanume .  To sprinkle water.

Hånme .  A contraction of hanume .

Mama' hanom . To become watery.

Mehnom .  An abundance of water.  A contraction of mi (abundance) + hånom (water).

But...."Holy Water" is ågua bendita ...the Spanish term... not såntos na hånom .

"Water fall" is kaskåda , from the Spanish, related to the English word "cascade."

KÅNTAN NANÅ-HO GI GERA

Saturday, July 23, 2011
My mother was not the biggest fan of the Japanese.  She was 13 and a half years old when the war broke out, and was 14 and 15 during the war.  She said that the Japanese stole from her "paradise," life in Hagåtña before the war, which to my mother was a perfect life.  She went to Japanese school in Barrigada and became one of the best students.  Funny enough, she was proud that she picked up Japanese and remembered a lot of it.

One thing she never forgot was a Japanese war song called "Kohan no Yado."  It was recorded in 1940 and was a favorite of Japanese soldiers fighting in China, as the sentimental song recalls scenes of home.  My mother learned the song during the war and she sang it to me when I was a teenager.  I remember one verse of it, after all these years.  She learned it in the 1940s, I learned it from her in the 1970s.


Here is a clip of the same song, sung in complete and immensely better form by the singer who released it in 1940, Mieko Takamine.  Takamine lived a relatively long life, passing in 1990 at the age of 72.

TODAY IN HISTORY : MASSACRE IN FENA

Saturday, July 23, 2011
flickr.com

SURVIVORS OF FENA MASSACRE
Thirty-three residents of Agat and Sumay were killed by the Japanese on July 23, 1944 (though another source says it was on July 19).  There were many survivors, some of whom are alive today.  Those rounded up and forced into the caves near Fena Lake had worked on Japanese defenses, and so were mostly younger people.  Some of the women were raped.  Some men were given sake to drink and told to celebrate, in an attempt to massacre them while intoxicated.

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/38318965

FENA LAKE
After the war, the whole area around Fena Lake was made Naval Magazine, a weapons depot.  Because of tight security, memorial ceremonies for the Fena Massacre usually happen in Agat.

airdaleamericanhistory.com

THE CAVE WHERE THE MASSACRE HAPPENED

I SONCHON HARUTA MURA

Friday, July 22, 2011
Vicente Camacho Reyes
The Japanese made him district head of Barrigada
Or - Haruta Mura

When the Japanese occupied Guam for two-and-a-half years, they changed the names of many island places.  The whole island was re-named Omiya Jima (Great Shrine Island), Hagåtña became Akashi (Red City), Sinajaña became Shinagawa and so on.  Barrigada became Haruta Mura.

Guam was divided into districts headed by a Chamorro whose position was called kucho .  The villages were lead by a soncho .  You didn't volunteer to be a soncho, nor were you elected, nor were you asked - you were made soncho by the Japanese and accepted it or be killed.

Vicente Camacho Reyes, married to my grandmother's sister, Ana Perez Torres, was Island Attorney before the war.  He was a lawyer, having gone to UC Berkeley and Hastings College of Law in the 1930s thanks to a Navy scholarship.  As soncho of Barrigada, Uncle Ben's main duties were assisting with police efforts in the village, and letting people know any new policies or orders issued by the Minseibu, the Japanese civil administration.

But the one duty he liked to share with me was his obligation making sure the Barrigada farmers turned in their quota of corn and other crops to the Japanese.  If the Japanese told Uncle Ben they wanted five bags of corn by Tuesday, Uncle Ben had better come up with five bags by Tuesday.  If he was a day late, or, if on Tuesday, he produced only four bags, Uncle Ben was beaten or otherwise disciplined.

His wife, Auntie Ana, would pray, her hands shaking as she fingered her rosary beads.  But Uncle Ben was never severely disciplined; at least he had no scars to show for it years later.  Auntie Ana also had a hard time during the war, having miscarried during that time.

Uncle Ben would have had to deal with the Saipanese interpreters during the war, since he was soncho.  Uncle Ben had to do the Japanese's bidding but could speak no Japanese.  So, the Saipanese interpreters mediated and Uncle Ben got to know a few of them.  Years later, Uncle Ben took me to Saipan and we visited a former interpreter, Vicente S. Camacho, on a daily basis.  Obviously, there was no animosity shared between two Chamorros who had similar names.  Many Saipanese interpreters tried their best to avoid trouble between all parties during the occupation.  Another time, on Luta (Rota), Uncle Ben sat down and talked all night with William S. Reyes, another Saipanese interpreter during the war.  We were all visiting Luta for the fiesta.

After the war, Uncle Ben went on to practice law, serve on the bench as judge of the Superior Court and engage in politics, serving twice in the Legislature and being one of the leaders of the Territorial and later Republican parties.

Ai si Uncle Ben!  Onrao yan gof yo'ase na kabayero!  Ma na' sonchon Barrigada fuetsao ni Hapones.  Kuånto biåhe ma patmåda pat ma lalåtde?  Duru manåyuyut si Auntie Ana pot para u siña ha li'e ta'lo i asaguå-ña kåda pupuenge, sa' hai tumungo' na ti pinino' si Uncle Ben ni Hapones ayo mismo na dia? Gråsias a Dios, lumå'la' si Uncle Ben katna ha' kuarenta åños mås despues di gera, ya hu gacha', hu ekkungok i estoriå-ña siha ya hu li'e giya guiya maolek na ehemplon kilisyåno .

En Español

La ocupación japonesa de Guam durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial empezó una época de grandes dificultades para los guameños.  Mi tío Vicente fue alcalde del pueblo de Barrigada, llamado Haruta Mura en japonés.  Fue golpeado algunas veces por los japoneses cuando los rancheros no producieron su cuota de maíz para los soldados y oficiales japoneses.

COMMON MISTAKES : PIOT

Friday, July 22, 2011
PIOT
"Worse"

I'm beginning to see more and more people use the word piot when they want to say "even more so" or "what's more," as in :

" Ha gånna si Juan i rifa på'go na ha'åne !" "Juan won the raffle today!"
" Piot sa' på'go birthday-ña lokkue' !" "What's more, today's his birthday, too!"

The problem with using piot in this context is that piot means "worse."  Its meaning is "even worse so," or "what's even worse."  So piot can't be used in a positive context, like winning a raffle or being released from prison and so on.

" Mutcho mås sa' ," would be the expression used in the birthday example above.

Piot can be used in a negative context, to denote a worse or compounding negative condition.

" Ma aresta si Juan på'go na ha'åne ." "John was arrested today."
" Piot sa' birthday-ña på'go lokkue' ." "Worse, because it's his birthday today, too."

"Birthday," by the way is kumpleaños but more and more people today use the English word.

Piot was borrowed from the Spanish peor , which means "worse."

Trås is a more flexible intensifier which can be used in either a negative or positive context.

TODAY IN HISTORY : AMERICANS LAND ON GUAM 1944

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Perhaps the most life-changing event in recent Guam history.  Because of the American re-capture of Guam, our island would never be the same in the most dramatic ways.

As far as our mañaina were concerned, July 21 was the beginning of salvation.  Tears would well up in my mañaina's eyes when they talked about seeing American soldiers for the first time since the war began.

I MAOLEK NA HAPONES

Thursday, July 21, 2011
the3dstudio.com
"There is some good in the worst of us, and some evil in the best of us.  When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies." Martin Luther King, Jr.

I grew up with listening to tons of war stories - especially when July came around!

I was raised by women who were in their 20s, 30s and 40s during World War II.  My mother was in her early teen years.  They lived through the war and told me about leaving their home in Hagåtña to live on the farm in Ungå'guan, a part of Barrigada; of having to bow before the Japanese; of the two Japanese priests brought here to spread Japanese propaganda and so on.

So what a surprise one day when they started to tell me about a good Japanese.  He was an officer in the Japanese Imperial Navy (Kaigun), as he always wore white (the Army wore brown).  Prior to that, he had spent some time in the U.S. and spoke some English.  He was also a Catholic, of all things!

He was stationed in Barrigada and would come to my family's ranch house many nights to pray the rosary with them.  My grandma also did his laundry.  My great-grandmother gave him fresh eggs from our farm, and he gave her canned fruit.  I was given the impression that, because of his friendship with the family, the other Japanese soldiers in Barrigada were given to understand to leave my mother alone, the only girl in the family and in the first flush of womanhood.  I might add that my mother was beautiful, but then again I am biased.

Eventually he had to move on and he was never heard of again.  But my folks did tell me the story.

HASSO MAÑENGGON

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Japanese Consul General pays respects at Mañenggon
2011

Do you want to know how bad it was in Mañenggon in July 1944?

I talked to an 83-year-old woman, a Mañenggon survivor.
She said,

"I can talk to you about the war.  But you'll never get me to talk about those two weeks in Mañenggon."

HASSO MAÑENGGON
(by Susie Reyes Arceo, a Mañenggon Survivor)

1. Fanohge todos hit ni man Chamorro,
ta saluda este i tano'-ta;
puede siña ta konsige este mo'na
i man maså'pet gi tiempon gera.

Koro
Maila' ta hasso Mañenggon;
ta fan danña' todos ni man Chamorro
ya ta hasso todo i fina'pos-ta;
laknos i binibun korason-ta.

2. Hahasso todo siha i man måtai,
ni man ma puno' gi tiempon gera;
ya ta nå'e si Yu'us ma'åse'
na man lålå'la' hit para siha.

3. Mañe'lu-ho hahasso este na gera,
man maså'pet yan man malångo;
mutcho mås todos siha i man måtai
ni manaigue guine på'go.

1. Let us Chamorros all rise; let us salute our land; may we be able to continue this further; those who suffered in the time of war.
Chorus : Let us remember Mañenggon; let us all come together, Chamorros; and remember all our past; express the anger in our hearts.
2. Remember all the dead; who were killed in time of war; and give God thanks; that we live for their sakes.
3. Brethren, remember this war; those who suffered and were ill; but above all those who died; who are not present here today.

FANUCHÅNAN

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

FANUCHÅNAN
(Rainy Season)

Beginning around June each year, the rainy season starts.  It ends by the time December comes around.  But it rains every month on Guam, and it can rain in the dry season and we can go for days with no rain in the rainy season.

A rainy July means : bring your umbrella at every Liberation Day parade.

The fiestas of Agat (all three of them), Barrigada, Talofofo, Mangilao, Yoña, Umatac and a few others can all get drenched because they occur during Fanuchånan .  Sometimes the lukao (procession) is cancelled.

Fanuchånan comes from FAN + UCHÅN + AN.  Fan+word+an = place of, or time of.

AVERAGE MONTHLY RAINFALL ON GUAM

MONTH
INCHES
January
5.16
February
4.26
March
2.97
April
4.03
May
4.49
June
5.19
July
9.59
August
12.16
September
14.08
October
14.40
November
8.51
December
5.85

Source : http://ns.gov.gu/climate.html

The year 2004 was one of our wettest.  That year, June had 38 inches of rain, and August had 37.3 inches. Fotgon!

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : CHE'LO

Tuesday, July 19, 2011
A shining example of people who COULD be brothers!

CHE'LO : sibling, brother, sister

Often used between friends to denote a close friendship.

Or, between people not very close, or perhaps even at odds, to convey friendliness or a desire for peace.

Che'lu-ho si Maria.  Maria is my sister.

Mañe'lo hit.  We (3 or more people) are brothers (or sisters, or both).

Chume'lo si Joaquin yan si Ana.  Joaquin and Ana are brother and sister.

At a bar, two men feeling no pain start to argue politics (what else?) and it seems a fight may start.  One of them says to the other :

" Ai adei, che'lo, båsta pot politika!  Bai falak i kemmon. "  " Well, brother, enough about politics.  I'm going to the restroom."  The use of the word che'lo may diffuse tension and life goes on.

Hafañe'los.  A term used to call people's attention before or during a speech.

This is an interesting construction.  It borrows from the Spanish plural ending -s.  The "ha" is actually "a," meaning "mutual."  A + fan + che'lo + s = Hafañe'los.  Brothers and sisters.  But this word is only used to call people's attention when publicly addressing them.

There is also an exclamation che'lutas !  It has no particular meaning; it's just an exclamation, like "wow!"

Åmbre che'lutas!  Mungnga ma påtek i ga'-ho ga'lågo !  For crying out loud, don't kick my dog!

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : ET DICHO

Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Et Dicho!

The very one! The very same!


This comes from the Spanish "el dicho," literally meaning "the said," that is, "the very one, or thing, mentioned."

" Tan Maria, håye un espipia ?"  Tan Maria, who are you looking for?
" Si Påle' ."  Father.
" Si Påle' Juan ?"  Father Juan?
" Et dicho ."  The very same.
Or :
" Håye fumåhan este siha na nengkanno' ?"  Who bought this food?
" Si Carmen ."  Carmen did.
" Si Carmen che'lun Maria ?"  Carmen, Maria's sister?
" Et dicho ." The very one!

It can also mean, "the previously mentioned, the aforementioned."

" Ginen guåha un taotao ni ma fana'an si Buyo'.  Et dicho Buyo' bulachero gue' ."

There was a man named Buyo'.  Said Buyo' was a drunkard.

ESTORIAN UN TAOTAO LUTA

Monday, July 18, 2011
A local cultural association (Ginen i Hila' i Maga'taotao Siha) recently put on a wonderful story-telling presentation.  Members re-told the stories heard originally from people living before, during and after World War II.  It was delightful for me to see and hear Severina Atalig's performance, in which she portrays a man from Luta (Rota) telling the story of life on our neighboring island during Japanese times.  Listen for strong elements of the Rotanese pronunciation I enjoy hearing.


People seem to fixate on only one trait of the Rotanese way of speaking Chamorro : the sing-song accent.  But this is not prominent at all in Severina's delivery.  What is noticeable in her speech is the Rotanese use of the " a " instead of the " å " which is said by Guam and Saipan Chamorros.  The " a " sounds like "apple," whereas the " å " sounds like "awesome."

Severina says, for example, " pa'go " whereas Guam and Saipan Chamorros say " på'go ."  Some other words to look out for is when she pronounces : klase, katbon, tangantangan, ma guaddok, ma apapase, la'la', tatanom, brabo, grasias, tatte, mama'nanague, hatsa, salappe, libiano - all said with the " a ."

Luta Chamorros do say the " å ," for example, when she says " papåya ."

I knew only one woman in Humåtak (Umatac) who had the old, pre-war Humåtak accent, which, like Luta, was sing-song.  She has passed away now.  But both Luta and Humåtak were less overwhelmed by Hispanic and Filipino immigrants during Spanish times, so I believe these two places conserved the original Chamorro accent.  So did, perhaps, Pågo, Inalåhan and Malesso'.  But in the case of Pågo, that village shut down and the few remnants moved to Hagåtña and Sinajånña.  Inalåhan and Malesso' both were said to have had the sing-song accent before the war, but these two villages were also settled by many Hagåtña people in the 1880s, so I think the original accent weakened.  Saipan was mainly settled by Hagåtña Chamorros in the late 1800s, so they, too, carried with them there the Hagåtña accent.

So, in my opinion, when I hear the Luta accent, or when I heard Tan Ana's accent in Humåtak, I am hearing the sound of my ancestors, or at least something close to it.

En Español

Representación de cuentos dada en el idioma chamorro donde se oye el acento chamorro de la isla de Rota.

FAMILIA : AYUYU

Monday, July 18, 2011
finerworks.com
AYUYU

Let's move north of Guam to the only island in the Marianas where the Spaniards allowed the people to stay on their land and not move to Guam - the island of Luta or Rota.

The Ayuyu family is named after the coconut crab, so-called because they often feast on fallen coconuts and can crack them open with their powerful claws.  Don't touch one.

The Ayuyus seem to be descended from one of the following three men :

Mariano Maratita Ayuyu (born around 1836) : he married Teresa Matantaotao

Jose Ayuyu (born around 1860) : married Luisa Borja Atalig

Andres Ayuyu (born around 1859) : married Josefa Masga

I NAPU GIYA HUMÅTAK

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Nobody likes a typhoon - except that, as long as it's far enough from the islands, a typhoon does create large waves, which surfers enjoy.  With all the danger, though, I had to say a prayer when I saw these young people in Humåtak bouncing in these big waves ( nåpu ).  A typhoon is passing north of the populated Mariana Islands at the moment.

LUJAN HOUSE - 100 YEARS OLD

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Built in Hagåtña in 1911
Still Standing

Jose Pangelinan Lujan, at age 20, built this house - one of the few pre-war structures still standing in Hagåtña.  Not only does it still stand, it is intact - a tribute to Lujan's craftsmanship for he indeed built it with his own hands.  The Guam Institute, the island's only private school during the pre-war American period, was situated here for a long while.  The house is now the office of the Guam Preservation Trust.  The Centennial celebration of the house was celebrated yesterday, July 16.


Three daughters of the late Mr. Lujan (known affectionately as Tun Pepe) and his late wife Dolores (Tan Lola) survive : Mrs. Ana L. Carrillo, Mrs. Luisa L. Edquilane and Mrs. Carmen L. Glenfield.  They were present at the ceremony and took a walk down memory lane looking at mementos of the house's history.




For more on the house, go to www.guampedia.com/lujan-house


TODAY IN HISTORY : FÅHA MASSACRE

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Malesso' is the unfortunate scene of not one - but two - massacres at the hands of the Japanese.  Yesterday, sixteen people of Malesso' were killed sixty-seven years ago.  They were the village elite.  Today, thirty men of Malesso' were killed in a different location in the village.

On July 16, the Japanese rounded up the most physically powerful men of Malesso'.  The civic leaders and those with American ties were not the only threat to the Japanese; these big, powerful men could also prove a worthy adversary should they rise up against the Japanese.  The thirty men were taken to the hills of the northern side of Malesso', behind the present-day cemetery - a place called Fåha.  They were made to stand in an open trench, where they were open and visible targets for Japanese bullets.   No one survived.


The Memorial to the Victims of the Tinta and Fåha Massacres
San Dimas Church, Malesso'


At the Memorial Mass on July 16, 2011 for the Tinta and Fåha Massacres, chairs were marked with the names of the victims, so that a family member could sit and represent them at the ceremonies after Mass in front of the Memorial.
En Español

El pobre pueblo de Merizo es el sitio de no sólo una matanza, sino dos matanzas, hechas por las manos de los japoneses.  En el día 16 de julio de 1944, treinta varones, los hombres mas fuertes del pueblo, fueron fusilados en una zanja en el lugar llamado Fåha.  Ninguno de los treinta salieron con vida.

BASIC GRAMMAR : MAN + CH, F, K, P, S AND T

Saturday, July 16, 2011
When the prefix man is used in front of a word that begins with a CH, F, K, P, S or T, those initial letters are changed in the way described in the chart below.  The reason?  Purely for the sake of what the ear thinks sounds nicer.  Just as, in English, the word "the" is pronounced differently when one says "the coast" as opposed to saying "the east coast."  "Theee east coast" sounds a lot nicer than "thuuuuuh east coast."


MAN + CH =


MAÑ

MAN+CHOCHO =

MAÑOCHO




MAN + F =

MAM

MAN+FA'GÅSE =

MAMA'GÅSE





MAN + K =

MANG

MAN+KONNE' =

MANGONNE'





MAN + P =

MAM

MAN+PUNO' =

MAMUNO'





MAN + S =

MAÑ

MAN+SAONAO =

MAÑAONAO





MAN + T =

Omit the T

MAN+TAITAI =

MANAITAI



Just remember....even with the above patterns....there are always exceptions to the rule!

TODAY IN HISTORY : TINTA MASSACRE

Friday, July 15, 2011
Prayer Service at Tinta Cave

On July 15, 1944, the residents of Malesso', about 800 or so, were gathered at the Geus Valley in Malesso' by the Japanese authorities.  The names of thirty people, including five women, were read aloud.  They were told that they would be put to work and that a cave in the Tinta area of Malesso' in that Valley would be their base camp.  They were told to go into the cave.  The Japanese threw in hand grenades.  After the explosions, the Japanese went in with their bayonets and finished them off.  So they thought.  Fourteen survivors were taken for dead, either because they were badly wounded and made no movement, or because they feigned death.  Some used dead bodies to shield them from the bayonets.

The 30 men and women destined for death in Tinta Cave were chosen by the Japanese because they were considered the village elite (leaders, school teachers, people of influence) or because they had ties with the U.S. military (sons in the service, for example).  The Japanese were afraid that these civic leaders would lead the whole village to rebel against the Japanese, or connect with the invading American troops and assist them.  The Japanese knew their days were numbered, and they did not want the Chamorros, or the Americans with Chamorro assistance, to take vengeance on the Japanese for two-and-a-half years of  occupation.

One of those who did not survive the grenades was Maria Lukban Mesa, a Filipina married to a Chamorro.  She was a teacher.  Another victim was Ramon Padilla Cruz, father of long-time Mayor of Merizo Ignacio "Buck" Cruz.

I was pastor of Malesso' two different times when I was a baby priest.  I will never forget going with the group of Malesso' people, children of the victims and even some of the survivors themselves, to Tinta Cave.  We walked through the muddy fields of Geus Valley; it always rained in July.  When we got to the mouth of the cave, we all got silent.  The survivors, especially, became very somber.  We prayed and blessed the cave, asking for the eternal repose of the victims and the healing of hearts of the survivors and the children of those who perished.

Para nuestros lectores hispanohablantes

Recordamos hoy la matanza de 16 chamorros en el pueblo de Merizo al sur de Guam, durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial.  En el día 15 de julio de 1944, los japoneses mataron a estas personas en una cueva en el distrito llamado Tinta.  Los víctimas fueron maestros, líderes civiles y gente de influencia.

I CHIBA

Friday, July 15, 2011

GUAM CHIBA

Chiba is taken from the Spanish feminine word "chiva," which, along with the masculine form "chivo," mean "young goat."

The Spaniards brought them to the Marianas.  Our mañaina ate the meat but they also drank the milk, but not regularly. Goats were also easy to raise; no special food was needed, just let them eat the grass. This made them cheap "lawn mowers," as well as food disposal units.

I was driving around Agaña Heights the other day and bumped into a few chiba keeping the grass short in the village.




The Spanish word for "female goat" is "cabra."  Our mañaina never adopted this word.  But what the Chamorros called the island of Apapa the Spaniards called Cabras Island, meaning "She-goat Island," because of the many goats that were allowed to roam there. Up to now, everybody, Chamorros included call it Cabras Island. Very few people even know its original, Chamorro name.



APAPA OR CABRAS
Both the Chamorro and Spanish names of this island appear in this 1904 map


The island of Aguiguan - also known as Aguijan - is also called Goat Island, for the same reason as Cabras; the abundance of goats living there. Officially, it retains its Chamorro name.

Although our ancestors did not adopt the Spanish word cabra, they did adopt the Spanish words cabrito and cabrón , our kabrito and kabron.

A kabrito is a "baby goat, or kid."

Kabron literally means "male goat" but was often used as a demeaning name for a disliked man, and kabrona for a vexacious woman.

Depending on what Spanish-speaking country you go to, cabrón can be a highly insulting word and is best not said.

YOU CAN FISH...JUST USE TALÅYA POT FABOT

Thursday, July 14, 2011

flickr.com
According to the PDN yesterday, the Department of Agriculture is allowing the fishing of reef fish that normally move from deep waters to shallow ones in the summer...as long as you catch them with traditional Chamorro talåya (throw net) or hook-and-line.

The talåya was introduced in Spanish times and the original Spanish word is a tarraya , and in Mexico and other Latin American countries, tarraya .  The larger kind of net, the chinchulu , is taken from the Spanish word chinchorro .



Don Porfirio of Mexico throwing a tarraya .

BASIC GRAMMAR : WHEN "UM" BECOMES "MAN"

Thursday, July 14, 2011
We saw how the simple word kånta just means "song."  It can be used as a command, to one or two people, "Sing!" " Kånta !"

In order to use the word in action, one has to employ the infix " um ." K+um+ånta .

Kumånta yo' .  I sang.
Kumåkånta yo' . I sing/am singing.
Kumånta gue' .  S/he sang.
Kumåkånta siha. They (one or two people) are singing.

But what if the singing is being done by three or more people?

That's where the prefix " man " comes in.  It is a prefix; it comes in front of the word.

Let's take the word hånao , "to go."

Humåhånao siha .  They (one or two people) are going.
Manhåhånao siha .  They (three or more people) are going.

Or the word lå'la' , "to live."

Lumålå'la' gue' .  S/he is living.
Manlålå'la' siha .  They (three or more people) are living.

Or åsson , "to lie down."

Umåsson hao .  You lied down.
Manåsson hamyo .  You (three or more people) lied down.

Sounds easy....BUT.

In the next lesson, we'll see how things change depending on the first letter of the word.  There is often a change when a word begins with :

CH, F, K, P, S, T

TWEED'S PROTECTORS

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

George Tweed, the Navy radioman who hid from the Japanese rather than surrender, was sheltered by many individuals at the beginning.  Due to the dangers of staying long in one place, with slips in security here and there, Tweed moved on quickly to the next refuge.  But Tweed's last and longest host, from October 1942 until his rescue in July 1944, was Antonio Cruz Artero and his wife, Josefa Torres Artero.  Josefa was the younger sister of my grandmother Maria Torres Limtiaco.

The photo above was taken in February 1946.  From the shoes and the clothing, one can see that the comforts of life had not all returned after the war as yet.  The island, in fact, was still under Navy control at the time of this photo; a heavily militarized island where even statesiders needed Navy clearance before they could come to Guam.

Asked why he agreed to hide Tweed, Uncle Ton responded with words along these lines, "It was my obligation as a Christian.  I was hungry, and you fed me."  He risked certain death had he been caught by the Japanese.  Imagine weighing that risk with the possibility that the Americans would never come back.  That was the hope, but how could one know for sure?  It was a heroic decision indeed.  Other Chamorros did the same, and did in fact suffer beatings and torture because they assisted Tweed.

That's Uncle Ton and Auntie Epa in the middle of the photo with 8 of their eventual 12 children, and Tweed on the far left.  That is my great-grandmother on the far right; the only photo we have of her.  My great-grandmother, Maria Perez Torres, was born in 1874 and died in 1949.

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' : KALAN MAN FEFFERIA HIT!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011
reynese.deviantart.com

I was visiting an elderly lady, trying to have a conversation with her.  She had five or six grandchildren visiting her, and they were having a blast : screaming, shouting, laughing.

She stopped right in the middle of our talk and shouted, " Famå'kaka!  Kalan man fefferia hit !"

Feria means "fair," as in the country fair or a carnival.  It comes from the Spanish word "feria," meaning "fair, show, festival."  That was taken from the Latin word "feria," which can mean "fair" or a "weekday."

So grandma was telling the kids, "Keep quiet!  It's as if we're at the carnival!"

TODAY IN HISTORY : FATHER DUEÑAS BEHEADED

Tuesday, July 12, 2011
flickr.com
After several days of torture, having been arrested by the Japanese on July 8, Father Jesus Baza Dueñas was taken early on the morning of the 12th, along with his nephew Edward Dueñas, to Tå'i where the two were beheaded, along with one Juan Pangelinan and an unidentified man.

Dueñas was ostensibly arrested on suspicion of having knowledge of Tweed's whereabouts.  But the priest had been a target of the Japanese since the beginning.  Father Dueñas was quite open about his dislike for the Japanese, including two Japanese priests who were sent to Guam during the war - not by Rome - but by the Japanese government.  The bishop at the time, Miguel Angel Olano, made Father Dueñas temporary head of the Church on Guam while Olano was in Japan and elsewhere because the Japanese deported all foreign missionaries from Guam.  Father Dueñas made it clear that he was the church authority on Guam; no one else.  The Japanese priests were Dominic Fukahori and Petro Komatsu.  After the war, Fukahori became bishop of Fukuoka.

Father Dueñas also ruffled the feathers of the Japanese with little acts of defiance.  He was even threatened with exile to Rota.  When the Japanese knew that the American invasion was imminent, they were in the mood to take others down with them, including Father Dueñas.

The exact location of his remains were unknown until 1945 when Father Oscar L. Calvo got a Saipanese interpreter who had been at the beheading to take him to the site in Tå'i.  The spot was dug up, Father Dueñas' remains were identified by clothing and other personal effects, and his remains were brought to Inarajan were they now rest in the floor of the church sanctuary.

Father Dueñas was the second Chamorro to be ordained a Catholic priest; Father Jose Palomo was the first.  He had been a priest for only 6 years when the Japanese beheaded him, and he was only 33 years old.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : HÅTSA

Tuesday, July 12, 2011
toys.about.com
HÅTSA : to lift, to raise

Håtsa i kanai-mo.  Raise your hand.

Håtsa yo', pot fabot.  Lift me, please.

Hu håtsa i patgon.  I lifted the child.

Manhåtsa.  To erect, build.

Bai fanhåtsa guma'.  I will build a house.

Hinatsa.  Construction, lifting.

Hinatsan tatå-ho este na guma'.  This house is my dad's construction.

Håye humåtsa este na guma'?  Who built this house?

Si tatå-ho humatsa este na guma'.  My father built this house.

Håtsa comes from the Spanish alzar , which means "to raise, lift, erect."

CHE'CHO' KARIDAT

Monday, July 11, 2011

Si Señot Juan E. Garcia, ni mås ma tungo'-ña as Garcy, ha setbe i komunidat giya Agaña Heights komo commissionern-ñiha desde et åño 1969 asta et åño 1976.  På'go, gi annai 88 åños edåt-ña, esta ti siña humuyong sesso i amko'.  Ennao mina' mangontråta unos kuåntos na man hagas na commissioner yan mayor siha para u ma bisita si Garcy un talo'åne.  Manguentos, ma kantåye pues binendise si Garcy gi as Påle'.  Despues, todos man amotsan talo'åne.  Ta hahasso i sinangan i Saina-ta : "Annai malångo yo', un bisita yo'."  (Mateo 25:36)

Juan E. Garcia, better known as Garcy, was commissioner of Agaña Heights from 1969 till 1976.  He is now 88 years old and doesn't often leave the house.  So, some former commissioners and mayors decided to go to his house and pay him a visit.  There was lots of conversation, some singing and a blessing imparted on Garcy by the priest.  Of course, there was lunch served for all.  As Christ said, "I was sick and you visited me." (Matthew 25:36)

It impressed me to see the Gospel in action, as there was one former mayor from Yigo in the north, and another from Malesso in the south, and all those in between, who drove many miles (most of them in their 80s as well) to cheer up a former colleague in his old age and physical weakness.

The human touch is one of the things that makes Guam special.

A SAD CHAPTER IN CHAMORRO HISTORY

Monday, July 11, 2011
rickbeckman.org
WHEN BROTHER WENT AGAINST BROTHER

As the painting of Cain and Abel above implies, there was a time in Chamorro history when brother Chamorro went against Chamorro brother.  But it happened at a time when two foreign nations controlled two different parts of the once-united Marianas.  What happened in World War II was not something the Chamorros involved wanted to do.

When the Japanese took over Guam from the U.S. on December 10, 1941, they brought with them Chamorro interpreters ( intetprete ) from Saipan and Rota to Guam who could translate between Japanese and Chamorro.  The vast majority of these interpreters did no harm, but a few did.  Some were tried, convicted and served short sentences on Guam and were then allowed to return home.  In their defense, those interpreters facing charges said that they had no choice; it was either punish the Guam Chamorro, or be punished even more severely by the Japanese.  The Japanese, they said, naturally expected greater loyalty from the Chamorros of Saipan and Rota, since they had been under the Japanese since 1914.  Their punishment, therefore, would be greater.

The following are excerpts from a statement written in 1945 by one such Saipan Chamorro interpreter, read to the court that heard his case. In it, he states that he tried to show kindness to the Guam Chamorros in his custody, because he, too, is a Chamorro and a Catholic .  I have put it in more recognizable spelling, and I have taken out the names of the people involved.  This sad chapter in our history is still too sensitive for many to look at.  But we must try to be as fair and as objective as possible when evaluating.  Looking at all the complex factors involved in their situation, what would we have done if we had been in their shoes?  We won't all answer this the same way.

"Señores,

Malago' yo' lokkue' na hu na' gåsgås yo' magåhet gi me'nan-miyo på'go. Pinite yo' gi korason-ho nu i hu susede este guine, sa' i hagas na gobietnon-måme demasiao na ti ha nå'e ham nu i boluntårio na lina'la'-måme.  Guåho måtto yo' guine gi fuetsao na nina' fåtton-ñiha, man pareho ha' todos yan i pumalo siha nu i man presente guine på'go na Chamorron Saipan.

Guåho hagas na obligasion-ho i "pulisman" gi tano'-ho ya taimano i man ma susesede guihe na kastigo, i finatton-måme lokkue' guine gi hinalom i Hapones man ma nå'e ham lokkue' siha otdenånsia na måno i tinago' i ma'gås-mo debe de u ma kumple o sino i kastigo u fåtto giya håme yanggen fåtta hame ti in kimple.

Guåho konfotme yo' na este i man gaige guine siha na kausa, fuera di __ yan __.  Gåsgås bai hu atmite na hu cho'gue, lao todo kastigo, Señot, segun i man ma tuge' påpa' guine na påppet ti todo måtto lokkue' guennao i kruetdåt-ho nu siha, sa' masea lokkue' hu kastiga pot ofisiok-ko yan otden-ho, guåho lokkue' Chamorro yan Katoliko, buente guåha ha' lokkue' i pinasensia yan karidåt i hu nå'e siha."

TRANSLATION

Sirs,

I also want to truly cleanse myself before you here today.  I am sorry within my heart that I am in this situation, because our past government truly did not allow us a life of freedom.  I came here because they forced me to come, the same as the other Saipan Chamorros who are here now.

My prior obligation in my homeland was to work as a policeman, and the way punishment was done there, when we came here with the arrival of the Japanese, we were given orders that we must obey the orders of our superior or else the punishment will fall on us if we do not fulfill them.

I am agreeable to the present charges, except for that of ___ and ___.  I admit honestly that I did them, but among all the punishments, Sir, according to what is written down on this paper, I did not do all of them because of my cruelty towards them, because even if I punished them because of my job and my orders, I too am a Chamorro and a Catholic, so perhaps there is also patience and charity that I gave to them.

TODAY IN HISTORY : GEORGE TWEED RESCUED

Sunday, July 10, 2011

JULY 10, 1944
GEORGE TWEED, USN IS RESCUED

The film clip above begins with the rescue of Tweed, and then goes on to talk about the American invasion.

George Tweed was a Navy radio man who decided to hide from the Japanese, rather than surrender.  He was not the only Navy man to do so, but he was the only one who made it, thanks to the many Chamorros who sheltered him at great risk to their lives.  A number of Chamorros were punished, some severely, because they either aided Tweed or were simply suspected of doing so.

The last people (and the longest) to hide Tweed were none other than my grandmother's sister Josefa and her husband Antonio Cruz Artero.  The Arteros owned a lot of land up north and Uncle Ton, with his father's blessing, hid Tweed in a cave along the northwestern cliffline on Guam.  Auntie Epa cooked his food, which Uncle Ton delivered once a week.  The silence the Arteros kept about Tweed saved their lives but only God knows what would have happened if the Americans had not come when they did.  Would the Japanese have finally figured it out?  Apparently right at the end they did.  But it was too late.  Tweed was gone and the Arteros went into hiding.

On July 10, Tweed, using a mirror and signal flags, successfully caught the attention of the American ships getting ready for the invasion of Guam in less than two weeks.  An American boat went and fetched him.

Tweed wrote a controversial book about his years in hiding, which was made into a movie that was not liked by the Chamorros at all, since non-Chamorro actors were used to portray us.

warmovieblog.com
The Tweed Movie We on Guam Don't Like

REMEMBERING MAÑENGGON

Sunday, July 10, 2011

On July 10, 1944, the Japanese ordered the Chamorros living in central and northern Guam to move to Mañenggon, an isolated river valley just south of Yoña.  Not all the Chamorros ended up in Mañenggon.  Those in the southern villages went elsewhere, and some from the central and northern parts also went their own way.  But Mañenggon probably had the largest concentration of people, living in quickly assembled shelters.  They really suffered; some died on the march down to Mañenggon.  Many were beaten.  There was a shortage of food and water.  There was talk that the Japanese would kill them all, but it never happened, and the fact that the people were in a valley far from the worst battle scenes meant that their lives were spared.


Every July, the Mañenggon Memorial Foundation organizes a memorial service at the camp site.  This year it was held on Saturday, July 9.  Two people, including one who was old enough to remember her experiences at Mañenggon, shared their stories before the crowd of around 200 people.  There was Mass with the Archbishop and then the laying of wreaths by the Consul General of Japan and others.

But before the Mass, the survivors of Mañenggon lit torches ( achon ) made of bamboo ( piao ) in honor of those who were here sixty-seven years ago.  The På'a Taotao Tåno' singers were on hand.


One day all those who were alive during the war will be gone.  We have collected many stories; more need to be collected and more of it in video format.  Our children should learn about their forebears, their endurance and their faith. Yanggen ti ta tungo' ginen manu hit, mappot para ta tungo' para månu hit guato.

MAN O'OMAK GI SADDOK

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Looking at these young people behaving like perfectly normal young people - having fun - you would never have guessed that this river valley - Mañenggon - was the scene of great hardship for thousands of our people in mid July of 1944.

After the Americans liberated the people in Mañenggon, they dammed the river and built a water filtration system.  The system is no more but the dam remains, giving these youngsters ample deep water to play in.

LOST SURNAMES : BABAUÑA

Saturday, July 9, 2011

49ersclothing.com


I BABAU I 49ers

BABAUÑA

You think this is a typo?  That it should be Babauta?  Nope.

Besides Babauta, there was a family on Guam that went by the last name Babauña.  Like many of the Babautas, the Babauñas were from Hågat.

Why the 49ers banner?

Because babau , which is no longer used in modern-day Chamorro, means "banner," "flag" or "emblem" in the language of our ancestors.  The Spanish missionaries called the cross of Jesus the " babau Yu'us ," the "emblem of God."  We could revive this word and use it when we speak Chamorro today, but we'd have to explain it a lot to others.

The Babauña family was reduced to one middle-aged woman, Manuela Babauta Babauña, aged 51 in 1897; and her children Pedro, Barbara, Felipe and Andrea.  Manuela is listed as a single woman, so her children were illegitimate and would have (usually) carried the Babauña surname.  Why the sons did not perpetuate the last name is a mystery, unless neither married.

ILEK-ÑA SI PÅLE' : GINASGAS HINALOM

Saturday, July 9, 2011
praytherosaryapostolate.com
I GIPOT SÅNTA MARIA GORETTI : HULIO DIA 6

Setmon Påle' Lee :

" Un sotterita na kåsi katotse åños edåt-ña ginen sumåsåga gi un lacheria giya Itålia.  Uno gi man lanchero måtto gi hinasson-ña na para u afuetsas i sotterita fuma'tinas un isao kontra i ginasgas.  I palao'an ti ha sedi achok ha' ilek-ña na para u pinino' yanggen ilek-ña na mungnga gue'.  Lao este na sotterita mås i guinaiyan-ña nu i ginasgas ke i mina'añao-ña nu i para u pinino' ni se'se' ya mumåtai para u defiende i ginasgås-ña.  På'go ta fa'nana'an gue' Sånta Maria Goretti.

Si Sånta Margarita de Cortona era un bonita na señorita.  Må'pos ya ha dalalak i nobiu-ña.  Un dia ti tuma'lo tåtte i nobiu-ña, ya må'pos gue' para u aligao.  Ha sodda' i kumekelamas na tataotao-ña gi un fina' halomtåno' gi kanton chålan.  Ma puno' gue'.  I na'ma'añao na hechuran i kumekelamas na tataotao-ña nina' komprende gue' håfa taimano hechurå-ña i anti-ña gi me'nan Yu'us.  Si Margarita ha pula' todo i alahås-ña yan man bonito siha na magagu-ña gi tataotao-ña ya minagågo talåpos siha.  Gi tetehnan na lina'lå'-ña ume'egagao limosna ya mañuñungon insutto siha, asta i finatai-ña.  I såntos yan måhgong na lina'lå'-ña un prueba na ti atrasao para masea håye na u na'maolek i lina'lå'-ña.

Si Jesukristo ilek-ña nu hita, "Man dichoso i man gåsgås hinalom-ñiha, sa' siha u ha li'e si Yu'us .'"

Sånta Margarita de Cortona

FAMILIA : DIAZ

Friday, July 8, 2011
fresnedoso.com

Diaz is a very common name in Spain (and in Portugal, where it is spelled Dias).  As a matter of fact, it is the 14th most common surname in Spain, and Diaz ranks higher in a few Latin American countries, such as Argentina (#6), Chile (#4) and Peru (#8).

It is so widespread in Spain that it is nearly impossible to know where it originated, and even what it means.  The most believed theories are that "Diaz" comes from the word "día," or "day," or that it comes from the first name Diego, as in "son of Diego."  There are many branches of the Diaz family in Spain that you will also find more than one coat-of-arms, besides the one above.

The beginnings of the Diaz family on Guam present a mystery.  In the 1727 Census, there is a single man named Antonio Diaz listed among the Spanish soldiers.  He disappears in the 1758 Census and no Diaz is placed in the Spanish list.  In the 1727 Census, there is a Filipino (Pampanga) soldier named Tomas Diaz, but he is still single.  Did he eventually marry?  Did he marry a Chamorro?

In the 1758 Census, in the Pampanga list, there are two boys, Jose and Juan Diaz, who seem to be the sons of Marta del Castillo, then married to an Arriola.  Jose and Juan could have been her sons from her first marriage, to a Diaz; possibly the Pampanga soldier Tomas Diaz from the 1727 Census, but we can't be sure.  For all we know, these two boys could be the sons of Antonio Diaz, listed in the 1727 Spanish list, or they could be the sons of someone else we don't know about.


1727 CENSUS

Antonio Diaz (SPANISH)


Tomas Diaz (FILIPINO)


1758 CENSUS






( 0 )

Brothers :
Jose Diaz
Juan Diaz (FILIPINO)

but who was their father?
Antonio Diaz (Spaniard)?
Tomas Diaz (Filipino)?
or another Diaz (unknown)?



By the 1897 Census, the Diaz family was centered on Hagatña and Sumay, and some had moved to Saipan.  The Gayego clan is a well-known branch of the Diaz family in the Marianas.  Nicolas Cruz Diaz had served as Alcalde (Mayor) of Tinian in the late 1800s.  Tinian at the time had no permanent settlement of Chamorros; it was a place for raising cattle and other animals and produce to export to Guam and Saipan.  Carolinians, and a few Chamorros, worked there but then left for either Guam or Saipan.

Recently, yet another Diaz line has started on Guam, with the Filipino but long-time Guam resident Judge Ramon Diaz, some of whose descendants have married into Chamorro families.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : MÅTA

Friday, July 8, 2011
wallpapersgo.com
MÅTA : the area in the face around and including the eyes

Another word common to most of the Austronesian language family (spread over Southeast Asia, the Pacific and as far west as Madagascar near Africa).  "Eye" (not the eye ball itself but the eyes as seen on the face) is translated in the various Austronesian languages as follows :


CHAMORRO

MATA

PALAUAN

MAD

TAGALOG

MATA

ILOKANO

MATA

INDONESIAN

MATA

HAWAIIAN

MAKA

MAORI (New Zealand)

MATA

TAHITIAN

MATA

SAMOAN

MATA



Bonito matå-ña!  His/her eyes/face are (is) beautiful!

Måtan lalålo gue'!  S/he has an angry look (face)!

Makkat matå-ña.  His/her face is stern.

Måtan hånom.  Spring (water).

Måta can also mean a hole dug for planting.

Måtan chotda. The hole dug for planting banana trees.

I especially enjoy the colloquial usage of måta to describe someone who is obsessed with something.  Someone who is always looking for a way to get or make money is called " måtan salåppe' ."  This perfectly describes such a person.  S/he has eyes fixated on money ( salåppe' ).

CHAMORRO FACEBOOK


INARAJAN ELECTIONS : 1891

Thursday, July 7, 2011
guamportal.com

In 1891, the office of Gobernadorcillo, or village leader, of Inarajan was up for election.  Not everyone voted; not even every male.  The voters, or electors, were about a dozen men, made up of current and former office holders in the village.  They were called the principales or principalía , in Spanish.

The electors in that year for Inarajan were : Juan Galvez Naputi, Julian Maria Naputi, Geronimo Naputi San Nicolas, Jose Meno San Nicolas, Mariano Baza Paulino, Mariano Charguane Cheguiña, Fernando Guinto Guevara, Jose Mellado Diego, Pedro Borja Delgado, Juan Meno Afaisen, Joaquin Naputi Meno and Joaquin Tedpahogo San Nicolas.  Twelve in all.

Three names were submitted for the office of Gobernadorcillo : Joaquin Naputi Meno, Geronimo Naputi San Nicolas and Jose Evaristo Dueñas, the last one being the only one of the three who was not also an elector.  Dueñas, however, was the current holder of the position of Gobernadorcillo.

The votes were cast : Joaquin Naputi Meno received 6 votes; Geronimo Naputi San Nicolas received 5.  Those were the only votes recorded.  We do not know if this meant that Dueñas received one (to make 12 ballots) or none at all (blank ballot).

There was no separation of church and state and the parish priest, Påle' José Lambán, played a part in the process.  He could write his opinion on the three candidates and endorse one of them or someone else.  Lambán did not support any of the three.  He was very candid about one of the candidates, who was, in Lambán's opinion, unfit for office.  He endorsed someone not even on the list; a Vicente Mendiola Dueñas, who, oddly enough, was the son of one of the three candidates - Jose Evaristo Dueñas.

All of this was consultative, even the votes by the principalía .  Manila had the last word and it appointed Jose Evaristo Dueñas to serve another term as Gobernadorcillo of Inarajan from 1891 till 1893.  The votation, therefore, was almost meaningless.

In many of the critiques written by the parish priests on the candidates, it often appears that the candidates did not speak or write Spanish very well.  Spanish was never the main language spoken by the Chamorros.  Many knew some; far more knew almost none.  The few who spoke and wrote it well had a certain advantage over the others.  This was not much of advantage, however, for there were few opportunities for material advancement through government work anyway.  Most everyone was content with farming and fishing.  You didn't need Spanish for that.

FALSE FRIENDS : ESPIA

Thursday, July 7, 2011
tweakers.net

FALSE FRIEND = a word that seems to mean the same in two languages, but doesn't

ESPIA

To us, espia means "to look for, to search for."

To Spanish-speaking people, it means "he or she spies."

This was probably the original usage in Chamorro, as the earliest Spanish-Chamorro dictionary (Ibáñez, 1865) shows it to have the same meaning "to spy" in both languages.  By the time Pale' Román wrote his dictionary (1932), the word had both meanings and his dictionary shows it.

SAIPAN STYLE MAMÅ'ON

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

BETEL NUT ( pugua' ) chewing has been part of Chamorro culture for thousands of years.  Archaeologists have dug up the bones of our ancestors and guess what they found on the skulls - pugua' stains on the teeth.

Chewing pugua' is in keeping with our Austronesian origins.  Chewing betel nut is found all across Southeast Asia and many islands of the western Pacific.

Closer to home, only the Chamorros, Palauans, Yapese and certain islands in Yap State but linguistically closer to Chuuk chew betel nut.  Typically, the Chamorros alone, in Micronesia, prefer the hard nut ( pugua' mahettok ) while all other Micronesians prefer the young, soft nut ( pugua' manñaña' ).  All betel nut chewing Micronesians traditionally add the pepper leaf ( pupulu ) and lime ( åfok ).  Many add chewing tobacco as well ( amåska ).

Up in Saipan, the presence, for nearly 200 years, of descendants of Carolinian islanders from Woleai, Eauripik, Satawal and other islands in Yap State, but linguistically closer to Chuuk, brought the chewing of pugua' manñaña' to Saipan.  Chamorros in Saipan adopted the Carolinian custom of chewing young betel nut, though many still prefer the hard nut and even a few Carolinians like to chew the hard nut, too.  Variety is the spice of life.

The Carolinian woman in this video shows us how to chew the pugua' manñaña' .  Putting all the ingredients together is called " ma templa ."

Incidentally, she speaks all three languages of modern-day Saipan : English, Chamorro and her own mother tongue, Carolinian, or Refaluwasch in their own language.  In Refaluwasch, pugua' is pu ; åfok is bwesch ; pupulu is walawal .  My Refaluwasch friends, please excuse the possible bad spelling.  I don't have my Carolinian Dictionary handy at the moment. Dispensa, aa ?!?

BASIC GRAMMAR : UM, Exceptions

Wednesday, July 6, 2011
For every rule, there is (usually) an exception.

Even in English, the rule is that "x" is pronounced "ks" has exceptions : exact, exile...where the "x" is pronounced "gz."

In Chamorro, the UM infix is usually place after the initial consonant(s).

Kånta = Kumånta
Hånao = Humånao

But there are exceptions.  These exceptions do not follow the rule and are tolerated.

They often involve words beginning with the letter N.

Nå'e (to give) should become Numå'e.  But in reality, 99% of the people will say Munå'e.

Nå'ye (to add, put in) should become Numå'ye.  But one normally says Munå'ye.

That being said, SOME people do say "numå'e" and "numå'ye."  Either form is tolerated; either the rule or the exception.

Words starting with Ñ are also often the exception.

Ñålang (hungry) should become Ñumålang (to become hungry), but most people say Muñålang.

TANORES

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

TANORES
Altar Server

In my day, being a tanores was an all-male preserve.  You had to wait till you received 1st Holy Communion before you could become a tanores .   In Saint Jude parish, Sinajaña, Franciscan Sister Optata was moderator of the tanores .  I kept pestering her at ages 6 and 7 to join, and she kept telling me, "Wait till you receive 1st Holy Communion."

On December 8, 1970, at Saint Francis Church, Yoña (I was a student at Saint Francis School), I received 1st Holy Communion at age 8.  The very next day, I went to see Sister and joined.  A few weeks later I served my first Mass, and I almost fainted.

I joined a group of about 70 tanores .  We vied with Agat to have the most tanores on Guam.  I soon became part of the inner core of tanores , serving every day; sometimes several Masses a day.  Living 200 yards from the church helped.

Besides serving, we tanores simply hung around the church, all day if possible (weekends and holidays).  We cleaned, inserted bulletins into the Umatuna si Yuus (diocesan paper), did whatever was needed.  The pastor would take us to McDonald's once in a while, or movies (when we were older).  One priest took us on hikes or swimming every so often.  It was fun being a tanores .

Three former tanores from Saint Jude became priests.  Not bad.


WHERE DOES THE WORD COME FROM?

As I grew up and became more interested in our language and culture, I wondered where in the world did Chamorros get the word tanores ?  Usually, if the thing did not exist on Guam before the Spaniards, the Chamorros used the Spanish word for it (like tenedot for fork - tenedor in Spanish, or katsunes for pants - calzones ).  But the Spanish word for "altar boy" is monaguillo - no where near tanores !

I had a theory, now abandoned, that the word came from the Spanish word tenores - the musical tenors.  I knew that the Spanish priests ran a colegio in Hagåtña, the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán.  I knew that they taught the boys more than reading and writing; that the boys were also taught agriculture and - music (tenors!).  I speculated that perhaps the tenors in the boys' choir functioned as servers, too.  Hence, tenores, then tanores .  Good try, no cigar.

I came across a book (100 Events That Shaped The Philippines, National Centennial Commission, 1999, p. 129).  It said that tanores were unpaid domestic servants of the Spanish missionaries in the Philippines.  A check of a Spanish dictionary under "tanor" defines it as a Philippine domestic servant to the Spaniards.

Antonio de Morga, writing in 1609 , in his book The History of the Philippine Islands , says that the word tanores was used to describe unpaid native servants of the Spaniards, both cleric and lay, as early as 1608, long before Sanvitores came to Guam (1668).

This reminds me of the old Chamorro custom of the låhen Påle' .  He was a boy or young man, usually from a large family, who lived in the konbento or rectory and assisted the priest in parish work, including serving Mass.  Though unpaid, their families felt their son was more than compensated by serving God and benefitting from the priest's religious, cultural and even academic guidance.  Among the priests, or among those either coming from the Philippines or having been there, these konbento servants (who also served Mass) could have been called tanores .  Or, perhaps, any boy who came to serve Mass was seen as an unpaid helper - a tanores ; a term they were familiar with in the Philippines.

We were certainly unpaid - with money, that is.  But, for some of us, we were paid in other ways.  Some of us even found our life's vocation because we were tanores .

What's interesting, too, is that the word tanores is no longer used in the Philippines. The Marianas, therefore, are preserving a word that originated in the Philippines but which is now lost there.

GUAM WHEN THEY SIGNED THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

Monday, July 4, 2011
harpercollins.com
GUAM IN 1776

POPULATION : 3,500 (Estimate; includes Luta)

GOVERNOR : Felipe de Cerain

VILLAGES :



HAGÅTÑA (Capital)

Population : 1,924
Priest : Fr. Andrés Blásquez de San José, OAR*
*Order of Augustinian Recollects


Outlying Villages of Hagåtña
Mongmong
Sinajaña
Asan
Tepungan
Aputguan



HÅGAT

Population : 316
Priest : Fr. Antonio Sánchez de la Concepción, OAR


HUMÅTAK (frequently the residence of the Governor)

Population : 560
Priest : Fr. Pedro Torres del Pilar, OAR


MALESSO'

Population : unknown
Priest : covered by priest of another village


INALÅHAN

Population : 240
Priest : Fr. Cristóbal Ibáñez de San Onofre, OAR


PÅGO

Population : unknown
Priest : covered by priest of Hagåtña


LUTA

Population : 325
Priest : Fr. Tomás Cazaraville de Santa Rita, OAR




DAILY LIFE : Guam was small in population, with the Hagåtña people mainly being Spaniards/Latin Americans and Filipino (Pampanga mainly) descendants mixed with Chamorro blood.  The more fully Chamorro-blooded people lived in the outlying villages of Hagåtña and in the southern villages.

Life was poor, to the point that Governor Cerain, in order to relieve the material misery of the people, allowed them to trade with the Acapulco galleon that stopped by Humåtak around May once a year, although many times the galleon did not stop at all at Guam. Young men leaving Guam for good on the galleons was a concern.

So, our ancestors did a little farming and fishing to survive.  Life revolved around the church, and there was some tension between the Spanish governor and the missionaries even then.  Disease was always a fear.  Roads were non-existent for the most part, as people had to go from village to village (in the south) by boat.

In Hagåtña, the formerly Jesuit school, the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán, was still in operation, with ranch lands to support it besides the royal subsidy, but the Colegio did have its problems.  The Augustinian Recollects were the missionaries, having replaced the Jesuits in 1769 when the Spanish King expelled them from the Empire for political reasons.

LIFE WAS HARD! MAKKAT!

COMMERCIAL PORT IN 1889

Monday, July 4, 2011
currierandives.net
In January of 1889, this was the action down at Apra Harbor :

ARRIVING SHIPS

"Lydia" from San Francisco, CA  (January 11)

"Hunter" from San Francisco, CA  (January 22)

"Capleton Pidgeon" from San Francisco, CA  (January 30)

DEPARTING SHIPS

"Lydia"  on January 18, to continue fishing

NOTES
  • All three ships came from San Francisco so we can expect a largely American crew, though most ships were a real United Nations of different races and colors.
  • A stop over in Hawaii and other places was not unlikely.
  • The "Lydia" stayed a week on Guam.  Its officers and crew mixed with the local population.
  • The ships carried no cargo, other than "lastre" (Spanish) or "ballast," dead weight to give the ship balance.  This was, perhaps, to allow the ships space to load their catch from fishing.  This was almost certainly whaling.
  • Other monthly reports show an average of three to five ships a month, each staying about a week on Guam.
  • Some Chamorro boys and young men joined the ships and sailed away as whalers and seamen, most never to return.
  • Chamorros, especially Hagåtña and Sumay residents, were very familiar with Americans long before 1898.  Even Padre Palomo was said to have some command of English gained through his familiarity with American and British whalers and travelers to Guam.

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Monday, July 4, 2011

Sumen lålålo' i bihu / sa' ninana'e ni biha
ni ayo na chandiha / ni ti mamasa trabia.

(The old man is very angry / because he is being given by the old woman
a watermelon / that isn't ripe yet.)

TODAY IN HISTORY

Sunday, July 3, 2011
flickr.com
JULY 3, 1919
DEATH OF THE FIRST CHAMORRO PRIEST
PÅLE' JOSE BERNARDO PALOMO Y TORRES
"Påle' Enko'"

Born on October 19, 1836 in Hagåtña
Ordained a priest on December 11, 1859 in Cebu

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : PULAN

Sunday, July 3, 2011
simondrax.com
PULAN : the moon / to watch over / month

This word shows our connection with the very big family of Austronesians!
The following all mean "moon."


CHAMORRO
PULAN

YAPESE
PUUL

ILOKANO
BULAN

CEBUANO
BULAN

INDONESIAN
BULAN

PALAUAN
BUIL

FIJIAN
VULA



Pulan is indigenous Chamorro, and related to hundreds of other Pacific languages, as seen above.  Because the moon "watches" over us at night, the same word for "moon" is used for "watch over."

Since the moon goes through a cycle (new moon to full moon to new moon again), ancient people started to mark time with the phases of the moon.  The word "month" comes from "moon," and so pulan is also used in Chamorro for "month."

Ma'lak i pilan. The moon is bright.

Såhe i pilan. It's a new moon.

Pulan i patgon! Watch the child!

På'go na pulan. This month.

Åmbres i pilan yanggen sumåhe / guåha na triste sumåhi-ña
kuåstaria i kilisyåno / yanggen guåha piniti-ña.
Ya dalai nene / ya ti un siesiente
i manåddung / i manåddung siha na inigong!

( Even the moon when it waxes / at times is sad
what must be the person / who carries some pain.
How could it be, sweetheart / that you don't sense
the deep / deep groaning!)

With pulan , you get THREE for the price of ONE : moon, watch over, month.

THE WHY OF Y

Saturday, July 2, 2011
YIGO.  YOÑA.  Why the Y?

1. The Y has been used to reflect the Chamorro sound DZ for a long time.

Blessed Diego Luis de Savitores, even before he set foot on Guam to begin the first mission, was already using the Y when he spelled Chamorro words.  He had learned basic spoken Chamorro before he landed from a Filipino survivor of a ship wreck who spent 17 years in the Marianas.

The use of the Y in Chamorro village names is seen in the earliest Jesuit maps of the Marianas, as well.

2. The DZ sound is not found in Spanish.

When Sanvitores and the Spanish missionaries came to the Marianas, they were faced with a language which included sounds that were not used in Spanish.

The Spanish language does not have the English J sound nor the DZ sound.  "Juan" is pronounced "Hwan,"  not "Jew-an."  The Spanish value of the J is seen today in Inarajan and Sinajaña.

3. Some Spaniards, and others in Latin America, pronounce the Y as an English J.

That being said, a good number of Spanish-speakers, whether in Spain or in Latin America, often pronounce the Y as an English J.

Listen to this woman tell us in Spanish that she is from Colombia.  In Spanish, "Yo soy de Colombia."  The first time she says "yo," it sounds very much like "joe."  The second time is not as strong a J and the next two times it's back to sounding more like a J.



4. The Chamorro Y is not said like the J in English.  It is pronounced more like DZ.

It is a dead giveaway that someone is new to the island when they pronounce Yigo as GEE-GO, and not DZEE-GO.

But for the Spaniards, the way some of them pronounced the Y (like in the video above) was the closest thing to the DZ sound in Chamorro, and perhaps that is why they used the Y.

I KUATTA

Friday, July 1, 2011
thewhipguy.com
Until I find a real kuåtta to photograph, this will have to do.

When I was younger, I did see a real-life kuåtta .  But I've asked around, and no one seems to have one.  I'll keep looking.

The kuåtta is a whip made of the hair of a cow's tail ( daddalak guaka ). Ma na' ånglo' pues ma filak .  The handle of the whip is made of kuero (leather).

The word comes from the Spanish "cuarta," which means several things (such as "quart") but it can also mean a whip used for horse riding.  That's probably the original use of it in the Marianas.

But the kuåtta became the most feared instrument of corporal punishment in olden times.  It was reserved for special cases, annai gos åguåguat hao .  When ordinary spankings didn't do the trick. Pues ma yågai i dagån-mo.

When you knew you were going to get whipped with the kuåtta , you made preparations if possible.  You put on several pairs of pants, or stuffed your behind with old newspapers.

An elderly lady told me how her brother was always getting into trouble.  One night he wanted to sneak out of the house, so he took the kåmyon niyok (coconut grater horse) and put it in bed instead, put a pillow on top and covered it all with the sheet.  But the dad couldn't be outsmarted and was waiting for him when he came home in the early morning hours.  The boy hurriedly put on several pairs of pants.  His mistake was not pretending to hurt.  The father noticed the lack of screams and tears, examined the boy, saw the extra pants and had him take them off.  I need not go further.

Because the children (especially boys) hated the kuåtta , parents hid it.  If a boy got a hold of it, he usually threw it down the kommon sanhiyong (the outside toilet).  Who would dare look down the outhouse, much less go down to retrieve it.  If the boy didn't throw it down, he threw it up, onto the roof of the outhouse.  But one time a father was using the kommon sanhiyong , looked up and saw one end of the kuåtta hanging over the roof.  I need not go further.

Many people today do not believe in any form of corporal punishment at all.  Many parents do approve of spanking, as Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said, "provided it is given firm enough, often enough and low enough."  When I was a kid, my father never once spanked me.  He didn't need to.  His look was enough to freeze the blood in my veins.  I am thankful for that.

GUAM STUDENT IN MANILA - 1864

Friday, July 1, 2011

Students at the Escuela Normal de Manila

Spain started to give more importance to education in the Philippines in 1863 with the establishment of a teachers' college, the Escuela Normal de Manila.  "Normal" meant a school for the training of teachers.  The following year, in 1864, the Governor General of the Philippines mandated that a student from the Marianas, which was at the time a Province of the Philippines, be sent to the Escuela Normal de Manila.  Luis Diaz Torres from Guam was selected.

Luis was around 22 years old at the time; the son of Jose Torres and Vicenta Diaz, and the grandson of the famous Sargento Mayor Luis de Torres who had assisted various scientific expeditions that came to the Marianas, and who had good knowledge of the Carolinian islanders who often visited Guam.

It is not known for certain that Luis did in fact go to school in Manila, but he did serve as a teacher, and most often head teacher, in Hagåtña for most of the rest of his life.  This high position in Hagåtña's schools for many years almost certainly points to an earlier education abroad, especially since it is clear that he was offered that opportunity.  Luis was not only a teacher; he was a member of the Chamorro Junta or Council, a group of five prominent Chamorros appointed in 1899 by American Commander Taussig to assist interim Governor Joaquin Perez, a Chamorro.  The Council was short-lived.  Luis later went on to serve as a judge in the American courts of Guam.

I LA TADDUNG NA FINO' CHAMORRO : FA' TAOTAO

Friday, July 1, 2011

bkchandler.wordpress.com

"Fa'taotao" kumekeilek-ña na para un respeta i otro taotao ya un aksepta gue' komo kabåles na taotao.  Lao et mås impottånte guiya i para un respeta i taotao.  I atlibes-ña i para un fa'ga'ga' i taotao, sa' kumekeilek-ña ennao i un chochonnek på'pa' i taotao.  Lao yanggen un fa'taotao i otro, un konsidedera gue' komo acha' taotao-mo, ya mungnga na un po'lo na takpapa'-ña gue' ke hago pat takkilo'-ña hao ke guiya.  Pues ennao mina' sumåsaonao guine i espiritun hinimitde.  Sa' yanggen ti humitde i taotao, siempre ha atan på'pa'.  Lao yanggen humitde i taotao, siempre ha atan todo i pumalo siha na taotågue komo parehu-ña yan achaiguå-ña.

Ti ta fafaisen i ga'ga' håfa malago'-ña para u kånno'.  Ta na' chochocho i ga'ga' håfa i siña ta nå'e pat håfa i malago'-ta para ta nå'e.  Lao yanggen para ta fa'taotao i otro taotao, siempre u ta faisen gue' håfa malago'-ña para u kånno'.  Yanggen un fa'ga'ga' i taotao, pues kumekeilek-ña na un na' parereho ha' i taotao yan i ga'ga', ya ti dinanche ennao, sa' hågo lokkue' taotao.  "Fa'taotao" kumekeilek-ña na ti para un tråta i taotao komo ga'ga'.  I taotao ti ha merese taiguihe na klåsen tratamiento sa' åhe' ti ga'ga' gue', na taotao, pareho ha' yan hågo.  Taimano i sinangån-ña i Saina-ta : Håfa i ti ya-mo na un ma cho'gue, cha'-mo chocho'gue gi prohimu-mo.

BOKKONGNGO'

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Bokkongngo' along the cliffs in Hagåtña

BOKKONGNGO' = bomb shelter, air raid shelter.  It comes from the Japanese word bokugo meaning the same thing.

It's no surprise that the word is Japanese because Guam had no bokkongngo' until the Japanese built them in preparation for the American invasion in 1944.  Some Chamorros were also forced to dig the bokkongngo' .  Not too long ago you could go into some of them and find World War II relics : bottles, shell casings, uniform buttons.

The Chamorro word for "cave" is liyang .

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : FAISEN

Thursday, June 30, 2011
FAISEN : to ask (a question, not a favor, nor to ask for something)

Faisen si tåta.  Ask dad.

Faisen si Maria.  Ask Maria.

Faisen i palao'an.  Ask the lady.

Hu fafaisen hao.  I am asking you.

Bai hu faisen gue'.  I will ask him/her.

Bai hu faisen hao.  I will ask you.

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : KALAN I MANNOK NI FIGO

Wednesday, June 29, 2011
connect.in.com
"Like the shivering chicken."

So we describe an emotionally cold or distant person.  Someone from whom we expected a friendly smile, or warm embrace, only to notice that person freeze upon seeing us, as if the person were a shivering chicken.

Rosa : Un li'e si Tomasa nigap?
Maria : Hu'u, lao ti malago' ha atan yo', kalan i mannok ni figo.

Kalan = Like
Månnok = Chicken
Fugo = Cold, chilling, freezing

MARINE DRIVE 1960s

Wednesday, June 29, 2011
East Agaña
also called Trinchera before the war

TWO LANES!

and you could actually park in front of the stores!

(click picture to enlarge)

BASIC GRAMMAR - UM, part 5

Wednesday, June 29, 2011
REVIEW OF PAST LESSONS :

Lest we forget :

GIMEN = to drink
Gumimen yo'.  I drank. (UM infix)
Gumigimen yo'.  I am drinking. (Duplication)

HÅNAO = go.
Humånao yo'.  I went. (UM infix)
Humåhånao yo'.  I am going. (Duplication)

For TODAY'S lesson : Using the UM infix with ACTOR-FOCUSED VERBS

In Chamorro, we can look at verbs from either the point of view of the act itself (ACTION-FOCUSED) or from the one doing the act (ACTOR-FOCUSED).

Examples of ACTOR-FOCUSED verbs :

WHO drank the coffee?  Håye gumimen i kafe?
JOHN drank the coffee.  Si Juan gumimen i kafe.

WHO took you here?  Håye kumonne' hao guine mågi?
HE took me here.  Guiya kumonne' yo' guine mågi.

WHO took the key?  Håye chumule' i yabe?
THEY took the key.  Siha chumule' i yabe.

WHO is watching the child?  Håye pumupulan i patgon?  (Notice the duplication)
ANA is watching the child.  Si Ana pumupulan i patgon.

EXERCISES

Fåhan = to buy
Fa'tinas = to make
Lamasa = table
Tuge = write
Lepblo = book
Penta = to paint
Åtof = roof

Translate :

1. Who bought the titiyas?  Juan bought the titiyas.
2. Who made the table?  Jose made the table.
3. Who wrote the book?  Maria wrote the book.
4. Who is painting the roof?  Vicente is painting the roof. (Hint : duplication)

Answers tomorrow

I LUTO

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Two women in LUTO receiving military commendation for the wartime death of her son.
The younger lady could have been the deceased's widow or sister.
1960s

LUTO : the custom for women to wear black for one year, from the death of a significant relative until the first anniversary.  As one saina told me, " I luto i attilong na magågo desde ke måtai, yanggen dos umasagua, måtai uno, siempre un åño para u fan luluto ha' ."

Only women wore the luto .  Mothers for their children; wives for their husbands.  Daughters for their parents.  This was de rigueur .  But sisters could wear the luto for their deceased siblings, if they wanted.  In-laws ( yetna, kuñåda ) could wear black skirts but white blouses.

In the old days, it was meaningless to ask for what occasions the women would wear the luto , because the women wouldn't go anywhere for that year of mourning, except to church.  They did not go to parties or picnics or movies or any functions at all, except church.  " Sakrifisio.  Hokkok ha' i para u falak i gima'yu'us ."

When the first of my grandmother's siblings died, the surviving siblings wore black to church for one year.  But some were less strict about not going to social events, while one auntie was more strict about it, as she was more strict about everything!

I knew two elderly sisters in the 1970s and 80s, from the Tuncap family, who went to Mass everyday in black; one in a black mestisa, the other in a black modern dress, sitting next to each other at every Mass, every single day! They followed the custom of some widows who wore black for the rest of their lives !

The luto is not followed anymore.  Women still wear black many times today, but just for the funeral.  One lady told me that her elderly mother, many years ago, told them not to wear the luto when she died because " mangombibida ."  That literally means "it invites," meaning wearing the black is asking for another death in the family.  But another lady told me, " Mandagi! Todo ennao ti bai hongge.  Si Yu'us ha' mangongonne'.  Si Yu'us tumungo' i oran i finatai taotao ." (She's lying!  I won't believe any of that.  Only God takes people.  God knows the hour of a person's death.)

The custom of the luto is not indigenous.  It is not even necessarily Christian alone.  The wearing of black as a sign of mourning was practiced by different peoples and cultures, in different places at different points in history.  But there were exceptions, such as white, which was the color of mourning for some European royalty many years ago.

The Spaniards brought the custom of the luto to the Marianas, and the word luto is Spanish (from the Latin luctus , for "sorrow, affliction").

examiner.com

Queen Catherine de Medici in Mourning
Lumuluto si Rarainan Catalina

PARA TA FAÑÅLEK HA'

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Rosa : Maria, kao esta un li'e i nuebo na pale'-ta?
Maria : Hunggan, ya ei na dinikkike'!  Lokå'-ña yo' ki ni guiya!  Håye na'ån-ña?
Rosa : Si Påle' Sixto.
Maria : Sixto?  Maolek-ña ta ågang gue' Påle' Five Two.

LÅNCHON KOTPUS 2011

Monday, June 27, 2011
STEP ONE


STEP TWO


MONHÅYAN!


This family used palm fronds and sprayed them gold to form the sunburst backdrop of the statue of the Sacred Heart.

OTRO NA LÅNCHO SIHA



OCEANSIDE, CALIFORNIA
2010




STAFF EVALUATIONS - 1871

Monday, June 27, 2011
The Spanish colonial government periodically sent to Manila reports evaluating the work of the various civil officials in the Marianas.  The following summaries are about the Chamorros serving in the colonial government in 1871, specifically in the Chamorro Militia.

JOSE AGUILAR - He was the Captain of the Compañía de Dotación , which was the Chamorro militia.  There was an Aguilar family on Guam - Chamorros - some of whom at least were Pangelinans on their mother's side.  An Aguilar woman married a Torres and their descendants became known as the Agilåt Torreses, because of their mother's last name.  Jose Aguilar was described as someone who perfectly fulfilled his duties; possessing the firmness to fulfill them; was blindly obedient to his orders; had much love for Spain.

JUSTO DE LA CRUZ - Second-in-command of the Dotación (Militia).  Was described as lacking firmness but one who fulfills well what he is ordered to do.  He was of good conduct and was a lover of Spain ("amante de España").

JOSE RIVERA PEREZ - Second Lieutenant or Ensign of the Dotación. Was described as lacking much talent, but who was very exact and obedient in fulfilling orders.  "Passionately loves" Spain and its government.  Was well-informed of all police matters and no one was better than him in providing these services, as he was a constant pursuer of criminal elements in the community.

ANDRES DE CASTRO - 1st Adjutant of the Dotación .  Lacked much education but who had sufficient practical knowledge; very punctual, possessed much will and did his job satisfactorily.  He was assiduous in his work.

JOSE HERRERO - 2nd Adjutant of the Dotación .  Had enough intelligence to fulfill his work with exactness, though without all the necessary firmness.  He had numerous children whom he loved with special affection, and he had a love for Spain.

VICENTE OLIVARES CALVO - Captain of the Port.  Son of Felix Noriega Calvo.  Though he had no Chamorro blood, he was a long-time resident of Guam and part of the Calvo clan that eventually married into Chamorro families (Anderson, Perez, etc).  Described as someone alert in the execution of his duties, who gets on very well with everyone and who is very esteemed in the island.

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Do you remember, annai måtai i kandet , what did our grandma do when the power died?  She went and got the fållot , the kåndet pretoleo , the kinke' .

I loved the kerosene lamps.  Ours had a glass fuel tank, so you could see the wick ( metcha ) soaking inside.  Remember how, as kids, we wanted to play with the knob that raised the wick to create a bigger flame, only to raise it too high and create sooty smoke?   The kerosene lamp engaged the senses lovingly, compared to the fluorescent tubes that assault them.  With modern lights, one flip of the switch is all it takes.  The kerosene lamps had to be filled with fuel, the wick trimmed and adjusted, the vase put on right.  Modern lights involve no odors, but, with the lamps, you had to smell the kerosene.

Then there was the sense of sight.  The kerosene lamp produced a comforting, soothing and intimate feeling for me.  I remember the shadows and degrees of illumination it created in a dark room.  Much nicer than the bright electrical lights where everything was too visible in a less soothing, monotonous way.

Fållot = from the Spanish "farol," meaning "lantern, lamp"

Pretoleo (or petroleo ) = from petroleum, though we used kerosene

Kinke' = from the Spanish "quinque," a lamp with a glass chimney.  Named after the Frenchman Antoine-Arnoult Quinquet, who designed one.

A CHAMORRO IN THE BONIN ISLANDS

Sunday, June 26, 2011

THE BONIN ISLANDS IN BETWEEN JAPAN AND THE MARIANAS


What are the Bonin Islands, you ask?

They are Japanese islands just north of the Marianas.  Chamorros call them the "Islas Boninas."

For hundreds of years, the Japanese considered them their own, but failed to occupy them.  That gave the British and American whalers and seamen, tired of their wandering life, a chance to settle there in the 1830s.

Being close to the Marianas, the Anglo-American settlers in the Bonins had much contact with Guam in the 19th century.  A Chamorro woman, Joaquina de la Cruz, left Guam in 1844 to escape her abusive husband, and ended in the arms of John Millinchamp, a British settler in the Bonins.  She brought along with her a niece, Maria Castro de los Santos.  We're not sure if Maria intended to leave or just say goodbye to auntie, and the ship set sail before she could get off! She was just a teenager at the time, we think 15 years old.

Maria first married Matteo Mazarro, an Italian but also a British subject and first British governor of the Bonin Islands (Japan was still uninvolved in the islands).  She had two children from him.  Mazarro soon died, and Maria then married an American settler in the Bonins, Nathaniel Savory from Massachusetts.  With Savory, Maria had a number of children; half-Chamorro, half-Caucasian.


SONS OF MARIA CASTRO SANTOS
The two older men seated, Horace (left) and Benjamin (right) Santos Savory


Twice, the Spanish government in Guam sent passports to the Savories so that they could go to Guam to get a Catholic wedding, but they never did.  Savory eventually preceded Maria in death, and she married a German named William Allen.

Maria Castro de los Santos - perhaps the only Chamorro living on an island controlled by English and Americans; populated by a United Nations of peoples : Polynesians, Micronesians, various Europeans and people from Africa; with the Japanese eventually resuming control over the islands in 1875.  With whom could she speak Chamorro?  She probably spoke her own brand of English.

There was no Catholic church in the Bonins.  But, as a visiting Protestant missionary said of Maria, she never gave up her Catholic faith, never sewing on Sundays and always crossing herself and praying.

Maria had ten children with Nathaniel Savory.  They in turn married people from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds, and when the Japanese took control in 1875, many Japanese settlers married into the Savory family.  Today, traces of Chamorro blood run through their veins because of Maria Castro de los Santos.  Her bones are part of the soil up there now.



GRANDSON OF MARIA CASTRO SANTOS
Daniel Webb Savory
1889 ~ 1948

FAMILIA : QUITUGUA

Saturday, June 25, 2011
QUITUGUA
Ketugua'

"Attempting to knock down, cut down"

Almost all authentic Chamorro surnames that begin with "Qui" are names that mean "attempting to," or "tending towards."  The actual Chamorro word is " ke ."

Ketungo' means "trying to know."
Kematai means "tending towards death."

So, in the surname Quitugua, one must find out what tugua' means.  It means "to fell, to cut down or throw down an object to the earth."  When one cuts down a tree to fall to the earth, that is tugua' .  When you play båtu and knock down the stick, that is tugua' .

Quitugua, or ketugua' , therefore means "attempting to knock/cut down."

Our ancestors gave children curious names like that.  Taitano (no land), Terlaje (no son/male), Chargualaf (to hunt crab in the moonlight badly).  Naming babies with cute names like Ha'åne (day), Pution (star) or Tåse (ocean) was not something our ancestors did much.

MAINLY A HAGÅTÑA NAME

In the 1897 Census, most of the Quituguas on Guam lived in Hagåtña.  You remember that in the 1700s, Hagåtña was where the newcomers lived, many of them married to Chamorro women and their children mestiso , carrying on most of the culture and language.  Very few Hagåtña residents in the 1700s had Chamorro last names; they mainly had Hispanic names (Cruz, Santos, Leon Guerrero, etc).

It was in the outlying villages (Mongmong, Asan, Tepungan, Sinajaña, Pago) where the more Chamorro-blooded and Chamorro-named people lived.  So the Quituguas were more than likely originally from one or more of these outer villages who, by 1897, moved in large part to Hagåtña.

From the 1897 Census :

JUAN QUITUGUA, a widower and 73 years old
his son Demetrio, still single at 44
Juan could have been the father of some of the people below, if only we had more complete records.

QUITUGUA-SALAS
Joaquin Salas Quitugua (married to Soledad Campos de Leon Guerrero)
and possibly his brother
Jose Salas Quitugua (married to Juliana Quisalao Merfalen)

QUITUGUA-BENAVENTE
the children of Jose Quitugua and Maria Benavente

QUITUGUA-QUINTANILLA
Justo Quitugua (married to Lorenza Quintanilla)
and his probable two sons :
Ramon Quintanilla Quitugua (married to Nicolasa Mangloña)
Joaquin Quintanilla Quitugua (married to Maria Camacho)

QUITUGUA-DUEÑAS
Juan Quitugua (married to Josefa Dueñas)

QUITUGUA-SANTOS
Jose Quitugua (married to Maria Santos)

QUITUGUA-ACOSTA
Jose Quitugua (married to Vicenta Acosta)
their son Vicente Acosta Quitugua (married to Maria Manalisay Dueñas)

QUITUGUA-LIZAMA
Juan Lizama Quitugua (married Maria Santos Diaz) They moved to Saipan

ASAN QUITUGUAS

Seem to be the descendants of Tiburcio Quitugua, whose middle name may have been Rodriguez

SUMAY QUITUGUAS

Juan Quitugua, his wife Antonia Camacho and their children lived in Sumay

LÅPIDAN SAIPAN

Friday, June 24, 2011
Mount Carmel Cemetery
Chalan Kanoa
Saipan
As late as 1914, Chamorros were still writing some of the låpida (grave stones) in Spanish.  This one says :

RIP
Aquí llasen los restos mor-
tales de Leonardo Camach-
o y Muña que falleció el
día 28 de Julio de 1914, a los
47 años  y 1 mes de edad.
Dedica este recuerdo de
su esposa e hijos.  Rogar
por el eterno descanso
de su alma.
QEPD

Rest in Peace.
Here lie the mortal remains of
Leonardo Muña Camacho,
who died on July 28, 1914 at the age of
47 years and one month.
This memorial is dedicated by
his wife and children.
Pray for the eternal repose
of his soul.
May he rest in peace.


The RIP is Latin for "Requiescat in Pace," meaning "Rest in Peace."  The QEPD is Spanish for "Que en paz descanse," or "May he rest in peace." "Llasen" should have been spelled "llacen."  The family re-painted the låpida , tracing the grooves left behind in the original, and, not being Spanish speakers, there are a few glitches.

By 1914, the Germans had been governing Saipan for 15 years, but the Spanish influence was still very strong (even to this day, to some extent,  in religious customs).

GUAM AND ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

Friday, June 24, 2011
San Juan Bautista
It's important not just for Ordot

FEAST DAY JUNE 24
PÅ'GO NA HA'ÅNE NAI

1. PATRON OF GUAM

When Blessed Diego arrived in the Marianas on June 16, 1668, the feast of the Birth of Saint John the Baptist was right around the corner - June 24.  He named St. John the Baptist the patron saint of Guam.  In many Spanish documents, the island isn't even called Guam at times, but the island of San Juan.

2. FIRST CATHOLIC MAGA'LÅHE NAMED AFTER HIM

When the maga'låhe of Hagåtña, Kepuha, was baptized, Sanvitores gave him the name of the patron saint of Guam.  He was then known as Juan Kepuha.

3. PATRON OF THE FIRST SCHOOL ON GUAM

In early 1669, Sanvitores established a colegio or school on Guam.  He named it San Juan de Letrán, after the Pope's Cathedral in Rome which is called Saint John Lateran (where the Spaniards got Letrán).  The basilica of Saint John Lateran is so-called because the building itself once belonged to the Laterani family of Rome before it became a church.  Sanvitores made Saint John the Baptist the patron saint of the Colegio in Hagåtña, and a painting of San Juan Bautista hung in the Colegio till the very end, when it was closed when the Americans took over Guam.

Si San Juan i Tatakpånge / tåya' taotao achaiguå-ña;
ta na' hulo' i Bautista / nu i mames na inagang.

( Saint John the Baptist / no one is his equal;
let us exalt the Baptist / with sweet cries .)

PARA TA FAÑÅLEK HA'

Friday, June 24, 2011
mapoftheunitedstates.wordpress.com
Juan : Jose, håfa na'ån-ña eyi "stand" nai ma pepega i paki?
Jose : Paki - stand.

Juan : Ya håfa ta ålok yanggen todo esta ånglo' i pintura?
Jose : Penta - gone.

isaintel.com

AUTOMOTIVE CHAMORRO

Friday, June 24, 2011


KATON I TANO'

The Cat of the Land
Land Cat


Hmmmmm.....?????  Or, as we say here, "Haaaaaa......?????"

Not sure where this is going.  Is there a "Familian Kato" I've never heard of before?

Is the owner purr-ty much into cats?  Paw-ssibly.

Any which way, another example of Automotive Chamorro.

CHAMORRO NAMING SYSTEM UNDER SPAIN

Friday, June 24, 2011
When the Spaniards colonized the Marianas, a new system of naming individuals was introduced to our people.  First of all, one was given a Christian name at one's baptism - Jose, Maria, Juan, Rosa.

Now, as to the father's last name and the mother's last name.  The Spanish system was followed.  Which means :  FATHER'S NAME FIRST, MOTHER'S NAME NEXT.

So when Jose Cruz and Rosa Santos had a baby girl Maria, she was called MARIA CRUZ SANTOS.

Or, just plain Maria Cruz.  If the mother's name needed to be initialized, she was called Maria Cruz S.

Sometimes, the Spanish put the word "y" in between the two last names. "Y" means "and."  It is pronounced like an "ee" in English.  Maria Cruz y Santos.

In a Spanish document, if you see someone named Manuel Flores Diaz, you would know that his father was the Flores and his mother was the Diaz.

Women did not adopt the last name of their husbands when they got married.  They kept their names.

All this is important to know when you research your family tree and are using Spanish documents.

It took 20 years of American administration for them to change this system, adopting the American system in 1920 of MOTHER'S NAME FIRST, THEN THE FATHER'S NAME.

In the Northern Marianas, the Spanish system continued under the Germans and Japanese until the end of World War II.

BARTOLA GARRIDO

Thursday, June 23, 2011
A Chamorro in Yap
BARTOLA GARRIDO

We had mentioned in an earlier post that several hundred Chamorros lived in Yap until 1947.  They had started to move there during Spanish times, from about the 1880s on.  But the first Chamorro who moved there, that we know of, was the lady pictured above - Bartola Garrido.

She presents something of a mystery.  First of all, in the records, she goes by different last names.  But the vast majority of citations call her Garrido, or Garrido y Taisague (meaning her mother's last name was Taisague).  But in other citations she is called Bartola Taisipic y Delgado.  We'll just call her Bartola Garrido.  At least that's how she signed her name, as can be seen in some Spanish documents.
Bartola's signature acknowledging payment for her services as government interpreter in Yap.  She was paid 600 pesos a year.  She spoke Spanish, English, Yapese and, of course, Chamorro.

The reason for her move to Yap is tied up with her male suitor, the American Crayton Philo Holcomb.  Holcomb was one of those entrepreneurs with a boat who tried every which way to make money in the Pacific.  Holcomb knew practically every island in the Pacific where money could be made, from Tahiti to Borneo.  Bartola was on a ship that got lost, only to be rescued by Holcomb, who persuaded her to move with him to Yap in 1875.  Holcomb named a schooner of his after his sweetheart.



BARTOLA GARRIDO
listed as a passenger out of Honolulu in 1872


Yap was not yet under Spanish (or any other foreign) colonial rule, but the Germans and the Spaniards were soon to compete over that issue.  Bartola and Holcomb supported Spanish rule and wrote declarations of that support.  Bartola did her part to try and convince the Yapese chiefs to also support Spanish rule.  It is said that when the Germans raised their flag on Yap, Bartola raised the Spanish flag.

When the Spaniards finally did set up a colonial government in Yap in 1886, Bartola's loyalty to Spain was rewarded.  For the next 13 years or so, she was the government interpreter and was paid handsomely for that service; 600 pesos a year (a government clerk in Yap was paid just 150 pesos a year).  It is said that Bartola helped recruit Chamorros to come to Yap in the 1880s and 90s to teach and to otherwise settle on the island.  Her house was used in the early days of Spanish rule as a school.


BARTOLA SITTING WITH THE SPANISH FLAG BEHIND HER.
YAP

Holcomb was already dead in 1885, killed by islanders in the New Ireland area of Papua New Guinea.  But Bartola remained in Yap till her death, well into the 20th century.  She had her own estate in Yap, as can be seen on the map below.  Her grave site today is unknown.


Spanish map of their settlement in Yap, called Colonia.  On the bottom right of the map, the island of Topalau is described as the place where "Doña Bartola resides."
To this day in Yap there is a place called "Chamorro Bay."

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : MUTUNG

Thursday, June 23, 2011
unclestinky.wordpress.com
MUTUNG : stinky

Mutung i kemmon.  The toilet stinks.

Kao mutung i magagu-ho?  Do my clothes stink?

Minitung.  Stench.

Ei na minitung!  Oh what stench!

I minitung i isao-ña siha.  The stench of his sins.

HOW DO YOU SAY ATALIG?

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

YOUNG AND NOT-AS-YOUNG COMPARE PRONOUNCING CHAMORRO NAMES

ATALIG

AFAISEN

MANGLOÑA

CHARFAUROS

CHARGUALAF

FEJERAN

FEGURGUR

BASIC GRAMMAR : UM, part 4

Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Some words may be a little tricky when trying to insert the UM infix.  Like :

Åsson (to lie down).  Since the word starts with a vowel, the UM comes before the word. Umåsson .

To duplicate, åsson become å'åsson .

Putting the UM in å'åsson becomes umå'åsson .

Let's try another word. Åguåguåt .  (To be stubborn, obstinate in misbehaving.)

Again, UM comes at the beginning of the word. Umåguåguåt .

In duplicating, it becomes å'åguåguåt .  Thus - umå'åguåguåt .

Umåsson yo' .  I lied down. Umå'åsson yo' .  I am lying down.

Umåguåguåt gue' .  She was/became stubborn. Umå'åguåguåt gue' .  She is being stubborn.

Try now, on your own, with....

Ekungok (to listen)
O'son (to become weary of)
O'mak (to shower or bathe)
Ugong (to moan, groan)

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : PAOPAO

Tuesday, June 21, 2011
hdwallpapers.in
PAOPAO : fragrant; also perfume or cologne

Paopao.  It smells good.

Paopao i gapot ilu-mo!  Your hair smells good!

Ti ya-ho sa' ti paopao.  I don't like it because it doesn't smell nice.

Pinaopao.  Fragrance.

Ei na pinaopao!  My what fragrance!

Na' paopao.  To make fragrant.

Na' paopao i kuåtto.  Make the room smell nice.

Paopågue.  To spread a fragrance.

Ha paopågue i gima'.  S/he spread a fragrance in the house.

Si Påle' ha paopågue insensio.  The priest made it smell of incense.

Ha nå'ye gue' paopao.  S/he put perfume/cologne on her/him.

Mångge i paopao?  Where's the cologne/perfume?

AGI' MADE DURING WORLD WAR II

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Don't be fooled by the bottle; it was borrowed, emptied and filled with local moonshine or agi' , made during the Japanese occupation.

I visited a lady the other day and got to talking about the war.  She told me how her father made agi' on the ranch during the war.  Almost everybody during the war lived on their ranches, in order to grow food and eat.  Her father had to hide it from the Japanese.


As the note on the bottle says, "Flammable Chamorro Whiskey."  Perhaps for this reason, the man's son-in-law, who inherited the bottle, melted candles and sealed the bottle with wax.  Take a look in the next pic :



But the lady I visited told me it was sealed because, otherwise, the liquor would evaporate.  High alcohol content.  Strong stuff.

Agi' demanded a decent price during the war.  People made good money making it secretly on the ranch and selling it quietly to locals and Japanese alike.  Someone in my family did just the thing during the war.

LÅTAN DUDU

Monday, June 20, 2011


A venerable, old Chamorro custom rarely seen today.

After using up all the canned Real Fresh milk, or any tin can but preferably with a gold interior, keep your cold water in it and place it in the kåhon ais (fridge).  The låtan dudu .

Låta is "can"; dudu means something that can be used to hold liquid.  A coconut shell can be used as a dudu .

Gold interior ones rusted slower.  My grandma's cousin, born in 1900, always had to drink from her låtan dudu when she would stay (for weeks) at our house with grandma.  No other water would do.  Sometimes she would cover it with a napkin or folded paper towel.

It was a convenient way of always having cold water on hand, without the hassle of getting a glass, as one would have to do with a pitcher of water.  You drank straight out of the låtan dudu .  Sometimes, when no one was around, I'd take a swipe from her låtan dudu myself.  I will never forget the metallic taste of the water.

FALSE FRIENDS : KERIDA

Monday, June 20, 2011
False Friend
A word that appears to be the same in two languages, but means two different things

A few examples in English and Spanish would be :

EMBARRASSED : we're tempted to say "embarazada" in Spanish, but "embarazada" means "pregnant" in Spanish, not embarrassed!  What an embarrassing mistake that would be!

CAMP : we're tempted to say "campo," but in Spanish that means "field."

CARPET : shall we say "carpeta?"  But that means "file" or "brief case" in Spanish.

If we are tempted even in English to think the Spanish word for the same thing sounds the same, how much more will we be tempted in Chamorro, which has so much Spanish in it, to do the same.  Yet, we must be careful.  There are a few false friends in Chamorro and Spanish.  Like :

KERIDA

We got that from the Spanish word "querida."  It means "loved one," from the verb "querer," which is "to want, to love."

For us, kerida (female) or kerido (male) is our favored one, the one we love the most, among a group of people.  It is most often used for the favorite child, but it can also be used in a slangy way for the kerido/kerida in the office (the boss' favorite), the parish (the pastor's favorite) or the classroom (the teacher's pet).

But don't tell a Mexican or Spanish friend that so-and-so is somebody's kerida .  To them, it means "mistress."

You can use querido/querida as an adjective.  "Querida Sally," "Dear Sally."  But, in Spanish, never as a noun, unless you do in fact want to call somebody a mistress.

BASIC GRAMMAR : UM, part 3

Sunday, June 19, 2011
PRESENT AND PRESENT PROGRESSIVE TENSE

As we have seen, kånta simply means the verb "sing" or the noun "song."

It can be used as an imperative, an order, a command to one or two people, " Kånta!"

Putting the infix UM inside the word gives it motion, but in the past tense.

Kumånta yo' .  I sang.

To give it motion in the present, we have to DUPLICATE a syllable, usually the first syllable.

Kånta . Kå-kånta. Duplicating tells us that the action is happening NOW.

Try this now with : BAILA, HÅNAO, CHOCHO .  (Dance, go, eat)

Ba-baila.  Hå-hånao. Cho-chocho .

Notice that in baila , we drop the "i" when we duplicate the first syllable.  Two vowels in a row are called a diphthong.  In duplication, one usually drops the second vowel.

For example, saosao (to wipe) becomes så-sao-sao .

Now try this on your own with : TOHGE, PESKA . (Stand, fish)

Just as we dopped the "n" in kånta to make it kåkånta , guess what you needed to do with the "h" in tohge when you duplicated ?

Now that you know how to duplicate, let's add the UM infix.

Kumåkånta.  Bumabaila.  Humåhånao. Someone is singing/dancing/going NOW.

Kumåkånta yo' .  I sing.  I am singing.
Humåhånao gue' .  She goes.  She is going.
Humåhånao hao .  You go.  You are going.

Two people ONLY :

Tumotohge hamyo .  You (two) stand/are standing.
Bumabaila siha .  They (two) dance/are dancing.

Three or more people : another lesson!

Practice now with : GIMEN (to drink) and CHÅLEK (to laugh)

CHAMORRO BOATSMEN - 1876

Sunday, June 19, 2011
marinerslanding.us
The Marianas, especially Guam, were used by the Spaniards as a presidio , or prison, for convicts from the Philippines and Spain.  To feed these deportados (deported convicts), the government had to send supplies by ship from Manila to Guam.  The cargo had to be moved from the large ship anchored in Apra Harbor (San Juan de Apra) by smaller boats to Punta Piti (Piti Point) where a påntalån (pier) like the one above could receive them.  From Piti, the supplies made their way to Hagåtña by cart.

The following Chamorro boat owners and the men they hired hauled cargo for the Spaniards in March of 1876.  They were duly paid by the government for doing so.  The owner got 50 centavos a day for the work; the workmen 25 centavos.

Andres de los Santos - owner
Joaquin Mafnas, Luis de Leon Guerrero, Juan Blas, Pedro Gumataotao.

Jose Quintanilla - owner
Antonio Finoña, Vicente Ada, Cenen de los Santos, Lucas de los Santos

Jose de la Concepcion - owner
Pedro de los Santos, Ignacio Peredo, Pedro Baza, Jesus Muña

Pedro Taitano - owner
Juan Arceo, Jose de Salas, Mariano Garcia, Jose Lizama

Always four men and an owner.

(Source : Philippines National Archives)

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Sunday, June 19, 2011
catholic-whistleblog.blogspot.com
In honor of the upcoming procession ( lukao ) on Corpus Christi, here's a Chamorrita verse about what to do when you see a lukao .

An gumupo si paluma / ya tumohge gi un trongkon paipai,
y'an un li'e mågi i likao / dimu påpa' ya un fanaitai.

When the bird flies / and lands on the paipai tree,
when you see a procession coming / kneel down and pray.


hiketinian.blogspot.com
Single lance leaves of the paipai tree
PAIPAI TREE

The paipai tree is considered endemic to Guam, though it is found on other islands in the Marianas.  Its scientifc name is Guamia mariannae to reflect that.  The wood of this tree was used for the frames of roofs of houses, as well as for the handles of the fusiños or thrust hoe.  It is not resistent to termites.

REKUETDON NÅNA

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Jesusa's mother won this statue of Santa Rosa de Lima in a raffle at the Agat Fiesta sometime before World War II.  It survived the war and Jesusa inherited it.

Jesusa takes good care of it and keeps her yearly promesa to continue her mother's devotion to Santa Rosa.

I will be posting more on the custom of the promesa .

For more about the life of Saint Rose of Lima, check http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=446

FAMILIA : CRISOSTOMO

Saturday, June 18, 2011
SAN JUAN CRISOSTOMO
(Saint John Chrysostom)

The Crisostomo family takes its surname from a saint.  In Greece, back in the 400s AD, the Archbishop of Constantinople, John, was such a gifted speaker and preacher that he was nicknamed "Chrysostomos," which means "golden mouthed."  In Spanish, his name is "San Juan Crisostomo."

When the Spaniards colonized the Philippines, many of the Filipinos took on religious last names, and some of these were the names of saints.  Thus, in the Philippines, Crisostomo is not an unusual last name.

In the 1758 Census of Guam, there is a widow by the name of Luisa Ago living with her three sons, who are all surnamed Crisostomo.  It seems clear, then, that their deceased father was a man surnamed Crisostomo.  They are listed under the Pampanga (Filipino) soliders.  It is probable, then, that the deceased father had been a Pampanga soldier.  Luisa's last name, Ago, could be the Chamorro word "ago'," which means "to change."  It is possible, then, that the Crisostomo-Ago family was a mixed (mestiso) Pampanga-Chamorro family.

Luisa's three boys meant that the Crisostomo name would have endured for some time.  Indeed, by the 1897 Census, the Crisostomos were spread all over Guam.

One of the biggest branches of the Crisostomos are the descendants of Juana Crisostomo who lived in the 1800s.  By at least the 1830s, she had half a dozen or so children as a single woman, so they carried the last name of their mother - Crisostomo.  Many of her children started or married into leading families.

There were small groups of Crisostomos in Asan, Sinajaña, Sumay and Inarajan by 1900, and a few years later a Crisostomo moved to Saipan (under the Germans) and started a family there.  Some of them spell it "Crisostimo."

WHO INVITED THE FLIES?

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Flies. Lålo' .  We just have to accept their existence in the tropics.

We love to ask rhetorically at parties, "Who invited the flies?"

But we have the bohao .  It's anything that can be used as a fan to shew away the flies.

Palm fronds (as seen above).
Styrofoam plates.
Old copies of the daily news.
Program booklets from that evening's event.

Many things can be used ad hoc as a bohao .  Getting volunteers to bohågue (fan) is sometimes the problem.

BASIC GRAMMAR : UM, part 2

Saturday, June 18, 2011
We continue looking at the function of the infix UM.

BAILA (to dance)
Bumaila yo'.  I danced.
Bumaila hao.  You danced.
Bumaila gue'.  He/she/it danced.

DÅNGKULO (big)
Dumångkulo yo'.  I grew big.
Dumångkulo hao.  You grew big.
Dumångkulo gue'.  He/she/it grew big.

GIMEN (to drink)
Gumimen yo'.  I drank.
Gumimen hao.  You drank.
Gumimen gue'.  He/she/it drank.

Now you try it on your own with the following words...

TOHGE (to stand up)
HÅNAO (to go)
CHÅLEK (to laugh)

LÅNCHON KOTPUS : PAST

Friday, June 17, 2011
1960s

June 26 is the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Body (and Blood) of Christ.

Corpus = Body (in Latin)
Christi = of Christ

The Catholic custom is to take the Blessed Sacrament around the parish in solemn procession.  At certain points during the lukao (procession), the priest and people stop at temporary altars for prayer.  In the Marianas, these altars are called låncho .

Låncho means "ranch."  But I think the reason the altars are so-called is because the people erected shelters or canopies, sometimes quite elaborate, that reminded them of the huts they had on the ranch, although on a smaller scale.  Or, perhaps, because the old custom was to decorate the shelters with abundant produce from the ranch : fruits, vegetables, flora.


The first picture above shows that Spanish influence was still present as late as 1950, as the sign says, in Spanish, "Viva Jesus Sacramentado," meaning,  "Long Live Jesus in the Sacrament."

Most parishes have three låncho .  In the past, they were usually at private residences, the family being committed every year to erecting the låncho .  Recently, some parishes have some or all låncho on parish grounds.

1960s

UNOFFICIAL GUAM TRAFFIC LIGHTS

Friday, June 17, 2011
googleincome.org

RED : 2 more cars

YELLOW : hurry up!

GREEN : watch out for the last 2 cars

Para ta fañålek ha'!
Osge i lai gi sinigon-mimiyo!

BASIC GRAMMAR : UM

Friday, June 17, 2011
UM

"Um" is a crucial element in the Chamorro language.  It takes a word that isn't going anywhere and makes it go somewhere.

Take, for example, the word "kånta."  It can mean "song" and it can also refer to the act of singing.

If you are telling one or two people to sing, you say "Kånta!"  It's an order, or a request.  But nobody is singing yet.  You're hoping they will start to sing, sometime in the immediate future.  No action has occurred yet.

But if you want to describe how someone is singing, or was singing, you need the "um."

"Um" is an infix.  We know that a prefix goes before the word, and a suffix comes after the word.  An infix goes inside a word.

So, kånta becomes kumånta.  Now an action has taken place.  It went somewhere.  Now we need to know who did the act.

If you were the one who sang, you'd say, "Kumånta yo'."  "I sang."

If you're telling someone that s/he sang, you'd say, "Kumånta hao."

If someone else sang, you'd say, "Kumånta gue'."

Notice that we've only been talking, so far, about individual people.  The "um" works only for one or two people.

So, if you're telling two people that they sang, you'd say, "Kumånta hamyo."

Or, about two other people who sang, "Kumånta siha."

But talk about three or more people, you don't use "um."  You use something else we'll talk about in another post.

Notice also we haven't been speaking about action that is going on now, as we speak : "I am singing."  We'll look at that later.

AND.....make sure you pronounce "um" in Chamorro....like OOOM and not UHM.

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : HOI'

Thursday, June 16, 2011

The informal way we call on people at their homes is to cry out " HOI' !"

I stress the word informal .  Calling out " Hoi' !" can be considered rude , depending on whom you are calling.

The more polite way to call on a home is to say " Å be Maria purisima ."  (Hail, Mary most pure.)  If there are people home, they will respond, " Sin pekådo konsebida ." (Conceived without sin.)

But it is perfectly acceptable to say " Hoi' !" if you are calling on someone you know well who is at least not higher than you in status.

NI HOI, NI GOI

There is a saying, when someone was physically there but never bothered to make verbal contact with you.

Jose : Kao måtto si Kiko? (Did Kiko come?)
Juan : Måtto, lao ni hoi ni goi. (He came, but didn't say a word.)

VILLAGE LEADERS IN 1839

Thursday, June 16, 2011

micsem.org
(Chamorro villagers, ca 1830)
CHAMORRO VILLAGE LEADERS IN 1839
(Source : Philippines National Archives)

Stored at the Philippines National Archives in Manila are many records of the Marianas in Spanish times.  This is a list of the village leaders in the Marianas in the year 1839. I make a few observations at the end of this list.

To avoid useless repetition, the three names for the officials of each village are always in this order : the Gobernadorcillo of the village (he was like the village mayor); the Teniente (or substitute/assistant) and the Alguacil (a kind of peace officer).

The names of villages and people are spelled as they appear in the original document.

AGAÑA (1)
Lucas de Castro
Domingo Camacho
Juan de San Nicolas

UMATA
Domingo Quinata
Jose Aguon
Juan Cheguiña

AGAT
Jose Jocog
Jose Pinaula
Manuel de San Nicolas

ROTA
Ignacio Quicanay (2)
Manuel Angoco
Eubagrio Jocog

ANIGUA
Claudio Materne
Balentin Gumataotao
Jose Quitugua

ASAN
Clemente Megofña
Felipe Taitano
Alexandro Taytano (3)

TEPUNGAN (4)
Jose Sagualage (5)
Mariano Taigito (6)
Luis Chargualaf

SINAJAÑA
Mariano Naputi
Juan de San Nicolas
Jose Achaygua (7)

MUNGMUNG
Juan Ninaysen (8)
Manuel Quiguma (9)
Ildefonso Asuda (10)

PAGO
Isidro Atoygui (11)
Vidal Mafnas
Francisco Quichuchu (12)

INARAJAN
Justo Taimanglo
Jose Nalujo y Quitonguico (13)
Jose Cheguiña

MERIZO
Francisco Espinosa
Jose Quidagua (14)
Macedonio Fegurgur

NOTES

1. Notice how different the last names are between the Agaña officials and everbody else.  Generally, the Chamorros of Agaña were more mixed than the Chamorros of the outlying villages, since the majority of the Spanish (Latin American) and Filipino (Pampanga) soldiers lived in Agaña.  Notice how the overwhelming majority of village leaders in all the other villages have Chamorro surnames, while the Agaña officials have Spanish last names.  "San Nicolas," however, is not a Spanish last name but a religious last name which missionaries gave some infants.  This is why there are many San Nicolases spread out over Guam who have no blood ties since priests gave this name to babies unrelated to each other.

2. Probably from "kannai," or "hand."

3. Even in the same document and the same village, the clerk spelled the same last name in two ways; Taitano-Taytano.  But they both come out sounding the same.  People weren't that hung up on these things in those days.

4. Tepungan was just north of Piti.  The houses later inched closer to Piti and the official name of the village was changed to reflect that move.

5. "Sagua'" means "channel" as in the sea.  "Lage" is "lahe," "son/male."  The name died out on Guam.

6. Or Taijito.

7. Or Achaigua.

8. Or Ninaisen.

9. From "guma'," "house."

10. Probably "Asodda'," meaning "someone you encounter."

11. Or Atoigue.

12. Or Quichocho.

13. Both names, Nalujo and Quitonguico, have died out.

14.  Not Quitugua, as many think, but Quidagua.  "Daggua" means "sunburned." The name survived in Merizo until the 1900s but is no more.

15. There are no officials for Saipan or Tinian.  On Saipan, no permanent Chamorros or their families lived there yet.  It had been abandoned in the 1700s and Carolinians moved there in the beginning of the 1800s.  On Tinian, small numbers of Chamorros, and later with the Carolinians, ran the farms there that sent produce and meat to Guam (and later Saipan).  In 1839, only Guam and Rota had permanent Chamorro communities where village leaders were needed.

TAKE ME TO THE SURUHÅNO!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011
commons.wikimedia.org
The Pacific Daily News today talks about the effectiveness of the Education Suruhanu's position.
http://www.guampdn.com/article/20110615/NEWS01/106150334/Efficacy-education-suruhanu-questioned

Suruhåno , as you may know, refers to a male ( suruhåna for female) herbal practitioner or specialist.  He knows what herbs will help alleviate your pain or condition.  Some suruhåno specialize in therapeutic massage techniques, too.

But some suruhåno (I stress some ) also claimed intermediary powers with the spirit world.  He was the one who interceded for you when you got in trouble with the spirits.  So it was in that sense that the Legislature, back in the late 70s, created the Office of the Suruhanu, or Ombudsman, to enable individual citizens to go to a government official named Suruhanu who would act as an intermediary, an intercessor, a political patron saint, if you will, on behalf of the individual.

We were smart-alecky high school juniors/seniors when we heard that there was a new government office called the Suruhanu.  We joked about going down to his office with complaints of headaches, nausea and the like.  Or, if you had a problem with a government agency, that the Suruhanu would go to the Department headquarters and sprinkle salt or burn old clothing around the building.  Real smart-alecks.

The concept of suruhåno as a government intermediary is a modern addition to the traditional meaning of the word.  But languages evolve.  We'll see whether the idea sticks, since the office itself may or may not.  As funny as the additional definition may be to some, what is certain is that our children's education is no laughing matter.

The word, by the way, is taken from the Spanish "cirujano," which means "surgeon."

traditionalplantmedicine.com

THE VANISHED VILLAGE OF PAGO

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

PÅGO BAY, WHERE A VILLAGE ONCE STOOD


When the Spaniards rounded up all of the people to live in specific villages on Guam, one of these selected villages was Pågo, on the northern shore of the bay we all know by that name.  For years, it had its own church, rectory and government building.  In 1849, a strong earthquake did much damage to these buildings and the sea level rose, flooding the whole village.  When the waters receded, dead fish covered the ground, including fish never seen before by the people.  In 1855, a bad typhoon did further damage.

In 1856, a smallpox epidemic killed nearly half of the island population.  Pågo lost so many of its residents that the survivors packed and moved elsewhere.  Over time, a few people continued to live at Pågo Bay, usually fishing for a living.  The Spaniards established an infirmary for lepers there in 1890 but it closed the following year because a typhoon damaged the building.

The outlying villages of Guam were populated mainly by more pure-blooded Chamorros, unlike those in Hagåtña, so it's not surprising that some of the families with roots in Pågo had indigenous names like Quichocho, Agualo, Taisipic .  These later moved to Hagåtña and Sinajaña.

Pågo is the name of a kind of hibiscus (tiliaceus) that frequently grows on the shore in the tropics.  The plant is very useful in making cords and rope, and were prized by seamen because these ropes did not rot in water.

Our Chamorro word pågo is related to words for the same plant in other languages in our Austronesian family : bago (Ilokano), baru (Malay), fau (Samoan), balibago (Tagalog).

GMH VOLUNTEERS 1960s

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Hospital volunteers were called "candy stripers" for a reason!  Here they are setting up for Mass at the GMH chapel.  From left to right :

Margaret Jones - Tita Souder - Tina Perez

GI ANNAI TÅYA' PÅLE'

Wednesday, June 15, 2011
amer-geo.com
ISLAN PÅGAN YAN I BOTKÅN

Depende gi håfa na såkkan, ginen guåha taotao ni mañåsåga gi san kattan na islas siha : Anatåhan, Sarigan, Alamågan, Pågan yan Agrigan.  Ya asta på'go guåguåha ha' masea unos kuåntos na taotågue ni mañåsåga guihe siha na isla.  Pot i man diddide' ha' siha na tinaotao, yan lokkue' pot i eskåsu guåha boti ni siña kumonne' kåttan pasahero, ofñan ha' na man binisita gi as Påle'.

Ennao mina' sumetmon si Påle' Lee gi taiguine na manera annai un biåhe humånao kåttan si Påle' para u atiende i mangilisyåno gi san kattan na islas :

" Magof yo' ni gaige yo' guine på'go gi entalo'-miyo.  Låstima sa' unos kuåntos biåhe ha' gi sakkan siña man binisita hamyo mågi nu i Pale'.  U ma'åse' mohon si Yu'us ya un dia u ta fan nahong Påle' giya Saipan, kosa ke siña hamyo man ma bisisita la-sesso.

Pot i tåya' guine Påle'-miyo, guåha siha na kosas nesesita todo i tiempo en hahasso ha'.  Chagi, fan, na todo i tiempo, en fan gagaige ha' gi estao i gråsia.  Yanggen chañapito si Yu'us en komete un makkat na isao, ensegidas sangåne si Yu'us na man mañotsot hamyo nu i en isague gue'.  Cha'-miyo fan mamaigo' gi puenge yanggen ti en tataitai i Fina'tinas Sinetsot : Asaina Jesukristo na Saina-ho...etc.

Yanggen guåha guine påtgon mafañågo, cha'-miyo fan maleleffa na ha nesesita ma takpånge yanggen mumalångo.  Chile' i hanom ya en atte i ilon i patgon, ya at mismo tiempo ålok : Guåho hu takpånge hao gi na'an i Tata, yan i Lahi-ña, yan i Espiritu Sånto.

Na' fan fiet hamyo gi tinaitai siha ni en iisa gi bonito na kapiyan-miyo.  Prokura fumanågue maulek i famagu'on-miyo nu i Katesismo.  Man isao hamyo yanggen ti en fanågue i famagu'on-miyo nu i dottrinan kilisyåno.

En lugåt di en fan man aligao espesiåt na penitensia, ofrerese si Yu'us nu i makkat na lina'la'-miyo guine komo penitensia.

Magåhet na tåya' Påle' sumåsåga gi entalo'-miyo, lao todo i tiempo man hahamyo yan si Yu'us.  Man pinipilan hamyo as Yu'us ha'åne yan puenge.  Na' fan fiet hamyo na famagu'on Yu'us yan Sånta Maria, ya siempre en fan binendise as Yu'us. "

ASIAN COMMERCIALS

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Guam is still used by Asian businesses to film TV commercials.  This one at the Plaza de España.

My first trip off-island was around 1970 when my dad took us to Tokyo.  You can imagine my surprise when, while watching Japanese TV, we saw Guam police cars in a Japanese TV commercial.

BAHÅKE

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

As the sign says, "Strictly casual." Bahåke is the Chamorro term for the most casual clothing possible, usually reserved for in and around the house.  Take for example these two lalåhe :



The guy on the left : casual.  Good enough even for church (weekday Mass) or many types of employment.
The guy on the right : BAHÅKE !

Bahåke is the type of clothing that a young man runs and changes in the bedroom when he sees the girl he is flirting with approaching the house.

Bahåke is the old but comfy gown a woman would never be caught dead in outside the immediate family.

The word was adopted by the Chamorros from the Spaniards by way of the Filipinos.  The original, Tagalog word is "bahag."  It means "loincloth," as seen below.  The bahag was worn by many Filipinos before the Spaniards came, but since then it is mainly the mountain tribesmen that wear it.

http://jerelona.tripod.com/Bahag.html
A modern-dressed Filipino modeling the "bahag" loincloth

The Spaniards could not pronounce "bahag" and said "bahaque" instead.  Exactly how the word was passed on to Chamorros is not known.  Perhaps the Spaniards called the loincloths and other similar, minimal coverings used by the Chamorro men at the very beginning of westernization, bahaque. But, it entered our language and was eventually applied to the most casual, informal house dress.

What would a store called "Bahakihut" sell?  Take a look :


FIESTAN SAN ANTONIO

Monday, June 13, 2011
GUPOT SAN ANTONIO DE PADUA
Hunio dia 13

Tamuning's fiesta?  Well, one of them.

When the church we know today as Saint Anthony's was built in Tamuning after World War II, the original patron (and co-patron to this day) was Saint Victor.  America's victory in WWII can easily be seen as the connection.

But Chamorros didn't have a devotion to Saint Victor, and eventually Saint Anthony was added as a co-patron and eventually superceded Saint Victor for prime place.  The reason?

First of all, because Saint Anthony was greatly venerated by Chamorros, to the extent that his relic was venerated in all of Guam's churches every Tuesday.

Secondly, because prior to the war, there was a district ( barrio ) of Hagåtña called San Antonio, and the Spanish Capuchins built a chapel there in his honor, with at least one Sunday Mass there.  The barrio of San Antonio is where Padre Palomo Park, the U.S. Naval Cemetery and the now-defunct auto dealership are, in the old Ada's commercial area where Meskla restaurant is.  After the war, that entire area became commercial and the chapel was never rebuilt.  The devotion needed a locus, so Tamuning inherited it.

TIEMPON TERMITE

Monday, June 13, 2011
forestryimages.org
HOW DO YOU SAY "TERMITE" IN CHAMORRO?
ANSWER : TERMITE
(reason below)

What does June mean to you?

To me, it means termite season.

Every Corpus Christi, sometime in June, the termites come out of nowhere right when the sun sets.  For about half an hour, our life is made miserable as we turn off lights, run into our air-conditioned cars with the windows up, and swat termites that have flown into and under our shirts and blouses.

They seem to have their own village schedule.  This week, for 2 or 3 nights, it will be this part of Toto.  Next week, again for several nights, it'll be that part of Mangilao.  Just when you think termite season is over because tonight they did not come out in your neighborhood, you drive to the next village and get swarmed by termites.

FINO' CHAMORRO : TERMAIT

Why is there no authentic Chamorro word for termites?  Because we didn't have any on Guam until American times.  They snuck in, undocumented, hiding in uninspected, unfumigated, imported cargo, so I'm told.

CHAMORRO TERMITE MAGIC


thesimpledollar.com

When I was a kid, I thought grandma was the coolest magician because all she had to do was get the palanggåna (bucket, basin or tub), fill it with water, place it under the ceiling lights where the termites all buzzed, and instantly they dropped into the palanggåna and drowned.  It was as if they were magnetically pulled from the ceiling into grandma's palanggåna .


WHY CHAMORROS NEVER KILL THE GUALIIK


wettropics.gov.au
EI NA YINA-HO CHUMOCHO TERMAIT!
Termites are so månngengengenge' !

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : CHÅCHAK

Monday, June 13, 2011
jupiterimages.com

MA CHÅCHAK I KEK
CHÅCHAK : to cut

But not for everything!  For example, you wouldn't use chåchak for "to cut hair."  Or "to cut something off."

Chåchak i mannok.  Cut up the chicken.

Ma chåchak i kanai-ho.  They cut my hand.

Dångkulo i ma chachak-mo!  Your incision is large! (As in after surgery.)

Chachåke.  To cut for someone.

Chachåke mai'es i puyitos.  Cut up corn for the little chicks.

Achachak.  To cut each other; to separate from another.

Umachachak si Jose yan i lahi-ña.  Jose and his son are divided.

Mañåchak.  To cut.

Ti un tungo' mañåchak!  You don't know how to cut/slice.

Chinachak.  To be cut.

Kao chinachak hao?  Were you cut?

AUTOMOTIVE CHAMORRO

Sunday, June 12, 2011



The owner of this car provides us both the family name (Gumataotao) and the family nickname (Cherick).

The spelling of "Cherick" shows American influence.  Others would spell it "Chirik."

I know of a few Chirik Gumataotaos in Chalan Pago.

LOST SURNAMES : LASCANO

Sunday, June 12, 2011
quesignificaelapellido.com
LASCANO

Lascano, or Lazcano (remember, spelling was not uniform many years ago), is a Basque name from Spain.  There used to be a Lascano family on Guam for many years.  They were here from at least 1758 until the early 1900s.

A Pampanga (Filipino) soldier by the name of Manuel Francisco Lascano was on Guam in 1758, married to what I suspect was a Chamorro wife named Maria Lucia Mamingin.  By 1758, they had four boys, no girls.  You would think that this was a good sign that the family name would survive.

However, by 1897, there were only two people on the island with the Lascano last name.  One was an elderly man in Hågat named  Policarpio Pinaula Lascano, married to Maria Dueñas de la Cruz.  Policarpio's father was from Humåtak.  Apparently, Policarpio and Maria (in their late 40s) had no children.

Then, in Humåtak, there was in 1897 a widow named Maria Lascano, whose deceased husband was Geronimo Aguon*.  There were other Lascanos, all women, who married into the Aguon, Tajalle and Quinata families.  A prevalence of girls in the family lead to the disappearance of the surname.  It survived only as a middle name until sixty years ago or so, and overwhelmingly in Humåtak.

*See my post on "Geronimo" as a first name.

I KOREAS

Saturday, June 11, 2011
NOT NORTH OR SOUTH KOREA...BUT THE BELT CALLED "KOREAS"

Pre-War Koreas

A k oreas is a leather belt, worn in olden times by women for religious purposes.

From 1769 until 1899, the Catholic missionaries in the Marianas were from a specific Order, following a specific saint with their own devotions and particular customs.  This Order was the Augustinian Recollect Order.  They followed Saint Augustine and had a devotion to Our Lady of Consolation.


You can see in the painting above, a depiction of the traditional story that the Blessed Mother appeared to Saint Monica to console her as she prayed with tears for her son Augustine's conversion.  Mary appeared to her wearing a leather belt.  She gave this belt to Saint Monica.  When Augustine converted to the Catholic Faith, Saint Monica gave it to her son.  Saint Augustine then added it to the habit (religious uniform or robes) of his followers, the Augustinians.  The Spaniards called this leather belt the correas ; in Chamorro koreas .


You can see these Spanish Augustinian Recollect Friars wearing the leather belt or koreas.

When the Augustinian Recollects ( Rekoletos ) came to the Marianas in 1769, they formed a religious society for married women, the Cofradía de Nuestra Señora de la Consolación - the Society of Our Lady of Consolation.  Old-timers simply called it the Cofradía.  It was the precursor of today's Christian Mothers.

The women of the Cofradía got to wear the koreas , too.  The koreas was blessed by a priest and was considered a holy object.  In fact, many people would bend down and kiss the Augustinian priest's koreas as a sign of respect.

Now since the Cofradía women owned one, it also became a household item.  It was usually hung on the wall and used as an object of devotion.  When a Cofradía member died, she was buried with it.  During the war, the owner of this koreas wore it around her waist as a sign of protection from the Blessed Mother from the Japanese.


blogdeharaldica.blogspot.com
AUGUSTINIAN LOGO WITH CORREAS

But the koreas also had a very practical use, as an instrument of corporal punishment.  The idea was, since it was blessed, the wayward child could be straightened out by the Blessed Mother if whipped with the koreas . Nina'tunas as Santa Maria, nai .

One lady told me this story.  During the war, when the family lived on the ranch, one of her brothers was near the woods and saw something unusual.  He was frozen and could not speak.  The father knew that the boy must have seen something spooky in the jungle.  He asked his wife for her koreas and whipped the boy with it.  The boy shouted " Ai puti !" (Ow, it hurts!)  The koreas got back his voice, his senses, and his sense of pain!  A blessed object was what was needed, because of what he saw in the jungle.

The Augustinian priests were expelled by the Americans in 1899 and the Capuchin Franciscans replaced them in 1901.  The Capuchins follow Franciscan traditions, not Augustinian ones, but the pious women on Guam were so attached to the Cofradía and the koreas that the Spanish Capuchins did not change the custom.  It was only after the war and with the arrival of American Capuchins that the custom of the koreas died out.  The Cofradía was replaced by the Christian Mothers.

Very few people in the Marianas still have a genuine koreas from before the war in the family treasure box.  I am so fortunate to have found one.

SAINTS, GRANDPA AND LOST CHILDREN

Friday, June 10, 2011
stmaryourladyofransom.com

HOW CHAMORRO PARENTS GAVE NAMES TO THEIR CHILDREN

First of all, without question and exception, all babies were given, from Spanish times, religious or Christian names.  Most of the time it was the name of a person (Jesus, Maria, Jose) but sometimes it was a title of Mary (Dolores, Pilar) or a mystery of the faith (Encarnacion, Concepcion).

But, among the many religious names possible, which ones to give this or that particular baby?

Names were often given on the basis of :

1. THE SAINT OR FEAST OF THE DAY

In those days, every day of the year had a saint or saints of the day.  In some families, on the day a baby boy was born, they just looked at the day on their Catholic calendar, and if the male saint of the day was San Fructuoso, then that was the baby's name.  If a girl was born on the feast day of Santa Mafalda, in many families, that's the name she got.  This accounts for some of our elders having (for us) strange and exotic names : Recaredo, Prepedigna, Telesforo, Reducinda.

On some days, there was an important religious feast and sometimes the child was named in honor of the feast.  If a girl was born on December 8, she might be named Concepcion (Immaculate Conception); if on August 15 she might be named Asuncion (Assumption).  If a boy was born on Christmas Day, he might be called Jesus or Manuel (Emmanuel).

The day of birth, many times, had nothing to do with it.  Individual devotion guided the choice of name.  A family, or a parent, might have great devotion to San Jose or San Roque, so there would be kids named after them.  There are a few Judes from Sinajaña, and Anthonys from Tamuning.  Our school bus used to pick up a girl in Chalan Pago, whose name was Paz.  Go figure.

2. TO HONOR SOMEONE IN THE FAMILY CIRCLE...OR OTHERWISE

There were a lot of Pedros in my family.  That's because the patriarch was Pedro Rodriguez Torres.  He had no boys, but the one and only grandson was named Pedro.  Then a great-grandson was named Pedro.  The matriarch was Josefa, so a granddaughter and great-granddaughter were also named Josefa or Josephine by the time the U.S. flag was waving over us.

Since, in one family, grandfather, father and son might all be named Jose, one had to clarify which Jose one was talking about. Josen Dångkulo (Big Jose) and Josen Dikkiki' (Little Jose) would be one way, or Josen Tata (Jose the Father or Grandfather) and Josen Påtgon (Jose the Child).  Another way would be to call the child Joselito, Juanito, Pascualito and so on.

But there were more than blood relatives to honor.  Taking the godparent's first name was also a common Chamorro custom.

There were/are also a few Romans, Leons, Bernabes, Canices, Arnolds...and even one or two Erics running around because parents named their boys in honor of a priest.  There have also been a few John Pauls.  Their parents shot higher.  Back in the 30s and 40s, when we had one Pope Pius after another, there were a few Chamorro babies baptized Pio.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was president for so long in the 30s and 40s that there are a handful of middle-aged Franklins born on Guam.  And a few Eleanors (if you catch the connection).

3. TO HONOR A PRIOR CHILD WHO DIED

Not a few times have I come across, in baptismal records or in speaking with families, two children named Jose or Maria, and to find out that the older Jose or Maria died in infancy.  Some parents named a subsequent child after the deceased child.  In Chamorro, this was called " ma na' lå'la' ta'lo i matai na påtgon ," giving back life to the deceased child.  The loss was redeemed by doing this.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : KÅNDET

Friday, June 10, 2011
flickr.com
KÅNDET : instrument giving light (not the light itself, which is a different word)

Before the Spaniards, Chamorros certainly had light from fire.  As recently as our grandparents' time, Chamorros would put coconut oil in a vessel, place some kind of wick and light it, so that was more than likely possible hundreds of years ago as well.

But when the Spaniards introduced glass oil or kerosene lamps, Chamorros borrowed the Spanish word for "lamp," -  "candil."  We pronounce it kåndet .

But, don't forget, when we place the definite article "i" (the) in front of kåndet , that changes the å to a plain a (sounding more like the "a" in "apple.")

Back in the days when one lit lamps, and didn't turn them on, you said " na' fañila' i kandet ." Fañila' means "to give off or reflect light."  " Mañiñila' ma'lak i mata-mo ," means, "Your face is radiating brightly." Na' is to make something happen. Na' fañila'. To make shine, radiate.

But then came the Americans and electricity and light switches, something new to us and we had to find new vocabulary for turning on switches which we didn't have before.

One solution was na' la'la' .  La'la' means "alive, to live." Na' la'la' i kandet means to make the electrical light come alive.   When the switch is off, that bulb certainly looks dead.  It comes alive with electricity at the turn of the switch.

So the opposite would be to take the life away from the light; i.e. to kill.  So, " puno' i kandet ."  Kill the light.  One kills a fire, too, so why not?

In modern times, many people use the English "on" and "off." Na' on i kandet; na' off i kandet .

A CHAMORRO NAMED GERONIMO

Friday, June 10, 2011
commons.wikimedia.org
Years ago I was helping a Chamorro lady do her family tree.  Her grandfather's name was Geronimo, and she said to me, "I wonder why he had an Indian name."

The fact is Geronimo is not an Indian name.  It's Spanish, and it's the Spanish form of the name Jerome.

The famous Apache warrior and chief (pictured above) was given the Spanish name Geronimo (also spelled Jeronimo in Spanish) by Americans who heard Mexican soldiers scream "San Jeronimo!" (Saint Jerome!) when they were fighting the Apaches.  They thought that was the Apache chief's name.

Sometimes Chamorros will have Spanish names that are unfamiliar to us, and which sound like something else but with no real connection.  An example of this is the male name Froilan, a name some Chamorros had (and some still do).  There was a Spanish saint by the name of Froilan, but it sounds similar to the German word "fraulein" or "miss" (unmarried woman).  So, some people think Froilan is a German name.

FAMILIA : LIZAMA

Thursday, June 9, 2011
tpino.netfirms.com
LIZAMA

In 1758, a Lizama shows up for the first time in a Guam census (which we currently have).  His name was Luis de Lizama and he is listed among the Pampanga soldiers.  We know nothing more about him.

His wife was Teresa Ursula Sinia.  Who she was and where she came from is not known.  It is possible that Teresa was Chamorro and for the following reasons.  First, although a good number of Spanish and Filipino soldiers brought wives with them, many did not and instead married Chamorro women.  Second, there is another wife of a Pampanga (Filipino) soldier by the last name Sina.  People were much more casual about spelling in those days, and Sinia and Sina could very well be the same last name.  If so, they may have been sisters and it is less likely, though not impossible, that two sisters from abroad came to Guam as wives of soldiers.  Finally, but probably most convincingly, Sinia/Sina could very well be the Chamorro word siña , which means "possible, able."  Sinia/Sina is not a Spanish surname, that is more certain.

Whatever the case, the Lizamas of the Marianas seem to be one family, descended from Luis de Lizama who came to Guam in the 1750s if not before.  By the time of the 1758 census he had four children, two boys and two girls.

The name itself is found in Spain and in her former colonies.  But it is not extensive (like, let's say, Garcia or Fernandez).  It's actually not very widespread at all.  It seems to be a variation (again, clerks in those days spelled things the way it suited them) of Lezama.  Even in the Guam census of 1897, Lizama is sometimes spelled Lezama, depending on who was the clerk writing the name.

Lezama is the name of a small village in Spain; in the Basque province of Vizcaya to be exact.  Therefore, it's not Castillian but Basque, and scholars aren't certain of the meaning of the name.  There is yet another hamlet named Lezama in the neighboring, and still Basque, province of Ålava.

How a soldier from Pampanga, Philippines got the surname Lizama is not known.  Like many other Filipinos, he may have been mestizo himself; part-Filipino and part-Hispanic (whether Spanish or Latin American is unknown).

By the late 1800s, one or two Lizamas had served the local government, probably in more than one capacity.  Chamorros were given local offices, such as neighborhood chiefs, supervisors of agriculture or livestock, justices of the peace and so on.  They were then allowed to use the title "Don" which means, more or less, "Sir."  There was one Don Hipolito Cruz Lizama in Hagåtña, married to Dolores Pangelinan.  And one Don Joaquin Lizama, married to Vicenta Guzman.  Don Hipolito was the head of one of the neighborhoods in Hagåtña.  These neighborhoods were called "barangay" and the official was called the "cabeza de barangay."  "Cabeza" literally means "head" in Spanish.

From Hagåtña, the Lizamas spread out to nearly every other settlement in the Marianas.  By the late 1800s, there were Lizamas in Hågat and neighboring Sumay, and two Lizama teenage women in Inalåhan.  One Jose Lizama moved to Luta (Rota) and probably married a Rotanese Chamorro woman with the last name Mundo.  Several Lizamas moved to Saipan where the Lizama name is still going strong.

In the U.S. mainland, you're more likely to bump into a few Lizamas in California (370 people as of 2009) and in Texas (212 people), and I'll bet a good number of them will be Chamorro Lizamas, besides the Hispanic Lizamas.

NA' MERIENDA

Thursday, June 9, 2011

It's so important to laugh and take joy in the simple pleasures of life. Sen månnge' para ta fañålek ya ta agradese i otdinårio yan diårio na bendision ni ha nånå'e hit si Yu'us.

You know, we have a lot of great treats in our Chamorro cuisine.

Merienda is a snack in between lunch ( na' talo'åne or atmotsan talo'åne ) and dinner ( sena ).  My grandma usually had it around 4pm.  The following foods in the clip make great na' merienda (merienda snacks).

In this video clip, we see :

APIGIGI - månha (young coconut meat), tapioca, sugar, wrapped in banana leaf.  The smell of semi-burnt banana leaf adds that special flavor to it.

EMPANÅDA - usually chicken in corn meal and achote , but here they made it with corned beef!  Will wonders never cease?

TAMÅLES MENDIOKA - made with mendioka (tapioca)

TAMÅLES GISU - corn meal, partially with achote , and a strip of bacon.

POTO - spongy, sweet rice cakes ( tuba or coconut toddy makes all the difference)

TITIYAS MÅNHA - flat bread made with månha (young coconut meat)

But wait a minute; what about :

Roskete - Latiya - Kalamai - Boñuelos - Buchibuchi - Påstet - Konsetba - Goyoria - Åhu - Coconut Candy - Champulådo - Pån Tosta - Broas - Madoya - Etc - Etc - Etc

A VILLAGE CALLED "TODAY STREET?"

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Many of you are aware that pa'go means "today" or "now."  Why would anyone call a village "Today Street?"

But there's a difference between pa'go , with that glottal stop choking you in the middle of the word, and pago , with no glottal stop.

Pago is a kind of hibiscus plant that often grows on the seashore.  One of Guam's bays is called Pago Bay.

Here's the bay :

guam-online.com
Here's the kind of hibiscus known in Chamorro as pago :

flickr.com
Up till 1856, there was a village on the north shore of Pago Bay called Pago.  It was hard hit by an earthquake in 1849, a typhoon in 1855 and then the smallpox epidemic of 1856.  The few survivors abandoned the village and moved to Hagåtña, Sinajaña and other villages.

So the village we now call Chalan Pago was so-named because, starting in Hagåtña, the "road to Pago" ran through the area.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : CHÅDA'

Wednesday, June 8, 2011
dailyperricone.com
CHÅDA' .  Egg.

Inaflitun chåda'.  Fried egg.

Agaga' chåda'.  The yolk of the egg.

Yema.  The egg yolk, but a less familiar word and taken from the Spanish.

Flamengko.  Raw egg beaten with vanilla extract and alcohol (usually rum).

Chåda' guero.  Rotten egg.

Mañåda'.  To lay eggs.

Kao esta mañåda' i mannok?  Did the hen lay eggs yet?

Chadåe.  To add or mix with eggs.

Hu gisa i seboyas pues hu chadåe.  I fry the onions then I add eggs.

Fañåda'an.  Where hens lay eggs.

Chåda' fresko.  Fresh eggs (not store bought).

Lassas chåda'.  Egg shell.

Kåskaran chåda'.  Also egg shell.

AIRPORT EXPANSION?

Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Dedication of the Old Airport 1967

IN TODAY'S PDN : GOVERNOR SEEKING EXPANSION OF A.B. WON PAT AIRPORT

Who remembers the Old Terminal?  It replaced the old quonset hut terminal in 1967 when tourist flights from Japan began and revolutionized the island economy.  That's the backside of Governor Manuel Guerrero at the podium facing the audience.

THE TERRITORIAL PARTY

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Uncle Ben Reyes was not only Territorial; he was one of the leaders of the Territorial Party, and past chairman.  In those days, politics on Guam had all the fervor of religion.

The poor TP was a constant loser in election after election.  Most years, all 21 Popular or Democratic senatorial candidates won, called "Black Jack."  Finally, in 1964, the TP won a majority in the 8th Guam Legislature with Carlos P. Taitano as Speaker.  Uncle Ben was also elected; his 2nd term having served before in the 3rd Guam Legislature.  But in the very next election, the TP not only lost the majority - they lost every single seat to the Democrats.

In response to this loss, some of the TP leadership moved towards organizing the Republican Party on Guam.  Uncle Ben was one of the founders of that party.  But not every TP member was in favor of that.  Some moved to the Democrats, and some remained Territorial.

Uncle Ben's wife, my grandmother's sister, Ana, was one such Territorial.  At first, she refused to quit the TP.  She made Uncle Ben sleep on the couch for a while because he had gone Republican.

In time, the TP phased out completely, and Uncle Ben didn't have to sleep on the couch anymore.



Left : Carlos P. Taitano
Right : My uncle Ben, Judge Vicente C. Reyes

OLD TIME TERRITORIALS

Other past Territorials : Agueda Johnston, Antonio SN Duenas (Kaila), James Butler, Felix Carbullido, Carlos P. Bordallo, Concepcion Barrett, Vicente Aflague, Lagrimas Untalan, Eduardo T. Calvo (Jake), Paul M. Calvo, Albert T. Carbullido, Raymond Underwood, Edward G. Camacho, Francisco B. Leon Guerrero, Frank D. Perez (Goyo), Cynthia J. Torres, Gregorio D. Perez (Goyo), Lucas San Nicolas, Alberto Lamorena, Tommy Flores (Takai), Felix L. Crisostomo (Beyong), Pete P. Ada, Maria T. Garrido, Tomas S. Tanaka, Antonio Q. Sablan (Lightning), G. Ricardo Salas, Tomas R. Santos..... yan meggai ta'lo mås .

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : PENDEHO

Tuesday, June 7, 2011
PENDEHO
Rascal

You knock at the door of a friend's house.

You hear her screaming at her kid, who is noisily running away, knocking furniture over.

She opens the door and, apologizing for the ruckus, invites you in.

You : "Håfa, Maria, tatatmanu hao?"  (How are you, Maria?)
She : "Ai, dispensa.  Todo yo' ha na' bubu!"  (Excuse me.  He really made me angry!)
You : "Håye?"  (Who?)
She : "Si pendeho, nai!"  (That little rascal!)

WARNING

This term, which is Spanish, is highly offensive in some parts of the Spanish-speaking world, depending on the country.

Para nuestros visitas hispanohablantes

"Pendejo" no es tan fuerte en nuestro idioma como en otros países.  Entre los chamorros, esta palabra significa simplemente una persona pícara o fresca, o también un sinvergüenza.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : GÅSGÅS

Monday, June 6, 2011
logostage.com
GÅSGÅS : clean

Not the verb "to clean" but the adjective "clean."

Kao gåsgås i kemmon?  Is the toilet clean?

Ti gåsgås hinasson-ña.  His thinking isn't clean.

Sen gåsgås hao na taotao!  You are a very clean person!

Na' gåsgås.  To make clean.

Na' gåsgås i korason-mo!  Make your heart clean!

Munana' gåsgås si Ana gi kosina.  Ana is cleaning in the kitchen.

Ginasgas.  Cleanliness.

Ginasgas hinalom.  Interior purity.  Chastity.

HOW CHAMORROS REALILILILILY EMPHASIZE THINGS

Monday, June 6, 2011
REDUPLICATION

You're at a party.  The food is good.  You know that månnge' means "delicious," so you tell the host " månnge' ."

But then someone else says, "No, it's månngengengenge' !"

Many languages, not just Chamorro, repeat one of the syllables in a word to express a) on-going motion, or b) the intensity of a quality.  It's called reduplication.

So, to say that Jose is going (hånao), we say "Humåhånao si Jose."  That's on-going motion.  The "hå" in "hånao" is repeated : håhånao.

But to stress the quality of something, good or bad, you can use reduplication as well.

Bonito (pretty/handsome) becomes bonitotototo (very pretty/handsome).

Chaddek (fast) becomes chaddedededek (very fast).

Chamorros even use reduplication in English!

Speeding become speedidididing !  Pues ma tikket.  If the fine was huge, pues ma tikkekekeket .

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Sunday, June 5, 2011
Båsta nene di tumånges / sa' un na' tailaye i matå-mo
po'lo palo gi lago'-mo / para an måtai si nanå-mo

Stop crying darling / you're disfiguring your face
set aside some of your tears / for when your mother dies.

Nothing is more heart-shattering than the death of a mother.

Tears should be saved for her passing.

Using this logic, we can dry our tears over lesser griefs.

INARAJAN CHURCH - AS IT WAS BEING BUILT

Sunday, June 5, 2011

St. Joseph Church was dedicated in 1940
So this could have been taken in 1939 or 1940

THE CHAMORRO WEDDING SINGER

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Sung in English, but give little Goro a few years and he'll pick up a song or two in Chamorro.

If you want to book Goro for your wedding, I'm his agent.  Just joking.

THAT'S PRETTY OLD!

Saturday, June 4, 2011
CHAMORRO WORDS FROM 1668

flickr.com

One of the great things about our language is that we have preserved so much of it.  True, we have adopted many Spanish words, and words from other languages as well, and we will continue to borrow from other languages, because that's just what happens.  Even English borrows.  No American needs to run to the dictionary, for example, to look up the meaning of "karate," a Japanese word.  Every language borrows from other languages.

One of the best examples of how we have kept much of our Chamorro vocabulary comes from a Chamorro grammar written by Blessed Diego Luis de Sanvitores in 1668.  He spelled things the way it sounded to his ears (just as we all would, if we did not learn a language in written form), so it may appear strange to our eyes at first.  He wrote these words even before he got to Guam, having learned them from a Filipino guy who had been shipwrecked in the Marianas and lived among the Chamorros.  That may account for the little discrepancies here and there in his Chamorro.

But here are a few examples :

AS SANVITORES SPELLED IT / AS SOME WOULD SPELL IT TODAY / ENGLISH MEANING

Chamo - Cha'-mo - Do not

Marago - Malago' - Want/Desire

Masogni - Ma sokne - Accuse

Taotao - Taotao - Person/People

Ladyam - Låhyan - Many (as in people)

Gumofiriri - Gumofli'e - To love

Sayna - Saina - Lord/Master/Superior/Parent

Parauam - Palao'an - Woman

Gumagagao - Gumågagao - Asking/Requesting

Tiningo - Tiningo' - Knowledge

Mauri - Maolek - Good

Matay - Måtai - Dead

Rahi - Låhe - Son/Male

Rangit - Långet - Heaven

Magtos - Måktos - Cut off/Terminated

Pinañagumo - Finañagu-mo - Your offspring

YOU SEE - WE HAVE EVERY REASON TO BE PROUD THAT THE LANGUAGE WE SPEAK TODAY - IS ESSENTIALLY THE LANGUAGE OUR ANCESTORS SPOKE LONG AGO

Have you every listened to a play by Shakespeare in the original text?  It is very difficult for us moderns to understand it, just as Shakespeare would have a hard time understanding a text he might receive on his cell phone today.  But no one doubts that Shakespeare spoke English, and that we do as well today, though the language has evolved.

PACIFIC'S FIRST DESERTER

Friday, June 3, 2011
spaciousplanet.com
GONZALO DE VIGO

OK, so that's Tom Hanks and he didn't desert; his plane crashed.

Gonzalo de Vigo intentionally jumped ship - one of Magellan's ships - at Guam.  Two others, Portuguese, did the same as Gonzalo, who was a Spaniard from the town of Vigo in Galicia.  The year - 1521.

When one considers that over 200 men in Magellan's fleet - including Magellan himself - died on the journey because of hunger, disease and war, one can see why the expedition was plagued with mutiny, desertions and rebellion, and why Gonzalo and his companions were tempted to remain on Guam.  Before reaching Guam, Magellan's ships had not sighted land for a long time and were starving.  What guarantee did Gonzalo have that, after leaving Guam, they would not perish sailing an unknown ocean?

Gonzalo and the two Portuguese were thus the first caucasian residents in the Marianas, and the first deserters in the Pacific.

We don't know the names of the two Portuguese because the Chamorros killed them, for reasons unclear.  Gonzalo, we must say, was smarter at keeping in the good graces of the Chamorros and was not killed.

He lived with the Chamorros for five years until a Spanish expedition (Loaisa) stopped by Guam and picked him up.  Was he tired of island life?  Did he miss Europe?

In those five years on Guam, it is inconceivable that Gonzalo did not have a female companion.  And it is entirely possible that Gonzalo produced the first mestiso Chamorro children.  Perhaps it was his children whom later Spanish sailors heard calling out the name "Gonzalo! Gonzalo!" when they pulled into Guam.

Too bad he didn't leave a dictionary behind, besides the children he may have fathered.

THE BODEGA

Friday, June 3, 2011

Some time ago I mentioned the bodega, or basement, of the Malesso Konbento, the oldest continually inhabited residence in the Marianas, yet alone Guam.

Here is a bodega as seen in one of the pre-war homes of Inalåhan.

The bodega was usually made of mamposteria, a mix of lime mortar and stone.
( http://guampedia.com/mamposteria/ )

Some homes were entirely made of mamposteria; in other homes only the bodega was, and the upper level was made of wood, as in the house above.

The bodega was used as a cellar or storage space.  Keeping the actual living quarters of the family above the bodega was practical.  It kept some critters out, and in case of flooding, the bodega got flooded and one might lose bags of pugas (rice grain) and mai'es (corn), but the family could still have shelter on the floor above.

NOT MANY LIKE THESE AROUND

Friday, June 3, 2011

Behold the bell of the Garapan Catholic Church in Saipan, dating back to 1895.  The Spaniards still ruled the Marianas at the time.

The year 1895 is written on the bell, as well as the original patron of the church (and the entire island of Saipan), San Isidro Labrador (Saint Isidore the Farmer).  "Labrador" can be made out pretty clearly in the photo, especially if you click to enlarge.

It survived World War II.  Amazing.  Not much did.

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' : UN DIA MENOS PA'GO

Thursday, June 2, 2011
Un dia menos på'go.
One day minus today.

Pay-back comes faster than you expect.


TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : CHÅLEK

Thursday, June 2, 2011
itsvizag.com
CHÅLEK : to laugh

The experts are telling us about the physical and psychological benefits of laughing.  The older I get, the more I seem to be able to laugh.  More and more at myself.

Håfa na chumåchålek hao?  Why are you laughing?

Mañåchalek siha.  They are laughing.

Chålek nai!  Go ahead and laugh!  (sometimes said sarcastically)

Na' chalek.  Laughable.  Funny.

Kao na' chalek?  Is it funny?

Chumålek halom = to smile.  Literally it means "to laugh inwardly."

Chakka chalek-mo/-ña = the squeal or outburst of one's laughter


GOF NA' CHALEK ESTE!

MARINUN MANTEKIYA

Wednesday, June 1, 2011
en.wikipedia.org
Butter ( mantekiya ) was not a common food item before World War II on Guam.  Refrigeration, or lack of it in many homes, was a reason, and the cost factor.

To be able to buy and store butter in the home was a sign of affluence, and one group of people were labeled for flaunting it.

A few Chamorros who joined the U.S. Navy ( marino/marinu , sailor) could buy butter at the Navy commissary and were called " marinun mantekiya ."  It was a way other Chamorros could tease them.

What did Chamorros use, then, as a spread on bread or other starches like lemmai (breadfruit)?

life.com
LARD
Fat from pork
MANTIKA

SI YU'US TIGUANG-MO

Wednesday, June 1, 2011
May God be your Bag Lunch?

once-upon-a-coupon.com

Many Chamorros chuckle when they hear the old expression, "Si Yu'us tiguang-mo."

That's because "tiguang" is such an old and now unused word that they confuse it with a similar-sounding and more known word, "tengguang," which means "food you take to work, or on a journey."

TIGUANG = NEIGHBOR
(as in companion, associate)

TENGGUANG = BAG LUNCH
(more or less)

So the expression means "May God be your neighbor," "May God accompany you," etc.

Catholics could still say "Si Yu'us tengguang-mo ," and not chuckle, when one considers that the Eucharist IS the Body and Blood of Jesus, who is God, and who is our food for the journey.

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' : DESPUES DE LA BURUKA, YÅNTO

Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Despues de la buruka, yånto.

After the noise, weeping.



Children screaming wildly, jumping over furniture, laughing hysterically, throwing household items at each other in gleeful play.

Three minutes later....

They are wailing, tears streaming down their faces.

Someone tripped and got cut.  Someone got punched.

This isn't so fun anymore.  Despues de la buruka, yånto.

Every single word is Spanish, and in their spelling it would be, "Después de la burruca, llanto."

But there's a problem. "Burruca" is not common in the Spanish language, and is never used for "noise."  It means "little female donkey."  Perhaps someone on Guam years ago described noisy, wild kids as "burruca."  It goes to show that, even in the Marianas, local Spanish slang could arise - just like we've created our own slang in English, as in "air con."

For this reason, and because we use the Chamorro pronunciation for "llanto," I am not using the original Spanish spelling for the entire phrase.

From the word "buruka" we get "burukento," or "noisy, unruly, rambunctious, raucous."

IT CAUGHT MY EYE

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Stopping by Mount Carmel Church in Hagat the other day, I was pulling out of the area adjacent to the school and out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a sign in Chamorro.  I put the car in "park" and investigated.  Ya-ho.  I like.

LOST SURNAMES : TANOÑA

Monday, May 30, 2011
I MAN MALINGO NA APEYIDO SIHA

TANOÑA

Not too long ago, there was a family living on Guam named Tanoña.  It means "His/her land."  It is an indigenous name, not foreign.

The family seems to have been centered in Hagåtña, which means it probably originated in the outlying districts of Aniguåk, Mongmong or Sinajaña; or perhaps even Pågo before the survivors of that village moved to Hagåtña after the epidemic of 1856.

The family disappeared because by the end of the 19th century it had produced only girls in the family.

In 1897, Josefa Tanoña, aged 65, was the widow of a man whose surname was Borja.

Another woman, Rufina Tanoña, was deceased by then, but her husband Juan Manibusan was still alive and living in Hagåtña with his many children, some of them in their 20s already.

And in Luta (Rota) there was a Ramona Tanoña, married to Gregorio Taisacan.

All three women were in their 50s and 60s, so they could have been sisters for all we know.

On Guam today, we have many Mantanoña, but we have no more Tanoña. Man malingo esta .

CHAMORROS IN YAP

Monday, May 30, 2011
SOME 400 CHAMORROS USED TO LIVE IN YAP
Since Spanish Times

Chamorro and Yapese Women
Early 1900s

The two Chamorro women in the middle show evidence of greater western influence in their dress
Chamorros have been traveling the world for hundreds of years, albeit in fewer numbers in the beginning.  As far back as the 1600s, a few Chamorros accompanied the Spaniards to the Philippines and perhaps even Mexico.  There are perhaps stories of Chamorros who left the Marianas for elsewhere that have not been documented during Spanish times.

By the 1800s, many Chamorros started leaving Guam on the whaling ships that visited Apra Harbor.  These Chamorros ended up in many places - Hawaii, the U.S. mainland and only God knows where else.  Other Chamorros moved to the Bonin Islands in between us and Japan, and some others spent time in the Philippines.

But in 1886, the Spaniards established a colonial government in Yap, just south of Guam.  Although politically separate from the Marianas, there had been and would continue to be contact between Guam and Yap, thanks to the Spanish flag flying over both islands.

Even before the Spaniards officially established their presence on Yap, there was a Chamorro woman, Bartola Garrido, living on Yap with her American companion.  When the Spaniards came in 1886, the door was opened for more Chamorros from the Marianas to move to Yap as teachers and settlers.  One of these Chamorro teachers in Yap, Ascension Martinez Cruz, met a Spanish soldier stationed there, Pascual Artero y Sáez, and married.  They moved to Guam right in the first years of the American administration of Guam.

Some of the Chamorro families that settled in Yap were the Untalan, Cruz and Diaz families.

When Yap and Saipan were both under the Germans and then under the Japanese governments, some Chamorros from Saipan moved to Yap.

One of the Untalans from Yap, a woman, married a Filipino by the last name of Hondonero.  He and his Chamorro wife and half-Chamorro children were deported by the Japanese to Palau during World War II and executed there by the Japanese in September of 1944.

When World War II ended, the chiefs of Yap asked the American Trust Territory government to remove the Chamorros from Yap.  It was not due to hatred or hostility.  The Chamorros and Yapese had lived in harmony for sixty-some years.  But the Yapese (numbering 2400 in 1946) wanted their island free of this sizeable minority.  That is how most of the Chamorros from Yap moved to Tinian, which had no population, in 1948.  A few moved to Saipan or Guam instead, but by 1948 there were no more Chamorros living permanently in Yap.

OLD CEMETERY IN HÅGAT

Monday, May 30, 2011

I guess you can tell I like cemeteries.  I do.  I have to visit them when I see them, even in foreign countries.

The old cemetery in Hågat is easy to miss if you're not looking for it.  It is located in what was the original site of the pre-war village.  After the war, the population moved south to its present location.  I am old enough (ugh) to remember seeing Hågat called "New Agat."  At the time, I only knew of one Agat.  Where was the old one?  The answer is seen in the photo above.

The church in old Agat was where the 76 gas station is now.


I didn't find too many graves at the old cemetery, and many of them are not attended to and are missing identification.  Not many were very old (pre-war) so I imagine the place got pretty messed up by the pre-liberation bombardment.  Many of the names are easily recognizable as Sumay people, so I assume both neighboring villages shared this cemetery.

But there were a good number of graves from just after liberation.  It is said that some of the victims of the FENA MASSACRE (July, 1944) are buried here in this cemetery.

http://www.airdaleamericanhistory.com/WWII--Agat-SantaRita02.html

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : PLÅTO

Monday, May 30, 2011

woburn-china.com
PLÅTO : plate

This is pretty straightforward.  You're going to be eating today, I assume, on a plate, so say "plåto" instead.

Maila' fan i plåto.  Give me the plate.  (Not literally; it's very slang-ish but still correct Chamorro.)


afootinthedoor.wordpress.com
ESPESIÅT ASUT NA PLÅTO
(Blue Plate Special)


flickr.com
PLÅTON LISENSIA?
(License Plate)

NO!
(unless you were going to eat off your license plate)

Probably

PLÅKAN LISENSIA

AGAT MANGO FESTIVAL

Sunday, May 29, 2011

It was a warm afternoon but plenty of people showed up.  At least it didn't rain!  Here's what I saw :


MOST BIZARRE MANGO

MOST BEAUTIFUL MANGO

BIGGEST MANGO

( I show my pudgy hands to give you an idea how big the biggest was )

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : LAI

Sunday, May 29, 2011
LAI

"Lai," so it is believed, is the shortened, slang version of "låhe."

"Låhe" means "man," "male," or "son."

"Håfa, lai!" would thus be the equivalent of  "Hey, man!"

So it's somewhat funny to hear someone say "Håfa, lai!" to a woman.

But it does happen.

There is a second meaning to "lai."  It can also mean "law."  That's because we got it from the Spanish word for "law," which is "ley."

But the context of the conversation will help you determine whether "lai" means "law" or the slang form of "man."

ILEK-ÑA SI PÅLE' : I MINA' TRES NA TINAGO' YU'US

Sunday, May 29, 2011

(Chamorro sermon excerpts from the late Pale' Lee Friel, OFM Cap)

I mina' tres na tinago' Yu'us ha tåtågo' hit na u ta guåtda, u ta na' såntos i Ha'ånen i Saina.  I Hudios siha ginen ha na' såsåntos i Sabalo na ha'åne lao pot i kumahulo' i Saina-ta ginen i entalo' i man måtai gi Damenggo na ha'åne ya i Espiritu Sånto tumunok gi hilo' i Iglesia gi Damenggon Pentekostes, i Iglesia Katolika ha guåguåtda i Damenggo komo ha'ånen i Saina.  Fine'nana, man ma tåtågo hit na u ta asiste i Sånta Misa an Damenggo yan todo Såntos na Ha'ånen Obligasion.  Yanggen atrasao hao pot gago' pat deskuido, ya måtto hao guato gi Misa despues di måkpo i setmon, umisao hao makkat.  Yanggen gumai mayulang i karetå-mo pat gumuaha måtmo na uchan ya pot ennao mina' umatrasao hao guato gi Misa, tåya' ni håfa isao-mo.  Guåha nai kumåte i patgon pat mumalångo durånte i Misa ya i tata pat i nana ha na' huyong gi Gima'yu'us.  Masea sumåga hao gi sanhiyong diddidi' tiempo, humosme hao ha' Misa.  Ti obligao hao na un hosme otro Misa.  Yanggen malingo maigo'-mo durånte entero i Misa, ti humosme hao ya debe di un asiste otro Misa.

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' : FINE'NANA I OBLIGASION, DESPUES I DEBOSION

Saturday, May 28, 2011
Fine'nana i obligasion, despues i debosion.

First comes the obligation, later the devotion.


There is no limit to the good we can do.  But we must first do what is required of us, and then do what is encouraged of us.

The young boy said to his father, "Dad, it's great you always take me to the movies on Saturdays.  But you never spend time with me Sunday to Friday."

Fine'nana i obligasion, despues i debosion .

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : BABA

Saturday, May 28, 2011
commons.wikipedia.org
BABA : to open

Notice, there is no oval ( º ) over the "a." Baba means open; båba means bad.

Baba i bentåna.  Open the window.

Baba i korason-mo.  Open your heart.

Ti siña ma baba.  It can't be opened.

Kao esta ma baba i tenda?  Is the store opened already?

Babaye.  To open for.

Babaye yo' ni petta!  Open the door for me!

There is a Communion hymn, rarely sung nowadays, that goes :

I pettan i sagrårio, påle' babaye ham!  Na' huyong i Saina-ta yan nå'e ham!
(Open to us, Father, the door of the tabernacle!  Take our Lord out and give Him to us!)

Just to throw this in : how do you say "can opener" in Chamorro?

"Abrelåta" or "baban låta."  The latter uses the native word "baba," the former is from the Spanish.

I ÅNIMAS : TAN ESCO'S DAILY VISITS FROM THE BEYOND

Friday, May 27, 2011

Listen to the beautiful Chamorro.

The man åmko' believe that visions of people could be the souls of the dead (å nimas ) needing our prayers.

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : OLA MON

Friday, May 27, 2011

dilemaszadicos.blogspot.com

OLA MON

Different people pronounce this expression differently.  The great majority say "Ola mon" or "Ola mohon."

Some say "Olåra mon" or "olåra mohon."

And fewer say "Ohala mon," or "Ohala mohon."

To understand the meaning of this phrase, we must go back to its original form, the Spanish expression "Ojalá."

"Ojalá" in Spanish means "would that," "if only," "hopefully."

Notice the title of the music album above from the group Maná.  "Ojalá pudiera borrarte."

It means "IF ONLY I could erase you." (I guess we know how that relationship ended.)

We picked up the phrase OJALÁ and pronounced it OLA or OLÅRA, although a few man åmko' kept the more faithful pronunciation OHALA.

Then we added MOHON which is pure Chamorro which means the same as Ojalá, "would that," "if only."

If someone asks "Who shall go to the store?" one could say "Hågo mohon," "Hopefully you."

"I mohon," means "If only it were so," "If only it would happen."

Then Chamorros shorten words many times.  "Mohon" becomes simply "mon."

So....OLA MON is a Chamorro expression meaning the same thing :  "If only it were so," "If only it could happen."

"Ola mon ya guåho un ayek para guinaiya-mo." "Hopefully you choose me to be your love."

ORIGIN OF THE SPANISH PHRASE

The Spanish phrase has an interesting beginning.  The Spaniards themselves learned it from the Muslims who conquered Spain in the year 711.  The Muslims spoke Arabic and "wa-sa allah" means "if God (Allah) wills it."  The Spaniards heard it a lot from the Muslims and adopted it as their own, but with their own pronunciation.  "Wa-sa allah" became "ojalá."  Then Chamorros changed it to "ola" or "olåra" and added "mohon."

SI BOBAT

Wednesday, May 25, 2011
1920s

Guåho si Bobat.  Ocho åños yo' edåt-ho.  Sumåsaga yo' Malesso'.

Ma fana'an yo' Cristobal sa' pot i pale'-måme as Påle' Cristobal.

Kåda Lunes asta i Bietnes, makmåmåta yo' gi a las kuåttro gi chatanmak.  Siempre ha konne' yo' si nanå-ho para bai in hosme Misa.

Despues, humåhånao yo' para i eskuela.  Un amerikåno maestron-måme.  Ti hu gogof komprende håfa ha fanånå'gue ham, lao sigi ha' yo' adumiddide' ume'eyak fumino' Englis, masea unos kuåntos na palåbra kåda semåna.

Ilek-ña si tatå-ho na gigon hu kumple i mina' sais na grådo, bai påra umeskuela ya bai ayuda si tatå-ho gi gualo'-måme, ni gaige iya Geus.

Mamomoksai si tatå-ho babue yan chiba gi gualo'-måme.  Guåha lokkue' trongkon-måme pugua', chotda yan mångga.  Gi otro båndan i katsåda nai gaige i famå'yan, ni iyon tiu-ho, che'lun tatå-ho, ya meggai biåhe manayuyuda yo' guihe lokkue'.

Lao ga'o-ko dumalalaki i otro tiu-ho, che'lun nanå-ho, para in peska gi tasi.  Tåya' na o'son yo' pumeska sa' ei na yina-ho i tasi!

Si Yu'us ma'ase' pot i un ekungok este i estoria-ho.  Lao, pot fin, guåha lokkue' para bai hu faisen hao :

Adibina, yanggen siña, håfa sinahguan-ña i låta ni hu gogo'te gi litråto!

KORASON SÅNTO

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

As we're heading into June, the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we look at a traditional Chamorro hymn to the Sacred Heart, "Korason Sånto."

Korason Sånto, mailague' ham / hågo Asaina, må'gas Guåhan / hågo Asaina, må'gas Guåhan.
( Sacred Heart, come to us / you are the great Lord of Guam .)

Jesus minaolek, mames yan månnge' / må'gas sasahnge yan rai-måme /
( Good Jesus, sweet and delightful / extraordinarily great and our king )

u mamaila' nai i gobietno-mo / po'lo i tronu-mo giya håme / po'lo i tronu-mo giya håme.
( your kingdom come / place your throne among us .)

When this hymn is sung in the other islands of the Marianas, "må'gas Guåhan" has to be changed to "ma'gåse ham," or "rule over us."

The melody (you won't be surprised) is based on a Spanish hymn to the Sacred Heart.  You can hear in this clip the little differences in the melody, but it is clearly the same one.

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' : MINA'LAK I CHALAN, HINEMHOM I GIMA'

Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Mina'lak i Chalan, Hinemhom i Gima'

Light in the streets, darkness in the home

Does our private face (in the home, among our family) match our public face?

Out there, among friends and co-workers, you are pleasant and kind and everyone loves you for it.

In here, among your own flesh and blood, you are misery and grief.

I think Christ called them "whitened sepulchers."  So much for the gentle, soft Jesus who never hurt anyone's feelings.

Mina'lak = Brightness (ma'lak, bright)
Chålan = street, way, path
Hinemhom = darkness (homhom, dark)
Guma' = house, building

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : HÅLOM

Tuesday, May 24, 2011
flickr.com
HÅLOM : enter

Hålom!  Enter!

Fanhålom!  Enter! (to three or more people)

Kao siña yo' humålom?  May I enter?

Sanhalom.  Interior.

Måno un po'lo i eskoba?  (Where did you put the broom?)  Hu po'lo guihe gi sanhalom. (I put it there inside.)

Na' hålom.  To bring inside, to make enter.

Kuånto na salåppe' un na' hålom?  How much money did you bring in?

Iya hålom.  Within.

Hu po'lo i fino'-mo iya hålom i korason-ho.  I have put your words within my heart.

Gi halom.  Within, during, among, in the midst of.

Para u ma cho'gue gi halom Misa.  It will be done during the Mass.

Bai ågang hao gi halom dies minutos.  I will call you in ten minutes.

Ti ya-ña kumuentos gi halom taotao.  He doesn't like to talk in the midst of people.

Halom tåsi.  In the sea.

Halom tåno'.  Jungle.  Literally, "in the midst of the land."

THE CHAMORRO AI PHONE

Tuesday, May 24, 2011
flickr.com
Juan : Påre, kao para un famåhan telefon-mo iPhone?

Jose : Håfa ennao i iPhone?

Juan : Påre, adda' ti un tungo'?  Guiya et mås maolelelek na telefon.  Todo ha' siña un cho'gue yan este na telefon.  Nuebo ha' na ma na' huyong.

Jose : Påre, ti nuebo ennao.  Hagas ha' guåha telefon-ña iPhone i asaguå-ho.

Juan : Ha?

Jose : Hu'u.  Kåda kumuentos i asaguå-ho gi telefon, puru ha' "ai, ai."

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' : KADA KUÅT KON SU CHALÅN-ÑA

Tuesday, May 24, 2011


Kada kuåt kon su chalån-ña.

To each his own way.


A wonderful example of how we took the Spanish language and modified it to suit our own manner of speaking.

" Kåda kuåt kon su " is the Spanish " cada cual con su ," meaning "each one with his or her."

" Chalån-ña " is Chamorro for "his or her way." Most of us know chålan because it also means "street" or "road."

Notice the double possessive : su (in Spanish) and -ña (in Chamorro) both mean "his, her, its."  This duplication is not strictly necessary except that the Chamorro, when s/he said this phrase, was not thinking like a Spaniard, analyzing word for word, realizing that "su" already means "his" or "her."


OTHER FORMS OF THE SAME EXPRESSION




Another form of this proverb is : " Kåda kuåt kon su guston-ña ."  To each his own taste/preference.

Gusto , which we borrowed from Spanish, means "taste, liking, pleasure, preference."

When someone likes desserts, we can say, " I fina'mames gustoto-ña. " "Desserts are his/her preference."




This one means, "Each one to his own thing."

Iyo is the term indicating possession or ownership.

Iyo-ko is "mine," iyo-mo is "yours," iyon-ña is "his, hers or its."

I like this form of the expression because the "thing" isn't even defined in the slightest. It's not a "way" or a "liking." It's just a "thing," about the most general, all-embracing description there can be! So it really is up to you!




Now we are straying a bit away from matters of taste and now in the area of opinions or beliefs.

"To each his own opinion or belief."

I've heard this phrase said when someone decides to do something we would never do, or who does things differently from what we do.

Well, each one has his/her way of seeing the world and judging matters.

BLOG STATS

Monday, May 23, 2011
OVER 3,000 HITS

In appreciation for the over 3,000 hits on this blog, let's look at where you all come from :

Guam 1596
USA 1122
Spain 130
Malaysia 39
Philippines 23
Northern Marianas 19
Peru 12
Mexico 9
Canada 6
Germany 6

and a few hits from

Japan
Singapore
Hungary
India
and beyond

OLDEST RESIDENCE ON GUAM

Monday, May 23, 2011
KONBENTON MALESSO'
Ma håtsa gi 1856 na såkkan
Si Påle' Juan Fernandez, Rekoleto, humåtsa

I lived a very short while in the oldest, continuously-inhabited private residence on Guam.  What memories.

Father Juan Fernandez was the priest who built it in 1856.  Fernandez was a Spanish missionary of the Augustinian Recollect Order which was in charge of the Marianas at the time.  Fernandez was first assigned to Malesso' and Humåtak in 1851.

Since it was built, it has been the residence of the priest of Malesso' and Humåtak except for most of the 1990s when Pale' Jose Villagomez, Capuchin, built a temporary konbento using as a foundation the stage that used to be on the side of the basketball court.  Both temporary konbento and basketball court have since been removed since the dedication of the new church in 2002.

With the new church came a restoration of the konbento and the priest moved back to the historic residence.

In the photo above, taken in the 1920s or 30s, you can see the bodega on the ground floor.  A bodega was a basement, and the more affluent people often built a house with a bodega on the ground floor and a second floor for the family living quarters.  Today, the bodega is used as a parish office and museum.

By the time I lived there for a few weeks in the 1980s as a seminarian watching the place when the pastor was away, the old building was falling apart.  The floor and ceiling were collapsing.  It was stuffy, hot and humid.  But at least I did not live alone; I shared the premises with hundreds of God's little creatures - termites, cockroaches, geckos, rats and snakes.  I remember visiting Pale' Lee there in the 1980s.  We sat down in the kitchen, and Pale' saw a rat, in broad daylight, leisurely walk across the kitchen counter.  Pale' took his sneaker off and threw it at the rat, which picked up speed and scurried away into hiding in one of the many holes and crevices of the old building.  Rat out of sight, Pale' Lee returned to our conversation as if nothing happened.  And indeed nothing had.

(To those down south who may think this anecdote unflattering, you know that my years with you were some of the best of my life.)

CHAMORRO EXPRESSIONS : NAI

Monday, May 23, 2011
One of the virtues of Chamorro expressions is that even those weak in the language can pepper their English conversations with these words and phrases.

Take nai , for example.

"Take the money, nai, and go to the store!"

"You were wrong, nai!"

"When, nai, can I see you?"

Nai means "thus," "when," "where."

Gi gimå'-mo nai gaige i patgon.  The child is at your house.

Gi ma'pos na såkkan nai mafañågo gue'.  S/he was born last year.

But, as an expression, it can also mean "you see?"

I hope, nai, you understand now, and use it, nai, in your English conversations.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : MALAGO'

Sunday, May 22, 2011
MALAGO' = want

Håfa malago'-mo?  What do you want?

Malago' yo' gumimen.  I want to drink.

Manmalago' siha manhålom.  They want to come in.

Måno i malago'-mo.  As you want it.

Ti malago'.  S/he doesn't want.

Minalago'.  Will, desire.

Taimano i minalago'-mo.  According to your will.

Na' malago'.  To make want.

Un na' malago' yo' chumocho.  You made me want to eat.

An idiomatic use of the word malago' involves a rebuke of someone's unjustified or unreasonable desire or will.  If someone asks or wants something judged to be unjustified or unreasonable, one can simply say "Malago'-mo!" to the person asking, or "Malago'-ña!" about the person asking.

Juan : Måma, ilek-ña si Jose na debi di un nå'e gue' ni yaben kareta. (Mom, Jose says you have to give him the car keys).

Måma : Malago'-ña!  (So says he! Whatever!)

CHAMORRO CULTURAL FAIR in San Diego

Sunday, May 22, 2011


This second photo is of the sakman (traditional canoe) which Mario Borja and others in San Diego have been working on for a long time.  Chamorros in the mainland are becoming more interested in their culture and heritage.  At Catholic fiestas celebrated by the Chamorro communities, there are often vendors selling cultural art and promos.  On not a few occasions I saw Chamorro decals on cars traveling down one of California's highways.

SOCIETY LIFE IN 1935

Sunday, May 22, 2011
A DESPEDIDA PARTY FOR BISHOP OLAIZ
hosted by the Saint Vincent de Paul Society
April 25, 1935
Agaña

How did socially connected people on Guam before the war entertain or throw parties?  Here is a good example.

The occasion : the departure of a Spanish bishop who lived on Guam for 20 years.  A "Despedida Party" is a Farewell Party.  From the Spanish word "despedir," "to bid farewell."

Here was that night's programme :

A PIANO OCTET
performed by
Eugenia Robinson
Rosie Underwood
Carmen Underwood
James Underwood

ADDRESS
by James Underwood
President of the St. Vincent de Paul Society

RECITAL
by
Eugenia Robinson
Lagrimas Guerrero
Herbert Johnston
Raymond Underwood

CHAMORRO POEM
"Tayuyute Ham"
(Pray for Us)
by
Teresita Perez

CHAMORRO PLAY
"I Testamenton Ton Luis"
written by Spanish Capuchin Brother (Fray) Jesus

Cast of Characters :

Ton Luis (Herbert Johnston)
Conchita (Rosie Underwood)
Rosario (Lagrimas Guerrero)
Ton Antonio, a lawyer (Raymond Underwood)
Ramona (Candelaria Cruz)

BUTTERFLY DANCE
by Haruko Sawada

SPANISH SONG
"Cantemos el Himno"
sung by Lagrimas Guerrero
Candelaria Cruz
Engracia Sanchez
Rosie Underwood
Carmen Underwood

SPANISH DANCE
by
Rosie Underwood
Carmen Underwood

SPANISH SONG
"La Pilarica"
sung by
Eugenia Robinson
Lagrimas Guerrero

*** Notice the mix of English, Chamorro, Spanish and one Japanese number

*** People still put on original, composed plays in Chamorro

*** Chamorro high society was still attuned to Spanish song and dance

*** The participation of Haruko Sawada is interesting.  The Sawada family was Japanese and during the war they were considered supporters of the new regime.  

*** Lagrimas Guerrero is, I believe, in fact, Lagrimas Leon Guerrero.  "Leon" was sometimes dropped by a few people during Naval govenrment times.

TODAY IN HISTORY : DEATH OF LAST SPANISH BISHOP OF GUAM

Sunday, May 22, 2011
MAY 21, 1970
Bishop Olano suffers a heart attack while swimming at Ipao Beach, Tomhom (Tumon)
and dies


LAST Spanish Bishop of Guam dies at the same place the FIRST Spanish Superior of Guam died



Bd Diego Luis de Sanvitores
Martyred on the beach at Tomhom (Tumon)
April 2, 1672

Olano was no longer Bishop of Guam when he died in 1970.  He had resigned from that position in 1945.  He returned to Guam in 1970 to attend the episcopal ordination of the First Chamorro Bishop, Felixberto Flores.

A SABLAN IN THE STRATOSPHERE

Friday, May 20, 2011
CHAMORRO FROM VALLEJO SELECTED FOR NASA FLIGHT MISSION

Go to

http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_18078310?IADID=Search-www.timesheraldonline.com-www.timesheraldonline.com


www.nevadaspacegrant.com


MAN ÅNGHET

Friday, May 20, 2011
Click on photo to see a larger view.  Is mom or dad in this group?

As we're still in May, observing our May devotions, we remember that the custom of dressing some of our children as angels goes back many years.  Here, children in Hagåtña dressed as angels pose beside the Cathedral in the 1920s.  The boys were dressed as Archangels, complete with the straps of their soldier's sandals.

The second girl from the left is still carrying her little basket of flowers.

These outfits would not have been store-bought (what few stores there would have been at the time) but would have rather been sewn by seamstresses ( kosturera ) at home.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : LALÅLO'

Friday, May 20, 2011
snapixel.com
LALÅLO' : Angry

Please don't be this today.  I'll try not to, as well.

Lalålo' yo'.  I am angry.

Cha'-mo lalalålo'!  Don't be angry!

Kao lalålo' hao?  Are you angry?

Na' lalålo'.  To make angry.

Ha na' lalålo' gue'.  S/he made her/him angry.

Linalålo'.  Anger.

Halalalo'.  Frequently angry.

Lalalue.  To be angry at, with.

Håfa na un lalalulue yo'?  Why are you angry with (at) me?

Taklalo'.  Quickly angered.  Hot-tempered.  "Tak" is a Chamorro prefix indicating the quality of "very" as in takkilo' (very high) or takpapa (very low).

FAMILIA : BORJA

Friday, May 20, 2011
grandesp.org.uk

BORJA
Borja is the name of a town (today, of about 5,000 people) in the province of Zaragoza, region of Aragón, in Spain.

There was also in Spain a humble family named "de Borja" which rose like a meteor to produce no less than popes, cardinals, bishops, political leaders and one saint - in sharp contrast to some of the most scandalous members of that family.  Part of the family moved and re-established themselves in Italy where the name is pronounced "Borgia."

The saint, a Jesuit  - Saint Francis Borgia, in Spanish "San Francisco de Borja" - was canonized in 1670, just 2 years after the Catholic mission in the Marianas was established.  Freshly rejoicing in this honor bestowed upon one of their own members, the church in Songsong, Luta (Rota) was named after him by the Jesuit missionaries and remains so today.


en.wikipedia.org

TOWN HALL IN THE TOWN OF BORJA, SPAIN
saints.sqpn.com

SAN FRANCISCO DE BORJA
Saint Francis Borgia
Because of the Jesuit missionaries throughout Latin America and the Philippines, towns named after San Francisco de Borja and churches named in his honor sprung up in many places.  "Borja" started to be used as a last name by local people in Latin America and the Philippines.

There are no Borjas listed in either the 1727 or the 1758 Censuses of Guam.  So, the Borjas came to the Marianas more recently, probably in the late 1700s or early 1800s.  People surnamed Borja from Latin America perhaps, and certainly from the Philippines, moved to Guam during that time.

We know, for example, that one branch of Borjas on Guam (not connected in origin with other Borjas on Guam) came from the city of Zamboanga in Mindanao (Philippines) and their "better-known-as" is Zamboangueño (meaning, someone from Zamboanga).  The founder of this clan was Vicente Bazan de Borja, who married a Chamorro named Maria Cruz Guzman.

One of the oldest Borja males listed in the 1897 Census is Catalino Borja (whose middle name, from other documents, was Mendiola).  Catalino was 68 years old in 1897 (although many ages in the Census are based on faulty human memory), so he was conceivably born on Guam in 1829.

One Borja married a woman with a truly indigenous surname, Tanoña, and this branch of Borjas are better-known-as the Manaitai clan.

One branch of the Borjas moved to Saipan.  Manuel Mendiola Borja, son of Jose Borja and Gabriela Mendiola, married Ignacia Sablan Diaz, daughter of Ramon Diaz and Rita Sablan.  This couple moved to Saipan and raised their family.  The clan is known as the Tuhu family.

The Borja name is prominent in Sumay/Santa Rita.  That branch was founded by Gregorio Guerrero Borja, who married Alejandra Taitano.  This large clan in Santa Rita is known as the Ånda family (from Alej andra ).

Antonio Borja Won Pat (first Guam delegate and later representative to the U.S. Congress; Speaker of the Guam Legislature for many terms) was part of the Ånda clan on his mother's side.  Former Santa Rita Mayor Gregorio Muñoz Borja is another Ånda Borja.  Up in Saipan, a well-known politician, now deceased, was Olimpio Borja.

BORJA AS A FIRST NAME

There are a mere 9,000 people in the entire country of Spain that have Borja for their last name.  The prominence of Borja as a last name in the Philippines and Latin America (and through them to the Marianas) is due to the missionary promotion of the devotion to San Francisco de Borja.  Many indigenous people had to take on last names (most non-Western peoples traditionally do not have a system of using surnames).  Some of them adopted religious names (de la Cruz (of the Cross), de los Reyes (of the Kings, as in Three Kings), de los Santos (of the saints), del Rosario (of the Rosary) and so on).  Some either adopted or were given "de Borja" as a surname in honor of the saint.

But, recently, far more Spaniards have taken "Borja" as a first name, again in honor of the saint.  Thus, in Spain, where just 9,000 people are surnamed Borja, there are 29,000 men with the first name Borja.

In Spain, there are 2 soccer stars and one race car driver with the first name Borja.

alejandro94taker.deviantart.com

BORJA PÉREZ
is such a popular Spanish soccer player they even designed a poster of him running for President, which Spain doesn't have (they have Prime Ministers)

NAVAL CEMETERY, HAGÅTÑA

Thursday, May 19, 2011

I noticed they took down the fence at the Naval Cemetery in Hagåtña.  The cemetery was opened by the newly-arrived American Naval Government quite early, as the oldest grave is dated 1902.

One of the most historical features of this cemetery are the graves of several German sailors who lost their lives in the scuttling of German ship the SMS Cormoran in 1917.  To read up on the story, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuttling_of_SMS_Cormoran .




Emil Reschke was one such unfortunate German seaman.


Several more individual graves exist, but a monument to all the Cormoran dead is also on site at the cemetery.   The marker reads, "Den Toten von SMS Cormoran.  7 IV 1917"
"The dead of the SMS Cormoran.  April 7, 1917."


Besides the German sailors, there is the grave of a civilian German, Gertrud Blum Costenoble, the wife of Hermann Costenoble.  She and her husband moved to Saipan in 1902 when it was a German colony, but then moved to American Guam in 1904 where they engaged in business.  Of her 9 children, one was born on Saipan and the youngest was born on Guam.  Gertrude died on Guam in 1915.  The Costenobles moved back and forth between Guam and Manila, and most eventually settled in the U.S.  But while on Guam, besides running businesses, they were a prominent part of the social scene.

Finally, there are many graves of both American and Chamorro service men in this cemetery.

I LABANDERA GI SADDOK

Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Early 1900s
Not sure how EPA would feel about this, but this is how laundry was done at the time.

Mama'gåsi = to wash
Labandera = washer woman
Såddok = river
Bateha = washboard
Palanggåna = washbasin

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : BÅSO

Wednesday, May 18, 2011
etc.usf.edu

BÅSO : glass (to drink from, not any other kind of glass...glasses, glass window, etc)

I realize this is really, really elementary for some of you.  But, me'nan diberas , some of you really need to learn simple words such as this!

Anyway....those of you in Beginner's Chamorro....use this word today instead of "glass."

CHIEF GÅDAO

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

INALÅHAN'S PROUD MAGA'LÅHE

This is something I had trouble deciding how to classify.

Legend?  Or historical person?

We have no documentation written at the time he allegedly lived.

But we cannot rule out the possibility that there was a man, the chief of Inalåhan, named Gådao.

Many times in life, historical fact becomes embellished.  A warrior who killed three men becomes a warrior who killed twenty men....single-handedly....with his bare hands....and so on.

But the myth is built on historical foundations.

And the embellishments serve a purpose.  Not a historical one but a didactic one.

So I'll classify Gådao under "Taotao/People."

To learn more about Gådao, go to

http://ns.gov.gu/gadaochief.html

http://ns.gov.gu/gadao.html

*** Maga'låhe is a contraction of " må'gas låhe ," or "great man."
It meant "chief."
The pre-contact Chamorros had no king but each community
had its own maga'låhe.

*** In modern times, an older man from Inalåhan, whose name escapes me now, went by the
nickname Gådao.  He was a tall and imposing figure.

HOW TO MAKE USE OF A LOST CHICKEN

Tuesday, May 17, 2011
free-pet-wallpapers.com
The year is 1919.  You and your girlfriend live together, but not in the state of holy matrimony in still Catholic-conscious Guam.  You think you like the new priest.  He seems approachable.  But....

How do you make the first move to talk to him?

Enter the newly-arrived priest of Humåtak, Pale' Bernabé.

The people of Humåtak instantly took to the humble, friendly Spanish Capuchin.  They showed their love by bringing him food, once with a marching band accompanying them.

It seems that Pale' raised chickens, and one of his chickens ran away - three times.  The third time, the chicken was found by none other than the couple in question - blissfully in love, but without the sanctification of the sacrament.

Here was their open door.  They took the wayward fowl and brought it to Pale' Bernabé, who thanked them profusely.

On their way out the door, the young man turned back to the priest and said, "By the way, Pale'...."

HÅFA MUNA' YA-HO GUAM

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

HARMONY

INAYA'

( click on picture for a larger view )

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' #3

Monday, May 16, 2011
Del mismo cuero saca la correa.

From the same leather the belt comes forth.

An elderly woman in Saipan used to tell me this.  It's pure Spanish, but there was a time when many Chamorros, even those who could not speak Spanish well, peppered their conversation with Spanish expressions and proverbs.

What is the meaning of this adage?

The solution often arises from the very problem itself.

For example, one has a load of leather to transport to the market, but lacks the means to carry it.  What to do?  Make straps from the very leather that needs to be hauled, and carry the load with the straps.

Wisdom!  Tinemtom! 

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : KONNE'

Sunday, May 15, 2011
KONNE ' : to take something living along with you

Chamorro uses two different words for "to take," depending on whether the thing you are taking is alive (animate) or not.  If the thing being taken is inanimate, you use the word chule' .

So....konne' i patgon.  Take the child.

BUT....chule' i salåpe'.  Take the money.

Konne' yo' guato.  Take me there.

Kao siña un konne' ham?  Can you take us?

Mangonne'.  To take (animate objects).  It can also mean "to catch."

Mangonne' yo' guihan nigap..  I caught fish yesterday.

It can also mean "to hire."

Mangonne' gue' taotao-ña para u fan macho'cho' gi gualo'-ña.  He hired people to work on his farm.

Konie.  To take for, to.

Bai hu konie hao mågi si tatå-mo agupa'.  I will bring your father to you tomorrow.

Konion.  Able, or even worthy, to be taken.

Ti konion hao.  You are not worthy to be taken, to be hired.

I ti konion na gå'ga'.  The savage, wild animal.

A FEW MORE INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT KONNE' AND CHULE'

1. Most interestingly, konne' is used even for inanimate objects if they represent a living person. 

Ta konne' si Sånta Maria ya u ta penta.  Let's take (the statue of) the Blessed Virgin and paint it.

2. Konne' is used even if the object has died, but was once alive.

Ta konne' i difunto ya ta håfot agupa'.  We will take the deceased and bury him tomorrow.

SO.....

commons.wikimedia.org

CARABAO = KONNE'


commons.wikimedia.org

CARABAO MANGO = CHULE'


OUR LINKS WITH A TOWN CALLED MACABEBE

Sunday, May 15, 2011


The Filipino people, as we know, are made up of different groups, each with their own language.  Tagalogs, Visayans, Ilocanos - to name a few.  But, among them all, the people of Pampanga province may have the most connection to our islands.  And in that province, perhaps the town of Macabebe ranks in the top tier.

The Pampanga people, called Kapampangan, were at first fiercely opposed to the Spaniards but ended up being their most fervent allies.  When Blessed Diego Luis de Sanvitores was in the Philippines planning his eventual mission to the Marianas (then still called the Ladrones), a Kapampangan layman from Macabebe named Felipe Sonsong joined Sanvitores' missionary team.  Other Kapampangan men also joined Sanvitores in his expedition to the Marianas.

Sonsong, an older widower by then, spent 18 years in the Marianas as a lay volunteer, a donado , of the Jesuits, working with great dedication, humility and piety.  Among other tasks, he sewed and mended : altar cloths, clothing for the Chamorros and the missionaries.

In one of the last major episodes of anti-missionary violence, Sonsong was mortally wounded, in 1684 at the age of 77.  He died from these wounds six months later.  He had such a saintly reputation that the Spanish Governor himself helped bury Sonsong's body.

Monument to FELIPE SONSONG in front of Macabebe's Church
Notice the mention of the MARIANAS several times
The Visayans obtained their first martyr's beatification in the year 2000 when Pedro Calungsod was beatified.  Now the Kapampangans are beginning the long process of seeking the same for Sonsong.


KAPAMPANGAN SOLDIERS MARRY CHAMORRO WOMEN

Besides missionaries, soldiers accompanied the Jesuits; at first, a small contingent to protect them, and when warfare broke out, more soldiers were added over the years.  About half of these soldiers were from Pampanga; they were Filipino, not Spaniards.  It isn't surprising that these Filipino soldiers were Kapampangan, since that province was very loyal to Spain.   These soldiers settled permanently on Guam, many of them marrying Chamorro women.  Their blood runs through many of our veins.  I wouldn't be surprised if some or many of these Kapampangan soldiers came from Macabebe, the town of Felipe Sonsong, or the other towns that orbit it.


IN SAIPAN :
I TIEMPON MACABEBE

Fast forward to 1899.  The Spanish-American War had ended, with Guam and the Philippines going to the United States.  But the Northern Marianas were still in Spanish hands.  To govern the Spanish Northern Marianas was sent a man from Macabebe, Eugenio Blanco y Leison, 270 of his Macabebe Volunteers and their families - a total of some 700 people!



philippineamericanwar.webs.com

MACABEBE SOLDIERS 1900

Blanco was a mestizo landowner from Macabebe who had fought for Spain.  When Spain lost the war with the U.S., the idea was for Blanco and his men to move to Saipan, the new capital of the Spanish Northern Marianas.  Remember that Saipan's population at the time was just a couple thousand, so the addition of 700 more mouths to feed was a great drain on the island's resources.  The cattle stock on Tinian was seriously depleted during Macabebe times because 2 heads a day had to be shipped from Tinian to Saipan to feed the troops and their families.  It seems the Macabebes moved in with local families, placing terrible burdens on them.  The local population felt so terrorized by the Macabebes that the Chamorros who could do so fled to Guam and the Carolinians isolated themselves outside of Garapan (the main town) as much as they could.  The Saipanese were glad to see them leave when the Germans took over in November of 1899.

The Macabebes were on Saipan for just six months, but those times were so bad that I remember speaking to an older Saipanese man about how the man åmko' spoke about the horrors of I Tiempon Macabebe .



The Blanco House in Macabebe.
Abandoned now and in slight disrepair.  The town mayor bought it and plans to restore the façade.



EUGENIO BLANCO Y LEISON
Last Spanish Governor of the Marianas
based in Saipan

WE USED TO PRAY IN SPANISH

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Naty shares with us the Spanish prayer (said with our Chamorro pronunciation) which she learned from her father, who learned it from his.....and all the way back we go!

Santo ángel de mi guardia, de mi dulce compañía
no me desampares ni de noche, ni de día.
Con Dios me acuesto, con Dios me levanto,
con la virgen santísima y Espíritu Santo. Amen.
Virgen Encarnación,  madre del Verbo Divino
échanos santa bendición...(I can't make out the end yet)

( There is a version that ends with :
guíanos por buen camino )

Holy guardian angel, my sweet companion,
do not forsake me, neither by day nor by night.
With God I lay me down, with God I rise,
with the most holy Virgin and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.
Our Lady of the Incarnation, mother of the Divine Word,
give us holy blessing....
(guide us along good paths).

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Saturday, May 14, 2011
Hågo guennao, guåho guine/ ti umali'e dos matå-ta;
yanggen guåha malago'-mo / tuge' gi un pedåson kåtta.

Here I am, there you are / our two eyes won't meet;
if you want something / write it in a little letter.


As mentioned before, young Chamorro love had many obstacles (mama, grandma) to contend with.  These two sweethearts could rarely even see each other.  But absence makes the heart grow fonder.  It's not so much one asking if the other wants something; the petitioner him/herself wants something as well - to get a little note from the other.  Remember when we used to pass notes to each other in 4th grade?

I remember stories about one of my grand aunts getting love notes from her eventual husband.  She would hide the note by sewing it into the hem of her dress!  And they were far beyond the 4th grade!

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' #2

Saturday, May 14, 2011

MÅKTOS MÅRU

"Always on the go"

"Måru" is a box kite.  "Måktos" means "broken off, snapped," such as a string or a cord.  A "måktos måru" is a box kite that has been freed to fly higher and higher because the string has snapped.  It also means a person who is always on the go, going from one thing to the next.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : HUCHOM

Wednesday, May 11, 2011
bportlibrary.org

HUCHOM : close

Huchom i bentåna!  Close the window!

Ti siña ma huchom.  It cannot be closed.

Ma huchom i tenda.  The store is closed.

Måtchom.  A contraction of "ma huchom."

Måtchom i atdao.  The sun is set (literally, "closed.")

I minatchom i atdao.  The sunset.

If we had our own version of Los Angeles' "Sunset Boulevard, " it would be "Chålan Minatchom Atdao."

Huchume.  To close to/for someone.

Bai huchume hao?  Shall I close it for you?

Huchom kåtta.  Envelope.  Literally, "what closes a letter."

More common in the past, however, was the Spanish word for "envelope," which is "sobre."  More common today is simply the English word "envelope."

AFFAIRS OF THE DERRIERE

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

No matter how big your "dågan" is, there are too many g's in that word in the sign above.

For example, "hågan" means "daughter of."  Add an extra "g" and it becomes "haggan" or "turtle."

Just like the glota ( ' ), we can be tempted to put too many letters where they don't belong.

JUANITA - From Mexico to Guam since 1951

Monday, May 9, 2011
PLÅTICA EN ESPAÑOL CON UNA SEÑORA MEXICANA
QUE LLEVA MUCHOS AÑOS EN GUAM

Juanita was born and raised in Mexico but as a young bride moved to Guam with her husband who found work here in 1951.  She speaks about how she found the Chamorro people here in those early days.  She says there were a good number of people who still spoke Spanish in the early 50s.  As she herself didn't speak much English, these Chamorros who spoke some Spanish helped her out when she was a young mother with little babies.  Ignacia Bordallo Butler was one of her friends, who was the daughter of a Spaniard, Baltazar Bordallo from Saucelle, Salamanca.

She speaks about the kindness and goodness of the Chamorros in those days, and laments the loss of anyone's culture.  She remembers how people would invite strangers to go eat at their homes during village fiestas.  One can see some of this still alive today in the southern villages, where perhaps the hosts do not call out to passersby anymore, but who will not evict total strangers who walk into their fiestas which spill out into the narrow village streets.

I KAMYO

Friday, May 6, 2011


The kåmyo was once an indispensable item in every Chamorro kitchen.  There's nothing like freshly grated coconut; a real treat compared to the packaged kind.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : TUGE'

Friday, May 6, 2011
fanpop.com
TUGE' : to write.

Tuge' fan påpa'.  Please write it down.

Bai hu tuge'.  I'll write it.

Ma tuge' gi petta.  It is written on the door.

Månge'.  To write.

Maolek hao månge'.  You are good in writing.

Måkinan månge'.  Typewriter.

Tinige'.  Writing.

Tinige' kånnai.  Manuscript.  Written by hand.

Tinige' San Juan.  The writing of Saint John.

Fantinige'an.  Archives.  FAN+WORD+AN formula.  "Place of."  "Place of writings."

Tituge'. Writer.

Fantugian.  Place of writing.  FAN+WORD+AN formula. "Place to write."

Tugie.  To write for/to.

Bai hu tugie hao kåtta.  I will write you a letter.

MANGO SEASON'S COMING!

Friday, May 6, 2011

We're going to Agat at the end of the month for their annual Mango Festival.

TODAY IN HISTORY : May 5

Thursday, May 5, 2011

LAST SPANISH BISHOP OF GUAM CONSECRATED
May 5, 1935

Miguel Angel Olano y Urteaga, who as a simple Capuchin priest and pastor of Sumay was known as Pale' Leon de Alzo, was consecrated a bishop on this day in the city of San Sebastian, in his native province of Guipuzcoa in Spain.  Bishop Olano first came to Guam in 1919 and was soon assigned to Sumay, the second largest municipality on Guam at the time.  His time as Bishop on Guam was not without trouble.  The American Navy wanted the Spanish priests replaced by American ones as soon as possible.  Olano himself would have been replaced in short order but World War II delayed that.  Instead, he was sent, with the American Capuchins, to Japan.  Unlike the imprisoned Americans, Olano was free to find his own lodgings because Spain was neutral in that war.  In time, he was able to go to India and then to Australia and back to Guam when it was liberated from the Japanese.  In 1945, American Bishop Baumgartner replaced Olano.  Olano then spent the next years in the Philippines and finally in Spain.  When the first Chamorro bishop, Felixberto Flores, was to be consecrated, Olano came for the historical event and asked to remain on Guam, which Flores granted.  He died of a heart attack on May 21, 1970 while swimming at Ipao Beach.  He is buried in the Agaña Cathedral, the first bishop to be buried in its sanctuary.  Bishop Olano was well-loved, especially by the people of Sumay (who were transferred to Santa Rita after the war).  Olano ordained the 2nd and 3rd Chamorro priests : Fathers Dueñas and Calvo.  He was the last Spanish bishop of Guam, but he returned to die and be buried in the island he loved.


Olano ordained Father Dueñas (on the left) and Father Calvo (on the right).  In the middle, Father Jose Manibusan, was ordained during the war in Manila and died there in 1945 due to poor health.


PARA NUESTROS AMIGOS HISPANOHABLANTES

CONSAGRACIÓN DEL ÚLTIMO OBISPO ESPAÑOL DE GUAM

Hoy día recordamos la consagración episcopal del último obispo español de Guam, el Mons. Miguel Ángel Olano Urteaga, capuchino.  Fué consagrado el día 5 de Mayo de 1935 en la Iglesia (ahora Catedral) del Buen Pastor en Donostia, pues Olano era guipuzcoano.  Sus primeros años como obispo en Guam no fueron tranquilos, que la Marina estadounidense promovió el cambio de misioneros, de españoles a norteamericanos.  Poco después del comienzo de la guerra entre Japón y los EE. UU., fué deportado a Japón, pero encontró refugio con los jesuitas españoles en aquel país.  Después, pasó a la India.  Al terminar la ocupación japonesa en Guam, volvió a la isla por vía de Australia.  En 1945, a Olano le sustituyó Baumgartner, primer obispo norteamericano en Guam.  Ahora, despojado de su grey, Olano se encontró también sin país, que en España reinaba Franco.  Olano tenía un hermano también sacerdote capuchino, Aniceto, en religión Fray Miguel de Alzo, que se refugió en Argentina después de la Guerra Civil, por ser considerado nacionalista vasco.  El Mons. Olano, pues, pasó a Filipinas, tal vez para evitar dificultades políticas en España.  Permaneció en Manila hasta el año 1960 cuando pasó a España.  Al consagrar el primer obispo chamorro en 1970, viajó a Guam para la ocasión, pidiendo al nuevo obispo permiso para quedarse en la isla.  Pocos días después, sufrió un ataque cardíaco, murió y fué sepultado en la Catedral de Agaña, Guam en el mes de Mayo de 1970.

FINO' I MAN ÅMKO' #1

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

HUMÅNAO POT ESPIA CHINATSAGÅ-ÑA

To look for your own trouble

Language is not just about precise terminology, as in "everything has a name."  "Just tell me how to say 'cat' in Chamorro."  Beyond the precise terminology, language can also express, in veiled or subtle ways, a world view, sentiments and values.  Our man åmko' often speak like this, and it is a form of speech that seems to be slipping away, even as Chamorro language advocates promote the language with neat, technologically precise methodology.

" Humånao pot espia chinatsagå-ña ."  It isn't enough that bad things happen to us without our consent.  Some of us have to go chase after trouble.  If we're not in trouble, we'll look for it.

Guåha na biåhe na sen kalåktos i fino' i man åmko' !

AI I MAN ÅMKO'

Tuesday, May 3, 2011
upi.com
Fanhongge na magåhet na ma susedi este nigap!

Humålom si Vice Mayor gi Senior Citizens Center ya ha sangåne i man åmko' guihe na måtai si Bin Laden.

I amko' : Håye måtai?
Vice Mayor : Si Bin Laden.

Otro na åmko' : Taotao måno gue'?
Vice Mayor : Kao un hasso i 9-11?

I amko' : Ya ke ora i lisåyo?

ATANTÅNO'

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

WHAT'S HIDING BEHIND THIS WATERING HOLE?


A SPANISH ROAD MARKER

We pass this everytime we go from Hågat to Hagåtña or vice versa, but it is hidden from Route 1 by the bar/eatery.  It lies just before we make the left turn from Route 1 towards Hågat, just before the main gate at Naval Station.

This area is called Atantåno', and at one time it was farming territory.  Because of its swampy terrain, it was used for rice cultivation.



The upper part of the marker commemorates the work of
former Governor Don Felipe Cerain who had the road built and
planted the coconut groves in the years 1784 and 1785.



The bottom portion relates how former Governor Don Francisco Villalobos
established the first rice plantation in this location from 1832-1834
with the participation of the Gobernadorcillos (who were Chamorro
and whose position was akin to a mayor)
Don Antonio Guerrero, Don Juan de Rivera and Don Lucas de Castro,
and the Cabezas de Barangay (neighborhood leaders).
They named the plantation
"La Cienega de la Purisima,"
The Marsh of the Immaculate (Virgin Mary).



The base of the entire marker is from the American period.  It tells us that the road was rebuilt in 1908-1909 under Governor Dorn and by Eugene L. Bisset.  Bisset was a naval officer who also bought a lot of land in the north of Guam.  His daughter later married one of the Arteros.

I KALACHUCHA

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Since the latter part of March, the kalachucha has been in bloom.  Also known as plumeria and frangipani.  They make great floral leis and are a staple at Catholic May devotions.

These flowers are believed to be native to Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America, but also to Polynesia. As they are found in a very wide area, they go by different names. They are now found all over the world.

More than likely this flower was introduced to both the Philippines and the Marianas via Mexico, because the Filipinos call it kalachuchi and the Chamorros kalachucha , which are both based on the native Nahuatl name for the flower, which is cacaloxuchitl . Xochitl is Nahuatl for "flower."

GI LANGET YAN GI TANO'

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

There are two melodies used to sing the hymn "Gi Langet yan gi Tano'."  The first melody can be heard sung by a community of people in the Chamorro May Devotions post.  The clip above is the second melody.

I'll be posting periodically clips of traditional Chamorro hymns for the benefit of those who want to learn them.  Please remember the singer is rusty. Sungon ha' .

LYRICS

Gi langet yan gi tano' / in na'e hao Maria (In heaven and on earth / we give you, Mary)
i flores guålo' siha / sa' Nånan-måme hao! (the flowers of our gardens / for you are our mother.)
Man måtto ham O Nåna / man magof yan man dimo; (We come oh mother / joyful and kneeling)
gi fi'on i Lahi-mo / para in nene hao. (beside your Son / in order to greet you).

ADIOS RAINAN I LANGET

Sunday, May 1, 2011

At the end of a May Crowning Mass of the Secular Franciscans, Pale' Jose leads in the Biba ! (Long live!) Then the faithful sing the traditional farewell song to Mary :

Adios Rainan i langet / Nånan i Satbadot (Farewell Queen of Heaven / Mother of the Savior)
adios O Nånan-måme / adios, adios, adios. (Farewell, our Mother / farewell, farewell, farewell.)

Adios Nånan Yu'us / Nånan Jesus/ adios! (Farewell, Mother of God / Mother of Jesus / farewell.)

Matuna hao Maria / sa' i ginatbo-mo (You are praised Mary / because of your beauty)
ya sen matuna lokkue' / i finañagu-mo. (and most praised also / is your child.)

Then a priest says the traditional closing for all prayers in Chamorro, the first two parts in Spanish :

Åbe Maria purisima!  Sin pekado konsebida.  Åbe Maria, bula hao gråsia!
(Hail Mary most pure!  Conceived without sin.  Hail Mary, full of grace!)

And the people continue spontaneously with more Biba!

CHAMORRO MAY DEVOTIONS

Sunday, May 1, 2011


In May, Catholics all over the world honor Mary and crown her image.  But in the Marianas, the custom is to have little girls dressed as angels throw flowers to Mary at the refrain, when we sing "In na'e hao..."

Gi langet yan gi tano' / in na'e hao Maria (In heaven and on earth / we give you, Mary)
i flores guålo' siha / sa' Nånan-måme hao! (the flowers of our gardens / for you are our mother.)

In na'e hao / i flores guålo' siha; (We give you / the flowers of the gardens)
in na'e hao / sa' Nånan-måme hao! (we give you / for you are our mother.)

Man måtto ham O Nåna / man magof yan man dimo; (We come oh mother / joyful and kneeling)
gi fi'on i Lahi-mo / para in nene hao. (beside your Son / in order to greet you).

FISH TALK

Sunday, May 1, 2011

After a religious function today, I talked with a lady from Santa Rita who grew up in Sumay before the war.  I asked her about " minis ," a small fish that can be found only in the waters off Sumay.  She says some people like it because it has no bones, unlike mañåhak which can poke at us.  But others, she says, don't like minis because it resembles the guåliik (gecko).  Then we talk about avoiding salt in preparing minis , because salt is bad for our "high blood," also known as "blood pressure" to statesiders.

TON ENRIQUE

Saturday, April 30, 2011


I count myself fortunate to have known Enrique Chaco Reyes (the older man on the right), now in eternal peace.  He was a devout Catholic, who lived across the street from the church in Agat.  He went to daily Mass and was up before dawn (as the old-time Chamorros prided themselves in doing) and opened the church doors.

He was also a recognized master bull cart maker.  Here he is pictured with one in front of Agat church sometime in the 1950s or 60s.

ATTENTION DPW

Saturday, April 30, 2011


CHÅLAN TAN MARIA STREET

Am I seeing double?

"Chålan" means "street."  No need for "street" when "chålan" is already part of the street name.  Same goes for "Road" or "Way."

MEXICO'S IMPACT ON THE MARIANAS

Friday, April 29, 2011
en.wikipedia.org

We're so accustomed to thinking "Spain, Spain, Spain" that we don't realize the huge impact Mexico had on the Marianas.  For the first 150 years, Spain went to the Marianas by way of Mexico; specifically, the Acapulco-Manila galleon route.  Sanvitores, who established the first permanent Spanish presence in the Marianas, came by way of Mexico and brought with him Mexican lay missionaries and soldiers.

The Mexicans who settled in the Marianas from 1668 on were themselves the products of racial mixture between the indigenous people of Mexico and Spanish settlers.  This mix can be seen in today's Mexican people, some of whom resemble more the indigenous peoples, and some of whom resemble more the European settlers.

The soldiers of Mexico who were sent to Guam brought with them their Mexican culture.  But they didn't bring, for the most part, Mexican wives.  So they married Chamorro women.  God only knows how many of us have Aztec blood in us, as well as some Spanish, because many Mexicans settled on Guam.  At times, the only Spanish people on Guam were the four or five priests and the Governor.  Every other foreigner was either from Latin America or Asia.

This huge Mexican influence is seen primarily in Chamorro cooking.  This sets us apart from the Philippines, which does not seem to have as much Mexican influence in the kitchen there.  Take for example :

TITIYAS
Chamorro Titiyas
Top : Titiyas Mai'es (Corn)
Bottom: Titiyas Arina (Flour)

sacatomato.com
Mexican Tortillas
Top : Flour
Bottom : Corn
"Titiyas" is the Chamorro pronunciation of "tortilla."  Chamorro titiyas is thicker than the Mexican variety.  Our titiyas arina also adds sugar and coconut milk.  Before World War II, Chamorros ate more titiyas than they did rice.  Corn was grown abundantly on Guam; at least two crops a year.

In Spain, a tortilla is a round egg and potato omelette.


chichoskitchen.blogspot.com
Spanish Tortilla

TAMÅLES
Tamåles Gisu : Chamorro!
sacatomato.com
Mexican Tamales
Tamales is so Mexican, even the word comes from Mexico and not Spain.  The original word (tamalli) is from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs.  Chamorro and Mexican tamales are very similar.  Both are made with corn meal.  The Chamorro version wraps it in banana leaf, rather than corn husks, and it adds bacon and achote to half the tamales.  Chamorros also make a sweet tamale with tapioca (tamåles mendioka).

CHALAKILIS

Chamorro Chalakilis
supercook.org
Mexican Chilaquiles

Chamorros got the word "chalakilis" from Mexican "chilaquiles" (another word from Nahuatl, not Spanish), but that's as far as the resemblance goes.  Mexican chilaquiles is made up of fried corn tortilla quarters, topped with salsa, or mole, eggs, chicken, cheese or sour cream, in a variety of styles.  Chamorro chalakilis is made with toasted rice, achote and chicken.

ATULI
Chamorro rice porridge
From the Mexican (Nahuatl) atole

ATULIN ELOTES
Elote is a Mexican (Nahuatl) term for
"corn on the cob"

ACHOTE
From the Nahuatl achiotl .  A plant bearing seeds used for their red pigment.

KAMUTI
From the Mexican (Nahuatl) word camote (sweet potato)

CHAMPULÅDO
From the Mexican dish champurrado , which is atole with chocolate

KAKAGUÅTES
Is the Chamorro form of the Mexican cacahuate , or peanut

CHOKOLÅTE
Yes, you guessed it, it's from a Nahuatl word : chocolatl

PAPALOTE
The Chamorro word for kite is from a Nahuatl word

TOMÅTES
The original word, tomatl , is from Nahuatl

SAKÅTI
From saka-tl , a Nahuatl word for weeds.

HIKAMA
Is a Mexican turnip.  Grown in the Marianas.

KOMMAT
The flat metal dish used to press titiyas.  It comes from the Nahuatl word comalli , with the same meaning.

METÅTE
A grinding stone.  Also from the Nahuatl language of Mexico.

Metåte from the Marianas
Chamorros learned to grow, cook and eat corn
and use the metåte
from the many Mexican soldiers who settled on Guam

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA

Friday, April 29, 2011
Båsta di umuriyan guma' / sa' un gatcha i tinanom;
yanggen maolek hao na taotao / guåha potta para un hålom.

Stop hanging around outside the house / for you will step on the plants;
if you are a good person / there is a door you can enter.


Can you hear the mother of the young maiden telling this to the startled young man who didn't see mama looking through the window?  In those days, the sottero (single man) and the sottera (single lady) had a hard time finding the time and the place to even speak to each other.  Every move of the sottera was closely watched by nåna (the mother), and nånan biha (grandma) and the aunts if they could help it.  As soon as a girl came of child-bearing age, she was yanked out of school, as well, in many families.

So the young suitor resorted to loitering outside the house, hoping to speak to the girl undetected through the window.

But the mother is not all bad.  She just wants the young man to prove his worth and honor, and knock on the door and present himself in a forthright manner to the girl's family.

TAMUNING SODALITY

Friday, April 29, 2011

Capuchin Father Timothy and the members of the Sodality of Mary in Tamuning, 1950s.

Know anybody?

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : MAIPE

Friday, April 29, 2011
blogout.justout.com
MAIPE : hot

It reached 93º F in Guam today, so it was maipe .  In a month or so, you'll be saying the same thing on the West Coast.

Maipe på'go na ha'åne.  It is hot today.

Kao para u maipe agupa'?  Will it be hot tomorrow?

Adahe sa' maipe i lauya.  Be careful, the pot is hot.

Minaipe.  Heat.  It can also mean "fervor."

Ti siña hu sungon este na klåsen minaipe.  I cannot endure this kind of heat.

Bai hu cho'gue yan todo i minaipen hinalom-ho.  I will do it with all the fervor I have in me.

Na' maipe.  To make hot.  It can also mean "to make angry."

Na' maipe i nengkanno'.  Heat up the food.

Bai hu na' maipe?  Shall I heat it up?

Ha na' maipe yo' magåhet!  S/he really enfuriated me.

Fanmaipian.  Time of heat.  Summer.  FAN+WORD+AN formula.  Means "place of" or "time of."

I have also heard of two other, interesting ways maipe has been used by the man åmko' .

1. When someone's word is powerful.  For example, if grandma warns the young grandson that his ways are bad and will bring him sorrow, and years later the grandson gets himself in trouble, people say of the grandma, " Maipe i fino'-ña ."  Her word is hot.

2. To describe the child that replaces a prior child who died in infancy.

COST OF LIVING - 1800s

Thursday, April 28, 2011
commons.wikimedia.org
Years ago, in Spain, I came across an undated, unidentified sheet of paper among many Spanish-era documents on Guam.  It was entitled, "Monthly Expenses of a European in the Islands."  It was part of the Marianas collection and, from the looks of the paper and penmanship, I would guess it was from the mid to late 1800s.

So I'd say the list gives us a good idea of the cost of living of a European on Guam in the late 1800s.

We'll be talking pesos , which we can all pronounce and which we still use in Chamorro to describe even the American dollar!  And we'll be talking a little about the real , not the English word "real," but the Spanish word which is pronounced "reh - al."

Here's what the European paid on Guam each month in order to live :

Food 30 pesos

House Rent 4 pesos

Cook's salary 3 pesos

Servant's salary 2 pesos

Laundrywoman's salary 4 pesos

Linen 2 pesos

Lights 4 reales

So a total of 45 pesos and 4 reales was what a European needed to live on Guam sometime in the 1800s.

But what was the value of a peso?

Well, the difficulty is that there was more than one kind of peso circulating on Guam in the 1800s.  The Mexican Peso (as seen above) was very popular in the Marianas, the Philippines and Latin America.  From 1861 till 1897, the Philippines had its own peso, too.  They were based on silver and there was a terrible devaluation of silver in 1873 and the Mexican peso was worth about 50 cents (U.S.) at the end of the century.  The Philippine peso would have been around the same value.

A real was 1/8 of a peso.  Four reales was half a peso.

So, monthly expenses on Guam in the late 1800s would have been around US$22.75 for a European.

The anonymous writer of this list says, though, that this doesn't include doctor's visits, medicine, furniture, transportation, a horse....

ESTA TIEMPON LEMMAI

Thursday, April 28, 2011

I wish the good Lord had designed the lemmai to grow every month of the year, but alas it doesn't.  It is just beginning to mature on the tree, sagging its branches.  I've already eaten one that has matured this early in the year.

Lemmai is one of the foods our ancestors ate, long before the Europeans came.  Our ancestors baked them in earth ovens or chåhan , using heated rocks and large leaves to keep in the heat.  For the months when lemmai was lacking, lemmai chips were dried and preserved that way, although I wonder if our forebears also used the method employed by many other Pacific islanders, which was to ferment the lemmai and then later bake them, ridding it of its unpleasant odor due to fermentation.

Mexican soldiers on Guam introduced the beehive oven ( hotno ) and our people started to bake lemmai that way, or deep fry them.  Lemmai can also be cooked " gollai appan " style, that is, with coconut milk.



Lemmai Gollai Appan
About as indigenous as you can get
No ingredients have to be imported

As a kid, I wasn't very fond of man åmko' food ( dågo , suni and titiyas mai'es , for example).  I went for the rice, meat and potato salad.  But even in my childhood I always appreciated the fragrance of lemmai and now, in my lifestyle of eating as naturally and as organically as possible, I eat lemmai with relish, especially the Palau variety.  I simply steam it and moisten it with low-fat spreads.  With a normal serving of lemmai, you get 48% of your daily Vitamin C requirement, 20% of your daily fiber requirement, a bit of potassium and not a whole lot of calories, unless you fry it or add coconut milk.

CAMP ASAN

Thursday, April 28, 2011

It's a nice place to walk, fly kites and sit watching the blue sea, but Camp Asan is very quiet today compared to what it used to be in times past.

Late in Spanish times it was used as a leper colony.  Early in the American Navy period, it was used as a camp for Filipino political exiles.  Many people don't realize that when the Spaniards and Americans were peacefully and quietly deciding who owned Guam (without involving us), many Filipinos were fighting for independence from both countries.

The American forces beat these Filipino nationalists in battle, but many of their political and military leaders refused to acknowledge the new American administration.  So, off to prison in Guam many of them were sent by the Americans, in order to achieve in Manila some of that political serenity that Guam could claim.


ncda.gov.ph

APOLINARIO MABINI
Exiled to Asan, Guam
Perhaps the most famous of all these exiles was Apolinario Mabini, often called the "Brains of the Philippine Revolution."  American General Arthur MacArthur (father of the more famous Douglas) had nothing but praise for Mabini's intelligence and talent.  From Mabini's letters written from Camp Asan, we learn that the Americans served a lot of canned food, which Mabini and the others did not take to.  Mabini was able to get others to purchase for him fresh fruits and vegetables in Hagåtña, which was within walking distance.  The boredom and monotony of prison isolation on quiet Guam were not easy for him.  He was on Guam from 1901 till 1903.

Mabini Memorial
Camp Asan

Later, the U.S. Marines used the site but this was closed in the 1930s.  The American invasion of Japanese-held Guam occured at nearby Asan Beach on July 21, 1944.  In reconstructing the island, the Seabees were based at Camp Asan.  Then it became a Navy Civil Service facility and then a hospital annex during the Vietnam War.  When Saigon fell to the communists in 1975, thousands of Vietnamese refugees were housed at Camp Asan during Operation New Life.  In 1976, Typhoon Pamela destroyed the camp, by then vacant.  It is now a park run by the National Park Service.

I remember the thousands of Vietnamese crowded at Camp Asan.  Riding in the car with my dad in 1975, I remember seeing them holding on to the chain link fence, looking at the cars pass by.  I felt sorry for their cramped conditions and the longing for normal life seen on their faces.  Hard to imagine when I look out and see the quiet green fields of Camp Asan today.

GLOTA GLOTA EVERYWHERE!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Presenting the GLOTA ( ' )!  This little apostrophe makes a lot of difference in Chamorro.  For example, take the word " gaga ."  Put in the appropriate glota, and it becomes ga'ga' , which means "animal."  Without the glota, it becomes the "better-known-as" for a branch of the Cruz family, i Familian Gaga .  Please don't call them "i Familian Ga'ga'."  They're my relatives, too!

Or, chocho (no glota) means "to eat." Cho'cho' (with glota) means "work."

The glota tells us when we need to close the back of our throats and make a glottal stop.  We make that sound even in English, but without writing the glota.  Try to say the English exclamation "Oh oh!"  That split-second closing of the back of the throat in between the two "oh's" is the glottal stop.

As important as it is in our language, it's actually a recent addition to written Chamorro.  Older writers such as Pale' Roman did indeed use certain accent marks, but not the glota.  In the 1970s, Chamorro language specialists introduced the glota to the public and the people took to it with fervor.

But the PROBLEM now is that the glota is used where IT IS NOT NEEDED.  Take, for example, the street sign above.  The "t" in " chotda " makes it impossible to make a glottal stop after the "t."  A glottal stop can only be made after a vowel, not a consonant.  The glota is so Chamorro, people think, "Let's make this word or sentence more Chamorro and sprinkle glotas all over the place, even where it's not needed."

It's like powdering latiya with cinnamon.  More is better.  Maybe with cinnamon, but not with the glota.  We need to use it only when necessary.  If your throat doesn't squeeze and tighten way in the back, don't put a glota there.


This road is named after local oranges, kåhet .  The back of the throat does not tighten after "ka."  It smoothly moves on to conclude with "het."  No glota is needed.  In your best Chamorro accent, say Yoña, then say Yigo.  Do you hear the difference?  A glota really ought to be put in Yo'ña, but not in Yigo.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : HÅNAO

Wednesday, April 27, 2011
apc-plc.co.uk
HÅNAO : to go, leave, depart

Bai hu hånao esta.  I'm already going to leave.

Kao para un hånao?  Are you going to leave?

Humåhanao.  S/he is leaving (going).

Manhånao para i tenda.  They left for the store.

Hånao fañule' hånom.  Go look for water.

Hahanao.  Someone who goes (around) frequently.

Ti hahanao si Ana.  Ana doesn't go around much.

Hanågue (sometimes hanaogue).  To send to, to go to.

Kao guåha para un hanågue?  Do you have to go somewhere?

Hu na' hanågue hao kostat pugas.  I sent you a bag of rice.

Hinanao.  Journey, voyage, departure, manner of going about.

Ti ya-ho hinanao-ña.  I don't like his conduct.

Tunas hinanao-ña.  S/he is a righteous person.  (Literally, his/her conduct is correct.)

Na' hånao.  To send.

Hu na' hånao si Jose para i tenda.  I sent Jose to the store.

From a Chamorro song :

"Pues hånao nene gi karera-mo, sa' enao på'go minalago'-mo, lao hahasso un fino'-ho, na tåya' håfa bida-ho."  (So go, darling, on your way, for that is your wish today, but remember my one word, that I have done nothing wrong.)

LUMÅ'LA' TA'LO!

Saturday, April 23, 2011
restoredtraditions.com
FELIS PÅSGUAN RESUREKSION!
HAPPY EASTER!

THE POWER OF SACRED IMAGES

Friday, April 22, 2011

Santa Barbara Church in Dededo, reflecting the influence of its large Filipino community, includes many sacred images representing Biblical figures of the Passion (Saint Mary Magdalene, Veronica, etc.), just as was done by the Chamorros before the war.

In this video, a woman is profoundly stirred and weeps when she kneels before the Sånto Entiero , the representation of Christ in repose.

THE SÅNTO ENTIERO

Friday, April 22, 2011
Sinajaña
"Sånto Entiero" is a phrase taken from the Spanish which means "Holy Burial."  A "Misan Entiero," for example, means a "funeral Mass."  The centerpiece of traditional Chamorro Good Friday devotions after the official liturgy is the Santo Entiero , a statue depicting the deceased Christ lying in repose.

My grandmother's sister, Ana Torres Reyes, was the caretaker of the Sånto Entiero in Sinajaña.  No expense was spared every year to clothe it in the best and even to procure a wig made of real human hair.  It is a fine statue, with excellent, life-like details.


This has to be one of the finest, most human-like representations of the dead Christ we have on Guam.



Notice the excellent detail of the hands.



Venerating the Sånto Entiero in Agaña Heights.



In Dededo, Santa Barbara parish has a larger than life-sized Sånto Entiero .

THE TRADITION CONTINUES

Friday, April 22, 2011

Good Friday Procession

Lukao Bietnes Sånto

Hagåtña, Guam

2011

GOOD FRIDAY PROCESSION : Eyewitness Account in 1937

Friday, April 22, 2011
Hagåtña, 1920s

Agaña, Guam
U.S. Naval Station
May 1, 1937

"On Good Friday we have the grandest procession here in Agaña.  The natives like processions, of course, and used to have many more before the Americans came to the island.  It took just two hours.  In this Good Friday procession they carried the statues of Saint Peter, Saint John, Mary Magdalene, Jesus under the Cross, Jesus on the Cross, the Sorrowful Mother, Jesus in the Tomb and the Lonely Mother.  There must have been 3,000 people in the procession.

Fraternally,
Father Alban, OFM Cap"

Father Alban Hammel was an American Capuchin priest from the Pennsylvania Province who was on Guam from 1936 till 1939.  This is a portion of a letter he wrote to the Capuchins in Pennsylvania.

He mentions two images of Mary : the Sorrowful Mother (La Dolorosa) and the Lonely Mother (La Soledad).  These two statues are hard to tell apart.

flickr.com

This one is La Dolorosa.  The 7 swords represent the prophecy of Simeon to Mary when she brought the Child Jesus to the Temple.  "And a sword shall pierce your heart so that the thoughts of many may be revealed."  Perhaps the best way to distinguish La Dolorosa from other images is for sculptors to put the 7 swords.

mercaba.org

This, however, is La Soledad.  "Soledad" means "solitude."  This image calls to mind how Our Lady felt the loss of her Son from Good Friday till Easter morning.  Thus the title "Soledad, Solitude."  Perhaps what helps us differentiate her from La Dolorosa is the handkerchief often included in her statue.

Still, both statues can look so similar, almost identical, that it's often hard to tell them apart.

I ANTIGO NA BIETNES SÅNTO (1920s)

Friday, April 22, 2011

Here, the Lukao Bietnes S ånto (Good Friday Procession) is just starting in Hagåtña, leaving the front doors of the Cathedral.  Notice that the statue is not the Sånto Entiero , or the dead Christ, in repose.  This statue is of Jesús Nazareno , Jesus the Nazarene, carrying His cross.  The Lukao Bietnes Sånto in Hagåtña before the war had half a dozen or so statues in the procession, not just the Sånto Entiero .  Some of these statues were owned or stored by private citizens and then brought out once a year for the procession.

BIETNES SÅNTO

Friday, April 22, 2011


escuchacuandotehable.blogspot.com






BIETNES SÅNTO

MÅTAI POT HITA

THE MONUMENTO IN INALÅHAN

Friday, April 22, 2011

I found the parishioners of Saint Joseph Church, Inalåhan, still before the Monumento close to 10PM on Holy Thursday night, singing "Were You There."

YOUTH OF SINAJAÑA PRAY THE ROSARY IN CHAMORRO

Friday, April 22, 2011

The man åmko' were pleased tonight to hear the youth of Sinajaña, Saint Jude Parish, pray the Rosary in Chamorro. Maolek bidan-miyo!

HUEBES SÅNTO

Thursday, April 21, 2011

In the Marianas on Huebes Sånto (Holy Thursday), the Blessed Sacrament is placed in a tabernacle on a side altar, called the monumento .  For as long as the church remains open, altar servers and people adore God before the monumento , making up for the Apostles who slept while Jesus prayed during His agony in the garden this night almost 2,000 years ago.  Many people go around the island on Huebes Sånto evening, visiting the different churches and praying before the monumento .


Chamorro Catholics sing this hymn to the Blessed Sacrament :

Umatuna i Sen Såntos Sakramenton i attat;
yan i Bithen na tailåmen mamapotgenñaihon-ña!

It is taken from the original Spanish, which you can hear in the above video, which goes :

Alabado sea el Santísimo Sacramento del altar;
y la Virgen concebida sin pecado original.

In English : Praised be the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar, and the Virgin conceived without original sin.

PÅTAS OR ADDENG?

Thursday, April 21, 2011

familyfeastandferia.wordpress.com
Today is Huebes Sånto (Holy Thursday) and the liturgy today includes the washing of the feet, in imitation of Christ at the Last Supper.  How do you say "feet" in Chamorro?

On Guam, we all say påtas .  In the Northern Marianas, the word is addeng .  Why the difference?

In the oldest Chamorro dictionary we have (Ibáñez, 1865), before the political separation of Guam and the Northern Marianas, and long before the Chamorros on Saipan (mostly Guam-born settlers) were numerous, and thus before any dialectical differences could arise, the word for "foot" is addeng (in the dictionary, spelled adeng ).

Even Pale' Roman's much later dictionary (1932) says it's addeng .

In an old Chamorro hymn, Adios Rainan i Langet , we ask Our Lady to grant us the favor of kissing her feet : Hu gågagao hao Nåna, humitde na fabot, na' nginge' yo' an magof, i dos na addeng-mo .  That song is in the Guam hymnal.

Påtas is taken from the Spanish word pata , which means the "foot of an animal."  Cats have patas , dogs have patas .  But a human being, in Spanish, has a pie .  That's pronounced pee-eh , not as in "apple pie."

Addeng is indigenous Chamorro; påtas is Spanish in origin.

In fact, one Spanish author of the 17th century wrote that the pre-Spanish Chamorros showed respect by bowing to a saina (elder) and asking " Ati arin-mo " or "Allow me to kiss your feet."  "Arin" must be addeng , spelled the way it sounded to the non-Chamorro ear.

In time, the Chamorros on Guam must have adopted påtas as a slang word even for the human foot, while the Chamorros north of us retained the distinction : påtas for animals, addeng for humans.

This shouldn't surprise us, for even today we see how one person can start to use a word in slang, and before you know it, everyone uses it and the word becomes part of normal speech --- right bro?

GUAM'S COURTS IN 1908

Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Guam Courthouse, Agaña
Built during Spanish Administration
When I was driving an old aunt (born in 1900) around Hagåtña sometime in the 1980s, I practiced my Chamorro and asked her what this and that place was in the city.  When I pointed to the modern-day courthouse and asked her, "Håfa ayo na guma'?",  she responded, "I Tribunåt."  She was referring to the one she knew as a child, built under the Spanish flag, north of the Plaza de España (where Skinner Plaza is now).  In Spanish, the word is "tribunal," which, as you guessed, is "tribunal" in English!

When the Americans took over Guam in 1898 and truly set up shop the following year, they kept much of the Spanish government system and laws in place.  Slowly, things changed to a more American style administration.

In 1908, the highest court on Guam was the Court of Appeals.  It was headed by Pedro M. Duarte .  He was a Spaniard and former official under that administration.  But he had married a Chamorro mestiza, Maria Victoria Anderson Millinchamp, so he remained on Guam under the U.S. flag and served in several government capacities.

Assisting him in the Court of Appeals were Chamorro manakkilo' (elite) who had also served in the Spanish colonial government.  The Associate Justices of the Court of Appeals were Gregorio Perez and Jose Torres .  Two more were "Supplementary Associate Justices," Joaquin Perez and Jose Taitano .

The clerk of courts was Manuel S ablan .

The Island Court was headed by a Filipino, Pancracio Palting , exiled to Guam in 1901 from Ilocos Norte as a Filipino nationalist.

The Island Attorney, in charge of prosecuting cases on behalf of the government, was Tomas Anderson Calvo , the great-grandfather of the present Governor of Guam, Eddie B. Calvo.

There was also a Circuit Judge, Luis Torres , and his secretary Nicolas Lazaro , who were responsible for going into the rural villages to hear cases.

BIENVENIDO, PERÚ

Wednesday, April 20, 2011
nph.com
¡Once visitas dentro de dos días!  Por curiosidad, ¿por qué tanto interés?

Eleven hits from Peru in two days.

THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION : 1908 - 32 Employees

Wednesday, April 20, 2011
www.janeresture.com/
One of the village schools in 1910

In recent times, we've debated the extent of the Governor's authority over the Department of Education.  In 1908, the Governor WAS the Director of DOE.  His name was Capt. Edward John Dorn, United States Navy.

The man who took care of the schools on a daily basis was the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Albert Percy Manley .  Manley was a Marine stationed on Guam around 1904.  He married a local lady from the Rosendo family.  Not surprising, then, that he left the Marines (honorable discharge) in 1907 to stay on Guam and raise his family.

Manley's clerk was Jose Roberto .  I wouldn't be surprised if Manley, new to the island, needed a Chamorro clerk like Roberto to help him with communication in Chamorro with parents, students and perhaps even a teacher here or there not used to advanced English.

The teachers of DOE in 1908 were :

Agana

Concepcion Martinez
Rufina Castro
Jose Cruz Valenzuela
Jose Tejada
Jose Kamminga
Agueda Iglesias
Pedro Martinez
Antonio Perez
Gregorio Perez
G. L. Costenoble
H.W. Elliott - Night School
E.B. Peck
Rosie C. Kraber
Francisco Taitano

Asan : F.T. Brown

Piti : A.W. Jackson and Vicente White

Sumay : F.A. Northrup

Agat : W.L. Vaughan and Rosa Sablan

Umatac : Jose Charfauros

Merizo : J.C. English, F.E. Rushing and Prudencio Gogue

Inarajan : W.R. Rhodes and F.B. Snedecker

Dededo : J. Schnabel and J. James

Some observations :

worthpoint.com
Agaña School No. 1
Early 1900s

Source : Governor's Report 1908, Governor of Guam, National Archives, Washington, DC

CHAMORRO RELIGIOUS POETRY : I Estasion - #13 and #14

Wednesday, April 20, 2011


13. Adda' guåha gi tano'-ta piniti kalan ini;
i Nanan i Satbadot-ta sumasade gue' guine .

(Could there be in our land any sorrow like this;
the Mother of our Savior holds Him in her lap.)

14. Si Maria machule'guan nu i tataotao Jesus;
na'ma'ase' na palao'an enao i Nanan Yu'us.

(Mary is deprived of the body of Jesus;
how pitiable is that woman, the Mother of God.)

GOLLAI MONGGOS : Lenten Food

Tuesday, April 19, 2011
phuthinhjsc.vn

In my childhood home, raised by a grandmother born in 1899, Lent meant abstinence even for a child of 5.  When I think of Lent, I think of Gollai Monggos - Mongo or Mung beans, Chamorro style.

My mañaina were not gourmet Chamorro cooks.  They were the Chamorro version of "meat and potatoes," meaning "meat and rice."  Perhaps they were Zen Chamorros; simplicity and practicality over sensuality and indulgence.

So for Lent, we had Gollai Monggos every Friday.  It was somewhat deceptive.  It looked and tasted like ordinary Gollai Monggos , except that the Lenten version lacked ham hock.  I think the only things that went into the pot were sautéed onions and garlic, coconut milk, salt and pepper and maybe a touch of vinegar.  My mañaina liked vinegar and the trait passed down to me.

When I cook it now, I do the same, except that I definitely put in some vinegar, especially the sugar cane kind, and ginger.  And cayenne pepper.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : MAIGO'

Tuesday, April 19, 2011
jacklalannepowerjuicerinfo.com
MAIGO'. Sleep.  To sleep.

Ti siña yo' maigo'.  I cannot/could not sleep.

Mamaigo' si tåta.   Dad is sleeping.

Manmamaigo' i famagu'on.   The children are sleeping.

Ke ora para un maigo'?   What time will you sleep?

Na' maigo'.  To make sleep.

Na' maigo' i patgon.   Make the child sleep.

Nana'maigo'.  Somnolent.  Sleep-inducing.

Nana'maigo' ayo na dåndan.   That music makes one fall asleep.

Fanmaigu'an.   Place of sleep.  Dormitory.  Remember the FAN+WORD+AN construct?

Fanmaigu'an månnok.   Chicken coop.

Our language has some interesting expressions using the word maigo'.

Ti mamaigo' si Yu'us .  Literally "God is not asleep."  What we're saying here is that you better watch out; you may get away with it now, but one day it will be pay-back, for the whole time, God was not asleep and saw exactly what you did.

Malingo maigo'-ho .  Literally "My sleep was lost."  It means to sleep involuntarily.

Joaquin : Håfa na atrasao hao mågi?  (Why are you late in coming here?)
Jesus : Ai!  Malingo maigo'-ho!  (Ai!  I fell asleep unexpectedly!)

To describe thickened or coagulated blood, the manamko' would say " I haga' ni i mamaigo' ."  Coagulated blood is "sleeping."  I wonder if this has something to do with the condition of blood or other bodily fluids once a person has died.  They follow the pull of gravity, settle at the lowest point and just sit there, sleeping.

I will never forget someone years ago saying that he was waiting in his car, and he started to " maigo' paluluma ."  "Bird sleep."  Like the little birds perched on the tree branch who slip into sleep for a few seconds then awake with the slightest noise or movement.

CHAMORRO RELIGIOUS POETRY : I Estasion - #11 and #12

Tuesday, April 19, 2011


11.  Manai'ase' ha atåne ni tres lulok si Jesus;
i kannai-ho muna'håne enao para si Yu'us.

(They cruelly nailed Jesus with three nails;
my hands did that to God.)

12. Malaknos gi tataotao-ña i Yinius Anti-ña;
gi makat na hinanao-ña guåho ha' piniti-ña.

(His divine soul left His body;
on His arduous journey I alone was His suffering.)

FAMILIA : AGUON

Sunday, April 17, 2011
Basically, if you're an Aguon, your roots are either Hagåtña or Humåtak.  In the 1897 Census of Guam, almost all Aguons come from both places, with a trinkle of Aguons in other places, most likely coming from either of the two main Aguon homelands.

Although spelled "Aguon," it is pronounced "ågun" or "ågon," meaning "food staple" or "starchy food."  Rice, suni, dågo, lemmai, kamuti, mendioka and bread are all ågon.  In the Spanish records, Aguon is thus sometimes spelled Agon or Agun.

But the Spanish records also present this puzzle.  Although absent from the 1727 Census, there are three adult males named Aguon in the 1758 Census, all three listed as soldiers in the Pampanga regiment.  The fact that there are three Aguons, when thirty years prior there were none, seems funny to me.  Connect this with the fact that children of Pampanga-Chamorro couples were often, if not always, classified at the time as Pampangos.  Although there are Filipinos families with the Agon surname, it isn't widespread and it doesn't seem particularly connected to Pampanga.  Could it be that these three Aguons who suddenly appear on the Census in 1758 are brothers, sons of a Chamorro named Aguon who had married a mestiza Chamorro-Pampanga who gave the three sons their Pampanga classification?

Then there is the Humåtak factor.  Not only is Aguon present in Humåtak, it is there as one of the top two surnames of that village; a village that retained much indigenous blood.  This may weigh heavily in favor of Aguon being an indigenous surname, and that the Hagåtña Aguons descended from a Chamorro named Aguon who had married a Chamorro-Pampanga mestiza.

The three Aguons in the Pampanga regiment married (individually) one Angela Demapan (a name included in the Pampanga list), one Manuela Ramirez (from the Spanish list) and one Francisca Javiera de Leon Guerrero (also from the Spanish list).  We can see how by the mid-1700's there was a lot of ethnic mixing; Spaniards (which included Mexicans, Peruvians, etc.), Pampangan Filipinos and indigenous Chamorros.  In time the labels "Spaniard" and "Pampango" didn't matter as the descendants of these intermarriages all spoke Chamorro (now heavily influenced by the Spanish language) with various strains of blood running through them.  This mix became the new Chamorro.

Fast-forward to 1897, near the end of the Spanish administration.  The Hagåtña Aguons were so widespread and varied that it is nearly impossible to identify their connections with each other.  What we can say is that, while Hagåtña abounded in Spanish last names, Aguon was a (probable) indigenous surname which many in Hagåtña bore.

Some married into prestigious families.  One Juliana Aguon, born around the beginning of the 1800s, gave birth to the son of a Spanish governor named Jose Ganga Herrero.  The Herreros today can count Juliana as an ancestor.  Another of Juliana's children, a daughter, married a Flores, of the Kabesa clan.

The Aguons in Humåtak were there from at least as early as the year 1800 and became, with the Quinatas, one of the two most numerous families.

A few Aguons from Guam moved to Saipan and the smaller islands north of it, and from there to Palau when Germany and Japan possessed both the Northern Marianas and the Caroline Islands.

My Aguon Relatives

One of the Hagåtña Aguons married a Torres, the aunt of my great-great grandfather, Pedro Rodriguez Torres.  These Torres-Aguons are my relatives.  One of them, Ignacio Torres Aguon, my great-great grandfather's cousin, sold him the land in Hagåtña where my family lived before the war (on the street in between the Agaña GPD precinct and Pedro's Plaza).

Ignacio's son Juan married an Unpingco.  Juan's daughter Josefa (Pai Sauro) and her descendants are my relatives.

Juan's son Juan was the father of Edward LG Aguon, the late husband of Dr. Katherine B. Aguon.


SOME WELL-KNOWN AGUONS

Former Senator Frank B. Aguon, Jr


Julian Aguon
Attorney, Chamorro activist and author

PARA TA FAÑÅLEK HA'

Sunday, April 17, 2011
Dinetiene si Fulåno ni polisia sa' ti pumåra gue' kabåles gi chalan annai måtto gue' gi "stop sign."

Polisia : "Half a stop" ha' un fa'tinas, lai.

Fulåno : Pues kao siña un nå'e yo' ni "half a ticket?"

BANANA FESTIVAL

Sunday, April 17, 2011

A new trend on Guam is to hold festivals celebrating a specific fruit.  Agat, for example, has its Mango Festival.  Today the Banana Festival was held in Ipan, Talofofo.


Ben Meno was kind enough to explain to me all the different kinds of bananas grown on Guam : chotdan tanduki, chotdan long, aga' Manila, aga' Macau and many others.


There were a good 200 people there when I went.


And carabao rides to boot.

CHAMORRO RELIGIOUS POETRY : I Estasion - #9 and #10

Saturday, April 16, 2011

9. Katna måtai i Saina-ta, ya poddong guine ta'lo;
sa' i baba na bidå-ta, fuma'baba i palo .

(Our Lord, almost dead, falls again,
because our evils deeds corrupted others.)

10. Ma na' kesnuda i Saina, Bithen Låhen Maria;
i baba na fina'tinas muna' mamåhlao siha.

(The Lord was stripped, son of the Virgin Mary;
our wicked deeds brought them shame.)

PARA TA FAÑÅLEK HA'

Saturday, April 16, 2011
conniebensen.com
Malak i Estados Unidos primet biåhe si Jose yan si Juan ya pumaseseo i dos annai ma li'e un restoran.  Humålom i dos gi restoran sa' ñålang.  Ma atan i "menu" ya finaisen si Juan as Jose : "Juan, håfa månnge' ta boka guine?"  Ilek-ña si Juan, "Hekkua' lao bai gagao i indigenous crab."  Ilek-ña si Jose, "Juan, åhe' ti indigenous na Dungeness crab!"

AUTOMOTIVE CHAMORRO

Saturday, April 16, 2011

It's good to see our young people using their language (in a clean way) as they personalize their cars and trucks.  I like this one in particular because "ke ya hafa" is particularly Chamorro in attitude.  "Taffo'" means "brash, tactless, bold in a rude way."  Someone who stops by the house too much or at inconvenient hours is "taffo'."  Someone who breaks social norms or who does not observe etiquette is "taffo'."

Maybe the owner had this in mind when he put "taffo'" on his car.  Or perhaps he meant it to mean "bold" in a general way, though the better word for that is "matatnga."  "Taffo'" has a note of impropriety to it.

Now "ke ya håfa" is a wonderfully flexible phrase.  It comes from the Spanish word "que" which means "what" or "which," and even sometimes "who" or "whom."

"Ke ya håfa?" Literally, "What/which/that and what?"  But it can be best translated "And so what?"  Or, "And what of it?" Depending on the tone, it can carry different meanings.

Jose : You're late, Mary.
Mary : Ke ya håfa? (as in, "It's not the end of the world, Jose.  Chill.")
Mary : Ke ya håfa? (as in, "Leave me alone!  I've had a bad day!")

I LA TADDUNG NA FINIHO : MÅTTET

Saturday, April 16, 2011
arthermitage.org
MÅTTET - annai un kastigan maisa hao, annai un mottifika hao pat un cho'gue håf na penitensia pot minalago'-mo ha'.

Kumuentos hame nigap yan un atungo'-ho ni fumaisen yo' håfa kumekeilek-ña "måttet," sa' ha hungok este ginen as tatå-ña.

Magåhet na ginen hu hungok este lokkue', lao pinat man åmko' ha' umu'usa este na finiho ya esta ti u åpmam para u falingo.

Måfåtto este na palåbra ginen i fino' lågo "mártir."  Ma chuchule' este ginen i fino' Grecia (i fino' Griego).  "Mártir" kumekeilek-ña "testigo."  I testigo munånå'e ebidensia pot i minagåhet un asunto pat sinisedi.  I mangilisyåno na man måttet munånå'e ebidensia na magåhet i hinenggen-ñiha sa' man magof siha man måtai pot i hinenggen-ñiha.  Ginen ayo na måfåtto i siknifikasion-ña i "mattet."

Pues håftaimano ma tulaika i siknifikasion-ña guato gi "i un kastigan maisa hao?"  Hasso nåya.  I man måttet i Gima'yu'us man ma puno'.  Enao i kastigun-ñiha yan i mottifikasion-ñiha.  Hita, ti siña ta puno' maisa hit sa' isao enao.  Lao siña ha' ta cho'gue masea håfa na klasen sakrifisio pat mottifikasion ni ti ha na' dådåño atdet i tataotao-ta.  Siña ha' hit mandimu åpmam na tiempo gi orasion.  Siña ha' ta utut palo gi kinano'-ta.  Siña ha' hit man åsson gi hilo' satge ya mungnga gi kåma.  Taiguenao nai siña ta fan måmåttet.

"Hafa si Juan na ti malago' chumocho?"
"Sa' mumåmåttet gue'."

Bonito para guåho este na fino' Chamorro, sa', masea ti seguguro yo' ya debi di hu fanguåddok mås, tåya' na hu hungok gi pumalo siha na råsa ma u'usa i palåbra "måttet" gi taiguine na manera - i para un kastigan maisa hao.

ESPAÑA HA DESCUBIERTO EL BLOG

Saturday, April 16, 2011
profilekiss.com
¡BIENVENIDOS a nuestros visitantes españoles! El blog ha recibido 21 visitas procedentes de España en una sola semana. ( Welcome to our Spanish visitors; 21 hits from Spain in just one week .)

ADELUP? ADILOK? ADDY LOOP?

Friday, April 15, 2011



I'm not sure when this photo of Adelup was taken, but it can certainly fit anywhere within the time frame 1920-1930.  There wasn't a whole lot going on at Adelup back then, compared to this modern photo below :



As you can see in the older photo above, the original Chamorro name for the place is ADILOK .  A possible origin of this name is the word "dulok" which means "to puncture, penetrate."  The prefix "A" means "mutually, to each other."  I can see how this minuscule peninsula pokes into the sea, but I can't see the other way around.  It's just a theory anyway.



"Adilug" according to a Spanish document

Adilok has had an interesting and varied history.  It has been used in the following ways :

LEPER COLONY .  Current terminology refers to leprosy as Hansen's disease.  Borrowing from the Gospels, the Spaniards often called leprosy "the sickness of Lazarus," and people with this disease "lazarinos," in Chamorro "nasarino."  It seems the Spaniards established a home for lepers at Adilok soon after the Spanish pacification of the Marianas (around 1695).  There were many variations of the name : Aduluk, Adulug, Adilog, Adilok.  Not everyone diagnosed with leprosy actually suffered from that condition but from another illness with similar symptoms (e.g. ulcers).  The leper hospital at Adilok eventually closed around 1871 and Tinian became the site of another leprosarium.

In Spanish times, Adilok was also known as "Punta del Diablo," or "Devil's Point."

PROTESTANT MISSION .  In the year 1901, the Reverend Francis M. Price, Congregationalist, purchased 12 acres of land at Adilok for a Protestant mission school, with housing units for the missionaries and some pupils.  Originally, it was thought an ideal location, far from the busy streets of Hagåtña.  But in time it appeared to be too far from the public scene.  By the time the General Baptists assumed responsibility for the Chamorro Protestant community, Adilok was no longer used by the Protestant mission.

While the Protestant mission school was at Adilok, it was called "Missionary Point."

ATKINS KROLL SITE .  The company moved to Adilok in 1910 and in time built a mansion there.  Is that what we see on the promontory in the old photo above?  Click on it and enlarge.  The Japanese head of civilian affairs made himself comfy at the Atkins Kroll house.  Then the Japanese placed heavy guns there, too, in anticipation of the American invasion.

AMERICAN NAVAL OFFICERS RESIDENCE before World War II.

PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOL .  By 1946, there was already a primary school located at Adilok, housed in quonset huts. The government tried to run a Normal School (teacher training school) in 1946 but it shut down after only a year for lack of students. The Elementary School became a concrete structure in the early 1950s. I seem to recall that it closed in the 1970s because of its poor and dangerous structural condition due to the passage of time.  I suspect its proximity to the sea didn't help, with the salty sea spray coating the building, especially during typhoons.

GOVERNMENT COMPLEX .  I believe the late Governor Ricardo J. Bordallo started renovating the closed school to become a new location for the executive offices, since the ones in downtown Hagåtña were too cramped by then.  I remember that Governor Joseph F. Ada was installed in Adilok if not for all his first term, that at least for half of it (1988-1992).  The Complex is now named after Governor Bordallo.  Originally part of Asan-Maina municipality, a law was later passed to annex Adilok to Hagåtña, so that the Governor's Office could be in the island's capital city.  The Guam Museum and the Latte of Freedom are located there, too.

"Adelup" has now passed into common speech much the same way as we say the White House, Capitol Hill, Downing Street and the Kremlin.  "Adelup has to OK that."  "He has his eye on Adelup."  "Who's going to win Adelup?"

WHY SENGSONG

Friday, April 15, 2011


For years it's been called WHY Sengsong Road.  Why oh why oh why?  Because for years we've had two or more generations of people who read everything, even Chamorro, through the lens of the English language.  It's being done in pronunciation, spelling and grammar. Decades of Americanization have shaped the thinking of thousands of Chamorros in those three area.

But it was the Spaniard who first put the Chamorro language into writing in any major way. Therefore, in the Chamorro written before 1898, when the American took over, we have to read it as a Spaniard would have understood it. This explains why we pronounce Acfalle, Julale and Jumullong Manglo' the way we do. It's also why Y SENGSONG is NOT pronounced WHY Sengsong.

In Spanish, the letter Y has two values; as a vowel identical to "i," just as in English (think of silly, syllable), and as a semi-vowel as in "yellow."

In Spanish, Y and I are often interchangeable.  In California, one sees "San Ygnacio Street" in one town, and "San Ignacio Street" in another town.  "Santa Ysabel" and "Santa Isabel."  They both sound the same, because "y" often functions as an "i."

When the Spaniards (and Chamorros using their alphabet) wrote the Chamorro word "i," meaning "the," they sometimes used "y" and sometimes "i" since they both sounded the same.  "Y sengsong" (meaning "the village") sounds like English "ee sengsong."  Not WHY sengsong.  Ipao Beach has also been spelled Ypao Beach; in Chamorro they both sound the same way.  No body goes to WHY Pao Beach; but many go to WHY Sengsong Road.

PARA TA FAÑÅLEK HA'

Friday, April 15, 2011
jestersring.ca

Matto un dia gi kotte un estranghero na taotao para u fåna' i Señot Hues åntes di u ma na' siudadånon amerikåno.

Ilek-ña i Señot Hues : Señot, åntes di un ma na' siudadånon amerikåno, debi di hu eksamina hao.  Deletrea, pot fabot, este tres na palåbra : deduct, defense, defeat.

Man oppe i taotao : Deduct, d-e-d-u-c-t.

Taiguenao ha' ta'lo ha cho'gue yan i dos tetehnan na palåbra.

Ilek-ña i Hues : Señot, maolek bida-mo.  På'go, na' setbe este tres na palåbra gi et mismo ha' na sinangan.

Ilek-ña i taotao : De duck flew over de fence, de head first den de feet.

I LA TADDUNG NA FINIHO : NAOAO

Friday, April 15, 2011
NAOAO = i ti teok na gimen, sopas, kalan hånom na klåsen åmot, petroleo, etc.

I fine'nana na biåhe na hu hungok este na palåbra i annai hu hungok si Påle' Daniel kumuentos pot i "kaddun naoao."  Ilek-ña si Påle' na maolek-ña i kaddun naoao para i malångo' na taotao, ki ni teok na kåddu.  Buente kumekeilek-ña ayo na kåddu i diddidi ha' ma nå'yi-ña, pot ehemplo seboyas yan un pedasitun gollai.  Hu tungo' na i leche, masea lechen niyok pat lechen guaka, muna' teteok i kaddu.  I arina yan i patåtas lokkue' muna' teteok i kaddu.

mixedgreensblog.com



Adahi na guiya este i kaddun naoao! 

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : GIMEN

Friday, April 15, 2011
do2learn.com
GIMEN : to drink; a drink

Malago' yo' gumimen.  I would like to drink.

Kao malago' hao gumimen kafe?  Would you like to drink coffee?

Esta monhåyan yo' gumimen.  I have already drunk.

Tåya' gimen.  There are no drinks.

Na' gimen.  To give to drink/make drink.

Na' gimen si Påle'.  Give Father something to drink.

Gegmen.  A drinker.  Heavy drinker.  A contraction (shortening) of the word "gigimen," meaning "drinker."

Giminon.  Drinkable.  Ti giminon na hånom.  The water is not potable.  The construction of this word is based on the root word "gimen" to which is added the suffix -on, which in Chamorro means "-able."  Gimen+on = drink+able.

Historical Note : There is an archaic form of "gimen" no longer used in modern Chamorro.  It is "ginem."  "Ginem" is found in Father Ibáñez's Chamorro dictionary (1865) and in Påle' Roman's Chamorro dictionary (1932) as well as in Chamorro sermons from the 1870s.

Could "ginem" be the original word, and "gimen" a product of inversion, as seen in other languages?  Think, for example, of the inversion of the "s" and "k" when "ask" becomes "aks" in contemporary urban English.  "I wanna aks you something."

CHAMORRO RELIGIOUS POETRY : I Estasion - #7 and #8

Friday, April 15, 2011


7. Ñiñekñok i Satbadot-ta nu i inimama-ña;
ti linangak i isao-ta nu i nina'siñå-ña.

(Our Savior is immersed under his burden;
our sins could not resist His power.)

8. Hamyo famalao'an Juda tångse i isao-miyo;
i hagå'-ho ni hu chuda' finas gi ha'en-miyo.

(You, women of Judah, weep for your sins;
cleanse your consciences with the blood that I shed.)

DAMENGGON LÅSARO : COVER THE STATUES!

Sunday, April 10, 2011
Saint Fidelis Friary Chapel
Agana Heights, Guam
Åntes na tiempo, "Damenggon Låsaro" mafa'nana'an i på'go na Damenggo, pot i Ebanghelio ni ta huhungok på'go gi Misa, annai si Jesus ha na' lå'la' ta'lo i amigu-ña as Låsaro.

Kostumbre-ta gi Marianas para ta tåmpe i imåhen yan krusifiho siha gi halom guma'yu'us pat kapiya desde i Damenggon Låsaro asta i Pasguan Resureksion.  Håfa muna' kostumbre-ta este?  Atan i otro na blog ni hu maneneha : http://www.traditioguam.blogspot.com/ ya siempre un tungo.'

Today is traditionally known as "Lazarus Sunday," because of the Gospel story we hear today about the raising of Lazarus from the dead.  It is an old custom in the Marianas to cover the statues and crucifixes in churches and chapels from Lazarus Sunday till Easter.  What is the reason for this custom?  Look at my other blog : http://www.traditioguam.blogspot.com/ for the answer.

BULA TINANE'-HO!

Sunday, April 10, 2011
It must be getting close to Holy Week / Semåna Sånta.  It's getting busy!

Catholic Daughters Day of Recollection, Saturday
San Isidro parish Lenten Retreat, Saturday/Sunday
Malojlo

Legion of Mary Day of Prayer, Sunday

CHAMORRO RELIGIOUS POETRY : I Estasion - #6

Sunday, April 10, 2011

6. Si Veronica sumaosao, i edda' gi matå-ña;
nina' hopplat nu i taotao, sa' i pinalachå-ña.

(Veronica wipes the dirt from his face;
dirtied because of people's sins.)

GUAM'S THREE SEASONS

Sunday, April 10, 2011
Some say there are three seasons of the year on Guam :

Dry season
Rainy season
and the campaign

How do you say "dry season" and "rainy season" in Chamorro?

The short answer :

Dry Season = FAÑOMNAGAN

Wet Season = FANUCHÅNAN

The basic construct of these two words is based on the prefix FAN and the suffix AN.

Put a word in between FAN and AN, and the word takes on the meaning "place of" or "time of."

For example, "hålom" means "to enter."

FAN+HÅLOM+AN = FANHALUMAN or ENTRANCE.

With FAÑOMNAGAN, the base word is SOMNAK, meaning "sunshine."

FAN+SOMNAK+AN = FAÑOMNAGAN, meaning the "time of sunshine."  Dry season.  Voila!

With FANUCHÅNAN, the base word is UCHAN, which you should now know means "rain."

FAN+UCHAN+AN = FANUCHÅNAN, the "time of rain."

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : UCHAN

Sunday, April 10, 2011
etsy.com
UCHAN : rain

It's been raining all during the dry season.  Will it be dry in the upcoming wet season?

U'uchan.  It's raining.

Uchan?  Is it raining?

Kao para u uchan?  Will it rain?

Uchan is a word which changes slightly when preceded by the definite article "the" or "i."  It becomes " i ichan. "

Ma kansela i gipot sa' pot i ichan.  The party was cancelled on account of the rain.

Uchan is one of those words that shows how we share ancient links with many peoples from Indonesia to the Philippines and across the Pacific.

In some Indonesian languages, "uchan" becomes "ujan" or "udan."  The key vowels, u and a, are preserved.

Some Filipino languages say "uran," others "ulan."  Smaller linguistic groups in Luzon (e.g. the Kalinga and Bontoc) say "uchan" or "ochan."  They all mean "rain."

And in Hawaiian, which drops many consonants, the two vowels are maintained and "rain" is simply "u'a."  Linguistic evidence that we're all related.

GOVERNOR GILMER'S MARRIAGE LAW

Saturday, April 9, 2011



One of the most controversial American Naval Governors of Guam, William Wirt Gilmer left the Navy when he ended his position as governor in 1920.  He was infamous for banning whistling and for giving island residents the option of either bringing in the heads of five dead rats or paying a fine.  His antics were reported in the New York Times among many other American newspapers .

One of his most controversial laws was to prohibit Americans from marrying Chamorro women.
This he did in September of 1919, issuing Executive General Order Number 326.

Starting on October 1, no white person on Guam could marry a Chamorro or Filipino, whether the person was fully Chamorro or only partly Chamorro. The same went for the Filipino.  And if you married the Chamorro or Filipino somewhere else in order to escape this law, you wouldn't be able to move to Guam.

Many of these American-Chamorro marriages happened when an American service man was discharged from military service. The discharged man would remain on Guam and marry a Chamorro. So, Gilmer ordered that anyone about to be discharged from the service had to do so outside of Guam.

It was his belief that the two races were incompatible.



Gilmer's Marriage Prohibition

James Holland Underwood, originally from North Carolina, didn't agree.  Underwood was married to one Ana Martinez, Chamorro, and sister of Pedro Martinez, a prominent businessman.  Underwood himself was U.S. Postmaster of Guam.  Backed by Spanish Bishop Joaquin Olaiz, who opposed Gilmer's law, Underwood worked his connections in the States.

One such stateside figure was the former Naval Governor of Guam, Robert Coontz, who was governor from 1912-1913.  In 1919 he was Chief of Naval Operations in Washington, DC.  He, and Assistant Secretary of the Navy, the future President Franklin D. Roosevelt, exerted pressure to have the law rescinded.  It was.

One Spanish Capuchin, Pale' Roman, quietly approved of Gilmer's law, not in the interest of the American party, but of the Chamorro.  Unlike Bishop Olaiz, Pale' Roman believed that, Underwood and a few other exceptions notwithstanding, many Chamorro women were getting the short end of the stick.  Pale' Roman claimed that not a few American husbands packed their bags and left island, leaving their Chamorro wives and children bereft of support.


PRINTED BY ROWLEY!

The funny thing about Gilmer's law was that it was printed by the Navy printer, a man named William Rowley, a white American, who was married to none other than a Chamorro lady, the former Milagros Martínez Cruz! Rowley printed a law that would have made it impossible to marry his own wife!

THE LATTE STONE

Friday, April 8, 2011

Perhaps nothing best symbolizes, in a unique way, our Mariana Islands as the Latte Stone.  While any tropical island can boast of palm trees and sandy beaches, the Latte Stone can only be found in the Marianas.

You can read more about them at

http://ns.gov.gu/latte.html or

http://guampedia.com/latte/ or

http://www.bisitaguam.com/episodes/06/


But I wanted to share this photo of some of the smallest latte stones I have ever seen with my own eyes.  This latte stone is just one of several at my uncle's property at Urunao.  The stones there are slender slabs, no more than three feet high.  Although they could still conceivably have been used to support floorings or roofing for canoe sheds and other small structures, these small lattes may have had more to do with the burial sites often found wherever lattes are found on the shoreline.

With the passage of time, the tåsa (capstone) fell from the haligi (post) as you can see.  I wonder if "tasa" comes from the Spanish word for "cup."  It does resemble one, no?

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : MÅ'HO

Friday, April 8, 2011
asbians.blogspot.com

MÅ'HO : thirsty

Må'ho yo'.  I am thirsty.

Kao må'ho hao?   Are you thirsty?

Ha na' må'ho yo' i minaipe.  The heat has made me thirsty.

Mina'ho.  Thirst.  Can be applied figuratively, as in a "thirst for justice."  Mina'ho para i tininas.

Scripture : "Yanggen ñålang i enemigu-mo, na' chocho gue'; yanggen må'ho, na' gimen gue'." (Romano 12:20)

"If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if thirsty, give him to drink."

CHAMORRO RELIGIOUS POETRY : I Estasion - #4 and #5

Friday, April 8, 2011

4. Si Jesus yan si Maria,  man pinite gi chalan;
atan siha yanggen siña, sa' sen didok mahålang.

(Jesus and Mary suffer on the road;
look at them, if you can, for their pain is deep.)

5. Yåfai i Nana'libre-ta, inimåye as Simon;
adda' tåya' giya hita, håye u ga'chong-ñaihon?

(Our Savior is exhausted, Simon helps him carry;
is there no one among us who can accompany them?)

A HIDDEN GEM IN HAGÅTÑA

Friday, April 8, 2011


Precious little in Hagåtña survived the massive American bombardment of the city in 1944.  But tucked away in the back streets of town, near the cliff line, is a private, family cemetery that did survive the war.  It was owned by the Torres-Leon Guerrero family, with connections to Padre Palomo (who was a Torres, and whose sister married a Leon Guerrero) and to the Martinez family (María LG Torres married Pedro Pangelinan Martínez).

The remains of Padre Palomo, the first Chamorro Catholic priest, are interred here.  Don Pedro and Tan María Martínez rest here as well, and many of their children.

How old is this cemetery?  I'll have to ask family members, but there is a headstone (called lápida in Spanish/Chamorro) kept here that dates to 1910.  It seems to be the headstone of one Caridad Leon Guerrero, who was married to a Suarez.  Here is the headstone, written in Spanish back when Spanish was still the language of the educated and upper classes of the Marianas :




It reads, in Spanish, " Aquí yaces Caridad / pues la parca te segó / mas tu espíritu voló / al seno de la Deidad ."

It means, "Here you lie Caridad / for death has felled you / but your spirit flew / to the bosom of the divinity."

This was poetic, not elementary, Spanish and indicates the high level of Spanish spoken by some on Guam at the time.

The stone is dated March 18, 1910.

The D.O.M. at the top is the abbreviation for "Deo Optimo Maximo," a Latin phrase meaning "to God, the Best and the Greatest."  It was the custom to write this abbreviation on many public buildings and monuments all over Catholic Europe.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : BÅBA

Tuesday, April 5, 2011
s680.photobucket.com

BÅBA : Bad

Did you ever think you'd see Michael Jackson in a Chamorro language word list?  My bad.

Båba is one of those words that makes me thankful the å was added to our Chamorro spelling.  Prior to that, there was no way to immediately distinguish baba as in "bad" from baba as in "open," as neither word needs the glota ( ' ) either.

Baba i bentåna. "Open the window?"  Or, "The window is bad."  Thanks for the å .

Båba = bad. Baba = open.

Båba ma sångan i taotao gi tatten-ña.  It's bad to talk about someone behind his/her back.

Yute' i babå-mo!  Literally : Throw away your badness.  But more : get rid of your vice or defect.

Babå-mo!  Literally : Your badness.  But more : You fool!

Depending on your relationship with the speaker, "Babå-mo!" can mean something a whole lot lighter, like "You're crazy," in response to a joke or something silly.

Kao båbåba ilu-mo?  Literally : Is your head bad?  But more : Are you crazy?

Mama'baba.  To work or act improperly.

Mama'bababa i computer.  The computer is acting up.

Lalålålo' i saina sa' mama'bababa i patgon-ña.  The parent is angry because his/her child is acting up.

Båsta mama'baba!  Stop acting up!  Behave!

ARE YOU ALL USING THE CHAMORRO WORD OF THE DAY?
BÅSTA MAMA'BABA POT FABOT!

CHAMORRO RELIGIOUS POETRY : I Estasion - #3

Tuesday, April 5, 2011
3. Poddong si Jesus gi tano', mahgef nu i katgå-ña;
pinitiye kilisyåno nu i chinatsagå-ña.

(Jesus falls to the earth, weakened by his burden;
pity, O Christian, His hardship.)

FILIPINO PRIEST EXILES IN SPANISH GUAM

Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Statue of Fr. Pedro Dandan at Parañaque Cathedral.
The little girl is his great-great grand niece

The late 1800s were a volatile time in the Philippines, when the movement for independence from Spain gained momentum.  Some in the clergy supported independence and a few priests, along with the others, were deported to the Marianas by the Spaniards for their political views.

One of them was Father Pedro Dandan y Masangkay.  He was exiled to Guam in 1872 along with nine other priests, sailing on the Flores de María .  It is not certain how long he stayed on Guam but it seems those sentenced with him in 1872 were pardoned in 1874, so he conceivably returned to the Philippines around that time.  However, one of the other priests exiled with him, Father Miguel de Lasa, stayed on Guam for a while and served as priest in Guam and Saipan, so who knows about Father Dandan?

We know that Father Dandan was back in the Philippines by the 1880s where he continued to be involved in independence efforts until his mysterious death in 1897 while the country was in the midst of revolution and Father Dandan was a wanted man in the eyes of the Spanish government.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Señot Peter Onedera
Professor Peter Onedera at UOG wrote an article in today's PDN echoing his own personal recollections of a "Chamorro" Lent in his childhood, inspired by a letter I wrote about Lent as practiced on Guam before the war.  He was kind in mentioning this in his article, which you can read here :

http://www.guampdn.com/article/20110405/OPINION02/104050321/Tiempon-Kuaresma-annai-p-tgon-yu-?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|s


Over at Hurao Academy, Anna Marie Arceo, founder of that Academy and Chamorro language teacher and promoter, wrote me the following about this blog :

" Para bai hu na'tungo' hå' håo na in gef supotte iyo-mu 'blog'.  In na'tutungo' todu i estudiånte yan mañainan Huråo para u ma usa para u fanestudia mås put Chamoru ."

("I wanted to let you know that we really support your blog.  We let the students and parents at Hurao know to use the blog to study Chamorro more.")

Anna Marie, ti hu sodda' i litratu-mo guine gi internet!  Dispensa!

Also....from California....a good friend and blog fan wrote me saying, "I'm finding my Stateside born husband is venturing more and more into our language using words learned from your site. We really enjoy the Chamorro lessons."

Si Yu'us ma åse' Peter, Anna Marie yan todos hamyo ni tumataitai i blog pot i suppottasion-miyo !

I BABUEN KUARESMA

Monday, April 4, 2011


It might be a unique element in Chamorro culture. At least we don't see it in any well-known cultures around the world, not even in close-by Philippines where we do share many cultural similarities.

In Chamorro folk belief, there exists a very scary and dangerous wild boar who attacks naughty children when they break any of the rules of Lent. He is called the BABUEN KUARESMA , or "Lenten Boar" in English.

The Babuen Kuaresma is larger than the usual jungle boar; some say even ten times bigger. It has razor sharp tusks (in Chamorro, kotniyos ) and can swallow a small child in one gulp. Some say its skin is full of thorns, so you better not touch.

Somehow these Babuen Kuaresma have a great respect for the rules of Lent and will punish any child or teenager who breaks them. Some of the rules are not to eat meat on Fridays; not the mix meat and fish in the same meal all of Lent; not to swim or play games; not to make noise, especially during Holy Week ( Semåna Sånta ).

Parents, grandparents and elders in general warned children that, if they broke any of these rules, the Babuen Kuaresma would emerge from the jungle and bite them or worse.


WILD PIGS

We don't know how or when this folk belief started, but naturally it came about during Catholic times so after 1668 and it came about when pigs finally came to Guam, which happened around the same time the Spanish missionaries came. Before that, the Marianas had no swine.

The Spanish, Mexican and Filipino settlers brought them to the Marianas and raised them here. Some pigs escaped into the jungle where they became wild. The Babuen Kuaresma may not exist but the Babuen Hålom Tåno' , or the Wild Jungle Pig, does exist and they've recently become a problem on Guam. Being so numerous now they have damaged plants, crops and private property and on occasion have attacked other animals and maybe even humans.

It seems the story of the Babuen Kuaresma is based on the very real wild jungle pig, which is dangerous enough whether it be Lent or not.


PROBABLY UNIQUE TO GUAM

The world is a big place and who knows if there might be some other place where a pig or some other scary animal, or maybe a monster of some sort, enforces Lenten rules.

But it seems the Chamorros of the Marianas are the unique keepers of such a tradition.

It seems very clear that it was a story invented by elders to scare the youngest of children who are very gullible and don't know enough yet about the world to question the idea.

For example, if a boar attacked, bit or ate you, wouldn't that create noise? Noise from the pig and noise from the victim? And yet isn't that exactly what the Babuen Kuaresma is supposed to enforce? Lenten silence?

If the Babuen Kuaresma exists, why hasn't it ever been seen? Or photographed? Why don't we find its skeletons in the jungle? We see wild pigs in the jungle, but never a Babuen Kuaresma .

What does the Babuen Kuaresma do when it's not Lent? Disappear until next Ash Wednesday? Does he still live in the jungle, but cares less about the bad things children do outside of Lent?

So many customs, beliefs, practices and names were invented in the old days that were never documented. At one time, most Chamorros couldn't read or write, and the mentality of those days was not to record everything. Sometimes the story about the thing was passed down, word-of-mouth, to the next generation. But, in the case of the Babuen Kuaresma , we will never know how and when it came about.

But, it's part of our culture and perhaps only ours, even if today we just talk and laugh about it, and don't believe it at all.

CHAMORRO RELIGIOUS POETRY : I Estasion - #2

Sunday, April 3, 2011


2. Si Jesus ha apagåye i gos makkat na håyo;
guåho yo' ha kumatgåye, guåho ha' muna' layao.

( Jesus carried the very heavy wood on His shoulder;
I was the one He carried it for, I alone made Him walk .)

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : MÅNNGE'

Sunday, April 3, 2011
cwgordon.tumblr.com
MÅNNGE' : delicious

Pronunciation is key here.  A lot of people say MUNG - EE.  It's MÅN (like the "mon" in Monday) + NGE'.

We don't say the old lady is nice.  We say MÅNNGE' NA BIHA.  She's a delicious elderly lady.

We don't say the person speaks well.  We say MÅNNGE' AN KUMUENTOS.  S/he is delicious when s/he speaks.

We don't say it's enjoyable whenever we get together.  We say MÅNNGE' KADA MAN DADANÑA' HIT.  It's delicious every time we get together.

Of course we don't mean that literally.  It's just that we're really into the sense of taste.

You couldn't use månnge' for everything that is good.  You wouldn't say "That street is delicious."  "Månnge' ayo na chålan."  You'd say "maolek" to say the street is a good street.

Minannge' : tastiness, succulence

I na minannge'!  It's so tasty!

WHATEVER YOU EAT TODAY, SAY IT'S MÅNNGE' !

CHAMORRO RELIGIOUS POETRY : I Estasion - #1

Friday, April 1, 2011
glanmireparish.ie

The Chamorro hymns that have been around for a hundred years or more are an important source of information about our language.  Many of them are actually forms of poetry.  Since it's kuaresma , let's look at the 14 verses of the hymn "Gi Chalan i Kilu'os-mo,"  one verse each day.  Each verse describes one of the 14 Stations of the Cross.  It's a look at Chamorro in poetic form.

1. Si Pilatos ha na' måtai i tai isao na Jesus;
enao mina' esta måtai pot i taotao si Yu'us.

( Pilate sent Jesus to death;
that is how God died for the people .)

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : HUNGGAN

Friday, April 1, 2011
whg.uk.com
HUNGGAN : Yes

OK so maybe 90% of you know "hunggan."  However....let's have some fun with it.

Sloppy Chamorro drops the "h" and comes out "unggan."  You normally can't say that to an elder.

Even more casual is " hu'u " or " hu'o ."  Telling that to an elder results in a patmåda .  What's that?  Red cheeks (hint, hint).

The traditional way to say "yes" to an elder or someone of high status is :

" Si señot ", or just plain " señot " to a man;

" Si señora ," or just plain " señora " to a woman.

I remember when I was a young priest, 28 years old, having conversations like this in Malesso' or Humåtak :

Påle' : Kao sumåsåga hao Malesso'?
Palao'an : Señot.
Påle' : Kao humohosme hao Misa?
Palao'an : Señot.

Of course you could keep it "hunggan" and still be respectful by adding "asaina" or "saina-ho" to it.  "Asaina" or "Saina" can mean "lord, master, mistress" but it generally means anyone higher in status than you.

But your buddy down at work can be answered with a quick " hu'u!"

Or......... "u!" Or...... "mmmmm!"

CHAMORRO CULTURAL FEST : San Diego, CA - May 21

Friday, April 1, 2011

The CHE'LU organization in San Diego is putting on a second Chamorro Cultural Fest there after last year's successful event.  I wasn't able to be there, but from all reports it went very well.  I am familiar with the venue, the Jacobs Center, where I celebrated several Masses for the Chamorro communities in the area.  It's a nice center, and recently constructed.

This year there is a blessing of the sakman that they have been working on for some time now.

I gave three cultural workshops in California last year and know a number of the organizers of this Fest.  My best wishes to them all! Na' lå'la' i kutturå-ta !

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : POT FABOT

Thursday, March 31, 2011
br.olhares.com
Ilek-ña i kato : "Na' gimen yo' leche, pot fabot !"

POT FABOT :  Please

OK, so it's not a word but a phrase.  And it's derived from the Spanish "por favor," or "as a favor."

Different cultures came up with different ways to make a request humbler and milder.  It is thought that "please" is a shortened version of "If you please," meaning "if it pleases you."

Italians say "per piacere," and the French, "s'il vous plait," both more or less meaning "if it pleases you."

One Japanese way of saying "please" is "onegai shimasu" which roughly means "I hope or pray that the thing is done."  Wow.  Very humble.

It's not known how pre-contact Chamorros expressed the concept of "please," or whatever concept came closest to it, or how they made requests milder and more polite.

However.....now that I think of it.....I remember hearing often enough, and loving the expression entirely, when an older person would ask someone else to do something, s/he would say, " Na' magof hao ya un ..." meaning "Make yourself happy and...take me to church or buy me pugua' or whatever the case may be."

I love the expression because the connotation, for me at least, is : Do this for me and be happy about it. Love it!

Many Chamorros today pronounce it "put" rather than "pot," the way I heard it from my mañaina and man amko' .

The phrase " pot fabot ," as in other languages, can carry with it different connotations, depending on the tone with which it is expressed.

Jose : Maria, na' ayao yo' fan mit pesos. (Maria, lend me a thousand dollars.)
Maria : Pot fabot! (Are you out of your mind???)

Lele' : Humålom si pendeha gi gima'yu'us yan i kaddada' na bestidu-ña!  Pot fabot adai agon!
(She entered the church with her short dress!  Of all things!)


DON'T SAY "PLEASE" TODAY
SAY "POT FABOT," POT FABOT!

FAMILIA : BABAUTA

Thursday, March 31, 2011
Today we look at a family with an indigenous name.  A few Chamorro last names end in -ta.  Not to be confused with Spanish surnames that end in -ta (Evangelista, Acosta, Ballesta, etc), in names like Quinata, Ungacta, Taguacta, Nangauta and Maratita, the "ta" means "our."

So Babauta means "our babau."  The question is, "What is a babau ?"

It's a Chamorro word that fell into eventual disuse (though it can be revived) and it means "banner" or "standard," as in "emblem, symbol or coat-of-arms."

Writing in the early 1680s, Jesuit Father Garcia, in his biography of Blessed Diego Luís de Sanvitores, describes the " babao Dios " or the "standard of God."  We would say today "babao or babau Yu'us."
For the Jesuit missionaries, the "babao Dios" was the Holy Cross.

We can picture our ancestors using symbols or emblems, of whatever material, for warfare or ritual, called " babau ."

The homeland of the Babauta surname is both Agat and Merizo (Hågat yan Malesso').  They seem to be two different families.  That they perhaps sprung from the same people in the far distance of time is anybody's guess.

The Hågat Babautas apparently come from two men named Raimundo and Jose.  What their connection is remains a mystery as no older baptismal records have been found to show us.  Raimundo and Jose would have been in their young adulthood in the 1840s.

Raimundo married Joaquina Taimanglo, and Jose married Ana Hokkok (also spelled Hocog, Jocog).  All four of these ancestors have indigenous Chamorro names (Babauta; Taimanglo or "without wind;" and Hokkok or "depleted").  There is a large Hocog family in Rota (Luta), and only one Hokkok family in Hågat, so there may or may not be a connection.

From these two men grew the numerous Hågat Babautas, some of whom moved to Sumay, Umatac (Humåtak) and Saipan during Spanish times and who are now all over the world.

The Malesso' Babautas have several ancestors, whose possible connections cannot be determined as of now.  The following ancestors would have lived around the 1840s and 1850s.  One Francisco Babauta, who married Alejandra Ugua.  One Dámaso Babauta, who married Dominga Espinosa.  One Vicente Babauta, who married Dorotea San Nicolas.  One Mariano Babauta, better-known-as Budo, who married Simona Chargualaf.  There is also one Silverio Charguane Babauta, a widower and older man in his 60s in 1898.  We do not know the name of his deceased wife so we cannot tell who his children were, assuming he had any.  The Malesso Babautas also can be found all over the world today.

There was one Babauta family living in Hagåtña in 1898.  Their father, Manuel Babauta, deceased by then, was better-known-as "Chabok."  He was married to Cipriana de Leon Guerrero Dueñas.  It isn't known if he was originally from Hågat or Malesso' or anywhere else.

P.S. Don't confuse babao with baobao , the latter meaning "hollow."
P.P.S. There was also another Hågat family named Babauña.  The name died out.

SOME WELL-KNOWN BABAUTAS

technotip.org

LEO BABAUTA
Blogger, author and journalist

His blog has over 200,000 subscribers and was twice named for the Top 25 blogs by TIME magazine.
Google him!


http://www.doi.gov/

TONY BABAUTA
Assistant Secretary for Insular Affairs
U.S. Department of Interior
Washington, DC

people.famouswhy.com
JUAN NEKAI BABAUTA
Former Governor of the CNMI
His mañaina moved from Hågat to Saipan in the late 1800s

BENÅDO SEASON OPENS IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS

Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Guam Benådo
As much as it is legal, moral and cultural, it breaks my heart to look at the picture above and to imagine it being shot or killed. I eat fish and an occasional chicken, but the creature above just pulls at my heart strings.  But, I am told that hunting during legal times is necessary to keep the benådo population manageable on our small island.

The Department of Agriculture announced recently that hunting season for benådo begins April 15 and runs through September 30.  Did you know that you can be as young as 13 years old and get a hunting license on Guam?

Benådo were brought to Guam from the Philippines by Spanish Governor Mariano Tobias, who was Governor from 1771 till 1774.  Our word "benådo" is borrowed from the Spanish "venado."

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : TÅNE'

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

TÅNE' - to be busy/occupied with, to be distracted by.  It can also mean "to be entertained with/by" though it's getting rarer and rarer to hear it used with this meaning nowadays.

I famaguon tumåtåne' yo'.  The children are keeping me busy.

Tåya' tinane'-ña.  He has nothing to do/to keep him busy.

Guiya tåne'-mo.  He is the one keeping you busy/entertained/distracted.

Kao tinatane' hao?  Are you busy?

Ha tåne' yo' i che'cho'-ho gi eskuela.  My work at school is keeping me busy/occupied.

Taitai i lepblo pot para u guåha tåne'-mo.  Read the book so you'll have something to do.

Tinane' = work, occupation, entertainment.  Påle' Roman also says it can mean "relief," as in relief from hunger, boredom, idleness since "tåne'" can also mean "distraction."  "Tinane'" can be a relief from those things since food distracts one from hunger, sports from boredom, work from idleness and so on.

Guåha tinane'-ho gi gima'yu'us.  I have something to do at church.

Mi tinane' yo'.  I have a lot of responsibilities/work/obligations/errands.

Here's an interesting twist on the word "tåne'."

Used in the form "tuminane'," it means one is "occupied in answering the call of nature."

Jose : Mångge si Kiko? (Where is Kiko?)
Maria : Må'pos tuminane' gi halom tåno'.  (He's occupied in the jungle.)

I have seen a sign on Guam over a public restroom FANTINANIAN.

I wonder what some language experts might say if this ought to be FANTUMINANIAN, since the construct would be :

FAN + TUMINANE' + AN

Påle' Roman says FANTANIAN is a "place of entertainment, relaxation, amusement, diversion."  That would make sense because the construct there would :

FAN + TÅNE' + AN

There is a difference between TÅNE' and TUMINANE'.

Anyway, I have to go, sa' bula tinane'-ho !

WHAT'S THE "MEMORIAL" IN GUAM MEMORIAL HOSPITAL?

Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Guam Memorial Hospital
There is a letter to the editor in today's PDN calling for a change in the name of Guam's only civilian, and troubled, hospital.

( www.guampdn.com/article/20110330/OPINION03/103300337/1017/opinion03/Voice-people )

The writer isn't sure what "Memorial" refers to, and thinks other names would be more "appropriate" and "meaningful."  I am not sure as to the intent of the writer, who goes on to suggest, as one option, renaming GMH the "Mona Lisa" hospital, taking the idea from the lyrics of that song "Many men have been brought to your door step; they just lie there, and they die there."

Years ago, Tun Frank "Goyo," who had owned the land where the old GMH sat, told me that the civilian hospital built after the war was named "Guam Memorial" to honor the local civilian casualties of World War II.  This was confirmed to me today by former senator Tony Palomo.

Understanding this, I think "Memorial" is very appropriate and full of meaning.

AN ALTERNATIVE TO DOE'S CHAMORRO LANGUAGE PROGRAM?

Monday, March 28, 2011
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chamorro-Language
There's an interesting article in the op-ed section of today's PDN ( www.guampdn.com/article/20110328/OPINION02/103280304 ).  In it, author Elwin Champaco Quitano states that the Chamorro Language Program in our public schools has not accomplished its goal, and proposes a radically different alternative to it.

This differs from the idea proposed by newly-elected Senator Mana Silva Taijeron to increase the length of the program in public schools. ( www.guampdn.com/article/20110302/NEWS01/103020330/ ).

I have always been of the opinion that perhaps the best classroom for learning a language is the home.  If parents speak to their children in the language, the children will learn that language.  It is not for quaint reasons that the term is " mother tongue."  I think the best teachers a child can have is his or her parent(s).  That means in everything : language, religion, manners, thinking, feeling.

There are others ways of learning a language, of course.  But being in an environment where that language is extensively spoken is usually the best way.  I lived in Saipan in the early 1990s and I had to improve in Chamorro.  I had no choice.  It was either improve or not connect with a whole lot of people.  The environment then was very fino' Chamorro .  I heard our language spoken beautifully, day in, day out. That was my classroom.

It's hard to be in a swimming pool and not get wet.  It's hard to be surrounded by people speaking Chamorro and not learn a word here or there; then a phrase; then a sentence.  Before you know it, you're writing novels in Chamorro.  You get the picture.

Fan fino' Chamorro gi halom guma'-miyo !

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : MAGÅHET

Sunday, March 27, 2011

MAGÅHET : true

Kao magåhet hao?  Are you telling the truth?  Are you for real?

Åhe', ti magåhet enao.  No, that isn't true.

Pinite yo' magåhet.  I am truly sorry.

I magåhet na estoria.  The true story.

Yomagåhet.  A truthful person, honest, veracious.

Bai hu hongge si Maria, sa' yomagåhet gue' na palao'an.  I will believe Mary, because she is a truthful woman.

Minagåhet.  The truth.

I minagåhet ha' hu espipia.  I am only looking for the truth.

Scripture : "Guåho i chalan, i minagåhet yan i lina'la'."  (Juan 14:6)

KÅDDUN TOFU

Sunday, March 27, 2011

As I try to out-run the Grim Reaper, when I can, I cook as healthy as possible, using as many local ingredients as I can find (pesticide-free).

So here's a version of kåddu using the following ingredients :
Si Yu'us ma'åse' to all the kind people who drop off gollai for me at the Friary!

PARA TA FAÑÅLEK HA'

Saturday, March 26, 2011

freakingnews.com

Un puenge, eståba un taotao na mañuñugon gue' gi chalan. Pot i esta gef painge, matuhok ya malingo maigo'-ña annai matto gue' gi kandet ya pumåra sa' agaga'. Annai matulaika i kandet ya esta bebetde, ti humånao i kilisyåno sa' mamaigo'. Måtto un polisia ya man dåkkot gi bentåna.

Ilek-ña i polisia : "Estague' i tikket-mo. Fitma, pot fabot."
Ilek-ña i mañuñugon : "Mungnga yo'"
Ilek-ña i polisia : "Hago la'mon, lao bai tuge' guine gi tikket gi fino' Englis : "refuse to sign.""

Sigiente dia, chumålek i taotao annai ha taitai i tikket sa' lachi tinige'-ña i polisia. Ha tuge' " refuse to sing. "

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : KÅNTA

Saturday, March 26, 2011
KÅNTA : to sing; it can also mean "song"

Taken from the Spanish word "cantar," or "to sing."

Kumånta yo'  I sang.

Kumåkånta yo'.  I am singing.

Bai hu kånta.  I will sing.

Ti man malago' mangånta.  They don't want to sing.

Kånta, pot fabot!  Please sing!

Bonito na kånta.  A beautiful song.

Kantåye.  To sing to, to sing for.

Bai hu kantåye hao.  I will sing to you.

Kantåye ham!  Sing for us!

Synonym : Lalai (an indigenous word)

" Kånta, kånta kompañero / kånta todo i tiningo'-mo / sa' anggen guåho hao kumantåye / hu na' milalak lago'-mo! "  (Kåntan Chamorrita)

"Sing, sing my friend;
sing all that you know;
because if I sing to you;
I will make your tears flow."

FAMILIA : DUEÑAS

Saturday, March 26, 2011

The Dueñas name appears in the earliest census of Guam for which we have copies.  In that census, taken in 1727, we find a bachelor soldier listed in the Spanish column named Fernando Lázaro Dueñas.  He must have been a young man, maybe even in his late teens, which in those days was not considered too young to do military service or even to marry.  I say this because Fernando Lázaro appears again in the 1758 Census, thirty-one years later, as a married man with his children living with him.

Who was Fernando Lázaro Dueñas?  I wish I knew.  He was a soldier and he is listed in the Spanish column and he was on Guam as early as 1727.  By the term "Spanish soldier," anyone from Spain itself, or one of the Latin American colonies (Mexico, Peru, etc.) or someone born in the Philippines but of Spanish blood could have been meant.  So, the possibilities are many.

He married one Juana María de Salas.  So now we look at the Salas name.  In the 1727 Census, there is only one Salas, a soldier in the Spanish column named Ignacio de Salas.  Again, where Ignacio came from is anybody's guess.

Ignacio was married to one Isabel Meriña.  You can look all over Spain and not find the last name Meriña.  Since many Chamorro last names end in -ña (e.g. Mangloña, Mantanoña, Laguaña) and since mainly foreign men moved to Guam, not as many women, I wouldn't be surprised if Isabel Meriña was Chamorro.

Ignacio and Isabel had several children, including one Maria and one Juana.  Fernando Lázaro Dueñas married a Juana María de Salas.  Isn't it interesting that the only Salas family had one daughter named María, and another named Juana.  It's possible that later Ignacio and Isabel had another daughter named Juana María, but it is also possible that Juana María is either the María or the Juana listed in the 1727 Census.  People are like that; they don't always use all the names they were given at birth.  They sometimes drop one, mix them up.

So, if this all holds true, one Fernando Lázaro Dueñas married a mestisa (mixed) Spanish-Chamorro girl named Juana María de Salas, the daughter of Ignacio de Salas and Isabel Meriña.  Fernando's and Juana María's children would be part Chamorro and would certainly have spoken Chamorro as a first language because mothers raise babies and speak to them in their "mother tongue."

The 1758 Census gives us a second Dueñas by the name of Rafael José, who is married to María Josefa Contreras.  But since the census does not give us ages, we can't tell if Rafael José is a son of Fernando Lázaro or not.  My suspicion is that he is, since in 1727 Fernando Lázaro is the only Dueñas.  But, we can't be totally sure.  I would say the likelihood is very high that the Dueñas family of the Marianas are the descendants of Fernando Lázaro Dueñas and Juana María de Salas.

The family spread from Hagåtña to Inalåhan to Saipan and elsewhere.  The family has produced many leaders, including the second Chamorro priest, Pale' Jesús Baza Dueñas, whose photo can be seen in an earlier post.

The surname DUEÑAS is Spanish.  It means "owners" in the feminine gender.  "Dueño" in Spanish means "owner," if the owner is male; "dueña" if female.  It is a common name in Spain.  There is also a town in Spain called Dueñas.

The town of Dueñas in Spain
The school named after Father Dueñas

Spanish actress LOLA DUEÑAS
She has relatives on Guam???
  

EI NA YINA-HO ESTE! FANOHGE CHAMORRO BY WOLFF BROTHERS

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Give these brothers a chance in the first few seconds while they figure out where to start.  I think they give a catchy, harmonious rendition of Fanohge Chamorro.

AN OLD CHAMORRO CUSTOM IN LENT : DON'T MIX MEAT AND FISH

Friday, March 25, 2011

Steak and Lobster : An Old-Time Guam No-No in Lent!

When I was a younger priest I visited a family, and the mother, a woman in her 50s, who offered me lunch.  It was Lent, but not a Friday in Lent.  She offered me meat and fish, but would not eat both herself.  When I asked why, she said she was taught by her mother not to eat meat and fish at the same meal during the whole of Lent.  It was an old custom, she said.  On Fridays in Lent, of course, it was just guihan , no meat at all.

Years later I discovered sermons written in Chamorro in the 1870s and one of them explained that it was actually church law, and it applied to the Spanish colonies such as the Philippines and the Marianas, where the church relaxed the laws on fasting and abstinence.  These laws were stricter in Europe.  In exchange for relaxing the laws, the church required that, if one could eat meat every day in Lent (except on Fridays), at least let the people refrain from mixing meat with guihan on those days.

Here's what the sermon actually said :

" I Sånto Påpa...ha señåla nuebe dias ha' gi todo et åño, na debe u fanayunat..." The Holy Father...has indicated only nine days in the entire year that you must fast..."

" I ha'åne siha nai atotta ma na' danña' kåtne yan guihan, este siha : todo i ha'åne siha gi kuaresma... " The days when it is forbidden to mix meat and fish are these : all the days in Lent..."

These laws were later done away with, but some people stuck to the custom, up to this day.

As the manåmko' say : Maña i hechura, asta la seputtura !  We take our habits to the grave.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : GUIHAN

Friday, March 25, 2011
GUIHAN : fish.  A good word for a Friday in Lent.  This is one of those words that show our links with the entire Austronesian family of peoples, from Indonesia, through the Philippines all the way to Hawai'i.  In Indonesian the word for "fish" is "ikan."  Notice the pattern : the vowel of the first syllable is "i," the vowel in the second syllable is "a."  That's the crucial part.  "Ikan" also ends in "n" like in "guihan," and the "k" is softened in Chamorro to an "h."  In Ilokano, "ikan" also means "fish."  In Chuukese, the word is shortened to "iik."  In Tonga, it is likewise shortend to "ika" and in Hawai'i even further shortened to "i'a."





DON'T SAY "FISH" TODAY.  ORDER GUIHAN ! 


TATAGA' SLAM!

BASQUE ORIGINAL OF "IYA BELEN"

Wednesday, March 23, 2011







One of our Chamorro Christmas songs is "Iya Belen."  The Chamorro lyrics go :

Iya Belen, tåno' Jesus / må'gas na songsong / iya Belen .
(At Bethlehem, land of Jesus / a great town / at Bethlehem.)

The original hymn was a Christmas carol from the Basque region of Spain called "Oi Betlehem."  It was written by a Capuchin priest and Pale' Roman de Vera translated it into Chamorro.  This performer is singing it in the Basque language, not in Spanish.  The Spanish version is "Dulce Belén."

SPANISH ROOTS OF CHAMORRO FOLK SONGS

Wednesday, March 23, 2011


Many of you will be familiar with the Chamorro folk song " Hågo i Inan i Langet " which then goes on to say " opulan, klåro yan gåtbo; un na' silensio na puenge; un alibia, un alibia pinite-ho ."  It is a sweet melody.  It is based on this Spanish folk song from the Rioja region of Spain.  Many of the Spanish missionary priests on Guam in the 1800s came from that region and the provinces close to it.  I wonder if one them taught the melody to our great-great-grandparents?

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : O'SON

Wednesday, March 23, 2011
O'SON : to be bored of, to be tired of, to be disinterrested in

O'son yo' umegga' TV.  I am tired of watching TV.

Kao man o'son hamyo esta?  Are you all bored yet?

Na' o'son.  Tedious, weary, draining.

Ti na' o'son gue' an kumuentos.  S/he isn't tedious when s/he speaks.

Na' o'son este na progråma.  This program is boring.

Tai o'son.  Unwearied.

Achok ha' anåkko' i setmon, tai o'son hao na taotao.  Although the sermon was long, you are unwearied.

Ha' o'son.  Frequently bored.

O'SON I PATGON!

FAMILIA : PEREZ

Wednesday, March 23, 2011
The beautiful handwriting of Spanish documents
The origin of the Perez family in the Marianas is still one of those mysteries yet to be solved.  The name does not appear in the earliest known census of Guam for which we have copies, taken in 1727.

In the next census which has been found, taken in 1758, there appears one Miguel Perez de Armenta.  He is listed as a soldier from Pampanga in the Philippines.  Nothing else is known about him.  Was he Pampangan?  Fully Pampangan?  With no Chinese or European or Latin American blood?  But since his name does not appear in the 1727 Census, he most likely came to Guam between 1727 and 1758.

He married a woman named Ines Nahong.  I suspect that she was Chamorro.  The Spanish (which included Latin Americans) and Filipino (Pampangan) soldiers who came to Guam often married Chamorro women.  "Nahong" in Chamorro means "sufficient, enough."

In the 1758 Census, no children of Miguel and Ines are listed.  That's where the mystery continues.  Was Miguel the ancestor of all the Perezes on Guam?  It's hard to say, without documentary evidence like the record seen above.

Then there is the mystery of Miguel's surname.  Perez de Armenta; clearly Spanish.  But many Filipinos (and Chamorros) also had Spanish surnames, getting them in several ways.  Some by intermarriage (Spanish father, Filipino or Chamorro mother) and some were simply given a Spanish name even though they had no Spanish blood.

"Perez" is a very common Spanish last name, the 8th most widespread last name in the country.  "Perez" is so common that it was often modified by attaching another name to it, like "de Armenta."  "Armenta" is a last name found mainly in the south of Spain and is not that common.  It is possible that this particular Perez family wanted to distinguish themselves from other Perezes and added "de Armenta," perhaps from the mother's last name.

In any case, we still have no documents that can connect Miguel Perez de Armenta, one of the Pampanga soldiers, and his probably Chamorro wife Ines Nahong, with the many Perezes who show up on Guam in the 1800s.

If Miguel and Ines are truly the founders of the Perez clan on Guam, what happened to "de Armenta?"  As there was just one Perez family on Guam, perhaps the "de Armenta" was dropped as there was no need to have such a long last name when only one family has that last name after all.

It is widely believed that all those many Perezes on Guam in the 1800s are descendants of, or at least connected to, one Venancio Perez, who served in the local militia in the early 1800s.

The family branched out into the Goyo, Bonñao, Gongga families, and many other Perez families, all inter-connected.  The name "Perez" means "Son of Pedro," or Peter.  The Spaniards often took a father's first name, ended it with -ez and made it into a last name.  So Juan, the son of Rodrigo, became Juan Rodriguez; and Luis, the son of Gonzalo, became Luis Gonzalez.  There is also a Hebrew man named Perez in the Old Testament, but that's coincidence, unless some of the Jews in Spain who converted to Christianity took Perez as a last name to keep an Old Testament connection, while others obtained Perez as the last name the conventional way I described.

When it comes to our family histories, what we don't know is more than what we do know.  We lack many of the documents, which were lost or destroyed through wars, typhoons, humidity.  We need to refrain from making unsubstantiated claims and humbly add the words "maybe," "perhaps" and "possibly" to our historical conversations.  Guesses and speculations, honestly admitted, are better than presumptions that become erroneous dogma.  Let's all pray that some day soon someone will discover our baptismal records and censuses from the very beginning hiding in some archive in Spain, Mexico or the Philippines!



TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : CHOCHO

Tuesday, March 22, 2011
CHOCHO : to eat.

This is a word where the glota ( ' ) makes a difference.  You don't want the glota in this one.  Putting a glota here after both syllables changes the meaning completely. Cho'cho' means work, or to work.  You can cho'cho' when you've gotten the energy to do it after you chocho .

Kao malago' hao chumocho? Do you want to eat?
Åhe', esta monhåyan yo' chumocho.  No, I already ate.
Fañocho!  Eat! (to several or more people)

I checho.  The meal.
Kaiha' måkpo i checho.  The meal was barely finished.

Ga' chumocho.  Someone who loves to eat.  Perhaps a glutton.

Na' chocho. To give someone something to eat.
Na' chocho i patgon sa' ñålang.  Give the child something to eat because s/he's hungry.

Fañochuyan.  A place where people eat.  Fan+chocho+yan = fañochuyan.

PARA TA FAÑÅLEK HA'

Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Ha kattåye yo' un palao'an på'go na ha'åne ya ha na' chålek yo'.  Ilek-ña : Guåha na biåhe na finatottoigue' este na palao'an ni diferentes klåsen relihion ni ma na' keketulaika i relihion-ña i palao'an.  Lao åntes di ma tutuhon i kombetsasion, mamaisen i palao'an yan este na kuestion : "Kuånto na gå'ga si Moisés ha konne' guato gi halom i atka åntes di dilubio?"  Entre i man bisita, guåha ilek-ña "Singko mit."  Otro na bisita ilek-ña, "Dos mit na gå'ga'."  Kada uno ti man pareho i ineppen-ñiha.  En fin, ilek-ña i palao'an, "Ni uno giya hamyo dinanche. Ni uno na gå'ga' ha konne' si Moisés guato gi atka, sa' trabia ti mafañåñågo si Moisés gi tiempon dilubio.  Si Noé kumonne' i ga'ga' siha guato gi atka!"

THE MANNGINGE' : Defining the Relationship

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

" Hånao ya un fannginge' !"  How often did we hear this when we were kids?  We entered a room or a space, and we were told to fannginge' .  We weren't told exactly who.  We assumed it meant to fannginge' every adult person in the room, known to us or not.  That was a lot of mannginge' , sometimes 10 minutes' worth.  The very, very old were safe bets.  The silver haired but still agile were usually dependable.  Those in their 40s and 50s were risky.  You might be scolded for trying to make them feel old.  Being scolded made the mannginge' a fearful exercise for us kids.

The custom is ancient and was not borrowed from the Spanish.  No Spaniard takes the hand of a senior man and puts his nose to it!  The early European explorers describe Chamorro signs of respect.  Venerating the hand of a higher status person is found in other cultures within our Austronesian family, such as the "mano po" of the Filipinos.

The ancient salutation, "Ati aring-mo," which meant "I kiss your feet," (aring is probably "addeng," the Chamorro word for feet), has been replaced by Spanish words and phrases.  We were scolded if we didn't say " Ñot " (short for Señot, or Sir) or " Ñora " (short for Señora, or Madam).  The higher status person blessed us with " Dios te ayude " which is Spanish for "God help you."  Of course we pronounced it the Chamorro way, with the Y in "ayude" sounding like DZ.

We had to fannginge' the priests, too, even if they looked fresh out of seminary.

The fannginge' is also called " amen " but my mañaina never called it that.  I heard that term later from others.

And you had to take full possession of the person's hand.  Just bending forward a little and gesturing a little wasn't good enough.  There was no "air mannginge'."

When I was a baby priest, all of 29 years old, 80 year old women would fannginge' me.  It felt awkward.  But the fannginge' is not a sign of groveling subservience.  It is a way of starting off interaction with positive feelings.  I, who bend down and venerate the hand, show respect; I acknowledge someone's status; I define the relationship.  I, who am venerated, bestow a blessing.  We can now proceed.  We feel good about each other.  What favor do you want?

Neither is it a sign of affection.  The mannginge' has been replaced in modern times by kisses with the lips.  Much too intimate for old-time Chamorros, who rarely even held hands in public between husband and wife.  I remember almost having to provide a papal dispensation to some manåmko' to get them to hold hands for a brief moment when celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.

Respect, not affection.  Nose, not lips.  Even the word is " nginge' " which means "to smell."  One doesn't really take a big whiff of the person's hand, but when Chamorros kiss (romance aside), they kiss with the nose.

Here on Guam, I see the custom still practiced to a large extent.  The other day, here at the friary, a young man reached for the hand of a visiting American priest.  The priest didn't know what was going on and jerked back his hand.  I told the priest, "Give him your hand.  It's what we do here."

Among my close relatives, we practice what I call "mutual mannginge'."  They are older than me and are my mother's siblings or cousins, but many will fannginge' me.  Of my own volition, I reciprocate.  Sometimes we bump heads doing it simultaneously.

So younger people or you in the beneficiary class, fan mannginge' !  And you seniors (even if you're just 50) and you in the benefactor class, don't give them a hard time for rendering you respect.  The world could use a lot more of it.

MAILA' TA FAN FINO' CHAMORRO

Monday, March 21, 2011
Ilek-ho na siempre hipokrito yo' yanggen hu na' guåha este na blog pot para hu abånsa pat hu na' kahulo' i lengguåhi-ta, lao tat nai måmångge' yo' enteramente gi fino' Chamorro gi halom et mismo.

Pot i palåbra "dage:" guåha na hu hungok na ma sångan, yanggen lache i sinangån-ña i taotao an kumuentos, na ilek-ña, "Ai, dispensa, hu dadage hao!"  Ti kumekeilek-ña na mandadage gue' gi magåhet, ni sikiera ti ha hasngon dumage i otro taotao.  En lugåt, kumekeilek-ña na, masea ti intension-ña, lache i infotmasion ni ha sångan, ya måtto gi dinage.  Bonito, para guåho, este na klåsen kuentos.

Jose : Rosa, para ke ora i lisåyo la'mona?
Rosa : Para a las siette.
Jose : Ha?
Rosa : Ai!  Dispensa! Hu dadage hao ! Kumekeilek-hu na para a las ocho!

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : DAGE

Monday, March 21, 2011
(Try this : each day focus on one word and repeat it all day long.  Use the word in its different forms.  Even when you speak in English, use the Chamorro word in the English sentence.  Challenge family members to use the word all day long.  Using this method, I think the word will stick like cooked rice to the pot.)

DAGE : to lie (as in falsehood), to deceive.

Ha dage yo'.  S/he lied to me.

Cha'-mo dinadage nu enao. Don't be deceived by that.

Mandage yo'.  I lied.

I mandadage na minagof i tano' siha.  The false pleasures of the world.

Dinage.  Lie or lies.

Ha sångan todo klåsen dinage.  S/he told all kinds of lies.

Dagiyon.  Easily deceived.

Dagiyon hao na taotao.  You are easily deceived.

INARAJAN FIESTA 100 YEARS AGO

Monday, March 21, 2011
Well, not quite 100 years ago but close to it.  These photos were taken sometime in or around the 1920s in Inarajan.


Notice it's the men front and center at the feast of the patriarch, Saint Joseph, all in their white shirts.  They carry Saint Joseph on an åndas just as they did this year, almost a hundred years later.  The women follow behind with their white handkerchiefs for veils.


Inarajan Church around the same time, before the present one was built between 1939 and 1940.  That's the konbento (casa parroquial) on the right.  Did you know that while the patron saint of the village is San Jose, the patron of the church is Nuestra Señora de la Consolación (Our Lady of Consolation)?

KÅNTAN CHAMORRITA : I AGUAYENTE

Monday, March 21, 2011
Yanggen hågo para asaguå-ho / mås ke nungka yo', no kiero
sa' i tiba yan åguayente / dumesonra i sottero.

If you are to be my husband / not me!; I don't want to
because tuba and alcohol / dishonor the bachelor.

A Chamorro "Dear John" letter, although maybe these two were never a couple to begin with. In any case. she was not going to marry a man attached to a bottle. One day, he'd have to choose between her and the bottle and she wasn't going to make a wager on that question.

"Mås ke nungka" is based on archaic Spanish that is not even used in Spain anymore. "Más que" meant "although" or "even if" but the form used now in Spain is "aunque."  "Más que nunca" means "not ever" or "never."

"No kiero" is straight out of the Spanish "no quiero," or "I don't want." I've heard it said once, " Hu faisen gue', lao munukiero gue' ." "I asked him, but he didn't want."  Notice how we take the Spanish and adjust it to fit our indigenous grammar.

Åguayente is Chamorro homemade liquor. As you know, almost any vegetative food source can be made into alcohol. Chamorros made it from fruits, sugar cane or coconut; whatever was handy. The word comes the Spanish "aguardiente." "Agua"+"ardiente" or "fire water."

Chamorro moonshine was also called agi or årak .

Tuba is fermented coconut toddy and has alcoholic content, but is not distilled like åguayente and thus not as potent.

TROPICAL LIVING

Sunday, March 20, 2011

One of the things I love about Guam is the kindness of people who drop off the fruits of the land for me to use in my cooking.  These are local fruits and veggies that have been given to me in the last few days. The papaya I slice and sprinkle whatever lemon I have on hand.  The pepino I eat very simply.  What about the kondot and the kalamasa?  Anyone out there have any ideas how I can cook them?  Let me know. Si Yu'us ma'åse' !

FAMILY NICKNAMES part I

Sunday, March 20, 2011
There were just so many Jose Cruzes and Juan Santoses on Guam, I suppose, and so our forebears resorted to nicknames, in modern times referred to one's "better-known-as" and in the past called the "endeared name," " ma na' kaririño ."  Funeral announcements in the newspaper, to this day, often include these family nicknames.  They came about through a variety of ways, and one of them was to simply identify the family by the name, or nickname, of a patriarch or matriarch.  Here are just a few :

GOYO = a well-known branch of the Perez family which has included many political, commercial and religious leaders of Guam.  Named after the patriarch Gregorio.  Chamorros had a hard time pronouncing the non-native Y sound and turned it into a DZ sound, represented by the Spaniards with a Y as in Yigo and Yo'ña.  So the last syllables of Gregorio - gorio - were transformed into Goyo.

KAILA = a branch of the Dueñas family today is named after a matriarch, Micaila, the feminine form of Miguel (Michael).  Micaila would be the Spanish form of the French Michelle.

SINDA = the famous bakers of the Eustaquio clan, named after their matriarch Reducinda.

SIKET = these descendants of the Castro family come from a patriarch named Ezequiel.  The last syllables were turned into Siket.  Remember that we have a hard time pronouncing final L's and R's.  They become T's.

SAURO = although all Unpingco's come from the same Chinese immigrant, people still referred to his descendants using the short-cut of his Christian name, Rosauro.

KASIMIRO = two Untalan brothers immigrated to Guam in the 1800s.  To distinguish their descendants, both branches were named after their respective patriarchs.  One brother was named Casimiro.

MÅTKOS = the other Untalan brother was named Marcos.

GÅBIT = some of the Pereda's are named after their patriarch, Gabriel.

NÅNDO = it's just a change of one letter from the Pereda's, but some Peredo's are descendants of a man named Fernando.

MIN = down in Agat, a branch of the Babauta's are called the familian Min , after their patriarch Benjamin.

Finally, my own small Chamorro family, the familian Kitå'an , was named after our matriarch Maria Perez Torres, whose nickname was Marikita = Kitå'an.

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : ÑÅLANG

Sunday, March 20, 2011
ÑÅLANG : hungry.  A good word for Lent, as we're supposed to be fasting (some) this time of year.

Ñålang yo'. I am hungry.

Kao ñålang hao?  Are you hungry?

Ñålang i patgon.  The child is hungry.

Måtai ñålang.  To die of hunger.

Niñalang.  Hunger.

Hañalang.  Frequently hungry.

Historical Use : In the old Chamorro hymn "O Señora Nånan-måme," there is a line "Chomma' Nånan mina'åse' i pakyo yan i niñalang."  Forbid, Mother of Mercy, typhoons and hunger.

Proverb : Puti ñålang, puti håspok.  It's painful to be hungry, it's painful to be full.  Especially the way many of us eat!  Perhaps this saying is a plea for moderation in eating.

Scripture : "Annai ñålang yo', en na' chocho yo'."  "When I was hungry, you fed me." (Matthew 25:35)

Antonym : Håspok (full, satiated)

Synonym : Ambiento, ambriento, hambiento, hambriento.  From the Spanish "hambriento," meaning "hungry."  The Chamorro word "ambiento" has come to mean more nowadays "greedy," "gluttonous" or "avaricious" rather than simply "hungry."

EI NA PINAOPAO! THE ASUSENA FLOWER

Sunday, March 20, 2011


Tonight at the Saint Joseph fiesta in Inarajan, I learned from Tony Ramirez, a well-known historical and cultural resource person, that the flowers on the åndas were asusena flowers.  I know nothing about flowers and couldn't tell you the difference between the asusena , ilang-ilang and dama de noche , but Tony says all three are different.  To me, they're all mames and paopao .  Years ago at the original friary, Father Marcian used to say how much he liked the smell of the dama de noche that grew near his window.  Whenever I'd drive through Fonte (the lush valley below Naval Hospital on the way to Adelup) at dusk, I'd smell the captivating fragrance of ilang-ilang.  At least that's what everyone told me.

UNLESS YE BECOME LIKE CHILDREN

Sunday, March 20, 2011

I think he's ready.  This little "friar" attends Latin Mass at the friary with his mom, dad and older brothers.  He wanted to dress like Saint Padre Pio for Halloween last year and, this morning, he just had to wear the robes again.

INARAJAN BAPTIST CHURCH

Sunday, March 20, 2011
Only the façade of this church precariously stands as a testimony of the previous presence of a small community of Baptists in Inarajan.  A Chamorro Protestant family from Hagåtña, from the Flores family (better known as Kabesa ), moved to Inarajan around the turn of the century, and began evangelical work in the village, creating quite a stir.  The air was tense for many years, with the Spanish Capuchins marking out Inarajan with special care because of the Protestant efforts there.  The church was eventually closed and, with the passage of time and typhoons, not much of the structure remains.


INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT INARAJAN'S CHURCH

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Way up towards the ceiling, on both sides of the nave of the church, are circular stained glass windows with the advocations from the Litany of Saint Joseph written in Chamorro.  You can just make out in this photo the words " Må'gas i Sagrada Familia ," or "Head of the Holy Family."


The most significant historical feature of Inarajan's church is the tomb of Father Jesus Baza Dueñas, beheaded by the Japanese on July 12, 1944.  Pale' Dueñas had been pastor of Inarajan just before the war and remained there during the war.  Suspected of having information about American radio man George Tweed, he was apprehended by the Japanese, tortured and eventually killed.  He met his death in Tå'i, in the general vicinity where the school named in his honor stands today.  After the war, with the help of eye witnesses, Monsignor Oscar Lujan Calvo located the grave, identified the body and had the remains respectfully interred in the church he pastored.  You can see that he was buried in the sanctuary of the church, not far from the tabernacle.

The metal plaque marking his grave says the following :

ORIGINAL LATIN

"In pace et honore hic jacet Rev. Dns. Jesus B. Dueñas tempore bello occisus die 12 a Julii 1944 hic inter suos sepulturam invenit die 21 a Martii 1945."

Which more or less means : In peace and honor here lies the Reverend Sir Jesus B. Dueñas, slain in time of war on July 12, 1944;  his grave was discovered on March 21, 1945.

Secular or diocesan priests like Father Dueñas were given the honorable title, in Latin, "Dominus" which means "lord" or "master."  Perhaps the English word "Sir" would get closer to the intended meaning.  "Dominus" became "Don" in Spanish, to bestow honor on men of higher rank.



Father Dueñas died at the young age of 33, traditionally believed to be the same age when Christ died.  He had been a priest for just six years.


The church as seen right after World War II

The present church in Inarajan was built in 1940 by the Spanish Capuchin Pale' Bernabé de Cáseda.  It used to have the words "Ite ad Joseph" written above the main church doors.  That phrase means "Go to Joseph," because just as Saint Joseph was the protector of the Virgin and Child, we ought to seek him as our defender, the patron of the universal Church.

BIBA SAN JOSE!

Saturday, March 19, 2011
This year, the parish of Saint Joseph in Inarajan was able to celebrate its patronal feast on the actual feast day, March 19.  As usual, the festal Mass and procession were celebrated on Saturday afternoon, followed by dinner for all who attended, hosted by the parish.  This feast was very popular on Guam before World War II when many people from Hagåtña traveled to Inarajan to spend a few days and nights with friends and relatives for this feast.  Anticipation of this feast was generated seven Sundays prior to March 19 with the observance of the Siete na Damenggon San Jose (the Seven Sundays of Saint Joseph), a devotion prayed by the faithful.  The focus of this devotion was on the men, who took Saint Joseph as a role model.



On March 19, the Church looks specifically on Saint Joseph as the Patron Saint of the Universal Church; hence the Chamorro title Patrosinio for this particular feast.



The image of Saint Joseph is carried in procession on an ån das .  A karosa is another mode of carrying a statue, but on wheels.  If the statue is carried on a pallet on the shoulders of the bearers, it's an åndas .  Both terms were borrowed from the Spanish ( andas; carroza ).


Notice how our people need to touch and feel.  Hands instinctively reach out to make physical contact.  Children are raised to reach the statue.



I noticed many people from all over the island drive down south for the fiesta.  Before the war, travel to Inarajan was not a quick trip like ours was tonight, driving from the friary in Agaña Heights to Inarajan in just 40 minutes.  Back then, one really was a taotao tumano' , a person journeying over the land ( tåno' ).  The food served after the fiesta is the na' taotao tumano' , the food for those journeying by land (pilgrims).


The carving station at the Inarajan fiesta.  Well, one of them anyway!  There were several.